Note: the drafts for all the following chapters are old. I've done my best to brush them up, but if they don't seem like my more recent stuff that's why.

3000 Years ago:

Kuma Tora Vin Entaire walked through a fortress made of stained glass. She looked down hundreds of stories below and made out the ground below with all of its buildings that sparkled like gems on the plain of green grass.

"Hey, Kuma!" came a shout from behind her. A boy wearing orange and purple ran up to her, taking a moment to catch his breath. "I was told that you were leaving."

Kumatora could make out the tears in his eyes. Probably thinking about who else would sculpt rainbow clay with him in the meantime.

"It's just for a little while, Larn," Kuma said. "Well, I don't know that for sure, but I don't think that my mother would call me for something that would mean I have to leave you forever."

"Don't you see, Kuma?" Larn asked. "Your mother never calls people unless it's important." Larn smiled. "Whatever it is, I hope you like it."

"Please," Kumatora said. "Don't act like this is already a goodbye. I'm just meeting with my mother."

Larn ran up and flung his arms around her, closing his eyes and grimacing.

"Goodbye," he said.

"What, are you leaving Faldin?" Kumatora asked.

"Everyone's going to leave Faldin soon." Larn sniffled.

"No," Kumatora said. "My mother will think of something. There's no way in psych that Giygas can beat us. We're the Osohe, after all. We killed most of his kind, so we'll make sure to think of an extra-special plan for him. So please, stand up a little taller. We won't be subdued."

Larn took Kumatora's request literally, eliminating all semblances of slouching from his posture and gaining a few inches. His head still only made it up to the base of Kumatora's neck.

"You promise, Kuma?" he asked.

"I promise," she said. "And we'll see each other again soon. Let those tears flow, Larn. Drain your body of sorrow now so that we can both be happy when we see each other again."

Larn sniffled and nodded, hopefully recognizing the wisdom in the age-old Osohe attitude. He let go of her, turning around and running away. Kumatora smiled even though she knew that he couldn't see. Did that boy ever walk anywhere?

That wasn't a goodbye, Kumatora reminded herself. Psych, I might see him again today.

Still, she let a tear run down each of her cheeks. Even if the reasons for her sorrow were silly, it would be sillier still to deny the sorrow and leave it to fester.

Kumatora walked into the throne room, complete with a sky-high dome that allowed for trees and flowers to be placed all around the room. Each of the walls and floors comprised a stained glass art piece that pictured some aspect of the queen: Kumatora spotted images of fire sprouting from her hands, warding off the Ancients.

Kumatora thought of this place as a throne room, but to her knowledge Queen Lorraine didn't have a throne. One of the Magypsies had told Kuma that the queen spent most of her day standing up, wandering around the garden inside of her throne room. When she did have to sit, she took a seat on a chair near the edge of the room just like anyone else would. No guards stood inside of the room; the entire Osohe race knew just how little the queen needed them.

Kumatora spotted her mother talking with the Magypsy Locria. Upon spotting her, both of them turned to face Kumatora with a smile.

"There's my favorite Osohe princess!" Locria said.

"I'm the only Osohe princess," Kumatora said, rolling her eyes.

"Still counts." Locria winked.

"Ah, my daughter," Queen Lorraine said, walking up and embracing Kumatora in a hug. "It is so nice to see you."

"Yeah," Kumatora mumbled. "It's nice to see you too."

"How have you been doing?" Lorraine asked. "The regular kids are treating you well, right?"

Right. Because Kumatora was "special."

"Yeah," Kumatora said. "I mean, I sometimes get into fights with my friends, but that's normal."

"Which friends?" Lorraine asked.

"I'm not telling you," Kumatora said. "If I have a problem, I'll deal with it myself."

Lorraine smiled, although Kumatora detected unease behind it.

"Princess," Fassad said. "I assume that you've heard the rumors about Giygas?"

Kumatora nodded.

"Another Ancient," she said. "Another being that helped create the physical universe. I doubted that you would have let one slip the first time, but judging by your expressions…" Kumatora paused. "It's all true, isn't it?"

"Giygas is real, yes," Lorraine said. "Although for a different reason than you might suspect."

"You know how Ancients mostly exist in the psionic realm, yes?" Locria said. "They are more spirits than bodies."

"You don't have to use baby terms around me," Kumatora said. "Let me guess: when we blasted their spirits to smithereens, we didn't understand something about them or the psionic realm that's coming back to bite us in the ass."

