After carefully rescanning Nemo for any potential stowaways again we heading back into Albion space. I slowly brought us back since we still had time before the imminent Massacre by Jack of Blades. Fortunately for us, Scarlet's baby arrived early and even better was that Theresa was fully prepared for it. I know I certainly wasn't! There are just somethings you can never unsee! A human being coming out of a person is one such thing.

My new little brother was named "Kren" thanks to my parents. Why not Granok destroyer of worlds? Sounds perfectly good to me. The baby is very adorable and everyone swoons to spend time with him. Even Naia was like, "I never knew a human could be so pure". Naia even took to calling him "Bright Eye's" as a nickname. He has the same dirty blonde hair as Brom but has crystal blue eyes. I bet Kren will be a real lady killer someday and I mean that in the good/socially acceptable way. Not the Jack of Blades kinda way.

Recently I've been thinking on the way back more about looking into Nymph magic. I know they are beings born of pure Will and don't use spell worlds. Therefore, they use some other kind of magical system of their own that could be useful to research. I wouldn't do this in a way that would hurt Naia. I'm just curious how it works and if I can use it.

"Hey, Naia," I called out.

"What?" Naia replied in annoyance having to put Kren down since it was her turn to hold him.

"I want to use Will to examine how you use magic. It may help us in the fight that is to come. Should Jack have a way to block my magic it could give me a method to retaliate," I claimed to express the importance of what I was doing.

"Fine... Just make it quick!" She pressed.

I placed my hands gently on the Nymphs back centered along her spine between her wings. Her blue skin felt icy to the touch. Even thru the rough fabric of her shirt it still felt cool. Good thing the other kids in the village understand personal space. Closing my eyes I willed to see the flow of energies in her body. Focusing past the chaos of busily moving energies in her body, the method to the madness took shape in my mind. What I saw shocked me and worse yet made me realize a brutal fact.

"That's fine Naia," I choked.

"Uh, ok then" Naia left somewhat confused. Since she got to go back to her precious earlier than expected she didn't complain.

I sat down along the stone retaining wall that was on one side of the river. I felt a wrenching pain in my gut I knew was only in my mind. Holding my legs as I thought about what to do. What could I possibly do about this? Theresa saw my expression and approached.

"What's wrong?"

"I examined how magic works for Nymphs," I replied flatly.

"Ok, what is the problem then?" She questioned.

"You ever wonder how a primitive society that just invented magic was able to create Augmentations?"

"Um, they just invented it too," Theresa guessed.

"No the systems are way too different from each other for one to lead to the other." I insisted.

"What does it have to do with Nymphs," Theresa asked automatically linking the two together.

"A Nymphs spell heart is exactly the same as a Mana Augmentation," I declared.

"Oh..." Theresa muttered as she realized Augmentations were invented through capturing and experimenting on Nymphs. This process would most likely lead to Nymph's death and since dead Nymphs bodies disappear when they die it could not have been done post mortem. Both of us would doubt a Nymph would willingly let themselves be subjected to this process.

"It is worse than you think," I told her.

"How?"

"Because that means it was the Archon that first betrayed the Nymphs," I pointed out.

"Our Ancestor!" Theresa exclaimed.

"Yes, the first betrayal was done to make the super enchanted weapons of the old kingdom. William Black probably did it to make his people able to live better but someone who convinced him to do so did it for the reasons we've already seen. He too was manipulated by others into doing greater evil than he knew. He probably thought it was a few lives sacrificed to save many while not knowing it would lead to permanent hostile relations and slavery." My face showed the dark atmosphere of my hypothesis.

"So what now?"

"For once I have no GODDANG idea," I stressed at a complete loss. William Black's still around as Scythe and when I find him were gonna have a serious "TALK". The man's screw-ups are legendary and after centuries of living, he must have realized the truth and yet done nothing. His attitude even with family was to always act like, "Oh well, what's done is done". He even abandoned his kingdom and let it fall. To hold near-absolute power and yet leave nothing but problems for others. Especially his own Descendents that he acts like are irrelevant. Yet he expects us to come running to help when he needs us. What a real Asshat!

"Look we'll wait for the right time to tell Naia. She already understands we don't have a collective memory like her race. She won't blame us for what an ancient ancestor did long ago. If anything she'll have faith that we'll make it right," Theresa soothed.

"I hope your right," I said as I shook my head. Theresa gave me an "atta there boy" pat on the back before walking away.

After she left I realized that we weren't as alone as we had initially thought.

I looked left at what mentally one might mistake as just a stone door out of the corner of their eye.

"Hey, Nemo my best friend in the whole wide galaxy. You didn't hear any of that did you?"

"That depends on whether you'll eat an entire package of bacon, "Nemo blackmailed.

"Fine... I guess you deserve it after what you went through to save us," I replied as I went to put some bacon into our skillet by the fire.

"I didn't say you could cook it," The old door grinned evilly.

"Are you sure you weren't corrupted by the Crawler? Or have you always been a bit of a jerk?"

"Just eat the bacon slowly so you don't choke on it. I'd hate to lose my most precious friend," Nemo retorted with the same shit-eating grin he gave when I was made to eat pie after our last visit to the void. Oh, that's definitely still him.

