Aiden opened his eyes and blinked rapidly, adjusting his sight to the light around him. He sat up on his bed and yawned before stretching for a few seconds. He proceeded to get up from his bed and flip a switch turning off the ceiling lamp that was the source of the bright light hurting his eyes. “Feels like I’m still asleep….” Aiden groaned as he walked out of his bedroom and through the rest of his house, greeting his parents in the meantime. It wasn’t long before Aiden was done using the bathroom and, now fresh and well rested, headed over to the kitchen for some breakfast.

“Good morning, mom.” Said Aiden and sat down on his chair, while his mother was standing in front of the stove placing a couple of eggs and a few strips of bacon on a plate. “Morning Aiden. Did you sleep well?”. Aiden nodded and extended his hand to the other side of the table to grab a couple pieces of bread just in time for his mother to place his plate and cup of coffee in front of him. He began eating, but soon realised that he forgot to get some water. Aiden quickly stood up, opened the fridge and pulled out a nice, cold bottle full of water. He set it on the table only to see something weird: The label in the bottle was a bunch of incomprehensible and random symbols.

“Uh…Mom, mind telling me what this bottle says…I can’t see it properly.” Aiden felt uncomfortable and stood still for a second worried. -I don’t remember having any problems with my eyesight. - He looked around the kitchen but could not see his mother anywhere. “Mom? Are you here?” Then it hit him. -Hold on…I don’t live with my parents anymore. What’s going on? – Aiden felt his heart sink when he heard a sound coming from his bedroom. He grabbed a knife from the kitchen counter and quietly crept towards his room, peeking inside when he reached the open door. Inside he saw a man standing in front of his library with his hands crossed in front of him. Aiden took a wide step inside and pointed his knife at him. “Who are you and what do you want here?!” The man turned and placed both his hands in his pockets of his pyjamas. “I live here, well at least now I do. Quite the interesting place.” The man looked around for a moment ignoring Aiden’s shocked facial expression. “You-You’re me?” Aiden stepped back but didn’t lower his knife. He was scanning the man with his eyes, he saw his short, black hair, his fit but not overly muscly body structure, his white skin, shaven facial hair and every other characteristic that was exposed for him to see. Him and the mysterious man where identical, except for the eyes: Aiden’s irises were brown, while the man had blood-red.

“Done checking me out? It’s not polite staring at someone for that long.” The man said and raised his eyebrows while shaking his head from side to side. “And yeah, we do look alike.” The man grinned and took a step closer to the library. “But don’t worry! You’re you and I’m me, for now…” The stranger cleared his throat and picked a book from Aiden’s library, meanwhile, Aiden was astonished by the situation and was trying to think of what the hell happened. “You still haven’t remembered, have you? Oh well, no need to rush things. I’ll just sit here and see some memories of yours.” Aiden frowned and stared at the stranger for a second before his expression switched to that of anger. “Who the fuck are you?! I want an answer, right now! Why are we in my childhood house, why are we so similar and what are you saying about memories and stuff like that…” There was a slight pause and Aiden got closer raising his knife even higher. “Where are my parents?” He tried to sound serious and intimidate the man, but it didn’t work, at all.

The stranger looked up from the book and seemed to be disappointed by Aiden. “For the love of hell…” He rubbed his lower half of his face and sighed through his hand. “Don’t tell me I picked such a dimwit!” The stranger looked up and then back at Aiden with a face of utter disappointment, he then turned the first Lord of the Rings book around, so Aiden could take a good look at it. Aiden looked down at the book and frowned in confusion once again. The page he was looking at had a few random quotes written in actual letters, but where always changing place, creating different sentences all the time, in the middle of both pages there were two videos playing, they were of two very memorable scenes in the movie: Boromir’s death and Gandalf fighting the Balrog on the bridge of Khazad-Dum. Aiden started feeling uneasy even after the stranger had turned the book back to himself. “This book is interesting. Is that why you were so interested in that Goblin killing quest? You had these kinds of things in mind, didn’t you?” It took some time for Aiden to understand what was going on, but he had now figured out. “I remember! We’re not supposed to be here! I was going to get killed by that Goblin…” He looked around and finally lowered his knife as his face changed to that of fear. “D-Did I die down there? Duran and Traynor were not able to save me, were they?” The man closed the book and kept looking quietly at Aiden’s sorrow and regret. “This is the purgatory or hell or something! It took the appearance of some of my strongest memories! I have to live here from now on, and you’re probably an angel or something to tell me the bad news!” Aiden let his knife fall on the carpeted floor before sitting on his bed and staring at his feet. The stranger couldn’t keep it in anymore and laughed loudly for a good ten seconds. “You’re hilarious! I was correct about choosing you.” The man nodded in satisfaction, but before he could continue talking Aiden stood up and barked at him. “Who are you to be laughing at me! You’re no angel, you’re probably a demon or something…” Aiden pointed his finger at the man and then turned around. “This is hell after all!”