Lorraine and Locria exchanged a glance.

"Death in the psionic realm is obscure," Lorraine said, "So we didn't really understand it."

"Think about it," Locria said. "Your physical body can stop functioning, but you don't expect your cognitive spirit to eventually run out of steam, do you? And that's because in most cases, it doesn't. We did something unprecedented by killing the Ancients who sought our destruction. Sprits don't usually flop over and die like that."

"So," Kumatora said. "What was your mistake?"

"The psionic realm works in a fundamentally different way than the physical realm does," Lorriane said. "In our world, death makes matter and energy disperse. The universe comes closer to equilibrium."

"Basically," Locria said. "Everything gets more spread out."

I thought I said that I didn't need baby words, Locria, Kumatora thought.

"It's not that way in the psionic realm?" Kumatora asked.

"On the contrary," Lorraine said. "While our universe tends towards chaos, theirs tends towards order. Death just makes them compact more and more; it makes them gather more stuff instead of releasing it."

"So?" Kumatora asked.

"They gathered each other," Lorraine said. "Giygas isn't just a new Ancient. He's the sum of all Ancients we've ever killed."

"But if they were all dead when they clumped together," Kumatora said. "Why is he alive?"

"We're not sure," Locria said, "But we're hesitant to try and kill him a second time. Not that we could even if we really wanted to."

"How did you kill the Ancients the first time?" Kumatora asked. "Can't you just do that again?"

"It won't work," Lorraine said. "I'm not about to give away such a dangerous secret, but I will say that it required the element of surprise." She sighed. "Surprise which I can never hope to recreate a second time."

"So that's it?" Kumatora asked. "We, the mighty Osohe, have no way to stop some stupid alien from conquering us?"

"Basically," Locria said.

"Unfortunately," Lorraine said.

"I can't believe this," Kumatora said, pounding a fist on the lotus tree behind her. "Didn't you say that we would never stand down to the Ancients, mother?"

"Times have changed," Lorraine said. "Why fight if there is no chance of victory? Shall I create more needless destruction?"

"We're the Osohe," Kumatora said. "We're the agents of chaos. Throw us in there; we'll fight Giygas and his starmen. He won't be able to predict us if we act randomly."

"He will still defeat us," Lorraine said.

"Only if we let him," Kumatora said. "As the Osohe saying goes, 'Everything fades eventually.' Even Giygas' days are numbered, mother. It means more to us to fight for our home and our people than it does to sit back and wait for the end to come."

"Oh, since when did 'I' become 'we'?" Lorraine asked. "You speak for yourself only, Kuma Tora Vin Entaire."

"Oh, really?" Kumatora asked. "Because I could call up a dozen witnesses to agree with me."

"A dozen out of what?" Lorraine said. "I understand what my people want, Kuma. I am the queen here, not you."

Kumatora narrowed her eyes. Was that desperation she heard in her mother's voice?

"Please forgive the queen," Locria said. "She's had a long day. She does not mean to imply that her title drowns all else out; she simply has more experience with listening to the Osohe than you do."

"Fine," Kumatora said. "I'm still waiting to hear the part where this involves me."

"Your father and I decided to send you away," Lorraine said. "We want you to be safe, dear, and I don't know if any of us will survive Giygas' wrath."

"Then I'll die with you," Kumatora said. "If you can send someone away, let someone who wants it have the opportunity."

"Kuma," Lorraine said. "You've been alive for what, a few decades? You're not a human, dear. We Osohe are supposed to live for centuries, and we can't squander those unspent years."

"A few decades and still a child," Kumatora said. "Just like any other Osohe. You're right; I'm not like a human. If I were a 34 year-old human, I would be treated as an adult. But since I'm an Osohe and you've all been around since the dawn of time…" Kumatora spat on the dirt next to the lotus tree. "It means that I'm not allowed to make my own decisions."

"Oh, Kuma," Lorraine said. "You know it's not like that."

"Really?" Kumatora said. "Because I don't think that you even got my father's permission for this. He would have talked to me before handing me his decision."

"Your father is quite busy," Lorraine said. "Please just listen to me. We may not always know what's best for you, but this time we just want to keep you safe. Look."

Kumatora followed Lorraine over to a machine that looked like a Mr. Saturn.

"Boing!" a Mr. Saturn said, walking up to Lorraine and Kuma. "Machine finished, zoom!"

