POV: Phobius Barnes

Our class was scheduled in 4 classes per semester, so we had the exact same 4 classes every day. I had Agatha in my first and third period, somehow getting the sunshine boy Apollo as well in both of them. Somewhere I heard that Apollo and Agatha had all 4 classes together, which to be honest isn’t even a surprise at this point. He somehow always gets what he wants, I guess. The gods are just on his side or something. With the late bell ringing I walked into the classroom, everyone already seated down. Surprisingly, every seat was filled today which meant we had no absences, 25 students in all.

“A second later and you would’ve been late Mr.Barnes.” My teacher, Ms.Baker said once again. “One of these days you will be late, and I will have to write you up, you know.”

“That day isn’t today though.” I was always barely on time to all of my classes like this. Majority of the teachers since I started going to this school don’t care, as long as I get there on time. Ms.Baker was the only one that called me out on it everyday. She is pretty young for a teacher, my guess is about mid 20’s. Not that I will ever actually ask that. It’s because she is younger that she can see right through me, commenting that if I actually tried I could have great grades.

“Once again, you're technically correct.” Ms.Baker sighed, knowing that she will never win an argument against me. I took my seat as Ms.Baker started the class. “Alright, let’s start where we left off last wee-”

Before she even had a chance to finish however, the room started to glow. It was so bright I had to cover my eyes for a second, for them to adjust to the sudden change. Looking around, it looked like some students had glowing light blue cylinders surrounding them. I checked at my feet, and saw what looked to be a complex inscription circle. Immediately, I stood up shoving the chair I was sitting on towards the desk behind me. Looking around I saw students in a state of panic.

“What’s going on?”

“What are these circles?”

“No way this is happening. This could be just what I need.” That last one was whispered, and I started searching for the source as maybe they knew what was going on. However, all the students still looked in a state of panic.

“Why can’t I move out of this thing?” This comment out of the flurry of panicked screams and statements caught my attention. Looking over to the person who said it, I saw it was Apollo. His hands were pressed up against the cylinder of light. He would’ve put a mime to shame, if we couldn’t see the light for ourselves.

That’s when I noticed that some students weren’t surrounded by these lights, and some of Apollo’s harem was actually putting their hands against the light surrounding him as well.

“So, it’s a wall.” I whispered to myself, putting my own hands against the light surrounding me. Alright, think. You have no idea how long this will last or what this could do. It could do something cool like teleport me to another world, or just straight up kill me.

“Yeah, I’m not taking that chance.” I started punching the wall of light as hard as I could. There was just enough room for me to be able to wind up a punch, and with each punch I winced in pain. Looking down at my knuckles, I saw that they were starting to bleed, but there were also burn marks on them. I took a second look around the room and got a clearer vision of how many people were surrounded by this light, about half it seemed. One last thing caught my attention however, Ms.Baker was glowing as well, but she was still trying to calm down the class.

“It’s going to be ok. Let’s calm down guys.”

Yeah, like that’s gonna work.

I got back to work, trying to break this wall down. Time felt like it was at a crawl. How long had passed? 10 seconds? A minute? I was too engrossed in what was happening to figure that out. By the time blood started to trickle down my knuckles, out of the corner of my eye I could see a student disappear. It looked like they got teleported into the sky, almost like a teleportation beam. The whole class started to scream at that sight,worried about what would happen to them and their friends. I could hear some people who weren’t trapped start running out of the classroom. Others started screaming their friends names, starting to bawl.

I could feel the adrenaline coursing through my body. Another student disappeared. Then another. I picked up the pace, hitting as hard as I could. Two disappeared at one time. Screaming, I wound back my right hand as far as I could, and slammed it into the wall of light. It started to crack, and the circle beneath me started to crack as well, turning from the light blue everyone had, to a blood red. Slowly the light started to crack more and more.

“Come on!” I screamed again, winding back my hand for one last hit. I moved my arm as fast as I could, determined to break out of this thing. Then my vision went blurry.

SLAM! CRRKK! A loud bang followed by a crack was the only thing my senses could pick up on. When my vision returned, I saw that my fist was pushed up against a brick wall. A second later when the adrenaline started to fade from my body, the pain came like a truck.

“AHHHHHHH!” I put my still balled up hand, in my other hand. Looking down at it, it was completely blooded. “SHIIIIIT!” I couldn’t stop myself from screaming, it was the most pain I ever felt in my life. Without the strength to keep myself standing, I fell to the hard concrete ground. Slowly moving into the fetal position, I just kept staring at my hand. I couldn’t stop myself from screaming and bawling my eyes out. Never hitting anything in my past life, or taking any pain really came back to bite me here.

