Ehhhhhhh….

Another baby? Doesn't that mean…

I cursed myself for following that train of thought as I resisted the urge to vomit.

As the rest of the room erupted in cheer, I mumbled a measly “Yayyyy.”

“Now Cedric and Ms Heirel already know, but this is the formal announcement!” My mother exclaimed with a wide grin on her face. Seeing her like that was enough to make me forget my unfortunate train of thought and join the rest of the room in rejoicing.

Now that I thought about it, my mother must have asked if Ms. Heirel had any experience in being a midwife. I bit my tongue as I almost asked if they knew the gender yet. That would’ve without a doubt been a very strange question to hear. Still, I’m gonna have a little sibling? It was yet another novel concept for me, and one I was quite excited about.

“Hey, Ikarus. Do you want a little brother or sister?” At some point Livi had wandered over next to me, surprising me with a question while I was spacing out.

“U-uh…” I paused to think about it for a moment. I had little knowledge of what either would be like, but a little brother might share more of the same hobbies as me. “Brother, I think.” I replied hesitantly.

“Brother, huh!” My dad slapped me on the back, apparently having overheard our conversation. “Mm. I see where you’re coming from, but I think I’ve got my hands full with just one little rat like you!” He teased, rubbing my head.

“I’ll have you know I’ve been nothing but a wonderful son!” I pouted.

“Yes, yes.” My father retorted.

“Oh, did you not get Elise?” My mother asked, joining us with Ms. Heirel.

“She’s… not having a good day,” I muttered.

“That so?” My mother said with a curious expression before resuming her conversation with Ms. Heirel. The atmosphere had almost turned into that of a welcome party, as my parents mingled with the Heirels.

I plopped myself back down into the couch, when I noticed a familiar presence in the corner of my eye. Perched under my dining table was my shadowy associate, his violet outline of eyes peering at me.

“Get out of here, dumbass!” I mentally cried out.

“What a warm welcome.”

“I’m serious, my parents already don’t trust me after the Milbourne incident, and you’re about the least trustworthy entity I’ve ever met.”

“So meannnn. I’m just here to remind you there’s still my end of the deal to hold up.”

“You haven’t given many details as to what that means.”

“I’ll get to it. It’s not particularly urgent though, so I’ll give you a bit of a break.” Khiros responded as he sank under the floor in a pool of darkness just as Livi walked over to me.

“Ikarus, uhmm– listen,” She murmured shyly as she rubbed her hands together. Her eyes were full of resolution, and she was staring at me dead on.

Eh? Is this the confession scene? I’m this popular already?! Man, it isn’t easy being this cool.

“You’ve done so much for me already, so I just wanted to let you know…”

Here it comes! There’s no way I could accept of course, but man is this doing wonders for my ego!

“I’m gonna be the best valet I possibly can!” She exclaimed with a proud smile on her face.

“You’re… not as well off, so you didn’t have one but before, but I’m gonna show you what you were missing!” She said happily, once again calling me poor.

I was getting ahead of myself. I guess this is the best way she can think of to repay me for giving her shelter, since this is what she’s been doing her whole life.

“No, that’s really fine, I want you to enjoy your time here, you don’t have to be a servant or anything—-”

I stopped as I noticed her expression growing downcast.

Huh? I thought that would have been a good thing to hear? Why’s she getting upset?

“So you really don’t need me…” She trailed off, looking like she was about to tear up.

“No! You would be a huge help, seriously! Thank you!” I responded frantically.

…

“Really?”

“Yes, really!”

“Good.” She sniffled before walking off to her mother.

Somehow I’d managed to avert the disaster of making a little girl cry, by the skin of my teeth. I was really starting to get tired at this point though, the trek from the dungeon back to Camidinne was no light stroll. I let out a loud yawn and stretched, apparently signaling the end of this little gathering to my mother.

“Alright then everyone, I’m so happy to welcome you to our house, and I hope you’ll make yourselves comfortable.” My mother announced to the room. “I’m going to go get some rest, and I assume Ikarus will do the same,” She smiled as she walked down the hall to her room.

“Yeah, sounds good.” I agreed. As I walked up the stairs to my room, I noticed Ms. Heirel looking as if she wanted to tell me something, but I was too tired to inquire. I went into my room, which had, as my mother often commented, “an astounding lack of personality.” My bed laid in the center of the room across from a window, with curtains that barely even served to block sunlight. A small nightstand stood next to my bed with a lone candle sitting on it, the only notable addition keeping my room from being completely barren was a small bookshelf positioned under the window, containing a few books on magic and the like.

Books were not easy to come by in this world, as they had to be handwritten or copied through an advanced form of magic, but as they saw that I was not too interested in playing with toys or other hobbies, my parents took it upon themselves to support my magical intrigue as much as they could. A few of the books on my bookshelf were not regarding magic however, as they were considered the “religious texts” of this world. Ironically enough, my family seemed to be in the minority in that we weren’t all that religious. My parents told me to make a decision for myself, which I thought was a good method.