"This is called the Phase Distorter," Lorraine said. "It will send you to the future."

"Use it on people who want to leave," Kumatora said. "I'm staying."

"You will eventually obey the queen," Locria said, walking up. "It doesn't matter who you are or what you want. The queen dictates the rules for all of us."

"A ruler who abuses their power is not fit to rule," Kumatora said.

"You call this abuse?" Lorraine said. "I'm protecting you from Giygas. I can't make you trust me, but I will make you obey."

"Because I'm too stupid to see that this is for my own good, right?" Kumatora said with a sneer. "No, I think the issue lies the other way. There's something fishy about this, mother. Why save me with this machine yet talk not at all about saving anyone else? If this machine truly allowed me to travel through time, wouldn't you want to escape with our entire race?"

Lorraine stood still. Kumatora could see her mind working to come up with an answer.

"Just tell me the truth!" Kumatora said.

Lorraine didn't respond for several moments.

"It is dangerous to tell you too much," Lorraine said. "But if you insist…"

Lorraine pulled a knife out of her pocket. A pale jewel in the knife's hilt caught Kumatora's eye.

"No!" Kumatora said, backing away. "You're…" Turning on me?

But instead of attacking Kumatora, Lorraine rammed the knife into Locria's side. Locria gasped and struggled to free himself, but Lorraine restrained him while pressing on the pale jewel in the knife's hilt. The jewel filled up with a bright yellow and Locria collapsed to the ground.

"That man was a double agent for Giygas," Lorraine said, wiping the blood off of the knife. "Do not feel sympathy for him."

"That knife," Kumatora said. "I can feel the aura coming from it." She gasped. "You didn't just kill him. You trapped his psionic spirit inside!"

Lorraine chuckled, shaking her head.

"You've always been too smart for your own good," she said. "You're right. This way, he will not report back to Giygas with what I have to tell you."

"No," Kumatora said. "You said… that the Osohe never killed each other. Never ever. We always talk things out first."

"He is not an Osohe," Lorriane said. "I created the Magypsies as tools, and this one turned on me. He was lucky that I kept him around for as long as I did. Besides, I haven't killed him yet. Empty bodies can house new spirits and return to life."

Lorriane muttered something and Locria's body vanished.

"There," she said. "Now you can complain about how I killed him."

"Is this why I haven't seen my father in months?" Kumatora asked. "Did you kill him, too?"

"Silence!" Lorraine shouted, her eyes alight with anger. "You will not accuse me of murdering my husband."

Lorraine emitted a force wave, sending Kumatora stumbling backwards.

"I will tell you why I am sending you away," Lorraine said, "But it is not because you deserve to know."

Kumatora growled.

"Let me begin," Lorraine said. "Do you know how Osohe children are made?"

"Not through sexual reproduction," Kumatora said. "You mentioned that once. And given that we're not clones of one of our parents, I'd say that takes asexual reproduction out of the picture as well."

"Leaving not many choices left, yes?" Lorraine said. "I shaped the entire Osohe race by myself, remember? You were my first creation."

"So that's why I'm the oldest of all the children?"

"Exactly. Now, the grown-up Osohe that I created came into this world as adults. But you were my first experiment, and my methods were a tad more… transparent than I had hoped for."

"And what does that have to do with anything?"

"It was so transparent," Lorraine said, "That if anyone gets their hands on your code, they can switch it up a little to create different organisms on their own. With the others, I made it so that the DNA would fall apart if someone tried to mess with it. Coded within your genes is the process for creation without reproduction, so I tried to keep it hidden away."

"I get it," Kumatora said. "You're sending me away because you're scared of Giygas capturing me and gaining the key to create any life form that he wants."

"Exactly," Lorraine said. "The phase distorter doesn't have the power to save everyone, so we must preserve the person who would allow him to create an army on his own. No matter what, you cannot let yourself fall into his hands. Even if the Osohe go down, you must survive."

"So why not kill me and disintegrate my body?" Kumatora asked. "Wouldn't that be safer?"

"I can't bring myself to kill my own daughter. Besides, your father would never forgive me."

Kumatora looked into her mother's eyes and found sincerity. Was this the real Lorraine that hid beneath a regal exterior?

"And nobody can know about this, right?" Kumatora said.

"I'll erase everyone else's memories of you," Lorraine said. "It's the only way to make sure that Giygas doesn't hunt you down."

