Epilogue: The Return of the Lightning ArchPriestess

One Year and a Month Later

Mitsuha blinked as she felt the once-again familiar sensation of world shifting back into the land of Zegleus. Although she still bore the scars from the wounds on her back and her stomach was still sore from the operation, she knew it had already been too long since her return. Medically, the last of the metal shards were removed, so it was now just a matter of letting her healing powers deal with the residual damage, which shouldn't be that long, and for that, she was still grateful for the efforts of her allies back on Earth.

Of greater concern was her prolonged absence from the Kingdom of Zegleus. Her mind kept going back to that fateful moment over a year ago; she had gotten too comfortable... too complacent and paid the price. But she knew it had to be more than just her they were after; whoever did such a thing would surely have more terrible things planned. Her mind went to all the worst-case scenarios that would befall the Kingdom... her province and her people... how they would suffer because she got careless. Whoever did this, she vowed, well, whatever you were planning... it's over... I'm coming for you...!

Then there was Micchan... with all that had happened, it had very nearly slipped her mind that Mitsuha had brought her here so long ago, which made her suffer even more anguish when it dawned on her the enormity of what must have happened to her. Such a trivial little thing... setting up a winery... with all that happened, it almost made her laugh at the irony, were it not for the decent chance her friend might not have survived being here a year entirely on her own, which would be a final crushing blow of grief if the worst happened.

One thing at a time though, Mitsuha thought, as she took a look around the room. This was her private room on the third floor of her Capital city residence, where she kept her most personal stash of items. She hadn't even let Sabine up here, though not for lack of trying from the Princess' part. She was struck how dark and quiet the room was, along with the faint musty smell, as if no one had been here for quite some time, which immediately filled her with thoughts about the worst possible outcome: Clearly, no one had been living here for a long time, which must have meant Micchan might have... d...

Mitsuha shook her head. No, I can't think like that...! There could have been a million other reasons why no one was here. She would need to go out into the city to do some investigating before jumping to conclusions. Just then, she heard the faint sounds of activity coming from the floors below, along with irregular footsteps coming up. She held her breath; ordinarily, she would have trusted her security system to prevent common burglars from breaking in, but if no one had been here in more than a year, then perhaps the whole system had stopped working from lack of maintenance. She kept quiet and stayed in the shadows, wanting to get the drop on any potential intruder. However, she nearly dropped dead of shock when the figure crested to the top of the stairs with a lantern illuminating her face.

"M... Mitsuha..." Michiko whispered. Mitsuha stared at her friend, barely recognizing her. She was hobbling on the stairs with a cane and her hair was so much longer than she had ever worn it throughout her childhood. It was her eyes though that made Mitsuha's wounds ache the most; there was a look of sadness that came when someone had seen things that would change them in such a way that could never be undone.

Mitsuha collapsed to her knees as the pain from her wounds combined with the overwhelming feeling of guilt finally flooded through her as it hit her all at once just what was lost... her friend's innocence... any semblance of a normal life back in Japan. Whatever plans she might have had would surely have been beyond any hope of salvage with such a long time away; she'd be lucky if the authorities didn't declare her a casualty of trafficking or even legally deceased. "I... I... I'm so sorry...! I never meant for this to happen to you...!" She had no idea how Michiko was going to react to this moment; at this point, she was prepared for any reaction from anger to tears.

Michiko started to tear up and slowly came up to Mitsuha and hugged her. "A wise woman once told me something simple... Que Sera Sera... don't sweat the small stuff..."

Mitsuha looked at her with a dumbfounded expression. "When I said that*, I was talking about actual small stuff, not... "

* see Manga Chp92 / LN Chp30

Michiko broke the tension. "OK, this isn't so small... but maybe what we can take from this... even someone as powerful as the Lightning ArchPriestess... isn't immune to Fate... or Time... We can't undo what's been done. All we can do is take the lessons we learn, move forward... and do the best we can..."

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Mitsuha listened to Michiko's story* as she poured tea in the dining room adjacent to the kitchen on the first floor. At first, she wondered if her language powers were playing tricks on her, as she heard the words coming out of Michiko's mouth; was that the Zegleus language she's speaking? Did that "Cat God" show up and give her the same language gift? No, wait... she has a bit of an accent, but still... "So, am I hearing you right?" she confirmed in the Zegleus language. "Since when did you start speaking the local language?"

* see Journey to Another World to Find Myself

Michiko shrugged. "As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. The only other person in Zegleus interested in spoken Japanese is Sabine and that's only for me to do voiceovers for her DVD watching."

Mitsuha noticed the mood shift when she changed topics; she had been asking about the state of the Kingdom as Michiko brought her up to date on what had happened in Zegleus in the past year... or at least the highlights. Something about her tone, not to mention her pronounced limp and the cane she carried told her that she was leaving out the uncomfortable parts but maybe that would be something she would need to look into another day. "Is there anything I can do about those guys... the ones who...?"

Michiko shook her head and sighed. "It... it's been taken care of... but the good news is... I had a chance to meet with your leadership team... they did a really good job holding things together in your absence. Once you've had a chance to reconnect with the King, you should be good to go on resuming your work on the betterment of your province and your people, although I'd be careful about letting Colette hug you when you see her..." as she winced from the memory of her bone-crushing embraces of affection.

Ahh... you too... Mitsuha thought. "Believe me, I remember..." she nodded, with a slight smile beginning to form. OK, so maybe it won't be so bad... I'll have to check in with the King and other nobles to see what the mood is... but whatever happens... she then looked back to Michiko, "Thank you... for everything... Viscountess Nakamura."

