Reincarnated As An Archmage’s Daughter

Hania woke with a gasp, the dream library's book still clutched against her chest, except it wasn't there anymore. Her arms were empty. The book was gone. Just the memory of its words burned into her brain.

"Step One: Locate the original anchor point. Without it, no bridge can be built."

She scrambled upright. Thirty-six hours of forced wakefulness, followed by a collapse, followed by dream-domain revelations—her muscles were not happy with her life choices.

The orb zoomed into her face, pulsing with frantic concern.

YOU'RE AWAKE! I WAS SO WORRIED! YOU COLLAPSED AND I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO AND I TRIED TO WAKE YOU UP AND YOU WOULDN'T WAKE UP AND I THOUGHT YOU WERE NEVER GOING TO WAKE UP AGAIN AND I WAS GOING TO BE ALL ALONE IN THIS BORING KINGDOM WITH NOTHING BUT MUFFINS AND—

"Orb. Orb. Calm down. I'm fine."

YOU'RE NOT FINE! YOU PUSH YOURSELF UNTIL YOU COLLAPSE AND THEN YOU WAKE UP AND YOU DO IT AGAIN AND I CAN'T—

"I said calm down!" Hania grabbed the orb with both hands, holding it still against her chest. "I'm fine. I found what I needed."

The orb's pulsing slowed. It tilted against her palms, confused.

What did you find?

"An anchor point. The garden where my father's soul lives. That's the key to everything."

The garden?

"Yes. I need to get back there. Truck-kun is still stuck in that cherry blossom tree, and I need to get him out. But the dimensional breach is unstable, my mother's portal disrupted it."

...Truck-kun?

Hania froze. She had said too much.

"Nothing. Just... a friend. Someone who helped me when I needed it."

You have a friend named Truck-kun?

"It's a long story. I don't have time to explain."

Hania stood up, ignoring the pain of her joints. She had a plan now. She knew what she needed to do.

★★★

Hania found Lusha in the Royal Library, surrounded by scrolls and webs. The Queen looked up as she entered, her eyes immediately narrowing at the state of her appearance.

"You look like you were attacked," Lusha observed.

"I feel like I was." Hania dropped into the nearest chair. "I need to access the garden. My father's garden. The pocket dimension."

Lusha's spider legs went still. "Why?"

"Because I left something important there. And I need to get it back."

"What did you leave?"

Hania hesitated. She couldn't explain Truck-kun. How could she explain an interdimensional transport vehicle with a therapy-attending minivan to a spider queen who thought she was just a traumatized child?

"A... magical artifact," she said carefully. "It's very important and powerful. I need to retrieve it."

Lusha's eyes narrowed. "You're lying."

"I'm being selective with the truth."

"..."

"Okay, fine. I'm lying. But I need to do this, Lusha. I need to get back to that garden, and I can't do it alone."

Lusha was silent for a long moment. Then she sighed.

"Your father's garden is unstable. Your mother's portal disrupted the dimensional anchors. If you try to force your way in, you could end up stuck in the void between spaces."

"I know. That's why I need your help. You're the only one who knows how to stabilize dimensional breaches."

Lusha's expression flickered. "I don't know if I can. That's advanced magic, Hania. The kind that takes decades to master."

"Then help me learn. Please."

Lusha stared at her. Then, unexpectedly, she smiled.

"You have your father's eyes when you're being stubborn. It's terrifying."

"I'll take that as a yes."

"It's a 'I'll think about it.'" Lusha rose from her seat. "But I can't promise anything. Dimensional stabilization is dangerous. And I won't let you risk your life for a 'magical artifact' without knowing what it really is."

Hania opened her mouth to argue. Then she closed it. Lusha was right. She needed to trust someone. Even if she couldn't tell them everything.

"Okay," she said quietly. "I'll tell you more. But not yet. I need to figure some things out first."

Lusha nodded slowly. "Fine. But you're not doing this alone. Whatever you're planning, you're taking backup."

★★★

Hania spent the next four hours in the study chamber, trying to figure out how to stabilize a dimensional breach. The books were useless. The scrolls were worse. Everything was either too vague or too specific to spider anatomy to be helpful.

