With a blaring alarm going off in his ear Keith finally woke up from the coma like sleep he had been in since three o clock in the morning. getting up out of bed he walked over to his mirror and took a good look at himself.

"Geez i look like I belong in a morgue!". This has become almost a routine for Keiith as everytime he finnaly got some sleep in real life, he would only wake up looking worse than the day before. His hair lost most of it's sheen, his skin looked paler than it ever had before, his eyes were bloodshot with heavy purple bags comming down his eyes. Looking closer he began to see what looked like crows feet developing. All in all he looked more like a middle aged man than an eighteen year old high schooler on summer vacation.

"Keith get down here! Breakfast is ready!"

Stumbling through his door and walking down the stairs he was met with the sight of his two little sisters fighting over who got to sit near their mother, his mom struggling to get all the food on the table, and his father doing his best to bury himself into his morning paper. All of a sudden Sharon started screaming and clawing at Emily. Drawing blood Emily let Sharon take the spot. Before she could get comfortable Keith picked up Sharon doing the one thing that he knew would calm her down enough so that they could eat in peace.

Placing her forehead against his he gently looked deep into her eyes. At first she tried to look away from him and tried to wriggle out of his grasp, but after a couple seconds she looked back at him. At first all she saw in him was his exhaustion. Looking deeper though she saw what she always saw when she looked into his eyes. She saw the love he had for her and his worry. She saw that also saw something else in him though... Something that she hadn't seen before. She knew this was originally something suggested by her therapist to her parents so that she could humanize the people around her. Make her less willing to hurt them or something. All she knew was that looking into people's eyes especially her mother's and her brother's made her calm somehow.

Settling down Sharon looked away and apologized to Emily. Emily looked at Sharon covering the scratch marks and accepted her apology. The only time an apology from Sharon was real was after she was forced to look into someones eyes.

"Thank you Keith. " His father was actually standing behind Sharon almost ready to do the same thing before Keith got to her. " she seems to calm down best when it's you or your mom anyways." Looking a little hurt at what he knew to be true Keith's dad went back to his chair and sat down. "Remember Sharon, when you want something violence is not the answer. Dr. Simon said that the best therapy for you is to try and enjoy playing with our dolls and brother and sister. if you hit and scratch them do you really think they will want to play?"

looking abashed and slightly worried Sharon looked back at Emily. " You wouldn't quit playing with me would you?" Tears were starting to form in her eyes as she said this.

"No of course not silly. I know how you get sometimes and I have learnt to tolerate it. Anyways I love playing outside on the swings almost as much as you do! "

A little less worried now she looked at Keith, "What about you bubby? would you stop playing with me?"

Looking across the table at his sister he contemplated joking about not playing anymore but decided not to. " I would still play with you but you really need to learn how to not hurt people when you don''t get your way or lose. I know you think it is what will get you what you want but all hurting people ever does is get you in trouble."

Crestfallen Sharon ate her breakfast. As the morning wore on Keith and Emily talked about Royal Road. About how realistic it was, about the NPc's, how to gain quests, gain stats, etc. Emily was currently with a group of people at a sword training facility. She was a mage but apparently you could gain a couple of stats in hitting the dummies. "I will probably stop after another couple of stats.. There has to be a limit to how much you can gain doing this. Anyways I am only doing it because even a mage needs a little bit of strength".

After breakfast Emily and Keith took their sister outside while their parents got ready for work. They played hopscotch, got on their homemade swing set, and basically had fun. after a bit their father came out and joined them in a short game of tag before picking Sharon up and taking her to his car.

"Dad are you sure that she can't stay here with us? does she really have to go to this new daycare facility?"

"We already talked about this Keith. Sharon needs to spend more time with children her own age. Dr. Simon said so. We have already informed the workers on how to handle her if things get out of control. Besides your a teenage boy you should be spending more time with your friends or having fun. You already got that weekend gig at that restaurant to worry about. You and Emily need to concentrate more on enjoying yourself. I mean your about to be a senior in High School in a couple of weeks Keith have fun."

"But dad shouldn't she be around family? Instead of a bunch of adults and kids she doesn't know?"

"Maybe, but the Doctor said that she needs this for her therapy. So just give it some time. This might actually help her after all. Goodbye Keith, Emily. Enjoy your day!" Driving off Keith's dad and sister were soon out of view.

"Finally that brat is gone! Now I can get back to RR! I don't have time for this therapeutic sh#&." Storming off Emily ran inside the house and jumped into her capsule. Thus escaping yet again.

Emily has always wanted to escape our family since Sharon began to have trouble. We all used to have fun and laugh with one another, but now she is either running off somewhere, getting into the capsule, or faking her way through life.

