The old woman laughed. It was the kind of laugh that immediately made me glad I wasn’t Gerald.
"Oh, I adore him."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Then why do you look like you want to strangle him?"
"Because this is what he does."
She shook her head.
"He interferes in other people’s affairs, disappears whenever it’s convenient, and somehow manages to create problems for everyone involved."
Her expression became increasingly suspicious.
"But more than that, I still don’t understand how he keeps finding our settlements."
The old woman leaned back in her chair.
"We’ve changed locations. We’ve changed defenses. We’ve changed access methods. Yet every single time, that old rogue somehow figures out where we are."
Then she sighed dramatically.
"And every time Gerald decides to help someone, the amount of work he creates for everyone else somehow increases."
"To be fair, he was helpful."
"Oh, I’m sure he was."
She nodded immediately.
"That’s the problem."
Then she pointed directly at me.
"Do you know what normal people do when they discover the location of the most hidden Ironhart settlement in the Prime Territory?"
I shook my head.
"They send a message, ask permission or arrange a meeting. Gerald apparently looked at every one of those options and decided it would be far more entertaining to throw you directly into our security system."
I couldn’t stop myself from laughing.
She wasn’t finished.
"And the worst part is that he actually has my contact details."
That only made me laugh harder. The old woman watched me for a few moments before sighing once more.
"One day that man is going to die by my hand."
I thought about Gerald for a moment. Then I looked back at her.
"You might have to stand in line."
That earned a reluctant smile.
"Unfortunately, the line is already very long."
After that, silence settled over the room.
The old woman looked out through the window while I sat quietly in my chair. Eventually I decided to ask the question that had been bothering me for so long.
"How did we come to the Prime Universe?" I asked. "And why did we have to leave our original home in the first place?"
A faint smile appeared on her face.
"Straight to the important questions, I see."
She placed the remains of the shattered cup aside.
"I am surprised, though. Your family never told you?"
I shook my head.
"I don’t think they knew."
The old woman immediately disagreed.
"Your parents probably didn’t."
Then she paused.
"But your grandfather certainly did."
That caught my attention.
"You knew my grandfather?"
She laughed softly.
"Of course I did. Listen carefully, Billion. Families like ours don’t survive by accident."
Her expression became more serious.
"We have rules. Rules that every Ironhart follows, whether they like them or not. Knowledge is preserved and passed down from one generation to the next. Sometimes through written records. Sometimes through stored memories. Sometimes simply through oral tradition."
Her fingers lightly tapped against the armrest.
"The details change depending on the circumstances, but the purpose never changes."
"Survival," I said.
She nodded.
"Exactly."
The old woman leaned back slightly.
"Your grandfather knew who he was. He knew what the Ironharts were. He knew our history and he knew the dangers attached to our name."
A thoughtful expression crossed her face.
"Your grandfather knew everything."
Then she gestured toward me.
"Yet somehow your father grew up knowing very little."
The gesture continued.
"And you grew up knowing even less."
I remained silent.
Because honestly, I had noticed the same thing myself. The old woman smiled slightly.
"Your grandfather hid information from your father."
She paused.
"Then your parents hid information from you."
The statement lingered between us for a few moments.
"Interesting, isn’t it?"
"It is," I admitted.
Then I shook my head.
"But I have absolutely no idea why."
"Neither do I."
The answer came immediately.
That brought me to another topic.
"Where are they?"
Her eyes shifted back toward me.
"My family."
She smiled warmly.
"Your parents aren’t here at the moment."
I felt a small amount of disappointment.
Apparently it showed.
She chuckled.
"They’re alive."
That was something.
"Where are they?"
"On a mission."
The answer was frustratingly vague. Fortunately, she continued.
"But your grandfather is here. And not just him. After we’re finished talking, you’ll be able to meet him. Your great-grandfather is here as well."
I blinked.
She continued.
"And your great-great-grandfather."
The old woman looked increasingly amused.
"You seem surprised."
"I am."
"You’re speaking to someone who has watched generations of Ironharts arrive in the Null Realm. Did you really think your family tree suddenly stopped existing after your grandparents?"
When she put it that way, it sounded obvious.
Still, the idea felt strange.
My entire life I had grown up believing my family consisted of a handful of people living in a small corner of Vaythos.
Now I was discovering that not only did I have these relatives, but multiple generations of them were apparently wandering around this settlement. Who knew how many more existed beyond the ones she had mentioned.
The old woman seemed to enjoy my reaction.
"Trust me."
Her smile became almost grandmotherly.
"The introductions will be entertaining. Anyway."
The amusement gradually faded from her expression.
"You asked how we arrived in the Prime Universe."
I nodded.
"To understand that answer, you first need to understand something much more important."
I waited.
"You need to understand how the Ironharts began."
The old woman remained quiet for a long moment after speaking.
Her gaze drifted toward the window, though I had the feeling she wasn’t actually looking at the city anymore. Whatever she was seeing existed far beyond this settlement, beyond the Prime Territory and even beyond the Null Realm itself.
When she finally spoke again, her voice carried a weight that hadn’t been present before.
"The story begins long before the Eternals existed."
She folded her hands in her lap.
"Long before the Prime Universe was given its name. Long before the arrival of the race that came to be known as Eternals. Long before the invasion and all the madness that followed."
Her eyes shifted back toward me.
"It began in our original universe."