She looked at the front of the class and her jaw dropped. It was impossible. How could they be here? She's still staring but they haven't noticed. They look exactly the same, only that they're wearing her school uniform. The fact that "Malroth" is wearing a shirt makes it even less believable.

She convinces herself that it must be a coincidence. There's like 8 billion people in the world, someone could look like her friends from another world! Right? It had to be that, because if it wasn't then she's just losing her mind.

The two new students headed to the back of the class and she was still staring at them, trying to process the information her eyes were sending to her brain. The girl who looked like Lulu saw her and waved at her, then Punched the guy who looked like Malroth in the arm and pointed at her. What?! Nope, not happening. Hela turned to look at the window, "If i can't see them they're not there". If she had to look at the window the whole day and end up with a stiff neck then so be it.

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The bell rang, recess, and the whole class ran to the back of the room like a stampede, trying to get there first to talk to the new students. It happened every time someone new arrived, it happened to her too. She mostly found this habit the class had annoying, but this time it was giving her the perfect opportunity.

She snuck out of the class and went to the girls bathroom on that floor. Fortunately for her there was nobody around. Fortunately, because she was on the verge of a panic attack.

She tried to splash some cold water in her face, but all the faucets were broken. She looked at herself in the mirror. She hated her reflection. But why? Why could she look at herself with pride when she was in the other world? Where did that pride go when she got back? She looked exactly the same, but somehow it felt completely different. Plus her hair was down and it was a mess. Why did people like to have their hair down anyways?
She missed her pigtails. Well, she missed herself, the other her.

She heard the doorknob and ran to hide in one of the stalls. She didn't recognize the voices of the girls who came in, thank goodness. But, wait, why was she hiding again?
She hadn't really thought about it. From the second she saw the "new students" she had entered an emergency state, hiding and running like her life depended on it. Why? Wouldn't it be a good thing if her friends show up here? Wouldn't it be better than being alone? No, because they'll see how pathetic she is in reality.

She knows they wouldn't leave her, or at least hopes so. Not after everything they went through at least. But having to explain that the person they met and the person she really is are completely different and that she's from another..world? Dimension? Universe? That's not something she has the guts to do. If she had she would have told them before coming back. No, she was that girl that got caught by monsters in Cantlin to them, not the girl who travels worlds from time to time like if it was an Isekai because gods want her to be that ""relatable"" MC that fixes stuff.

And anyways, she still didn't scrap the possibility of it just being a big coincidence and the new students just being coincidentally the perfect doubles of her friends. She couldn't just go and ask them "hey, are you my friends from another universe?", they'd think she was crazy if they're not.

She heard the girls leave and got out of the stall. She opened the window of the bathroom to get some fresh air. It was cold outside but she didn't mind it. Moonbrooke was way worse. It didn't snow here, it was just cold air, nothing serious. No snow to make her unable to feel her toes, no strong winds making her feel the cold in her bones, just cold air.

She took a deep breath and looked outside the window. The only thing she could see was a few really tall trees, since she was on the third floor, but a few trees blocking the view make sense for a bathroom window anyways. Finally she had a few minutes of silence and peace to calm down and put her thoughts together.

— No, you can't go in there, it's the girls bathroom.—So long for her moment of peace.
— But we've been looking for her everywhere! She can only be here. — Wait, she recognizes those voices. It can't be. No, she can't be THAT unlucky, the universe can't hate her that much.
— Will you ever stop being so stubborn?! — The door opened — Just wait here, I'll quickly check and-

Complete silence. Both girls look at each other in the eyes, both unable to utter a word for a few seconds, as their brains processed the scene. For Hela she was desperately looking for a way to escape, as if she still had the possibility to do so.

The pink haired jumped to hug her and she almost had a panick attack.
—HELA!! Malroth and I have been looking for you everywhere!! And when we finally find you you run away! Why in the name of the goddess were you hiding?!
— I.. uh… I was… — Her brain was still trying to find an answer.
— C'mon, we have too much to talk about. Especially you, we literally had to go through a really weird portal to find you after you disappeared and I ruined my dress, so I want an explanation! — She was dragging her out of the bathroom and opening the door. — Malroth! I found- — She couldn't finish the sentence, he was already hugging Hela like if letting go meant death.

One thing was clear, she could no longer call this "a big coincidence".

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The school allowed the older students to go out of the facilities. Hela wouldn't usually do this, but this time being outside was the best option for a lot of reasons. The main reason: Needing to talk in private.

Lulu and Malroth were sitting in a bench, looking at Hela, waiting. God this was worse than class projects.
—So… — Lulu broke the silence. — UHM...this is what you meant that time you told me "your home was very different from what you've built here"
— Yeah, yeah… that's a part of it? I guess.
— Why didn't you tell us about this?!— Malroth couldn't keep the question for himself anymore. — If you were going to come back here, why didn't you tell us?!
— I wasn't planning to come back! Believe me, if i had had a choice in this i would have never come back. But the universe had other plans I guess?
— What do you mean?
— Whenever i go to your world i end up having to come back here, whether i like it or not. Apparently that's how it seems to be, at least.
— Wait, whenever?— Lulu noticed that detail before Hela herself— What do you mean whenever you come to our world?
— Oh, right… — She was digging herself a dipper and dipper hole.— That's another thing uhm… before i met you guys i was there before, had to go re-building a few cities in alefgard- look, it's a really long story and i feel like we're going nowhere right now-
— Oh no, don't try to avoid more questions, we just crossed a really creepy portal, slept on benches on the street and figured out our way into this place to finally be able to find you and talk to you! Plus, i broke a nail!
— Yeah! — Malroth chimed in — We even had to steal these clothes, and they're really uncomfortable.
— Wait, you did what?!
— It doesn't matter now, and we did worse things in skelkatraz anyways.
— I guess… — Hela took a deep breath and looked at her friends — ...I can't do it. Lulu, make room on the bench for me, I need to sit. — She felt dizzy, probably because of the stress or from the fact that she was running on a tea and half a bag of chips.

