The Wanderer Settles In


Eiji groaned as he slowly opened his eyes to see a red blur floating in his vision The blur seemed to flinch and moved closer.

And then it slapped him across the cheek.

"Ah!" Eiji yelled, shooting up from his bed. "A-Ankh? Wha-?"

"Finally you're awake," the disembodied arm said. The arm turned and floated toward the door. "Hey! He's awake!" he yelled.

Eiji heard the sound of scuffling and hurried footsteps. Tiffania and Matilda rushed in, the half-elf's face changing from worry to relief as she laid eyes on the wanderer.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Tiffania exclaimed.

"Miss Tiffania, Miss Matilda," Eiji greeted. "Sorry for the scare. How long was I out?"

"Through the whole night and all morning. It's about early afternoon, now," Matilda answered.

Eiji sighed. "Not as long as I thought. That's good."

"Are you alright? Any lingering pain?"

The wanderer patted his chest experimentally. "No, actually. I guess that burning feeling was a one-time thing. Is that usually how familiar bindings go?"

Matilda shook her head. "Definitely not. The familiar-to-be usually never shows signs of pain during the binding. I don't know if it is because the ritual was done on a human or because Tiffania has elf blood in her, but the binding should not have been so... violent. Even your runes are different." She pointed at the wanderer's chest.

Eiji lifted his shirt and looked down at the discolored patches of skin where the runes engraved themselves, tracing a hand over them.

Tiffania's eyes went to the floor. "I... I'm sorry for hurting you..."

Eiji smiled at her, shaking his head. "There's nothing to apologize for, Miss Tiffania. None of us knew it would turn out like that. I'm alright, really."

Tiffania's eyes bashfully went to his, returning his smile with her own.

Looking down at his chest again, he asked, "Do you know what it says, Miss Matilda?"

Matilda frowned. "Unfortunately, I do not know. I've never seen these kind of-"

"Lifdrasil."

All eyes turned to Ankh.

"In your language it means 'Heart of God'," he continued.

"You can read them?" Eiji asked, surprised.

The floating arm shrugged. "I was born in the age where magic runes like that were commonplace. Hell, I was made with runes like those; if you took a closer look at the Medals, you'd see them."

Curious, Eiji retrieved the broken Taka Medal from his pants pocket and examined them. As the bird Greeed said, mysterious runes crcled around the inside of the Medal. "I've never noticed them before... What do they say?"

"Stoke the Flames of Truth and Life into this being of Desire," Ankh said blandly. "Bless upon it the Sight of Hawks."

Matilda hummed. "How poetic."

Ankh scoffed. "Heh, it's magic, what do you expect?"

Putting the Medals back into his pocket, Eiji stretched, cracking some joints. "So... I'm your familiar now, Miss Tiffania," he said, giving the half-elf girl an awkward smile.

She blushed lightly, playing with her fingers. "Yes, but, um, I'd like to think of you more as a... friend if that's fine, Mister Hino?"

Eiji chuckled. "Of course it's fine! And call me Eiji. We're friends, aren't we?"

Tiffania beamed. "Then please call me Tiffania, Eiji."

"And just Matilda for me," the older woman chipped in. "I'm not so old to be addressed so formally."

The traveler snorted but nodded. "Will do, Matilda." He slipped the covers off of himself and jumped out of the bed. "Welp, since I'm awake now, I can do some work around here."

Matilda raised her eyebrows in surprise. "So soon? You've just barely woken up!"

"You said that it was already afternoon," he said as he made the bed. "I've only got six or seven hours of daylight left, so it's best I start now! Can't let my first day of work slip by." He scanned the room. "Where are my things?"

"They're on the table right where you left them," Tiffania said.

"Thanks," he said, walking out of the room, the arm floating beside him. The two sisters stared at each other for a moment and followed behind them.

He found his pack and sleeping bag right where Tiffania said it would be and, not wasting any time, he dug into his things. He hadn't had the time to make sure if all of his belongings came with him through the portal as well as to get what he needed for today's work.

He quickly went through the pockets; first items he checked were his spares of precious underpants, all of which were accounted for, to his immense relief. The small pouch of coins from various countries he kept was there as well, as were his various maps of different countries and the world, his smartphone, his toothbrush, and his ziploc bags of dried food ("Feel free to have some!"). He took each item and placed them on the table. He examined the rolled-up sleeping bag next and found nothing damaged.

