Finn appeared in a graveyard next to the harbor where he had previously arrived with Fae. After the light particles stopped gathering, he stood there, checking his now fully healed body.
"That hurt. I hope Fae is okay…"
He first checked his equipment, which had its durability drastically lowered after being cut with a single powerful strike, and then he checked his level.
Luckily for Finn, he had a lot of exp saved up, so instead of going back to level 10, he lost 4500 exp, which one needed to reach level 11. And because he previously had 5000 exp, he lost 4500 of them and was now level 11 with 500 exp.
He also received 5000 exp from the quest that he had completed after he had brought Fae safely home, so he was now level 11 with 5500 exp, and he just needed 500 more to reach level 12.
The quest had been completed, and he had received his exp reward, but he knew that there was more to it, so he assumed that he had to go back and meet Fae's parents again to receive the other rewards.
Finn didn't really mind dying that much because he knew that he would die sooner or later playing Second Life.
If an NPC died, he wouldn't revive, but Finn was a player, so he just had to go through some pain and then he was as good as new.
But what he did mind was traumatizing Fae.
Finn knew just how shitty her life had been so far, and he knew that seeing him die in front of her might influence her in a very bad way.
He didn't want Fae to suffer because of him, so he immediately started walking back to the capital city in hopes that once the elves saw he was able to revive himself, they wouldn't mindlessly kill him.
The people that lived in the world of Second Life might not have been too familiar with players yet, but they would soon discover that there were immortals walking among them.
This would spark a conflict between the NPCs that would lust for this power and the players.
All of this was supposed happen in the future, and Finn was aware that the future he knew might change if he revealed his immortality, but if it meant making sure Fae was okay, he was willing to do it in a heartbeat.
---
While Finn was on his way back, Fae fell to her knees with tears leaving her eyes.
She was also short of breath, and her chest was hurting from how much pressure she felt inside it.
Fae loved her new big brother, Finn, but she also loved her father, who had just killed him in cold blood, so this made her brain overload, and she couldn't process anything other than sadness and pain.
"Fae! Does it hurt somewhere?!"
Her parents immediately crouched down and tried to help her, but their daughter just kept crying.
Suddenly, one of the guards walked up to the king, who was trying to ask Fae what was wrong, and after kneeling on the ground, he opened his mouth with a frown.
"Your Majesty!"
The Elvish king, who was also Fae's father, turned his head and looked at the guard.
"Speak. Do you know something?"
"It's just that the boy you had killed, the one who brought Fae here... It didn't look like he was her captor. He even told us that he had saved her before you came, but you killed him so fast that I didn't even get to tell you."
"…"
When Fae's parents heard that, their faces darkened because they realized what had happened.
Fae only reacted by crying even louder, and her throat was starting to hurt.
"…What have I done…"
The king furrowed his eyebrows because he had realized that he didn't kill Fae's slaver but her savior. Someone who was kind enough to save his daughter and bring her back to him.
Fae's mother knew that it was too late now, so she just hugged her daughter and tried to comfort her. She hadn't seen Fae for months, and now that she was finally back, she didn't even talk to them and only cried.
"…What's done is done. Let's go back to the palace."
The king waved his hand, and the vine carriage descended. The queen took her daughter, who was crying, and the royal family entered the carriage.
Soon it started floating, and then it flew towards the center of the city, where a majestic white palace with golden spires stood.
After arriving in the palace, they took Fae to her room, hoping that she would be happy to finally be back, but even after placing her down on the bed, she kept crying and sobbing.
This went on for tens of minutes, but Fae didn't show signs of stopping.
Her parents didn't know what to do, and that just broke their hearts.
They then tried asking Fae if she wanted to eat any desserts because that had always made her happier in the past, but even though Fae had the biggest sweet tooth, she just kept shaking her head.
"I… I want to see brother Finn…"
"…"
Her mother hugged her while not knowing what to say, and her father kept biting his lower lip because he was imagining a lot of "what ifs."
