Our progress from the Appalachia's was steady. It had taken my grandfather nearly twenty years to conquer two states. In five years, I had taken nearly half of the eastern seaboard from Maine to the Carolina's. We would have been further if I hadn't taken time to vet literally every person in the territory. Minor warlords and major raider gangs were crushed beneath our military might, or brought to heel and incorporated into our numbers as they found the prospect of serving the Legion preferable to extermination.

The Ala Miraculorum worked diligently to not only produce more military gear for our growing numbers, but also innovate and expand on the technology we had available. Behind the slow moving war machine came a wave of green. The Ala Miraculorum had managed to get hold of another G.E.C.K. after the one I had procured was destroyed in the explosion. They recreated the technology and we using it to revitalize the wastes. Where once there was barren ground and barely surviving flora, there were now thriving forests and ecosystems. This fact alone made the people in our territory want to remain loyal and dedicated. We were bringing the world itself back; not just commerce and law.

The standard of housing was going up as well. With less focus needed on surviving, our citizens could focus on creating proper buildings. We used Legion manpower and the know-how of local engineers to create an infrastructure program which would begin building proper homes for people first, then concern themselves with government facilities, drainage system, plumbing, and road maintenance. This would be a decades long process since there would need to be a lot of deconstruction done first. The ruins of the old world would need to be torn down before the bones of the new world could go up.

In order to establish who got new houses built first, we prioritized families who were actively producing goods and services that helped their local area, as well as the Legion as a whole. This meant that farmers, fishermen, miners, electricians, mechanics, and the like were prioritized over traders, merchants, restaurants, etc. We wanted to reward people who were in the trades that were the cornerstones of society before assisting those who worked more as middle men. Eventually, dedicated construction businesses would begin to pop up to speed along the process for those who weren't on the priority, thus creating a healthy construction market.

The Legion continued to push south. With every territory we took, and every state we brought into the fold, our numbers grew with volunteers. The southern states were more industrious and agriculturally sound than the northern states. I attributed this to the warmer climates and milder winters. The less mountainous terrain was likely another factor. That's not to say that we didn't face our challenges here, though. The southern people were prideful and less inclined to become a part of the , word of our reputation for helping the people and building roads and houses help to ingratiate us with the locals.I had to make sure that the Legion members understood that etiquette and respect were paramount in the south, and that a little of both would go a long way.

It took us another two years of work to fully incorporate Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi into our territory. Florida was the biggest problem since we had to deal with hurricane season. I had lived in Florida in my first life and I knew first hand how destructive hurricanes could be. My home town had been flattened when I was in my thirties and it took nearly ten years for everything to really return to normal. And a hurricane twenty years before that literally wiped the thirty foot tall sand dunes off of the coast.

Over this time, we refined our methods for local defense and emergency response, as well as laws governing different areas to better suit the needs and culture of the people. Flexibility was key with such a large territory. Not all cultural norms were the same throughout the territory, so we needed to keep that in mind as we expanded. Bringing the local economies in line with the Legion's was just as important as it was tricky. Bottle Caps were such a pervasive form of currency that it was difficult for people to break away from them. However, the Legion had a gold standard currency. Minted coins had a relatively fixed value and were much more difficult to counterfeit than bottle caps.

It was here, in Florida, that I had a moment of deep reflection. I stood on the overgrown road staring at the small brick house that time had conquered. The roof was mostly caved in. The large windows shattered. The ancient oak tree in the front yard was long dead and brittle with decay. Looming over the house in the backyard was a mulberry tree still somehow thriving. Bamboo and thorny vines covered the area the Legion hadn't cleared away. I stared at it with a sense of loss and melancholy. T'Preea stood nearby, watching me closely.

I walked up to the driveway, imagining the cars that would have been parked there. I had lived here in a previous life and it wasn't too different in this world than it was in mine. I half expected one of our cats to be watching me through the window. I looked over at the side of the yard, thinking the feral cat we fed to come strolling out looking for a bowl of food. Stepping inside I was surprised to find furniture roughly in the same layout as we'd had it in in my lifetime. Perhaps it was this world version of me and my spouse that had lived here when the bombs dropped?

I knew the layout of the house like the back of my hand and, if not for the debris, could have walked it blindfolded. I explored the place quietly, signing as memories that I'd taught myself to lock away a lifetime, centuries ago, came flooding back to me. Quiet nights at home. Stressful days. Happy holidays and birthdays. Love. Passion. Sorrow. The quiet ticking clock of routine days counting the passage of time. It was amazing to me how much a collection of walls could do to shape a lifetime of experiences. The familiar setting brought a melancholic smile to my face.

I stepped into the back yard. The Legion had cleared it of weeds and overgrowth. I saw planter boxes and wild vegetables that we'd planted in my lifetime. The residents of this world must have very similar lives. To my left, the mulberry tree stood nearly thirty feet tall and its limbs stretched out to encompass a sizable portion of the yard. I plucked some of the berries from a low hanging branch and enjoyed the naturally sweet burst of flavor.

