Vitae Memorandum

00-Conflicted Reflections

『Author Note: The purpose of this chapter is to be an optional teaser for the story, presenting a taste of the story after everything had already happened. Very little in this chapter is as concerned about the present day (after the story has ended), as it is focused upon the past (and thus all the events of the story), so it is more about reflection than occurrence. Details from that perspective are thus also intentionally vague, so as to not turn a teaser into a spoiler. If the reader wants a slight taste of what sorts of ideas are covered by the story, this chapter is for such a reader. If the reader would instead prefer to simply get straight into the actual story, please skip this chapter. In the flow of events, this chapter even reads slightly different if reviewed after the entire story has already been completed by the reader, appearing slightly less vague.  Please avoid spoilers if commenting based upon events from the perspective of the end of the story.』

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After the conclusion of a long journey, it's often helpful to look back at everything that has occurred and learn from everything that happened along the way. This was exactly what Lwyn was doing, off on the Great Mountain.

She knew there were other things that needed to be done, other places she had to be, but with how well such other matters were progressing without her, she would only get in the way. With her eighteenth birthday so close, there were several people who were just intent on making sure the goals of the day were met, and as such the day was simply moving forward anyway. However, Lwyn knew that with the changes everyone was bringing forward, the most important goal would be to learn from the past they were leaving behind, and to not forget it. Moving forward too fast could be just as bad as not moving forward at all.

Everything used to be so much worse, everyone used to struggle so much more, it was back then a time of hate and fear. Then.. everything just changed. She laughed thinking about it, remembering just how different she used to be, even half a year ago. Back then, she only had one set of memories, instead of two. Back then, she was basically alone, without the friends she had now. Life had been rough in the days before, as a result.

"Lwyn, here you are. What are you doing up here? I've been worried sick about what happened to you. I know you can't help as much anymore, but you don't need to run off like this." Mhyl surprised Lwyn, showing up behind her while so distracted. Mhyl was an example of someone she could consider to be one of those friends she gained from her journey. Like Lwyn, Mhyl had started off alone, enduring her own harsh lifestyle. Also like her, Mhyl had gained a second set of memories. In both their cases, it wasn't just any second memories, they were specifically from a life in another world, Earth apparently. Even after all this time, it was still kinda uncertain how they had uncovered such thoughts and recollection, be it from having lived as these people from earth and then just being reborn in Celese, or if they had just simply inherited a portion of someone else's in the middle of their own lives, as that person kept moving forward.  They weren't the only two working with such complications either, Qheria taking that opportunity to show up as well, the third in their small group of four.

"Mhyl, is she alright then? Ah, actually this is kinda nice. The quiet serenity, a chance to relax, I can see why Lwyn came up here. Yeah, things are going well enough today, I think it's time for a well deserved break." Qheria came to sit down beside Lwyn, compelling Mhyl to do the same. Qheria was yet another of the group, from a harsh neglected lifestyle to the second set of memories. In fact, she was specifically the group's leader, if sometimes only informally so. Her guidance had led them through so many challenges, from bandit raids to factory heists. Not that everything was just peaches and cream, so many things had a tendency to go wrong, and they had suffered a good portion of grief in those failings. No, you couldn't say everything worked out perfectly along the way, and it was easy to have regrets from more than a few outcomes, but it was hard to doubt just how much had been accomplished in that time.