Life continued to move apace. Arc has been in this world for a little over a decade now, and he had been living a good life. He had a wife, a house, land, a steady job that he loved, and even a son. Aaron was starting to look quite a lot like him, though he did have his mother’s eyes and nose. All this at one point was thought an impossibility to him, and to whatever force was responsible for putting him here, he was eternally grateful. However, things weren’t always perfect.

His relationship with his son felt... strained, at times. He had no idea why, or even where it was stemming from. Despite all the magic and wonders that he could summon with a flick of his fingers, not knowing what was driving this wedge between himself and his own son made him feel powerless. It was the little things that hurt the most.

Even now, he was just wrapping up another lesson on magic control, and the air between them was frosty despite the flames they conjured. Arc was glad, at the start, that his son had inherited his talents for magic as it gave him something to bond over. At least, that was the idea before reality set in.

Aaron just finished showing off his control of magic by directing a flame that was in the shape of a writhing serpent. People might wonder what the point is of creating fire in a specific shape. Well, not only is it good practice for control, but it is quite spectacular to see as well. Intimidation is a factor in fighting after all.

“Alright Aaron, that’s good, you can stop now.”

“Yes sir.” Came the curt reply from his son.

Arc winced a bit. Sir. It was always sir, no matter the situation. Not dad, not father, sir. Still, Arc wouldn’t falter in his duties. He would keep supporting his child as best as he could.

“You’ve been making good progress. There may come a day when you will give me a run for my money when it comes to spellcraft. Keep up the good work.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Some days it felt more like Arc was running a bootcamp for magically gifted children than spending time with his son. Maybe one day. He hoped.

“Well, I think you deserve a reward for your efforts. Here.” Arc reached into his pocket and removed some coins. “Why don’t you go to the butchers and pick out your favorite cut of meat. I’ll get your mom to cook it up the way you like it.”

Aaron smiled a bit at the thought of his favorite food. Arc liked seeing him smile, it made him feel like he was actually doing a good job at being a loving father. “Thank you, sir! I’ll be back right away.”

And just like that, the feeling was gone, along with his son who went off in the direction of the city gates. Arc let out a sigh as he watched the boy get farther away. Eventually, he managed to pry his gaze off his son and turn to go back inside his house.

He quickly found his wife inside, preparing lunch for everyone and currently chopping the vegetable portion. She was beautiful, she was always beautiful, and such beauty drove him to action. Arc walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, snuggling up to her back. She halted her chopping motions before turning her head halfway around to talk to him.

“Honey, you know it’s not a good idea to come up behind me while I have a knife in my hand.” She said with a playful grin.

“Hmm.” He grunted out while putting his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply her calming scent.

Lily was able to sense something was wrong, so she put down the blade and took hold of his hands that were around her midriff. “Is everything alright?”

Arc didn’t answer immediately, just wanting to have a quiet moment with the woman he loved. After a minute he let out a drawn-out sigh. “Am I a bad father?”

Her eyes went wide, and she quickly turned around, finally seeing the despondent look on his face. “No! Of course not. Why would you ever think that?”

He shook his head. “It’s just... Aaron, he treats me like I'm a stranger.”

“No, that’s not...” She began, but then she thought about it and started to realize it too. “That’s not... true.” It was half-hearted reassurance.

“Lily, I don’t think he’s ever once called me dad.”

“What? But what about that... Uhm, there was...” She had to think again and was coming up empty on memories where she heard Aaron refer to him as anything other than sir.

“You see!” He let go of her and started to pace around the kitchen. “I mean, I know I tried to instill in him some basic respect when he was younger because I thought that it would help him when he got older. Did I do something wrong? Was I too harsh about it? Is my relationship with our son ruined?”

Lisa watched her husband have a crisis while trying to think of some way to help ease his apparent pain. “Honey, come here.”

“Lily, I don’t-”

“Come, here!” She pointed forcefully at the ground in front of her.

Arc gave up trying to resist and shuffled over to stand before her. She looked him straight in the eyes before reaching up to gently grab either side of his head. Her fingers wrapped around and gently kneaded into his hair, massaging him. The effect was visible as Arc’s shoulders drooped and he closed his eyes.

“Arc, I’m going to tell you this as a matter of fact. You are a good father. I’ve watched the two of you, and I can see just how much you love him. I don’t know exactly what is going on with Aaron right now, but we can figure it out. Okay?”

He let out a sigh as he wrapped his arms around his wife again. “Okay. I trust you, Lily, with my life, so I can trust you with this as well. Hopefully, we can do something about this because I don’t want to lose my son.”

“You won’t, I promise you.” Arc nodded and leaned into the hug. “Hey.”