You look frustrated, the orb observed.

"I am frustrated. I'm trying to solve a dimensional puzzle with no instructions."

Maybe you should ask the Queen again. She might have—

"I already asked her. She's 'thinking about it.' That's spider for 'no but I don't want to hurt your feelings.'"

That's not what she said.

"Subtext, orb. I can read subtext."

Hania slammed the book shut and leaned back in her chair. The orb floated beside her, pulsing with gentle concern.

Are you okay? You seem... distant.

"I'm fine."

You've been fine for the past four hours and I've learned that when you're fine, you're actually planning something insane.

"I'm not planning anything insane."

You're definitely planning something insane. You get a certain look. Like a squirrel who's about to run into a road full of carriage.

The orb was right. She was planning something insane.

She had been trying to figure out how to stabilize the dimensional breach through study and research. But that was going to take weeks, maybe months. She didn't have weeks. Truck-kun was stuck in that tree, and she had no idea if he was even okay.

She needed to do something drastic and force her way back into the garden.

"Hmm..." Hania looked at the orb. "How good are you at following me through dimensional rifts?"

The orb went completely still.

...What?

"I need to get back to the garden. I think I can force my way in if I push hard enough."

THAT'S INSANE!

"Probably. But I don't have time to be sane."

YOU LITERALLY JUST SAID YOU WERE GOING TO BE CAREFUL!

"I said I was going to be careful. I didn't say I was going to be smart."

THERE'S NOT—

"Shh. I need to focus."

Hania closed her eyes and reached deep into her core. The silver-purple threads were there. She reached for them, pulling them forward, wrapping them around her consciousness like a shield.

She thought about the garden. She thought about it with every fiber of her being, pouring all her mana and intent into the image.

"Come on," she muttered. "Come on..."

The room around her started to flicker. The stone walls wavered. The books on the shelves blurred.

Hania, what are you doing?!

"Opening a door."

The air in front of her cracked. A thin line of silver light appeared, cutting through the empty space.

HANIA, STOP!

"Almost there..."

The crack widened. Hania could see the garden through it. She could see Truck-kun wedged between the branches, his front bumper still dented, his radiator still smoking.

I CAN SEE YOU, she thought at him. I'M COMING.

But the crack was unstable. It was already starting to close.

Hania pushed harder, pouring more mana into the breach. The crack widened again—and then she was through.

★★★

Hania landed hard on the grass, her knees buckling beneath her. The pink sky stretched overhead, unchanged from the last time she had been here.

The cherry blossom tree was at the edge of the lotus pond. And wedged between its thick branches, looking thoroughly miserable, was Truck-kun.

"HANIA!" His engine roared with relief. "OH, THANK THE ROADS! YOU CAME!"

"Of course I came." Hania scrambled to her feet, wincing at the pain in her knees. "What was I going to do, leave you here forever?"

"I thought you might! I was starting to make peace with becoming a permanent garden decoration! The branches were very comfortable, if you ignored the splinters!"

Hania laughed, the sound echoing through the garden. "You're ridiculous."

"I'm stuck! This is serious!"

"Hold on. I'll get you out."

She walked over to the cherry blossom tree and examined the branches wedged around his axle. It was worse than she'd thought. The branches had grown around his frame, integrating him into the tree itself. His back bumper was practically part of the trunk.

"Okay, this is... worse than I expected."

"I know! I've been here for two years! The squirrels have gotten very comfortable with me. One of them used my hood as a nest!"

"Did you make friends with the squirrels?"

"Friends? No. They offered me nuts like I was some kind of charity case. I'm a truck, Hania. I don't eat nuts."

"Did you take the nuts?"

"...Maybe. I was lonely. Don't judge me."

Hania laughed again, tears streaming down her face. "You're impossible."

"Focus! Get me out of here!"

Hania reached out and grabbed the branches around his frame. The silver-purple threads in her core surged forward, wrapping around the wood, and she pulled.

