They had arrived, finally. The neighborhood was still the same, or well, not the same as it had been almost two years ago, it was different. The houses were the same, yes, the streets were the same. The park, the store, and even her old school were the same.

  The school she had po go to on her fifteenth birthday was there, one of the schools with single-bedroom apartments for the students, but ohat required among the hardest tests to get in.

  What was different then? The people.

  The old granny that always gave her dy when she was little was gone, instead, a young couple was in that house, her old neighbors were gone, instead other people stood in those houses, different families, different people manning the stores she had goo all her life. They had asked at first, what had happened with the people that lived there. Most had answered the same, and Elizabeth hadn’t wao keep asking after the fifth time they answered the same thing.

  They had moved on, they sold the terrains and houses a, they sold cheap, and most hadn’t even sold it in person, using a third party. She…had suspected that could be the case, she had suspected that her parents had seeded most of the people that had lived near her, either as bodyguards or as associates.

  It was ve, and it was for safety reasons. Not many people could live near powerhouses and be safe, and while it didn’t happen often, it could happen, [Vilins] attag the house of a [Hero] wasn’t that farfetched.

  They all thought that attag the defenseless house of their nemesis would work. They were wrong of course, as the man that once orbited the sun could prove, but even so. It was a risk. So her parents engineering the whole neighborhood wasn’t that weird, it wasn’t like she had looked forward to meeting people who might remember her.

  “Are you okay Elizabeth?” Asked the red-haired girl who followed all the way here. Watanabe Rena, the girl who didn’t o e with them, but decided to do so anyway. Even though she had her own problems to deal with.

  “Eli-Eli? We leave aurn ter, you don’t have to do this now. My parents own a hotel nearby, you wait there while I che the house.” Her girlfriend, her always loving and g girlfriend said. The girl who even after everything was at her side.

  “No, we o do this. If anything this helps us, I won’t have to expin myself to Granny about anything, she was kind of nosy…” Elizabeth said, she had feared that enter, the old woman who lived near her house had always taken an i in taking care of her, she was the go-to nanny for most of her childhood, and a figure she looked to.

  Even if the woman wasn’t her actual grandmother.

  “Yrandmother lived near?” Asked Rossie, unsure of what to make of it. The girl even cast some trag spells around to look for mana fres.

  Nothing came up, of course, [Avalon] had some of the stro mana defenses around, and not many spells could survive the atmosphere of this city.

  “Not in the sense you think, it was an old dy that took care of me when growing up, those times Mother and Papa were too busy to cook for me, she would e with dinner and would take care of me. She taught me everything I know about presenting myself to high society.” Elizabeth said fondly, that the old woman was one of the reasons she had coasted middle school as an exempry honor student.

  “...” But for some reason, Rena and Rossie looked at each other and shook their heads.

  Rude!

  She could act with property too!

  Even if she didn’t look like it!

  ….RUDE!

  Either way, they tiheir walk through [Avalon], the pce was full of people roaming around, more than she remembered, and many people she didn’t reize, it took a moment for her to uand why.

  “The barriers are gone…” Elizabeth mumbled the barriers that had ripped apart this pce from the rest of the world. The barriers that her parents put io protect her from the darker aspects of the world at rge.

  “Yes, [Avalon] is no longer isoted, so many people are probably using this e as tourists.” Rossie answered after Elizabeth, “That is why my parents bought a plot and made a hotel here, they are earning quite well from this tourism. Even though this city doesn’t have anything to offer.”

  “Even so, people will flock towards shihings. Even if they earn nothing from it or think they will not earn anything.” Rena added her little bit of opinion.

  That robably painted more by her expectations, she hadn’t resolved what they would do with Rena after all, Elizabeth wao do her justice, but she also wasn’t quite sure how to go about it.

  “Right…Hope they aren’t crowding outside my house.” Elizabeth said, if there art of [Avalon] that should get tourism it would be her house.

  She had a vague recolle of people ing outside the house when she was little, probably after the i with the guy orbiting the sun, but not much memory about it beyond that. It had been, after all, a very traumatic experience for her. Even if she didn’t remember much of it.

