“I presume that the title of Saint does not come with immortality?” Lucas asked dryly, though if he was honest he was a little hopeful. But the Cardinal just laughed.

“No, no.” Simon smiles, “However, in preparation for your arrival the Church sent Paladins to bring over one of our most sacred artifacts.”

Cardinal Simon got up and beckoned the group to follow him deeper into the monastery as he explained. “The Orb is a gift from the Gods, and was further refined by The Lady Sorceress when she arrived here two thousand years ago. We were entrusted to with it by The Speaker to connect him to those who came after, and he was joined by The First Sorceress when she died. Cardinals, during our inauguration, are given the chance to meet them… It is… A special experience.”

What, precisely, does this entail?” This was beyond Lucas’s ability to understand, and that made him nervous… Though it couldn’t be that bad if the Cardinal had gone through it and came out fine…

“There is no need to worry,” Simon brought them passed a series of guards, there were at least two dozen between where they had started and the room they stopped in. A pedestal in the center held a smokey white orb roughly the size of a human head, it seemed to glow faintly with an inner light. “All you need to do is put your hand on the Orb and your mind’s eye will be transported to a meeting place between the worlds.”

“Why do I feel like there is something you are not telling me?” Lucas was hesitant to touch the artifact, anything that could affect his mind should be treated with care after all.

“Well…” The Cardinal sighed sadly as he looked at the Orb, “A person can only use the Orb once, and after that it will never respond to them again.”

“Normally I would be curious why that kind of restriction exists,” Lucas sighed. “But frankly there is only so much I can take at any one time. The very fact that Julian is going to be teaching me magic will be enough of a headache… I suppose I might as well get this over with.”

The two ladies had looks of concern, awe and disbelief mixed together as Lucas walked to the center of the room and put his hand on the orb. It was a very… Disconcerting, feeling. Like he had just had a sudden drop on a roller coaster that he wasn’t quite prepared for.

“Welcome to-”

“Oh my, its been a while since there has been anyone but stuffy old men. You are actually pretty cute.”

This ‘meeting place’ was little more than a patch stone floor surrounded by absolute darkness. Ahead of him was an old man in white robes and a twenty something girl in robes.

The man was scowling at the girl, who had interrupted him as he introduced himself. The only way to describe the man was… Pale… White hair, paper like skin, and white robes… He almost looked like a ghost instead of a man, though Lucas supposed he was in many ways.

The girl was had dark black hair and wore colorful robes that seemed to shimmer and change as he watched. The only thing the two held in common was their stark white skin, perhaps a side effect of being dead?

“I presume you two are the “Heroes” before me?” Lucas looked back and forth between them. “You look pretty much like I expected,” he nodded towards the man. “But you are nothing like I expected.”

“What?” She seemed shocked, “Did they stop telling those stories about me finally?”

“You say that like those stories weren’t true…” The man grumbled.

“Enough of the comedy, I really don’t care.” Lucas supposed that being stuck together for several thousand years might have driven them crazy and prayed to whatever god would listen that he didn’t end up here. “All I want to know is this, how do I get home.”

The two stopped quarreling and turned to him sadly, he got his answer from their faces.

“I see.” Lucas sighed, “Well then, I presume you want to talk to me for some reason?”

“My name is Valencia,” The woman introduced herself, suddenly incredibly serious. “And we wanted to warn you about the Demon King.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Not really,” Lucas waved it away. “I have no intention of setting foot on a battlefield if I can help it. Though I grant you that with my luck there will probably be a war within the next week.”

“We were going to tell you that he was still alive,” the priest who introduced himself as Gorn said. “But you seem rather unsurprised.”

“Hmmmm, that is a good point.” Lucas mused, “I was basing that assumption of the lore of my world, which would suggest that demons are immortal. Well, to steal a word from a book I like, it would be more accurate to call them immorbid. Which is to say that I wouldn’t expect him to die unless killed.”

“You are very nonchalant about that.” Valencia said with a smile.