What felt like an eternity, but in actuality was only about 10 minutes, I slowly stopped screaming and crying. I tried to move my fingers but that only made me let out a little yelp out of pain. My hand was stuck in that position, balled into a fist. I didn’t know if I broke my fingers, dislocated them, or just hurt them a little. That didn’t matter to me as the only thing on my mind was pain.

After another 10 minutes or so, of sniffling and tearing up on the ground, I slowly made myself sit up. Leaning my back against the wall I just hit a little while ago, I could feel myself drifting off to sleep. Not stopping myself, I drifted off to sleep.

Then, what felt like a large earthquake woke me from my slumber.

“Ahh.” I let out a little yell. “What’s going on? Five more minutes.” A second rumble weaker than the last followed. Then another, then another. I started counting the rumbles, having nothing else to do.

“Seven. Eight. Nine.” The rumbling stopped, I thought that was the end of it. After about a minute, a rumble so strong that I thought my brain was gonna hit my skull started. Out of nowhere, I could hear people cheering like it was a packed football stadium. I couldn’t tell which was gonna kill me first, the rumbling shaking my body around, or the cheering that made my eardrums feel like they were going to explode.

The rumbling stopped after about 10 seconds, but the cheering kept on going. Super confused about what was going on, I forced myself up using my good hand and the wall I was up against. It seemed I was in some kind of alleyway. This was my first time seeing what was around me, and it was nasty. There was trash everywhere and the brick walls were stained in multiple places, with god knows what. Walking towards the only way out of the alley, it was getting brighter to the point I had to cover my eyes. After a few seconds I could see the place I was in.

It was obvious I was in some kind of slums as the people around me were wearing dirt and beat up clothes. The buildings were run down, and definitely not up to health code. All around me the people were estacticc, hugging each other and jumping up and down.

“That’s the hero!”

“We can finally beat those damn demons, and take what’s rightfully ours!”

“That will make more jobs too! We can finally start living well!”

The hero, huh? In the far distance, I could see a massive castle. The land over there seemed to be raised at a higher ground level then the land I was currently on. Everyone was staring at said castle, their eyes shimmering with hope. I hobbled over to what looked like a family, mother, father, and daughter.

“E-excuse me.” I hoarsely called out to them. The parents didn’t seem to notice, but their daughter did. She couldn’t have been more than 5 years old. She skipped over to me, and started talking to me.

“Hi there sir!” Hasn’t your parents taught you not to talk to strangers? “What's your name?”

I crouched down to her level, “Phobius. What’s yours?” She giggled at me as I said my name.

“That’s a weird name. My name is Vanellope.”

“That’s a pretty cool name there.” I smiled at her, what felt like my first smile in ages. The past hour felt like years.

“Vanellope, get back over here.” I heard someone say, presumably her father. He picked her up into his arms, looking at me with a cautious look on his face.

I stood up and that only made the look on his face even more cautious. I was a good few inches taller than him, that was probably why.

“Now dear, the boy seems harmless.” The woman which I presumed was the mother, put her hand on the guy, calming him down immediately. “I haven’t seen you around here before. Are you lost?” She looked me up and down.

“Kinda. I’m not from around here.” I replied. Even though she had a smile on her face, I could tell she was still cautious of me. Her face suddenly distorted, almost like she was wincing. She walked up to me, which made me naturally take a step back, but she had this calming aura about her that made me surprisingly relaxed. Out of nowhere she grabbed my hand making me grunt loudly from the pain.

“Could you not?” I said, harsher than intended, but I still didn’t pull my hand away from her, which was still stuck in a fist.

“I’m sorry hun.”

What is with this woman? Who talks like that with a random stranger who was talking with your daughter?

“My name is Kathrine, but you can call me Kathy.” Kathy was quite a bit shorter than me, 5 foot 5, was my guess. She even looked like the perfect mother, quite beautiful.

“Phobius.” Was all I said in response.

“He has a weird name.” Giggling once again Vanellope thought now was a good time to chime in.

“That’s not very nice, Vanellope.”

“It’s alright, I’ve heard that my whole life.”

“Honey.” Kathy called out to her presumed husband. “Let’s treat his wounds at the very least.”

Sighing he responded, “Alright, if you think it’s safe.”

“Don’t worry about my husband. Phillip has always been very cautious.” Even Phillip looked like the typical father. What is with this family? He had a bit of muscle to him, and a nicely groomed facial hair that made a ring around his mouth. A perfect beard and mustache.

“I can tell.” I spurted out naturally. To my surprise this made Kathy laugh.

“How about you come back to our home, so I can treat your hand properly.”

“I’m fine really.” As soon as I said that, she squeezed one of my fingers slightly. “AHHH!”

“You sure?” She smiled, looking like I didn’t have a single say in the matter.

“Fine. Fine. You win.” I sighed and rolled my eyes.

