This is my first ever try on writing in general, so don't be too mad if you see a lot of mistakes in grammar or punctuation - English is not my native language. If you, dear readers, will like this first short introduction chapter, I may proceed to write more in future - we will see how it goes.

Anyway, welcome and enjoy your reading!

xx-xx

He never truly expected this to happen, not really.

For centuries, he spent his existence watching over mortal world he no longer belonged to, seeing civilizations come and go, generations born and fade into nothingness. He saw cities being built and then destroyed by catastrophic events or wars, never really caring about humans in general. Although, there were only few, who managed to catch his attention, drawing his curiousity by unfortunate events off their lives. So he would give them His Mark to bear that would allow them to change the fate of lives however they want. He's seen it all.

But this? This was something truly unbelievable. Impossible. Unimaginable.

He was alive. A mortal being – a human once again.

He inhaled deeply the salty humid air of Karnaca and almost chocked from the sheer sensation of such basic physiological act his body now needed for life. As soon as he did that, he felt extremely dizzy and had to lean on the nearest building they reappeared at after escaping the Void. Billie, who was standing right beside him, immediately caught his forearm to prevent his frail body from falling to the ground.

"Hey, easy there, take it slowly. You better sit down before you collapsed completely on me" - she told him sternly, yet he could definitely recognise the slight notes of fear and annoyance in her tone as well. The Outsider closed his eyes and nodded shortly, slowly sliding to the ground and leaning his back on the brick wall of what appeared to be an abandoned shop with living quarters located on the second floor. He swallowed hard, realising that he had slight tremors in his body from the trip they just made back to the real world. After few seconds of trying to calm down a little from the intial shock he slowly opened his eyes to see Daud's apprentice examining the surroundings, making sure nobody saw them appear out of thin air and checking for potential guard patrols.

The young man then proceeded to check his pulse to make sure he was not dreaming. The erratic heartbeat told him that he was very much awake and, apparently, experiencing what seemed to be slight panic attack. He jumped slightly when Billie placed her hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

"Can you stand and walk? By no means I want to stress you even more at the moment, but we better take a cover in that house before anyone sees us" - she crouched next to him to get to the same eye level and looked him over for any unusual signs.

"Give me a few moments, I'm still adapting slowly to the sensations" - he whispered rasply in return, placing a hand on the forehead and trying to calm down. After a few minutes, he turned a bit to support himself with both arms against the wall and started to rise slowly. Billie helped him by holding him steadily by shoulders and, after initial nod from the man as an indication that they were good to go, she wrapped one of his arms around her shoulder and hugged his torso to prevent from any incidental falling.

xXx

They entered the building from the black exit that was covered by few wooden planks and slowly made their way upstairs to find a suitable place for the Outsider to crash in. There wasn't much left as the previous owners seemed to take most of their belongings with them, but the dusty matress on the floor would do for now.

Billie helped him to lay down slowly on the soft mat and went to check out the rest of the living area. When the ex-assassin disappeared behind the door frame, The Outsider took his time to explore the feeling of the soft material underneath him. He slowly turned on his side, trying to figure out what was the most bizarre thing happening to him right now – the fact that he was lying on something besides cold stone pavement of streets from his previous life experience (memories of which he partially restored right after being freed by Daud in the very bottom of the Void), or the dozens of questions he kept asking himself in his own mind after being left on his own.

What happens next? Where should he go? Is Billie going to leave him as soon as possible because technically she owns him nothing, but quite vice versa?

His eyes widened in horror from the sudden realisation: How is he supposed to even walk among people since almost everyone might immediately recognise him from Sokolov's paintings? More importantly: how is he going to avoid the Abbey of Everyman patrolling the streets frequently?

He shook his head and sat up slowly, looking around. Only then he actually noticed that his companion was nowhere to be found. He was so lost in his own head that he didn't even notice her absence. Just when he was about to get up and try to find her, she returned to him with a glass of water and some small pouch in her other hand.

"Here. That's all I could find downstairs that was still more or less edible" – she handed him a pouch containing grapes and a tin of Prachett Jellied Eels inside – " The fruits should be fine since they had an actual growing plantation in the hidden yard beside the building. The previous tenants must have had a family business in making wine for local aristocracy. I wonder-..." – she stopped in mid-sentence after noticing just what expression the kid had upon looking at the offered food. He was just staring at it suspiciously, like it was something surreal or it somehow managed to personally offend him. After few awkward seconds of silence she pointedly cleared her throat to get his attention, to which he sighed and looked away to stare at the corner of the room.

"My apologies," – he mumbled, his fingers clutching a bit around the bag – " I got...lost in my own head for a second by some sudden rush of memories." He pursed his lips in a thin line and finally faced her, staring dead in the eye with evident nervousness in the air around him. "What are you going to do now? I don't assume you'll be pleased to stick around me, not after everything you've already done in order to set me free. After all, it cost you everything that you loved – your old mentor, The Dreadful Wale..." he hesitated for a second to finish his sentence, but it was enough for Billie to grab him by his collar and shake him slightly, anger evident in her features.

"So this is your way of saying 'Thank you' then?" – she said and took a moment to have a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down before proceeding " You are not getting rid of me that easily, not yet. I have just an idea about what to do with you and in order to go successfully according to plan I need you to learn how to act like a normal human being once again, not only meaning the physiological aspect, but also keeping your mouth shut when necessary. Understood?"

After the affirmative short nod from a young man, she let him go and stood up. "Rule number one: no talk about my past. Not a single world. I may have changed my opinion about you after all I've seen, but you are not helping me by opening the fresh wounds." She crossed her arms and relaxed a little bit, seeing the genuine spark regret on his face. "Eat, drink and rest for a while. It's going to get dark soon and I need to gather some stuff from the city in order for us to at least survive for a couple of days in this hideout. This part of the district is pretty much abandoned so you don't have to worry about being found by anyone except me, of course."

She proceeded to exit the room when he called out her name.

"I'm sorry. I'm still-"

"-feeling out of space, yeah yeah. I know." She waved dismissively without turning around and disappeared behind the corner "I'll try to get back as soon as I can. Try not to push yourself too hard, brat."

The Outsider snorted at her snarky remark and returned his attention to the food and bowl of water.

Now THIS is going to be interesting... – he thought, before taking small sip and gagging a little bit in the process.