Ah that was weird I walked into the forest after Holly, and she was talking to someone? Where am I? Wait why does the room seem so big? Why am I not in my room? Didn’t the game automatically log you out if you fell asleep? To many questions I need to get up and investigate or I won’t figure out anything. I get up from the ground and look around.
It appears I’m in a Japanese themed room and I’m lying on a futon. As I walk towards the door I stumble for a bit. It’s weird I feel off balance for some reason. I guess I just slept badly last night probably from sleeping in game. That can’t be a healthy thing can it.
As I open the door I see a woman in an apron cooking over a stove. When she notices me standing in the doorway she sets her utensils to the side and turns to face me with a warm smile.
“Good morning dear how did you sleep last night. You were out for quite a long time.”
I was unsure what to make of this whole situation why was she calling out to me like her child and what am I doing here.
(B) “Who are you … WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!!!”
My voice sounded higher and as I looked down at myself I noticed I’d slimmed down quite a bit. This isn’t my body or even my character's body. What is going on here?
“Ah I hoped to have nice late breakfast with my daughter what’s wrong with that.”
Daughter no this woman must be crazy I’m a guy why is she saying … NO! Why is that missing and what is she talking about?
“I see you aren’t fouled by my acting. So I guess you would like some answers about what’s going on.”
(B) “Yes that would be greatly appreciated. I have no idea who you are and yet you're throwing words like daughter around, and I’ve never even met you before.”
“Well you are my daughter or were.”
(B) “What? That’s not possible this is all a game. How could you be my mother?”
“Is that how you are here? You are hooked into some kind of system that allows the soul to appear here. So he really did do it.”
(B) “Who? What? I don’t understand.”
“This going to sound strange.”
(B) “Any stranger than what's happening right now?”
“Well I … was your mother.”
(B) “Was my mother? That doesn’t make any sense at all.”
“When you were born I was working on a project with a famous magician. He had a thesis that he could create a link between a new world, and was trying to create a stable portal to travel between this world and ours. Lets just say that his first attempts were less than stellar. His first attempt caused the first void breach. This breach caused an unstable rift and destroyed the place we were staying, and everyone working on the project was separated. It seems that man survived the void breach like me, but you were lost in the ensuing madness. You were taking a nap in our room, and when I finally managed to return to our room. It was all gone. The whole room just lost to the void. You were nowhere to be seen and I thought I’d never see you again. But, here you are right in front of me, and we can finally go back to the way things used to be.”
(B) “Wait hold up. How am I your daughter.”
“You have the same soul as her. There is now way you aren’t her.”
(B) “But, I’m not. My name is Brenner, I live on Earth, and this is only a game.”
“Have you ever wondered why you have those companions of yours.”
(B) “Of course I have. why do you ask?”
“Well that's a special trait of our race.”
(B) “You mean it’s a trait of being a Fox-Kin?”
“No a Kitsune.”
(B) “You're saying that I’m a kitsune. I’m a magical creature of myth and legend.”
“Well, here you are, but outside of this ‘game’ you have the soul of one.”
(B) “This doesn’t make any sense, and how does being a kitsune have anything to do with them.”
“Well kitsune are considered to be fey and all fey have to ability to interact with souls. Kitsune are high fey that have the ability to probe, manipulate, and contract with souls. Your companions are souls lost to the void that have stumbled upon you and formed contracts with you without you realizing it. In your world there in no way for souls of our world to pass on. So they are trapped looking for a way back home. But, they can still sense your soul from their world and form a contract with you as a Familiar. Due to your lack of knowledge though all they are right now are just voices in your head. Due to this ‘game’ they have been given a physical humanoid form.”
(B) “So you're saying that they are my familiars and that they aren’t just voices in my head.”
“Correct”
(B) “Well that’s a relief I guess. At least I’m not crazy.”
“I do believe you are quite sane for the most part. Why would you be crazy for having familiars.”