“Perfect, let’s go then.” We started walking towards the castle, which made me think that they were a little better off than the people around here. I wonder what they were doing here then.

“Daddy, let me down.” I heard Vanellope squeal out, almost pushing herself out of his arms.

“Alright, calm down. Don’t hurt yourself.” He let her down gently and she ran over to me. She grabbed onto my left hand, my good hand, and started walking with me. I looked at her quizzically.

“You seem hurt.” She looked up at me smiling. Do I really look that pathetic?

As if reading my mind Kathy said, “You are a little wobbly.”

“Is she always this kind to strangers?” I asked.

“Sometimes, but majority of the time she isn’t. Vanellope has the skill of knowing who is a good person I guess.” I could feel a cold feeling on my neck and looking behind me I saw Phillip, looking a little more than jealous.

The more we walked the nicer the buildings got, but not by a lot. Everywhere I looked people were either ecstatic, or super depressed. I noticed the ones that were depressed all seemed to be holding their stomach. Food must be hard to come by around here.

“Alright, here we are.” Kathy finally said. Their home actually looked like a home compared to the rest of the homes we were walking past. Those seemed more like abandoned buildings than actual homes. Even though it looked like a home, it was still a bit run down. Inside the walls were a little cracked, and all of the furniture was worn out.

“I know it’s not much but we do our best.” Phillip said, speaking to me for the first time.

“We have a well nearby where we get our water, and I have the basic fire skill, so we can make warm food and baths.”

“I’ve never liked big places, so your home feels nice.” I smiled at them. Vanellope let go of my hand, which she was holding onto the whole walk to their house. She ran into one of the back rooms and came back with a rabbit toy. It was quite the torn stuffed animal but she seemed to love it by the look on her face.

“This is Bunny.” She exclaimed, her face the epitome of cute.

“She’s just as adorable as you.” I replied ruffling her hair. Wait. I feel like they just glossed over something important. Quaint home, torn furniture, BASIC FIRE SKILL?!?! “Wait Kathy, did you say basic fire spell?”

“Um. Yes I did.” She then produced a small flame in her hand. My eyes went so wide you would think I was in a cartoon.

“Is something wrong?” Phillip asked. Even Vanellope was looking at me weird. My brain was starting to fry with what that information meant. I fell onto my butt, still with a dumbfounded look on my face.

“Oh dear. Are you ok?” Kathy rushed over to me.

“Um. Yeah.” I was responding on instinct at this point.

“Let’s put him on the couch Kathy.” Phillip said.

“Good idea.” I felt the two of them lift me up by my armpits and placed me gently onto the couch, laying me down.

“Go get him some water, Vanellope.” Kathy exclaimed, worried in her voice.

“K!” Vanellope responded in a cute high pitched tone.

This information was making my brain overclock. So that means I really am in another world then? I had an inkling that was it, but I was in so much pain that I haven’t really processed what that means. Another world. Skills. Is that what they were talking about, the hero?

Finally coming back to my senses, I asked them the first question that came to my mind. “What country is this?” Phillip and Kathy looked at each other quizzically.

“What do you mean boy?”

“What’s a country, hun?”

WHAT?!? What’s a country? Seriously? Even in all the anime, manga, and light novels I read and saw, people knew what countries were.

“Then, where am I?” More and more questions were coming into my brain by the second.

“You’re in Una, in the Kingdom of Aldrich.” Kathy answered, looking at me with even more worry.

“Una? Aldrich?” I echoed.

“You sure he’s right in the head?”

“Dear!”

“Sorry, but even if he isn’t around here. Not knowing Una is weird.”

They continued to talk as I just lay there, my brain fried. I was half paying attention, half out of it. This continued for a minute or two, until Vanellope came back with a cup in her hand.

“Here you go.” She put the cup right in front of my face. I must have looked miserable because when I turned to take the cup, a face of worry befell her as well.

“Mommy, is Pho okay?” That’s a nickname I haven’t heard before. It sounds a bit more feminine then for my liking, but coming from her I would like any nickname.

“Don’t worry, he will be fine. He just needs some rest.” She picked her up before going the same direction Vanellope just came from.

“Alright.” Phillip grabbed a chair from the dining table and pulled it near me, before taking a seat. “It seems we have a lot to talk about.”

I did not like the look on his face, but I still felt like I could trust him. Sitting up, I drank the rest of the water and Phillip gestured to take it from me. As soon as he faced me after putting the cup on the dining room table, I knew he meant business.

“Where are you from, son?” He got straight to the point, didn’t even hesitate.

“Well, umm. You see.”

“Dear, give him a break alright.” Kathy walked back into the room, holding what seemed to be some form of a first aid kit.

“Yeah Daddy, stop being mean!” Vanellope to the rescue once again.

