Eliana Javier, age nineteen for the second time, opened her eyes and took inventory.
Item One: One horse-drawn carriage. Quality: imperial-grade. Speed: slow enough to give her plenty of time to regret every life choice that led here.
Item Two: One fancy blue silk gown. Defensive value: zero. Thermal properties: worse than zero. Symbolic value: a giant, expensive "fuck you" from her past self.
Item Three: Two imperial guards on horseback outside. Loyalty: to the Emperor, not to her. Threat level: minimal, unless she tried to turn the carriage around. Which she was considering.
Item Four: A head full of memories that didn't belong here. Two lifetimes worth. One ending in ice and blood, the other in screaming metal. Current mental state: pissed.
Item Five: A translucent blue screen floating in her vision that read:
[SYSTEM: ACTIVE]
[PARTY LINK: CONNECTING…]
[ADMIN REMINDER: THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE. DON'T BE AN IDIOT.]
"Too late," Lia muttered, leaning back against the velvet cushions. "I was born an idiot. I died an idiot. Now I'm a time-traveling idiot."
The party link connected.
And chaos, in the form of three panicking brothers, flooded into her mind.
MARCUS: Lia?!
KAELEN: I'm coming to get you—
RHYS: If we commandeer gryphons from the royal mews we could—
Eliana leaned back. She could feel their panic, their guilt, their stupid, desperate love vibrating through the link. Centuries of silence, broken by cosmic IT guys who were sick of their drama.
She opened the line.
"Can you all shut the fuck up?"
Silence.
"I'm in the carriage. On schedule. Don't intercept. It's a waste of resources."
She felt their protest like a physical pressure.
"Follow me after you patch up your work there."
MARCUS:You're right. We have work to wrap up here. I'd forgotten.
KAELEN:Oh, come on! Who cares about this imperial desk job? This is some boomer shit.
RHYS:I'm passing my resignation this instant![USER:RHYS–OFFLINE]
KAELEN:Rhys, you idiot! No fair! I'll be doing mine first![USER:KAELEN–OFFLINE]
MARCUS:We'll wrap things here as quickly as we can. Wait for us. Tell us when you arrive in the North, Lia.
LIA (MENTAL):Alright, just leave.
MARCUS:Alright then. Take care.[USER:MARCUS–OFFLINE]
Lia was alone in the carriage again. The one servant sent with her was in the following cart with her luggage.
"Hmm." She addressed the empty air. "So, who are you guys, exactly?"
[ADMIN A: CALL ME ADMIN A. WE MANAGE THOSE WHOSE REGRET IS SO INTENSE IT PUNCTURES COSMIC BOUNDARIES DURING THEIR DEATH THROES. SERIOUSLY, YOU SIBLINGS ARE HANDFUL.]
"So, what can you do for us, exactly? There's a twist as to why you're revealing yourselves, right?"
[ADMIN A: YOU ARE QUICK WITH UNFAMILIAR MATTERS. LET'S JUST SAY YOU ARE THE MOST ELIGIBLE CANDIDATES TO CLEAR THE MONSTER INFESTATION IN THE NORTH.]
"Is that all? You know I'm not keen on using swords. I'm not even a mediocre mana aura user."
[ADMIN A: YOU FOOL! HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN? YOU AWAKENED YOUR MANA AURA IN YOUR DYING BATTLE. YOU MANAGED TO FEND OFF THE BOSS GOLEM. YOU DIED DUE TO MANA EXPLOSION. THAT'S THE REASON WE'RE HERE. CHECK YOUR HUD. JUST SAY 'HUD'.]
"HUD."
As soon as Lia called for it, the blue screen solidified before her.
[ADMIN A: SEE THAT? MP, EXP, AND SP. MANA POOL TRACKS YOUR MAGICAL STAMINA. EXPERIENCE POINTS ARE GAINED IN BATTLE AND CAN BE EXCHANGED FOR WEAPONS IN THE SYSTEM SHOP. SYSTEM POINTS ARE WHAT WE AWARD FOR KILLING MONSTERS. YOU CAN AMPLIFY OR UPGRADE YOUR GEAR WITH THOSE.]
"What about this 'Teleportation' skill?"
[ADMIN A: OH, THAT. YOU CAN TELEPORT ANYWHERE MARKED BY ONE OF YOUR PARTY. CRAZY, RIGHT? IN THIS WORLD, ONLY ARCH-WIZARDS AND ARTIFACTS CAN DO THAT. AND THAT PIN ICON ON YOUR HUD IS A MINI-MAP. YOU CAN EVEN SEND MARKED LOCATIONS TO YOUR BROTHERS. SHARE THE WEALTH!]
"You sound awfully proud of it. What about 'Enhanced Skills'? And 'Marksman'? 'Assault'?"
[ADMIN A: THE ENHANCED SKILLS ARE SYSTEM-FUELED. YOU CAN USE THEM ANYTIME. THE DOWNSIDE IS SEVERE FATIGUE, BUT YOU GUYS ARE USED TO ADRENALINE RUSHES!]
"Don't be stupid! Our current bodies are different!"
[ADMIN A: WHOA. RELAX. ANYWAY, YES, YOU HAVE DESIGNATED ROLES SUITED TO YOU. CLICK THE PARTY ICON TO SEE YOUR BROTHERS' PROFILES.]
Lia focused, and three new status windows popped up.
