All of us were gathered around the table the next morning as we prepared to leave. We ate a small breakfast today, more as a way to blend in and help the inn we were staying at than any actual need for food. Still, the warm atmosphere all of us shared around the table helped to lift my spirits. It reminded me of the times all of us last traveled together, and the thought brought me back to when things were a bit simpler. When I was less bogged down with heavy emotions, and didn't yet know the extent of my place in this world yet. It was a good reminder of the family I was fighting for.
Mimi cleared her throat and got everyone's attention. It was a bit of a surprise for Mimi to call for everyone's attention like this, so everyone quickly dropped the conversations they were having and focused on the Mimic girl at the end of the table.
She looked at everyone seated at the table with a big smile. "I have been meaning to give everyone here a gift, but things have been a bit... distracting lately. Now that things have calmed down a little, I think it's a good time."
Mimi pulled out a long rectangular box that I recognized. "I made sure to finish these up before we left, so everyone could have one for the trip. I've already given Raya and Sibyl theirs since they weren't coming with us, but now I want to give one to each of you."
She unlatched the box and opened the lid, revealing seven pocket watches, each engraved with unique designs. "I'm sure all of you have heard about my latest watch designs with the built-in compass, and I made one for each of you so that you would always have a piece of me. I... This is the best way that I can show everyone how much you mean to me. I want all of you to have one."
Everyone at the table looked touched, and smiled at Mimi as she walked around the table, handing out the watches to each of them. Each watch was a work of art, a clever fusion of magic and clockworks that would hold up to some of the strongest magical interference. Each one had an engraving that matched its owner, a representation of the way that Mimi saw each of them. I couldn't help but tear up, and I wasn't the only one to shed tears. Even Lori, as cool and collected as she usually was, couldn't help but get misty-eyed at Mimi's gift. Fellia and Maddy crowded around Cecilia to look at hers, the two of them the only ones not receiving the gift, but they didn't look put off. They seemed happy for Cecilia and curious about the marvelous piece of technology she had crafted.
The mood in the room lightened up again after a while, warming with laughter and jokes. I held Ashe as everyone examined their new watches with interest and hugged and thanked Mimi for the thoughtful customizations for each of them. I simultaneously felt part of the scene, yet far away from it. I still felt a bit odd after regaining my memories. The life I had now felt very surreal in a lot of ways from the perspective of my old self. My old life had been nothing like this. I've never before been surrounded by so many people I care about, and have even more people I care about off in different cities. Maybe those old memories are giving me a bit of imposter syndrome, making me feel like I don't deserve all of these people, these people I love, around me.
Ashe reached up and stuck her fingers in my nose, quickly pulling me out of my troubled thoughts and making me laugh. I looked down at my happy baby. She babbled up at me with a smile that crinkled her eyes. I never imagined having a child of my own in my past life. That was solely a thing I could only imagine in my new one, and it wasn't something I would trade for the world. I leaned down and kissed Ashe on the forehead. The baby giggled and wrapped her arms around my neck, giving me a hug. I felt so loved. By my baby, my lovers, Mimi. If nothing else, those old memories really made me appreciate how much I truly had in this life. How lucky I was to be here, surrounded by so many people who meant so much to me.
"We should probably be returning to the road soon," Cecilia said reluctantly. "We have a long day of travel ahead of us, and we can't afford to spend much more time if we want to make it to the next waystation before dark."
Everyone agreed and finished packing up the few things they had taken out at the inn. The innkeepers seemed happy with the amount of money we left them, and we added a generous tip for their good service. We were the only ones who stayed at the inn for the night, so it made me want to help them a bit. It would be sad if such a nice place went out of business because the town had fallen on hard times. Traehall would need Norta to remain a safe stop on the trip to Goldenhearth. We needed the connection to continue sustaining our import needs. Even if we were a lot more self-sufficient than we had been, there were always some things that could only be imported. After seeing the city for myself, I felt that we needed to do much more to help Norta thrive after System's End. The first step of that would be to get some succubi in the city to help them rebuild.
I took one last look at the small city as we passed through the opposite gates. Seeing the state of the city with my own eyes reorganized my priorities a little. I would still use the leverage our understanding of magic gave me in the upcoming negotiations, but now I would push for the information to be disseminated to Norta as well, hopefully everywhere eventually. Goldenhearth felt like a home to me, almost as much as Traehall, and it would be a problem if the one city between the two of us died when I could have done something about it.