Michiko blushed. "Th-that still sounds so weird to hear... I haven't even been assigned a province yet. The Royal minister say they're still sorting things out, with all the deposed nobles being dealt with. To be honest... now that you're here, my usefulness is kind of..."

Mitsuha cut her off sternly. "You helped saved the Kingdom. My return doesn't change that. The King himself put you on the Privy Council, and from what you've said, he's going to want you around, even once I reestablish myself. That said... whatever... wherever you decide you want your future to go, is entirely up to you."

"I... I wouldn't even know what I would say to my parents... or if I even have a life left in Japan," Michiko said wistfully. "I know I owe my parents some kind of explanation but... I mean... they must be beside themselves. College is... well... I'd have to reapply... and I'm not even sure I have a place there."

Mitsuha straightened herself up. "Well... when you're ready... the gate is open for you... I have to go and make right everything that broke while I was away... and see if... even I still have a place here... after all this time..."

"Well, regardless of what anyone else says... just remember... what we said to each other... all those years ago..." Michiko said, offering her pinkie, "whatever happens... we'll always have each other... no matter what...."

Mitsuha reciprocated, joining her pinkie, "... no matter what... that's a promise."

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"Lady Yamano," the King began, "I think I speak for everyone here when I say that all of Zegleus is overjoyed to see your safe return. It grieves us to hear about the difficulties you encountered, and rest assured, whatever necessary follow up against the men who made the attempt on your life, and any nation who sponsored them, will be made to pay in full. If you need some time or assistance to resume your duties as the ruler of your province, the Crown would be more than willing to provide any support you need in this transition."

Mitsuha curtsied before the Royal court before the King and their full attendance of advisors. Also, present were several of the more prominent noble families as word of Mitsuha's return had spread like wildfire throughout the halls and streets of the noble district and beyond. "Thank you, your Majesty for your understanding and gracious welcome. I'm happy to finally be back and ready to resume my duties to serve the Kingdom. I just need to take Micchan back to her home country, then once she's safe, I'll be ready for..."

"Absolutely not!" Eibinger denied as several other nobles and city college ministers nodded in agreement.

Mitsuha almost jumped at Eibinger reaction. "I realize you just got back and maybe you hadn't been brought up to date on recent events, but many of us in the court and the college are very much looking forward to working with Lady Nakamura once she's had a chance to get set up in the city."

"So, you were just going to take Michiko-oneesan back to your country and we'd never see her again?" Sabine exclaimed with despair.

"Ah... well... I didn't say that... exactly... " Mitsuha backpedaled. Urk... so much for that idea... Despite what she told Michiko earlier; she was considering bringing her back to Japan for her own safety after seeing her in so much pain and suffering but hadn't anticipated this reaction from the rest of the nobles of Zegleus. "I-I was just saying... her injuries looked very serious, and I was going to take her back so she could get treated by our medical care, like I did with Alexis-sama*, then of course I was going to bring her right back...!" she equivocated.

* see Manga Chp29 /LN Chp13 / Anime Epi10

"Ah... good, that's much better then," Chancellor Saar nodded, with a knowing look in his eye. "I was told Lady Nakamura has an advanced background in Economics from your country so once she gets back, I was very much looking forward to hearing her insights and how they could apply to our country's economy and improvements she could offer. There's also the matter of her setting up a residence, land responsibilities, and some political and practical matters that would be need to be addressed."

"Ah... OK... I guess she could stay at my place until then..." Mitsuha suggested.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Claus Bozes offered. "She's more than welcome to stay in our guest room until those matters are sorted out. It was practically her home for nearly a year. Iris and the children will be thrilled to have her for as long as it takes. She can even take the time to study the ways of our society and noble etiquette while staying there."

Geez Micchan... what did you do, go out and make friends with everyone...? She told Mitsuha that all she did was "do her small share to help the Kingdom" during her story, but didn't go into details. Evidently, she must have downplayed her role a bit, though upon reflection, Mitusha realized she should have known better. The King wouldn't have promoted Micchan to such a high noble rank if all she did was "help out a little bit", and the haunted look in her eyes suggested she had to do something drastic* that she didn't want to talk about.

* see Journey to Another World to Find Myself, Epi13

Well, I guess it can't be helped, Mitsuha sighed. She knew whatever plans Micchan might have had before coming to Zegleus... that ship had sailed, so I guess I kind of owe it to her, after leaving her here for a whole year. Sure, it was because some bad guys tried to come after me, but still, she ended up paying the price about as much as I did. She thought about Micchan's pained expression as she walked, despite her attempts to hide it; no doubt medieval medicine could only do so much to mend her, and Micchan didn't have magical healing powers.

Well, if Micchan is going to be sticking around, I can make the most of the situation. Having an ally with eyes and ears in the palace would certainly be useful and she definitely has the intelligence and integrity to be tremendous asset to any King, though she's going to need to stop being so trusting, if she wants to survive in this environment. Way too many of the nobility are going to walk all over her if she doesn't lose that sweet naive nature of hers really fast in a political arena.

Meanwhile, there were a few things that Mitsuha wanted to take care of back on Earth. For starters, she made a mental note to make an appointment with Dr. Nishimura. If Micchan was going to be sticking around, she really needed her leg fixed properly and that would need modern surgery. Next, she planned to take her on a trip to Wolf Fang's base. If you're going to be living in a place as dangerous as a medieval land, you'll need a way to defend yourself, especially since you don't have powers, and since neither of us ever showed any martial skills in school, guns are our only realistic option. Yeah, I can already hear Micchan's objections over the idea of using guns... well, get used it. Sooner or later, you'll need to be able to defend yourself, especially if I'm not around. Last of all, she needed to make one last visit... to bid farewell...