Going back into his pack, he pulled out another item; a small, collapsible fishing rod with a reel. He extended the rod and attached the reel and checked for any irregularities like bends or cracks, but found none. Satisfied, he placed the rod on the table.

A half a dozen ferrocerium rods and a striker were pulled out next, one of them noticeably used while the others were still in their packaging. No self-respecting traveler would ever leave home without a basic and convenient firestarting tool like ferro-rods. The traveler placed them in a spread next to the fishing rod.

Next was a sheathed wilderness knife. This one was a gift from Kougami, one of several items that the CEO insisted that Eiji should have as thanks for defeating the Greeed. The whole thing was about twenty centimeters in length with the knife blade was at about half that. It was a convenient thing, letting him easily and quickly gut animals and fish he caught. Kougami stated that the knife was made of the same material used to create the Medajalibur and guaranteed that the blade would never atrophy, regardless of how many times it was used.

Speaking of the Medajalibur, the very sword was kept in a rectangular case and strapped securely on the side of his pack. As Kougami said about the knife, the sword never dulled, chipped, or snapped, a fact proven extensively by Eiji. It was still as sharp as the day he got it, even after cutting through swaths of Yummies and Greeed. Eiji had wanted to return the blade to Kougami, but the man waved him off exclaiming that "that was your BIRTHDAY PRESENT!" and soundly rejected leaving the sword with him. The traveler really had no use for the sword with nothing to protect himself against but also felt that leaving behind a means of protection would not be wise. He did often travel to countries where a war someplace was happening. If someone was in trouble, how would he be able to protect them? So he decided to take the blade with him in his travels.

He hadn't regretted it since. The Medajalibur made his travels much easier. It made various, once tedious tasks much simpler; cutting through dense forestry quickly and effectively, cutting wood and digging holes for camp fires and sleeping pits, free climbing, hunting or defending against wildlife, or driving off/catching the occasional criminal.

Unfortunately, carrying around a sword on his person made travel in and out of any country impossible and he had voiced that to Kougami. The CEO just smirked and graciously provided Eiji with a fancy private jet and access to his private-owned airports around the world that were given strict instructions to allow Eiji's sword and knife through security without a fuss. Eiji had been pretty sure the latter was against a few airline procedures and laws, but seeing as how the man was aiding him in his research to revive his best friend, he wisely decided to just go along with it and not voice his disagreement.

Eiji placed the knife on the table before getting the next items; a batch of three soda cans, or at least to a normal person they would just be ordinary soda cans. To him, they were Candroids. They were more gifts from Kougami to "make his traveling safer", he said. Eiji had Taka and Tako for scouting ahead and keeping watch at night and Denki Unagi for a rechargeable battery. It was good to know that all three were accounted for and by the looks of them, they were undamaged.

Now for the last item. With a sigh, Eiji reached into the pack and pulled it out.

The OOO Driver, the belt that changed his whole life. Well, magical artifact would be the more proper term for it. Like with the Medajalibur and the Candroids, Kougami insisted that the traveler keep it with him even though the CEO knew that Eiji could not become OOO without the Core Medals. Memories came to him as he stared at the object. Battles against monsters of desire, relationships forged, tested, broken, and remade, saving the world. For the short time he was OOO, he had the power to protect anyone and everyone. But now, with the Medals gone and the ones from the future returned to their time, the OOO Driver was just an indestructible memento. At least, during his time as OOO, he saved everyone he could.

The other Riders will continue on where he left off.

He smiled. He'll become OOO again someday though, the Ankh and the Core Medals from the future proved that. He just needed to keep looking.

With a satisfied sigh, Eiji looked over his items, relief at the knowledge that all of his things came with him and were undamaged.

"These are some very interesting items, Eiji," Matilda said from behind him.

The traveler jumped slightly and turned around, having forgotten that there others in the room during his checks. He scratched his head sheepishly. "Yeah. Some of these were gifts and others I got from my travels." Like his underpants; he bought at least one pair every time he entered a different country.

"You mentioned yesterday that you were a traveler, Eiji," Tiffania said. "What kind of places have you been to?"