Seeing the hurt in his mothers eyes, Keith ran up to her to give her a hug and wish her luck at work. She herself was a real estate agent and hardly saw her children these days. Her eldest was about to graduate with his twin sister who hated her family. While her youngest was mentally unstable at the age of eight. At times Keith wondered how she kept it all together.

After His mom left Keith finished his breakfast, did the dishes, and got online. He still had a couple of minutes before Divine would be awake. The one thing that Keith was grateful for was the timer Royal Road had given him. For infant NPC's who need constant care a timer was set each time they fell asleep. the first few weeks the time is random but always short. only two to three hour segments. Thankfully as the child developed the time got longer. Keith still remembered those first few weeks with Divine. He hardly ever logged out of his capsule other than to eat drink, use the restroom and talk with his family. At first his parents were worried but when he said he was doing a quest in Royal Road Emily immediately stood up for him.

""The quests in Royal Road are extremely demanding at times. If you log out for too long you might even fail it. I'm pretty sure I will get one of those myself sometime so don't worry about it."

The times Keith was late in logging in though Detritus covered for him either feeding or carrying the little were-cat around. Keith was pretty sure he had logged on more than once to find Detritus staring intently at him, but he brushed it off as coincidence. He also kept finding these old crusty rags that smelled lying next to him when he logged on though. While put off by it Detritus claimed they we used to clean out his potion bottles and held some nasty smelling herbs.

Logging back in He was surprised to wake up in a small room on a bed and not in the woods where he was before.

Tring*

Warning !!!

NPC character Detritus the alchemist has formed a bug and has committed an act previously thought incapable by NPC's. He been caught committing an act of forced sexual behavior to an unlogged user. The system AI immediately dispatched soldiers from the nearest platoon in order to apprehend him before he followed through with his intended actions. He has been apprehended by the soldiers. You and your daughter have been moved to the nearest town for your own safety.

Please cooperate with the soldiers so that NPC's can no longer preform such actions.

Springing upright Pep-Ri started cursing himself and Royal Road. Most of all he cursed Detritus for what he had either done, or intended to do.

" I trusted that man to help me and Divine until we could take care of ourselves. How the F&#@ does an NPC even rape someone! Shouldn't there be protocols against this? Unicorn is most definitely going to be hearing about this!"

------Detritus Point of View-----

Over the past few weeks he had been traveling with the pixie and it's were-cat brat. The Girl was annoying, kept waking up at random times of the night, and consumed way to much of his stock of milk. Then the blasted pixie who he was after anyways completely ignored him. He tried to be as nice and generous as possible, but she was completely taking him for granted. To top it all off there were times when she would sleep right through the brats crying leaving him to shut the kid up until she woke up again. This sometimes lasted for days on end.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

During those days Detritus would place the were-cat on top of the pixie and only pick the think up when it needed milk or cried. After a while He got tired of it and put the child in one of the bags hiding it away. The thing was a monster after all and deserved to die. Why should he care for it. There was not possible way in Hell he was going to let things continue like this.

Once the child was away he got the chance to look at the oblivious pixie. She was cute all right. Not hot or anything, Just sort of cute, there were still some features about her that were mannish, but she was most certainly a girl.

After a while he brought out some of his best cloth and let go of some of his frustrations. But as the days wore on having such a beautiful girl in front of him broke something inside of himself. He went over to her and began to take off her armor and clothes. Finally she was down to only her undergarments. But no matter how he pulled, tugged, or cut at them they would not come off. Ignoring this he was about to just forget it all and re-clothe her when he was tackled from behind.

-----End of Detritus' POV----

A trial was held and with Pep--Ri's testimony Detritus was condemned to death.His execution is to be tomorrow at least. But before he was killed Pep-Ri wanted some time with Detritus. So he requested only a couple of minutes . While confused about why an assault victim would want ti be alone by their assaulter, the judge permitted it.

Sitting in the dark with only a single candle to shed light on him Detritus was wallowing in what was to come. Looking up he saw the pixie in front of him. An obvious look of pure and utter rage was held on her face.

"What is my death not enough for you pixie brat? You had to come and get some revenge? So what if I tried to rape you? You deserve it! You are a lowly pixie who should be subservient to everyone! Didn't the fairies teach you nothing when they stripped you of your wings? Not only that, but you are carrying around a ware-cat cub! They do not deserve to breathe let alone get raised as a person! They should all be hunted and killed yet you call it your daughter of all things! On second thought you two are meant for each other. Two species that deserve nothing except maybe death and to be used for my personal pleasure." Cackling wildly Detritus lunged forward to try and grab hold of Pep-Ri only to be met by a fist to the face.

