Later that night.

Kiki and me, also known as present Ophelia, were silently doing our usual thing with me reading my stories and her doing her crazy flexible stretches. She was doing loads of super-fast, like I mean millions of one arm handstand pushups with her feet split in opposite directions, which I don't know if that's normal, but I can't even do ten regular pushups and that seems crazy hard.

The winds outside were resting, allowing for a peaceful mood bracing for the storm known as Papa to come home. When I heard the knob turn, my heart overdrives blasting through my chest like an oil flickering out the frier.

It’s okay. It’s fine.

Papa is Papa, but unfortunately for us, that is the major problem. Papa and Progressia didn’t really mix well, so how would he respond to me using resources to fill their stomachs?

“Ophi, Girly I’m home.” Papa sings before leaping onto his beloved couch after locking up.

He grabs my navy language dictionary with Orco’s symbols on the cover and covers his eyes with him to block the gentle blue light emanating from the crystal above with a booming snore echo throughout the home.

Why am I thinking about the lamplight right now, and why is Kiki staying so quiet?

Kiki and I glance at each other, wondering how to move. Despite him sleeping so peacefully, both of us tried to send mental signals to each other like Ani does for the other to do something.

Yes, at this point I have to believe Ani is real because, well, considering how often she brings it up it, I mean, yeah.

Kiki focuses on her crab, an armored sea creature like stretching pointing at me with her left big toe to talk to him and I did the logical response of hiding in my book, pretending to read until a better idea came along.

Can you really blame me?

My stomach was churning so badly I couldn’t even take a sip of my herbal juice or even bite into my mini hamburger cookies.

There is no way I could do it, but giving up is absolutely not an option either, after I promised them I would do something. But then again, this is Papa we’re talking about.

“Ophi!!!” Papa slashes through the silence, causing Kiki to slam against the ground with her back, surprised by his voice.

“Ouchie!! The heck old man gives a warnin’ before yellin’ like that.”

“Can I get some juice, please?” Papa continues to ignore Kiki, who’s writhing in pain.

“S-sure P-papa.” I got up and went to the fridge with nerves jittering like crazy. “Y-you ok-k-kay Kiki?”

“I’m fine, but can I get some, too?”

That’s a quick recovery.

I pour Kiki a cup after Papa’s share and as I pull away to give it to her, Papa grabs my hand, sending a shock throughout my entire body.

“Ophi, we need to talk,” Papa continues, completely ignoring Kiki, who’s rubbing her back in pain next to him, “Now.”

“Oh-okay!” I yell back.

There went the calm and collected strategy.

“That one’s pain is one thing, but you seem a wee bit agitated today. Did that trip rattle you that much?”

“Uh um.” I fix my gaze onto Kiki, who still hasn’t moved, actually I think she didn’t want to move anymore.

“A moment.” Papa got up from his couch and went over to Kiki, placing his hands together, causing a small spark of electricity on Kiki’s back. “Feeling better Ophi?”

“Much better. Ya gonna teach me that?” Kiki downs the last of her juice, then shaking her glass for a refill. Despite Papa holding my hand, I lean over reluctantly to pour her another glass.

“You don’t have any talent for it.”

“Turtles!” Snapping her fingers, disappointed.

“So. This is a serious question, so answer me honestly.” Suddenly Papa changes his tone to a strict one, you know, the kind of voice that makes you know that you’re in trouble and immediately search for an escape route.

“Ok-kay.”

To be honest, I am definitely not thinking about what I was saying. Keeping Papa from getting angry is way more important, since I didn’t want him to take my kitchen away again.

“Now that I have your attention, I’d like to ask the both of you a question.”

He’s serious, and we both brace ourselves for what’s coming.

“You two need to quit school and continue your studies here at home so that I get to resign.”

“But that’s not a question?”

“Yeah, that’s a statement or a demand more than anythin’.”

“Yep. Papa, did you forget what a question is?”

Despite how short Kiki and I have been together, we have a similar same train of thought which, so at the very least we could outnumber him.

