Chapter 2: The Visitor From Beyond
Arche Eeb Rile Furt clutched the strap of her satchel tighter as she made her way back to the mansion—if it could still be called that. The structure was crumbling at the edges like an old storybook torn too many times and taped together by people who didn't care much for fairy tales.
Her boots crunched along the gravel path, her cloak flapping behind her like a tired banner, and her thoughts tumbled in time with each step.
"Two percent," she muttered. "That's all I can manage with today's harvest. If they haven't bought another useless chandelier or wine-stuffed peacock..."
She sighed. The numbers rolled in her head like pebbles in a pan. There was never enough gold, never enough food, and never enough time. But what there was—and what kept her going—were her sisters. Ureirika and Kuuderika. Two bright spots in an otherwise cloudy life.
As she reached the door to their shared room, Arche heard something that made her chest flutter: laughter. Clear, innocent, and utterly delighted.
The sound cracked through her worries like sunlight through stained glass.
"Good," she smiled faintly. "They're happy. That's all that matters."
She opened the door with the quiet grace of a protective older sister, already preparing herself for the twin whirlwind of hugs and chatter.
But nothing came.
No squeals. No flying limbs. Just silence. Soft and strange.
Her eyes darted across the room—and landed on a stranger.
He was sitting quite comfortably on the edge of the bed, legs crossed, with a smile that teetered somewhere between I mean no harm and I've definitely broken a few laws today. Her sisters sat beside him, perfectly still, dreamy-eyed, swaying slightly as if listening to music only they could hear.
Instinct kicked in.
Arche raised her wand so fast her sleeve nearly took flight. "Who are you?" she demanded, wand trembling ever so slightly. "What have you done to them?"
There was a brief shimmer in the air around her—a strange, fleeting tickle at the edge of her mind. But it vanished before it fully formed. Her mental wards had shredded it like parchment.
The man—young, really—looked at her with calm eyes that held more stories than she could count. His hair defied gravity. His clothes looked like they'd been stitched from tales and half-forgotten legends. And yet, there was something… safe about him. Something not quite ordinary but not quite dangerous, either.
"My name's Naruto," he said with an easy voice, the kind people used to tell bedtime stories or ask for extra biscuits. "I'm a friend."
He gestured to the twins, who were still staring into whatever wonderland he'd conjured. "The little ones are seeing the world through an illusion I created. It's harmless—just showing them some of my adventures. I tried the same spell on you, but your mind's a bit too sturdy for it."
Arche narrowed her eyes, but slowly—very slowly—lowered her wand as she moved further into the room. "Why?" she asked, finally perching on the edge of the opposite chair. "Why are you doing this?"
Naruto tilted his head. "Because your sisters asked me for help."
Arche blinked.
"Not directly," he added with a soft laugh, seeing her confusion. "But children like them? Their feelings speak louder than words. They wanted safety. Love. A real home. You'd be surprised what you can hear when you start listening to people's hearts."
He shrugged as if this were all perfectly normal. "So I decided to stay a little. Help a little. You seem like the sort of person who carries too much and sleeps too little."
Arche felt her lips twitch. She had slept little. And she certainly carried too much.
"And how exactly do you plan to help?" she asked, still holding onto her wand, though now more like a lifeline than a weapon.
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"I'm doing this," Naruto said, his voice gentler now, like warm butter spread over toast, "because I like kids. I don't want them to suffer like I did."
He paused for a moment, glancing toward the twins still lost in their dreamscape, little smiles blooming on their faces. Then, almost absently, he added, "And… it's a regret of mine, you know? When I was their age, I saw something—something similar. I didn't act. I was too scared, too alone. It's a memory I'd rather not let happen again."
Arche, who had just begun to feel marginally calmer, raised an eyebrow—then nearly leapt out of her seat when Naruto dropped the next line as casually as if he'd asked about the weather.
"Also, your parents are dead. I killed them."
Arche blinked once. Then again.
"…You what?!"
She stood with such speed that the chair clattered to the floor behind her. Her wand was raised before she'd even thought about it, gripped tightly as if trying to ward off madness itself.
Naruto didn't flinch. In fact, he looked almost apologetic.
"Calm down," he said in a maddeningly even tone. "I killed them because they were evil. Truly—rotten to the core. People like that... they leave wounds in the world. I won't pretend I acted with perfect logic. I lost my temper. But I'll take responsibility."
