' = Internal dialogue

ยจ= Normal speech

* = Sounds / Etc

-Chapter 31 Start-

If looks could kill, then Valeera would probably have run away by now. I stared at both teenagers in front of me with a mix of disappointment and resignation.

Turned out Anduin was bored being grounded by Varian for no apparent reason. As he was reading a book, a knock was heard on his window, and when someone his own age appeared, he lost his fear of it being an assassin. Just recently, he had been attacked by an assassin wearing a red bandana and was on edge, and so was his father. He kept him locked away for his own safety while he was unavailable or traveling outside Stormwind.

Though Varian Wrynn isn't a bad father, after the death of his wife Tiffin, he started taking more drastic measures to keep his remaining family safe.

So when a high elf suddenly intruded on where he was pretty much under the definition of house arrest, it made him very curious about what she would want.

Handing him a small bag with a necklace and a stone with a blue spiral was not one of the things he expected to happen that day.

So after talking with Valeera, the prince decided to see who the mysterious people really were... after Valeera bragged that her father was stronger than his.

That was the short story the young boy gave me after my staredown while Valeera whistled on the side.

I groaned again at the situation, "So... little Anduin, is anyone usually checking up on where you are often? Because I'd rather avoid having your sourpuss of a father on my neck after the stunt Valeera did..." I asked.

Anduin looked as if he were going to defend his father for a moment but then shook his head and considered my question until he replied, looking mildly annoyed, "Every morning, evening, and when the sun goes down."

Luckily for us, the sun went down not long ago. I looked at Valeera and asked, "What were you hoping to achieve with this?"

Valeera had the shame to look to the side as she mumbled, "Because... he reminded me of myself back when I lived with my parents... they always locked me in the house when they left..."

This surprised me momentarily before I sighed, "Alright, it's fine, Anduin. Are you up for a brief journey?"

The young boy perked up at this. He had seemingly lost all reservations after observing the *Interrogation* of Valeera.

Anduin nodded with a smile but was shocked when a dark purple portal started taking shape before us.

"So, ready to meet your aunt Calia then?" This made the prince look at me with wide-open eyes as Valeera grabbed his hand and led him through the portal. I joined them shortly after scouting the nearby area for any spies or SI:7 agents. I wouldn't want this to come back and bite me when we returned.

When all three of us came out on the opposite side of the portal into the tower's first floor, I was met with a small *Eeep* From a sleepy Lanira who had made herself home on her big pillow on the side of the couch used for visitors.

Apparently, we had spooked her quite a lot. After these weeks of practicing how to make portals, I made them soundlessly instead of hearing cracked glass on every occasion I summoned it.

Considering we were on a time limit, I told Valeera to show the prince around the house but to stay away from Nessie; meanwhile, I went to get Calia and Jaina to talk about the situation.

After walking quickly down the street and finally reaching Calia's house, I knocked on the door. After a minute, I could hear footsteps from inside, and a tired-looking Calia opened the door while massaging her eyes. "Medan? When did you come back? Did something happen?" She said as worry grew in her voice.

"Well, Valeera kidnapped the prince of Stormwind, and I brought him along for a few hours; also, we need to prepare for an enormous population boost... Your people have arrived in Stormwind, but the situation is... bad, very, very bad. Do you think you can come to my place soon? Meanwhile, I'll go get Belmont." I said while my voice grew more severe towards the end.

Calia immediately sobered up, eyes showing mild horror and surprise after registering what I told her, but her questions could wait until later. She nodded and went back inside as I went towards Belmont.

When I got through the doors to Belmont's Inn, I found him standing in his bar section. He looked towards me and said, "I thought you left a few hours ago. Back so soon?"

"Semi-crisis on our hands. Can you come with me to my place? I already got to Calia; she is probably heading there as we speak." I told him.

Belmont nodded and grabbed his jacket, and we walked quickly through the streets toward my house.

When we got through the door, I was surprised to see Nessie sitting on Anduins lap while Valeera was playing with Bluey, a tired Jaina, and Calia, who sat by Anduins side with a gentle smile as the boy looked happy while Nessie was enjoying the patting.

'Seems like Valeera is having an opposite day, literally doing the opposite of what I tell her at every turn...' I thought before I turned back to the people around the table

Belmont and I sat down where everyone sat and waited for our arrival, and with a cough into my hand, I got their attention, "So, we are expecting at least a high number of people coming into the city within the next day." I told them right away.

Belmont looked at me very seriously, "Exactly how many?" He asked.

I considered this momentarily, then replied, "At least five times our current number of citizens."

This caused all of them to stiffen and then sit deeply in their seats and wait for me to continue.

"We need to figure out a way to make this process as painless as possible, a majority of the people coming are among the lower class, and as they had a tough time dealing with the situation going in in Stormwind, most of them will likely need time to settle down and recover from recent events."

Calia was deep in thought until she said, "There is already a portion to the west in the city open for that. We are currently rebuilding the wall several hundred meters out, the only thing we need to do is to place more guards to secure it while it's being built..." Calia was already thinking of what to do about that, so I continued.