The branches cracked. Then slowly, agonizingly, began to release their grip on the truck.

"Almost there," Hania grunted. "Just a little more..."

The branches snapped. Truck-kun plummeted to the ground with a THUD, his wheels spinning uselessly in the air.

"I'M FREE!" he shouted. "I'M FREE! I'M—"

He tried to roll forward and immediately tipped over onto his side.

"...I am very unbalanced," he admitted. "I need a minute."

Hania sat down on the grass, exhausted. "Take all the time you need."

She looked around the garden, her gaze sweeping over the graves, the willow tree, the pink sky. Everything was exactly as she remembered it.

But something was different.

The graves. She had counted five before. When did it become six? Who had died while she was asleep?

She shivered, forcing herself to look away.

★★★

"Okay," Hania said, turning back to Truck-kun. "How do I get back to the dream library?"

"What? Now? We just got reunited!"

"I need to figure out how to stabilize the garden. I can't keep forcing my way in like this. It's dangerous."

"Dangerous how?"

"The dimensional breach almost closed on me. I barely made it through. If I get stuck in the void between spaces—"

"Say no more. I know exactly what happens."

Truck-kun righted himself and shook off the leaves and dust.

"Alright, kid. I've got enough juice for one more dimensional trip. Climb on board."

Hania didn't hesitate. She scrambled onto his hood, gripping his windshield wipers for balance.

"Hang on," Truck-kun warned. "This is going to be bumpy."

His engine roared to life. The tires spun, and suddenly they were moving through a tunnel of silver light.

The dream library appeared around them. Bookshelves formed out of the void.

They had made it.

But before Hania could catch her breath, the air in front of her shimmered. A golden light flickered, pulsed, and then the orb appeared.

Hania stared. The orb stared back.

...What just happened?

"Orb? How did you—"

I followed the dimensional trail. I can always sense your emotional state. When you started panicking, I... I just moved. Without thinking.

"You followed me through a dimensional breach?"

I don't know how. I just did. I couldn't let you go alone.

"Orb, you can't be here," she said, her voice tight. "This is dangerous. This is—"

I know it's dangerous. I don't care.

"It's not about you caring. It's about privacy. It's about—" Hania's voice cracked. "I need space, orb. I need to figure things out on my own, without you hovering."

The orb went still. Its golden surface dimmed.

...You're pushing me away.

"I'm not pushing you away. I'm asking you to give me room. This is personal."

I've been with you since the whale.

"I KNOW!" Hania's voice rose. "I know you're connected to me. But I need a break, orb. I need to think."

The orb was silent for a long moment.

You don't want me here.

"I need you to wait for me."

You think I'm going to get in the way. That I'm less important than whatever you're trying to do.

Hania's jaw tightened. "It's not that."

It is. You're choosing someone else over me.

"I'm not choosing anyone! I'm trying to figure things out!"

Then explain it to me! I'm right here! I can help!

"You can't!" Hania shouted. "You're just a ball of light who follows me around! You don't understand any of this!"

The orb's golden surface rippled. It pulsed once, softly, and then dimmed almost to grey.

...Oh.

Hania's heart seized. "Orb, I didn't mean—"

But the orb was already backing away. Its glow was fading, retreating into itself like a wounded animal.

I understand. I'm not important. I'm just... a thing.

"Orb—"

I'll leave you alone. I'll stop following you. I'll... find a corner somewhere... and wait.

The orb turned away.

But just before it disappeared, Hania saw a tiny pulse of warmth, barely noticeable.

And for some reason, that hurt more than anything.

Hania turned away, her throat tight.

Truck-kun's headlights flickered. "That was cruel."

"I know."

"You didn't mean it. Are you going to go after it?"

Hania hesitated.

"No. Not yet. I need to figure this out first."

Truck-kun's engine rumbled softly. "And then?"

"And then I'll find it. And I'll apologize."

"Good. Because I don't think I could be friends with someone who's mean to golden orbs."

Hania laughed, though it sounded hollow. "What does that even mean?"

"It means I have standards. I've been stuck in a tree for two years. I've had time to develop a moral code."