"You're going to hand yourself in and get executed?" Arche asked, bewildered. Her voice wavered between disbelief and hope and sheer confusion. "Is that… is that what you mean?"
Naruto chuckled. "Absolutely not. I mean real responsibility. I'll take you and your sisters somewhere safe, away from this Empire and its decaying nobility. Or," he added with a shrug, "I'll talk to the Emperor myself. Might even get a pardon."
Arche stared at him, mouth slightly open. "You expect me to believe that?"
"Do you think you're strong enough to walk past the Imperial Knights and every magical barrier this city can muster," she snapped, "and get an audience with the Emperor?"
"I think," Naruto said, leaning forward just a little, a playful spark in his eyes, "that I'm strong enough to level the capital in under a minute."
Arche's hand twitched.
He smiled again—not unkindly—and added, "But I won't. I'm not here to hurt people. I'm here to help you. That's why you're not hearing about me. I'm not from around here. I come from a land across the waters—a continent hidden from your maps, filled with creatures and warriors stronger than anything this Empire has seen."
Arche blinked. Either she'd stumbled across a delusional lunatic—or someone who knew very well what he was talking about.
"Let me show you," Naruto said softly. "Let me into your head. Just for a moment."
Before she could speak, another Naruto walked into view.
Her heart skipped.
'An illusion?' she thought, but her magical senses screamed no. She could feel him. The weight, the warmth, the magic… It was real. He was real.
The second Naruto placed a hand gently on her shoulder, and Arche's breath caught.
'What kind of magic is this?'
Her thoughts raced.
'Is this some ancient summoning spell? High-tier duplication? No… this is beyond any arcane tier I've studied…'
Naruto saw the awe flicker in her eyes and gave a tiny grin, the kind one gives when showing off a magic trick to a curious child.
"This is the least of what I can do," he said.
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"I want to ask the girls," Arche said quietly, the fire in her eyes dimming into something softer—something far older than her years. "If they accept… then I won't argue."
Naruto blinked. Then smiled—genuinely, brightly, as if someone had opened a window and let sunlight flood into a room that had been shut tight for far too long.
"Thank you," he said, his voice almost boyish with relief. "Thank you for giving me a chance."
He glanced toward the twins again, still giggling inside the illusion, their tiny fingers reaching out at phantasmal birds and bubbles, the kind only dreams and Naruto's chakra could conjure.
"I want you to know something," he said, turning back to Arche. "I'll never let anything hurt them. That's a promise I made. And I always keep my promises."
There was no pride in the words, no self-importance. Just certainty—like someone stating that the sun would rise, or that children deserved to be happy.
Naruto sat back down, folding his arms behind his head like a lazy older brother who'd just volunteered to babysit… forever.
"That promise extends to you as well," he added, almost shyly now. "So… please. If you ever need help… even if it's just someone to talk to, or carry a bag, or punch a noble in the nose—well, I'm your guy."
Arche blinked again. Something in her heart, long frozen over by reality and duty and a thousand impossible choices, began to thaw just a little.
He looked so… happy. Ridiculously so. Like a boy who'd just been handed a puppy, a wand, and a second chance all at once.
Naruto wasn't usually the sort of person to talk about adoption or family with people he'd just met. But things were different now. He'd crossed an ocean—or a world, really—and when he landed, he'd had nothing.
No family. No friends. No familiar skies to sleep under.
And these girls?
They had no one either.
Maybe that was why it all felt so… right. Like puzzle pieces from different boxes that somehow, impossibly, fit.
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"Sis, you're back!" the girls squealed in perfect unison, rushing toward Arche with arms wide and laughter spilling from their lips like sunshine through cracked shutters.
They collided into her legs with enough force to nearly topple her, wrapping her in tight, warm hugs that smelled faintly of dust and lavender.
"Sis, sis!" one of them chirped, bouncing on the spot, "Big brother Naruto is so awesome! He showed us a whole new world!"
"There were fighter mages!" the other added breathlessly. "And dragons! And whales made of ice! And a bird that exploded!"
"It was so awesome!" they chimed together, flailing their arms to mimic magic and beasts and battles too big for their words.
Arche blinked, then smiled. A deep, aching warmth flooded her chest.
"Is that so?" she whispered, brushing their hair back as they clung to her sides.
"That's wonderful. Now…" she looked up at Naruto, who was still sitting calmly with a smile that looked just a little boyish, just a little lonely. "Say thank you to big brother for the gift."
