What Vivain hands to me is a sort of sling bag. It's made from tan cloth and supple leather, and is covered in Script symbols. It's closed with a zipper, which surprises me, made out of the off white fae metal that my other artifacts are made from. Which also makes me wonder how she'd made the thing. The image of the ancient fae smith crafting a zipper one tooth at a time almost made me crack up in front of her. Further securing the bag is a leather flap that folds over the zipper and is held closed by a wooden toggle.

Taking it I feel the missing piece of my soul slot back into place, the bag becoming a part of me. I take a deep breath, straightening myself as the ache I'd almost completely forgotten about over the last week, fades away.

Vivain watches with a critical eye, and nods as everything finishes settling, "That bag is crafted from your greed. The desire to collect and hoard things, never letting them go. It's got about eight cubic feet of space in there, and will keep anything inside safe from anything you can survive."

I examine the bag, opening it up and peering inside, and finding only impenetrable darkness. I glance back up at Vivain, "Only two feet to a side? That's not a lot."

"You're not that greedy." The Sidhe shrugs, "It will grow just like the rest of your artifacts. There's a few things you should know. First, if the bag itself is destroyed what you've put inside will still be safe. You just won't be able to get at any of it until the bag finishes growing back in your soul. So don't worry about that. Next, I wouldn't put anything living in there that you want to stay living. Distilled greed isn't healthy. Lastly, don't put any other sort of compressed or altered space in there."

I frown, "Why not?"

"Best case scenario, the other space will collapse." She explains seriously, "Worst case you won't have the opportunity to know you made a mistake."

Riiiight...

"I'll keep that in mind then." I look around and with my soul in one piece again I can actually notice the state of the smithy. Specifically, that it's almost entirely packed up. The only things still there aside from the walls and roof are the forge itself and the anvil, complete with the grooves that Vivain carved into it with her fingernails when she gave me that task of retrieving the Excalibits, "I guess you're leaving now?"

Vivain looks around and nods, "Yes, with our deal complete, there's no reason to stay."

"What are you going to do now, then?" I ask carefully. Vivain and my relationship has always been a bit odd. Sometimes it's been purely professional, and sometimes she'll tell me deeply personal things that make it seem like we're friends. So I'm not sure what I can get away with asking. She doesn't react negatively to the question though, so I keep going, "Especially if you're going to reforge Excalibur. Folks are going to assume that's what you're doing, and a sword that guarantees victory no matter what is going to attract a lot of attention." What I don't say is no matter how badass she is, that kind of attention isn't going to be the sort of thing she can deal with alone.

"Well, first," Her fists clench and she grits her teeth, "I'm going to hunt down one Valper Galilei, and explain to him why using my creations as an excuse to torture children is a bad idea." Her voice becomes more inhuman as she speaks. Once she gets that out, though, she takes several deep breaths and visibly calms down.

After a moment or two where she doesn't speak, I prompt her, "And then?"

"Then?" She's quiet again, but this time she has the look of someone thinking deeply, "Then I think I might follow your example." What? "You are right, the True Excalibur will attract attention. Covetous attention. While it would also grant me victory against any who sought to take it, it might still be stolen again. And I don't really want to spend my days fighting off every idiot that thinks themselves the next Arthur. So once I have educated Galilei, and before I begin work on restoring Excalibur, I will depart this world and seek my fortunes elsewhere."

I blink several times, then mentally shrug. It's a way to deal with things, and not one I can really throw stones at. Ultimately I don't really care, I'm glad she'll be okay but beyond that isn't really any of my business, "Well, when you do finish 'educating' Galilei you might want to look up Kiba Yuuto. He's a knight in Gremory's peerage, and the only survivor of Galilei's experiments. The closure would be good for him."

"I may do that." It's as much of an agreement as I'll get without paying for it, and I'm not willing to do that.

"Well then," I shoulder my new bigger on the inside bag, "I guess this is goodbye, maybe we'll find each other again out there."

She scoffs, "Unlikely." I shrug, she's probably right. I give her a short bow and turn back towards Pua's house. I get only a few steps before she calls after me, "Rhostana." I stop and turn back, "You are a remarkable woman, Ericka Rhostana, with a remarkable story in front of you. For what it's worth, I hope we do meet again. I would like to hear more of it." Without another word she turns back into the mostly empty shack that had housed her smithy.