Kumatora's heart lurched. She would never see Larn again and the boy wouldn't even remember her? She looked towards the round, metal machine in front of her.

"And I just use this?" Kumatora said.

"Boing!" the nearby Mr. Saturn said. "Yes. Use Phase Distorter, zoom!"

Oh. Had that funny little creature been there the entire time? Kumatora shot a nervous glance at her mother.

"I won't hurt the Mr. Saturn," Lorraine said. "I'm not even sure if he's aware of the world around him. If I order him not to tell, he'll obey."

"Dakota," the Mr. Saturn said.

Kumatora gulped and nodded.

"I know that you'll force me to comply even if I don't want to," Kumatora said. "And I don't want to see that part of you again. So I guess I won't resist." For now.

She walked up to the Phase Distorter and put her hand on it. Kumatora closed her eyes and reached out with her psionic powers.

"This entry has been programmed by Lorraine Olvna Var Entaire to send you three thousand years into the future. Is this acceptable?"

"Yes," Kumatora transmitted with her telepathy psionics.

"Please enter the password."

Kumatora turned to her mother.

"You weren't planning on saying goodbye to me before you left?" Lorraine asked.

"After you go on and on about how I don't deserve to know this and that, it's a little hard for me to care about you," Kumatora said.

"Oh, Kuma," Lorraine said. "I wish that I could have spent more time making things right between us."

"It's fine, mother," Kumatora said. "You have a kingdom to run. Just tell me the password."

"It's LOVE," she said.

"Your initials." Kumatora smirked. "You need a better password than that."

"It holds sentimental value for me," she said.

Kumatora nodded. She didn't really understand this part of her mother, and she reminded herself that she really didn't care since they would likely never meet again after today.

"There's nothing left that you want to do or say?" Lorraine asked.

"Good luck fighting Giygas," Kumatora said. "Please don't give in. And… goodbye."

She turned to face the Phase Distorter.

"The password is LOVE," she transmitted.

"Correct. Initializing time travel…"

The world started to fade around Kumatora, just like it would if she were teleporting. Lorraine waved goodbye, and Kumatora managed a single wave back before she was thrust into a coldness that cut off her scream.

Lotus trees: a reference to plants on Aphrodite, these trees have rings of eight branches that make them resemble a lotus. Out of place with other "chaotic" Osohe decorations

Queen Lorraine: Queen of the Osohe. Poo thought that Kumatora was this person back in part one of this fic because the resemblance they share. She is also an Ancient, a being that existed before the Big Bang and helped create the universe. An overall enigma.

LOVE: The signature of a mysterious being sending Jeff messages through a portocom (like facetime but with a hand mirror instead of a phone lol) who has connections to the Shard of Ceres (place with vast amounts of knowledge hidden). By the end of this chapter, it is implied that Lorraine is the one sending these messages to Jeff and has some connection to the Shard of Ceres

Locria: Fassad from Mother 3. He also played a role in the main story, via...

Lorraine's Knife: This is one of the three knives that make up the Sword of Kings, and each of the knives can store a person's spirit in it and draw on spirit energy for great power. When the Sword of Kings as impaled into Queen Mary's body, the three people's spirits stored in the knives (Fassad, Hinawa, and Mary herself) entered Mary's Magicant, along with Starman Jenny (who was previously controlling Mary's spirit-less body)

Osohe: In Mother 3 they were a long lost race of people, but since we're in space in this fic they're aliens who Giygas destroyed 3000 years ago. They resemble humans and Lorraine created them based off of humans since she saw classic civilizations on Earth with potential.

Phase Distorter: Same as in Earthbound, where here it transports Kumatora to the future. It was later found by Dr. Andonuts and has a few additional uses compared to what we see in Earthbound.

Mr. Saturn: This is a more serious setting for an Earthbound fic, so these aliens are technically called "Aphrodes" in the story, and are aliens previously found on Aphrodite (before it was bombed into a nuclear winter, anyway). But the Osohe realistically speak a different language than the humans so I translated it to "Mr. Saturn," which is more recognizable. Boing!

Phew this fic is complicated.

Review Responses: Guest (who reviewed in February): Haha here I am several months later! *Awkward smile*

Guest (who reviewed in May): Phew I wasn't in a great place when you reviewed but I'm getting back in the groove! Thank you so much for your kind words. :) I'll do my best to finish this story. I wasn't planning on continuing at all before I saw this, so thank you for giving me motivation to get back into it!