Aiden seemed furious but wasn’t about to get into an afterlife-fight with some supernatural being. He just walked away from the stranger and sat down in the living room couch. The stranger followed him and was now standing up right next to him. “So, you’re just going to ignore me? This is probably not a good idea, you know.” There was no response from the frustrated Aiden. “I get it, you’re mad, but I have a surprise for you…” The stranger extended his arms and smiled before revealing the surprise with a bunch of excitement in his voice, Aiden couldn’t tell if it was ironic. “You, Aiden Read, are ALIVE!” The man threw his face up as he yelled the last word. He then placed his left leg behind his right and his right hand on his heart, while keeping his left outstretched, and gave Aiden a deep and long bow. “And I am the one who saved you.” The stranger straightened up and leaned on a wall. “You can thank me anytime, I ain’t going away just yet.” Aiden stood up and looked at him frowning again. “If I’m alive, then what’s this place?” The stranger looked around for a bit. “Well, you said it’s your childhood home. It’s just a memory you have. This place isn’t the purgatory or anything like that, this is your own mind…we are inside your head… In a spiritual way, no-not physical.” Aiden was tired of this bullshit. “Okay! Just tell me what’s going on. Like, why did you save me and if I’ll be able to go back.”

The stranger smiled for a moment and stood up right walking around the room while talking. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Thar’gorol, a Demon.” Aiden seemed shocked by that comment and was about to say something but Thar’gorol gestured him to stay quiet. “You may call me Thar. As I was saying, I am a Demon, but not a traditional, boring Demon, I am a Parasite! One of the few remaining, in fact I’ve never met anyone else since my parents, they were foolish enough to try and raid a Divine temple, poor bastards. Anyway, my kin are born with no physical form, they’re spirits of sorts, and weak ones at that, but if we are lucky enough to find a host that we deem right, we jump in them and live there for some time, until we’re powerful enough to take control of their body and finally get a physical form.” Aiden then barked at Thar. “What do you mean take control of my body?! What will happen to me?!” Thar shrugged before answering. “I suppose you’ll die. It’s my first time too, anything can happen!” Aiden didn’t like that answer one bit. “Well, I don’t care! Go away now or I’ll do anything in my power to make you fuck off!” The Demon scoffed. “Alright then! The only way to get rid of me, is to kill yourself. If you are not willing to do that, I’ll just stay inside you. Don’t bother using magic, I can hide and become almost undetectable, unless you die, I will keep living.” Aiden thought about it for a second, but he decided not to do it…yet. “Why me? Why, out of all the people there, why did you pick me?” Thar sat on the couch and got comfortable. “Well, you are very queer. I had been hiding in Goblin Town for years, many years. When you came, I saw something I’d never seen before: Your Sun Aura was brand new, too new. As if you were born a few days ago... But you seemed like you’ve had a couple of decades in your life. And I was correct! Look at all of that!” Thar pointed at almost everything in the house. “I have no idea what most of them are! You are otherworldly, indeed!” Aiden sighed, stood up and sat down in one of the two armchairs to get away from Thar. “Alright, but how is this going to work? Am I going to be stuck here until you kill me and take over my body?” The Demon shook his head from side to side. “Nope, you can leave if you want to, go back to control your body. I’ll be able to see and hear everything you do, but we’ll only be able to have a chat if you come here. In the meantime, I must learn how to use all these things!” The Demon leaned towards the TV and stared at it with widened eyes, like a child seeing something they like for the first time. “Your memories will keep me busy for quite some time.”

