As The Sun Rises

I’m Hungry, so, so hungry. I curl up in the rags doing my best to double them up, to shield me from the cold. But the holes betray me, and the thin blanket so graciously “donated” to me by the Walled City, it’s barely more than an air filter. Papa is doing his best; he always has, ever since the days we lived in the house.

I rise up, looking over as slowly as I can; Papa is wrapped around Mama, his warmth the only thing keeping her from a sluggish state where she can barely think. Papa and Mama don’t want me to know how bad it is. Since Papa chose us over his job and his other family, he gave up so much… for me and my sister.He runs his hands over her the soft scales on her cheek in her sleep, smiling; Papa has smiled a lot more after we came into his life. Is that why he chose us? I’ve seen the old paintings when we lived in the big house; he always wanted to step away. It’s confusing being an adult, Sis and I have been in these old homes all our lives, except for the few months after Papa found us.

The hunger I was burying catches up with me and I do my best not to cry, it’s best not to be thirsty too, after all, I’m the big kid, I need to be strong too.

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I rocket out of bed, the feeling of hunger grinding in my stomach. The pit feels so deep so painful, quickly I push my torso off the side of my bed and empty the contents of my stomach on the floor. Why am I puking from hunger? How does that even make sense? And secondly, what was with that crazy dream?

I must have gone out drinking with Grimalkin after the Gala. I can’t remember anything after angering the guards, did we even get away? I have to check on him, even if he is my aid I don’t think that the guards would let him off easy.

After I finish puking like I have never puked before while giving myself a game of twenty questions in my mind, I look up, seeing the ever-ready lynx. “Hello Sir Paladin, are you okay?”

His face is more sullen, with a redness in his cheeks denoting I’m guessing embarrassment. At least, I think that’s why he’s acting so quickly to help me, getting the towels from the side of the room and cleaning my mess up. “I didn’t expect you to puke Sir; I thought you would hold your drink better.”

There’s the jab I was expecting. “Hey, you weren’t the most eloquent person yourself with a few sips in.” I pop back at him.

He turns away, getting more towels from the wardrobe at the front of the room, “Yes, I’m learning a lot of things about myself are quite different than how I thought I was. I guess I was giving myself too much credit, or not enough.”

After he cleans it all up and puts the dirty towels it in a basket, he pulls a string attached to the door, a ringing noise comes out of the nob, some sort of magic or gadget I’d guess.

He hands me a new set of undergarments and drops the laundry basket with some clothes in it then tosses any extra towels from earlier outside the door. That’s when I notice, I touch the bare skin on my chest, blushing. Looking up at him he shakes his head at me with a laugh.

I do my best to recover, “so, it looks like the armor comes off, honestly I was wondering if it would; considering it was summoned with me.”

Grimalkin smiles at me, a warm, welcoming smile that I have been missing for the past day that no one but him would give to me. Even if a cat face smiling looks a lot like it’s gotta sneeze, “yes, it comes off, but do not worry Paladin, it cannot be stolen, if it gets far enough away from your body, it will turn to sand and then reappear within your field of vision. I would always try to take Papaw’s armor from him but the prank never stuck.”

“Oh, thanks, that’s good to know… wait a minute, how come you all know so much about Paladins and everything?” The thought lingering in the back of my mind finally comes to the forefront.

“Good timing, I’m getting ready to escort you to the person who will answer all of those questions for you.” He remarks smugly. I don’t think the jab was at me, but the instructor, maybe they know each other?

I get dressed and follow Grimalkin out the door; I seem to be back in the building I was summoned in. The walls are made of marble, much to my eyes relief, all of the green was getting taxing.

This area of the barracks seems older, explaining the change in architecture. Grimalkin lead us down a spiral staircase, to a row of jade columns lining a lush garden, with a wooden shack in the far corner.

“Follow me.” He hops on stones through the garden, a winding path leading through some bushes and around a pair of trees. Then, at the end of the path, the shed, or rather, house.