"All around the world, actually," the young man replied with a nostalgic smile. "I was in the Philippines before I wound up here. It's a country below the one I was born in, Japan. It was a fun place full of happy people, great food, and amazing scenery. There's a place where you can get a great view of a dormant volcano from a restaurant on a mountain and a whole load of beaches."

Tiffania's eyes shone. "That sounds wonderful!"

Eiji grinned excitedly. "Isn't it? Here, I took some pictures." He grabbed his smartphone and navigated to the pictures folder before holding it up to Tiffania and Matilda who stared at the object in wonder. "See? Here's the volcano-" he swiped his finger across the screen "- and here's one of the beaches I've visited. That ocean water is some of the clearest I've seen!"

Tiffania could only stare at the clear blues of the vast ocean, having never seen such a sight in her entire life. "Waaah~ it's so pretty!"

"E-Eiji... what in Halkeginia is this?!" Matilda exclaimed, pulling the traveler's arm close to examine the device. "Some kind of magical artifact? It's as if you've captured a moment in time!"

Eiji awkward tried to pull away, but the woman's grip was too tight. "Um. It's not a magical artifact; it's a smartphone."

"A... smart-fone?"

"It's a mobile device that can do a lot of things like take pictures or video, or call someone, or surf the internet."

She was uncomfortably close now. "Vid-deo? What do you mean by 'call' someone? What's the internet?"

"Video... like moving pictures. And, uh, call, as in to talk to someone with a smartphone from far away. And the internet is-"

"Eiji!" Ankh interrupted. "Didn't you say you were running out of daylight?"

"Oh yeah!" Pocketing the smartphone, much to the two womens' disappointment; Eiji quickly slung his pack over his shoulder and pocketed the wilderness knife. "What kind of food can I get in this forest?" he asked Matilda.

"Many kinds," she replied. "There are rabbits, hares, boars, deer, and pheasants. There are berry bushes in several places. There's also a stream very near here where you can catch some fish. I assume you're going out for food?"

Eiji nodded. "I remember Tiffania saying that you had a food situation, so I'm gonna fix that. How many people do we have?"

"Adding you two, there are eleven people here." Matilda glanced at Ankh. "Can you even eat?"

The arm gave its best impression of a shrug. "Don't know, with how my body is now. Never needed to eat like you humans in the first place."

"I'll get enough for you anyway," Eiji said, smiling as the arm grunted. "Eleven people, I think I can manage that. A few rabbits or a whole deer if I happen to get lucky... Alright, I'll be going then. See you all in an hour or so." Giving them a wave, he made his way to the front door.

"I should come with you," Matilda said. "You'll need a guide and maybe some assistance with the hunt."

Eiji shook his head with a smile. "I appreciate it, Matilda, but I'd like to explore this forest on my own, at least for now. I think it's fun to discover new places on your own. Besides, since I'm Tiffania's familiar now, I better show her that I can do some proper work."

The half-elf girl blushed as Matilda chuckled. "Very well, Eiji. Just be careful. This forest also has wolves and bears," the green haired woman warned.

"Will do." Eiji nodded in thanks and made his way out, but stopped, a sudden thought running through his mind. He moved toward Tiffania as he dug out his smartphone and handed it to her. "I won't need it for hunting, so you two can have fun with it," he said as the girl accepted the device. "Ankh can teach you how to use it..." He took out Ankh's broken Medal and handed it to her. "and since he can't move too far from his Medals, I'd like you to keep these for now." He glanced at the red arm. "You're fine with that, are you Ankh?"

The arm snorted. "Watching you stalk and cut open animals and eat them gets old after a while. This'll be a good break. I need to have a talk with them anyway."

"What about?"

"A bunch of stuff."

"Like…?"

"Just get going."

Eiji was slightly peeved at the reply but shrugged, having long since gotten used to Ankh's unnecessary need for secrecy. He gave Tiffania a serious look. "Make sure you keep Ankh's Medal safe, Tiffania. It's literally his life in your hands."

The half-elf girl's eyes widened. "But if that's the case then I can't take this from you!"

Eiji shook his head with a smile. "We've only met yesterday and we get bound by some crazy magic contract for the rest of our lives. We need to show that we can trust each other. I trust you with my stuff, Ankh trusts you with his life—"

Ankh perked up. "I do?"

