Chapter 81: Chapter Sixty-Seven – Resurrection 

When I opened my eyes I was laying on a couch, with Lucetta’s soul nowhere to be seen. I started to sit up only to collapse back onto the couch, my vision clouding. “What the heck.” 

“Don’t worry you’ll feel fine soon,” Otrea noted from somewhere nearby.

“How long have I been out?” 

“Not long, you’ve failed to stay asleep long enough to miss a single meal. Impressive for your first time. Did your friend settle on her new form?”

“She agreed to be a snow elf, seems she wasn’t all that attached to her previous self. Though, is it possible for a snow elf to have silver hair?” 

“I don’t know,” Otrea replied sitting down beside me and guiding my head into her lap. “But that doesn’t matter, I can give her silver hair.” 

“I think she’d appreciate that.” 

“Consider it done,” Otrea began to gently pet my bunny ears, gliding the backs of her fingers in the direction of my fur. “I’ve been thinking about the things I saw in your memories.” 

“Yeah.” 

“I was only able to see a few weeks into your past, and I was thinking about how meeting you must’ve changed everyone’s lives for the better. I saw Adelita smile, a warm gathering of family, all together to celebrate. I’ve lived centuries and yet I can’t remember a single time I saw a gathering with so much warmth to it, to believe I’d have been part of that. The sadistic councilwoman Otrea Ladnier is not someone you invite anywhere casually.”

“You were really scary when we met, but over time, I’d like to think I tamed you.” 

“You tamed me?” Otrea laughed. “That’s the most ludicrous statement I’ve ever heard.” 

“That’s the power of a good espresso, once you’ve had it, you can’t live without it.” 

“I remember you and I drinking such a beverage in your memories. It seemed like I enjoyed it.” 

“Future you loved it, and I’m about to get current you hooked on it too. Once you resurrect Lucetta of course, so that Neige will let me ride on her wyvern.” 

“Guess I should get started then,” Otrea chuckled. “But these ears of yours are sinfully soft.” 

“Soft and sensitive. Other than making me look cute, and giving me an intense weakness to pets, they don’t do much.” 

“You shouldn’t expect much from a pair of ears. Just by being soft they are already better than most others. I would rather pet you than a human.” 

“Ellione is human, future you seemed to rank her higher than all others.” 

“I can’t speak for feelings I don’t have, but soft ears alone are not enough to win over my heart. There are many things a woman must possess for me to see her as anything more than a fun distraction. Speaking of the princess, you said before that she was your mother?”  

“Yup.” 

“And yet you are not human?” 

“My adoptive mother did this to me, as something of a joke. Of course, I’ve grown used to my ears and tail, I wouldn’t ask to be rid of them now.” 

“You’ve lived a complex life.”

“And you haven’t?” 

“I’ve never had adoptive parents give me animal features for fun.” 

“You’ve become an ageless witch with unrivaled power, that’s a one-of-a-kind life.” 

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“I wouldn’t call my power unrivaled,” Otrea replied pinching my ear, eliciting a squeal from me. “There are others who rival me, and at least for now, outmatch me.”

“I’ve seen you take down an Elder Dragon, it’s hard to believe that you could be outmatched by anyone.” 

“Says the girl who watched the god of time defeat me with her own eyes.” 

“That was the second time I’ve witnesses you lose your memories. Last time it happened triggered an elaborate fail safe which caused a clone you’d created a century prior to wake up and take them for herself. I just can’t imagine you could lose.”  

“I am not invincible,” Otrea replied before standing. “If I’m being honest, the more we speak of the future me, the more she feels like a completely separate person. We may share our talent for [Ether Magic], but I’ve never thought of myself as being exceptionally cautious. My life has never held so much worth in my eyes that I’d concoct elaborate solutions to preserve it.” 

“The future you experienced true love and lost it, maybe that is what is separating you?” 

“Perhaps,” Otrea sighed. I sat up to watch her as she held her hand over the body in her lab, the flesh slowly morphing until a young silver-haired snow elf girl lay there. “How old is your friend?” 

“If I remember correctly she was twenty,” I mumbled tapping on my chin as I thought back. “But she said she was Harriette’s older sister, so that can’t be right… she’d have to be one-hundred or something. But ah, maybe she wanted to be younger, I didn’t ask if she’d been allowed to make any requests for her previous body. All I know is that she didn’t want to be a dwarf… How old would she be if you put her in that body right now?” 

“Seven. I can use magic to age the body, at the rate of one year per day spent. Making her one-hundred would be quite trying.” 

“If the age of her body doesn’t match the age of her soul, will her soul reject it?” 

“As long as everything else is favorable to her, I don’t believe so. Being too young is a problem one can overcome simply by living.” 

“Can you age her up once her soul is in the body?” 

“Yes. Though it is very painful apparently.” 

“Apparently?”

“I’ve only artificially aged one person, it did not end well for them. They are fine now, but it took them months to overcome the experience.” 

“Who did you artificially age?” 

“It doesn’t matter,” Otrea sighed. “What matters is that you decide how old your friend should be. If we awake her now, she’ll be a child. If you have a romantic relationship with one another, I am certain that would be dreadful for you.” 

“I have no romantic feelings for her whatsoever. Actually… she said her childhood was pretty rough, maybe being a kid again will mend some of the scars on her heart? That might work, plus Eskame could always use a playmate.” 

“I doubt someone with a mature mind would ever be a suitable playmate for a child.” 

“We can hope,” I giggled. “Seven years old it is, wake her up now Otrea.” 

Shaking her head at me, Otrea lifted up Lucetta’s soul and placed it just below the navel on her new body. Casting a spell she caused the soul to seep into the body, vanishing from sight. Slowly the body’s deathly gray flesh turned a soft white, with a light pinkish hue. Lucetta’s eyes opened seconds before a violent coughing fit overcame her. 

“Lay still and take it easy,” Otrea commanded. “It will take a few hours for your new body to acclimate to life.” 

“Ugh, this is worse than the first time I switched bodies,” Lucetta groaned as glistening tears seeped from the corners of her eyes. 

“Last time there was a god involved,” I giggled. “This time your new body is god free.” 

“Status.” Lucetta mouthed, moments later her eyes widened in delight. “My… level, my skills, it’s all here.” 

“Hmm?” I tilted my head as I appraised Lucetta. 

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