I wasn’t really religious in my past life, considering myself agnostic at best, so it wasn’t that easy for me to change my ways in this world. I did read through all the books regardless, because I found them really interesting. The people of this world believed in a number of “deities,” each with unimaginable power, who stood for righteousness and all that. In my opinion, this religion more closely resembled a sort of mythology from my old world, with how the fables and stories occured. According to the books, the “dieties” had allowed for this currently peaceful state of the world by banishing beings of chaos and evil referred to as “shadow demons.”

They had once reigned supreme, and the world was nothing but a lawless and desolate wasteland. The so-called “King of Dieties,” incited a revolution and brought order to the world, thus permitting the current state of the earth.

At the very least, it was a much more entertaining story of creation than that of my past world, and it was made more convincing with the presence of magic in our everyday lives.

I walked over to my bookshelf and picked out a few entries that contained information on the different creatures that inhabited this world. They were sort of like animal books for kids, but here and there they had some useful things. Now, let's see if I can find you.

After looking through the different books for around an hour, I flopped down onto my bed, my exhaustion finally getting the better of me, and promptly passed out.

“Lazy runts! I better not see a single one of you little brats slacking off!”

A brutish bald man with an unpleasant stubble shouted angrily at the top of his lungs. His cruel-natured eyes diligently scanned across us, looking for any sign of relaxation.

I repeatedly heaved a pickaxe that was undeniably far too heavy for me, slamming it against the rocks in front of me. I stood in a dimly lit mine, dust filling the air and making it hard to both see and breathe, surrounded by other children of all ages performing the same task as me. I mindlessly continued the same motion I had grown used to over the past five years. How did it end up like this? During this time, my only solace was trying to remember my mothers comforting face, though even that was a struggle.

Is this all my life was meant to be? Mindlessly breaking rocks, and returning to a cell only to do the same the next day? Like a robot? For ETERNITY?

“Why so glum, Echo? You’ve got quite the scary expression.” Adrian asked me.

Adrian was my only friend in this hell, the only person I even remotely trusted right now. We were both around 12 years old, and he had been here for a little longer than I.

“Yeah, my bad. Just thinking about my family,” I muttered, taking another swing at the rubble.

“Ah. Sorry to bother you.” Adrian replied with a solemn expression.

“No, it's alright,” I sighed. “No use thinking about it now, anyway.”

We each returned to our mining, when out of the corner of my eye I saw Adrian accidentally swallow a large heap of dust that flew into the air from one of his strikes. He started violently coughing, dropping his pickaxe and falling down to the ground. “Hey man, you okay?!” I asked worriedly, but not daring to leave my post and check on him out of fear of repercussions.

“Y-ahck—-- yeah, I’m okay.” He said, his voice rough. He forced himself back on his feet, rushing to pick up his tool and get back to work before—-

“Oh ho ho! What do we have here?!” A cold and eager voice resounded from behind us. A voice that said he was looking forward to the cruel punishments he would get to administer. Our worst fears had come true. The brutish balding man belly-laughed as he sauntered over to Adrian, who had fallen over again in a fit of coughing. The man lifted his boot over the curled up Adrian’s back, slamming it down with a malicious smile on his face, forcing Adrian to lie flat on the ground. He rubbed his boot into his shirt, treating him like he was a mere rug.

The brute lifted his other foot onto my friend’s back, now forcing him to bear his full weight. He began walking up his back, savoring each step as my friend winced in pain, making his way towards his neck. He’s walking there… but that would kill him! Even this man wouldn’t…

Why wouldn’t he?

As that realization set in, panic flooded through me. I desperately looked around the mine, hoping someone, anyone would come to help my friend. But all I saw was empty shells of people, fearfully averting their eyes, thinking only one thing.

“Thank god it isn't me.”

It was then, in that moment, that I began to truly hate those kinds of people. And it was then, that I realized I could no longer be one of them. My pickaxe collided with the rocks in front of me for the last time, as I grasped on to the handle tightly. I looked up, forcing down the nausea threatening to overcome me, and witnessed the man holding his foot just above Adrian’s neck, savoring the expression on his face.

Unforgivable.

I raised the pickaxe in my hands above my head, emptying my mind, and struck down with the same motion I had been practicing for years. Only this time I wasn’t splitting rocks. I was splitting skulls.

A sharp crack rang out as I felt the impact of the pickaxe hitting him. I had involuntarily closed my eyes, but the deed was done nonetheless. I had killed a man. It was a man who had undoubtedly deserved death, but I was now a murderer.

Blood splattered down his lifeless body, falling off of my friend and crashing hard into a pile of rubble. A tangible silence came over the room as everyone froze. Adrian looked up at me, his eyes fearful, and muttered.

“Ikarus?”

“Ikarus?!”

“Ikaaaaaruuuuussss!!”

Wait, that’s not my name. How could he know that name? Who is th—-----

“Ikarus! Wake up!”

I lurched forward, a bead of cold sweat rolling down my forehead. More knocking came from my door, as Livi finally announced, “I’m coming in!”

She burst through the door, noticing the ghastly look on my face and asking, “Huh? Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

“I just… had a nightmare.”