  “No reason why, most people don’t remember why this pce was isoted, nor what made it special, so they all go around the public spots, the housing is ignored uhey are renting. And your pce wasn’t among those open for rent.” Rossie soled Elizabeth.

  “And even if they knew how important it was, didn’t Master Albert say that no one was sure what the deal was with the house?” Rena added her a little bit after Rossie soled her, it was still weird to listen to Rena refer to people with such…degree of respect.

  “Well, we will find soon enough, it's around the er,” Elizabeth said as they he end of the street, her house was a block away now. She could already see the roof in the distance as soon as they turo the right and walked to the other side of the street.

  Sure enough, it was…. mundane. Nothing special was on the houses around, if anything they looked bnd, this wasn’t part of any Home Owner Association or anything, Mother despised those things with fervor. But even so, most of the houses followed the same design. Or used to, a few had started remodeling their houses from what Elizabeth could see.

  Before it was obvious why no one dared to, would you try to mess around when two powerhouses lived one minute away from you? Only if you had a death wish.

  But that didn’t matter, Elizabeth felt a wave of mana ing from the house and it resonated with her before dispersing. It had been one of the wards her Mother installed, ohat would make sure no oered the house uhey were whitelisted by her.

  Of course, she was whitelisted, so the barrier didn’t affect her, she did notice the mana had resonated with the papers that proved she was the owner of the deed to this house. Even though they were in her [Iory]. Mother you monster, what kind of ward did you install!?!?

  Even so, at least the ward detected it was her and powered down. As soon as it did both Rossie and Rena walked to her side, both girls had tinued walking past her house aurned with fusion on their faces.

  “You know, I thought it would be a bigger pce, this seems like a house for a newlywed couple who just started living together,” Rossie said from her side as she opehe door into the front yard of her house.

  “It is cozy, I would love to live in a pce like this with my family…” Rena said as she walked into the front yard.

  Right, it was indeed a cozy house, Mother made sure of that, and while Papa was strict with his rules, Mother was always more of a free spirit, part of the reason that Elizabeth had ended how she had was that while her Father, [The Ameri Crusader] was strict with how he lead his household. Her Mother [The Stardust Explorer] was xer with her parenting.

  So long as Elizabeth wasn’t s or slept with males, she was free to do whatever she wanted, Mother didn’t ask her food grades, nor did her Father. Both would support whatever endeavors she wao pursue.

  “Will you tio mop around, or will you e in?” A voice resouhrough the [Mana].

  A voice whose in seemed to e from within the house…A voice that she didn’t reize. The response of Rossie was swift, she quickly shone in bright light and turned into her [Sylphie Starheart] form. Rena oher hand maed her sword first, then shone in a red light and turned into her [Demon Syer] form.

  It had…ged, very little, but it had started to shift, for example, she now had a ribbon on her head and a ponytail. When before she didn’t have anything at all on her head, her wrist had a very humble bracelet with no decorations, and she was wearing a neckce with an azure dragoing its tail.

  It was very little, but she was indeed wearing jewelry.

  As for Elizabeth?

  She stood there, staring at her house, unsure of what to do. Her first instinct was to release her [Shift] and move forward, searg for whoever was in [HER HOUSE]. But… the voice seemed to be something she had heard before. And the same was with the mana, something about how it was weaved seemed…familiar.

  “What? Are you brats going to keep me waiting? Really, I told Catherihat she o whip the fear of god into you.” The voice spoke once more, and then as if she was getting tired, three magical circles maed below them, one per girl. “’t bother to wait for you to listen, so ass Teleport.”

  And sure enough, the magic circle fred before any of them could react the magic of teleport fred and the three appeared at the dining table, her dining table, in her home. The pce was like she remembered from two years ago when she was leaving for the MPI.

  “What? Never got teleported because your Mana Manipution sucked?” The old woman at the end of the table spoke to the three girls.