Eiji ignored him. "— and you'll trust me to help you take care of everyone here. Understand?"

Tiffania's eyes went from Eiji's face, to the broken Medal in her hand, and back again. He barely knew her, yet he accepted her as a friend and trusted her, a half-elf. Happiness spread across her face as she nodded. "Yes, I understand. I'll keep it safe."

The traveler grinned. "Great! I'm off now. For real this time!" With that, he turned around and walked out of the cabin. He waved at them through the window and at the children who stopped their games to wave back before running into the forest.

"There he goes…" Matilda muttered.

Tiffania clasped her hands in prayer. "Stay safe, Eiji."

Ankh snorted. "He'll be fine. He does this for a living. But now, we can get to business." He floated before the two women, knuckles cracking. "Here's the deal. I teach you how to use this—" he pointed to the smartphone "—and you tell me everything about your magic. A bit of equivalent exchange."

Matilda raised an eyebrow. "That's hardly equivalent. You're asking for a full class lecture for a few minutes worth of instructions."

"You were the one gushing about video and pictures. It doesn't take a fool to see that you really want to know what makes it tick. Seriously, what kind of rock did you live under to not know what a smartphone is?"

Matilda narrowed her eyes. "Tiffania and I are not exactly in the position to be frivolous with our money. And I've lived in Halkeginia my whole life and have never come across an artifact like that."

"Halkeginia, huh?" Ankh repeated, testing the word. "So that's where we are. Never heard of it. Must be a crappy country out in the boondocks if they don't get basic stuff like video."

The woman frowned, upset that her homeland was insulted (despite hating many who reside in it) but also confused at the arm's statement. "Country? The country we're in is Albion. Halkeginia is our continent."

If Ankh had a face, he would have given the woman a look of incredulity. "What? There are only seven continents in the world and this Halkeginia sure as hell ain't one of them."

Matilda on the other hand did have a face to show her disbelief. "That's ridiculous. There is only Halkeginia, the Elven deserts of the Sahara, Rub' al Khali, and the Unknown Lands beyond them."

The Greeed was silent as he floated closer to the woman's face, examining her as the woman leaned back. "You're not lying," he said after a long moment. "But that can't be…" He abruptly flew to the table and rummaged through the maps Eiji had left behind. Finding a particular one, he unfolded it with a flourish over the table. "This is a map of the world."

Their eyes wide, the Matilda and Tiffania searched the map. "This is… the world?" Matilda said. "This can't be! Our people haven't explored past the Boundless Seas! We don't even know if there are even lands beyond them! And this—" she pointed to Europe "— depiction of Halkeginia is all wrong. The shape is strange and there are too many countries."

Ankh frowned mentally. "Hn. Do you have a map of your Halkeginia?" he half asked, half demanded. The green haired woman hurriedly took a rolled parchment from a cabinet on the side and unfurled it next to Eiji's map. Ankh took one look at Halkeginia and cursed and slammed his fist on the table. "So it's like this, huh? Damn. Always getting into these situations…"

"What is it?" Matilda asked.

"I think her summoning," he began, pointing to Tiffania, "brought me and Eiji much farther than across the world."

Matilda thought for a moment before her eyes widened in realization. "You can't mean…!"

Ankh would have rolled his eyes if he had any. " I thought you were smart. Different maps, different names for countries, lands that you haven't discovered on Eiji's map." He moved to her face, floating inches from her nose with a pointed finger. "I'll say it straight then. Your ritual plucked me and Eiji from a different world."

"You can't be serious!" Matilda exclaimed, pushing the arm away. "That is unheard of! Impossible, even!"

"Then give me a better explanation for why the maps are so different," Ankh challenged. "Or tell me what a smartphone is, or a computer, a television, an airplane, a car? Those are items are ridiculously common in my world. Have you heard of them?" Matilda frowned but kept silent. "As I thought. Heh, I should've realized it as soon as I felt this land was rolling in magic."

"That's normal, isn't it Ankh?" Tiffania said. "Magic and Spirits exist everywhere, at least that's what I was taught."

"Magic's waned to near non-existence in my world," he explained to the two girls' shock. "People just didn't have a use for it once more convenient and efficient ways of doing things were developed. As far as the normals are concerned, magic's a fairytale."