“Hmm?”

“I love you.”

That brought a smile to his face. “Love you too.” He leaned in to give her a kiss that she returned eagerly. “Oh, just a heads up, I sent him to the butchers to pick up his favorite cut. I promised I'd ask you to cook it up for him.”

“Really? And what would you have done if I said no?” She gave a playful smile.

“What? You want to hear me beg? Oh, please fair goddess of the kitchen, grace us with your culinary gifts.”

She giggled at him. “No, I was thinking something more along the lines of being justly rewarded for my services.” Her hands wandered across his chest, tracing small circles.

“Oh? And how, pray tell, would I go about rewarding such quality work?” Arc dropped his voice down an octave or two, giving it a sultry quality.

Lily’s finger came up and traced around his lips. “I’m certain you’ll think of something by tonight.” She then used the finger to give him a shove away as she returned to her cooking. Arc was sufficiently enticed with her, and now she would let him stew in his desires which would hopefully stimulate more creativity that night. She had also grown to appreciate the feeling of anticipation, finding that it kept her heart active with all the little looks they would share over the course of the day.

And stare they did, even as they sat around the table having dinner. They each thought their little stares were subtle so as not to unnecessarily embarrass their son, but he noticed anyway. Aaron’s eyes flittered between the two adults sitting at the table making googly eyes at one another.

They’re so gross sometimes.

Aaron ate his food while doing his best to ignore the flirtatious duo. He mostly wondered why they couldn’t do that anywhere else? Whatever, it didn’t matter to him so long as whatever they decided to do later didn’t interrupt his sleep. Thankfully for all involved, their fun was kept quiet, so everyone finished the day happily enough.

The next day the parents had a quick discussion on how they were going to address the situation with their son. It was decided that after a light practice session they would sit down and have a talk together. So, Arc took Aaron out to do a few demonstrations of some of the recent spells that he had learned.

Everything was going well, and they were close to the time when they would talk, but then something unexpected happened. Arc and Aaron noticed it at about the same time, movement, from the edge of the forest that connected to their land. Monsters didn’t normally come this close to civilization, but starving and desperate beasts could be driven to such an act, so they both treated this disturbance as a threat.

Arc stepped in front of Aaron to take the brunt of whatever would come from the brush as the noises got louder. Then he saw it, a silhouette, pushing its way through the foliage. Arc readied a spell to do away with this threat to his family, but then his eyes went wide, and he froze as he saw that it was not a monster, but a man that came into the clearing.

Not just any man either, but an easily identifiable military individual from Earth. The camouflage fatigues were a dead giveaway, but also the way he carried himself. He stood confidently, with broad shoulders and well-defined muscles built from hard work. Dark hair, strong jaw, clean shaven, he was exactly as you might expect from someone in the service.

Stolen story; please report.

The moment that the soldier saw the two of them behind their house, his face lit up and he started walking with renewed vigor while calling out to them. “Hey! Finally, people! You all won’t believe the day I've had.”

Arc and Aaron stared at the excited man as he jogged up to them. Each of them had a different thought going through their head.

What the hell is he doing? If people find out he’s not from this world, they’re going to freak! Oh shit, what am I going to say with Aaron here, or Lily? Arc thought in a slight panic.

Meanwhile, Aaron was of a different opinion of the man. He seems rather confident in himself. It must be nice having a life you aren’t embarrassed of, or had, rather.

Neither of them had any intention to address the fact that the man was sticking out like a sore thumb in this place. The clothing he had was such a far cry from what you might find in this world that it screamed outsider. Once closer, the man looked a little dirty and slightly haggard, but still in good spirits. He stopped before them with a slight huff while resting his hands on his hips.

“Well, I’ve had quite the morning. To start with, and I know it sounds kind of crazy, but I think I died.”

Arc’s eyes went wide. What is this absolute idiot doing! If he keeps that up it’s going to cause so many problems.

Heedless of Arc’s internal complaints, he kept going. “I know, I know, it’s insane, right? But I really can’t think of anything else that could have happened. You see, I was out on patrol with my squad, that’s what we call our military groups, when we came under attack. There were lots of explosions and chaos. Somewhere in that mess I felt myself take several hits. It was odd. I didn’t really feel much, but I guess it was fatal because everything went black a few seconds later.

After that I was in this strange place with a bunch of lights flying by, and a voice asked me what my greatest wish was. I figured, what the hell, if I was already dead, I would just go along with it. So, I gave it my wish, it accepted it, and then I woke up in the ass end of the woods early in the morning. Been walking for a few hours before I finally came across you folks.” He grinned, seemingly satisfied with his story before remembering one other important detail. “Oh, and my name’s Jimmy, just Jim is fine.”