"Jaina, could I ask you for your help by maintaining portals or several with the help of the mages you have with you? I'll owe you one.

She smiled, "I'll do what I can."

"And Belmont, could you figure out if any of the people who arrive are spies or are influenced by magic?" I said, and Belmont nodded with a grin.

"Finally, thinking like a leader, are you? That's an improvement! Oh yes, recently, we have had some breakthroughs making a sensor to spot certain magic while imbuing certain enchantments into the thorium tokens.

But they are far from perfect, so I'd need to make my agents keep an eye on any suspicious individuals..." Belmont responded as his grin gradually turned to a serious expression.

Anduin was listening with rapt attention now, and I turned to the boy, making him flinch out of focus, "And little princeling, can you take the hydra with you up to the pool? There is something private I need to talk with the people here for the rest of our meeting." I told him, and he nodded while looking as serious as a teen could, which was, quite frankly.. not that serious, but it was good enough for me.

I looked over to Valeera and indicated for her to join him up to the second floor, she smiled and grabbed Anduins hand with her only free one because the blue hydra was attached to the other, and both the teens made their way up, and closed the door.

Looking at Calia, Belmont, and Jaina for a moment, I continued.

"The situation in Stormwind is dire, to say the least. I will most likely provoke... A black dragoness after helping Stormwind out, and we need to deal with the situation as soon as possible before she decides to... complicate things." sighing while massaging my brows, I went deep in thought.

I noticed Jaina looking at me for a moment while thinking of something until she finally started, "Ehm, this might not be the best timing... but do you, by any chance, cover housing for another mass of immigrants here? Because I might have started recommending my own people who were making their way down to Dustwallow... If you'd have us, that is, because from what I have seen, we'll be stronger together to handle the threats looming ahead... That is... if you don't mind taking us into the fold?"

Her statement left us surprised for a moment, then Calia ran up to Jaina, hugged her, and sighed in relief. "Thank the light, I had hoped you'd stay with us. I had started losing hope after hearing your reports about the people you lead going further down south." Calia told Jaina as the mage returned the hug and a smile.

"We would be delighted to have you and your people with us.

Glad to have you aboard." I smiled at her declaration to stay, almost like a considerable weight coming off my back.

Belmont nodded with a smile and directed his gaze behind Jaina for a moment before he turned back to me and said, "Well, it seems that I'll have to put in some effort myself to make this so-called mass immigration happen. I'll have housing ready for your people towards the eastern section of the city Jaina since we want to process the ones from Stormwind before anything else."

This brought us back to a slightly heavier mood as we sat down and planned what to do the next day.

Hours later, Belmont and Calia left while Jaina stayed behind. She still lived in the guestroom I had prepared as Calia's house no doubt had a good couch, but Jaina had decided that a room and a bed to herself was better until she had a place of her own.

Though she also stayed behind due to Anduin, the boy had to return to Stormwind within an hour, and she had to make the portal, considering I couldn't due to the current limitation of Warp.

The limitation of Warp annoyed me slightly, but it was worth it in the end, as Warp would probably work where mana couldn't access, effectively making it impossible to trap or confine me even while I wouldn't have access to mana around me, at least that's what my intuition told me.

She turned toward me as we both walked side by side towards the stairs. She smiled, "I forgot to mention this... thank you for your hospitality and letting us join your growing city."

I smiled as we walked slowly toward the second floor. I started, "Without the assistance of those around me, I would have never been able to do any of this. Surely by now, you can see that I'm not remotely capable of politics or the like." I said with a wry smile.

She just scoffed with amusement, then I put my hand on her shoulder and said, "Welcome to the shitshow. This is going to be one hell of a ride." The moment I put my hand on her shoulder, she stiffened as I realized her eyes turned bright blue and turned slowly towards a very weak purple tint which almost went by unnoticeably before it disappeared, and so did the blue radiant glow from her eyes as she almost fell to her knees with heaving heavily for air.

I caught her before she could fall, and Jaina turned towards me in shock, "What... happened? I feel.. stronger?" She whispered while sounding uncertain.

Then I felt it. Half my mana pool emptied and then recovered right after.

'Well, this is strange... this can't be a coincidence...' I checked my notifications to see if there were any hints about what had transpired, but nothing popped up, so I turned back to Jaina, only to see a slight blush for a moment as I still held her. "... You can let go now." She said as her head turned to the side, trying to avoid eye contact.

I let her go, and the chat became silent for the remaining walk up the stairs, primarily due to me considering what had happened. When we opened the door to the second floor and opened the door, we saw Anduin dipping his feet into the pool while the hydras raced back and forth in the water.

Valeera stood beside him as they watched the two hydras enjoying their time in the pool, but she soon turned to Jaina and noticed her blush; then she gave me a knowing smirk, undoubtingly seeing the awkward atmosphere.

We both stand there momentarily before I cough into my hand to get Anduin's attention, "It's time to leave now, little prince. Once all this settles, we might kidnap you again." I said with a pointed look toward Valeera, who had the decency to look to the side while smiling as if she would do it again regardless.

