"Hey, Finn. Why the hell did Gareth come and tell us to gather here tonight? Our monthly meeting isn't for another two weeks," Lyra prodded from their usual tables in the Hostess of Fertility. It was a great question that, unfortunately, he had no intention to answer. Indeed, he told Gareth to message the other reincarnates that their regular monthly meetings were moved two weeks early into tonight. He also did not explain the reason to Gareth.

It was a testament to everyone's trust that they answered. The ones who were already there were Finn, Gareth, Lyra, and Bete. The Gulliver Brothers were late again, and Ryuu got a late patrol schedule, according to Lyra. He also told Ais to come late with Lili because he wanted to savor the look on everyone's face as they realized who the new member of the reincarnated club was.

Yeah, call him petty, but it was a little payback for them hitting him when they first met. Seriously, if his jaw wasn't the jaw of a Level 5, he'd be dead already.

"There's something I want to tell all of you, and it's quite important," he replied Lyra, trying to keep his expression from showing. "I'll tell everyone after we all gather."

Lyra accepted it, even though she clearly wasn't satisfied with his answer. Meanwhile, Gareth and Bete were already drunk on their alcohol. Just as he expected of the two.

Soon, Ryuu entered the table and greeted him. "Good Evening, Sir Finn, Lyra. I see that Sir Gareth and Sir Bete are already drunk." She put down her hat on the table. Finn nodded, acknowledging her. "Milady hasn't arrived yet?" as

"Riveria had something she wanted to talk about," he made up an excuse.

As Ryuu ordered her food from the waitress, the Gulliver Brothers came.

"Finn, you bastard. We were scheduled to meet Goddess Freya right now," Grer came to Finn and pushed his head to the table. The crack resounded, and thankfully, Mia, the owner of the establishment, did not hear that.

"Grer, you idiot. At least wait until we're finished before we gang up on him. Mama Mia would kill us otherwise," Berling slapped his brother's head.

"Ahaha," Finn just laughed. He claimed no understanding of the way Freya Familia works. However, he knew that the Brothers had no obligation to attend the sudden meeting. It was understandable that Grer would be angry. That didn't mean he would roll over for them, though. He would fight them seriously.

Still, he was glad that the Brothers stayed as themselves even after so long with Freya. He, unfortunately, had interacted with enough members of Freya Familia. The rest of them, except for Ottarl and the Brothers, were all head over heels with their Goddess. He didn't know how or why the Brothers weren't fully obsessed, but he was glad nonetheless. It would be sad to lose them to the charm of the Goddess.

"Forgive him, Finn," Alfrigg took a seat. "We won the fight today, so having to attend this meeting is a slap on the face to the other Freya Familia members. We'll be happy to fight you properly after this."

They were referring to the free for all battle that Freya Familia held in the Folkvangr. It seemed that the Brothers won today. It wasn't the first occasion; they spoke about their past win several times. But it seemed that today Freya was about to meet with them.

"I understand. Even after years of living here, Grer and Berling still can't see me as anything but Dim. Even Lyra does."

"Don't bring me to your fight!"

Alfrigg sighed. "And I can't see you as anything but the commander I respect. It makes it harder to contain them because somehow, I'm the eldest this time."

"I don't think they even respected you at all, Alf," Dvalinn joked from beside Alfrigg. "Hell, I don't think they respected me as the second eldest. To them, we're always their little brother."

The two sighed.

"Well, we can't help it," Berling shrugged. "I think it was some sort of sick joke from the gods to make us the younger siblings this time."

"No, no, I understand, really." Finn tried to intervene, especially understanding the 'sick joke' part. Here he was the one born earlier instead of Fianna. He couldn't think of any answer, but the Gods' sick joke might be a good one. "I would rather be remembered as the snot-nosed Dim again rather than lose all of you."

The Brothers smiled at him as Alfrigg shook his head. "And that's why we're still loyal to you, Finn. As much as we loved our Goddess, the bond between all of us will never waver."

"Saaaay~" a drunk Bete suddenly interjected. "If Loki an' Freya Familia battle, what'd you do?"

The five Pallums blinked before laughing. "If it's just that, of course, we'd fight for our Familia, isn't that right, everyone?" Finn prompted and got four nods.

"But," Alfrigg started.

"If it's to choose between Finn or Goddess Freya," Dvalinn continued.

"You see our answer already," Grer finished with a sigh.

"A loyalty of two lifetimes," Berling nodded.

And Finn was grateful for that. He did not know why he deserved their loyalty, to be honest. But he was very sure that the arrivals of Fianna would transfer Grer and Berling's loyalty towards them instead. And Lyra's, too, of course. That was okay; he knew it would happen. And it wasn't like they were gonna fight. Finn was sure he would also offer his all for Fianna, so it wouldn't matter anyway.

"You won against Ottarl?" Lyra asked the brothers.

"Don't remind me," Dvalinn grumbled. "He sat out today, dunno why."

Ottarl was the captain and the strongest member of the Freya Familia. Arguments could be made about him being the strongest in Orario after Zeus and Hera Familia left. When one talked about Level and overall power, Ottarl was ahead, but Gareth could go toe to toe with him in pure strength. Being Level Four, the Brothers lagged behind Ottarl or even the vice-captain, Vana Freya, Allen Fromel.