When I get closer I can tell it is two stories tall, possibly with a basement. Unlike any of the other architecture in the city, it looks sort of like a turn of the century home made entirely of wood.

After a few knocks on the door by Grimalkin, soft then getting louder and louder until the door gets swung open in front of us angrily. “WHAT?! Oh, OH! It’s you two; I didn’t know it was time. Come on in,” as he rushes us in, he quickly shuts the door behind him.

He’s an old man, in his eighties, still spry, not hobbling about his cluttered home like you would expect for one so old and balding. He had long white hair falling over his shoulders and a beard that made him look not unlike a wizard. His clothes were simple, yet not rags, a green tunic with brown pants. “So, I see the summoning has been undertaken, so tell me, new Paladin, how long have you been in this world?”

“Yeah, uhm, I just spent my first night here, Sir…?” I trail off, unsure who he is just yet.

“I was the Paladin before you; I have chosen the name Napoleon as my living name.” He beams at me, clearly proud of the name I recognized. While mocked by other countries it was just due to their fear of him, that knowledge of the great general Napoleon was known to even school kids.

“First, uhm, what’s a ‘living name’ and secondly, why can’t I remember my old one?” The old man sips the tea I had yet to take, drinking it himself since I did not want it and sits in his armchair with a loud sigh.

“Trust me when I say this, but you just asked someone why gravity makes things fall.” He looked up with a smugness across his face that made a little kid sneaking a cookie look humble.

“But, in the simplest way I can put it; several things are forced out of your mind or changed when you are brought to this world. The fact you can understand the peoples of this country is proof of that, you will understand any language of those who have summoned you.”

I wait impatiently, hoping he will get to the part of why I can’t remember my own name, but still, does that mean I speak other languages native to this world? “Now, they can be boiled down to basic rules. The first rule is, you are not allowed to share military information to the people of this world; your mouth just won’t let you if you even try.

“Not just that, but also certain civic inventions that are used in siege engines that would be more advanced than the day you got here. Needless to say, without being able to describe certain pulleys and levers also means that we don’t interfere with their own technological advancement.

“Now, as for rule two, leave your old life in the past. You died, I died, we both died before coming here, there is no going back so if you were considering it, don’t, your lack of a name is part and proof of this rule. When you’re sent over here, you get shot through this pool of all the souls who were unable to make it separately in the cycle of reincarnation, they collect into something called ‘The Great Spirit’. Functionally in the void, this reservoir is still conscious and creates new souls, thus, giving it its name as it writes the new souls using different parts of the older ones.

“When you got shot through this vortex or pool, you picked up enough of the basic parts of a soul, that your own spirit crafted you a new one. For whatever reason, your name, and the names of specific people in your life get removed due to this. I hate to say it, but while you will remember your parents’ warmth, you will not remember their faces again.” He looks downtrodden, clearly, this was the biggest hit for himself when he came here, and meanwhile, I’m just nodding along.

The room goes silent for a few seconds, I could hear some scurrying in the old creaky walls. Grimalkin lowered his head, almost like a prayer or moment of reverence.

“I think I get it, and as long as I have the memories of the people they were, I don’t need their faces.” I smile, giving the most honest appraisal of my feelings as I could. Napoleon’s face was dumbstruck, apparently, I had said something quite uncommon. His jaw hung open to a comical level as he has poured scalding hot tea all over his lap without his even noticing it for a couple of seconds.

“YEEEOW!!!!” It took nearly a full minute for the pain of pouring boiling hot tea over one’s self to break through the confusion placed by my last statement. He jumps up out of his chair as Grimalkin has already grabbed a towel for him, throwing it at the old man.

I assume the towel will cover his head and possibly make him fall and hurt himself. But instead, Napoleon snatches it out of the air like it was standing still and quickly wipes himself off. After a quick trip into the other room he comes out with a pair of black pants instead.

“Sorry bout the show, you just shocked me, every account I have read described paladins as dreading never seeing their families again, why are you so different?”

