“You… You are alive…” All Lila could do was state the obvious. Her mind came to a halt the very moment she saw his face.

“Hello, dear wife.” Lukas, Lila’s allegedly deceased husband, looked exactly as he did during the |Immortal Memory| ordeal. “You are as beautiful as the day I met you. You know, I can pull some strings and get you in our group, what do you say?”

Lila did not entertain Lukas’s proposition, so he decided to taunt his brother instead.

“Hey, Little Ed, is everything alright? It looks like you just saw a ghost!” He laughed loud as if he had just heard a good joke, making everyone wonder if the man lost his mind since the dragon Benir’s attack.

“I know, I know. You may be wondering: How are you alive! Lila saw you dying! The dragon Benir ate you whole! But guess what? It was all a ruse!” His last words were marked by him opening his arms wide, by this point, his performance was getting on everyone’s nerves.

Every word that left his mouth felt as if tailored to perfectly mock Edward and Lila’s gullibleness for all the years since the event. “Let me tell how things happened from my point of view. On that day, I…”

“We already know, traitor!” Edward got a hold of himself and snapped at his brother. Both he and Lila had reviewed the |Immortal Memory| dozens of times; they knew he was the culprit to her party’s death. But once they saw him, they could not keep their emotions at bay and blanked out for a few moments.

[Riwall, he has no reason to talk to us. Lukas is probably stalling for reinforcements to come or for some spell to be done. What do you want to do?]

{I know it uses a lot of mana, but please send a steady mana pulse to check for any spell being cast in the area.}

Friday did as commanded, and everyone felt some kind of mana disturbance pass through them. Including Lukas, who immediately dropped the lunatic act and turned to look at Riwall.

“Interesting, we seem to have a smart one in the family.” For a moment, Lukas seemed to be pondering about something before continuing. “Unfortunately, I can only bring one person back alive. By the way, that’s you, my dear wife. It took me a few years to earn the right of inducting someone else in the organization, so please, be a good wife and drop your weapons. Oh, and close your eyes for a moment, I promise your friends’ deaths will be quick and painless.” His last words were spoken in a serious tone, as if he trully believed that she would obey him and do as he said.

Lila’s answer to such absurdity was to throw a fireball in his direction and set it to explode as soon as it got close to him.

The explosion was weak but produced so much noise and light that Lukas could not see or hear anything for a couple of seconds. Once the dust settled, everyone had just disappeared.

“Fuck! Almenanj, get the troops and start looking for tracks of their escape! Euan! Why did you not lock the place as ordered? They stood still for more than enough time for you to cast the damn spell!” Lukas was livid, it took them the entire night to find his wife, only for her to escape in just a couple of seconds after disobeying him.

A scrawny and bald man wearing the same dark robes as the others addressed Lukas as if unbothered by his anger.

“Hardly our fault. The moment that bitch…” He stopped when he noticed how Lukas reacted when he called his wife a bitch. “I mean, the moment your… wife… cast the fireball at you, that strange kid used the opportunity to cast a much faster one in our direction, we had no choice but drop the casting and erect a barrier. The bastard is talented, I will give him that. We barely completed the barrier in time before it exploded.” He finished his tale by pointing behind his back with his thumb.

Lukas looked in the direction pointed by Euan and thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. A huge crater marked the place where the kid’s spell went off.

“The kid did that? Alone and in a moment’s notice?”

“If I had not seen it with my own eyes, I would not believe it. He sure is something special. Maybe we should capture him alive and bring him back to the base, I’m sure he can be of help in the coming war.” Lukas found it strange for Euan to show this much interest in something or someone. The man was known to only act this way when facing something that truly surprised him, which rarely happened.

The one called Almenanj, a short, black-haired woman wearing the same dark robes, got back to report her team’s finding to Lukas and Euan, kneeling in front of the two before speaking.

“Sorry, sirs. We failed to find any clue about where they fled. It’s as if they suddenly disappeared. We had scouts positioned all around the perimeter, but no one saw anything.”

It was Euan who answered.

“Before Lukas here takes your head. I suggest you and your team return to base. They probably fled north, which means we cannot keep going after them.” He turned to Lukas before letting a smile show. “Unless you want to try trespassing the fairies’ territories again.”

Lukas’s anger spiked by the mention of the fairies, and he just roared an order for everyone to hear.