"Nearly no magic?" Matilda said rhetorically, trying to wrap her head around such a concept. "Then what happened to the nobles?"

"Nobles?" Ankh scoffed. "What do they have to do with anything?"

"Nobility here is defined by magic," the woman explained. "Having magic means you have the God-given right to rule."

The arm would have sneered if it could. "In my world's current time, such a system would be considered idiotic and primitive. Even I think so and I was born in the time of kings. These days, all that matters is wealth and power whether you earn it or take it. So no, nobles don't rule at all and they haven't for a long time. They're still around, some still influential, but they don't have a tenth of the power they used to."

"Nobles without power..." Matilda said to herself. It was a heretical concept, one that went against Halkeginia's six-thousand year old history and tradition. At one time she might have thought the same, but after that very same tradition ruined her and her sister's lives, well, she didn't have as much respect for it these days as she did for orcs. But how did a world without nobility work? How did a world without magic even function? How do the people live? Such questions rolled in her mind.

Tiffania also had a thoughtful look on her face, but where Matilda's was inquisitive, hers was full of nervousness and a bit of fear. If what Ankh said was true then she took him and Eiji from another world, away from their friends and family! Eiji was fine with her being a half-elf but how would he feel about her when he found out about this? Would he hate her?

"Tiffa?" the half-elf girl turned to her sister. "What's wrong?"

Tiffania bit her bottom lip. "Ankh… are you mad?"

The arm grunted. "Mad?"

"I took you and Eiji from your world… from everything you care about…"

The arm snorted. "Well, I didn't have much to care for back in my world so I ain't really concerned about it. As for Eiji?" he snorted. "We'll see."

Tiffania's eyes drifted to the floor. "I… I don't want him to hate me."

"With the way the fool is, I doubt he'll have any feelings like that toward you." 'The only thing Eiji hated was evil,' Ankh thought with a mental smirk. "He's a goody two shoes to a damn fault."

Tiffania had the beginnings of tears in her eyes. "Really?"

Ankh would have grimaced uncomfortably. Damn women and their emotions. "Like I said, we'll see," he said as he waved his hands dismissively.

Matilda put an arm around her comfortingly, giving her a squeeze. "Don't worry Tiffa, I'm sure it will be fine." The girl nodded, leaning into her sister, but her face was unsure.

Ankh mentally rolled his eyes at the display. "Let's get to the important crap. Since me and Eiji are the ones with no idea how this place works, you'll tell me all can about your Halkeginia. After that, I tell you all you want to know about my world, including how to use the smartphone. Deal?"

Matilda nodded. "That sounds agreeable."

"Good. Let's start then."


A boar sniffed at the ground, its feet digging into the dirt. Bushes rustled near some trees to its side. The boar was alert in an instant, facing the bushes, tusks at the ready and feet stamping the ground threateningly. Whatever was in the bush did not smell like it was part of the forest. It also smelled of fresh blood, and lots of it. It was hunting, whatever it was, and it intended to make it its next meal. The boar huffed in defiance. It had survived this long against the other hunters of this forest. It will not fall to this one!

The bushes rustled again and the boar charged, tusks poised to impale the hunter. For a split second, it saw something fly out of the leaves, then felt a sharp pain in its forehead, and then saw and felt no more.

Eiji stepped out of the bushes, eyes gazing at the now dead animal apologetically. He clasped his hands in prayer and muttered, "I'm sorry, and thank you."An apology for taking a life and thanks for its sacrifice. It was a habit he picked up years ago when he was still traveling with his grandfather to appease the guilt that came with taking an animal's life. He was just doing as all humans and predators did every day, he understood, but a life was still a life.

The young man removed the knife from the boar's head and placed it back into its sheath. He hefted the thing onto his shoulders, groaning slightly from the weight. He smiled. It was a large one and with the five rabbits he caught earlier, everyone would have enough food to feed them for at least a week if they were preserved properly.

"I didn't see a fridge or an icebox in the cottage…" Eiji muttered. He didn't recall seeing a sink or a stove either. It was odd; a cottage would at least have a cook stove. He shrugged. It wasn't all that important. He had other ways of preserving and cooking meat.