“Fine fine, you got me.” A sense of relief relaxes my body when I heard Papa joke around again. “You want a demand, fine. You two are quitting school, so I can quit. End of discussion.”

Haha. Papa with his extreme jokes again. Always trying to trick me with his silly remarks.

“Papa, stop joking around.” His completely grey serious replacing the normal go lucky yellow aura is nonexistent again, turning off like a switch. “Why, I just started?!”

“Inside voice.”

“Erm. Why do I have to quit?”

“I’m okay with it. I ain’ even enrolled.”

“Kiki?!” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

Wait, why was she going to school with me then?

Wait, why had no one mentioned it until now?

Wait, why was she even there to begin with?

“Ophi.” Papa warns me again. “I don’t mind you raising your voice, but when we discuss important matters, maintain composure. Self-restraint is an important skill I want you to learn.”

“Sorry, I’m just a bit surprised about Kiki.”

“Did I not tell ya?” Kiki rolls over to the table like a log, shaking her glass, asking for a refill, which I lean over again to do.

“No…no you did not.”

“Well, guess I went cause ya did, so yeah, I don’t mind quittin’. Not like I was learnin’ anythin’ anyway and I feel bad about botherin’ the others.”

“That proves my poi — wait.” Even Papa had to do a double take with Kiki’s weird remark. “That’s right. Why were you there in the first place?”

“Y’know how cold it gets, and that place is warm, so yeeeah, I just kinda lived there. It’s not like anyone really noticed, so it’s all good.”

“But you had a uniform.”

That’s right Papa, she did. Don’t tell me it’s stolen.

“Oh yeah. I found one of the storage rooms, so when I needed to change clothes, I just kinda “found” one."

So, it’s stolen.

“No showers, though. Oh! You wanna see a nice skirt blanket I made? It’s right. Oh, I forgot where I put it.”

“Of course I wanna see it, but also wow.” I try holding back my laughter, but when Papa keels over, howling in joy, I couldn’t hold back anymore. It’s like every time she said something, she’s able to clear the room of any tension.

“Back to the…out of skirts? Really Girly?” Papa asks just as curious in that bizarre situation.

“Yeah. It took a while, but it turned out to be super comfy. If I find it, I’ll show ya.”

Now that, I definitely want to see. I wonder if she sows them together like a quilt or she just ties them up together like one big rope cloth blanket thing.

I have a lot of skirts, so I wonder if…

“No Ophi.”

“I didn’t say anything, though?”

“Oh, I know,” He shot a smirk and continued, “Back to the matter at hand, you two will quit.”

“But why Papa? Am I not doing good?”

“I’m sooo glad you asked. Let’s see for ourselves, girls.”

Uh oh. I do not like the sound of that.

Papa taps his empty forearm, opening a panel on the wall. The first time I’ve seen it by the way and in front of us playing a video of the classroom from the point of view of the class board. He zooms in on us fast forwarding at triple speed where it was clear as day that we were fast asleep using our jackets as a makeshift blankets and pillows.

“T-that was because we were tired that day. Right Kiki.”

“Uhhhh.”

“Oh, I see. Completely understandable, then you must have more energy the next day.” He clicks, and like a trigger, I flinch at the sound. It’s another video of the next day and yeah, it was not much better. We were playing poker though, so that was fun, especially because Kiki held herself back so much that I won every time.

He fast forwards through the first two days until lunch time where we woke up to chat while playing board games or whatever I brought for that day. After that, we napped once again before we went home. One thing is certain from the abundant amount of evidence we were doing everything except for being dutiful students, and with several days of video, I understood why he wanted us to leave.

Still, if I didn’t go to school, then I would be back here and after my factory tour and meeting all those people, I felt greedy. Now that I have a taste of interacting with people, I want to do it more often.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Well, I, um, yeah, I just haven’t adjusted yet. Yep. That’s why.”

I had to figure out a way to convince him not to keep me at home or else I felt I wouldn’t be able to handle what happened afterwards.

“Oh, really? Then you must have learned something in the first couple of days, right?” Papa pulls me close, making him seem gigantic.