“It’s not like that at all, Vanellope baby.” He got up to walk over to her, but she just ignored him and walked over to me. I couldn’t help but laugh at the face Phillip was making, broken and jealous at me.

“We brought stuff to make you feel better.” She smiled at me, clearly happy with herself. Behind her Kathy was putting the stuff down on the table, and looked at me.

“Thanks for your help V.” I ruffled her hair again and attempted to stand up before falling back down onto the couch.

“Help him up please Vanellope.” Kathy sweetly told her.

“K!” There was that cute little reply again, that just warms my heart. I started to stand up and Vanellope grabbed my good arm and pulled. It barely made the difference, but I made sure to use all my strength to get up so she didn’t feel bad. When I stood up, she grabbed my hand and walked me over to the table, setting me down into a chair.

“Thanks, V.” She smiled and sat herself down onto my lap, hurting my thighs a little on the way up as she grabbed onto them to pull herself up.

“Vanellope, get off him. That’s not very nice.” Kathy exclaimed, finished setting things out on the table. There was cloth, some water, a bowl, and what looked like a clip.

“But.” Vanellope whined.

“It’s fine.” I spoke up, and ruffled Vanellope’s hair again. “As long as I can do this.” Vanellope turned and smiled at me. I swear I could almost hear her purring.

“If you say so.” Kathy sighed. “Give me your hand.” Holding out my hand, I expected it to hurt but she gently lowered my hand onto what looked like some sort of towel, maybe.

“You better not scream.” Phillip suddenly said.

“What?”

“This is going to hurt some. Just try to relax ok.” Kathy told me. I was suddenly full of anxiety, as I really didn’t have a good pain tolerance. Vanellope must have sensed my worry because she suddenly grabbed my hand and put her head against my chest.

“Are you always this nice?” I asked her, my anxiety fading a little.

“Sometimes. But I can tell you’re cool.” She replied. I could hear water splash out of nowhere, then felt a lot of pain in my right hand, to the point I was about to scream. Not wanting to scare Vanellope I held in my screams, but the pain was intolerable. I felt myself losing consciousness, but I held on. The past day had really put a toll on me, even without the pain I felt like I could pass out. Kathy had poured a bowl of cold water onto my fist, and it felt like my hand was gonna shatter into a million pieces.

“See, that wasn’t that bad. Now was it?” Kathy said, smiling at me. I didn’t even say anything, just stared at her dead eyed.

“Don’t go relaxing yet kid, it still isn’t over.” Silently chuckling to myself, I could feel my sanity slipping with every passing moment.

“I’m going to open your fingers now, hun.” Kathy said before slowly starting to forcefully open my hand. I was grunting even louder from the pain now, unable to hold it back. More than anything I was trying not to squeeze either of my hands, scared of hurting Vanellope and of messing up my hand more. I could feel Venellope squeeze my hand, which calmed me down some.

After what felt like an eternity, Kathy finally got my hand completely open. With no warning she poured more water onto my now open hand, palm on the cloth/towel. She then got another cloth damped with water and started to clean my knuckles. After what felt like an eternity of pain, she got a new cloth, wrapped it around my hand, and used the clip to keep it wrapped, along with a knot for good measure.

“Alright, all done.” Kathy exclaimed. “How do you feel?”

“Like I’m going to die.” I whispered out, having no strength to use my normal voice.

“You did good.” Vanellope said, before ruffling my hair like I did to hers. This girl is just too precious.

“Thanks V. It was all thanks to you.” I replied, ruffling her hair in response. This warranted a giggle out of her.

“Let’s let Phobius get some rest now, Vanellope.” Kathy told her. “How about you go play with Bunny.”

“K!” Vanellope replied with her signature response, before jumping off me and running into the back rooms.

“Alright, now that she’s gone.” Phillip said coldly, taking a seat next to me. Oh great, this is how he was before. I looked over to Kathy for help but she just betrayed me.

“I agree. Apologies Phobius, but we need to talk.” She had such a serious expression, I almost thought she was a different person.

“Um. What is this about?” I hesitantly asked, as Kathy took a seat across from me.

“Same question kid. Where are you from?”

“Well.” I looked at Kathy but she had the same expression Phillip did, curious and cautious. “That’s hard to explain.”

“We have time.” Kathy responded.

“But what about Vanellope?”

“If she comes back, Kathy will put her to bed, to take a nap. It is getting close to dinnertime, she sometimes takes a nap around this time.”

“The whole story?” I asked them both, and they just nodded in return. And so, I started explaining from the beginning all about how I came from another world. I knew it was probably better to lie and say I was a sheltered child or something, but I felt like I could trust them. Until finally about 10 minutes or so later, I finished up my story of how I met up with them. It took me a while due to the tiredness I was feeling, having to pause sometimes for a few seconds between sentences. They made sure not to talk at all until I finished, which in my opinion was really polite of them. When I finished, I looked back up as I was staring down at the table the majority of the time.