  They had each appeared in a chair, sitting properly, with their hands on the side, Rena’s sword was gone, and Rossie’s spell seemed to have been celed. Elizabeth couldn’t help but notice how they had moved from a standing position to a sitting one, something that…shouldn’t be that easy to do on a whim.

  “Who are you?” Asked Rossie at the side, the girl seemed to want to cast a spell, but her mana always fell ft, there was a tendril of mana going from the old woman into Rossie and…literally spping away the mana when it got too close to even form the beginnings of a magic circle.

  “Who am I? Who are you? You don’t introduce yourself, e with my granddaughter, and then funt about your shabby mana manipution at me? AT ME?!?” The old e grunted.

  She was an iing character, dressed in robes, very old robes, the design seemed to be simir to the robes Mages liked to use, but uheirs, the robes of this old woman seemed weathered by time and thrummed with mana.

  “My Name is Watanabe Rena,” Rena spoke at the side while Rossie only gred at the old woman and tried to form spells from within her [Soulscape] to try and cast them in the real world.

  The spells always faded away wheried to form in the real world sihe e just pulled at them and the mana faded away.

  “Who are you, and why are you in Elizabeth’s home? We just got the deed to this pce. And before that, it was owned by the Singh.” Rena said more…diplomatically. The girl was still tugging at her [Skill] to try and ma her sword once more. But no matter how she tried, her [Mana] never quite mao form the right way.

  “That is better, a polite one. Elizabeth, ditch the pink one ahe red one. Pink-haired haired always are a problem anyway.” The e said with a ugh, she was actually cag like a mad wito wait, pink hair?

  “I’m Stelliana Fortuna, The Witch of Lucky Enters and Miracles.” The old e said taking out her hat for a sed while she gave a small bow to them. Her Hair tinum and seemed to shih a mysterious vibe, it also…didn’t quite seem like normal hair. “You may call me Grandmran, or Mother if you wish. Now that my stupid student decided to bee a goddess.”

  Then the old e started cag once more, not a single mome by whehreads of mana that came from her allowed the mana in their bodies to move, even while she was having a good time ughing “That was funny, the moment I felt her use the very same spells she hated, the very same ones she learned only because she wao terspell them when someoempted to asd near her. At least she proved my theory that they worked.”

  “...Wait, you desighe spells that [Odyssey] used to asd?” Asked Rossie, she had stopped struggling for a sed to ask that.

  “Of course I did, do you think that air-headed bird-brained bimbo could even design something that plex? She may be called the Mother of Magic here, but from where I e, she is barely petent.” The old woman said dismissively. “Uhis girl here, Catherine had no talent fic. She had talent for Healing yes. But Space Magione, elemental magiope. All that you have seen her use remade by yours truly. She studied yes, she learned. She worked hard to get to the spot she was. But that was effort, not talent.”

  That…well, that sure as hell expined why some of the magic her Mother used seemed to be sid, so she was incorporating what she learned and kludging together her magic against free wielding the magic?

  “And you cim to be Elizabeth’s Grandmother?” Rena said, eyeing Elizabeth with worry in her eyes, “As far as we are aware…”

  “Elizabeth's family does in this world.” Rossie said oher side, “Her Mother’s side is dead, and her Father’s side…should be also dead, and shouldn’t be on the magic side.”

  Right…

  “My Mother’s family are all dead, and Papa never spoke about surviving family members. Mother did speak about a grandmother…but she never came, nor did we ever go to them.” Elizabeth said, turning her [Eyes] to the woman in front of her.

  The Old e shoh silver light, a…She couldn’t eveo find any evidence of a [Soulscape], actually…this woman had never used [Idea], had she?

  “I khis would happen, stupid disciple…” The umbled, “I am Catherine Saintsworths teacher, wheakes a disciple we bee family. I am closer than Catherine’s inal Mother because I was the one who stabilized her Mana Core into ohat would allow her to traverse the dimensions in search of her home after she arrived at my house with a cracked Soul.”

  She what now?