"You honestly think I care about your F%)&ing opinion? Your the one who deserves death! You are the most disgusting and vile man i have ever laid eyes upon. I trusted you with my daughter! I was an idiot for doing so but I needed help. Yes you should die indeed but only after you know one F&(%ing thing! I am not just an F*&%ing pixie that you tried to rape. I am The F8#$ing Male pixie you tried to RAPE!"

Tring* (ignored)

Right before Detritus' eyes Pep-Ri transformed into a guy. He actually felt himself die a little on the inside as he realized the truth of it. No matter what Pep-Ri looked like earlier, or even with his clothes off. He was a guy. He may have had the looks of a girl but something deep inside him now knew the truth. and that something wanted out.

As Pep-Ri waked out the door of the dungeon he was pleased to hear Detritus emptying his stomach all over the floor. Unfortunately now that Pep-Ri was alone with Divine in the middle of a city he did not know what to do. Wandering around the city Pep-Ri held Divine closely until he was able to find an outside stall to sit at. He then finally checked his update.

You have unlocked a secret ability of the Nuteral Gender

Gender Declaration (Level MAX)

You have learnt how to declare yourself as being either a man or woman. By doing so you can control what gender you are percieved as until your next death. You may not alter your gender twice during the same life after declaring a gender. This may cause some confusion with NPC's and if you meet an NPC's who knew for sure that you were one gender only to find you as another. If this occurs all familiarity with NPC will drop to zero. NPC Divine is immune to this as she sees you as both her mother and her father. After you are revived you will return to your normal state in which NPC's will precive you as the oppisite gender as themselves until a new gender is declared.

This will not count as a skill as it is related to your character's Nuteral Gender.

Beware Any NPC that has a high familiarity with you who loses all familiarity due to your gender may become violent, highly confused, and possibly panic.

Well at least I will no longer have an issue about switching genders when I walk down the street. Looking at himself and the constant flow of people going past him Pep-Ri was happy to see that he was no longer flipping genders every time someone would pass. It always messed with his head and the sudden growth and disappearance of different body parts was mortifying to experience over and over.

Ordering a glass of milk and some rye bread Pep-Ri began to try and makeshift a hat for Divine so her ears wouldn't show. So far without the sewing skill all he could make was a simple hood. placing it over her head he picked her up and was grateful her tale was small enough to hide away comfortably in her baby clothes.

An older gentleman wearing a robe, a mask on his shoulder, and rubbing his hands walked up to them after a while and asked,"Young man I noticed that you have met a terrible fate. To travel with such a man as Detritus must have scarred you deeply. I was at the trial and I am honestly shocked that such a man as Deritus was capable of assaulting a young man no mater how girlish he may look.You are in no shape to be raising a child alone nor would I be if I were you.

I am with a certain church organization that typically tries to take care of orphaned children and widowed mothers. While you may not be a woman I feel that our organization would be more than willing to take you and your child in under the circumstances. That is if you are willing."

Tring*

You have been invited by Father Patrick into the house of Mothers and Children. This is a house reserved for women and children who cannot take care of themselves. It is sponsored by an anonymous holy church that is located within the city. While it is widely known by the NPC's what church this is, It is still considered undiscovered by players. Be the first player to uncover the secrets of this mysterious church and potentially gain hidden items, classes, and fame.

Resrictions: must be a child, single mother, or be perceived as unable to take care of oneself to be invited.

Rewards: Free lodging, food for both you and your child, potential long term rewards.

Do you Accept the invitation Yes / No?

Wait i haven't heard about any hidden or secret churches... Just the church of Freya. No one can even get into it.. I can only be suspicious but if I accept I can feed Divine and raise her safely while uncovering the secrets or this place. This guy looks the part of a temple priest so I know he isn't lying about being apart of the church. Who knows I might even become the first player to join a church?

"Sure I guess I can use the help. But only if I can leave anytime I want with my daughter."

"We are a church who is dedicated to children, not some terrorist cell looking to kidnap women and children sir. I guarantee you that if you feel uncomfortable with the living arrangements then you can leave at a moments notice."

"Fine then. I would be grateful for any help you can give me in raising my child. As you can see by her age I only recently became a parent. I am also extremely tired due to what has happened. If you would could you please take me to your church? So I and my child can get some sleep and put these past few weeks behind us."

Accepting Pep-Ri's answer Father Patrick led the pixie across the city until they finally reached their destination. Opening the door Patrick announced, "Welcome to Juno's house for women and children. May her blessings flow down on you while you are under her protection."

P.S I hope you all got the reference.

Connect to Chapter 8.1? Yes | No