The two could do nothing more than stare at him as he finished his extremely summarized version of the events that led up to the extremely familiar transition they went through. Jim noticed the two of them simply staring, so he took it upon himself to continue the conversation.

“Well, I can see that you are both processing this, so if you don’t mind, why don’t we have ourselves a sit down to make it easier?”

Arc blinked himself out of his stupor. “Oh, yes uhm, please, come in and we’ll get you something to drink. You must be thirsty after all that walking.”

“Well, now that you mention it, I am feeling a bit dry. I would greatly appreciate a drink.”

Arc took hold of his son’s shoulder and started to direct both him and Jim back inside. This fool is going to get himself, and possibly me killed if he doesn’t learn to keep quiet about this. I need to find a moment to subtly clue him in to that. Arc thought as he schemed how exactly to do that.

Inside Lily was preparing herself for the family conversation they had planned when the back door opened. She put on her usual smile as the boys walked in. “Hey you two, how was pra-” Her voice died in her throat as she noticed the larger camouflage clad man walking behind them.

Am I crazy, or is that a military uniform from Earth?

The man was scanning their house with the same eager eyes that a child might have when exploring something new. He seemed particularly interested in the magical lights they had around the house, but only examined them in passing for now. The family meeting was apparently delayed.

“Uhm, honey, who’s your new friend?” She asked tentatively.

Jim, realizing he was being rude, introduced himself again. “Oh, I'm sorry, you must be the lady of the house. My name’s Jimmy, just Jim will be fine. I must say, you are a lovely woman, and your husband is a very lucky man who was kind enough to offer me a drink after my long walk here.”

“I see. Well, is water fine?”

“More than fine ma’am, thank you.”

She poured him a cup and handed it over before he greedily gulped it all down. “Ahh! I feel alive again. Could do with another, if you don’t mind.”

She got him one more as her husband spoke to Jim again. “Well, Jim, my name is Arc, this is my wife Lily and my son Aaron.”

Jim heartily shook Arc’s hand. “A pleasure to meet you!” Immediately after that he went and tussled Aaron’s hair. “You too kiddo.” Aaron flinched away from his touch and gave the man a scowl that caused Jim to throw up his hands in mock surrender. When Lily returned with his water, he also gently took her hand in a shake with a slight bow of his head. “You as well ma’am. Thank you for welcoming me into your home.”

Arc walked over to stand next to his wife. “Well, we are glad to help, especially considering your... unique, situation.”

“Aye, enough to make your head spin at times. Oh, right, the wife wasn’t present. Sorry miss, let me explain.” He then went through another telling of the events that led up to his arrival at their house. The confidence with which he finished retelling the tale put Lily off balance the same way it did her husband and son, though she was unaware of it.

Is he not concerned that we would label him as crazy? She cast a glance at the rest of her family. Her husband was looking at the man with what seemed like concern. Okay, I guess that’s a fairly normal reaction. She then looked at Aaron, and he looked... Annoyed? Why is he annoyed?

She didn’t have much time to ponder the emotions of her son as Jim continued talking to everyone. “Well, thank you all for listening to my tale and getting me some much-needed refreshment. I’ll be sure to pay you back for your kindness one day, but for now I think it best to get out of your hair before I overstay my welcome. Saw that nice looking town nearby, figure I ought to look for some work, maybe something where I can use my hands, but I'll have to see what awaits me.”

Arc opened his mouth to say something. Perhaps it was meant to be advice or a warning against telling his story to everyone, but in the end, nothing came out and he shut his mouth again. Jim shook Arc’s and Lily’s hands.

“Thank you again for having me, you’ve been lovely hosts.” He then turned his attention towards Aaron and raised a fist towards him. “See you little man. Be sure to be good for your parents.” Aaron did not move to reciprocate the gesture and just stared at the man. “Come on, don’t tell me you don’t know about the fist bump? You just have to give it a little...” Jim moved to give Aaron a little bump on the shoulder but found his hand slapped away by the kid.

“Don’t touch me.” Aaron spat out.

Lily and Arc were aghast at the behavior of their son who had never acted like this with anyone before. “Aaron! What are you doing? You’re being rude!” Lily scolded her child.

Jim raised a placating hand towards her. “It’s alright ma’am. He’s just at that age where kids try to assert themselves more. I take no offense. But might I ask you kid, what set you off?”

“I don’t like being looked down on.”