Eiji looked up. Judging from the position of the sun, he'd been in the forest for about two hours. It only took him the latter hour to hunt for food; the first half was spent exploring the forest, leaving arrow marks in trees, and designating landmarks to keep from getting lost. He also found some of the berry bushes that Matilda mentioned but many of them were not ripe just yet. He collected what he could; a few dozen red berries which he stuffed into his pack's smaller pouches. Now that his pack was filled with food and with a boar on his shoulders, Eiji called it a day and made his way back to the cottage. The walk back was thankfully uneventful. What with all the food he was carrying, he expected at least a predator or two to try and take some of his catch, but it seemed that luck was on his side.

It didn't take Eiji long to get back to the cottage. It looked like the kids have gone back inside in the time he was out. He placed the boar in the side of the front door before opening it. He immediately darted to the side in surprise just as a red blur chased by a few children passed him, the children laughing all the while. Another look showed that the red blur was the Taka Candroid. Eiji smiled. Seems Ankh showed them the Candroids before he could.

Walking inside, he saw the other kids playing with Batta. Over at the table were his master, her sister, and his friend talking to each other.

"… and as useful as the Internet is, you have to constantly be on guard," Ankh stated, "One wrong keyword and you get disgusting crap like po— oh, you're back, Eiji."

"W-Welcome back," Matilda said, Eiji noticing the slight nervousness in her tone. He thought nothing of it and smiled.

"I'm back. And you'll be happy to know that I didn't come back empty handed." He placed his pack on the floor and opened the top, showing the rabbits. "I've already bled them out so we can go straight to gutting and cleaning them. I also caught a boar— it's outside, haven't bled it yet— and picked a few berries."

Matilda nodded approvingly. "Well done. Honestly a lot more than I expected."

"Yes… Well done…" Tiffania said quietly, unable to meet his eyes. Before Eiji could ask what was wrong, she stood up and grabbed the bag. "I'll take these to be cleaned up then."

"Uh, sure," was all Eiji could get out before the blonde-haired girl dragged the bag to the kitchen counter. "Is something wrong with Tiffania?" he asked Matilda quietly.

"She just has some things to think about," the woman replied, smiling apologetically at Eiji. "I'll go help her." She stood up and joined Tiffania at the kitchen.

Eiji scratched the back of his head, eyes on the two women and a face showing confusion and worry. "What's going on?"

Ankh floated next to him. "There's something you need to know, Eiji," he said slowly, "but we'll tell you at night, right after dinner."

The wanderer blinked. "At night? Why not now?"

"You'll see. It'll be my first time seeing them too, actually. Had to watch over you after you passed out." Before Eiji could ask what 'them' meant, the arm floated out of the window. "Just leave 'em alone for now," he called back.

Eiji's head darted from Ankh retreating form and the two sisters awkwardly for a moment before shaking his head with a sigh. "… Guess I'll get the boar ready for storing." He glanced once more at the sisters before stepping out himself.


Dinner was an exciting affair with all the kids constantly talking and laughing. Eiji couldn't remember the last time he had such a noisy dinner. It was refreshing. Some of them seem to have taken a liking to him already.

He finally got to learn the children's names. There were four girls and three boys, the eldest at thirteen years and the youngest at five. From the oldest to the youngest on the girl's side, they were Caroline, Helen, Augusta, and Beatrice, and on the boy's, Christian, Alfred, and Bernhard.

"Augusta, behave! Stop pestering Mr. Hino and eat properly!" Caroline, the eldest girl at thirteen, scolded as she spoon fed the five year old Beatrice as she played with the older girl's blonde, curled hair. "Be like Beatrice here; she's younger than you yet she shows excellent manners!" The youngest child cooed at the praise, hiding her bright green eyes in her tiny hands.

The nine year old unruly red-head stuck her tongue out at her older 'sister', who gaped affronted, before turning her yellow eyes back to Eiji, tugging his arm. "So Mr. Hino, how did you get that amazing sword?"

"Well…" Was all Eiji could get out when Helen tugged at his other arm.

"Ooh! Maybe you're a knight!?" the ten year old, teal haired girl exclaimed, equally teal eyes sparkling. "You had that sword didn't you? The one that was black and blue? It was like no sword I've ever seen! Then again, I haven't seen many swords. But I know that there aren't any swords that look like yours! Is it special somehow? Like the swords that those mage knights use?"