“Well it really isn’t my problem,” Lucas shrugged. “I am not dumb enough to go out and fight something called ‘The Demon King.’ I’d rather not die if I can help it.”

“You are the hero this world will depend on,” Gorn frowned. “It is up to you to-”

Lucas held up a hand to stop him mid sentence, “Unfortunately, I don’t view it like that. You wouldn’t kidnap someone and say that they had a moral obligation to help you, and that is essentially what this is. I will help, because now I have to live here too, but if you expect me to fight you have another thing coming.”

Valencia was just amused and laughed, “By all means, if you think you can survive without fighting, be my guest. But you already have fought, haven’t you? It will only get worse you know.”

“Perhaps.” Lucas acknowledged that she was possibly correct, “I will defend myself, and I don’t really have a problem attacking. But I will not risk myself if I can help it.”

Valencia laughed again as she walked up and ran her hand down his chest, it was a rather surreal experience since he could see her doing it but could not feel it. “Cute, smart, and determined… If you were not a bit of an ass I might wish to have a body again just to have some fun with you.”

“Valencia…” Gorn sighed in exasperation, “Well, there is one other thing I can give you. It isn’t much of a hope, but it serves both our needs.”

“Which is?” Lucas asked, he had admittedly been thinking this was a waste of his time.

“I came to this world just after the theft of the ritual, it was not history for me but merely the week before.” Gorn’s eyes defocused as he thought back to his past. “Far to the north, where the Demons reign and even have cities, there are libraries holding their forbidden knowledge.”

“This is where the knowledge of the summoning comes from.”

“Therefore,” Lucas inferred, “if there is any way for me to head back to my world, it would be found there.”

“Why the hell did you not tell me this?” Valencia glared at him, “I died before it would have been useful, but it is just rude not to say anything!”

“The knowledge found in those libraries should not be known by anyone at all,” Gorn said firmly. “I did not tell you because I had already instructed the Paladins to burn them as soon as they reached them.”

“If you weren’t dead I would kill you for that.” Valencia made a rude gesture towards Gorn. “Well, if he is going to give you that I should give you something before you go as well. Maybe a little help with magic?”

Suddenly, she wrapped around Lucas and kissed him hard. Or at least, that is what it looked like. He still could feel nothing, however it was slightly different this time… He felt like an electric shock had gone through his head and he stumbled back.

His hand came off the Orb and he was back in the monastery again. He was shaking, sweating, and panting… It had not seemed very difficult when he had been there, but apparently using the Orb had stressed his body quite a bit.

“Did you receive their counsel?” Cardinal Simon asked hopefully and Lady Versi and Lady Almistraus seemed especially concerned about him now.

“I wouldn’t call it counsel, precisely…” Lucas gathered his senses and calmed his breathing. “But I did find out that the only way I am ever likely to get home is to kill the Demon King and plunder his libraries.”

The Cardinal frowned, “That you even know about them is surprising, but the Church received orders to burn those thousands of years ago. Should we ever have the opportunity, we shall do so.”

“Then I will make sure you never get the opportunity,” Lucas growled. “This whole world is a shithole, and about the only thing I am willing to fight for is to get out of here. If I have to wipe the demons off the continent to do that, I guess I had better get started doing so.”

“That is your destiny after all,” the Cardinal nodded. “But the knowledge in those libraries should not ever be sought.”

“By that logic, your church wouldn’t exist, humans would not be able to use magic, and I would be starting my own business right now. The very magic that brought me here is stolen from the demons, correct?”

“And it also brought forth the Demon King.” The Cardinal frowned, “Even though the Church recognizes that there could be good in the Demon King, he still is what he is. If he had never been summoned…”

“From what I understand,” Lucas was getting tired of arguing or even caring. Everything in this world seemed to be a pain in the ass. “Humanity was close to defeat before Gorn arrived, so presumably if you want this world to have humans than it seems it was better to use the ritual than not to.”

Before Simon could speak again, Lucas made himself perfectly clear. “I am going home Cardinal. And you should be happy for this, because it gives me a reason to actually care about your war. Let me show you precisely what I can do.”