I grin after her, and head back towards the village singing under my breath, "My voice is an echo, Of places I don't know, And stories I've been told..."

###

Now that I'm in one piece again, Pua and I set ourselves to making the Script circle that will send me out of the universe. The Script is huge. From the inner edge to the outer is nine feet in a complete circle, with a five foot blank circle in the middle for me to stand in. An enormous number of symbols go into its' construction, governing how reality will open to the Gap, how I will be sent through, and in what 'direction', for lack of a better term, I will be sent in.

'Direction' was the hardest part to work out. There's no such thing in the Gap... mostly. When it comes to parallel universes, there are axises defined by the similarity between universes. Travel in one 'direction' and there will be an England for example in each universe, that's the axis I'd be traveling down. The further I traveled the more differences there would be, until eventually the planet I land on might not even be Earth, or the people living there might not be human. There would still be an England though.

I'm aiming myself down the axis that should make sure that there are at least humans wherever I land. Since I'm looking for a safeish place to settle down, I want some place where I'll fit in. The Symbols provided by Pua's research allow 'movement' in a place where there is no such thing, and embody concepts that don't really translate into English. Or any other language anybody, except maybe Ophis, speaks.

It takes two days to write out, and a third to check it over and correct all the mistakes we inevitably made. We give it four just to be safe, and then I copy the whole thing down into a notebook I'm taking with me.

Just in case.

When that's done there are only a few things left to do, and one is packing.

I have to fit everything I want to take into eight cubic feet. It's an unnerving distillation of my life.

First, I pack the necessities for survival. My Script dictionary, my notes for projects and ideas that I never finished or got around to, and things that relate to what I've already done that I may need or want to look at again. I actually take a break to copy out some of those notes into a more organized and coherent set of instructions. Several sticks of bone chalk are also packed, just in case I have to do something immediately on arrival. My armor and weapons I'll be wearing, so I don't need to pack those.

Then comes the psychological necessities. A book Pua gives me full of her neat handwriting. It's basically a homemade self help book, covering all the psychological issues that Pua thinks might be especially troubling to me and her advice to get through them.

"It's no replacement for an actual therapist. Or even just talking to a friend. But those aren't always available. In those instances this should hopefully help you get through until they are." She tells me seriously, handing me the book.

Right behind her comes Ku, with his own handmade book. This one contains some of the unique techniques that he hadn't had the time to teach me, but wanted to. Included therein is his strength nullifying defense, Ripple the Still Pond, and several more.

"It's no replacement for an actual teacher," He echoes his sister with a grin and she rolls her eyes behind him, "But it should get you started and at least give you things to work on. Be careful who you show that stuff to, okay?" I nod seriously.

Both books are wrapped separately in coconut fiber cloth and soft leather, and placed in my bag.

Finally comes the necessities for morale. A photo album containing pictures of my childhood, and my mother with me on our last visit. Sarah throughout our lives. Pictures of me with Asia, with Mia, with Cait, with Kunou, with Shirone and Kiba, together and separate. With Sona and her peerage. With Serafall and the cast of the show I guest starred on. With Pua, Ku, and Thea and my time on the islands and just the four of us and the odd family we'd become. Pictures of places I'd called home, people I'd worked with, and a hundred other things. Enough pictures that I had to check to see if the album that held them all had been enchanted to hold more than it should.

Pua, Ku, Sarah, and Cait got me a digital music player and packed it full of music that I like and that I could learn and sing along with. The player comes with a thick book of sheet music, a pair of rugged headphones, and a survivalist's portable solar panel to keep it charged.

Lastly, gifts that I'd been given that I want to keep. A full DVD set of the season of Magical Girl Levi-tan that I'd starred in, complete with all the extra content possible. The antique tea set that Yasaka gave me when I saved her daughter and throne, and the box of tea that came with it. With the addition of those two I find my bag pretty much full.

The jokoto sword I was given wouldn't fit, even if I did want to bring it, being more than three feet long.

Then there's the bundle of hairs tied together with a whisker that Yasaka gave me for delivering Kunou safely home.