Their facial expressions were such a mix of emotions that even I couldn’t read them. I was waiting for them to say something but a few moments later they still hadn’t said anything and I was starting to get uncomfortable. They were just looking back from me to each other, almost like they were speaking telepathically.

“Um.” I started before Vanellope came running into the room with Bunny in her arms.

“Mommy, I’m getting hungry.”

“I’ll go get food started. Dear can you help me?”

“Sure.”

“Vanellope, you stay here and hang out with Phobius ok?”

“K!”

It was such a quick exchange of words, it was over before I could even register it happened. As soon as it did though, I knew they were going to be talking about me. They were probably going to kick me out, thinking I’m a lunatic. I might as well hang out with V, until I get kicked out.

“Hey you want to play until dinner, V?”

“Yeah!”

I slowly got out of my chair and sat on the floor, my back against the couch. The wood floor was pretty uncomfortable, but I was able to put up with it for her. I spread out my arms and legs, and let out a huge groan, stretching my body. It still hurt to move my right hand around, but if I moved it without moving my fingers it was tolerable. However, my hand was still stuck in a semi closed fist.

Suddenly V sat right between my legs and looked up at me, showing me Bunny. Without even realizing it, I wrapped my left arm around her, closing her into a hug.

“How did you get Bunny?” I asked her as she settled into my lap.

“It actually used to be Mommy’s.”

“That’s cool.” Since confirming that this was another world and getting ahold of myself, I’ve had an inkling to something involving V. “Quick question V. What do you mean when you say you know I’m cool?”

“I just know. I saw you and I just knew you were cool.”

“Are there times when you know someone isn’t cool?”

“Yep!”

More than likely it may be an actual skill.

“Does it just happen randomly? Or when you look at someone?”

“As soon as I see someone, I just know. That’s why I like you! You’re cool!”

“Thanks V.” I said, ruffling her hair. That may actually come in handy, being in a new world. I may be able to use her skill to my advantage, but she’s too precious to put through anything. Maybe when she gets a little older.

“Hey kid!” I heard Phillip yell from the other room. “Get over here!”

“Oh boy. Don’t they know I’m still tired?” I groaned. “I gotta go talk to your dad, V. Can you wait here for me?”

“K!” She got off my lap and went onto the sofa, still playing with Bunny.

Walking into the back room I saw that it was just a kitchen area, connected there seemed to be a bedroom. Both Phillip and Kathy were standing near what looked like a stove, maybe? There didn’t seem to be an actual burner anywhere, but that would make sense. However, there was an actual place to put a pot, maybe the fire magic goes underneath it?

“We’ll get straight to the point, hun.” Kathy started, “We don’t know if we believe you about being from another world. If you were actually summoned here you would be in the castle with the rest of God's chosen ones.”

God’s chosen ones?

“Do you have a stat plate to prove it?” Phillip butted in.

“What’s a stat plate?” I retorted.

“That thing around your neck.” He pointed at the small string around my neck.

“What the hell?” I looked down genuinely confused. “Has that always been there?”

“You’re joking right?” Phillip had a very disappointed look on his face.

“Now dear, he has been through a lot in the past hour.”

I pulled on the string around my neck, and to my surprise what looked like a dog tag came out of my shirt. It was shaped exactly like one, and it was pure silver colored as well. However there was no writing on it on either side.

“Dear, he does actually have one.”

“I guess he does. The way to activate it is first to think about wanting to activate it. Then tap the plate once if you only want yourself to look at it, or tap it twice to have it pop up for everyone to see.”

You just have to think about it huh? Then treat it like a smartphone, I guess. Opening a stat plate, so it’s just like a status page then? I can do that. Ok, think then. Tap, tap.

Before my eyes opened up what looked like a hologram of sorts. It did just what I thought it would. It displayed all of my stats.

Name: Phobius Barnes, Race: Human, Age: 17

Level: 1, Class: Detective, Stat Points Available: 0

Strength: 10 Agility: 25

Defense: 10 Stamina: 15

Magic: 7

Skills: Language Barrier (Lvl.Max), Analytics (Lvl.Max), Dash (Lvl.1), Hindsight (Lvl.2), Foresight (Lvl.3), Machiavellianism (Lvl.1), Empathic Accuracy (Lvl.1)

What is this? Especially Machiavellianism and Empathic Accuracy? What do those even mean? DETECTIVE!?!? Is that even a class? What’s this language barrier as well?

“Woah.” Was all that came out of Phillip’s mouth.

“What?” Do I have bad stats or something? “Are my stats or skills bad or something?”

“You really are from another world then. Damn kid, and here I thought you were just looney.”