"Maybe Mr. Hino's a mage knight!" Alfred, Augusta's twin brother, exclaimed.

"Oh gosh! Are you a mage knight Mr. Hino!?"

Blown back by their enthusiasm, Eiji could barely respond. "I—"

"A mage knight! A mage knight! Big Sis summoned a mage knight!" the twins chanted.

"Calm down, both of you," Matilda said, wagging her finger like a mother reprimanding her child. "Eiji worked hard to get you this food. If you're going to talk to him then do so while you eat. That goes for you as well, Helen."

"Okay~" the three said, returning to their seats.

"Mr. Hino, are you a mage knight?" Bernhard, the youngest of the boys at eight, said from across the table, head tilted in curiosity, his wondering stare felt through the messy green hair that fully covered his eyes. Everyone stared at the young man expectantly.

"Mage knight. Sorry, I don't have any magic in me," Eiji answered. There was a resounding "Aww…" from the younger children.

"But what about the sword?" Helen asked.

"That was a gift from my employer at the time. I've been using it for a lot of things ever since."

"So that means you know how to use it, right?" Christian, the eldest of the boys at thirteen, said.

Eiji grimaced. "I'm not a swordsman by a long shot. I only really know the basics. These days I just use it for hunting."

The brown haired boy stared at his rabbit stew. "Where'd you learn how to hunt?"

Eiji smiled nostalgically. "A lot of places. You pick up things when you travel as much as I have."

The boy nodded at the answer and quietly returned to his meal, his face curiously masked in contemplation. Eiji saw him sneak glances at him from the corner of his eye.

The dinner continued with more questions for the traveler. Everyone learned Eiji's age, his birthday (though it was odd that they asked him what October was, as if they'd never heard of it), his favorite and most disliked foods, favorite color, season, travel spots, animals, and pair of underpants. Luckily, anything of a more sensitive nature wasn't asked. Ankh himself was asked a few questions, but he just ignored them and continued watching the sky.

What worried him was that Tiffania hadn't said a word to him through the whole dinner and made sure to avoid his eyes. What was she so worried about?

Soon, everyone had finished their meals just as the last slivers of sunlight had gone. The children were ushered into the other room with the Candroids so that adults could discuss a few more things in private.

"Well Ankh, it's night," Eiji said as he approached his friend, who had not moved from his stoic watch.

"Yeah. And they're really there." Ankh commented, not taking his eyes away from the starry night sky.

"I told you, Ankh," Matilda said. Behind her, Tiffania hid, looking more nervous than ever.

"You know what they say; seeing is believing. Thank whatever deity is out there that my vision is like a human's; wouldn't have appreciated this if I was still just an ordinary Greeed. Come over and take a look Eiji. This is what I wanted you to see."

Curious and confused, Eiji stepped over to the window and looked at the sky. It was a very starry night, the kind you could only see far from the light polluted cities. The breathtaking view was complemented by the glow of the two majestic red and blue moons hovering over the—

Wait, red and blue moons?

Eiji blinked and blinked again. He rubbed his eyes and took another look only to blink again.

"They're real Eiji," Ankh said plainly.

"Wha— how— moons!"

"Yeah, me and the women talked about it while you were out. Hard to believe, but we're not on Earth anymore. We even compared maps and everything. If you notice too, even the stars are different."

Eiji scanned the night and found that the stars he used to navigate where nowhere to be found. "A— am I dreaming?" He pinched his own cheek hard. "Ow. Okay, I'm not dreaming." He sighed heavily, head bowed and said with spoke in a low voice, "Another world… I can't believe it. This is what you've been worried about isn't it, Tiffania?"

The girl in question jumped, her grip on her sister's clothes tightening. Matilda placed a hand on hers and gave her an encouraging nod. Taking a deep breath, the half-elf girl nodded back and reluctantly stepped from her sister's shadow. "Yes…" she managed to get out, "do you hate me?"

Eiji turned to her, his brows furrowed with confusion. "Why do you think that?"