I look to Kiki to help who responds with a nonchalant shrug.

Great.

“Y-yes?”

“Wonderful.” Papa places his hand on my shoulder with a twisted grin etched across his face. “Then you don’t mind answering this question on the formulas required to understand the fundamentals of architectural spatial configuration. They covered it all week, so tell me this sweet little Ophi. What’s. It. About?”

“Spa-spi-special confusion? Umm.”

Yeah…there was no way I can answer that. Was he even speaking the same language as me?

In the end, I couldn’t. There was nothing I could say that would convince him why I should stay.

It was over.

He let out a long sigh, covering his eyes, then turned his attention back to me with eyes full of disappointment. To say it didn’t hurt would be a flat out lie. “Anything else you want to say, lil lady?”

“But why ca—” He held out his palm, interrupting me.

“I figure that was the case.” He says, letting go of my hand and standing next to me. “I’ve come to terms with this a long time ago, considering both of your unique learning behaviors, so I prepared specific classes for that purpose. That's why I want the two of you to have more time together, to get to know each other, and to explore Progressia without the rigid scheduling of their educational system.. Seeing the world firsthand is a learning experience as well, sweetie. Do you two understand what I’m trying to say?”

“I’m lost, old man.”

Was I hearing him, right? No, I must be dreaming, so I gotta wake myself up. I pinched my cheek and confirmed this was, in fact, not my dream.

“You’re kidding me. That simply put, and you still can’t understand.”

“Of course, I am an old man. Even an idiot can get what yer sayin’.”

“Well, it’s great that even you can get it. Or so you say.”

“What was that?”

As the two bickers, my legs gave out, plopping down on his couch, hands shaking and sticky from my sweat just thinking about my future ahead.

I love my house probably more than any other place in this entire world, but I want to experience more. I wanna be like Kiki and greet people to make friends anywhere I went, and it couldn’t happen here. If I couldn’t talk now, it didn’t mean I shouldn’t keep trying, so even if it seemed impossible; I want to make it happen no matter what.

“No…” I mutter inaudibly, but it was enough to attract both of their attention. I pinch my pajamas, summoning all my might to help me control my emotions. I couldn’t lift my head to look at him, but I needed to say something, anything, to spread my wings.

“Ophi…” Kiki said with worry in her voice.

“I-I want outside.” I clasp my shivering hands, trying to express the words to convince him. “Papa. I-I know I can’t do much. But. But I want to keep going.”

“What are you saying?” Papa asks, putting his hand over my shoulder.

“I-I want to keep trying. I’ll do better in school and and I’ll study hard so can I please keep going.”

“Can you tell me why it’s so important to you?”

“I me-met Kiki…outside. S-saw the lights…outside. It made me happy. I want to see more things. Meet people. Like the ones you saw in the stories.”

“Ah man. You don’t get it.”

“Sorry.”

Papa put his hands on my chin and lifts my head to see the screen. What was on screen wasn’t our classroom anymore. Instead, it was our trip to the factory. Watching myself glued to Kiki back was embarrassing, but why was he showing me this? It was just footage of me struggling to greet the workers.

He leans closer till our heads connect and whispers, “Is this what you want, Ophi?”

Fighting back my tears, I gave a single nod.

“Then keep trying. Besides, it’s not like I said you had to stay inside.”

“Huh?”

The smugness of his smirky aura is so infuriating that it could make even the most patient person in the world get angry.

“Didn’t you hear me? I just said to quit school since you two goofs weren’t even paying attention and that it’s a waste of my time that I predicted, so there’s no need for either of you to keep attending. I even specified that you could go wherever, since being in a dreary building for so long is terrible for the mind.”

“Papa, you tricked me.”

“First of all, it’s your fault for not listening carefully. Have you learned nothing from our bartering wars and secondly, did you really think I care about their curriculum?”

Now that I think about it, this was much more Papa like than forcing me to quit because I was bad at being a student.

“Explore the city together, realize what little there is to see, then come back here. I only ask you to keep your I.S.D on at all times and be home by dinner. Oh, and before I forget to go ahead with your cute party, I’ll take care of it.”

