B5 Epilogue I

As she flew through the gaping ritual portal, there were about a dozen reasons for Verin to curse. Some of them, it had to be said, were far

AN: Not the final chapter. One more to go.

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As she flew through the gaping ritual portal, there were about a dozen reasons for Verin to curse. Some of them, it had to be said, were far more important than others.

Even so, she first cursed herself for not tying her recall gem to her bedroom. As the scenery around her abruptly shifted, she quickly found herself in the familiar foyer of her vacation home in Emer’Thalis, proving that the ritual had been a success. 

Unfortunately, that did nothing to arrest her momentum or right her position. Still flying back from being ignominiously lobbed through the portal, instead of crashing into a fluffy bed, Verin slammed her tailbone into the hardwood floor. Apparently, the height hadn’t been enough to activate the falling protections from her Ornithological Ornamentation, and she winced as her collision doubtlessly earned her a new bruise.

It was only once the pain began to fade that she began to reflect on the fight she’d just lost.

Then, rather than a simple muffled expletive, the cursing began in earnest.

Barely a minute! Years of training, leveling, ranking up my class skills, and I barely managed to hold her off for a singular minute. And that had been with Calilah attempting to protect her. Utterly infuriating.

Under different circumstances, she would have indulged in a bit more self-recrimination, but her own shortcomings were a distant, tertiary concern at the moment.

Will Calilah manage to push her through? But of course she would. Perhaps the warrior’s first strike hadn’t succeeded, but she was well aware how powerful Cal could become given enough time. As fearsome as Tess could be, if at first Cal couldn’t beat her, she would by the end. And then I will give Lady Tess a piece of my mind in person.

And on the very, very small chance that Tess somehow beat both of them, well, then all Verin had to do was go back and get her. Pulling herself up and reaching into a pocket, Verin removed the new locator token Tess had given her. As long as she had it, she could force Archmage Xander’Callis to prepare a new ritual that would send her back to the dungeon.

As if to reassure herself, she identified the trinket, focusing on the large red gem in its center.

Locator Token

An artifact bound to a particular being’s location, used to home in on them in locator or teleportation spells.

Even as she read the usual description, however, her system perked up.

A conditional enchantment has activated!

Locator Token has been deactivated. A message has been attached to this item’s description.

Deactivated? She sincerely hoped that didn’t mean what she thought it did. Gritting her teeth so hard they might crack, Verin read on.

Hey guys. Apparently, Sett has a spell that can attach messages to items. Is it working? Are you reading this? Sorry. Dumb question. If you’re reading this, then of course you’re reading this.

Anyway, if all goes well, I’ll have a chance to send a longer note through the portal, so I won’t go over any of that here. Just letting you know that I had Sett enchant his token to go dormant for the next year. No trying to rush right back! Go enjoy your lives, and I’ll be back before you know it.

-Tess

Naturally, this kicked off an entirely new round of vigorous cursing.

The damned fool. A year? With the dilation, that would be a full five years for her. Verin certainly hoped she would be out well before then.

But then again, it didn’t matter, because surely, Cal would appear with Tess in hand soon. In fact, with the aforementioned dilation, it really should be happening any sec-

“-the spell!” Mid-shout, Cal materialized in the air. Sadly for all involved, her trajectory had been much the same as Verin’s, and the princess slammed into the noble, sending the two to the floor.

For the third time in rapid succession, the elegant and inviting foyer was graced by a steady stream of invectives. Only when they trailed off did Cal manage to partially collect herself.

 “Damn. When did she get so sneaky, anyway? I’m pissed, but also weirdly proud? Maybe I’m rubbing off on her. Probably not the point.” Dismissing her sword, Cal scanned the room, verifying that the teleport had gone off without a hitch.

Damnable rogue. Couldn’t she at least get off of me first? Even so, Verin was too preoccupied to shove her off, her thoughts racing from Cal’s unexpected solo appearance. Surely there’s some manner of mistake here. Did the portal send Tess to another room in the house, perhaps? Even with that slim hope, she knew the truth before it was uttered.

Only now seeming to realize that she wasn’t alone, Cal didn’t even bother to get up, continuing to sit atop her noble cushion. “Oh! Hey Verin. Uh. No easy way to say this, but… I lost.”

And there it was. For a moment, her ego was soothed by the idea that not even Cal had managed to win, but that sentiment was washed away by shame as soon as she recognized it.

They’d lost. Tess was staying in the dungeon. And the locator token couldn’t even send them back.

When finally Verin managed to extract herself from her unfortunate position, she conveyed the recent changes to the locator token to Cal. For the fourth (and hopefully final) time, a new burst of swearing erupted from both of them together. When it ended, despite the ample furnishing and their paired presences, the room felt… empty.

“So. Uh. What now? What do we do? I didn’t really plan ahead for what would happen if she won.” Normally unflappable, the princess appeared lost, not much different than Verin herself.