Aiden placed both his hands over his face and took some time to think of what he wanted to do. “Well, you know that I may get killed at any moment… I am pretty weak after all.” Thar looked at Aiden and tilted his head. “Well, I don’t need you to be powerful. When I first came inside you, you were ready to do anything to save yourself. I took that opportunity and controlled your body for a split second, enough to unleash the powerful fire blast that saved your ass. If you ever find yourself in a difficult situation, I’ll be here ready to take control and save you. After all, dying would be bad for both of us.” After that final comment Aiden kept quiet and thought to himself for a bit. -I’ll just use him to get out of tight spots, but I need to find a way to get rid of him before I die. Well, I can’t seem to be able to do something about it now. – He then cleared his throat and sighed once again. “Since I don’t think I have any reason to stay here, I’ll go. See you some other time.” Aiden was now placed in a very odd position, but staying in this place wouldn’t solve anything, so he was now ready to wake up and see how things outside of him were going.

Aiden closed his eyes taking a few deep and controlled breaths. He was trying to focus on getting out of his mind. After a few moments his real body took a deep and hectic breath and began coughing as Aiden was once again behind the driving wheel. His eyes opened wide as he jumped up, sitting upright in a familiar location. Aiden was in Lord Lloyd’s house, sitting on his bed and he had his own clean clothes placed right next to him. Standing up, he took off his night-clothing and noticed that his body had a few bruises, scratches and a deep cut on his arm that was now covered in bandages. Aiden followed his morning routine and got out of his room, making his way down the staircase. He stepped inside the hall and looked at the people sitting in the main table. There was Duran with his right arm placed inside a sling hanging from his shoulder, Traynor was also sitting a few seat away, he seemed to have suffered a few bruises as well and anyone could tell he wasn’t in the best mood. “Good morning guys, are you alright?” Asked Aiden and sat down before filling a cup with some mead from a pitcher. “Aye, it’s just a cracked bone, nothing some magic and a bit of resting can’t fix!” Duran seemed to be in a good mood, like he was given a great deal of satisfaction. “What about you? You took quite the nap, lad!” Aiden drank a bit of mead and responded. “Indeed, I feel like I was in that bed for ages!” Meanwhile, Traynor was idly listening while staring at the door.

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Aiden was about to ask what he was doing, but suddenly the door was pushed open with great speed and a well-built, young female walked inside, Aiden had no idea who she was. Her clothes were casual, her blonde hair was tied in a ponytail and her eyes were blue but lighter than Traynor’s. “I swear to the gods! I am going to make your life the embodiment of misery!” The girl barked at the men while walking closer, Duran had a delighted expression on his face and Aiden was ready to jump up in case she was a threat, but Traynor stood up way quicker. “I’m sorry! I- I will be more careful next time!” Traynor was now walking away from the girl, she was shorter than him, but her eyes burnt with rage. “I’m going to shave your hair and offer them to Steelthunder for forgiveness!” She then proceeded to pull out a knife and chase Traynor around the hall before they both stormed outside.

Duran let out a loud laugh as he drank a bit from his favourite ale. “That bastard! He had it coming!” Aiden was confused by the whole situation. Honestly, he was confused for most of his time in this world. “Uh… Who was that? And why is she chasing Traynor around?” Duran looked at the door with a smile. “That’s his little sister! I believe her name is Elianor.” Duran looked back at Aiden who was ready to ask another question. “Alright, but why is she here, and why is she angry at Traynor…?” Duran drank some more before answering. “Apparently, they were supposed to come here together, but Traynor left her behind and came alone. That’s not why she’s chasing him around though. They are both from the town of Lakeview, and I’m considered a local hero by the people there.” He stopped to chuckle and drink another gulp. “I helped them kill a troll back in the day, but they only know me as Steelthunder, you should have heard how many times he apologised while we were walking back here.” Aiden smiled as he realised what had happened. “And now his sister is mad at him for leaving her behind and disrespecting a local hero.” Duran nodded and stood up with a smile on his face. “Traynor wasn’t a proper guest and luck has now come around to bite his ass. Although I think I’m forgetting something as well, Kogarah does sound familiar the more I think about it.” Aiden drank some of his mead and placed the cup down before standing up as well. “Don’t you think we should do something about Traynor and his sister?” Duran was walking towards the staircase so he could go back to his room and rest. “If you want to, you can go. Personally, I wouldn’t mind letting this go on for a few more hours!” He then laughed and walked up the stairs heading over to his room. Aiden quickly drank the rest of his mead and walked out of Lloyd’s house.