There was no word in all the languages I spoke to describe how elated I felt, so I embraced him even tighter with all the love I could muster.

“Aw, hugs are nice.” He gently pats my head. “If my child needs something, then it’s the father’s job to take care of it right.”

Finally, with Papa’s approval, I felt like I was finally able to start my journey, although rough at times; still it was everything I ever wanted and all the better it was with a friend that I made. If it was someone Papa suggested or gave me, then there was no point.

“Um, can I interrupt for a moment?” Kiki spoke up. “I know this is sudden, but I can’t guide ya, well, at least for not that much longer.”

Oh, come on. What is it this time? My heart can’t take all these sudden surprises.

“W-why?! Did I do something wrong?”

“No no no. Yer the best, but ya see.” Kiki stops darting her eyes around before continuing. “Reasons, y’know.”

“Is it that?” Papa asks.

“Yeah,” she’s so nervous talking about it that her face burned red, “That field trip opened my eyes to how lost things became after I left. So thanks for everythin’ but I can handle myself from here.”

“We hang out after you’re done, right? So just come back when you’re done.”

Kiki looks away.

“Sorry. I just think that it’s best I go now because it’ll get worst for ya the longer I stay.”

“It’s only been a couple days since we became friends, so how come it’s gonna get worse? Do you really have to go?”

“Well…”

“Ah, I get it. You think my Ophi is too weak, is that right?”

“Honestly, a bit. I mean, yer sweet and all, but that’s why I don’t wanna hurt ya, so it’s just better if ya didn’t know. Breakin’ hearts ain’ fun, but the earlier, the better y’know.”

Ow.

That cut deeper than I thought. I knew it, I’ve always known it, but hearing it, from her out of everyone. I just thought, maybe, that if I were other things that it’d be okay.

“A big mistake.” Papa said, backing away from me.

“What?”

“You’ll see.”

But more than that painful feeling, her hiding something was burning my chest. It felt like something had been bubbling inside me, finally exploding out so powerfully that I couldn’t control it.

All those interactions with Ani, all the things she elaborated on so freely and even worse all the time, Kiki was so open only to hide it all was unlike her. I know it was important to her, but this was not her speaking to me. This is some awkward attempt to spare my feeling so infuriated that I overloaded past my boiling point.

“Papa, stop it.”

Papa’s eyes were wide open, choosing to sit back with a proud smirk as Kiki looked over at me, overwhelmed. Of course she was. Even I’m surprised by the rage I felt.

“I just don’t wanna make you regret meetin’ me. That’s what we-, I mean, I think. Sorry.”

“Can you at least tell me why?”

“Sorry, it’s a secr—”

“Stop it! Secret this! Secret that! Just stop! It’s not like you.”

“But Ophi I—“

My eyes scorching a bright amber, filling the room with my energy, furiously pushing Kiki back into a wall.

“I don’t care! You said when we first met that we would be besties, remember?”

“Technically, I asked fo—”

“I don’t care! That means that no matter what besties help each other. So, if it’s your problem, then it’s mine, too.” Then, as quick as my rage consumes me, it peters out, leaving only a small girl looking at the ground emotionally exhausted. “Don’t just suddenly disappear, leaving me to wonder where you went.”

“Princess,” she said with a long sigh.

“Y-yeah.”

“I give.” Placing her hands on my shoulder. “Man, how can I say no to a face like that? Tomorrow let’s skip school and I’ll tell ya the whole thing.”

“You both resign this morning, well, Ophi did,” Papa cuts in.

“Do you mind kinda doin’ a thing here?”

Papa puts his hand up, laying back onto his couch.

“Ehem. As. I. Was. Sayin’. Let’s go somewhere that I can tell ya about it. But are ya sure ya can handle it? It ain’ pleasant.”

I reply with a nod.

“Then let’s do it.”

“Thank you.”

With the negative feeling in my chest gone, I felt a second wind and went into the kitchen. “I’ll make a super lunch for us to eat.”