"Don't be like that, Lyra. I'm sure the Brothers gave their all when they had to fight Sir Ottarl," Ryuu joined the conversation.

"Dat reminds me. Eeeelf!" The drunken Bete raised his foot to the seat and declared, "I'm almost Level Two! Hahahahaha! No way I'll let you outpace me!"

Finn did not think Bete thought that through. While everyone here understood secrets and was trustworthy, it was still a lapse of judgment to reveal such a thing carelessly. Oh well, not his problem.

Fifteen minutes later, the Brothers' food had arrived, and they were eating it. This month was Gareth's time to pay. The monthly gathering worked by rotating who's going to pay. Finn proposed this to make the meetings more fun rather than serious affairs. Everyone except Ais and Bete got a turn because Ais was still a kid. Her savings wouldn't be enough to cover the tab. She and Bete would join the rotation once she hit fourteen, just like Lyra did. Bete being still thirteen years old, shouldn't have a drink, but nobody could stop him because his soul was older than thirteen. Gareth, rather than being responsible, enabled him instead. Considering they were old friends, he should've known.

He swore it sounded like a good idea at the time.

Anyway, all he had to do now was wait for Ais to bring Lili. He did not need to wait long because he saw Ais enter the establishment. Finn took a breath and readied himself.

Lili stood behind the entrance of Hostess of Fertility. A hood covered her entire body; a request from Finn. He probably wanted to surprise the others. She and Ais spoke a lot in between their Dungeon delving. From Ais, she got information about the other reincarnations. She really did not expect to hear about her comrades thriving in Orario after they were reborn. She also did not expect the seven years old that were currently beside her to be the reincarnation of Ariadne Lakrios, the Queen who wanted her to spearhead humanity's counterattack. Aside from that information, Ais kept everything else for later.

"Lili?"

"Nothing," she shook her head. "I'm just readying myself."

Ais frowned. "That's right. You're about to meet your former comrades. I know how you feel." She looked at her with an eye full of understanding.

If what Ais said were true, Ais also met with her former comrades and subjects. She did not expect to find a kindred spirit in the blonde girl. Lili felt ticked that Ais Wallenstein really understood her feelings. If only circumstances allowed them to meet in their previous lives... She was very sure they would be good friends.

Lili shook her head. What ifs were useless and would only plague her mind.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. Ais looked at her with an encouraging smile that simply said, 'you can do it.' She couldn't help but smile back at her friend.

"Thanks, Ais."

"Come on."

She followed Ais entering the Hostess of Fertility. Yesterday, she came here in the afternoon. The atmosphere wasn't too rowdy. Now, though, it was already evening. The place was full of Adventurers having a good time. This was really not the place she liked to hang out. She preferred being under the stars together with the others and having fun near the bonfire. But Ais and Finn said this was where the other reincarnates had their monthly meeting. So, maybe acclimatizing herself to the atmosphere wouldn't be a wrong move on her part.

"Okay, everyone, attention," Finn suddenly declared when Lili and Ais were near the table. "You might be asking why I held our monthly gathering earlier this month. Well, the answer is this. Ais?"

Lili saw Ais nod. "Good Evening, everyone. I bring someone over."

And that was her cue. With a heart beating faster than before, Lili pulled down her hood.

In an instant, everyone on the table gasped. Lili saw clearly who was there. That was Helga and the twins. Although, there were four of them now. Were they the twin's little brother?

"...Fianna?"

Lili bowed. "I'm sorry, Helga, Gren, Berl."

A teary-eyed Helga rushed to embrace her. "What the hell are you saying, you idiot?!"

"For getting all of you killed."

"You didn't do anything wrong, Captain," Gren approached her along with his twin. "It's good to see you again."

Even so, Lili saw the tears in the corner of their eyes. It seems that they all missed her. Considering they were all older than her, they had lived longer lives than her. The amount of time she missed them all paled compared to the time they missed her.

Slowly, she let her body relax in Helga's embrace.

"Thank you, everyone." She said her thanks with a crack in her voice. "Thank you for sticking with me until the end."

Ever since Lili got her previous life's memories, there had been no time she could relax. The singular focus she took up to become strong enough to drive Zanis off her Familia consumed her time. She had to be alert. Everyone else was a liability that could set her progress back.

It wasn't that she didn't dwell on her past memories. Of the times the Knights adventured the land and saved people together. Of the times they set up camp and laughed together at the campfires.

She wanted to, but she couldn't. Because of her situation, she had to hold back everything, even keeping her emotions in check. Her rash decision would almost cost her her life if it weren't for Ais' help.

This was the first time she had reunited with her friends.

And so...

Even if she held back her emotions before this... Even if she bottled up everything to display a strong face...

In the end, even Liliruca Arde could not hold back.

The dam of emotion inside her heart finally burst.

A/N: And so we've arrived at the reunion point! A little more expansion about the established status quo in Orario from Finn's view, and how apparently the Brothers are now the sanest members of Freya Familia. Maybe I'll write a section with the Brothers and Freya later, who knows? And the strong persona Lili takes finally break in this chapter. I think this is one of my favorite scene in the entire fic, mainly because Lili is unexpectedly the one I expand the most about here. Yeah, I never planned anything so this is a surprise even for me!