Chapter 49: Chapter Forty-Six: Rededication

As the illusionary scene before me faded I gazed at Eurycelia. I was stunned. Almost to the point of not believing what I’d just seen. Otrea herself was the memory thief, and now her and Eskame were two wholly separate people. The little fox that’d been accompanying me, was now my responsibility. At least for the foreseeable future.

At least this was the way Otrea had stated it. She was entrusting me with Eskame, even though she had no idea who I was. Even though she knew that Eskame’s soul was half of her own. Though I guess the two halves had little to do with one another now that the [Clone] spell had been used.

“Before you ask any questions,” Mommy Laura’s voice echoed in my mind. “I did not know that was possible. Seriously, this is the second time Otrea has pulled off a feat I would believe impossible. Even for the lesser gods. The fact that she did it a few centuries ago and we didn’t even detect it. Rysa might be right in saying Otrea is a threat to reality.”

“Is she going to be punished?”

“Maybe. Protecting Order and Law is Rysa’s job, so only she knows for sure. Though, there is another god who governs the flow of souls through our world. They may be interested in what she’s done. However, I don’t know if they’re the type to punish her for it.”

“Mind telling me now if they’re an aunt, uncle, or other assorted family member of mine now?”

“Atoardena, Ardie, might be the closest thing to a grandparent you have. As they and Arealcearu were the first of us. Though before you imagine them as a wrinkly old human, their avatar is nearly the same age as you. I have no idea what kind of relationship they would try to forge with you. I haven’t spoken to them in centuries myself. They govern Souls, Stars, Secrets, and feelings of Nihilism.”

“Misfortune, Cowardice, Nihilism, I’m beginning to feel like every god I meet has one bad domain.”

“Life isn’t interesting if you’re perfect,” Mommy Laura laughed. “Though none of us chose our domains. Perhaps you have a real grandparent out there in the ether, laughing as they watch us all. It wouldn’t surprise me to find that there are gods above me. After all there are worlds beyond our own, and I have no sway there. There must be someone above everything, it seems only logical to me.”

“Alright so I need to look out for Mommy Rysa popping back down to see us, and Ardie who may or may not see herself as my grandma.”

“Ardie prefers androgynous avatars. It is impossible to determine if the body they appear before you in has any gender at all. So while they might see themselves as your grandparent. I doubt they’d be as specific as claiming to be your grandmother or grandfather.”

“Ah. Got it.”

“You’ll get used to it Baby Bernie. Any of the primordial gods you meet are capable of changing their avatars like you change clothing. They can be any age, any gender, any race. Whatever feels like fun to them. Rysa is the only one of us to have never changed her avatar. I’m only keeping a static appearance till you reach one-hundred. You’re still a baby to me until you get at least that old.”

“So you’ll stop calling me Baby Bernie after my one-hundredth birthday?”

“Never. You’ll be Baby Bernie until the day I die.”

“…You can’t die though, right?”

Mommy Laura chuckled. “I’m not planning on it. It’s not impossible, but it is highly improbable. You’d be better served worrying about the mortality of your companions than mine.”

“Bernie,” Eurycelia whispered. Suddenly I noticed she’d been standing beside be this whole time, probably only hearing my half of the conversation. “Who’s Ardie?”

“Atoardena.”

Eurycelia blanched, “your mother says they’re coming to see us?”

“She said it was possible. Since Otrea apparently did something with her soul that even the gods hadn’t predicted to be possible. I guess anything affecting souls piques their interest.”

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“I guess that makes sense,” Eurycelia replied twining her fingers in mine. “Would you like to return to the carriage? There is nothing we can do about Otrea right now. So might as well get some sleep?”

“Yeah. Honestly, I’m a little upset at Otrea for making me worry. Did she think we wouldn’t care?”

“She doesn’t know who we are. I’m sure she’ll feel silly once she can remember everything.”

“I guess,” I sighed. “Alright let's go to bed. I’m done thinking about this for now.”

Together Eurycelia and I snuck back into the carriage and slipped into bed.  Before I could even get comfortable Eskame’s little hand twisted itself in my shirt. The little fox mumbled something before curling up against my stomach and drifting back off to sleep.

Smiling I gave Eskame’s hair a few soft pets before wrapping my arms around her. My little sister wasn’t going anywhere, and while I was a little salty to be given the responsibility of caring for her. I had no immunity to her cuteness. There were far worse things than a little fox who loved cuddles and attention.

I really hope she doesn’t have a rebellious teenage phase in the future. It’s not like I can ground someone ten times my level.

The next morning, I informed Harriette what we’d done. Despite Eurycelia instructing me not to. To both our surprise, it seemed Harriette expected us to go delving into her memories. Otrea’s curse was still in effect so we couldn’t talk about it much, despite everyone knowing what’d happened.

Well everyone except for Kyra and Adelita. Both of whom were absolutely stunned upon hearing what’d transpired while we’d been away. Adelita fretted that the Otrea we saw could’ve been an illusion until Eurycelia played the scene for her to view. The Otrea clone was apparently wearing the same gown she wore when Adelita first met her.

A little detail from the past that added a lot of validity to what’d transpired. Especially since she confirmed Otrea hadn’t wore said gown in at least two-hundred years. Which made sense if her clone had been wearing it this whole time.

As weird as it is to admit. I hope she’s back to the goth magical girl look when we see her again. I’m not sure I’ll be able to believe it is her. Not until her terrible fashion sense is restored.

“Alright everyone. So, coffee, or do you want to hunt down Otrea?”

“Like we could find the Exiled Witch if she doesn’t want to be found,” Eurycelia laughed.

“Let’s continue our original objective,” Harriette nodded.

“I want to make you happy Bernie. Let’s get the coffee,” Adelita smiled.

“Big Sis~!” Eskame snuggled against me. “You look sad? Are you sad? Do you wanna hug Misses Fox?”

“I’m not sad,” I giggles and mussed up Eskame’s hair. I realized I’d been thinking too much about Otrea since waking up. She was off doing her super witch things, and had no need for any of us. I’d worry about her when she returned. Not a moment before that.

“Alright, let’s keep going. I owe Otrea some espresso, so let’s get it before she wakes up.”