“Back to Marsastor, now! I have a family to take control of, and I intend to do it before noon!”

Euan watched the back of troops rushing to leave the place, and once they were far enough, he spared a look to the location from where the group disappeared and chuckled.

“We will see each other again, Riwall.”

Greg, Ana, Lila, and Edward were sitting together in a pitch-black cave while Riwall was sleeping soundly at Anna’s lap.

Both adults had already scouted the perimeter to any danger but found the place long deserted.

The moment Riwall saw Lila’s spell, he took the opportunity to disrupt whatever Lukas’s mages were casting and to hide his group by having all of them fall in an underground tunnel that he felt with his mana pulse. Friday did not spare any effort into covering their tracks by making the earth seem undisturbed after “swallowing” the group.

The feat drained Riwall of his mana reserves, making him lose consciousness as soon as he was sure everyone was ok.

After about an hour, Riwall slowly woke up from a dreamless slumber while feeling a migraine forming. Before he had the opportunity to open his eyes, Friday pulled him into one of their customary time-defying conversations.

[I will save us some time and skip all questions about how you are feeling. I know how rich your vocabulary is, and I’m sure you would describe the experience of suffering from mana withdraw using words like “shit”, “garbage” or “like Erika’s Cooking”.]

He could do nothing but send the equivalent of a humph through their connection.

[Before you open your mouth, and get you, Greg and Anna into trouble, I want you to think about what I’m about to suggest.]

{By the looks of it, I won’t like it, will I?}

[No, you won’t.] She took a moment to continue, which amused Riwall, as he knew she would only emulate human speech behavior when trying to convince him of something.

[While you slept, I reviewed every memory related to the Farsteels and the Marsastors. I found nothing that could help us understand why Lukas betrayed them, who these people were, and why the families suddenly decided to band together and attack. Do you agree with this statement?]

{So far so good.}

[With that being said. All we know is that Greg maybe somehow involved, as he is a Marsastor in all but name; Anna is a prodigy in almost every kind of close-range combat and has high stats overall; you are an anomaly that could pressure your masters in every exercise while still being a meek level 1.]

{Ok, strange choice of words to describe me, but I will let it pass, go on.}

[I’m not done yet. You have the maturity of an 8-year-old; you are so lazy, and your mind gets so empty that sometimes I feel like you will one day say that breathing is tiring and just drop dead; you are an overly optimistic entitled prick who thinks everything will work out to your benefit in the end; you…]

{Ok! Ok! I get it. You don’t have to continue, these last few days got me thinking about a lot of stuff, and I know you are right.}

[What have I told you about lying to me? Seriously, how many times do we have to go over this? I can read your mind, dumbass.]

{Shut up for a second… Please… I never cared about what you or anyone else expected of me, so I always ignored all your remarks of me being immature or lazy, and just carried on doing what I wanted to.}

{Friday, I have been able to keep some thoughts hidden from you for a few years. Just like you can compartmentalize most of what you are thinking, so do I. Not to the same extent, but enough to have some “me time” now and then. Please, understand that I never intended to keep it a secret, but I never felt like it was the right time to broach the subject with you.}

He let Friday take a quick glimpse of his hidden thoughts and memories.

{Before you get into analyzing these memories, let me show what this is really about.}

Suddenly, Friday felt herself getting pulled into a simulation, just like she did with him almost every day.

She found herself in Riwall’s old room from when he lived on Earth as John. Differently from the simulations created by her, she was not an omniscient spectator with power to control everything, but just a harmless golden wisp floating behind an adult version of Riwall, who was watching a young John playing video games. No one spoke a word for a few minutes while young John cursed at the TV and started the same phase over and over.

[What is this? How did you create a simulation of your own? Wha…]

The adult Riwall turned, and she stopped talking. His face was drenched in tears, and he was smiling.

“I will answer all of your questions later. But first, I need to get some things off my chest.” He inhaled deeply before continuing. “The older I get, the more memories from my previous life come back to me. They are never whole, probably because of that Goddess Temelth, but since I first started experiencing them, my priorities in life changed.”

The scenario changed, and both found themselves in front of a building where many faceless kids were going into while carrying oversized backpacks. Friday immediately recognized it as the school where he grew up.

“Times were so simple back then. My only worry was about how I would spend my afternoons.” He said while giving a lovingly look to everything around him.

