Stalor was already far from the staircase, but he could still see it in the horizon. He turned around and saw a white house. Actually, he was in a village on the outskirts of the kingdom. The fair was near the staircase that lead to the dark castle. But there were lots of residential areas around the castle.
The house was not in bad conditions, actually. It was pretty decent, considering the owner probably wanted to stay away from all that dark aura. Struggling to walk, he managed to knock on the door. A girl immediately opened it, even though there could be a robber on the other side.
— S... Stalor? Y-You are dying, holy!
She quickly placed her hand on his cheek and healed him slowly. The pain went away like it was never there.
— What happened? You are finally back, we were so worried!
— What are you talking about? Wait, ugh...
His memories took a little more time to heal. He finally remembered everything. His fight with Sage, the second strongest hero. Kanata's plan to break into the association's main building. His reason why he participated in that plan.
— Wait, Haji! I was so close to finding her! Where is she?
— Haji...?
Confused, the girl tilted her head to the side cutely. She had green long hair and pink eyes. She was wearing a simple white dress.
— Ah, right, you don't know her by that name... Our sister, Poweria.
— Poweria?! You were almost finding her? Where was she?
— In another world, named Earth. More precisely, in Tokyo, Japan.
— Oh my god, so you were looking for her this entire time!
— It was a coincidence, actually. For some reason, we were both teleported to that world. One day, I lost sight of her and could never find her again. But she was surely inside that building...
The girl smiled to comfort him.
— Don't worry, Stalor. You did your best, I'm sure of that.
— Thank you, Vivar.
The door behind them opened again. The boy from before entered triumphantly.
— Look who I found, sister! He was so excited to come back that he killed a royal guard!
— Wait, really?!
She looked at Stalor, who avoided eye contact, embarassed.
— I was almost dying, okay? If I didn't lose my memories, I would be more careful not to annoy that stupid king. Besides, that guard was willing to fight with his all, so...
They both laughed at his justification. The boy answered:
— You always find excuses to your crimes, Stalor. But you don't need those when we talk about the royal family. They deserve to die, so you're just doing everyone a favor.
Stalor giggled, feeling at home at last. He commented:
— You haven't changed, Telef.
Vivar noticed something:
— Stalor, why do you cover your right eye with your hair now?
— Ah, this?
Stalor raised his bangs, revealing a bluish eye, apparently blind.
— I was fighting a really powerful hero moments ago, so I got those massive scars on my body. But I fought him some months ago, and let's just say I lost my eye because of a really bad synergy between our powers.
— That's sad to hear! If you came back right after that, I could heal your eye. My power has a time limit...
— Don't worry about that, Vivar. In that world there's a thing called 7-Up. It's a powerful potion that increases our physical and mental abilities. Since my eye was instantly blinded, not even that could heal it in time.
Telef said:
— Poor Stalor, always fighting people just because he can.
— I always enjoyed fighting, but I was searching for Haj- Poweria.
— Poweria?! Where was she?
— We were both teleported to another world. But I lost her some day, and haven't found her ever since.
The girl noticed an inconsistency in the story:
— Stalor, you said you haven't found her since that day, but you also said her name was Haji in that world. How did you know that?
— Ah, about that... I signed a contract with the strongest hero in that association to invade the main building, right? I knew it was suspicious, so I only accepted it because I had some info about our sister beforehand.
— So you interrogated someone?
— Not only that. I hacked several computers to know her location. Some said a specimen with her appearance named Haji was being used in experimentations. So I just connected the dots.
— You hacked... computers...?
— Ah, they don't exist in this kingdom, alright. But our world is also vast, you know. There are similar devices in other nations.
— We never left this nation before, and you already travelled to another planet. I'm so jealous of you, brother.
— We can always live in a more developed place, you know. Actually, this planet is much bigger than Earth.
— We can't do that! Our brothers went to live somewhere else to work and never came back!
— Wait, about that...
— We only have Eternia left with us. We haven't changed from here yet because they may return someday.
— Where is she?
— In her bedroom, as always.
— Can I talk to her alone?
— Sure. Just be careful not to hurt her feelings. She's more impatient than ever.
Stalor was guided to her bedroom. He waited for a bit, preparing himself mentally. He knocked on the door and opened it. A girl with green long hair and white eyes was sitting on the bed.
— Is that you, useless brother?
— Hi, Eternia. Long time no see...
— Yeah, you're damn right it's been a long time. I can't wait to leave this shithole anymore.
— Calm down, sister. You know we have to wait until our brothers arrive.
— I don't care about them. I have lived long enough to know my place. I deserve to be a queen and rule everyone in this planet.
— So you haven't changed. Your superiority complex is worsening.
— It's not a complex, it's quite simple. It's a common fact that I'm above everyone in his house.
— No, you're not. How about this: I'll show you the world tomorrow. Then you'll see how big it really is. Not only that, you'll finally try something new.
— Really? You'll really do that, Stalor?
Her eyes gleamed with anticipation.
— Of course, Eternia. It's been an eternity you're stuck in this room, right? Also, it'll be good for me, since I just returned from another world.
— How I missed you, my brother! Wait, you were in another world?
— Yeah... Short story long- wait, long story short... that's right? Anyway, I was teleported to another world. Now, I've been teleported back to this world.
— That's amazing! How was there?
— Very advanced compared to our nation. But, of course, it does not compare to the richest cities of Lifen.