The Family of Darius Before Alexander

A week passed as Riverlight struggled to regain its lost footing.

It wasn’t just Riverlight either. All ten kingdoms of Sarai now stood without their revered leaders. Lilly the assassin had completely disappeared off the map after having swiftly gotten rid of all her targets, and the great general Thien had followed after her.

At least that was the chatter as we walked around the outer circle of Cottol.

Lilly and Aila both walked ahead as I dragged along behind them. The people walked around with a hesitation in their step. Kids didn’t play, the decorations meant to celebrate Lilly’s assassination all sat in disarray, and a general sense of hopelessness hung in the air.

From what I gathered, the people here clearly thought highly of their king. It was probably best to not break that notion just yet.

It reminded me of old war photos. The dragging, that feeling of loss that emanated from person to person. Something inside hurt for them. It wasn't their fault. Their king may have been a pathetic excuse of a human yet that didn't make it hurt less, especually for the people of Cottol.

The only place to break these trends was Cottol’s national bank. As we passed by, it was a far cry from the depressed air. Here, the bankers all ran back and forth as money flowed just like the riverwater.

Shouts of the river’s healing could be heard even a block away, the one bit of hope keeping the people sane.

“You think they will ever connect the dots?” Aila asked, happily walking along next to Lilly.

“One day,” Lilly said, with the same calm tone I’d come to expect from her. “There’s still a lot of clean up yet to take place before people can process what really happened.”

“That there is,” I agreed as we turned into a random alley. Shadows blanketed the marble, with bits of scattered wood on the brick road. “Lilly, the message said it would be somewhere around here, right?”

“It should just be around the corner.” The day after Thien’s death, three mysterious letters had appeared by our beds, all with a wax dolphin seal. They told us to meet in the most out of the way bar imaginable in exactly a week from then, some place I’d never heard of called Il Leone.

Said place turned out to be a rickety, run-down bar. In a city of gilded marble buildings, the splintered wood and uncut stone stuck out like a sore thumb.

I pushed open the creaky door. It was a rather small place with smooth wooden benches around the walls and some scattered tables. Most of the place was completely empty, with the exception of a few drunk people seated around the counter.

“Nice to see you all alive and breathing, dead people are much more annoying to chat with.” Near the back, Francis leaned back in a rickety oak chair. “Though of course I never worried for a second, you know.”

“I’m sure,” I grumbled, taking the seat across from him. “You had the whole fight planned out.”

“So what if I did? Thien always was the type to push whatever boundaries came his way. All I had to do was give him an excuse.”

I just sat back and chucked. Typically, I would be fuming at getting used like a puppet, but something about the way Francis shrugged it off hit in just the right way.

“So, you're sending us home?” Lilly broke through the science.

“Home? Are you sure you want that?”

“Am I sure?” I slammed a fist on the table. “This world is hell.”

“Noted,” Francis rolled his eyes. “What about you two? Let’s say, theoretically, I sent Lilly and Rin back the way they came. Could you leave this life behind, leave behind the friends you made?” He looked toward Aila with that last part.
“I…” Lilly hesitated, looking toward Aila.

What was with those two? It seemed like ever since we got separated at the border, their whole relationship had changed. I had no idea what this awkward feeling was, but I couldn’t fully shake it off. Oh well, I’d surely find out eventually.

“Give that question some thought and yourselves some time to mull it over, I won’t be heading out for a while.”

“Fine…” I sighed. As antsy as I was to get home, what was really waiting for me? Parents that had never loved me? A bunch of past history I could never make up for?

In my time here, I'd truly had the chance to start over, move on from the street brawls and crimes of my time on Earth. What did I have looking forward? Lilly was the only person on that entire planet I cared for and she was here.

“Also, this planet may still need a hero.” Francis interrupted my train of thought. “East has a lot of questions to answer. You proved to me that you really are a hero, Rin. Despite anything you may think or say to the contrary.”

He stood up, tossing a gold coin to the man behind the bar. “You know where to find me. Also, don’t worry about your wanted status. I’ll talk to Richard and make sure Unit E takes you both back with open arms. It’ll be as if nothing ever happened.”

“One more thing,” I called out to Francis. “Back at the time when we got summoned, I got hit with a stream of boiling water. Did you have anything to do with that?”

“Boiling water?” Francis frowned. “I’m afraid that doesn’t have anything to do with me, wish I could help you, though.”

As he let the creaking door close behind him, an uncomfortable silence was all that remained.

I turned to Aila. For my entire life before coming here, I had always assumed Lilly was the only person in the world I would ever get along with. But this new world had given me more than I could have imagined. Francis was definitely right about that.

And evidently Lilly agreed. “I remember, Rin, back in the days before this whole mess began, how cool this all was to me. Another world, one with magic and dancing plants and without all the schoolwork and tests I’d had to deal with in Japan. Now that we're free from Thien, is it so bad to want to enjoy it all?”

She grasped Aila’s hand. “And Aila, I know we started out on the wrong foot, but the more we talk, the more I realize that I don’t want to leave you, definitely not after we just met!”

“S-same here!” Aila blushed red. “Francis clearly doesn’t plan to bring me along, and you two have changed my life so much these past few months.”

Aila turned to me and smiled. “Rin, I understand whichever way you choose, but I just wanted to say that having you as my partner, meeting Lilly, all of this has resulted in the best few months of my life.”

“I-” my voice caught in my throat. There was no denying the inevitable. “It sounds like we're all in agreement then. If this world needs heroes, then we'd better be ready and up to the task.”

“Waiter!” Aila called. “Three drinks over here!”

I took a deep breath and leaned back on my chair. Unit E, Riverlight, Thien, these past months had been one massive headache after another.

Yet, for now, that was all gone. And right now, more than anything else, more than ever before—it was time to look forward, into the future.

“Cheers!” We clanked our drinks together, the first of many to come.