“Meeting hall, huh?”

Filius found himself in the meeting hall, which was where he first started in this building. “We have come full circle hm?”

The boy looked around for this possible party of his, and before long his eyes spotted a group of children who stood out a little too much.

The reason for this was not because they were children but rather they were such a rambunctious group that the teen and adult groups kept a wide berth.

Filius, of course, was feeling rather nervous about meeting this party because they all seemed to conflict with each other on a mental level. Synchronicity was something Filius never knew he liked.

Nevertheless Filius knew that in order to evade the guild’s prying eyes for as long as possible, he’ll need to keep a low profile. And so, this party was his best bet.

As he cautiously drifts towards the table, the conversation came into earshot.

“--and dat’s why we gotta hit dat kobold cave!”

“And we keep telling you that we’d need a senior adventurer for that to even be remotely possible! Even then, they wouldn’t let us because we’re too under experienced!”

“Experience exshmerience, wot we got compared to wot dos adults got is nothing! We can totally take on a kobold cave wit dat ding you call...uhhhh..”

“Strategy?” Retorted the one.

“Common Sense?” Retorted another.

“Not being an idiot?” Retorted a third.

“Well all dos are true ‘n all but come on! I say we use our strategy ding, y’know!? Like tacks ‘n shit!”

“Tacks?”

“I think he means tactics.”

“Yeah dat ding!”

“Oh my Goddess…”

Filius finally reaches the table and just by his appearance alone breaks the conversation.

“Who dis kid??”

“We were notified by guild staff that we’d be getting a fifth member,” the priestess, who seemed to be the de facto leader of this party, said with an agitated tone.

Filius nodded to that and showed his ID which displayed his name, age, sex, hair color, eye color, skin color, height, weight, decided class and party association (where height and weight were left blank and decided class was mage).

“Names Filius huh?”

The boy nodded.

“Well can’t say no to em.. So guess we gotta take em!”

“That was the guild’s idea yes,” says the priestess rolling her eyes.

“Introductions are in order,” says the robed mage, “My name is Tarvyst of Meadshire.”

“The names Rancort! At ya service!”

“Sister Flora, a pleasure.”

“Maxim.”

Filius took the names and locked them away in his mental vault. He looked between the four of them and bowed slightly in appreciation.

“Well, since you’re our new memba’ it’s good to let ya in wot we plannin’ to do!”

Tarvyst rolls his eyes, “Ran here is trying to get us to go along with him on a quest to a kobold cave, when we should be handling goblins..”

Filius tilts his head to the side. “So things like Kobolds and Goblins exist.. Hm..”

“Look Tar, i’m tryin’ to get us on de map!”

“You’re trying to get us killed Ran.”

“Flora say somethin’ would ya!?”

Sister Flora sits back slightly, dejected by the argument. “Why not do a simple quest like gathering plants for some herbalist or something like that?”

“BUT I WANT TO KILL SOMETHIN!”

“And you will Rancort,” said Maxim as he crossed his arms, “Just hold your murderous tendencies until we’re all strong enough to handle a kobold cave.. We were barely able to get out of that goblin den the last time we faced goblins.”

Rancort sighed and pouted at the leashing.

Filius watched this with a curious expression. “Is this perhaps why most other parties steer clear of them..? Maybe they could be of use? Who knows…”

★ ★ ★

A couple hours past, and Filius had become accustomed to the idea of simply sitting there and listening to the banter between these four kids.

However as he partially listened to the conversation, his own thoughts begun to surface.

He began to wonder how all this happened. This seemed a little too fast, and he doesn’t even know what he’s capable of (flashing back to the Rune Wolf encounter). He just didn’t understand. This entire situation he was placed in just didn’t make sense to him.

But just as he was pondering his own existence, for the third or fourth time so far, he noticed that the four members of his party were staring at him.

Filius, overtly surprised by this, quickly looks between the four of them.

“You seemed out of it Fil.”

“Out of it..?”

“I concur with Tar, you should probably get some sleep.”

Fillius shook his head.

“Well if he’s dat headstrong ‘bout not sleepin’ then guess we can’t argue can we?”