Truthfully, I don’t know, Dad was still alive but Mom had passed a few months ago, right after my physical exam. Dad was a tough guy, he hunted his own food, his trophies on the wall were to respect the animal he said. Not trusting corporations to bring him healthy food he grows his own small garden as well.

All Dad had to do when mom died was move into his parents' old cabin in the country. I had no sisters or brothers, and all of the memories I had of my family involved going places, doing activities, family things. I don’t really see the point of seeing their face when actions are the true measure of a person.

And then I threw all of that personal stuff out and lied out my butt. “I didn’t have parents, I was adopted for a short time but I was by myself most of the time.” An eighty-plus year old man who can snatch something out of the air and who could bounce around the room so animated, he’s just as suspicious as the rest! How can I know I can trust him?

Secondly, I don’t remember much after being chased, while my panicked mind had considered the thought of getting blackout drunk... I’ve never done that in my life, so doing it for the first time ever the NIGHT I get to a new world?

That sticks out like a sore thumb, no, something is up here and I will find out what. I was with Grimalkin and he’s still way more fidgety than before, like he’s guilty.

“While sad to hear, it would not be an uncommon story amongst the Paladins of the ages, it normally takes seeing true horror, to know how to combat it.” He looks down at the floor, then back up at me after a short time. “Now, due to the fact I am still alive, and due to the tradition passed down since before the scripture, I shall become your Paladin-Master and teach you the ways of fighting in this world.”

Well, that changes things. “Wait, what?”

Napoleon gets up, walking to a wall in the far side of his house as he gently places his hands on the hilts of more than twenty different weapons. From subtle daggers to even a spyglass made of deep orange amber. He lets his mind drift to some untold time as I watch him touch these instruments of death more gently than you even would an animal or child.

“Let me explain, while some paladins, like myself, are given the gift of Martial Skill if we did not have it before, and depending on the deities questions of course… Others, who knew not how to fight with a sword, well they needed some training. Your spirit can handle it; the journey from another world has strengthened it, increasing how quickly you pick up on things.”

He laughed deep and with his belly, if he had one, truly the guy was skinny as a rail. “Now, in accordance with tradition, since you have not Martial Skill, I ask you share your manual’s section on new abilities with me.”

Okay, now I’m lost, I get a MANUAL?! “Uhm, okay, but can you tell me where it is? I didn’t know we got a manual and well…. I’ve kinda been winging it the whole time.”

Napoleon looked ragged and tired. Letting out a sigh, “From what I was told with the events in the summoning chamber from yesterday, you’ve already activated it once. Upon your skills first, use and during any time an announcement is necessary, a Paladin will hear a voice, that is your manual.”

He looked at me, expecting me to get it and I just shrugged. He looks even more exhausted as he lets out a long laboured sigh, “Okay, that was plain as day so I’ll just keep going till you figure it out. If you were to ask a question with the wording ‘Manual, what is?’ then that little voice in your head will fill you in on the basic knowledge of this world the manual accumulated by passing through this world’s great spirit.”

Wait, what?! Well, now my head hurts, I understand everything he’s said, it’s just a lot to take in. “So, if I said Manual, how do I show Master Napoleon my skills?”

To activate audio mode the phrase ‘tell everyone’ is required.

Well, that was easy “Okay, Manual, what are my skills? Tell everyone.”

Ability: Pain Vampire.

Ability to remove the pain from others while inflicting it upon yourself. Conversely, the ability to instill the pain gained from others into new hosts.

Extra Ability: Pain Nullification.

Enhances your spirit memory, pulling from your experience in your past life and giving you the ability to endure great pain

Extra Ability: Vampire’s Aura

Sending out Pain Vampire in a psychic waive to affect others, also the ability to wrap the wave around physical objects, in particular, weapons.

The voice was monotone, and to the point, not taking the time to show much inflection at all as Grimalkin stood transfixed. “What in the name of the Holy Paladin was that?”

Napoleon laughed and sat back in his chair, smiling at the lynx “That, was the closest thing to the voice of the deity most would ever hear.”