There was a chicken coop and goat pen. I found a smithy where I'd had mine as well. It was like a 1950's replica of my own home, destroyed by war and time. I moved further into the yard and found what I was hoping wouldn't be there. Two headstones. One with my name on it. One with my wife's name. I broke. My legs failed me and I dropped to my knees. I covered my face with my hands and cried, deeply and painfully. We had been here. This was us. And my family buried me next to my wife. We died two years apart, just like we had in my world.

T'Preea, who had been following me quietly rushed over and hugged me from behind. "What's wrong?"

I could only manage to point a shaking finger at the grave markers.

She followed my finger and read the markers. She gasped and the gasp choked in her throat as the realization settled on her.

"Oh my god…" she whispered. "That's you and…"

I nodded, "We lived here. This wasn't our world but we were here as well."

We stayed there for some time, mourning a loss that wasn't ours, but a loss we still felt. We relived our entire lifetime through memories and stories, focusing on the good parts. We found happiness in comparing what things would have been like in this world as opposed to our own. It took us hours to settle down from the roller coaster of memories, but eventually we found that the sun was beginning to wane. T'Preea excused herself so that she could be taken to where she'd lived and see if it was the same as well.

After T'Preea left, I summoned a stone chair and sat on the remains of the back porch. The crisp autumn air was calming, and the shade from the mulberry tree helped to keep the Florida sun from hurting my eyes.

After some time, Eric came to check on me. He had left the Praetorian Guard in the front yard so that he could see if I was alright. He stepped through the back door and found me lounging in my chair.

"Merida?" he asked quietly. He never used my name in the company of others, but we'd become good friends and grown close over the past two years. So now, in private, he would address me personally instead of professionally. "Is everything alright?"

I smiled up at him and nodded, "Everything's fine."

"You look like you've been crying," he said as he approached. "Do you need anything?"

I shook my head and created a chair for him to sit in.

"Nothing anyone can give," I replied with a smile. "I'm just thinking how lucky most everyone is."

"What do you mean by that?" he asked as he sat down. He looked around the yard and didn't seem very impressed with what he saw.

"Everyone gets to make their own unique set of memories," I replied as I popped a mulberry into my mouth. "They have a chance to create a collection of events in their lives that will never, ever be replicated again. Each person is only ever there once in all of existence… And once they're gone, so are those memories that only they held."

"Isn't that what everyone does?" he asked, not seeming to grasp the source of my ponderance.

I chuckled and shook my head, "Not everyone. There are a few people, very few mind you, that don't get that singular, special life. We're pulled from life to life for whatever reason to keep starting over."

"I don't mean to sound contrarian, but that sounds like a better gift," Eric smiled as he reached over to take a few mulberries from me.

I sighed and shook my head, "It sounds like it, but it's not. One lifetime. One chance to make things special. One struggle. One continuous effort to build something that will last longer than you will. It's so precious. You have no idea how your perspective shifts when you live lifetime after lifetime…"

"And you… do?" Eric asked curiously. "I know you said you came from somewhere else, and you seem to have the powers of some kind of god. But you just said you've lived multiple lifetimes."

I nodded, "I did come from somewhere else. And I have lived multiple lifetimes. That's why I know what does and doesn't work when it comes to ruling people. As far as I know, that's why I was brought here."

"So… if you've come here with all the power you possess," Eric was hesitant , "does that mean your grandfather did as well?"

I chuckled and shook my head, "No. He's just a man who claims to be the son of a god. He's nothing more than a charismatic leader. Which isn't an insult by any means. But his method of ruling is cruel and barbaric. It won't last beyond his lifetime. History has proven that."

Eric looked at me as if he was considering saying something profound, "You act as if you've ruled before."

"I have," I admitted. I watched the sunset from the familiarity of my back yard, remembering my time in Thedas. "I was an Empress before I was brought here to cleanse this world. I protected my people, expanded our empire, and made the world a better place for them by restructuring our social system and defeating our enemies. They still consider me their ruler even now."

That got Eric's attention. He sat forward, "What do mean? They still think you rule them even though you're not with them anymore?"

"I don't think they do," I corrected him. "I know they do. I've been back there a few times. I don't know how I return, but each time I have, they've recognized me as their leader."

"You gone back!?" Eric almost shouted in disbelief. He stared at me in pure shock.

I looked at him curious at his tone. It seemed jealous, almost angry or resentful.

"Yeah…" I said softly. "Why? Are you alright?"

Eric seemed to realize how he was acting and quickly forced himself to calm back down. He sat back down and bowed his head, "I'm sorry, Merida. That revelation was just… surprising. I guess it scared me to think of you leaving us."

I chuckled and moved from my chair to slip into Eric's, resting against him, "I don't plan on leaving any time soon. But I would like to go back for good eventually. That's where I belong, after all. But I wouldn't mind finishing my work in this world first."

Eric put an arm around my shoulder and smiled down at me, "I hope you can. The wasteland needs to see a world without a tyrant."