'What if I listened to Fae for a second more? What if I tried talking to that boy? What if I missed my strike? What if…'
But those were just that, what-ifs. Things that didn't happen and if one couldn't turn back time, he wouldn't be able to change the past.
Fae's father was a king, and he was used to doing things that would give him regrets, but when it came to his adorable daughter, he just couldn't stand seeing her sad.
She always used to be happy and kept smiling no matter what, so the more Fae cried, the more he felt like his heart was being squeezed.
"Fae, I am sorry, but-"
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
Loud knocks on Fae's room door interrupted Fae's father as he was trying to tell Fae to forget that boy.
"Enter."
A guard rushed inside, and he was wheezing because he probably ran the whole way.
He wanted to deliver some news that he thought was important, but he couldn't blow the horn like he had previously done because that was used only in an emergency.
"The boy… The boy, your Majesty, that you had killed…"
The guard tried to convey the information in one go, but he couldn't because he was just so out of breath.
"What about him?"
The king furrowed his eyebrows while looking at the tired guard. Fae and the queen also looked at the guard, wanting to know what he had to say.
"He is alive! He is currently standing in front of the city where he previously died. But he… He is completely fine!"
Describing the situation, the guard's face was bewildered, as if he had seen a ghost.
"What did you say?! That is impossible. I saw him die! If you are trying to make a joke, then you are making a big mistake!"
The king shouted at the guard in fury.
He was not in the right state of mind after seeing his long-lost daughter cry so much, so he didn't realize that he was releasing his anger on the poor guard.
"No! I would never, your Majesty! He is actually there, and when he arrived, he told us to deliver a message!"
"A message? What message? Out with it!"
Hurrying the guard, the king furrowed his eyebrows.
"Yes! He told me to deliver a message to the princess. He said, and I quote."
The guard cleared his throat before looking down because he didn't want to see the king's reaction to what he was about to say.
"Big brother is alright, and I hope you didn't cry too much, my little Fae."
Flinching at having to say that to the king, the guard tensed up his body in fear.
"…Is what he had told me to say, your Majesty."
"…"
The king was speechless at someone calling his daughter "my little Fae," but Fae immediately stopped crying and opened her little mouth in shock.
She thought that after seeing Finn get cut in half she would never get to see him again, but if what the guard said was true, then Finn did somehow survive, and now he was waiting for her by the city gates.
Her heart, which had turned into stone after she saw Finn die, suddenly started to crack, and she felt happiness surge through her chest.
Thinking about Finn's message, she realized that there was no one else who called her "little Fae" other than Finn, and a beautiful smile blossomed on her face.
Fae quickly got up from her bed and started tugging on her father's hand.
"Dad! Let's go! Big brother is waiting!"
The king wanted to scold the guard more for lying because he saw Finn die with his own, two healthy eyes, but seeing his daughter's smile made him forget his doubts, and he immediately agreed.
"Okay Fae. Let's go back."
He nodded, and all three members of the royal family went to take the vine carriage again.
---
Finn was standing near the city gates while kicking a rock in boredom.
The guards had already assured him that they would deliver his message, so he was just waiting to hear the reply.
The worst thing that could happen was that Fae fainted after she saw him die, and the king wouldn't believe the guard. Which would mean that Finn might never get to meet her again.
Fortunately for Finn, Fae didn't faint, and he soon saw a vine carriage descending from the sky.
'Okay, time for round two.'
Finn stopped kicking the rock and waited for the carriage to land.
Once it did, he saw Fae jump out of it and run towards him.
"Big brother!"
She shouted and ran as fast as her little legs allowed her to.
Finn kneeled down on one knee and opened his arms with a smile, which made Fae jump into his embrace and tightly hold onto him.
She was still unsure of how Finn had managed to survive, but seeing his gentle smile again and feeling the warmth of his body made her worries melt away like snow in spring.