The next few hours flew by. We bought a couple of extra horses for pretty cheap from some very thankful stable owners, so I would be the one resting in the carriage for this leg of the trip while Kal'daeryn and Morrigan escorted us. I was happy to have some time chatting with my friends today, I had been too much in my head lately. Every now and then, I heard explosions of magic come from outside as the two people on escort duty cleared the path of demons on our way to Goldenhearth. I spent most of the time chatting with Torien, since Morrigan was outside and Lori was riding on the roof.
After that, the hours turned into days as we made good time across the open plains. While the demons were a threat to most travelers, they were not difficult for any of us to handle after the trials we had been through. We rarely had to even stop to deal with the demons who had gotten near the road, and we never once made it to one of the waystations after dark. The weather had been clear the whole way too, so we didn't even need to worry about something like the stream stalker we had seen the first time I had made this trip. I wonder how badly the demons have affected the wildlife between here and Goldenhearth, not that I would feel particularly bad if there were no more stream stalkers to fight travelers on the way.
Eventually, we could finally see the walls of Goldenhearth in the distance. Before we reached the gates, we came across the guards watching the farmers outside the walls. Goldenhearth had barely scraped by the last winter with the food shortages they had, so now the fields were heavily patrolled with guards despite the demons that made their way all the way out here. Like in Norta, all of them looked to be overworked martial classes. People who had managed to retain enough of their skill with a weapon after System's End to remain combat effective.
Mixed among them were succubi that I recognized from the brothel, and some that I was sure I had never met before. I got a few shocks of surprise when our bonds first connected, and they realized that the entire carriage was filled with other succubi. I had to chat with more than one through the bond to explain who I was to some of them. There was more than a little reverence in the reactions I got when they found out I was the Lilith they had sworn an oath to. Oceane had been a lot more active in recruiting new succubi than Eira and I had been in Traehall, but that didn't surprise me. Oceane was the proactive sort, and she had been the first to replicate the oath without me. It helped that Goldenhearth was a much larger city than Traehall was, with a lot more connections to other frontier towns.
By the time we had reached the gate, word had traveled of our arrival. There weren't many people traveling this road in the first place, but someone had pulled some strings to make our entry through the gate quicker all the same. Much like Norta, the city wasn't in the best of shape. It looked better than it had immediately after the demon attacks the last time I was here, but now it had the same destitute mages panhandling in the streets that Norta had. Norta was a city with a lot of active adventurers just by the nature of its location, which meant that the problems here were both worse and better. While there were plenty more former martial classes here than in Norta, there were also a lot more mages that were screwed over by System's End in the streets as well. It was just a relief that there wasn't the same undercurrent of danger I had felt in the capital.
Despite everything, Goldenhearth was still surviving. The stores were open, business was still being done, and the food situation seemed better than the last time I had been here, despite everything that had happened. The adventurers walking the streets didn't look quite as haggard as the ones we saw in Norta, though they still looked quite a bit worn down compared to the ones in Traehall. We rolled through the streets, headed to a stable closer to our ultimate stop here, the Ruby Vixen brothel.
Unlike most of the other changes in the city, the Ruby Vixen was one of the places that had clearly changed for the better. It was clear that they had bought out the entire block, and I could sense the succubi manning the nearby restaurants and businesses in the brothel's immediate area. Everything in this small part of the city was bright and clean and heavily guarded. With a blush, I could tell that the brothel was nearly full to capacity as they serviced clients even at this fairly early hour of the day for a brothel. The mercenary guild across the street was also thriving, and the building seemed full of people right now. While the number of succubi in the city wasn't as large a percentage as it was in Traehall, I wouldn't be surprised if there were easily more by number. I could feel the bond stretch out in every direction and well outside the walls, creating a massive network of succubi.
We stopped at a nearby succubus-run stable that hadn't been here the last time we were in the city, and we quickly disembarked from our large carriage. The succubus girls gave me winks and waves as we left, and I could feel their desire following me as we made our way to the Ruby Vixen. It felt like we were celebrities as we walked the short distance through the streets on our way to the brothel. Every succubus we passed stopped to watch us with a full spread of emotions. Desire, surprise, shock, awe, reverence, excitement, and every positive emotion under the sun.
When we finally made it to the brothel and opened the door, there were dozens of succubi waiting for us, most of whom I recognized, but in the center were the two succubi I had missed the most. Oceane and Grace stood together in the center of the group, each holding a baby about the same age as Ashe. I feel as though the two might have rushed to tackle me in a hug if it weren't for their occupied arms. The intensity of their loving emotions shone fiercely through the bond.
"Lilith, welcome home. We're so happy to see you again, safe and sound," Oceane said with the largest smile I'd ever seen on her face.