“I’m gonna ignore that comment for now, but how do you know I’m telling the truth?”

“First off kid. I haven’t even heard of the majority of these words. I can’t even pronounce one of them.”

“Wait. Question. You guys can read english?”

“English? What’s that? This is written in Una.”

“The name of the language is just the name of the world?”

“Here hun, look at this.” Kathy then handed me what looked like a book, but it was written in strange symbols I have never seen before. Honestly could have been written by a preschooler. “This is Una.”

“I have no idea what that says.”

“Strange.” Phillip contemplated. “That’s what I’m seeing here on your stat plate.”

I think this is the Language Barrier skill coming into play.

“So, are my stats good or bad?” I finally asked.

“The average stats for strength, defense, agility, and stamina are all 10 in adults. Kids start out low then it just grows naturally as you get older.”

“So when you say, work out, the corresponding skill grows?”

“Not in the slightest.” Phillip instantly shot me down.

“What? Then how does it work?” I was getting more confused by the second.

“When you do stuff like work out, you will gain levels. When you go up a level you gain skill points to put into any of the 5 stats.”

“So then what’s the average level here?”

“That’s hard to say.” Phillip continued his explanation. “Getting a stat plate like yours, actually costs a good amount of money. Typically only mid level wealth and higher have them. However we do have these.” He pulled one what seemed to be a small string as well, and he pulled a brown looking dog tag. “These are identification plates. They show a person's name, age, race, and the location the identification plate was made. Hence their place of living. Everyone is given one when they’re born here in Aldrich.” Kathy pulled an identification plate out as well to show me. “For the average level, I would have to guess around, 5 or so?”

“Only 5? Don’t people just have to work out and stuff to level up?”

“Actually, it takes a long time of working out to even gain one level. If you worked out your whole life, I don’t think you could even make it past 10.”

“So how do you level up?”

“By killing demons, and monsters I presume.”

“You presume?”

“Yeah, there aren't any demons or monsters here in the kingdom so we don’t really know if that's true or not.”

“Don’t people just leave the kingdom to find demons and monsters then?”

“You aren’t allowed to leave as an average joe.”

“What?”

“The only way you leave is to have special permission to. It’s because of the demon kingdom of Marduk. Over there they are said to praise false gods, and be rampant monsters.”

“Alright, and my original question has still yet to be answered. Are my stats and skills good or bad?”

“Sorry about that kid, well I can’t say for your stats, as I have never even heard of most of them. Besides dash, that is a pretty good skill to have, you are able to make quick movements almost like teleporting a small distance. It costs a lot of mana however.”

“How do you know how much mana you have?”

“That comes from the magic stat. There is no real way to see your mana amount from what I have heard of. Now for your stats. The average stat point for adults is 10 for strength, defense, agility, and stamina. The average for magic is 5, but keep in mind this is all what I’ve heard from my wealthier higher ups at work.”

“So my agility is a lot higher than the norm, my stamina is decent along with magic, and the rest is pretty close to normal. I guess it makes sense, I did do some running back on Earth.”

“Your class is what intrigues me the most however.”

“That caught my attention as well.” I echoed.

“Usually classes are defined as basic things such as, knight, wind mage, fire mage, assassin. Sometimes you get branch offs such as thief or paladin, but this is a new one. Not a branch class or a basic class. I’m not even sure what the word means.”

“A detective in the world where I come from is someone who uses clues to figure out what happened at a scene, and where the culprit is now.”

“Strange.” Phillip pondered. “However, you have proved that your story is indeed true.”

“That’s cool and all but, what happens now?” I asked, staring at the ground.

“Well you can always go back to the castle and prove to them that you’re one of god's chosen ones.” I tensed up at that suggestion. If I was right then the rest of my classmates who were surrounded by that light were the ones ‘chosen by god’. I never had a place among them, and I don’t even want to think about what it would be like crawling back to them.

“Or!” Kathy exclaimed, before grabbing onto my good hand. “You can stay here with us.” My eyes lit up at this suggestion, I already felt home here to be honest. It felt too good to be true.

“But you guys just met me an hour ago. That’s a little weird to take someone who you don’t even know.”

I heard Phillip let out a loud sigh, “Vanellope seems to really like you and she’s never been wrong on judging a person’s character before, so I don’t see a reason why not to allow you to stay here.”

Chuckling I replied, “I would love to stay here, if you would have me.” Looking up at them, I realized that I was tearing up a little and that I had the biggest smile on my face. This actually made Phillip grin a little to my surprise. That was the first time he smiled at me since meeting me.

“Hey Vanellope.” Vanellope was still in the first room but came running when called.

“Yeah!”

“How would you like Phobius to stay over for a while?”