(B) “It's not normal to hear other voices in your head in the other world. At least I know they are my familiars and that I’m not talking to myself. But wait how do I have a soul from this world, but I have a body from my world.”
“That I can only speculate, but to the best of my knowledge the only way would be if your soul found an empty vessel.”
(B) “An empty vessel?”
“I believe that would have to mean your soul found a soulless newborn and you were able to inhabit its body with your own soul.”
“So I was just really lucky?”
“No it's a benefit of being a fey we have an easier time navigating our souls. So that might explain how you were able to easily transfer to your new body.”
(B) “This is a lot to take in so let me get this clear. You’re saying that I’m the soul of a fey from this world called a Kitsune, and John, Matt, Elizabeth, and Teage are all my familiars.”
“Correct and as a result of being a Kitsune you are now my sweet little daughter now.”
She then jumped towards me. Hugging me in her embrace with her tails dancing around me wrapping me in a further furry mess.
(B) “Wait! Kitsune are all girls!”
“Yeah I thought you knew. Isn’t it common knowledge?”
(B) “No! What does this mean for my body outside?”
Messing with my ‘soul’ in here isn’t going to mess with my real body is it?
“It’s the same as it was though you might feel a little weird and fatigued.”
(B) “No tails or fur though right?”
“No your soul is the only thing that I’ve changed. Not your body though that is still the same old human body that you're used to.”
(B) “That’s a relieve this is already weird enough.”
I lean back against her tails taking in the fact that it’s only in here that anyone will ever know that I’m a ‘Kitsune’. Man I hope I don’t have to tell anyone about this. That would be a nightmare to even begin to explain to any of my friends. I bet Blake would get a real kick out it though. But, from the sound of things this whole other world might not be so much fiction as everyone thinks it is. That’s a little scary to think about to be honest. But, it’s not like I can prove any of this to anyone. So I guess I can’t worry about it too much.
(B) “So would that make you my second mother then?”
“No I’m your first mother. Your body’s mother is your second mother. I was the one that bore your soul and she was the one to bear your body. However weird this is I’ll always think of you as my daughter and she’ll always think of you as her son.”
God this is a complete mess. She’s saying that I’m her daughter and that I was born here before being reborn in my world to my current mother due to some accident. How the hell does any of this make sense, and how the hell will I even begin to explain this to anyone. Hello I’m a reincarnated person from another world born into your world and I came from Soul Quest Online. God I hope this isn’t really happening. Because if this is I’m in way over my head I thought this was supposed to be a fun full dive game not an alternate world.
“Now we mustn’t keep our guests waiting now should we.”
(B) “Guests?”
“Yes your familiar's have come by with my shrine maiden to say hello.”
(B) “Shrine maiden? Do you mean Holly?”
“Yes. I blessed her with some of my power to be a voice for me in her village. Right now though she is still in training, and as such is still not ready to be my voice. She helps me out from time to time solving simple tasks for me. Oh thank you by the way for saving her from that necromancer. She underestimated him and was captured when he used Lydia as a hostage. That saved me the trouble of bailing her out. I have a hard enough time keeping out the monsters in the area with my illusion barrier.”
(B) “You're still not off the hook yet I still want some more answers on what is going on here and what’s going on with this prophecy stuff.”
“Don’t worry about that I’ll get to that later. But it’s just small details that we don’t need to worry about right now.”
She then opened the front door to reveal everyone walking towards us. Upon seeing her Holly bowed saying “I have brought his companions as requested milady.”
“Good. Thank you Holly now you all are probably wondering where Brenner is right now. Well good news I have him right here with me.”
She picked me up and squeezed me tightly in front of them. I was left struggling in the air, as I was humiliated in front of my familiars. No companions sounds better. They may be my familiars, but I still think of them as companions more than anything.
(E) “Is that you Brenner?”
(B) “Yes! Now help me before she crushes me!”
“Oh you know I’d never hurt you Briana.”
(B) “My name is Brenner not Briana.”