Grimalkin looked down, unsure of what to say. “I expected there to be…. More to it, like a personality, something that would tell me about the Deities will”

“Now, Grimalkin, you know very well that the Deity we spoke to is not the Deity of this world, besides, if that was the case do you genuinely think we would have any answers?” Napoleon said with a sad sigh.

“Wait a second, that last one was new” I chimed in, not recognizing this Vampire’s Aura from the list I got earlier.

Napoleon brightened and spoke up again, “Sometimes events make you gain new skills, possibly during that flyting I saw at the ball last night between you and Vansen.”

I choose to ignore the new word, there’s too much on my plate as it is, still I doubt an insult battle would result in that kind of a skill, exactly what can I not remember?

“Now then, I have a few gifts for you, and then we can go and pick your weapon” Napoleon said with a smile, getting up from the chair with gusto it seems this was the part he was the most excited for, too bad I had to tell him…

“Sir, they already gave me the silver sword.”

“Yes, and after you used it, it disappeared, correct? You were probably moving too quickly to notice that the item had vanished. It is a blade designed to strike down evil, it is the treasure of this nation and rightfully belongs to any paladin summoned. It was crafted by a race of people wiped off of this planet before the scriptures. What we do know about it, is that it thinks, it lives, and its moral compass is decided by whoever wields it.” He takes a break to sip his tea, you’d think he’d stop after the spill but this man was determined.

“However, the memories of the sword remain the same, yet inaccessible to us… The sword is still with you, just in some other dimension or something, and will come out when it thinks it’s needed. I don’t know about you but I believe a weapon I can pull out when I personally see fit is a lot more useful than one that can take the day off.” He finally finished; a wry tone in his voice.

I nod, it’s true, the sword had just vanished after the fight with the werewolf, and everything was just moving so quick that somehow it just vanished from my mind after the fight was done. “Alright, so what’s the plan?”

With a grin ear to ear, this balding old man said with a mouth still full of sparkling teeth. “We’re going shopping~ but first.” And he tossed me an old scroll; it started glowing after I caught it. “That is the Sacred Scriptures of the Paladins, while it doesn’t hold records from every paladin ever, it does have a good millennia or two of knowledge to be pulled upon when needed. It’s psychically linked, indestructible, and will teleport to you when summoned. Truly, a marvel of a magic item.”

As I look at the scroll, it just glows back at me a faint bluish hue. I open it up, and right at the top is the lines History of the Holy Paladins.

I mean, my jaw drops, I could sit here and read this scroll all day, this is the history of the people that came before me? Came before this old guy? Oh, this could be useful!

“Don’t read it just yet, we have more work to do, as I said, we now need to go shopping, Grimalkin, grab the portable weapon rack.” he does as requested, bowing to Napoleon as he put it on the old man's back, truthfully about as tall as a vending machine and as thick as a pool table.

Without an ounce of notice toward it, however, Napoleon continues. “Now, onward to the Adventurer District.”

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Walking through the middle of these clay buildings with an old man, carrying what could easily be called a freakin weapon shelf on his back. Well, that’s quite an adventure; if he and Grimalkin walked ahead of me, I would see the funny looks people would give before they saw me, their Paladin, walk behind them.

Apparently it was weird for humans from this world to team up with other species. Yet if they were with a paladin, due to all of the stories in the past; it was to be pretty much expected.

Soon, we come to a building made of more sturdy clay bricks; I had been wondering if they’d figured out clay bricks with all the mud-houses around, but it looks like they have, I wonder why the lower city just doesn’t use them much.

We step inside the brick building, a wooden roof with rafters up top. Swords, shields, armor, and more lined the walls of the shop. Some looked faintly magical; some looked withered and were marked down. A jovial voice comes from behind a curtain leading to a back room of some sort “Be with you in a minute! Just got some new ‘Lightning Ore’ in and……”

Her voice is cut off when she sees me, in my armor, next to Master Napoleon and Grimalkin. “Oh, Sir Paladin!? I never expected in my lifetime I would see one of you shop in my humble abode.”