I still haven't figured out what the hell the importance of the thing is, and nobody I've asked can tell me anything. Except for the kitsune, who just won't. I pick up the little collection of fur and glare at it for a moment, then sigh. On the off chance it's important and useful in some way I just haven't figured out yet, I pack it in it's own little protective bit of soft leather. Then it goes into the bag as well.

Finally, I set myself to writing a series of letters to the people that I hadn't really had the chance to say goodbye to properly. I write a letter to Sona giving away the last bits of my meta knowledge that she might find useful. I also include the last few moves I intend for our last unfinished chess game. After hesitating for a few minutes, I include a bit in the postscript about how I wish that I'd been staying long enough to see if we'd have worked together.

Serafall's letter has the same meta knowledge. My permission, for what it's worth, to use my character from the show in future seasons. As long as she did it well and continued to make me badass. I think she'll get a laugh out of that.

To Shirone, my letter reminds her to keep practicing, and assures her that Cait and, if everything goes well, her sister, will be able to look out for her, and give her playmates now that I'm gone, so she doesn't have to rely on her serious peerage.

Kiba's letter tells him that even though we couldn't hunt down Valper, I still sicced the Lady of the Lake on him, and she was as pissed as we could hope for. I also warn him not to put it like that should he meet her.

With Shirone and Kiba taken care of, my next letter is to Kunou. I apologize for not being around to teach her more like I'd said I would. I promise her that even though I'm not around I've arranged another teacher for her, even better than I am. What she gets out of said teacher will be up to her. I just hope I don't end up a liar.

Another letter to Yasaka, which is mostly just a letter of introduction, though I doubt Ku will need one.

The next one is to Mia. Mostly just poking fun at her for a last time, telling her where a few things of her's I'd successfully hidden are. Asking her to promise to find somebody else to joke and play with while she's off duty. Not that I doubt she will, but Mia needs somebody to play with.

Finally a letter to leave for Asia. Even though she's here on the island and will be seeing me off, I think my pen pal deserves one last letter. Mostly her's is just encouragement. I tell her my hopes for her. That she will grow powerful and capable without having to lean on anybody, god or perverted devil. That she will find something she loves that nobody told her to do, and embrace that. That she will rise to become everything she can be, and be happy with whatever she has. I tell her that I'll be proud of her no matter what she chooses to do.

With that letter sealed, I'm done.

Anything else I can think of to do would just be stalling.

At last, it's time to go.

###

Pua, Ku, Thea, Sarah, Cait, and Asia all gather together to see me off early in the morning, before the sun has managed to even peak over the horizon. Pua insists that dawn and dusk are the best time to do this sort of thing, and I don't really have any reason to argue with her.

Though Sarah and Ku look like they'd like to.

I don't know what they're whining about, though. I got up even earlier to spend an hour getting into my armor and collect my last gifts to them, which I've piled up at my feet.

They can suck it up.

I start with Asia. A fierce hug and while I hold her I whisper in her ear, "I left you a letter on my desk. I'm proud of you, whatever you do going forward." Then I put her down and pretend I don't see her wiping her eyes.

Ku is next. First I hand him the jokoto sword, "As thanks for teaching me."

He smirks, "You couldn't fit it in your bag, could you."

I shrug, "That too. But if you don't want it I could always..."

Ku quickly hides the sword behind his back, "Nope, you gave it away, no take backs." Next to him his sister rolls her eyes.

"I also have a favor to ask. I spent some time teaching Kunou, Yasaka's daughter, the sword. I didn't have time to do much, but I did what I could over the internet as well. I told her I'd teach her more, but I never really had the chance. Would you...?"

"Take over your student?" Ku thinks about it for a moment, "I'll at least look in on her. Give her a chance to impress me. What happens then is up to her."

I nod in relief, "That's all I can ask for. Then here," I hand him Yasaka and Kunou's letters, "The names are on them, it should help to smooth things over." He nods and I step over to Pua.

To Pua, I first hand a manila folder, "This is bank account information. I managed to collect a surprisingly large amount of money with my work for spirits and favors to the Yokai. This is half of it. Hold onto it, and once Asia hits eighteen it goes to her." Asia lets out a choking sob. I glance at her and she's covered her mouth with her hands, tears freely rolling down her cheeks. I smile at her comfortingly and turn back to Pua. The next thing I hand her is a dinner plate sized piece of stone and silver Script, "I activated this last night. It's a beacon, one only I can detect. Since nobody kicked down my door complaining, I think it worked. Put it somewhere safe, and I'll be able to find my way back." I don't mention the amulet crammed into my bag that makes it so I'll be able to detect the signal. It doesn't seem important at the moment.