“Really? Yay!” She yelled before running over and hugging my legs. As I looked at the three of them finally feeling like I found somewhere I can belong, even if it was only an hour ago we met, a tear rolled down my cheek.

Three days passed and I have never felt happier. They are letting me sleep in V’s bed and she is sleeping in theirs, but two of the nights I woke up to her sleeping next to me. She must have gotten up to get water or go to the restroom and naturally went back to her own bed. Kathy tried to tell her to make sure to go back to their bed at night but I assured her that it was alright.

During the day, I would play with V and help out Kathy with housework while Phillip was at work. He told me that he worked a construction job in the better part of the kingdom. Even though I didn’t have all the entertainment I did back on Earth in America, I was having more fun here then I ever did there. Sometimes I would think about my mom and dad, being their only child and suddenly disappearing must be hard on them. I know this in my heart but being around Phillip, Kathy, and V has made me the most happy in my entire life, and I’m sure my parent’s just want me to be happy.

Over the past few days I learned a few things from Phillip and Kathy. Starting with the fact that Una is just one giant land mass, with different kingdoms on it. There is constant conflict between them because of the fight over control of sea ports. The next thing I learned was that there are quite a lot of intelligent races here on Una. There are humans, elves, beast people, and even angels and vampires. Those last two are told to be an extremely rare race that the majority of people don’t see in their lifetimes. Demons are included of course, but as everyone considers them ruthless monsters, many don’t consider them as one of the true races. There are strange rumors about other races as well, that may or may not exist. These races are the fairies, werebeasts, and even bogeyman.

The last thing I learned is that the kingdom summoned ‘god’s chosen ones’ which included the hero in order to take down the demon kingdom of Marduk. Each of the rumbling’s strength coincided with the strength of the chosen one that was summoned. I had my suspicions about the way they were discriminating against the demons, but that may be just my septic nature. I would most likely see the truth sooner or later for myself. I didn’t really go outside and explore much at all in the three days, besides helping hang laundry. The only people I communicated with were Phillip, Kathy, and V, and that was fine by me. They were all I needed in life, they became my family in those three short days. Life was perfect, and when something is perfect, the only direction it can go is down.

“Dinner is ready guys, come sit at the table!” Kathy yelled to us from the dining/living room.

“K!” Vannelope jumped off my lap, and ran out of her room, taking her signature Bunny with her as well. Pushing myself up, I followed after her. My hand was healing well as I could move my fingers slowly without being in pain, but my knuckles were swollen. Kathy said with a few more days, my hand should be fully healed. For me that meant I could find a job soon and help contribute financially.

“Sorry Phobius, it’s just stew and bread again.” Kathy sorrowly said. This is the third time she has said that in my time here.

“I’ve told you it’s fine Kathy.”

“You must have had much better food in America.”

“That may be true, but eating with you guys is way better than that food.”

“That’s my boy.” Phillip laughed while he slapped me on the back. If that doesn’t show how close I haven’t gotten with them, I don’t know what will.

“Let’s dig in.” I chuckled, but before I could even take one bite.

BAM!

“Where is he!? Where is the one they call Phobius?!” Multiple people who looked like old timey cops busted down the front door. Both Phillip and I immediately stood up, while V started to cry.

“Mommy! I’m scared!” She jumped into Kathy’s arms, and buried her face into her chest.

“What’s going on here?!” Phillip bellowed.

“Search the place.” The man who seemed to be in charge motioned to two of them. “People have said someone weird looking is living here.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Phillip replied, glaring at him.

“Oh really?” He started to walk towards me, looking me up and down. “Identification, please.” Holding out his hand the man grinned at me, pure evil in his eyes.

“He’s our son.” Kathy chimed in.

“He doesn’t look anything like you two.” He immediately shot her down, not even glancing her direction. “One last time, identification please.”

I looked over to Phillip, who just looked at me with dread in his eyes. Nothing good must come from these guys if he has that look on his face.

“Alright, just relax.” I replied, taking the stat plate out of my shirt.

“A silver plate, huh?” A woman behind the man in charge said.

“Would you be so kind as to show us?” His words may sound polite, but behind his mask I could see his true nature. Looking over to Phillip again, he gently shook his head, telling me not to show him.

I’m sorry. Looking down at the ground, I tapped my stat plate twice. As it should, it pulled up my stats, including my name.

“It’s him.” He grinned. “Restrain him.”

My hands then got pulled behind me out of nowhere, no one even touching me. I then noticed the other officer behind him holding his hand out.

It must be magic.

The two officers who went looking into the back rooms of the house then returned.

“Nothing.” One of them said, a grin on his face.

“Good.” The one in charge echoed his grin. “Then I guess our work is done here.”

Two of the officers came up behind me and grabbed my arms, even though they were already restrained by magic. Not knowing why this was happening, I let them start to take me. As long as Phillip, Kathy, and Vanellope were safe.