“No that’s your second name your first name was Briana so your name here is Briana.”
Name has been changed from Brenner to Briana.
(B) “What! You never told me this!”
“Didn’t I? Well I guess you know now. So surprise!”
The guys couldn’t keep it in any longer and burst out laughing at the scene in front of them while Elizabeth tried to join in my snuggling herself. Way to help you guys get me out of here already!
“Milady they all need to see their status at the shrine as they have just arrived.”
“Oh yes I almost forgot about that.” She sets me down only to grab my hand and drag me along.
“The shrine is in here just follow me.”
Will anybody help me get away from this woman already! Wait what even was her name? AH!!! How the heck did I forget to even ask her name during that entire conversation? I’m such an idiot!
(B) “Ah what is your name by the way?”
“It’s mother as I’m your mother. What else would it be? You can all address me as such since you are all his familiars.”
(T) “Familiars?”
“I forgot to tell you guys about that didn’t I. Oh well Briana can tell you about it later.”
(B) “My name is Brenner!”
“Ah you're so cute when you’re mad. Anyways here we are, the update shrine. It’s the best I could do with the materials I had on hand. It only shows basic information and five of your main abilities. I couldn’t do any better in this remote joint. So don’t pester me if you wanted more.”
(M) “Before we do anything else can you give us your actual name, explain why Brenner is Briana now, and why you called us familiars.”
“Fine my name is Velouria, she is my daughter, and because you are. Now hurry up and lets see your status already it’ll explain some of the details.”
They all looked confused at the answers, but Matt had had enough and placed his hand on the shrine in frustration. There was a flash of light soon after followed by a blue hollow screen with his information on it.
Status Window
Name:
Matt
Class:
None
Age:
177
Sub-Class:
Scholar
Species:
Elf
Gender:
Male
Abilities
Mana Manipulation:
Rank:
Beginner 7
Ability to control mana and manipulate it to your will.
Ancient Knowledge:
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Rank:
Intermediate 4
Knowledge of Ancient things and how they work and function.
Linguistics:
Rank:
Master 1
Language. What else did you expect?
Enhanced Memory:
Rank:
N/A
You can remember things better than most.
?????:
Rank:
?????
“Hm… that’s quite interesting. It would seem that your past experiences have carried over.”
(M) “You still haven’t explained the familiar thing you were talking about Velouria.”
“But you see it for yourself don’t you? You are clearly shown to be… 177. Hm you’re quite younger than I thought you were. Anyways you clearly don’t remember those 177 years now do you. Even with your enhanced memory you still can’t remember a thing, can you.”
(M) “No… but that still doesn’t explain it.”
“It’s quite simple you all died and were lost in the void and happened upon Briana here who became your host. Though she herself was lost to the void so she forgot as well. So unlucky for all of you. All of you are all dead. Except for Briana here she is still living and breathing.”
“WAIT WHAT?”
They all said in unison. It was actually kind of funny how they all said it at the same time.
“You heard me didn’t you. You are all dead and reside as souls tied to Briana’s, and as a result are her familiars.”
(J) “So why haven’t we gone to the afterlife or whatever then?”
“It’s because you reside with Briana’s soul didn’t I tell you already? Keep up you guys aren’t that dumb are you?”
They stood there shock all over their faces not sure what to make of all this.
(B) “Shut up Velouria!!! The reason you guys didn’t go to the afterlife is because your souls can’t pass on in my … our world.”
(T) “What do you mean lass.”
Great no even Teage is addressing me as a girl now.
(B) “I mean that since you guys aren’t originally from our world. Your souls can’t pass on cause they aren’t registered in our world or something. Am I getting this right Velouria?”
“Yeah close enough. The important part is that your Briana’s familiars and if any of you hurt her I’ll destroy your souls from existence.”
(B) “Shut it Velouria I won’t let you do that.”
“Call me mommy already baby you know you want to.”
(B) “No I don’t and don’t threaten my companions like that. I know them a hell of a lot more than I do you.”
