V2Ch173 New Epilogue

I woke up next to my wife. Next to Sophie. I couldn't help but smile. Her eyes fluttered open and saw me.

"What?"

She asked with a smile.

"What, what?"

I teased.

"What's with that grin?"

"Well. I woke up next to my wife. Do I need a better reason?"

She blushed and gave me a peck on the cheek. As she was pulling away, her eyes opened wide in a surprised manner.

"SHIT!"

She sat up fast.

"What's wrong?"

"I forgot there was a boat of people from Missing Star scheduled to arrive last night. Well, my subordinates knew about it, too. If I wasn't there to instruct them, Xiexie should have taken the initiative and helped with the process. Still, I'd like to check on everything to make sure nothing bad happened."

"Okay. Let's go."

After we got our morning chores done and got dressed, I followed Sophie around for the day. She tightened up the barracks. Her top subordinate apparently did an excellent job of receiving the people off of the boat.

After some discussions that I was not around for, Xiexie became the new Capitan of the squad once Sophie announced her retirement. She was actually ten years over the minimum serving requirement. While the elves live long lives, most of those in the military stay much longer than they need to. Some elves will stay until they literally can't do their jobs anymore.

Sophie had two reasons to retire at this point in her life.

First, she only entered to find me. Now that we found each other, she has no need for the military's resources.

Second, she is still a slave and had been hiding it from the military throughout her career. The less she interacts with the military, the fewer opportunities for that little fact to get out. A slave in the military is a disgrace to the military and slaves who hide their identities are killed on sight. It was her greatest gamble, and it paid off.

She told me about how she had been experimenting with makeup from the Lizard Lands. The stuff the lizard-people used was made to last a long time and through heavy weather like sand storms and rain. On someone who didn't have scales, the effect was nearly twice as strong. That was her saving grace.

The ship that brought the denizens of Missing Star to Tian Ret was set to return to Ula Thyfe. We hopped on with Goby and rode the ship back to the Missing Star continent.

As Sophie's charge in Ula Thyfe, I was treated like a royal guest. I recognized a few of the elves from my original visit. The head elder seemed to know exactly who I was. We didn't speak, but he nodded to acknowledge me.

Later, as we passed through the markets, I overheard a young elf talking.

"I love these pastries! I'm sure Aunt Jezzy and my mom would have loved these, too."

A male elf, probably around Sophie's age was holding the child's hand.

"I'm sure they would."

Sophie tugged at my arm.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just some good news."

I was sad. There was no way that Jezzy and Jazzy were still around. But, I was happy that Jazzy found someone. I felt that It meant she had a wonderful life. A child that wanted her happiness. It was a good feeling. I hope the elf she met was everything that I couldn't be for her.

Sophie and I traveled the southern path out of Ula Thyfe. It was a strange sight once we got to the Dragon Lands. Troll encampments were all over the place. Sophie said that the mass migration was due to the Troll Lands attack. The trolls thought it was an angered god.

Sophie and I knew the truth.

In Sophie's campaign throughout Missing Star, she helped most of the people through several troubles. She was well-known as a hero. The only races that she didn't interact with were the dragons and the panthers. There were still some orc resistances out there, but they hid well.

We passed by the Dragon Lands without incident. It wasn't long before we made it back home. Goby ran off before we could even see our home. I was surprised to find a wooden fence that covered a large amount of property around the entire mountain. It was built well and made sure that no one could see through it. Sophie led me to the wooden gate entrance. She had a key that opened the gate. We went inside. There were farming plots, a well, water capture devices, and other equipment for a self-sustaining life. There was a wooden walkway up to the door on the side of the mountain. We found Goby waiting at the closed entrance.

Our house inside the tiny mountain was dusty and unkempt. Some of the plants were overgrown while others clearly died off without any tending. It wouldn't take long before things could be back in working order. But, I had one more thing to do before I could feel comfortable settling in.

Sophie stayed behind to clean up a bit while I rode with Goby into the Lizard Lands.

I was stopped by a few lizard-men in the same spot I had originally been captured by them, many years ago. Once more, I was revered as the "Master" after showing off a few of my tricks. It only took three days to get to Omera. I left Goby at the bottom of the mountain and used my strength to bypass any mazes, caves or traps by hopping up the outside ledges to the top.

There, I met the new Guru. His color pattern matched Riksa's exactly.

"Hello there, friend. What brings you to me?"

"Hi. I came to see if you were interested in a friendly chat."

"Really? That's all?"

"That's all."

He sat down in place and I struck up a conversation. I never revealed to him that I knew his mother. Or that he was my son. I didn't think it would be right. Not this late in his life. He was only about 58 years old. But he looked as old as the Guru I had known before I disappeared.

He eventually got tired and went to lie down for a nap. I watched him for a minute before I left. I visited him at least once a month after that. Just to talk.

Seven months down the line, I convinced myself that I would bring up his mother. When I got to the top, his replacement was the only one in sight. They only replace a Guru when one passes away.

I took my time walking back home to Sophie. She knew right away that I was upset. I held in my tears and she cried on me that night.

The following year, Sophie was in her mating cycle. We had discussed children in detail and figured we didn't want to bring one into the world just yet.

The following 30 years of love and devotion to each other had finally come to fruition in the form of our daughter. She looked so frail and tiny. All I wanted to do was to protect her. To love her and to teach her. I couldn't help but want to give her the world.

I had an idea for a name. I was afraid to suggest it. I told Sophie to pick the name. It was almost as if she was reading my mind. Our daughter was named, Mery.

Thus far, this was the happiest point of my life. I had a beautiful loving wife and a brand new daughter to love.

It never felt like I had a home on Earth.

But, here...

This house was my home.

Sophie, made me feel at home.

I wanted Mery to have the best home.

Eyse is my home.