"Well now, what do we have here? Shurry, it's really you!"
A voice laughed, announcing himself. He wore heavy armor all over, with the exception of his head, where the helm was tucked firmly under his arm.
"Uncle Zald, I had a feeling you'd all come here first. It's good to see you again."
Then 12 year old Meda came running over…
"Uncle Shurry!!!"
She didn't care about anything else at the moment, just that she could now finally see her uncle again.
"You've got bigger, like everywhere?"
"Pfft, you've done some growing yourself, Meda. It's good to see you too."
"Hey, Bell! Come here! It's Uncle Shurry!"
Bell, despite being 8 years old now, didn't act this way at all. Instead he was a little more childish. And he hid behind Meteria.
"Mommy, who's he? He feels like a thousand Great-uncle Zalds combined."
Alfia gave the young Bell a light chop on the head.
"Did you not hear your big sister? That's the uncle we've told you stories about."
"Oh? Really!?"
Meteria walked up closer, approaching Shurry, they both smiled. However, she showed that she still had a difficult time with this place. Instead of greeting him right away, she crouched down by the gravesite, and spoke…
"I hope you're watching, Alraj… Our boy's growing up, smart, strong, healthy, and kind… Thankfully he's not as pervy as you were, or I'd have to worry about him having a girlfriend or two already."
Meteria giggled, wiping the tears from her eyes, as she stood back to her feet.
"Little brother, I'm sorry, it's been so long, and I can't…"
"If you're worried about what happened to Ardee, you can stop. You have absolutely no reason to feel guilty about it."
"It-"
"It does sting more than I can express in words. Well, maybe I could say, it drove me to kill gods, but that still feels too simple of a description for this emotion."
Meteria sniffled, and nodded.
"Well alright then, I'd like you to meet Bell, the son Alraj and I had. You saw him as a baby, but… He's grown up a little now."
Shurry squatted down to eye level with the current timeline's Bell.
"Hey there, Bell, it's good to see you again. You've done a lot of growing since then."
Bell was currently in awe of the one squatting before him.
"You're strong, just like they all said."
Shurry smiled, and rubbed Bell's head with a firm hand…
"Yeah, you're my uncle-"
"Hey Uncle Shurry no fair, I want a headpat too!"
"Pfft, alright, but I've only got two hands…"
Shurry chuckled, and really gave them the uncle tier headpats.
The Future Bell had so many different thoughts running through his head at the moment… He was frozen…
"Ah, everyone, I'm glad you're here. Truly. And, it'll come out soon anyway, so, I'll just introduce you like this… Everyone, this young man's name is Bell Cranel, and Chaos seemed like it was worth causing trouble to send him here to this time, from a future time. Did I explain that right, Grandpa Zeus?"
"Yeah, that's what it looks like to me. It's interesting, Chaos isn't usually like this. Your world must be in some truly hellish peril if they sent you here."
"Ha, then what do you call those scenes in the mirror?"
"You got me there Hera…"
Future Bell had no idea what to do right now. He wanted to hug his grandpa, but he didn't know if he could with how terrifying Alfia and Zald were. Then there was his mother… And so, he just started crying.
"Bell from the future, your time likely had many different results, each leading to the point in time you're at. How far in the future were you?"
It was Meteria who stepped up first to talk to the future Bell.
"Seven years…" He continued crying… "I'm sorry, but… I grew up without either of my parents… I had my grandpa, until he died in a monster attack."
Meteria gave the future Bell a hug.
"I may not be the exact same… But I can do this, if it helps."
"It does…"
…
Everyone moved to the Hathor familia home, where they were welcomed in with drinks, food, and smiles. Shurry excused himself, returned to the Astraea familia home where the rest of their familia had made it back after a long day of work.
"I'm inviting all of you to a massive feast-"
"I'm ready!!!"
It wasn't long before they all reacted like that. And once they arrived at the Hathor familia home, the party began. There was no need to hold back. It was time to party!
Future Bell was so overwhelmed by all of the new things happening that he took a moment and stepped away from the party, especially after the sexual side of things really started going strong, as they always did.
Zald was attentive, and followed Bell…
Outside, in the fresh air the two looked out through the Hathor familias exquisite garden, and landscape.
"It's a little much for you, isn't it?"
"Yeah…"
"Say, what am I like in this timeline of yours?"
"You're dead…"
"Hmm, figures… Without Shurry's freakish healing ability, I doubt I'd even have the will to continue living."
"Huh?"
"In fact, I think I would have offered myself up as a sacrifice to strengthen the next generation, in the hopes they might find a way to kill that damned dragon."
"So, that's what his reasoning behind siding with Evilus was back then… That makes sense…"
"It's a sentiment that Alfia, and I both share. It's because of Shurry that we're still alive… I- I should apologize. Alraj only died because I hadn't woken up yet. The fact is, from my perspective, I was hit by the dragon, and then my next memory was waking up while Meteria cried into a pillow, and then… I went outside to see, Shurry had held back just enough not to kill the ones responsible. And then… When Zeus handed him his aunt's necklace… Shit, he lost it…"
"He must have really loved her."
"They were both werewolves, so I'm sure there was something deeper that I'd never understand… But, I don't need to know that he was, well… You can imagine. It was enough to push him from a new level 4 to peak level 9 in just 8 years… In fact, I think he's able to level up, and is just holding it back to give his body some time to adjust."
"I'd heard it's dangerous to go into a fight right after leveling up-"
"Only cowards think that way. After you've leveled up a few times, you shouldn't need anymore time to adjust."
"Then why is he?"
"This is different, he's not adjusting to his body for a fight, He's adjusting to the level he's at now, so he can handle the next one with the same ease as one should have."
"So, it's not dangerous?"
"You just leveled, and the party is a bit much for either of us…"
"I, as well."
Alfia's voice made Future Bell jump in fright.
"I didn't even hear you."
"I have the effect on people, it seems stronger now that I'm also a level 9. Empress was really something… I miss her."