“Sounds super good.”

“Ehem!” Third wheel claps his hands at the amazing performance staring directly at me. “That was great, truly. But are you forgetting someone? Someone who hasn’t given you permission yet. Someone who you just promised to be safe.”

“Who could that be, Kiki?”

“Dunno, couldn’ be anyone we know, right, Princess?”

“How cruel. To your own father, Ophi.” Papa falls back, feigning his fainting.

“Kidding Papa.” I went over to Papa, kissing his cheek. “Can I skip tomorrow and go with Kiki?”

“Well, since you asked, of course you can’t.”

“Wh—” He stops my lips with his finger and takes out a new lavender colored I.S.D out of his left pocket and then turns to Kiki.

“Catch.”

He threw the device at her, signaling her to put it on. “With this I can feel safer knowing that the two single brain cell sharing duo are together. Truthfully, I’m one hundred thousand percent against this, but as the great Papa that I know I am, I know better than to impede a rebelling teenage girl. If I don’t let you do this, you two would probably take my stuff and sneak out, right?”

We looked at each other with the same idea in mind in that scenario, which was more than enough to give him his answer.

“Exactly as I thought, so it’s better to hand it over now with a clear conscience. If you two get into trouble; these three things will allow me to rush to either of your side as fast as I can. Listen carefully, especially you Ophi, you sweet-filled girl.

Again, so many compliments.

“If you’re in danger, this device can serve as protection until the literal second it’ll take for me to arrive. If you can still send a signal, there should be a red button on the top left for an emergency response. If you end up in a situation where you cannot send a signal, which as unlikely as it may be, try to find any electronic device connected to the Progressia server or an electrical outlet; once you do, press the blue bottom left. Finally, if either of those options is unavailable, press the white button on the right.”

“What does it do?” I ask.

“It has two effects. The first will immediately teleport you and anyone in contact with you two to my location regardless of where you are, or it will send you back here. I haven’t worked out the kinks yet, and they only work once, so only use them when your life is in extreme danger. After you change locations, it will inject a serum that will give you the ability to increase all of your physical capabilities for one hour and grant you temporary access to the nanomachines inside all of Ophi’s clothes and the I.S.D in case invaders enter our home.”

“So that’s what they’re made of.” Kiki hammers her fist into her arm.

I mean, I didn’t even know that either, but I kinda never questioned it. Little machines so like tiny robo bugs.

Robugs. Hehe.

“Yes, microscopic machines controlled automatically and will protect you from harm, including from one as powerful as myself.”

“Isn’t this a little much, Papa?”

“No. If anything, it’s not enough. I have more precautions in place, but for now, this is the limit I can do for now without breaking a few heads.”

“Just come if yer so damn worried.”

“First reason, work.”

“Riiight Papa. ‘Work’.”

“Okay okay, despite how much I despise their desperation; I am obligated to fulfill my role as their ‘professor’, at least for tomorrow.”

“So yer gonna nap.”

“Basically. Secondly, this is a matter between you two correct, I’ll be of help if either of you two ends up in danger, but otherwise it’s not my place. Besides, you won’t grow if I constantly watch over you, so tomorrow, I intend to take the day off. Think you’re up for its, little lady?”

“Obviously, Papa. I’m your daughter, after all.”

“Right.” Patting my head. “Just remember you're also Ophelia too. Never forget that.”

“I won’t.” The numbness in my eyes w

as draining and my cheeks so wide that I almost broke into tears before embracing him again. “Thank you, Papa. I love you soo much.”

“And I love love looove you more.”

As we hugged, Kiki stood on the side, grinding her feet into my floor, looking jealous.

Papa lays back on his couch picking up my book from the floor and putting it over his head again. Seeing him exhausted made me think how silly we were to tread carefully around him. The three of us went back to our routine; Kiki back to her stretching, me in the kitchen preparing tomorrow’s lunch and Papa, you guessed it, napping.

Today was too eventful for my taste and I swear I didn’t know if I could deal with all the goings on. But I had to admit it was pretty fun.