  “And then, years after wheurned with a smile and a man at her side, I was the oo marry her with that…abomination of mana.” The e shuddered, what had she seen in her papa? “I am hurt that she didn’t deem to e with me for help, but then again. If she did you wouldn’t be alive…You…. I want to ask, what are you? But like Catherine, I have a soft spot for damaged girls.”

  Rude!

  She wasn’t damaged! She was very fine!

  “So, what are you doing here?” Rossie asked, her gre had diminished, but she was still fighting for the trol of her mana, she was struggling so much that her eyes shoh the heart motif again!

  So cute! And so sexy!

  Wonder if she could get her to show those when she kissed her ime…

  No Elizabeth! Focus on the old monster you have in front!

  “Like I said, I have a ot for damaged girls. I was house-sitting till you arrived,” The e said while pointing at Elizabeth, “I was going to leave, but then I saw those Echoes, so I had to stay…Tell me, girl…Are you going to do something about them? If not, I will take them with me.”

  The what now?

  Was she looking at the [SoulGems]?

  “Those are of Rossie and Rena, well I already ate the ohat was from Rena… If Rossie doesn’t mind you taking them, I guess you have it…? What will you do with the [SoulGem]?” Elizabeth said, she…. was not sure if that would be the right thing, that gem may be useful ter. “If you firm me the owner of this one is dead, I don’t mind giving you this one.”

  Elizabeth took the gem that was from Akira, she hadn’t decided what to do with it either, but if she could... she wouldn’t mind taking one or two skills from Akira. If anything, should she mao get the [Divine] ohat would be very useful.

  “What? Why would I want those? I don’t deal with Soul Fragments, besides that one…Yeah, I don’t want to even touch it, that mana is disgusting. Good job in purifying it, but speak to me again in 200 years when that thing is .” The e dismissed the [SoulGems], weren’t… these kinds of important? “No, I mean the red-eyed girl and the yellow-eyed ohat seems to be waiting for you.”

  And with the snap of her fiwo images maed in front of the three girls, a bck-haired girl with silky hair sleeping in a bck void at the side of a blonde girl who could pass as Elizabeth's younger sister. The two seemed to be hugging a shadon.

  “Alice…” Elizabeth mumbled as she tried to touch the image, only for her fio pass through it.

  “Alice huh…A fitting name I guess, so are you going to do something about this girl who fell through a hole into Wondernd? If not, I take her with me.” The e said turning to her.

  Was Alice the [Echo] she spoke about then? What was an [Echo]?

  “Where is Alice? What is happening with her? And do you mean an [Echo]?” Elizabeth asked turning to the woman, she didn’t like this feeling of impotency, someone had the answer she needed.

  She would not let this go, not again.

  She would not be ignorant again.

  The words resounded within, and her body shone in white light, gone was her normal clothes and form, instead, she stood up, not as Elizabeth Starbright, but as [The Stardust Weaver].

  “Answer me. What happeo Alice? Why ’t I summon my [Shift]?” Elizabeth demanded as the [Mana] in the air reacted and started weaving magic circles. She felt the presence of the mana threads from the woman start to worm towards her magic, but her mana was no match for Elizabeth’s [Mana].

  “Hmm…. good mana manipution, enough trol over the area…And I think this is the beginning of a domain? Iing, you girl are what any witch would love to have in a successor.” The e said with a smile, this time it wasn’t a crazy smile nor cag like before, but the smile of a g grandmother.

  Then with the snap of her fingers, the image dissipated, and the weird mana threads disappeared, gone was the imposing figure of an a witch monster. Only leaving behind the image of an old woman.

  “Let’s start easy then…. An Echo…Well, I guess that for you it would be an [Echo] no, too much mana…An [Echo]...God I hate these stupid local ws, why do you evehis nguage? I swear to god, that stupid girl should have kept this to them, you only waste causality half the time!” The e went on and on cursing purple-haired Roman girls for some reason, “Anyway, an [Echo] is….”

  Chapter 100: Grandmother knows what is best, and what is best is a cliff

  Annou