Second Summons (2)

Sara ignored everyone for the rest of the night, listening to the eerily familiar melodies of Lyonnia flutes, haunting her mind and welcoming her home. Then she said she was tired, casually declared that she'd break the pelvis of anyone who slept with their servants—as it was literally fucking slavery—and then walked back to her bedroom as a few of the men groaned.

The bedroom was lavish, adorned with gold detailing, a massive four-poster bed, a bath as big as a hot tub, and Reemada's interpretation of cosmetics, which weren't very good. Last time she came here, she proved she was an artist by making them work; this time, she couldn't give a fuck less. Well, unless it concerned Kye… fuck. At least she had modern products.

"Do you need anything else, mistress?" Tamon, her servant, asked. He had the frame of a bodybuilder, but he hadn't eaten enough to be anything but lanky. She'd have to change that.

"Yes, I do," Sara said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a bag of Escaran griffins. They had already gotten bribed and had enough money to start a tavern. It was sick. "If you get the chance, please buy me a leeta tomorrow," she instructed, referring to Reemada's version of a house cat. They had the same frame but had pointed ears, halfway to looking like a rabbit. "I'll be busy, so you'll need to take care of it. Can you do that for me?"

Tamon's eyes widened, and he swallowed hard as he accepted the currency. "As you will, Mistress."

"That's all. You're dismissed." As she was closing the door, she paused. "There's a lot of gold there, and leetas are pretty cheap. Please buy yourself one to take care of, too. Leetas need friends, and friends can't come from the same owners. Earthian custom. Can you do that?"

Tamon fell silent, so she turned around and saw him trembling with glittering eyes, trying to find words. "I'd love to, Mistress."

Sara smiled gently, glad she didn't need to poke and prod him for six months again to find out what he liked. "Good. I look forward to meeting them. Good night."

4

After closing the door, Sara sat in her room, sighing. It felt like the entire world was on her shoulders now. Was she a hero? Absolutely not. But when bad shit happens, it affects everyone. And she refused to let Raul and Emma die as Jason and Mary seized the throne. She refused to get chased down, moving from country to country, living in slums while avoiding bounties. She refused to let Edico and Rokus sacrifice themselves again. All of that made for a shitty fucking life. Not this time. She'd do whatever it took to make sure that history wouldn't repeat.

The greater question was: How did she end up going back to begin with? Thinking back to the last moment when she struck down her sword on Agronus, she finally remembered. That laugh…. she thought.

Suddenly, adrenaline hit Sara's bloodstream, and her heart started racing, palms clamming, eyes losing focus. It was like the onset of her rare PTSD episodes when she relived Emma's death in excruciating detail, only to snap back to reality, body drenched in sweat, looking around to figure out where she was.

Yet it was different. Instead of seeing it, she could hear it. That laugh. That haunting fucking laugh. Someone was laughing when the array lit up, and now that she remembered it, she couldn't get it out of her mind. That was strange because, aside from knowing it was a man, she couldn't even remember what it sounded like. The reason it stuck out was because of its tone. The man who was laughing wasn't cackling about his victory; he sounded bewildered, amazed that the array lit up. And there was no malice in the voice—

—that's what made it so chilling. It was as if the person's brain didn't register anything was wrong with the situation, only focused on the wonder of it happening.

Who… was that? Sara thought, racking her brain, braving the gruesome details of the battle. She could remember Agronus's body, mangled to pieces, looking like a half-transmuted chimera in a bowl of squirrel guts, but she couldn't remember more about the man. That's because it came when the array lit up, and she couldn't turn in time. It was frustrating.

The only thing that she was certain of was that he was one of her classmates. Otherwise, why not just reset time in Reemada, since they were getting resummoned, anyway? The only explanation was that the man knew she'd be standing in the circle, so he sent her back to Earth, hoping that she would decide to stay. If she didn't have Kye and Tiber, she probably would have—

—but she did, so that person fucked up. Once she found them, she'd….

Sara didn't know. She was angry enough to paralyze them, but it really depended on their intentions. Sara was dying at the end of her fight with Agronus, and there was a strong chance he saved her life. He also brought Emma and Raul to life and created a world where Tiber could be healed of tyexis. If they were a classmate, it wouldn't be a coincidence. None of these things were lost upon her. Also, there's only one person she tentatively suspected, and if it were him….

No. Whoever was responsible had legendary skill in arraycraft, and none of the heroes were notable with arrays, let alone extraordinary. She was on the road most of the time, but she was the head advisor and Hero. If anyone else knew of such a person, she would've found out. Something must've happened. Someone left while she was away and changed, and that could've been anyone. Drawing conclusions would only create biases, and if age taught her anything, it was that people always find proof of what they suspect—whether it's true or not.

Sara pushed it out of her mind. This was a problem for the future. For now, she had to ensure she got everything back and had enough strength and prestige (two things that solved nearly any problem) to ensure it never happened again. Step one was reconnecting her broken mana channels. So that's what she did.

Closing her eyes, Sara visualized the mana jutting around her chest and tamed it. Then she spent the next six hours forcefully circulating it through her body, opening up new mana channels and forging them into weapons for the challenges of tomorrow.