Truthfully, I do not believe there is anything to do. As much as it pained her to say it, Tess was out of their reach for now. 

In the much more immediate sense -- as in, what to do right now -- their options were much more straightforward.

“I suppose we’ll need to update the relevant parties of our returns, yes?” Given that they were in Emer’Thalis, first, she would have to hunt down one of Tess’s settlement leaders. If they hadn’t somehow divined it by now, certainly they would wish to know what had become of their settlement owner.

After that… well they could cross that bridge when they came to it.

“Come. While I have many modern conveniences I wish to avail myself of, and I would not mind taking a trip to the bathhouse, we should contact the relevant parties first.” Striding out of the foyer, she glanced behind to find Cal following, for once without any argument.

The forest surrounding her vacation home was ever the same, and though it had been quite some time, she knew which way to go to reach the settlement proper. Along their scenic walk, they were unaccosted, even by the forest’s resident dryad. When at last they emerged from the woods, however…

“Woah. Are we sure the dungeon was actually time dilated? Because…”

Though Verin hated to even consider the notion that they’d been gone for years, she couldn’t help but wonder the same. So many changes in such a short time, and that was to say nothing of the looming structure which scraped against the settlement’s skyline.

That can’t be right. Why, in the name of the gods, is that here? 

In the end, Verin wasn’t offered much time to reflect. While she’d hoped to find some manner of a local authority figure, she hadn’t expected to bump into one so soon. More than that, the exact person in question was assuredly not one she’d thought to find here.

Well built and broad shouldered, the man could have passed himself off as a fighter, if perhaps he’d been twenty years younger. Instead, his gray hair and slow, assured steps -- aided by an elaborate cane -- outed him as an entirely different sort of beast. As he neared, his angular features resolving, it was clear that regardless of his age, he’d invested a good deal in his Charisma. While his presence normally would have been a great boon, Verin couldn’t help but be baffled.

“Chamberlain Thompson? You’re in Emer’Thalis?” Compared to the rest of the matters they needed to discuss, the question felt fairly trivial, but it still slipped out of her lips. The head chamberlain of the Sylus household was an impossibly busy man, and while he helped their noble house manage a number of settlements, he rarely found time to leave Sylum.

“Lady Verin and, if I am not mistaken, Her Majesty Princess Calilah,” he intoned with a bow. “A pleasure to see you both returned and in good health. I must admit, it was a shock when one of my skills just informed me of your proximity.”

Verin fought to bite down on the tsk forming on her tongue. The chamberlain was, in many ways, the ideal person to handle the logistics of her return, though she’d been guiltily hoping that she might take a day or two off before running into anyone from her house.

Unaware of her thoughts -- or just as likely, aware but not letting on to it -- the Chamberlain continued. “While I imagine we have more pressing matters to attend to, you have inquired as to my presence here. Right before your disappearance, you tasked me with assisting this settlement get off the ground, did you not? I hope I have performed to your satisfaction in your absence.”

She had, she now recalled. The man had even helped quite handily with some of Tess’s contract negotiations with Sylum’s merchant guild, though that felt like ancient history by now.

Perhaps sensing a hint of her displeasure -- much harder to hold back without her Etiquette -- he tacked on one more question. “Should I consider that task to be complete? I can end my involvement with Emer’Thalis should you wish.”

Of course he should. For one, the man was far too busy to be spending his time here, and besides, Tess hardly deserved his aid in any case. She felt for all the citizens here, but other than that, the entire place could burn, for all she cared. Maybe that would teach Tess a lesson when she returned, and-

“What are you doing? What is that?” Her eyes snapped towards Cal, the princess holding out a sheet of rough paper in front of her. It was slightly whiter than she was used to, but it was clearly Tess’s work.

Flicking her gaze back and forth between Verin and the paper, Cal wobbled her head back and forth a few times. “This? Found it on the floor in your house. Pretty sure you dropped it when you came through. Kind of neat!”

Momentarily forgetting about the chamberlain, Verin snaked a hand out. “Give me that!” Careful not to rip the somewhat fragile paper, she snatched it as gently as she could, only now recalling the cryptic gift Tess had given her at the end of their fight.

Given the situation, she mostly expected to find some infuriating note, one that she would likely burn to vent some of her frustrations. It thus came as quite a shock when she turned the paper around and saw the careful linework thereupon.

It’s… me. 

And it was. Traced out in beautiful blue ink, her likeness perched upon a stool facing an easel. While the canvas upon the easel was blank, that was hardly the point. 

It wasn’t a close up. Hardly a detailed portrait. But for all that, what little features were conveyed had been done with remarkable care. The exact slant of her brows. The curve of her nose. Her lips, pursed in concentration, but ever-so-slightly curled upwards at the edges.

If not the product of a master, it was clearly a labor of love. More than that, it was an image only one who knew her well could produce -- one who’d seen her face a million times, who’d memorized every facet of her form.