“Kill them.”

Before I even had time to react to his words, I heard a squelching noise, then something sprayed onto my right cheek. Looking back, Phillip was dead on the table, a hole straight through his head. Blood started to spread across the table, as simultaneously Kathy and Vanellope let out blood curdling screams.

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!” I howled. The female officer had her arm out, pointed straight where Phillip’s head used to be.

“All of them. No one can know.” He repeated, staring straight at me.

“DOOONNNNTTT!!!!” I bawled, tears flowing out of my eyes.

“Please no.” Kathy cried, shielding a still bawling Vanellope in her arms. A small light beam shot by, almost too fast to notice. This one hit Kathy straight in the head, the same exact place where Phillip was hit.

“MOMMY!” Vanellope shrieked.

“VANELLOPE!” I screamed trying to yank myself free from the officers, but they had iron like grips. I could do nothing but watch as the final shot whizzed by and hit Vanellope in the head.

“Let’s go.”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” I couldn’t think, couldn’t feel. Nothing but pain swirled in my mind. Still struggling to be let free, I was pulled to exit the house. My vision started to go red, not being able to hold anything back, I let out the most deafening wail I ever had in my life. Something in me snapped, and my vision went black, my mind going unconscious.

POV: #$*(&^@

Humans? They dare touch me?!

Apparently these were supposed to be some sort of restraints.

“Pathetic.” I spit out. The humans turned and looked at me, fear starting to show on their faces.

“What’s with him?”

“What the fuck?”

“Kill them. KILL THEM ALL!”

Some voice that wasn’t mine came out of my mouth.

Strange. I guess this vessel still has some consciousness left in it. Doesn’t matter, I planned on killing these pathetic monkey’s anyways.

It took nothing more than a little tug to free myself from the restraints. Apparently the two who were holding me, got sent flying as well. I guess humans have gotten even weaker since I was last here. One got sent flying through a wall, crashing some of the roof down with him. The other got slammed into a sturdier brick wall, blood splattered all over it, the man getting flattened, all the organs and blood exploding from his body. Some of it splattered onto me.

“Disgusting. To have his repulsive self touch me.” Nothing some mana can’t clear. I meant to just dispeal a small amount in order to clean myself but this other consciousness seems to be stronger than I thought. Mana exploded out of me, becoming visible to the eye, a mixture of black and blood red swirled around me. Anything it touched got blown away by the sheer density of it.

Impressive. Seems like you may cause me some trouble.

The other three started firing basic spells at me. I expected it to be stronger, given my recollection of how strong magic used to be, but to my surprise it was no stronger than what a month old infant could produce.

“Not even worthy of mention.” I spit out. Before I even had a chance to clear the spells myself, the mana convulsing around me ate them whole.

“What happened to our spells?” One of them cried out.

“RUN!” The one who seemed to be in charge screamed, but the last of them was just on the ground frozen in fear.

“See. That’s how it should be.” I bellowed, licking my lips. “You will make a fine meal.” Huge grin across my face, I started walking towards him. A small puddle started to form beneath the man, as he wasn’t even able to let out a single sound.

With each step I took the building I was in shook, the structure around me getting crumbled by the mana. A few steps away from enjoying my meal, the mana started to act strange. Instead of swirling around me it started to move towards my meal, surrounding him in a cage.

“Wait a minute. That’s mine.” I did my best to pull back the mana but whatever consciousness was left in this body was pushing back harder.

No way! Someone has a stronger will than I do? Impossible.

The mana started closing in on the man, trapping him in a box until.

SQUELCH!

Blood and guts everywhere. The man was literally squished to death, slowly but surely.

What an agonizing way to die. Even by my standards.

In the distance I could see the other two running, approximately 1,000 feet away. Heading towards what seemed to be a castle in the distance.

I used to have a better one than that. Oh well, what’s two measly humans gonna do? They’re not worth my time.

“NOOOOOO!”

“What?” Was all I could get out before my body moved on it’s own. I, or at this point should I say we, dashed in front of them moving with pure speed, no spells at all. Making it in about .1 seconds.

“What the hell?” One said, screeching to a halt.

“Die.” My mouth let out, my claws got let out ripping this vessel's hand apart. Before the man could even move, his head got removed from his body, getting shredded in the process.

“AHHHHH!” The last one screamed. Her legs gave out, but she did her best to back herself away from me.

This conscience was ruthless though, just letting out a simple “Die,” before unleashing my mid level fire spell, erupting a column of fire around her. Just like with the mana box, they moved the fire in slowly before finally the woman let out an ear piercing shriek. A couple of seconds later she was reduced to nothing but ash.

“They're all dead.” My mouth grinned. That was the last thing I heard before losing consciousness, falling to the ground.