The beastman woman bows to us all and goes back to the way she was talking before. “Anyway, I have this new lightning ore in and I’ve not used it before so it’s taking up a lot of time back there. I really should run back, I was kind of in the middle of something.” She’s roughly the height of Grimalkin, jet black with pink and purples running down her back that started at her eyes. A long bushy tail is wrapped up in what looks to be a giant sized hair net.

Grimalkin holds up his paw, nodding at her, “It’s okay, knowing these two they’ll want to see it though.” The lynx laughed and slapped her back like he did me earlier; somehow these two were clearly friends. “Oh, sorry Sir Paladin, this is Hephy, the best magical weaponsmith in all of the Green City and my sister.”

I extend a hand for greeting, not sure if it would be taken up or not as the pinkish purple catlike beastman grabs my arm with both hands “Oh it’s such an honor!”

Oh no, we’re back to this again, I’m just here for a weapon and this lady is checking out my armor. Taking notes on the chain skirt and armor plates. “So anyway, what about those prototypes you were mentioning earlier?”

“Sir, this is THE Celestial Armor, only given to Deity chosen paladins, I would not be an armorer worth my hammer if I did not take a moment to look at the craftsmanship.” Somehow while still keeping an air of solemn respect for me… This beastman checked me out so much that when she touched a small indent in the armor, the chain skirt hardened and became full plate armor all over my body. “OOOOOH so that’s how you get two different armors I’ve heard rumors of in ancient historical record.”

Wait, that’s new, no one has mentioned history once yet this person just did. “About that, what’s the deal with historical record, most people I talk to refer to scripture in the past?” The helpful and eager blacksmith backed up, nodding. Yet again; I feel like a bit out of the loop considering how ready everyone else was to answer questions.

“Sir Paladin, in this country, our scripture is our historical record, as kept by the church. The founding Paladin of this country decreed that since the Dread Emperors kingdom fell, so did the dark religion, a new one must take its place.” I nodded along, pretending to understand what she said, but anything after the first sentence just sounded like the opening of a game.

“Alright then, I guess that makes sense, anyway, care to take me to the back?” I asked.

Grimalkin had been behind the beastman armorer, pointing to the curtain through this entire exchange, clearly ready to see what was behind it.

She lifted the curtain, motioning the three of us in; it took a bit more work considering Napoleon did not want to put down his prized back-pack-weapons-rack. Still, we all made it inside and then I saw what she was talking about, in the corner of the room was a massive eight foot wide rock. Almost cartoonish lightning bolts were coming out of it. “I take it that’s lightning ore?” I popped off.

“Precisely! It is iron ore that has been struck by the thunder attack of a powerful dragon at some point in the past, keeping the magical properties!” The nerdy look on her face as she explained the massive piece of rock in the room told me everything I needed to know.

Napoleon had just said I can’t share my technical knowledge from before this with these people, but I wonder if I could come up with something new. “Considering I am the Paladin I would bet I have a bit of spending money allocated to me?”

Napoleon and Grimalkin both gave me a nod, moderately confused as I look back at the blacksmith, “I want you to make me; a stick.”

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As we walked back out of the blacksmith’s shop I sigh happily at my decision, I feel I have made the right one. Grimalkin is the first to chime in. “Are you sure that’s what you want? Sounds complicated.”

I’d described for her, a three-section staff, one that would connect and disconnect at my own discretion. She was more than happy to volunteer the lightning ore, apparently, using it in my weapon would bring her quite a bit of the fame and adoration she wanted from this job. She told me about some liquid-metal spells, allowing my handgrips to flow around on top of the weapon so I don’t electrocute myself.

Grimalkin looked down, clearly not wanting to see his old employer. Again I look at him, remembering that I own his servants contract now. Noticing this, I quickly say, “Do me a favor and go over the weapon plans with Hephy while we go see the Lord-Governor.”