“I can not remember their faces, but I can feel that some of these kids were my friends. When I look into this memory, I feel so… carefree? I don’t know the right word for it, maybe light? What do you think?” He let the emotion he was trying to name course through their connection.

[Nostalgic.]

He just nodded in affirmation with a happy smile while the scene changed again.

They were now in a park and were looking at a teenager couple sharing an awkward first kiss after an equally awkward first date. The woman, just like the kids, had no face, but the boy was clearly John. Riwall felt how lost Friday was, so he let the emotions from this memory carry on through their connection and felt like no words were needed.

Friday concluded how shallow her take on emotions had been until now. To watch someone else’s memories and to take part in it are two completely different experiences. To compare both perspectives would be like comparing the experience of watching a video of someone skydiving to skydiving yourself.

Once he felt like it was time, he moved to the last memory he wanted to share. This time, Riwall did not want to just watch it as an invisible third party. He wished for something deeper, more personal.

Friday and Riwall found themselves merged together with the John from this memory. Their thoughts took the backseat while they relieved this memory as if they were John.

He was about to leave his parent’s house when someone grabbed his arm and turned him around.

“Did you get everything you needed? Are you sure you don’t want me to take you there? When will I be able to visit you?” A faceless woman was talking passionately to John, who was getting fed up by her questions.

“Jesus, mom! It’s not the first time I take part in a study. They guaranteed me that the risks were very low, and you know that these are some of the biggest companies in the world. Besides, you know I want the money for college, the check they are giving more than compensate for the risks, and there is the bonus of getting a job with them after everything!”

“Me and your father already told you that we can lend you some money for tuition and try to find a loan to pay the rest. You don’t need to do anything dangerous for it. And you did not answer my question, when will I be able to visit you?” At that time, John felt that his mother was being more reluctant to let him go than usual, but he attributed it to the fact she would not be able to visit him so soon. Riwall had rewatched this memory many times, and could not help but wonder if his mother felt something amiss at the time.

“I will give you a call when you can visit me, they said something about one or two weeks but could take a little longer. Relax, mom. Everything will be fine. Next time you see me, I will be wearing a suit and paying a 5-star dinner for you and dad.”

The driver he called through the app arrived, but before he could leave, his mother embraced him.

For the first time since signing the contract of the experiments, he wondered if he was doing the right thing.

“There there, mom. I will see you in two weeks, but I will call you as soon as I can.” He said while patting her back.

The moment she let go of him, his father, also faceless, parked the car at the sidewalk and rushed to see him off. He was not sentimental like his mother but loved him just as much as her.

“Son, I won’t try to change your mind or try to bribe you into not doing it like I’m sure your mother tried.” John chuckled to that, she had just tried it a few moments before. “You are now an adult who can make your own choices and deal with the consequences, and although I may not agree with your reasoning, I’m pro… You know what? I will tell you when we see each other again.”

“I know what I’m doing, dad, relax.” He felt warm whenever his father would go on about him being an adult and responsible for whatever came after he made his choices.

“Look at yourself, 18-year-old, and already claiming to know what you are doing. Before you go, do you remember what your grandpa used to say about making big choices in life?”

John answered with a smile.

“If the choice paid out: Live and remember.”

“And what if it turned out bad?”

“Just survive and forget.”

No other word was shared between him and his parents before he got into the car and looked one last time to them, unaware of how this was the last time he would be seeing them.

At this moment, Friday finally understood what made Riwall such an underachiever in the last years. He liked magic and was curious about this world, but since he started getting these memories back, his utmost desire became to live his new life to the fullest. That explained why his progress rate sharply declined the older he got.

He did not want a childhood where all he would remember was the taste of dirt and blood. He wanted to one day feel nostalgic toward it just like he felt for the memory of his school years. He also knew that Friday would never sympathize with him, so he decided to just ignore her pleas for him to train and study more, and shut himself from the noble’s politics, focusing instead on deepening his bond with Anna and Greg.

Friday managed to backup his old memories during Temelth’s tampering but was afraid that it would hurt him instead of helping. However, she decided to gift him the one thing he wished the most at this moment. The memories of his parents’ faces.

Anna felt something wet on her lap and looked down alarmed, only to see her friend crying while sleeping. She began caressing his hair just like her mother used to do to her, and soon, Riwall calmed down and seemed to drift back to a pleasant dream, but not before mumbling a few words.

“Live and remember.”