“Well, kind of hard not to do that considering I'm taller that you, hehe.” Aaron did not find his humor to be amusing. “Look kid, you don’t want to give up these years where you can just relax and laugh. It seems to me that you are rushing towards becoming an adult, and I will tell you now that it’s a mistake. If you give this time up, you’ll come to regret it and it will only bring you pain.”

“And what do you know of pain?” Aaron said accusingly. “You just laugh and smile without a care in the world. Even your death wasn’t painful. I’ve dealt with monsters, I’ve worked with the guild, people look up to me and give me respect for it because I earned it.”

Arc and Lily looked at each other and then back at their son. Was that really what he was thinking? That he had to earn his place in their house? The two of them started to look back at their history as parents, trying to figure out what went wrong that made Aaron think that way. Meanwhile, Jim continued his conversation with the kid.

“You’re still a child, and you don’t have to do all of that. You should let your parents take care of you while you still can.”

“I can take care of myself! I’ll prove it to you right now! I challenge you to a duel!”

Arc and Lily’s eyes went wide. “Aaron! That’s too far!” Arc scolded his son only to regret it a second later as he watched Aaron flinch and cast his gaze downwards.

Jim stepped up between them. “Arc, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to take young Aaron up on his offer.”

Arc was shocked by this. “But-”

“I promise that nobody will come out of this with anything more than minor injuries.” Jim cut in. “It may be a good chance for the kid to learn something.”

Arc looked between the man and his son who was glaring at the back of Jim’s head. He considered the choices and their consequences. If he denied the duel, would his son resent him for it? No matter how talented Aaron was, the idea of him fighting a full-grown man did not sit well with him. Jim seemed like a good guy, and he did promise to take things easy. Considering that he appeared to be a new arrival in this world, Jim might be the one who gets hurt before Aaron was.

With a sigh, he conceded. “Fine, I’ll allow it, but you two are going to be wearing armor and I’ll be there watching.”

“Perfectly reasonable demands.”

It was done, the duel was on. Arc retrieved a pair of hardened leather cuirass, gloves, and metal helmets. The two of them suited up. Jim seemed comfortable with the armor, at least enough that he didn’t fumble while putting it on. Once it was confirmed that both combatants had their armor secured, they took up positions ten yards apart.

Aaron had a wooden sword, the weapon he was most practiced with. Jim, meanwhile, stood across from him empty handed, back straight, and in possession of a stoic sort of confidence.

“Would you like a training weapon, Jim? We have a variety of them.” Arc asked.

“I’m as armed as I'll ever need to be.” He answered.

That confused Arc and Lily, but it enraged Aaron. He thinks he’s so much better than me that he could win without a weapon? Aaron’s grip on the wooden handle of the training weapon tightened, becoming a white knuckled grasp.

“Well, if you’re sure...” Arc didn’t know what Jim planned to do. Maybe he was planning to use his CQC training? All he got out of the man was a nod to continue.

With another sigh, Arc went off to the sidelines to stand next to his wife who was watching the proceedings with visible discomfort. He tried to reassure her with a small smile, but it didn’t have much of an effect on her concern. Better to get this over with. Arc thought to himself.

“The winner of this duel will be decided if one of you is knocked prone, knocked out, or surrender. Combatants make ready.”

Jim adjusted his stance slightly, but still more or less looked just as relaxed as he always did. Aaron, on the other hand, gathered magic from the world around him and then applied it to his training weapon, resulting in crackling electric energy wreathing the wooden blade. Arc didn’t care if it wasn’t deadly amounts of electricity, that was far beyond the pale.

“Aaron!” He shouted at his son only to receive a raised hand from Jim to garner his attention.

“It’s alright sir. If the boy wishes to use magic, so be it.”

Arc had a lot he wanted to say, but everything died in his throat as he let out yet another sigh. He really needed to have a conversation with his son after this was all over. “If you have no issue with it, then so be it. Make ready!”

Aaron tensed his muscles, ready to explode forward and close the distance between them as quickly as possible. Jim just sat there, calm face and body alike, which only served to infuriate the kid even more.

I’ll make him regret looking down at me. Aaron thought as he planned out his next few moves.

Arc observed the two for a second longer before finally giving the signal. “Begin!”

Aaron sprinted forward, teeth gnashed, and sword poised to strike. Jim’s right hand came up in one smooth motion, and as it reached a ready position in front of him, the air around his hand shimmered and distorted before finally culminating in a solid shape. The shape that it chose was easily recognizable to everyone present. It was a gun.

The whole family reacted with wide-eyed surprise as they stared at the modern weapon being deployed in a medieval fantasy world. However, it only took half a second for that surprise to shift to horror for Arc as he realized that the gun was being leveled at his son. “Wait! Sto-”

BANG BANG BANG!