Liliana tossed a core to Lelantos as they meandered through the forest. He hadn’t picked any fresh scents up since the Luxdaria, which was unsurprising; the guards were generally good about clearing out monsters. They usually had to travel much further to find something to fight, but after the recent fight, they were making their way back. It was late, and they all needed to get some sleep before the next day. They’d made the mistake the first few times staying out too late and both Emyr and Liliana being exhausted had been suspicious.

Liliana was particularly pleased as she had managed to level up from the fight, putting her at level 68. Lelantos hadn’t leveled, but that was expected, he leveled far slower than she did even fighting things around his level. The bonus her boon granted was more obvious than ever when she saw the system alerts for both of them.

Liliana had gotten 311,287 experience from the fight even though she’d done less damage. She got the level difference bonus on top of the bonus from her boon. Lelantos had only gotten 175,675 experience. If they wanted to level him as fast as she leveled, they’d need a mid Rank 6 dungeon, but getting permission to delve a dungeon like that would be impossible. Liliana couldn’t explain that while her level said 68, she was on par with Lelantos now in raw stats. It would raise too many uncomfortable questions. Questions she knew Emyr likely had, but kept to himself.

Liliana looked over at the boy, her friend. He was staying out of the shadows while they walked, since Liliana wasn’t riding Lelantos. He was looking at the plants in the area curiously, evidently Liliana being able to identify their prey before they ever saw them using plants had left an impression. Liliana knew he was curious about more than plants. He’d been hunting with her for a week.

A week of fighting things far above her own level to ensure Lelantos could finally get badly needed experience. He’d watched her go toe to toe with things that should’ve been able to easily toss her aside, yet she’d been the one to end their life. Perhaps it was foolhardy to show her hand like this, but she could admit she did trust him now. Trusted him at least to keep his curiosity to himself, and he was proving her trust was well placed.

“That’s just regular moss,” Liliana spoke up as Emyr poked at a particularly plush spot of moss with a stick.

“Is it? Or is it some super rare, ‘Goddess Tears’ moss?” Emyr asked as he side eyed the moss.

“No, it’s just moss, I promise,” Liliana assured him with a smirk.

“Wait, so there is Goddess Tears moss?” Emyr asked and Liliana smiled, not answering his question.

Ahead of them, a rustling met their ears. Something large was coming through the forest, and fast. Almost immediately, the three of them were on guard. Liliana had her naginata in hand, activating skills and spells as Lelantos began to glow. Emyr was already fading into the shadows, even as the surrounding darkness writhed like an angry beast. A body pushed itself through the foliage and Liliana lifted her weapon, ready to fight and kill whatever was attacking them. Lelantos was readying a pounce, and shadows were twisting to grab the monster.

“I found you!” a voice cried out, a familiar voice. Everything seemed to freeze as the group of three looked at the person who had practically tumbled to their feet.

“Alistair?!” Liliana asked, voice incredulous as her brother picked twigs and leaves off of himself, leveling her and Emyr, who had stepped back out of the shadows, with a venomous glare.

“Weren’t expecting me, huh? I knew you two were up to something! You thought I couldn’t tell you were both exhausted every day? I know you better than that, Emyr. I’ve seen the secret looks, the whispering! You never keep secrets from me! So why were you sneaking out, huh? Are you having some kind of affair with my sister?!” Alistair’s voice steadily rose, and his glare transferred from Liliana to fixate solely on Emyr. He stalked forward, seeming to forget Liliana was even there.

Liliana stood there, mouth hanging open as she slowly lowered her weapon, watching her brother get steadily more angry as he approached his friend. Emyr, for his part, looked stunned and confused. He tried to open his mouth, but any words he’d get out were overwhelmed by her brother’s anger. However, something Alistair had said was so absurd that it broke Liliana from her own stunned stupor.

“Alistair! We-We’re not-We weren’t sneaking out for an affair!” Liliana told him, her voice catching on the word affair. She couldn’t imagine ever doing something like that with Emyr. He was her friend, yes, but she had never seen him romantically. She wasn’t even sure who she’d want to be with. Her mind was too caught up on everything else to even have time to think of romance. Hell, she wasn’t even sure if she liked boys like that, or anyone! But she certainly knew she felt no attraction like that to Emyr.

“We were going out to level!” Liliana continued when Alistair turned to look at her. Relief and disbelief warred in his eyes, and Liliana wondered why he cared so much. Sure of late, they’d been more like siblings than bully and victim. But she didn’t think even with the battles and bonding they’d gone through that Alistair would care that much if she was having some kind of affair. The almost insane anger he was suffering from seemed too great to simply be a result of the little bit of sibling bond they had now.