Anduin smiled from the pleasant mood, Jaina then started casting her portal, but now her cast completed almost twice as fast as it did earlier today.

She was shocked but hid it quickly, then she motioned for us to walk through it, I started directing both Valeera and Anduin through the portal, but before I went through, I looked toward Jaina and said, "Thanks, I guess we'll talk about what happened earlier at another time?" She nodded with a small smile as I walked through to the other side of the portal.

For the first time in a long time, we were not met by several more situations due to one action. We managed to sneak Anduin back into the royal keep before the guards would do their routine check.

When heading back to the Park District, I lifted us both off the ground and into the highest roof nearby. As we sat down, Valeera exclaimed, "Thanks, today has been great! Things become just as exciting tomorrow as well. Then she yawned, took a sleeping bag out of her inventory, wiggled herself into it almost like a larva, and looked up at the stars in the open sky.

I also looked up at the sky and said, "Well, as long as you don't make it a habit to kidnap royalty, I'm sure we can make most days fun and interesting."

After sitting in comforting silence for a few minutes while stargazing, Valeera asked out of nowhere, "Do you think there are other planets like ours out there?"

"Like ours? No, but there are several worlds out there that are related to this one in some sense, like the planet Draenor, or at least before the orcs destroyed it with their stupidity." I told her with slight scoff at the end.

She was still looking at the sky until she turned to me, "You never told me about yourself... ever since we met. Why?

I wondered how I was supposed to answer that, but after pondering, I replied, "That... is a tricky question.

Well, you've heard me mention that I wasn't from this.. time, right? There are many different versions of you and me but behind many different timelines."

I paused momentarily before continuing, "I'm simply... an anomaly at this point. One day I woke up on a beach with no recollection of how I got there, and after many coincidences, I encountered you, Calia, and Belmont. Though the funny part is I know another you, and she helped me out too."

This made Valeera very curious, and she forgot the end of her previous question as she asked, "How.. was the other me?"

I laughed before I replied, "Far, far from as pleasant as you are, she was... kind in her own way, but overall... much less unpleasant, in my own words, a massive bitch... She did save my mother though, and she was one of the few people I could trust to do the right thing..." My voice became more silent towards the end, almost losing myself in the few fragments of the past.

"That sounds horrible! How can I, the mighty and stealthy Valeera, become this... so-called bitch? I have to admit that she sounds like an amazing person in her own right! But... I'm glad I'm me..." She said with pride in her voice.

"But who is your mother? I heard you met your father but never told me who they are?" She continued.

After considering how to tell her, I said, "Well, my father is the one who opened the portal for the orcs and demons and gave them access to wander our world, and now... He's the prophet you have heard so much about lately."

This made Valeera gape momentarily in disbelief, but I continued, "And my mother... Well, she is the one who killed Anduin's grandfather during one of the wars against the orcs and she is one of the best assassins to ever wander the world. Oh, also, she is a half-orc and half...Draenei, the Draenei is one of the few races that travel through outer space."

This didn't make Valeera just sit there and gape. She was utterly silenced, which was indeed very rare and amusing at the same time.

"...Wow..." Then she almost shouted, "Best assassin!? Do you think you can get her to teach me!? And wow! your part alien!?" This went on for a while until she calmed down, which took its time. I didn't even have time to answer one of her questions as she rapidly asked new ones.

Then her questions calmed down as she realized something, "Oh... so she is the one who did that, huh... Anduin told me that he had heard stories of his grandpa and that he was a hero, but he never mentioned that he was killed by an assassin..." She said with a sad tone.

"Well, she did it to save the people around her, though, and from what I heard from my mother back then, it was King Llane who told her to do it in the end..." I replied.

She brightened and said, "That makes your mother a hero, too, right?"

'Well, she isn't exactly wrong...'

I shook my head, "She never wanted to be a hero, though she will need saving eventually..." I told her as I looked back to the sky, watching the clear night sky covered in bright stars.

'I wonder how that plays out now since I originally wasn't supposed to be here... how Cho'gal and his minions will go about things... I will end that twisted creature soon enough, but I require more power...'

Valeera nodded and looked to the sky again. We sat there for some time, enjoying the silence and the clear star-filled sky as we sat there deep in thought.

I heard a yawn again and looked to my side. Valeera then turned her gaze from the sky and towards me and said with a smile, "That's the first time I have ever made you talk about yourself!" she said proudly while lying in her small sleeping bag with a big smile on her face.

Smiling back, I said, "Time for you to sleep... daughter, we have a long day ahead of us by the time morning arrives." This made her stiffen for a moment until she flew out of her sleeping bag, went in for a hug, and crawled back inside with a big smile.

A few minutes later, I heard the low voice of Valeera, "...Goodnight... dad..." She whispered, half asleep, then a light snore was heard.

As I sat there on the roof in utter silence except for the light snores of the young girl beside me, and thought to myself.

'This world... isn't too bad... dad, huh... it doesn't sound too bad.

-Chapter 31 End-