"When Ankh told us you were from another world… I—I thought you would hate me because it was me who took you away from everything you knew and—and loved…"

The traveler grimaced. Of course she would think that, she was just that kind. And yes, she was right; there are many people that he loved like family on Earth that he might never get to see again. However… "It's not like you knew this would happen, right?" Eiji said. "You and Matilda told us how the summoner doesn't get to choose what she gets. I could never hate someone just for that."

Tiffania sniffled. "Are you sure? Really?"

Eiji smiled and nodded. "Yes, I am. You're my friend, Tiffania."

"But what about your home?"

The traveler sighed. "To be honest, I haven't been back in my home country for months now. My friends and family can get along fine without me. Though the person I work for might be concerned about my disappearance."

Ankh snorted. He knew the crazed baker was doing his best to find him right now.

"I'll miss the people I left behind," Eiji continued, "but I'm not going to let it get to me. Besides, if there's a way to get to this world then there may be a way to get back to mine. But if not, then that's fine too. It's a new world full of things I've never seen before. It's a dream for travelers like me."

Matilda smiled. "I'm glad that you're taking this well. Tiffa and I had been beside ourselves with guilt when we found out." Tiffa embarrassedly looked at the floorboards, but there was no missing the relieved smile on her face.

Eiji smiled back. "At the core of it, it's not so different from traveling back and forward through time. It's just another change of scenery."

It took a moment for the two sisters to process what he just said, but when they did, they gave the traveler an incredulous look.

"… What." Matilda said.

"It's a long, convoluted story, full of annoying crap," Ankh stated, fingers twitching as he recalled the time incidents. "The two of us have been through a lot."

"We'll tell you two and the children about it sometime. It makes a good story," Eiji promised.

Even the sheltered Tiffania couldn't help but be skeptical. Sure Eiji had been nothing but honest since he arrived, but time travel? Even the Founder Brimir did not have magic powerful enough to traverse through time. Then again, the traveler was friends with a sentient, maybe-demon arm who backed his claim so he could be telling the truth, as improbable as that may be. Instead of questioning it, though, the two sisters simply nodded in acceptance. They owed it to Eiji for being so understanding and not blaming or hating them for taking him away from his world.

"So then, do you want any help with the dishes?" Eiji asked, walking over to the table.

Tiffania smiled. "If you don't mind." She moved next to him and, in a move unprecedented of her, gave the traveler a quick hug. "Thank you for being so nice, Eiji."

With a large blush on his face, he replied, "Y-Your welcome."

Matilda smirked amusedly. "My, my. You're moving quickly aren't you, Tiffa," she teased.

"S-sister!"

Ankh mentally rolled his eyes and continued to watch the night.


Loud steps echoed along the moonlit corridor.

"Damn him! Damn him!" a voice whispered angrily. "That damn womanizing fop!"

The steps stopped at a stone pillar. Fists clenched, the sound of a knuckle hitting stone followed.

"How many women has he toyed with!? And why does he get away with it every time!?"

Another strike on the stone pillar.

"And now he dares to go after her!?"

A final strike.

"I have to stop him! Make him pay! I can't let that fop do as he pleases!"

"Then you will not let him," said a deep, distorted voice.

Eyes wide, the voice's owner turned around…

… to come face to face with a monster.

The voice made to scream, but the monster silenced it with a hand over its mouth.

"Quiet," the monster ordered. The person nodded hastily. The monster slowly removed its hand.

"W—who—!? What are you!?"

"Do you wish to bring justice upon the one who had wronged you?"

Fear lessened to give way for confusion. "W-what?"

"The Founder has heard your call and has sent me to aid you."

The thing lifted its hand and the other flinched back.

"Join us among the stars."

In its hand was a small object she had never seen before, on it a bright red button that blazed like the Sun.

The monster's voice took on a soothing tone. "Take your vengeance. Find you place among us. For you are the Founder's Chosen."

Hesitation and anger. What did this beast know about the Holy Founder!? It was an insult to His name!

But… the monster promised power, and power was needed to teach a lesson. Power was tantalizing.

The button seemed to glow. Whispers could be heard. "Take me," it said, "Take me and evolve!"

The hesitation dissipated. Like a moth to a flame, a hand reached out for it.


Hey look, I'm not dead. I would apologize for not getting onto this, but you know, a career takes priorities.

As always, leave some feedback if you are so inclined and point out some stuff I can next time.