MARCUS
ROLE: ANALYST / FIELD COMMANDER
SPECIALTY: TACTICAL OVERLAY, INFORMATION DOWNLOAD
KAELEN
ROLE: VANGUARD / DEFENSE
SPECIALTY: AEGIS FIELD, THREAT SENSE
RHYS
ROLE: RECON / ARTIFICER
SPECIALTY: MANA-ENGINEERING INTERFACE, PHANTOM STEP
"Kaelen is Vanguard/Defense. Marcus is Analyst. Rhys is… Recon and Artificer?"
[ADMIN A: THAT'S RIGHT! HE CAN MAKE ANYTHING! CARS? HE CAN! TANKS? HE CAN!]
"Really?! Is it like a game shop where you buy cars with points and they magically appear?"
[ADMIN A: HUH? DON'T BE STUPID, LIA. THAT'S TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. HE CAN MAKE THEM BY BUYING THE BLUEPRINTS IN THE SYSTEM SHOP.]
"You bastard!"
[ADMIN A: CALM DOWN, OKAY? GOODNESS. HE'LL BE GUIDED BY BLUEPRINTS AND NEEDS TO GATHER THE ACTUAL MATERIALS FROM THIS WORLD. THE FINAL PRODUCTS WILL BE FUELED BY BOSS-LEVEL MANA CORES!]
"Whatever. My head's going to burst."
[ADMIN A: OH, COME ON. ANYWAY, YOU ALL HAVE A BONUS OF 1,000,000,000 EXPERIENCE POINTS! YOU CAN PURCHASE ANY STARTER WEAPONS YOU'D LIKE.]
Lia tapped the Experience Points bar. A sub-menu appeared.
[EXPERIENCE POINTS: 1,000,000,000]
[NOTE: 50% OF ACCUMULATED XP FROM PAST LIFE COMBAT SERVICE HAS BEEN CONVERTED. REMAINING 50% PERMANENTLY ALLOCATED TO ENHANCED SKILL FOUNDATION.]
"THIS ISN'T FREE AT ALL! THIS IS THE RESULT OF OUR PAST LIFE'S HARD WORK!"
[ADMIN A: HEHE. IT'S BETTER THAN ZERO, RIGHT? AND YOU'LL BE NEEDING IT. SOONER.]
"That sounds ominous. And this feels like a cheat code."
[ADMIN A: THAT'S RIGHT! THIS IS INDEED A CHEAT CODE. SO PLEASE, GIVE US A BREAK AND DIE WITHOUT REGRETS THIS TIME!]
"SHUT UUUUUUP!!"
✎﹏﹏﹏﹏
THREE HOURS LATER
The carriage ground to a halt before the Capital Temple. The structure was less a place of worship and more a brutalist monument to imperial magic—all cold, white marble etched with glowing, humming teleportation runes.
Lia peered through the window. An Imperial Knight was presenting their gate pass to a high priest whose robes probably cost more than a northern village's yearly food supply.
A knock came at her window.
"What?" Lia snapped, not bothering to mask her irritation.
"We will not be able to accompany you from here on, Your Grace," the knight said, his voice perfectly neutral. No regret. No sympathy. Just procedure.
Right. I'll be teleported directly to the run-down temple inside the Fortress City. Alone.
"Whatever. Get lost," she said, yanking the window shut.
Tsk. I know those bastards are happy I'm finally out of the Emperor's sight. Peasants, the lot of them.
[ADMIN A: YOU SURE ARE TRASH IN THIS PERIOD OF TIME, LIA.]
Shut up. Nobody asked for your opinion.
[ADMIN A: HEY, I'M JUST STATING FACTS. AND BESIDES, YOU DIED AN HONORABLE DEATH HERE!]
Honorable, my foot. The capital despised the spoiled brat. The North despised the negligent Javier who abandoned them. There's no honor in being universally hated.
[ADMIN A: WHY DON'T YOU ASK YOUR BROTHERS, THEN? THEY SURE KNOW THE TRUTH. AFTER ALL, THEY DIED IN THE NORTH, TOO.]
Lia's mental scoff died in her throat. A cold, sharp feeling pricked at her gut.
W-what do you mean?
[ADMIN A: OOPS. ASK THEM. STOP THAT AVOIDANCE ISSUE. YOU FOUR COULD HAVE BEEN THE BEST RULERS THE NORTH EVER HAD IF YOU'D PULLED YOUR SENSES TOGETHER EARLIER.]
Hey. Just tell me what you—
The world dissolved.
The interior of the carriage, the smug face of the high priest outside, the very air—everything was swallowed by a torrent of blinding, blue-white light. A soundless roar filled her senses. It wasn't noise; it was the absence of everything, the feeling of being unraveled and spun across a vast, cold distance.
[SYSTEM: !!NON-SYSTEMATED MAGIC DETECTED!!]
[TELEPORTATION SEQUENCE INITIATED]
[DESTINATION: NORTHERN TEMPLE OF JAVIER, FORTRESS CITY]
And then, as suddenly as it began, it was over.
The light snapped away. Silence rushed back in, thick and heavy. The luxurious scents of perfume and polished wood were gone, replaced by the biting, familiar sting of cold air, old stone, and frost.
She had arrived.
She was in the North.
And the first thing she saw through the dilapidated temple archway wasn't a welcoming party. It was the bleak, gray sky of a land where winter never truly ended, hanging over a city of shadows and whispers.
-TO BE CONTINUED-