Return to Jorgaldur Volume IV: Reunion

Gathering

"Eldi!" Goldmi exclaimed when she met her friend and his family.

She was in the room that Dinksa had set up for their Exit Gates. She had realized too late that her daughters were completely stained on her backs. They had already arrived at the mansion, and she didn't have enough mana to go home and back.

Luckily, she always kept some clothes in her inventory, so they had stayed there for a while, changing them, despite the girls' complaints. For them, the mud stains weren't that important.

While they were there, another Gate had formed, and Eldi's group had appeared.

"Goldmi! Oh, you've all come. Maldoa too? I thought you'd be gone for a few months. Hello, everyone," he greeted.

"Everybody says the same. It seems like you don't want to see me," the drelf complained.

"Wow, she got us..." Elenksia mocked "And these? Your children?"

"Yes, let me introduce them. My children Lidia and Liodon. This's Ted, Lidia's son, and she's Mideltya, his fiancée," he introduced them.

"I'm not... exactly her fiancée," Mideltya denied, embarrassed, in a barely audible whisper.

"Finally I meet you! Well, I saw you in the past, as kids, but it's not the same. Nice to meet you. This's my husband Elendnas, my daughters Eldmi and Gjami, my sisters-in-law Elenksia and Klimsal, and my friend Maldoa," the elf introduced them.

Only Ted noticed the brief glance between the drelf and the older twins, that is, his mother and his uncle. He was the only one who knew that they knew each other, and even he himself had met Maldoa a couple of times. However, none of them could admit it, and they tacitly reached that agreement with their gazes.

After all, they didn't want to lie about the reason. Maldoa was Melia's niece, and they were the dryad's adopted children, so it was natural that they knew each other. However, that was something that, for now, they were prohibited from revealing.

"Are you the same as us?" Eldmi asked curiously after the presentations.

"Almost. We're fraternal twins, not identical twins," Liodon explained.

"What's the difference?" Gjami asked, confused.

"We were born almost at the same time, like you, but we're not equal," the high human continued.

"Why?" Eldmi was surprised.

"Ehh..." he went blank, not knowing how to respond.

The truth is that he didn't know why some were born identical and others weren't. He looked at his father, asking for help, but this pretended that he didn't notice.

It's not that he didn't know the answer, but he couldn't explain to the girls that some came from one ovule and others from two. There was too much prior knowledge for them to assimilate, and it was best left to their parents.

"Although, perhaps, I could explain it to Liodon," he thought as he smiled.

In fact, Eldi wasn't the only one who abandoned Liodon to the twins, almost everyone did. Nonetheless, quite a few looked askance, laughing.

Mideltya wasn't one of them. She felt too inhibited about the situation, about meeting Elendnas. He was one of her heroes, one of her idols. The elf had been very famous in the past, and only his illness had moved him away from the spotlight. Quite a few families had wanted to marry him to their daughters in the past.

Suddenly, the door opened, thus letting in a vampiress.

"You've already arrived! Ah! Liodon and Lidia? Ha, ha. We finally meet. And them? Oh, a Maldoa. I thought you weren't coming. There're two pretty girls too! Later, I'll show you the dresses that I promised you," Gjaki greeted them, and started looking everywhere. "Where's Kraki?"

As if in answer to her question, the small kraken appeared on the elf's shoulder. At the same time, the goshawk appeared above the other, and the lynx a little further away. All of them had just arrived thanks to Always With You.

"Ah! Just like I remembered you! Tell me, do you want to try on some dresses? I have several here," Gjaki approached, while taking out a hat and some ribbons.

In the game, she had often created accessories and clothing for her. For some reason, the game didn't allow her to do this with the lynx, and there were certain limitations with the goshawk, but it was always possible with the kraken. There was even had a huge dress for the time she was her real size.

"She asks if you have the blue dress," the messenger sister said, sighing.

Goldmi had discovered the real reason why the kraken accepted the dresses in the game. She loved them. In fact, she had asked more than once when they were going to visit Gjaki.

"Sure! Come. I'll help you put it on."

The kraken jumped on the vampiress, who sat on the ground, and the twins soon came next to them. The others looked at her, half smiling and stunned. Without a doubt, the most surprised was Mideltya, who until then had felt somewhat uneasy at the idea of meeting the Blood Queen.

Now, she was seeing her playing with the two girls and a small tentacled being, which she assumed was called Kraki as some kind of joke. When the young elf found out that she was a real kraken who was now taking a reduced form, it took her more than a minute to react.

After not long, almost at the same time, two new Gates appeared. A cat demihuman emerged from one. On the other, there were several barbarians with powerful muscles.

"We're all here!" Gjaki exclaimed, while finished putting Kraki on the seventh sleeve. "Let's go outside, this room has become too small. Merlin, are you staying for the meal?"

"Thank you, Gjaki, but Lina is waiting for me," he denied.

The vampiress and Goldmi knew it was a half-truth. They were sure that his wife would have told him to stay and hang out with them, and that he had refused to do so. He loved her too much, and wasn't going to leave her alone.

Unlike him, Lina didn't have such a long life expectancy, so she had aged. She was very weak, and surely didn't have much time left. For this reason, he was the one who had put the most effort into searching for the ingredients.

"Do you have them?" Eldi asked. He also knew the situation.

"Yes. Check if there's any problem," he handed him several boxes, where he had kept them with great care.

"Take ours too," Skullsmash threw a sack at him.

Goldmi also brought her the kraken mucosa that her sister hadn't hesitated to donate. It may have weakened her a little, but it was temporary.

"They're all here. I'm going to the platform. I'll meet with you later", the high human confirmed after checking them.

He knew Merlin was anxious, and understood why. He couldn't keep him waiting.