We arrived back in Oakvale just in time for the summer solstice festival. The sun was way hotter than I remember it being but I'll adjust. For the festival, I wore my suits white undershirt since it had no frills. It looked like a modern casual business long sleeve shirt. I had the top button undone and the collar raised like the Fonz in the 70s. The shirt itself was untucked to give off the cool smooth guy casual look I was going for. The shirt had polished silver buttons that really classed it up. Adding some villager pants with some leather boots and I was ready for the party. Theresa wore one of her nice dresses. Even mother and father put on something nice.

None of the clothes we wore were the same ones we owned before coming back. We had all significantly changed since then. Theresa and I were two and a half feet taller than other kids our age. Theresa literally looked like a young lady and I a short man. Brom had gained so much muscle mass he resembled the "Rock Johnsen" only with hair. Scarlet had gained a little muscle too but also thinned a bit. You know how some women are a size "0". Thanks to that weight loss none of the women in the village were too shocked by the reveal my new brother. They just thought she'd been pregnant and didn't know because it didn't show.

Some women with amazing bodies don't look pregnant until really late trimesters. Brom simply explained it as while traveling we found out Scarlet was with child and we had to stay where we were. It was a good excuse because you can't take a pregnant woman through the dark wood safely or on a long journey to go around.

Since they weren't any girls my age in Oakvale to take to the festival I actually extended the invitation to Elvira. Might as act like a proper man for such a formal event and coming of age ceremony. To my surprise, Elvira arrived looking much different than I remembered her. Two months we were gone and she'd grown like a weed just like me. "Young lady" was an appropriate description but it would do her no justice.

Elvira wore a simple light blue gown that gave off a girl next door kinda feel instead of the overly formal ones she usually did. There was a purple tulip flower hair clip on her head that accented her cuteness. It matches her eyes... Wait were her eyes always purple like amethyst? I asked myself. Looking back I realized they were but she was a child and I felt she was annoying. So I did not pay her much mind and ignored her attributes. Her skin was paler like milk now but it looked good on her like "Snow White".

"You dropped this," Elvira told me as she lifted my chin up with her right hand. I didn't even notice my Jaw had dropped until she pointed it out triumphantly.

"Oh, thanks... You look nice," I complemented trying to hide a flushed face from embarrassment.

"You look pretty yourself," She Joked.

"Shall we Milady," I jested playfully as I offered my arm.

"Yes and don't worry I'll have him back by nine," My date said giving my parents a wink.

Was she always this funny? I thought to myself. No, this is new but I like it.

"You've changed a lot in just two months," I pointed out.

"So have you, big boy," Elvira teased as she traced her hand along a barely visible blue Will line I'd failed to properly conceal between my leather gloves and shirt sleeve.

"I don't think anyone will notice so we should be good to party," I changed the subject.

"Yeah, well I'm glad I wasn't left to far behind. Don't you go growing up without me," She said giving my arm a mocking pinch.

"Ouch, that hurts!" I proclaimed faking an injury.

"Is what you get for making a lady wait," She joshed back.

In the town square, there were cloth-covered lanterns strewn all about the place. The different colored cloth's covering each lantern made the light it cast to appear in whatever color cloth it was covered in. There was food on some picnic tables such as pies, meat, apples.

I wasn't very hungry and didn't want to cover my dashing outfit with stains. So it didn't take long for Elvira to invite me to dance. Lucky for me that thanks to this body's memory and what I remembered from earth I was able to dance fairly well. Most dances were each individual dancing toward their partner and somewhat informal styles. We still found ourselves getting into the dance and competing with each other. We really blew away the competition especially since most of them were little kids.

Then one dance started that somewhat resembled the waltz and required us to hold one another. Together we moved in since and were able to perform the dance with little error. When we were done both of us were out of breath. Then there was applause from the whole village that had stopped to watch and clap at us. For the second time in one day, I was really embarrassed. At least this time she was too and somehow that made it feel better.

After grabbing a quick snack Elvira pulled my arm leading me to the beach. It was dark outside now with the last bit of sunlight from the horizon disappearing into the water. We sat there looking into the distance and enjoying the view. The orange colors among the clouds and sky contrasting the greenish glow that covered the seas waters. With the cool breeze that blew over us, it was a good moment that I would like to always remember. Sometimes in life, you forget to stop and enjoy the good and beautiful moments like this one.

When I thought the moment was perfect My date astounded me further. She began to sing...

"A symphony of sadness; from a world that's madness. A tale that was forgotten; by a world that's rotten. A Hero whose death went beyond the final breath; An oath that was repaid by those that he never betrayed..."

"WOW! That was beautiful," I said adding a clap for good measure.

"Thanks," Elvira muttered putting her hair bang that fell forward back over her ear.

"Who was it about?"

"Unfortunately, that's all of it I know. I just recently have taken a liking to its tune," She mumbled.

"Wazzat?" I asked moving closer to her to hear what she said. As I did so she suddenly places a kiss right on my lips before running away. I was paralyzed there motionless for a few minutes. It was surprising and exhilarating but why my heart was racing was a mystery.

I do like her but love would be a bit much. Part of my mind still wants to think of her as a girl rather than a lady. Yet my hearts raced all night since I first saw her. Touching my chest a thought occurred to me. Are you the one who loves her? Perhaps I've never been alone in this chasey. If a child's thoughts were added alongside and adults would you know which are yours? Would an adult mind being more progressed simply overperform the child in the beginning? Yet sometimes I get the urge to act immature. Don't worry if you're in here too and you like her, I won't go pushing her away.