“That’s not a nice thing to say Briana and it’s not like you have a choice or not. I am, a lot more powerful than you, you know.”
(M) “So what would happen, hypothetically, if Brenner was to die?”
“Hm I never thought about that. But I think you’d all be lost to the void and remain lost for all eternity.”
(E) “You’re not serious right?”
“Of course I am. What reason would I have to lie to you?”
(M) “But we’re here right now so why would that happen?”
“True you are here. But more as soul projections. Your originate from your world and send only a part of your souls here.”
(E) “So what does that mean?”
“Exactly as I said girl if Brenner dies you’ll be stuck in limbo in your world’s afterlife.”
(T) “So how do we get back?”
“Well it’s possible. Especially since you're here now. But I don’t know exactly know. You’d have to create a stable portal on both ends, and the reason we failed so much in the beginning was because we had no connection to any worlds. The only way I can think of is to cross the void and stumble upon this world, or …”
(M) “Or what, spit it out already.”
“Or you’ll have to find whoever set up the device that allows you to come here in the first place and ask him for both coordinate planes and open a portal on both ends and cross it. But even then there are lots of theoretical problems like what happens to your new body. I not sure what exactly would happen to it if your were to succeed. If that is even possible.”
(J) “But it’s possible right?”
“I… I don’t know… I just know that theoretically ... it is possible.”
(J) “Well I guess I’m next then.”
Status Window
Name:
John
Class:
Knight
Age:
17
Sub-Class:
None
Species:
Human
Gender:
Male
Abilities
?????:
Rank:
?????
Extreme Luck:
Rank:
Master 10
Anything can happen for you whether that be good or bad.
Cleaning:
Rank:
Master 2
It’s a very useful skill that allows you to eliminate germs, repair stuff, and dissipate dust.
?????:
Rank:
?????
?????:
Rank:
?????
(E) “... well I was definitely expecting just a bit more from you John.”
(J) “Shut your mouth Elizabeth I still have three hidden abilities maybe one of them is a hammer of justice or something.”
(E) “Yeah, that’s quite unlikely. Especially because of that luck you got. You probably got something like underwater breathing or magma resistance.”
(M) “I think that's a bit of a stretch especially for the human body.”
(J) “Well at least I can clean like at the rank of a master!”
“I’m not even sure what could have led to that.”
(J) “Huh...what do you mean?”
“I mean in order to get a ability to master rank it usually takes a ridiculous amount of skill and time to earn it. How did you become a master cleaner as a knight?”
(J) “I can’t remember but that definitely sounds like a first and sounds super cool. John the knight cleaner. Knight by day and cleaner by knight I keep civilization clean of both villains and germs.”
(E) “That sounds quite dumb.”
(T) “Yeah I’ve got to agree with her on that. It sounds quite stupid to me. Anyways guess it’s my turn.”
Status Window
Name:
Teage
Class:
None
Age:
45
Sub-Class:
Blacksmith
Species:
Dwarf
Gender:
Male
Abilities
Metallurgy:
Rank:
Master 3
Knowledge of metals and how to use them.
Geology:
Rank:
Intermediate 6
Knowledge of rocks and how to use them.
Berserker:
Rank:
Beginner 8
Enter a mad rage that blinds your judgement. Also increases pain tolerance.
?????:
Rank:
?????
?????:
Rank:
?????
(T) “Guess they all make sense at least.”
“What do you mean?”
(T) “Well I was trying my hand at blacksmithing earlier and the sword I made is the one Holly is holding.”
“It is true milady. Here is the blade this one has made.”
Velouria then set me down and took the blade. Inspecting it from top to bottom before returning it to Holly.
“As expected of a dwarfs craftsmanship. So I guess my original hypothesis was correct.”
(M) “What do you mean?”
“I mean that you all subconsciously remember parts of your lives here. Meaning that all that you learned in the past is there and that you must unlock your innate abilities that rest inside you.”
(E) “How?”