"Thank you, big brother!" they echoed, still holding tightly onto her.
"You're welcome," Naruto said, his voice gentle, like wind brushing through grass. "Little ones, I want to ask you something. Would you like to live in a new place? Maybe a forest or another city? Somewhere you can go outside and play, explore, and be free?"
He gave them a soft smile. "I'll be there. And your sister will too."
"Yes!" they said without hesitation.
"Yes, yes!"
Arche closed her eyes for a moment. She already knew the answer before they said it. Their joy had never been clearer. Even if they had hesitated—even if they had said no—she knew it would have been out of fear, not desire. And what kind of sister would she be to deny them their dream, now that the door stood open?
She gave a long breath. "I accept. But… what's the plan, exactly?" Her gaze sharpened. "We can't just run around the wild with children. It's dangerous. And it's not just about running—we have to live."
Naruto gave her a knowing look. "There's no problem. My clone already scouted the city—half my speed, and still no one saw it. I'll carry all of you out. No one will detect us."
"We can pick a place you think is good," he added. "After that, we'll come back if needed. Once we've settled, I'll help with anything left behind."
Arche stared at him. Her mind, trained and honed for logic, for control, was failing to wrap itself around his claims. Clones with physical presence? High-speed aerial movement? Undetected? It didn't line up with anything she had studied or heard of in the Empire.
Not even the greatest mages at the academy could pull off feats like these.
He can make us fly. All of us. Undetected. That speed—how fast would he have to be? Five times the speed of sound? More?
Her thoughts reeled.
Then she remembered the words of her sisters. Ice dragons. Whales. Fighter mages.
Large-scale summons. Illusions beyond tier three. Magic that shouldn't exist…
She glanced again at Naruto, who now had one of the girls in his lap, helping her braid the other's hair with a patience that felt impossibly sincere.
Who is this man? she wondered. And how much has he left unsaid?
But then she saw her sisters' faces—bright, whole, joyful in a way they had never been before.
And maybe, just maybe, that was all the answer she needed right now.
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"Okay," Arche said softly, gripping the worn fabric of her cloak. "Give us some time to pack. We'll only take what we can carry."
Her voice was steady, but the weight of reality pressed behind her words. They weren't moving—they were leaving. Running. Abandoning everything she had known, and all because a stranger had offered something better.
"No need to hold back," Naruto replied easily, stepping into the hallway and rolling his shoulder. "Take everything you want."
She turned to look at him—confused at first, then skeptical. "We can't carry—"
He cut her off by pulling out a giant scroll from his back. With a flick, it unfurled along the wooden floor. A breath later, with a puff of chakra-laced smoke, he withdrew a long, gleaming spear from within—effortless, practiced.
Arche stared, frozen. A storage seal? No—more than that. A spatial artifact?
"A pocket dimension," he explained, as though it were a common convenience. "Take anything you like. I'll store it all."
Her heart thudded.
Spatial magic… not just theory. Not relics. She remembered the old tomes in the academy library, their dry ink and faded illustrations of mythical items long lost to time—rings that held castles, pouches that could devour armies' worth of supplies.
We only have fragments of those left. But he… he wields them like tools.
Her mind whispered what she hadn't dared accept until now: He wasn't bragging. Not even close.
Tier 6… or maybe even higher.
She nodded slowly. "Alright."
The girls were already scrambling about, filling a pair of worn bags with everything they could grab—books, dolls, a cracked lantern shaped like a butterfly. Arche led them quickly to their shared room, where most of their belongings were clustered anyway.
As they chattered and sorted, Arche quietly slipped away, leaving her sisters in Naruto's care.
She moved through the small house with practiced efficiency, gathering anything of value. Old jewelry tucked in drawers. Silver cutlery hidden beneath a floorboard. A mirror rimmed with real gold—something her mother had once claimed was a gift from a duke.
If we're leaving, the loan sharks will strip this place bare within a day. Better I sell these than let them profit off my shame.
The house was silent, but her memories were loud.
Footsteps. Raised voices. The sound of slammed doors. Her sisters crying softly through the thin walls.
She clenched her fists.
No more.
When she returned, Naruto was kneeling with the girls, watching as they handed him their treasures. He handled each item as though it were a sacred relic, gently sealing them into his scroll.
"We're ready," Arche said, stepping back into the light.
Naruto glanced up and nodded with a calm smile. "Then it's time."
She looked around the room one last time. No tears came. Only a quiet promise:
Never again.