"Your total is $86.53. Please select your payment type."
The self-checkout machine at the local grocer was as emotionless as ever as Chris tapped the button for debit. He let out a sigh as he finished up the transaction.
"Hey! You got a minute?"
The question came from within his head, not anyone nearby.
"Not quite," he replied mentally while hiding his frustrations at the voice.
"Oh, that's cool. I'll just go beat the knights again."
"They already avoid you. Who are you going to fight?" Chris asked as he put his newly acquired groceries in the car.
"Captain Serious will!"
"It's Seiren. Captain Seiren. Even you should have his name in your thick head by now."
"Eh. Why bother? That's what I've got you for Little Bro!"
Chris, whose full name was Christopher, was mentally talking to his brother, Charles. The two were identical twins, though a number of differences now made them physically look very different in all but the face.
It is a particularly well known folk tale that identical twins share a mental connection, although science cannot definitively state whether this is actually true. So why is it that Chris clearly had a much stronger connection to Charles than might be expected? It all started about a month ago.
Growing up, Chris and Charles were extremely close to each other. As kids, they did the same things and played the same pranks. After the third grade though, it was clear that Chris was the brains while Charles was the brawn. Through high school, Charles was the popular athlete that played in every sport and got grades to just barely pass. He was said to be so fast on the fields and courts that his friends called him Char, like he had left burn marks as he ran. Chris, on the other hand, was the outcast nerd. Where Charles stayed fit, Chris was thin. Chris was near the top of their high school class when it came to his grades. He also was fairly into anime culture as well.
Unfortunately, the divide in their interests had pulled the once close brothers apart and coupled with the untimely death of their parents, the split had grown even greater. Despite this, they still did care for each other, staying at their childhood home despite being far beyond what they needed in living space. Chris would spend most of his days shut in his room, writing code while trading stocks and cryptocurrencies. Coupled with the insurance money from their parents, Chris had ensured that the two of them would be set at least until they each got married. Charles meanwhile was fielding numerous offers from colleges for athletic scholarships across the country, something Chris cared little about.
Then a month ago, it happened. He was just about to climb into bed when a magical sigil had appeared beneath Chris. It took a moment for him to realize what was going on, since magic is something that until that point had only existed in books, games, and other such things. He was about to be summoned to another world, and he could not keep the excitement contained as he let out a cheer. That was when Charles burst into his room.
It was a combination of the loud thrumming from the sigil and Chris’s cheer, which Charles had mistaken for a cry of terror, that brought him barreling in. Unthinkingly, a common state for Charles, he leapt forward and grabbed Chris, throwing him out of the sigil’s reach. It was at that moment, as the twins exchanged shocked expressions, that the sigil flared.
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In an instant, Charles was gone. Chris, who had landed awkwardly on the floor, let out a frustrated shout at his brother’s stupidity.
“You idiot! That was supposed to be for me!”
“Sorry. But where are you? And where am I?” Charles responded, even though he was not there.
It was at that moment that their twin connection had been strengthened. Now, they could communicate mentally despite the distance that now separated them. Over the course of a month, Chris had worked extensively to strengthen his end of the connection and now we could even see and hear directly through Charles’ eyes and ears, a sensation that he would equate to being in a virtual reality but having no actual control over the experience.
Naturally, as the centerpiece summoned hero, Charles had acquired even greater physical abilities. Chris had determined that Charles likely had magical capabilities as well, but there was little hope of Charles studying long enough to make use of such gifts.
It was something of a cliche scenario in this other world, known as Adalth, where a hero was summoned to deal with an overwhelmingly powerful demon lord entity. As the one deemed the hero, Charles had the skill and power, imbued as it was, to defeat the demon lord. Over the last month, as he, but more so Chris in the background, came to understand his hero gifts, the strongest supporting party was assembled to aid Charles.
There was the druidic cleric named Nicole, who served as the party’s healer and spiritual guide. The elemental mage named Taerra, who was as verbally violent as the destructive spells she wielded. There was the man known only as Gray, who excelled in stealth, scouting, and bladework. Kelli was the group’s archer, and an elf, who could pull off shots that would put even the legendary Robin Hood to shame. And finally there was Captain Seiren, a skilled knight and acting representative of the Kingdom of Therode, the country that had summoned Charles.
Having rushed back home and put his purchases away, Chris settled into a comfy recliner and put on what he called his gear. The items that formulated the ‘gear’ were nothing but a blindfold and a pair of noise canceling headphones. With a lamenting sigh about the entire situation, Chris forced his senses through the twin connection and played witness to the ongoing spar between Charles and Seiren.
“Okay, I’m here.”
Chris enjoyed the little moments like this that caused Charles to lose his focus, resulting in Seiren beating him.
“Was it your brother again?” Seiren asked.
“Yeah, he picks bad times to show up,” Charles replied as he took Seiren’s offered hand.
Chris mentally sighed again, though he blocked Charles from mentally hearing it. Since Chris could not speak to the others, Charles had to do all the talking, which he was not good at. Chris was certain that the party thought Charles was partially insane as he openly spoke of communing with his non-present brother. Chris would not even blame them for being concerned that Charles was being deceived by the demon lord’s forces in some way.
“I’ll leave you be then,” Seiren commented as he departed.
Chris was certain that Seiren thought Charles was being deceived. Though if he had to admit it, in a way he was using his brother to achieve a goal.
The summoning ritual could only be performed by a group of mages who combined their mana in sufficient quantity to achieve the desired result. The ultimate drawback though of the successful casting of the summoning ritual was that the mages would no longer be mages. The power mages contributed would be completely drawn out, leaving them powerless to ever perform magic again. As such, Therode had utilized every single underpowered and underperforming mage in the kingdom to conduct the ritual, leaving only the talented and skilled mages behind to bolster the soldiers ranks against the demon forces. So, while Therode possessed the power to perform the ritual again, they were unlikely to ever do so at the expense of their precious mages. There was of course no guarantee either that Chris would be the one to be summoned, but given that the spell had targeted him originally, he was hoping that a second casting would achieve the goal of bringing him to Adalth as well.
Chris had already decided that if the Kingdom of Therode would not summon him again, he would get the demon lord to do it. Of course, he was secretly working on this plan, in a body he had no control over, and had no idea how to get in contact with the demon lord. The plan had a lot of flaws, and Chris admitted that to himself, but he was going to get the magically enhanced life that his brother had denied him.
Chris barely paid attention as Charles was rattling on about needing even more combat prowess, something that Chris could not help with anyway, as he inwardly thought about his secret, some might even say evil, plan.