“Is that true?” Alistair asked, turning to Emyr. His voice was softer now, and Liliana could hear an undertone of hurt in it. Emyr still looked flabbergasted, as if he’d just watched a tornado wreak havoc right before him and then vanish as quickly. He seemed to gather himself and walked towards Alistair, laying a hand on the other boy’s shoulder.

“Yes, it’s true. Lili wanted to level and the guards wouldn’t let her, so I’ve been going with her at night to make sure she’s safe,” Emyr explained. At his words, it was like all the anger left Alistair. His shoulders drooped and his body seemed to sway. A relieved smile flashed across his face, and Liliana relaxed with a sigh.

“Wait, Lili?” Alistair asked, and Liliana’s back straightened immediately.

“Em said that friends give each other nicknames,” Liliana hastened to explain, and Alistair turned a hurt look to her.

“But I’m your brother. Why does he get a nickname first?” Alistair asked, and Liliana rolled her eyes as the returned anxiety fled her. She’d been worried the nicknames would make him more certain they’d been having an affair.

“Cause you don’t deserve one.” Liliana stated bluntly, and Alistair winced, looking down.

“But if you want, I can call you Ali,” Liliana taunted as she dismissed her weapon and turned around.

“We better start heading back, before the guards miss all four of us,” Liliana continued, and she started back on the path to camp, satisfied that hurricane Alistair had been calmed.

“I’m sorry,” Alistair's voice froze her in place. Liliana’s heart thudded painfully in her chest and she could feel tears burning her eyes at the words, words she never thought she’d hear.

“W-What?” she whispered, turning to look at her brother.

“For everything I did to you. Everything I said. It wasn’t right how I treated you,” Alistair continued, and it was obvious he was struggling with the words. She could see remorse and pride fighting in his eyes. A lifetime of conditioning from his mother trying to keep its grip on his tongue, even as his heart fought to have itself heard.

“You didn’t deserve any of it. I’m sorry it took you nearly dying for me to really understand that you weren’t who I thought you were. And that it took me months after that to finally apologize,” Alistair continued, and Liliana stared at him, her heart feeling so full but so painful at the same time. Tears were coursing tracks down her face and words wouldn’t leave her mouth.

It didn’t matter that she’d heard these words before, because they were almost verbatim for the words Alistair had said to Liliana in the game. Part of a story quest when she’d been kidnapped at the Academy and the heroes had to save her. Alistair had apologized to her later on, after the quest had been completed, at Diana’s urgings. It had been a touching cutscene, made worse by the fact that it had been the last time anyone saw Liliana before the final battle. She’d vanished after that, but not before leaving her stepbrother with some parting words. ‘Your apology comes too little too late, oh brother mine. Karma will have her pound of flesh for the hell you put me through.’

But this apology didn’t come too late. It didn’t come to someone who had love and hope beaten and poisoned out of her. This apology wasn’t given to the original Liliana, who hadn’t known what genuine love was, who had never known the hero her brother could one day be. Who didn’t know her brother could change.

No, this apology came to someone who had seen the man Alistair could become. Who had fought with him, who had begun to rebuild the bonds broken by hate. For all she had disliked him at first, and had let the residual hate left over from the original Liliana taint her view of him. She might still fear the fate she’d seen in the games, but perhaps. Just maybe, she really could rewrite fate and make a happier ending for them all. One where a brother didn’t have to kill his sister because his apologies and remorse came years too late to undo the damage that had already been scarred into her heart.

“I’m sorry too. For being part of it. For standing by the sidelines and never speaking up,” Emyr spoke up, his voice so quiet yet Liliana could hear him easily over the sound of a forest gone silent. As if nature itself was holding its breath at the moment. As if it too could sense what a momentous occasion this was.

Both of the boy were looking at her, remorse in their eyes and Liliana could feel a choice before her. She could follow the role fate had written for her. Deny their apologies and hold the resentment and hate in her chest that still lingered. Hold on to the hate that was birthed by a weak girl who would later merrily laugh as the queendom burned. Let that hate fuel her rise to power. Or she could take a step down a new path, with an uncertain future. But a future she didn’t have to see alone.

“I forgive you,” Liliana finally got the words out, her choice made.

A part of her raged against the choice, a dark part of her. The part that wanted to see the both of them bruised and bloody on their knees below her as they begged for forgiveness that she’d never grant. The part that wanted them, and everyone who had ever done her wrong, to hurt.