“How should I know. You guys are a first for me. The only ones who could possibly know that I know of is the church and they’d kill you on sight for having familiars.”
(B) “Why would they want to kill us for that?”
“It’s because any magic or beings that prevent souls from proceeding to the afterlife are deemed enemies of the church. Therefore since you house four said souls. They won’t like you that much and deem you an enemy of the church.”
(T) “And it’s not like they’ll buy the story that our souls are stuck in another world.”
(E) “So does that mean we’re going to hunted by the church the whole time?”
(J) “This sucks they are bound to be a big organization and we’ll probably have to deal with them a lot from here on out.”
“They aren’t that big a deal. They only have a small presence outside of the American Kingdoms where they originate from. But, their influence is small and are more missionary in nature. They spread their word to those that would listen and mostly keep to themselves. Just don’t try to piss them off and you’ll be fine.”
(B) “But don’t they provide most healing services in this world?”
“Yes… but you’ve herbalists and general practitioners that aren’t affiliated to the church available. Though they might cost a bit more. Well nothing you can do about that though.”
(B) “I guess you’re right about that.”
(E) “Unless my voice can do that for us.”
Status Window
Name:
Elizabeth
Class:
None
Age:
81
Sub-Class:
Bard
Species:
Dragon
Gender:
Female
Abilities
Healing Song:
Rank:
Intermediate 3
Ability to heal others with your voice.
Scale Defense:
Rank:
Beginner 6
Dragon perk that allows user to strengthen scaled areas of their body.
?????:
Rank:
?????
?????:
Rank:
?????
?????:
Rank:
?????
(J) “OH, that will definitely will come in handy.”
“Though it is a bit vague on how much it will heal.”
(M) “I’m guessing that it’s not going to heal a severed arm.”
(T) “Want to test it out?”
“NO!!!!!” was the general conscious without a heartbeat of hesitation.
(T) “Oh right the shared pain thing forgot about that.”
(E) “Even without that no one would willing test that.”
(T) “You never know there could a masochist among us.”
(M) “Just shut it already Teage.”
(E) “Anyways guess the only person left is Br”
“iana you’re right Elizabeth.Let’s see your status now shall we.”
Status Window
Name:
Briana
Class:
None
Age:
17?
Sub-Class:
None
Species:
Kitsune
Gender:
Female
Abilities
Transformation:
Rank:
Beginner 1
Ability to transform into a beast.
Illusion:
Rank:
Beginner 1
Ability to bend others senses however you want.
Soul Manipulation:
Rank:
Intermediate 4
Ability to manipulate souls both living and dead.
Stealth:
Rank:
Beginner 7
Ability to hide from others.
?????
Rank:
?????
Dang it the game really does recognize me as Briana now. Well now I’ll definitely have mask my identity now. Wait! Everyone knows each other in this game by my username so they’re bound to find out eventually. God the headaches are only going to get worse I feel.
“How does your world’s time dilation work anyways I forgot to ask.”
(B) “Huh?... OH CRAP!!!”
“Huh? What’s wrong Briana?
(B) “I’ve got to get back. My parents are going to kill me. How do I log out already?”
(E) “WAIT! Stop him.”
(M) “Isn’t it her now.”
(J) “I give up this is to confusing.”
Would you like to log out?
Yes No
(B) “Yes!”
(E) “Noooooooo!”
Elizabeth dove at me but before she could there was a flash of light and I was back on my bed in my room. The clock shows it’s only 10:00 AM. Good at least they didn’t lie about the time dilation. Time to get up I guess.
(B) “I hope that was all just a dream.”
(T) ‘You know it wan’t not lass.’
(J) ‘Yeah get done with this realm already and let's go back to adventure!’
(E) ‘How could you do this it was just getting good.’
Nope it definitely was not getting good. I hope I can avoid talk about Soul Quest Online at school or I’m going to be humiliated. Cause I’m a lost soul stuck in this realm. God I sound so stupid right now.