LIVI HEIREL

“A nightmare? What, being chased by a killer clown or something?” I teased, standing at the door frame.

“You know what those are?” He asked with a blank expression on his face.

“Why wouldn’t I?

“Hm.” He nodded.

“Anyway, what’s got you bursting in here so early in the morning?” He said, stretching his arms up into the air, lifting his shirt slightly which revealed a little bit of skin.

“U-uhm, what do you mean so early in the morning? It’s noon, your mom told me to make sure you were alive!”

“Oh,” He laughed, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

Suddenly, a loud grumble rang out. Ikarus went red, and asked quietly, “By any chance, have my parents made lunch yet?’

“Hehe, no, not yet,” I giggled. That was when an idea came to me. “How about I make you some food!” I smiled.

“Really? That’d be great!”

“Alright! Just you wait, I’m going to make some world class cuisine that’ll blow you out of the water!” I boasted.

Or so I had thought. Turns out, cooking wasn’t as easy as I had anticipated. I looked inside the oven, noticing that my potatoes were noticeably on fire, which definitely wasn’t part of the recipe book. Panicking, I forgot to put on my mitts or even flick off the switch that converted mana into heat, grabbing the tray with my bare hands.

I shrieked from the heat, instinctually covering my hands in ice. The magic didn’t stop at just my hands though, as in my panicked state I failed to control it’s direction accurately. Ice spread from the tray all across the countertop, as I just barely managed to stop it before it reached the ingredients cabinet. I fell down on my butt with a sigh, holding what was now a block of ice in the shape of a tray. Once the adrenaline went down, worry started to overwhelm me.

“Well this is an interesting method of cooking.” Ikarus called out as he came down the stairs.

“U– Oh– well…” I tried to get my words out as tears started streaming down my face. I wiped away at them with my sleeve, but it was to no avail.

“P-Please don’t fire me!”

IKARUS VELOR

“Huh? W-whoa, calm down Livi, it’s okay—-”

“Pleaphe donf fire me,” she sobbed, her words jumbled. “I’m juf not very goofd at cooking! I do lofts of othver fings!” She kept going, now ugly crying. “I don’t wanna get kickfed out!”

“Hey!” I rushed to her side, kneeling down and placing a hand on her shoulder. “We’re not gonna kick you out just because of that, I promise.”

“Mmhm,” She sniffled. Jeez. She sure is quick to jump to conclusions.

“So you’re not mad,” She looked up at me teary-eyed.

“No, and my parents won’t be either.”

…

“Okay! Man, cooking sure is hard!”

And she’s quick to change her tune as well.

“Yeah, I haven’t tried much of it myself, to be honest. How about we just wait for my mom to make something,” I smiled.

“Sure thing!”

After Livi and I cleaned up the little mess she had made, we had my mom cook for us instead. I chatted away idly with Livi until I finished eating, but the entire time a question was nagging at the back of my mind. I had been thinking about it ever since the day I invaded the Milbourne manor, but only now did I have the chance to look into it.

I excused myself from the table, telling my Livi and my mother I was going out to play, to which I was met with extremely distrustful eyes. Figures, I’ve brought this upon myself. “I’m just going around the town, it’s fine!” I said, but my mom wasn’t having it.

“You can’t be trusted to run off on your own anymore!” She insisted. “But, there is someone around here who’s shown she can be responsible!” She praised Livi, who began to blush.

“Look at how spotless it is in here, and all around the house. Little Livi has been working diligently since sunrise!”

Livi was now completely red, overwhelmed by the unfamiliar mountain of praise being dumped on her.

“Wowwww. Compared to all that, your lazy ass just waking up isn’t a good look.” A familiar voice teased from the top of the stairs.

“Elise!” I called out joyfully, happy to see her back to her usual self. “Tell mom how trustworthy I am!”

“He’s not even remotely trustworthy.” She said, deadpan, eliciting a giggle from both my mother and Livi.

“Some help you are…” I crossed my arms.

Elise introduced herself to Livi, who seemed a little intimidated by her. It probably had something to do with how naturally talented Livi was with magic, so she could likely sense just how many levels above “powerful” my sister was. Hopefully Livi would learn to be comfortable around her soon enough though, once she realizes how laid back Elise is. Elise simply nodded once she heard Livi’s name, as if she understood something.

“Off to work again? My mother asked Elise, who only nodded back.

“Can I come?” I asked for what may have been the thousandth time, and was promptly rejected for the thousandth time. It had become somewhat of a ritual at this point. I wonder if I’ll ever get to see what exactly Elise gets up to.

“Alright, then I’ll be heading out too,” I said, trying to slip out as Elise did the same.

“And where do you think you’re going, young man?” My mother said as she grabbed the back of my collar. “Haaah… You really are hopeless,” She sighed, as if she was accepting the fact that one way or another, I would be going out.

“Livi, would you mind babysitting my fool of a boy?” My mother asked Livi in a less than flattering way for me.

“Of course not!” Livi accepted happily, as I repressed a smirk. Livi won’t be a hard person to shake off.