When Ais Waldstein regained consciousness, the first thing she remembered was the last moment between her and her parents. Her father, Albert, walked away to fight the Black Dragon. Then, her mother followed. And then she was alone.

However, it wasn't the only thing she remembered because, after that, another memory followed. This time, it was about Ariadne Lakrios, Queen of the Lakrios Kingdom. But the weird thing was Ariadne Lakrios was her. She was Ais Waldstein, but also Ariadne Lakrios.

Clutching her head in pain, Ais clicked her tongue. Why couldn't she remember her life as Ariadne before her parents left!?

As she opened her eyes, she saw several people crowding her.

"She has woken up," a beautiful Elven woman with lustrous jade hair stated. Were they talking about her?

Ais stood up.

"Nggh!" The pain attacked her mind again.

"Are you okay, child?" A stout Dwarven man asked her. Ais narrowed her eyes. His face was really familiar...

"...Galmus?"

"It's Gareth now. I take it you remember your past as a certain slave driver?"

Ais' arm unconsciously went to her waist. However, she couldn't find her trusty sword. "Ah..."

That was right. She was somehow reborn as Ais Waldstein.

"I was not a slave driver," Ais frowned.

"Ahaha, Gareth. I take it you know her?" The other one in the room, a blonde-haired Pallum, asked Gareth.

Gareth blinked. "Oh, that's right. You haven't gotten the chance to meet her in the past, huh? Finn? Well, meet Queen Ariadne Lakrios, or as I love to say, slave driver."

Finn, the Pallum, curtsied. "It's an honor to finally meet you, Queen Ariadne. May I know your current name and history? Considering that we found you inside the Dungeon..."

It took Ais several seconds to remember a Finn. "That Pallum hero, Finn?"

"The one and only," Finn nodded.

This time it was Ais' turn to bow. "Thank you for your sacrifice. Humanity gained a foothold near the Great Hole because of your effort."

"Ahaha, why does it feel weird to be thanked instead of punched for my action?" Finn just chuckled at her gratitude.

"As for my current name... it's Ais Waldstein. Also, what do you mean by history and Dungeon?" she asked the adults in the room. Well, she had been an adult, but her current body was of a child, so she didn't count.

"...Waldstein?" The Elf noted. "As in Albert Waldstein?"

"You know my father?"

They looked at each other.

It was at that time that the door was slammed.

"Riveria! What is this I heard about the girl regaining consciousness?!"

A redheaded... lady that exudes an aura that Ais couldn't identify barged into the room and demanded answers.

The Elf, Riveria, didn't answer. She only gestured to Ais.

"Hoo, it's nice to see you," the lady smirked. "I'm the Goddess Loki."

Hearing that, Ais could only blink.

"Goddess?"

In conclusion, a lot of time has passed. Not only since her reign as the Queen of Lakrios but also since the last time she opened her eyes. It turned out that a thousand years had passed since her father, Albert Waldstein, faced the Black Dragon and injured it.

Ais sighed after hearing the complete story of Dungeon Oratoria, a fairy tale retelling his father's adventure. Weirdly enough, it did not mention the fact that Albert Waldstein and the wind spirit, Aria, had conceived a child.

"So, Ais Waldstein, what will you do now?"

Indeed. That was the question plaguing Ais' mind. She had accepted the fact that she was thrown into the future, even if she did not understand how or why. The weird thing was she remembered her memories as Ariadne Lakrios after she was thrown into the future. Was it by some sort of fate that she did not remember her past life a thousand years ago?

"Gareth, besides the three of us, who else is reincarnated?"

After she voiced the question, Ais saw Finn winced, rubbing his cheek.

"Gahaha! Still feeling Yuri's punch, huh, Finn? Aside from him, your favorite Elven bard is also here."

Ais couldn't help but smile. Yuri was a precious comrade in their attempt at humanity's counterattack. And Elven bard could only mean Ryulu. Still, with all of them, she wondered if the key people from ancient times were reunited for some purpose.

She voiced her suspicion to the three Adventurers and a Goddess and received a nod from Finn.

"That's also what I feel. Although I can only guess at the purpose."

"Ryuu told us to get stronger and be ready. For what, though, she didn't answer. That cryptic Elf is always like that." Gareth revealed.

"How can I get stronger?" Ais asked them. "If it's Ryulu's wish, then I'll join."

Ais heard Loki the Goddess faking coughs. "And this is where I come in. Ais Waldstein, damn, we need to choose a different last name to hide you. Anyway, would you like to join my Familia?"

Finn, Gareth, and Riveria had explained things to her. Not long after her father's demise against the Black Dragon, the Gods descended down. They gave humanity their blessings to fight monsters. The collection of people under one patron deity's banner was called Familia.

With that said, should she join Loki Familia? Sure, they were the ones that found her, and joining them out of gratitude wouldn't be wrong. But there were a lot of Gods and Goddesses here in Orario, and despite being the one who found her, she was very sure Gareth would make it so that rejecting Loki's offer wouldn't impact her in the future.

She would love to join just because she wanted to talk more with Gareth and Finn, who are also reincarnated, but was that enough of a reason? Ais furrowed her eyebrows and thought.

"Ah, that's Her Majesty Queen Ariadne, alright," she heard Gareth chuckling at her thinking pose.

Not long after, Ais turned towards Finn. "Will I get strong here?" One of the things she lamented in her past life was that she took the blade too late. It wasn't that she couldn't become strong, but picking up the sword in her teenage years meant that she needed to spend three times the effort to get stronger.

If possible, she wanted to become strong soon and not wait several years until her early teenage.

"Well, we have a solid structure here. First, you will accompany some of the Level One as a supporter. This is to familiarize yourself with the Dungeon itself. After that-"

"You don't need to explain all of that, Finn," Gareth cut him off. Turning to Ais, he grinned. "Yes, Ais. You will be strong."

Ais nodded. "Then I'll join."

Five minutes later, Ais looked at the copy of the status inscribed on her back. It was bare of any surprise information.

"Feeling weird? Man, seeing an entire life before my eyes never gets old." Her new Goddess, Loki, asked her newest Familia member. "Welcome to the family!"

Ais nodded. "Is Gareth available? There is something I would like to ask him."

"He's probably in the dining room."

"Drinking," Ais' face turned sour.

"You don't like drinking, Ais?"

"Drinking to warm our body in winter is fine. Drinking for the sake of being drunk is just wasteful." She was, first and foremost, a ruler who served her subject. Being wasteful was unforgivable and a sign of a bad ruler. "Thank you, Lady Loki."

"Just Loki is fine. You're all my children, after all."

Ais didn't reply and immediately went to Gareth.

A/N: I have to use a lot of liberties in writing Ais' first scene. We do not have information about when she was found, only after. Scouring the wiki, it seems that there are Drama CD about Ais' earlier than SO9 days involving Raul and Elfy, but I did not found any recordings of it in the internet. If anyone have any more information I would be grateful.

And so now we're in Orario proper, around nine years before canon. Technically this chapter is before the last chapter chronologically, but I don't want to separate an introduction arc so I pushed it together and let each introduction arc covers their origin until they go to Orario.