My Kahuna takes the beacon and the folder, and hugs me tightly, "I'll take care of these, you take care of yourself. And since we both know you'll fail at that, find somebody who will take care of you. Hopefully you won't be on the run in the next world, so you can afford to slow down and enjoy yourself. Do that."

"Listen to my wife, chere." Thea says over Pua, kissing me on the forehead, "Life isn't worth it unless you live it."

"I will, I promise." I tell them, hugging Thea.

Next in line is Cait, purring audibly even in human form. Before she can say anything I cut her off with a question, "Did you get it?"

Cait rolls her eyes, her purring unphased, "Yeah, I got it here." She passes me a second copy of The World's Script. I smile and move to hug her but she stops me short, "I told you once that just my adopting you wasn't enough to make you a Princess." My eyes go wide, "It's something you have to earn. Earning isn't hard, and you did a while ago." She draws herself up, "I name you, Ericka Rhostana, daughter of the human Elizabeth and Caitríona, Queen of Cats, Princess of Cats." She draws my numb form forward and headbutts my forehead before rubbing against each cheek. Something flows into me and settles in like I'd just stolen a trait... this one is freely given though. I wonder what difference that will make, "Look out for our people, and we will look after you."

I head butt her back, making her purr louder, before I hug her, "I will mom." I whisper into her ear, and her purring becomes deafening. With a last rub against her cheeks with my own, I step to the last person in line.

"Sarah..." Is as far as I get before she grabs me by the gorget of my armor and pulls me forward. My brain shuts down at the feel of warm soft lips on mine. The kiss lasts for only a moment, but it feels like a blissful eternity.

Sarah smiles at me, "We both know you've wanted that since we were fourteen. No matter what you told yourself and everybody else. I thought the best thing I could give you would be one for the road so to speak."

"I could stick around..." My voice is vacant as I struggle to refocus after the fulfillment of an unknown number of thoroughly buried teenage fantasies.

"I'm still straight." Sarah says shaking her head with a laugh, "That was a gift, and you still have to leave."

That sobers me in a hurry, "Right." I shake myself, refocusing, "Right. First, then," I hand Sarah another manila folder like the one I gave Pua, "This is the other half of everything I've earned and saved. It's not a huge fortune, but it should help deal with those student loans and get you started once you've graduated."

"Ericka..." Sarah looks down at the folder like she's not sure what to do with it, "I..."

"Just take the thing. It's not like I'm going to be using it." I point out, thrusting the folder at her again. This time she takes it, "Jeez, if that's how you react to a little money, how are you going to deal with the real gift?" Sarah's eyes go wide, but before she can say anything I put an armored finger in front of her lips, "Shush." She scowls at me which makes me grin, and for a moment we're fourteen again in her parents basement, then reality comes back and I have to move on. I pick up the last of the gifts I'd piled up next to my exit Script, and give her the handwritten book along with the copy of The World's Script that Cait got me, "At the tea party, you asked me to take you with me."

Sarah blanched, "Ericka, I know what it sounded like, but I've... and then I kissed you... I'm..."

"Shush!" I quiet her again, "I know. You've got too much here, and you're still straight. This is in case you change your mind. It's everything you need, all my notes, my observations, and everything I've learned about how to become whatever I've become." Cait, Pua, and Ku's eyes all snap to the two books, "Just becoming like me won't be enough by itself, but if you ever want to come after me, these will tell you how to do it. Or if you just need a secondhand me, this will get somebody there too." I finish with a smile. Sarah takes the books with trembling hands and clutches them to her chest. "Just don't lose them." I tell her with a smile.

"I won't." Sarah assures me, voice thick with tears and emotion.

I smile at her, then turn away. Spreading my wings, I float without flapping to my place in the circle so I don't risk smudging any of our careful work with the Script. I nod at Pua and she leans forward, pressing a finger to the correct symbol, and jump starts the Script for me.

As light begins to flow around the Script, I start to sing. The Script is enormous, the biggest I've ever crafted, singing it to life should take a long time. But the further through the Script story I get, the less time seems to matter. The light shining from the Script grows brighter and brighter. It streams into the air forming walls around me, blotting out the world around me.

