As for what's happening at home … let's see. I've been a bit busy so I haven't paid as much attention as I should, but Senkovar gave Xavier his Shaman's certification a few months ago; that's why he was home. Xavier, that is, though Senkovar did also stop by for a visit. Jenna stayed long enough for the celebration and to introduce us to Benalos Vo'ki Intheras; she's insisting he's "the one" and is off on a long trip through the Empire with him before they get married. I'm pretty sure he's just a treasure hunter but we'll see.

Your mother is fine.

The next section was written in black ink instead of her father's purple.

I'm not just fine, I'm great. As you can tell, I've taken this away from your father before he gives you updates on the spells he's been working on since you crossed worlds and completely forgets everything else. You know he would.

Sophia could almost hear the fond exasperation in her mother's voice that was often present when she talked about her husband. They were very different people that had somehow managed to stay not only together but still be in love, even after all those years.

Her mother was, as usual, completely correct. Telling her everything he thought she needed to know and completely forgetting to mention anything that wasn't relevant to the topic he was thinking about was absolutely something her father would do. He tended to be rather … focused. He was clearly trying to tell her what was happening at home, but it was entirely likely he'd missed at least half of it.

He's not unhappy about me taking over, but then he never is. He'd rather be working on the ritual with Xavier than trying to figure out how to tell you what's happening here.

That's the first thing I should mention. I see Serenity mentioned Xavier's graduation; what he didn't mention is Xavier's project and future plans. He established a subterranean nodal framework on Berinath that will allow easier Dome creation. It somehow manages to link to Tzintkra as well and use some of Tzintkra's cleansed mana before it re-enters the heavily Death-attuned atmosphere, then funnels the Life-attuned stale mana back to Tzintkra. It will slightly inhibit dungeon creation on Berinath, apparently, but should lead to an earlier Tier increase; that was a tradeoff both Berinath and her inhabitants were happy with. It will also potentially help to rebalance Tzintkra, though Senkovar is less certain about that.

It sounds very impressive to me, but I'm Xavier's mother. It's supposed to sound impressive to me, right?

Sophia knew better than that; Xavier's chosen field was rare and difficult. Someone who could encourage the creation of a new City Node by turning a minor upwelling into a full ley line nexus could name a very high price, and it sounded like Xavier had done something far more impressive than that; he'd done something that dealt with two worlds. Berinath might be Tzintkra's moon, but that didn't mean it was easy.

Xavier's future plans are a bit more fluid than I expected. He has several planetary Sovereigns vying for his time with Senkovar's recommendation, but I'm not confident he's going to take any of them up, or at least not for long. He's talking about trying to get his own funds together instead of relying on his father's wealth, which he should be able to manage, but he isn't saying why.

I think he doesn't want to worry me by telling me that he wants to travel, possibly across universes. Foolish boy; a mother knows when something catches her son's interest, and travel across the Origin definitely has. I haven't had a vision about it, but if he chooses to go I won't stop him. I will, however, require that he take some way to get messages home!

We couldn't manage that for you, and I've regretted it ever since. Yes, Amaia can tell us that you're alive, but that's all she's willing to say.

Speaking of Amaia, would you believe that she's actually taken a protege? Lawrence isn't even a Death mage; he has no more Affinity for Death than most Earthlings. He's a student studying to be a mythical paleontologist; he wants to research the past buried in the parts of Earth that were locked away millenia ago. They have to take combat training before they're allowed to enter most of the myth zones, so he decided he'd take the extra step and do some delving to help defray his college expenses. Naturally, he ended up on one of the teams Amaia decided to escort and they hit it off over a love of cheesy action movies.

He doesn't know who she really is yet, or even that she's associated with the family beyond the Adventurer's Guild connection. I hope Amaia's planning to let him in on that secret before Kaasi's birthday party, because you know Serenity's going to be there. Maybe I should make sure.

Sophia nodded to herself. Checking on anything common sense was wise with Amaia. She was wonderful, but her views on what was normal for humanity were heavily shaped by movies, and that meant that she often didn't think about things the same way as a normal human.

Your father is right about the Intheras scion; I'm impressed that he caught it and a bit disappointed in Jenna that she didn't. I'm hoping that she'll realize it on their trip; that's why I encouraged the journey. Benalos thinks it's his idea, which in a way it was; he was the one to talk Jenna into it. They're going to tour the Empire's resort destinations. I expect Jenna to have a lot of fun for the first month or two, but she's never been one to be idle, while Benalos definitely is. He was able to keep up a facade when she was busy most of the day, but when they're together? I don't think it will last.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

It's too bad. I'm looking forward to grandbabies that I can pamper then give back to their parents. I might not have had to change your poopy diapers often, but I did have to manage a lot more than just having fun with you! I'm looking forward to telling my kids they have to do that for their kids.