“Of course, but I still think it is a good idea to at least get 8 hours of rest. We know an inn that is close by. I have a silver coin which should be good a for a single night there. We’ll come by and grab you in the morning.” Maxim slides a silver piece across the table to Filius, who takes it with some hesitation.

Filius, seeing the day drawing to a close on him, decided to take Maxim up on his offer and bowed to the party before leaving the guild and making his way towards the inn.

★ ★ ★

After scouring the city around the Adventurer’s Guild for what felt like hours, he eventually came across the inn that Maxim recommended. “The Bellow’s Goat, huh? Classy.”

Filius, after pondering whether this was a good idea or not, stepped inside.

He was greeted to a rather homely atmosphere that felt familiar but oddly distant. It was like a form a deja vu. A repeating scene that only could only be recreated once or twice in a lifetime.

But, just as he was being whisked off by the senses of familiarity, a woman, a mother it would seem, came over and knelt down to Filius. “Looks like another young adventurer has stepped into my inn.”

Filius nodded a bit solemnly before handing her the silver coin.

She looked over the coin before looking at the tanned boy. “You want a room for the night yes?”

He nodded.

“Well you’re in luck, I have an unoccupied room in the back for you. This way please.”

He nodded once more, and followed thereafter.

The motherly woman, whom Filius nicknamed “the Mother” in his mind, led him up a flight of stairs unto a second floor where he is then led down a corridor before coming to the last door on the left in that corridor.

The Mother opened the door to reveal a rather plain-looking room that has been untouched. The room itself has a single king-size bed, a nightstand, a dresser, and a desk with a wooden chair at it.

“You can use this room for the night little one. I’ll be back to call you for supper.”

And with that, he was left alone with only the clothes on his back and an official piece of guild gear (his ID).

He clambered into bed, thinking that the day’s events were chaotic enough to warrant at least a little nap. And, sure enough, he fell asleep without a second to spare.

He felt as though his body was being carried away by a current of some sort, as he dreamt.

He opened his unwaking eyes to see a familiar (yet unfamiliar) blue sky that had puffy white clouds amongst it. He looked around and saw that his body was floating amongst a vast, endless, ocean.

He was oddly calm about the scene, and only hesitated to move. But when he did move, he found himself lying atop the surface; his back to its depths.

He took a moment to stand, and when he did he looked around and found no-one but himself. Lost in an ocean that wasn’t his own, in a world that wasn’t his own.

“Where am I? How did I get here?”

“This place?”

Filius whipped around to find a faceless humanoid that harbored pure white skin and no clothes (or even genitalia or mammaries for that matter).

“Who are you?!? Where am I?!?”

“You are Filius Agni, Son of the Lamb, and First Child of the Methuselah.” The faceless being looks around. “And this is your Mindscape. A place that your mind views as a safe haven for all kinds of manifestations.”

“Mindscape??” Filius looks around confused. “This place can create whatever I think up?”

“Yes. Unfortunately, it’s pretty barren at the moment.. But in time it will be vibrant...or...dull... Whichever you choose in the end.”

Filius would proceed walk towards the being, but it looked as though he wasn’t gaining any ground (or water in this case)

“What is a Methuselah? What is this talk of a Lamb? What is going on in this world??”

“You’ll have to find out about that on your own Filius~!” The faceless being gave an amused chuckle that sounded girly in tone. “I may have all the answers, but where’s the fun in simply telling you those answers? I want to see you learn the truths that were so easily kept from you. Think of me as your little omnipresent bird watching your every move. However, that’s about all the time we have together. Sounds like ‘the Mother’ is coming to call you for food. Might want to get that unless you want starve tonight! Toodaloo Filius Agni!!”

Before Filius could even hope to respond, he was jolted awake by the sound of knocking; waking up in a fit of cold sweat.

“Supper is ready little one!”

He gave a parched “MHM” to let the Mother know he heard her.

“Come down when you are ready.”

Another “MHM” followed.

Filius sat there on the bed wiping away the sweat, thinking back on who that faceless entity was. Was it some kind of demon, angel, or even a god? He didn’t know. So, he was going to have to give it a name to at least identify it. “The Being… Sounds about right…”

After contemplating the existence of the Being, he went downstairs, got his supper that he paid for with his lodgings, and spent the rest of the night in deep contemplation before turning in.

His subsequent dream was a bit nightmarish.