A quick look at certain parts of the Paladin’s Scripture, thank the Deity for an index, revealed that many paladins had special circumstances arising for the creation of their weapon. Still, asking the Lord-Governor for a piece of the Dread Emperor's armor out of the holy reliquary, that might be a bit too much for even legend to ask for.

Apparently the Dread Emperor had made this metal himself, it was uncopyable by any-standards and it acted as both an insulator and amplifier of elemental magic. Now, it was just my job to ask the old man in the dining room if I can borrow his trophy to make a new toy out of.

Grimalkin stayed behind at the smithery and I was alone with Master Napoleon for the first time, he says to me, as blankly as he can without any emotion in his voice. “I could let this go on for a while; let the nightmares eat away at you until you figure it out yourself… But if I did that, I couldn’t consider myself that kid’s grandfather anymore.” He looked at me, eyes old and wisened, accustomed to tears.

He continues, “I ask that you spare Grimalkin for his deeds, he truly only wanted the best. But I suppose that is little comfort for what I am getting ready to say.”

He looked at me, never before had this old man acted his age except for now, “Grimalkin was ready to kill you last night, that’s the hole in your memory you keep trying to piece together, trying to remember. “

My mouth fell open as we stood at the side of the street, confusion, surprise, GRANDFATHER?! What the actual hell did I just hear come out of this man’s mouth? Grimalkin has to be so far the one I trust the most, at least he was honest with me… or at least he had seemed honest.

“For reasons I am bound not to tell you at this current time, measuring your worth was an important step. You see, many, many failed paladins brought ruin to this country through the ages.” He looks down at his shoes, my skills not needed to feel his pain as he spoke and the shame in his words.

“Grimalkin is a good kid, a great Beast-man, I ask that you forgive him, he never tried to take your life after his suspicions had been proven true!” He’s on his knees, pulling at my chain skirt, weeping into my leg. I try to pull us out of view but people started to notice, we had just gotten back inside of the Jade Walls after all, and being the paladin doesn’t really help the incognito mode.

Still, what do I do with this information… it sounded like there was more; I should hold off judgement and finish this out. “Tell me more Napoleon, whatever you may tell me, make me understand why I should spare him.” I say as sternly as I can, hopefully, if I go along with this we can finish this spectacle.

“He had to check your type, as in, the type of Paladin you are. To do that, he stole one of my Override Runes, a magical item from this world that lets others activate your healing powers in an emergency, but a trust by you must be placed in the person first.” he sighs again “This does sincerely mean he betrayed your trust though. You see, as you can probably guess, your power is hard to define into any given category, so, to test if you were a Healer type, he activated it.”

“Many Paladins get called and considering that a Paladin only comes to this world once every 20-50 years, my own time waiting being the longest at a full 75. Well, a mixed bag gets put through, you see, the Deities gift is given to anyone willing to protect others, in the effort that spreading these kinds of beings through circulation will ensure an even distribution of hope.

Still, many dubious characters had a last second change of heart, dying for someone else as a way of atonement. This plus many other discrepancies have occurred when the only requirement is ‘sacrifice yourself for others.’ This all feels like a gamble to me, the Deities finding people willing to go an extra mile, and then use us instead of fixing the problems themselves, but that is neither here nor there.”

He’s started to calm down, albeit only slightly, at least he’s not groveling anymore as I stand him up next to a wall. Many of the people on the street have moved on, but a few wry glances can be seen on the people walking back and forth.

“Healers are Paladins with higher levels of empathy, those who see the pain of others and wish to help… Truthfully they are the most righteous kind and the most likely kind to receive the title of ‘Holy’ but, if we’re cutting to the chase… A more dubious paladin in the hands of Leere and Vansen is a terrifying thought, especially to Grimalkin, blood grandson of the previous Demon Lord.”

Well, that threw me through a bit of a loop, GRANDSON? I thought he was this guys grandkid.

“Anyway… I was hoping you could understand the mistrust he had for you.” He looks at me, finished with his explanation, and…. I’m dumbfounded, unsure of what to say

“You’re buying lunch,” Is all I said as we walked into a high class eatery inside of the jade walls.