A part of her wanted to tell them, but the rest of her was screaming "don't", so loud she could barely hear Malroth and Lulu asking if she was alright.
— You look really pale… Are you sure you don't need anything?
— No, really, it's fine.
— Wait. Hela, did you skip breakfast again? — Of course Malroth would somehow notice that. He always did, every time she slipped a meal or she didn't get enough sleep because she was working on a project he would notice.
— Maybe?
— Why are you like this? I'll go get you something.
— It's fine, I have food in my bag. And anyways, where were you planning to go get me something?
— I don't know but I would have figured it out.
— Right. — Hela took her bag and looked for the chips she left unfinished that morning, although she didn't think feeling so bad was just a matter of skipping breakfast.

However somehow the chips did help. Maybe it was the flavor, bringing her back the memories of all those moments she was close to death or about to do something really stupid and dangerous and the only comfort she could afford was kelp she found at the beach and her friends by her side.

She kind of was in the same situation right now, however, having her friends there only made the anxiety ride higher. She took a bite of a chip and looked at her friends. She wasn't ready to tell them, she was terrified. But either she told them now or she would never have the guts to do so again, and she knew it had to be done sooner or later.

—It all started three years ago… three years in this world I mean.

I used to live with my mom back then. We lived in a tiny apartment in another city. We didn't really have that much money but she always managed to get all I needed all by herself. I wanted to help her but she always insisted on me focusing on my studies and being "a normal teenager". For some time that's what I did. I got the best grades i could, generally good except geography-

— I mean you do suck at geography
— Malroth! Don't interrupt her! — Lulu smacked his face, not hard, she was the definition of noodle arms. Besides, she didn't want to hurt him either.
— Don't smack his face-
— He interrupted you.
— Yeah but he's right, I do suck at geography.
— Yeah you do.— Malroth scratched his cheek where Lulu tried to smack him. — Don't worry, it's not like it hurts.
— Anyways.

Like I was saying, that's what I did for some time until one day my mom got really sick. Everything she worked for went downhill in just a few days that she spent at the hospital and I had to figure out how to take care of her and everything else at the same time. It wasn't that bad I guess? I could handle it.
But then mom started to get worse and worse.

Then one day, after spending the whole day at the hospital with my mother, I arrived home and fell asleep.

Then I woke up in alefgard.

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— Wait so you're telling me-... — Lulu was gesturing aggressively as she talked. — …-that you are not only the one who saved and rebuilt our world. But also the legendary builder that re-built Cantlin?! My grandma used to tell me stories about you!
— Yeah, I would not be surprised if I happened to know your grandma. I don't know why the time skip but apparently my second arrival took a few decades.
— So you've just been traveling between worlds whenever the gods want you to? Well that sucks. You shouldn't have to do their job. I wish I still had my powers so that I could-
— Maybe you were the one to call her the second time, Malroth.
— What?! No I didn't… right?
— Nah, I recall Hargon saying he was the one bringing me so that you could become a good god of destruction or something like that. Not that I understand what he was trying to achieve, honestly. We ended up friends instead of enemies, it was a stupid idea.
— Nothing about his plan made sense anyway. Who creates a world to destroy it with all the people who work for you AND you inside? And why would you make everything with that level of detail either?
— Yeah. Like the throne I stole when i went to save your ass to Malhalla.
— Oh so that's where you got the throne for my room? I knew it looked sinister.
— Yeah, sorry Lulu, but gold is difficult to find.
— It's ok, I kind of like it now. It makes me feel powerful. But anyways, back to point, we've interrupted you enough. So you re-built the four cities and?
— Right, then…— Suddenly the light atmosphere her friends made with all the joking was gone, the air turned heavy again. — …then one day I came back, with no warning. And my mother was gone.
— What?!
— Oh my… Hela, I'm so sorry.
— It's fine guys, I'm ok. I mean, i Miss her, ofcourse, but it's fine.
— You sure?
— Yeah, it's fine Mal. — The next few seconds they all stayed silent. It wasn't awkward, but rather uncomfortable? At least for Hela. Lulu and Malroth were mainly just worried. Hela just continued the story, ignoring the situation. — A few days after that my dad came find me and i started living with him. I hadn't met him before, apparently my mom arranged everything so that if something happened to her my dad would… well, discover my existence and come take care of me. And that's kind of the end of the story. Well, not the end, but rather how I got to here and now. Now the real question is, how the hell did YOU get to my universe?
— Right, that. — Lulu cleared her throat. — We don't really know exactly how?
— What do you mean?
— I told Mal to go get you because I wanted to talk to you about an idea to make the castle bigger.
— Just to clarify, i don't agree with the idea.
— Shut up. Like i said, i told him to go get you and then he comes back and tells me you went poof and disappeared.
— Yeah, and by the time we went to your room again to see if we could find any clues of where you went there was a portal. So we decided to cross it and we're here now!
— Ok, and how did you find me?
— Oh that was just luck. We were walking around when we saw you around here, so we stole some uniforms from a couple of guys who talked in a weird language and pretended we were them to get in. — Malroth explained, sitting on the backrest.
— … What happened to them?
— Oh please, they're fine. Malroth wanted to get rid of em tho.
—Wha- Malroth!
—What? They made fun of my hair.— He crossed arms.

It felt weird but for the first time in a while she felt like laughing in this world.

☆゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜★

A

picture of the bully trio since I drew them, so that you all can visualize them better.