Then as I finish, the light vanishes giving me one last clear look at my friends, my family, at the village, my home, for one infinite infinitesimal moment.

Then the sun peaks over the horizon and all of them vanish.

###

I've made a mistake.

Several mistakes really.

I knew the Gap is where Script isn't. But knowing that, repeating those words did not prepare me for the reality. Or the lack of reality.

There's nothing here. No light, no sound, no movement, no air, nothing. The Gap is infinite, and a single geometric point, and less than that, all at once. I see swirling colors and flowing light which I know aren't real. Just my brain trying desperately to interpret something it was never designed to comprehend.

Am I moving? Or am I stuck like a bug in amber, just outside the universe which I can't perceive. I can't even track the beacon. There are just flashes of Script saying 'DxD this way' and nothing giving me any sense of direction. Because of course direction doesn't exist. Instead it's just little bits of sense appearing and disappearing, like a light blinking on and off.

I move too fast to understand for no time at all.

I hang still for an eternity.

Then I crash into something that almost feels solid, but not, at the same time. Like hitting still water after falling from orbit. My armor tries desperately to absorb all the energy from the impact, and fails.

My armor, Sclamhaire, my bag, my athame, my body, and the soul it merged with are all annihilated in an instant. My soul only survives because the extra one I had merged with my flesh acts like a sort of ablative armor. Or maybe a heat shield. Whatever it is, it only saved me from that problem.

My soul unsheltered by a body is starting to unravel. Little bits and pieces of it are trying to peel off and fade into the new universe that I've crashed into. My soul is far from normal though. Unusually large, unusually dense, unusually strong from everything I've done to it, and everything I've lived through. I can hold myself together.

But not for long.

I need a place to be safe.

Where I can rest.

But as only a soul, however unusual, the world is a very different place. Flows of energy I recognize from Mana Breathing are now visible to me as huge currents of light. Other souls are spikes of light shooting upwards, as much as up and down mean anything at the moment. My current reality has more definition than the Gap, but it's still not something I'm used to.

Out of the corner... on the edge of my perception there's a little spot of blackness. Like the inverse of one of the soul beacons. There, some instinct tells me, I can be safe there. It'll be a tight fit at first. But souls are adaptable, I'll make it work.

Desperately I try to will myself in that direction. In this new state of existence without arms, legs, or my wings, I can't do anything but try to move myself by force of will. It... sort of works. I move, but slowly, and I can feel myself growing tired as I force myself through this strange environment.

Holding myself together is tiring.

Moving like this is exhausting.

I'm not going to make it at this rate.

Out of desperation I shift myself towards a current of energy that's moving in roughly the right direction. As I grow close I feel something like heat. It isn't heat, not really. But in the same way the feeling of heat warns that I'm growing close to something that will burn, this new sensation also warns of danger.

I don't have a choice though. I feel myself begin to burn, and draw away out of instinct that I can't suppress. I'm close enough though. The current pulls me along even though I'm not touching it, much faster than I could move on my own.

Once I've gotten as close as the current will get me, I force myself away from it, returning to the exhausting and slow method of moving via will. I draw closer and closer to safety, and I grow more and more exhausted.

Finally, on the edge of losing the ability to hold myself together any further I tip into the safe space. My soul is drawn in like it's supposed to be here, or something like it is. It's as tight a fit as I expected, but fit I do.

Everything is dark now, the currents are still there. I can feel them, but I can no longer see them. I can't see anything, or feel anything, smell is gone as well, though touch still seems to work. But I'm so weak I can barely move. I can still hear though, muted voices I'm too tired to understand, and a thundering drum somewhere above me. The rhythmic booming of the drum is strangely soothing, but right now I'm in no state to ask questions.

Instead, I pull on a little bit of the currents that are still touching me, sort out the energy I can use on instinct born of long practice, leave the dangerous stuff alone, and draw in the energy I need to survive. It's slow going, as I have to set up almost a siphon effect, and I can only draw in energy as fast as it's drawn in by that effect, and any movement on my part disrupts the effect.

So tired.

I'm safe now though.

Warm, safe, able to get energy when I need it, the soothing boom of the drum lulls me to sleep.