Despite herself, she loved it.

So focused was she, that she almost didn’t notice the brief lettering towards the bottom of the page, only reading it after leaving the others in far too long a silence to be polite.

To the best instructor one could ask for, and to an even better friend. 

-Tess

She stared at those words for longer than she wanted to admit, to the point that Cal gave an affected cough to pull her back to the present.

“Chamberlain. Apologies. What was the question again?”

Not showing even a hint of judgment, the man repeated himself.

“I believe I was asking if you would like me to cease the assistance I’ve been providing to the oversight of Emer’Thalis, Lady Verin.”

Hmm? No, that wouldn’t do. Why would he even suggest such a thing? It would hardly make sense to neglect the settlement she’d placed her vacation home in, after all. And even though she didn’t deserve it, the growth of her settlement would be a nice surprise when Tess returned. If anything, it might make her feel a touch of guilt for the stunt she’d pulled, as it should be.

“Please continue.” If Verin had anything to say about it, this settlement would thrive. And as a separate matter…

When we return home, I suppose I’ll need to find a picture frame, now won’t I?

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Under different circumstances, Cal would have already grown bored with their dutiful post-dungeon agenda, running off to get up to some mischief instead. For once, though, she didn’t mind. As Verin spoke, first with this “Chamberlain Thompson” fellow and then with various leaders of Emer’Thalis, Cal simply followed behind her.

If nothing else, it offered her ample time to sift through her thoughts and emotions.

As for her failure against Tess, she was largely already over it. Oh, it still sucked, and Cal was pissed that Tess had locked herself away without backup, but that was about it. She’d walked into that fight thinking she’d had a good shot, but in retrospect, she never should have bet against a Protagonist. In the same vein, Cal was certain Tess would survive, coming out stronger than ever. 

No, for better or for worse, the dungeon was in the past. Now it was time to plan for the future.

Which is supposed to be fun! Gods only knew she’d spent ages in the dungeon planning out exactly what she’d do when she got out. She already had about ten variations of her main plan which ultimately boiled down to “have a good time and engage in hedonism.” There was also the option to latch onto Verin, escaping to Sylum for a time.

Would be nice, right? The noble was loaded, and her birthday was coming up. Maybe she could take a few months to hide from her father and take advantage of Verin’s fancy chefs and amenities. 

And while she would never, ever admit to it, spending some time with Verin wouldn’t be that awful either. Cal hadn’t really had any friends during her stint as a proper holy princess, nor had she done much socializing under Hex’s tutelage. It was no exaggeration to say she was closer with Tess and Verin than anyone else, and while she wasn’t going to rank the two of them, she didn’t need to. Tess wasn’t exactly around right now, after all, which made Verin her closest friend in the same dimension.

Bug her for a bit, drink fancy noble cocktails, crash her birthday party, get up to some mischief with Apex Shroud… Really doesn’t sound too bad.

Her father could wait. Given that Emer’Thalis was still standing, it looked like he hadn’t been stupid enough to wage another war while she was gone. She doubted that would change in another month or two, especially if she sent word that she’d be coming back soon.

And so, in a normal world, that was exactly what she would do.

Sadly, there was one serious kink in that plan.

What Cal hadn’t told Tess was that there was another reason she wouldn’t have minded staying behind in the dungeon for a bit longer. Tess wanted to level up a bit more in case a new Antagonist took an interest in her, and unfortunately, Cal could relate a bit too well.

Scrolling up through her notifications, she found the few lines she still hadn’t shared with the others.

You have awakened…

A queued message has been triggered by a third party.

Frankly, Cal hadn’t known it was even possible to use the system to leave someone a message, but that revelation was nothing in comparison to the message’s contents.

Congratulations are in order. I’ve set this message to trigger if any of my little “experiments” show signs of panning out. Now that you’ve awakened, expect one of my people to be in touch.

- Your Mother

Up until that very moment, Cal had been quite sure her mother had forgotten all about her, and she was beginning to wish that were the case.

Maybe it was nothing! Maybe her mother was some lowly Baron, and Cal had nothing to worry about. Maybe she was already dead, and the message was triggering posthumously. Maybe she was impossibly old or busy, and she wouldn’t get around to getting “in touch” for a few more decades.

Unfortunately, Cal wasn’t willing to entrust her fate to a bunch of maybes. At the very least, she was long overdue a real conversation with her father.

And so, she stayed in Emer’Thalis for a single day. Verin wasn’t able to get her a genuine communication crystal, but her Chamberlain had outfitted Cal with a few recall gems. Now, both Emer’Thalis and Sylum alike would be a single activation away.

But when all the logistics and goodbyes were done, Cal convinced the settlement leaders to let her use their monthly Diplomatic Visit teleportation.

Her adventure thus far had been long and winding, full of unexpected turns, but after over three years, Cal was finally returning home.