Chapter 239: Epilogue 6 The End

XxxxX Five Years Later XxxxX

"Daddy, can you tell us another story," piped up his daughter as she snuggled her stuffed rabbit.

"Which story do you want?" Joseph asked, settling into the chair in the kid's bedroom.

Merle jumped up into the top of his bunk bed, and the smallest boy crawled into the lower bunk.

"Tell us about Uncle Joe," said his daughter, with a shy grin.

"Alright. Joe was in a different world, in a different realm, just yesterday, and he was telling me about the crazy magic system they had over there."

"How was it so crazy?" asked Merle, always curious about everything magical.

"Well, they rode around on flying swords," he said, with a smile.

"Swords?" all three children asked, in surprise.

"Yep," he nodded.

"Like the people rode on flying carpets in that desert world?" asked the smallest boy, Donovan.

"Yes, as far as I can tell. He also said their method of magic was very different from ours, claiming to have levels that eventually let them ascend to godhood."

"Wow! That's incredible!" gasped little Sarah.

"Like Orion?" asked Merle, hanging off his bed.

Joseph raised an eyebrow, and Merle immediately pulled back onto his bunk with a wide grin. "No, they weren't like Orion. From what I could tell, they were still mortals, but had stopped aging to a point, and had a tremendous amount of strength. Joe was still getting information about them, so as soon as I find out more, I'll let you know."

"That wasn't much of a story," complained Sarah, giving him a look that reminded him strongly of Stella.

"Well, then what else would you like to hear about?" he asked.

"How about the Rune Master?" asked Donovan.

Joseph sighed. "You guys know that I don't like to talk about him. He was a very rude and obnoxious version of myself. How about the story about the dwarven wedding we had to go to last year?"

"No!" cried all three of them, complaining all at the same time about how he always wanted to talk about the wedding, and never told them anything about the Rune Master.

"Calm down before your mother comes in here," he said, and they immediately stopped, glancing both at the door to their room, and his shadow against the wall.

He hated that they reacted that way, but Stella did not put up with whining. Though some of the things she had taught them were questionable. He did have to admit that they were all excellent cooks in the kitchen, when she let them in there.

"Please, daddy?" asked little Sarah, and Joseph felt his resolve crumble. They all knew he was weak against her pretty little eyes.

"Alright," he sighed, shaking his head. Several voices laughed at him, in his head, and he tried his best to ignore them.

"The very first time, I was born as Joseph, in this world, I didn't get to meet your mom immediately. She was just another kid, who played in the dirt, and I ignored her, just like I did all the other kids who were below me."

"Because grandpa was a rich merchant, almost a noble," added Donovan.

"Yes, that's right. I had to work hard to get my powers built up, and took every short cut I could, but the only way I could get magic was if I successfully killed a dragon and bathed in its fire-hot blood."

"You didn't have to do that, this time, did you dad?" asked Merle.

"No, the system, Orion, gave me magic this time."

"I'm glad you made friends with the dragons this time, I like playing with Chuck's son, Drago. He's really cute," said Sarah, hugging her rabbit even tighter as she thought about the newly hatched dragon. Saisho let all of Joseph's kids come see him hatch.

"But why did you become the Rune Master instead of the Rune Friend?" asked Merle, trying to steer the conversation back to the previous topic.

"My previous self didn't make friends. He dominated and controlled everything he could. In order to oversee so many slaves, my other self had to be mean. No one even knew that the runes could be talked to, or that they had personalities. Magic had always been controlled, never befriended. The concept didn't exist."

"But you did it," said Donovan, settling himself down and pulling his blanket up to his chin.

"I didn't want to take the easy way out. I wanted to do as much as I could by myself, because if I messed up, I knew it was my fault. But if I succeeded, I didn't have to share the success. I would never have been able to do everything I have, if I hadn't worked so hard when I was little."

"But you had Orion to help you," grumbled Merle, settling back himself.

"A little," admitted Joseph, thinking back on his time as a seven year old, "but most of what I did, was only possible because I had memories of my previous lives. I knew that there were things I shouldn't be able to do, and by doing them, everyone around me was confused and vulnerable."

"So, you had an advantage?" asked Sarah, her little eyes starting to flutter.

"Yes," he said, sitting silently as all of their breaths deepened and slowed.

Once he was sure that they were all sound asleep, he teleported to the kitchen, wrapping his arms around Stella as she pulled a new batch of cookies out of the oven.

"You really shouldn't tell them about the Rune Master," she said with a small smile, nibbling one of the cookies as the melted chocolate tried to drip.

"I didn't really tell them much," replied Joseph, moving to lean against the counter, out of her way.

"I think Saisho is already intending on having Sarah get with Drago," said Stella, changing the subject.

Judging from the frown on her face, Joseph figured she wasn't too thrilled with that idea.

"What makes you think that?" he asked.

"She told me so," she said, glancing at him, before placing a new batch of cookie dough in the oven.

"You know that we both decided the kids get to choose. We are not going to force them to marry anyone they don't want to. And Saisho knows that. She was probably teasing you, or thinking out loud. She does that a lot."

"You're probably right. Besides, they all have a lot of growing to do, before I'll let them out to find a partner."

"I don't mind them growing faster," growled Joseph playfully. "We have plenty of territory for them to expand to, and as soon as they are all out of the house, we can start the next group."

Stella laughed and threw a cookie at him. He caught it, and grinned at her as he took a big bite. They were perfect, just like his family.