But that part wasn’t her, it was leftovers from the original Liliana. Not the girl who had played Realm Of Hope in her hospital bed because the game gave her the only solace she got in her dwindling days. It wasn’t from the girl who had played as their characters for hours, who had lived lives through their eyes. It wasn’t the girl who had seen these characters as friends in her last life, even if they’d never known her, because they’d been the only ones to always be with her. Had been there for her every day she was struggling to find a reason to live. The girl who would’ve gladly accepted Vita’s offer if only to meet the very people who had already saved her life countless times over. And it was time that girl took the reins, instead of living a life ruled by the hateful ghost of a girl who was long gone.

“Thank you, both of you,” Liliana continued, her voice gaining strength. Tears still traced down her face, but her heart felt so big in her chest, for once the pain she’d held so close inside her was gone. This apology wouldn’t fix everything, wouldn’t erase the years of pain suffered or the life she still had to live in a home absent of parental love. But at least now it wasn’t completely devoid of happiness and love.

“So should we ah… Hug, or something?” Alistair asked and giggles erupted from Liliana. She reached up to her face and wiped off the tears staining her skin, more giggles still spilling from her lips.

“I don’t know?” Liliana said, but it was more of a question. She wasn’t sure what to do with a brother. She’d never had one in her last life. And this life didn’t exactly have a good framework for how a brother should act.

“Yes, hug your sister, you twit,” Emyr whispered harshly, shoving Alistair forward.

Alistair stumbled to Liliana and opened his arms awkwardly. Liliana looked up at him, still laughing, with a smile big enough to hurt. She stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around him. Seconds later, his own arms enclosed around her, and he held her so delicately. Seemingly both unsure of this new display of affection and also almost afraid he’d hurt her.

It was funny, considering how he’d hurt her before. Now he seemed scared she’d break a bone in a simple hug. It was awkward, and was nothing like the hugs she got from her parents on Earth, or from Astrid and Silas. But it made her feel content in the same way. It felt like home.

Liliana pulled back, and her laughter reignited by the look on Alistair’s face, both confused and awkward. It was the youngest she’d ever seen him look; like a fourteen-year-old boy just learning how to show affection.

“That… wasn’t awful,” Alistair said, and Emyr snorted from behind him, shooting his friend an affectionate but exasperated look. Lelantos nudged Alistair with his nose and chuffed at him before turning and heading back towards camp.

“Ah, what does that mean?” Alistair asked as Liliana shook her head and turned to follow the tiger, still giggling.

“He says you’re not too bad, now,” Liliana answered as the boys followed after her, “and that perhaps he won’t eat you.” Liliana added on, giggling harder when she heard her brother trip and nearly fall.

“He was going to eat me before?” Alistair asked, voice aghast.

“Don’t feel bad. He wanted to eat me too,” Emyr said offhandedly.

“That doesn’t make me feel better!” Alistair responded.

“I wouldn’t let him eat you anyway,” Liliana spoke up, and she heard a sigh of relief behind her. Turning her head to smirk at her brother, she finished, “you’d give him indigestion.”

“I’ll have you know I’d be quite delicious!” Alistair argued, and Liliana shook her head, giggling again as she walked forward. Emyr and Alistair began to argue quietly about whether Alistair should be declaring himself delicious to a beast that could very easily eat him or not. Liliana let the familiar sound of bickering fall over her as she tilted her head back and looked up at the bits of star-studded sky she could see.

I never thought I’d have this, not in this life. I thought I’d be cursed to live a hard life, one I could never hope to find happiness in. One where my life was always in danger and no one would stand by my side. And it has been all those things, dangerous and deadly. Yet, in some ways, I’d say this life is better than my last. I have friends now, even if they’re from unlikely places. I might not have the love of my father, and my stepmother still hates me. But it’s not all bad, not anymore, Liliana thought as she traced the constellations, a smile still painted on her face.

They walked on, getting closer to the camp. Emyr and Alistair dropped their conversation as they did to avoid alerting the sentries. Liliana was taking in the last of the quiet night air when a mental image from Lelantos brought her up short, stopping her heart for a moment.

“Liliana? Whats wrong?” Alistair asked, as he and Emyr caught up. Liliana’s face had gone pale and her hands were shaking.

“Lelantos, he went ahead. He says there’s someone in my tent,” Liliana started, and Emyr and Alistair’s eyes widened, thinking a guard had found her missing. “He doesn’t recognize their scent. He says they smell like Poison.”