Sophia snorted. There was no way her mother was going to be that hands-off with her grandchildren, no matter what she told herself. That didn't mean she didn't want grandkids; it simply meant that Sophia knew she wouldn't have to do it alone (or with only Dav's help) if she got home before she had children.

Sophia paused at the thought. Was she really planning to have Dav's children? It sounded like a simple question, but it really wasn't.

It also wasn't a question for now. She could worry about that later, when they weren't headed into danger in an attempt to figure out how to cross worlds safely. Perhaps after they met Dav's parents it would be time to think about it.

Perhaps.

Have you met someone? I hope that if you have, he or she is there for you and not simply for your wealth. I suppose that's less of a risk for you where you are than here, but I know how isolating it can be.

No, she didn't. Sophia shook her head. Rissa didn't grow up wealthy; well off, yes, but not wealthy. There was a difference. More importantly, she didn't grow up as Serenity's daughter. Her father wasn't a celebrity, hated by some and loved by others. Sophia knew her mother meant well, but she definitely didn't understand.

Leo is still young enough that his triumphs are small, but they are large to him. He mastered his first fully spellform-created spell a month ago, a magelight variant. He is showing early signs of his Affinities stabilizing, as well, and it looks like he will be the first of our children to inherit most of his father's Death Affinity; there's even a decent chance that he may Affinity-shift his draconic heritage. Amaia is helping him with control and Althyr should arrive some time in the next couple of weeks to watch over him in case he does change his root Affinity. It can apparently be rather notable when it happens, but with Amaia and Althyr watching, I'm not expecting large issues.

Little Leo might become a Death dragon? That was concerning, but Sophia couldn't do anything from here. At least Earth was a planet that would be comfortable for a Death dragon; Earth was comfortable for all dragons, no matter their root Affinity. Like any dragon, he'd push the local mana a little more towards his root Affinity, but that wasn't a problem on Earth.

It would probably make it tough for him to travel, though. People would expect a skeletal dragon or one that reveled in death, and that just wasn't what the Death Affinity was about. It was about endings. Everything died. Sophia sometimes thought it was more closely aligned with change than with death, but that, too, could die. It was confusing.

Blaze is on Zon at the moment, knocking some sense into the idiots that want to kill all of the demons. Well, technically, he's there at the Queen's request to provide additional healing support for the ones with injuries that can only be healed by someone of his skill, but I'm sure he's knocking sense into them anyway. You know how he feels about that war.

Your grandparents are well; Lex and Bethany are still working on the A'Atla replica, while my parents are enjoying their retirement, just like the past ten years. Red managed to land herself in the hospital again while working on the A'Atla replica. I don't think she's admitted to the entire story yet, but from what I can tell, she tried to duplicate the shipmind while it was still active. I'm not sure why she thought something so obviously stupid was a good idea, which makes me think there's more to the story. Either way, with Blaze off planet, she's having to take her recovery slowly, so she's spending the time with my parents. Dad hasn't tried to ship her my way yet, but I'm expecting it any time now.

Your cousin Frank finally graduated from college, but I haven't heard anything about him getting a job yet; Jacob and Denise seem happy to let him "take a gap year." Again.

Nyara must have gotten her twin's ambition as well as her own; she's currently doing her doctorate in Imperial relations while paying her way with her delving. She's planning on the same internship as last year, though I guess you don't know about that one, either. It went well enough that they offered her a 50% pay bump if she'd return this summer and even offered to simply hire her full time, no degree required. She turned them down, but I do think she'll go back for the summer.

I think that's everyone, but I know I'll be swearing at myself for missing something or someone important the moment Serenity sends this off. No matter what I missed, though, this is the important part.

I love you and miss you, Sophia. Take all the time you need or want to take, but make sure you come back safely when you come.

The next line was her mother's signature surrounded by a pair of hearts. Sophia smiled to herself and shook her head. It was good to hear from home.

After that, the letter continued in the original purple ink.

Your mother covered everything in the way of news that I can think of unless you're interested in the latest round of discussions with the Emperor, and I don't think you are. He's just trying to get me (or Senkovar or Xavier) to smooth out the Tier increase of a world, possibly even Imperius itself, without proper compensation. Senkovar's handling the negotiations, thankfully. It will be an interesting project, but not one I'm willing to start until after we've sent this to you.

We haven't managed to find a reliable enough way to send anything solid to you, so no one will be joining you any time soon. This isn't ready for you to use to return, either, but I've included the ritual notes so that you can construct and perform the same ritual I'm doing. I'm working on a proper runic inscription to link the worlds and allow safe portal formation, but the link-residue isn't strong enough and none of the test trackers have been functional after their trip through the Origin.

Send us a message if you can.

Love you and miss you,

Serenity

P.S. Xavier sends his love too.

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