Aiden was now walking down the main dirt-road while looking around to see where the siblings had gone. Eventually he heard some steps and turned around, there was Elianor panting still holding the knife. “Where is my stupid brother?! Have you seen him?!” Aiden was quite intimidated and shook his head from side to side while taking a step back. “Tch! I guess I’ll have to go around the whole town to find him!” She was about to turn around and leave but Aiden reached out to stop her. “There is no need to do that.” He gulped and let go of her as soon as she saw her murderous gaze once again. “Duran has forgiven Traynor, you don’t have to go after him.” Elianor squinted her eyes and leaned towards Aiden. Her shorter figure had no diminishing effect on her ability to be scary, Aiden couldn’t help but take another step back. “You were sitting in the hall as well, weren’t you? Are you someone acquainted with Steelthunder?” Aiden nodded and did his best to put a friendly smile on his face. “I’m Aiden Read, Steelthunder’s prodigy. We have been training together for about ten days now. I was also part of the Goblin expedition!” He nodded nervously as he talked. Elianor raised her eyebrows as her expression changed. “Oh! Is that true? Well I’m Elianor, an adventurer in training! Although hoping to learn anything from my brother seems to be a total waste of time.” As Elianor changed her look, Aiden felt a weight being lifted from him. - Was she using Intimidation magic? It wasn’t as bad as the last time. – Aiden sighed. “He seemed pretty skilled when facing the Goblins…” Aiden stopped talking as he noticed that behind Elianor there was Traynor, trying to sneak back inside Lloyd’s house. Once he saw Aiden looking at him, Traynor started quietly begging him not to tell his sister, but Elianor seemed to be suspicious. “What are you looking at? Is there something behind me?” She was about to turn around, but Aiden decided to let Traynor escape, they did fight together, as comrades, after all. Aiden grabbed Elianor by her shoulders and looked at her straight in the eye, she didn’t even try to turn around and just frowned before stepping back and slapping Aiden’s hands away. “What do you think you’re doing?!” Aiden peeked behind her and noticed that Traynor was now gone, but he now needed to think of something fast. “Uh… I wanted to tell you a very exciting idea! I see that you’re a very capable girl! How about I talk to Duran and have him train you as well?” Elianor’s face changed once again and this time she smiled widely at Aiden and her eyes brightened. “Really?! You’d do something like that?!” Aiden gulped, he had no idea if he could do something like that. “Well… I can try…” As soon as he said that Elianor made a high-pitched sound of pure excitement and, with surprising speed, dashed forward and hugged Aiden tightly. “Thank you!!” She then let go of Aiden and before he could even respond she looked around. “I have to make sure my equipment is ready!” And as she exclaimed that, she began running towards the inn.

Aiden was left standing in the middle of the road with a few townspeople looking at him. He was ready to head off to Lloyd’s house, but saw Lin coming out of the inn shortly after Elianor entered. She was holding a bottle full of rhubarb mead and had a slightly confused expression on her face, possibly because of the rushing Elianor. She then turned her head towards the road and noticed Aiden who had put on a friendly smile to greet her. “Greetings Lin, I was wondering where you’ve been.” He was about to ask her if she was alright, but she took a few large steps towards him and seemed to be worried. “Aiden! Are you alright? Is there a reason you are not in your chamber?” He leaned back a bit as Lin got closer to him and glared at his face to see if he was okay. “Well, I woke up a while ago and had a chat with Duran. Then Traynor was being chased by his sister so I decided to help him a bit.” The elf didn’t seem particularly happy about this story. “Duran! I thought I specifically instructed him to not let you out of his sight in case you woke up!” She seemed to be furious, Aiden hadn’t seen her like that before. “I-it’s alright… I feel fi…” He was interrupted when Lin placed her cold, from the bottle, hand on his forehead. “Feeling fine is not an acceptable excuse. You were unconscious for more than an entire day!” She removed her hand and stepped back. “I still have some business to take care of. Please, go back to the household and rest until I come back to make sure your wounds are being healed properly.” Aiden rolled his eyes and nodded. “Alright, fine. I’m going to stay in my room and wait for you.” Lin smiled at Aiden’s cooperation and they both said goodbye to each other before walking away.

Aiden stepped inside the household and looked around to find Traynor and Duran. They weren’t at the table, but he noticed they were standing outside Duran’s room while chatting. He quickly climbed up the stairs and joined their conversation after a short greeting. Apparently, they were talking about the probability of any Goblins surviving and if there is a chance Pinewood should prepare for a raid. The verdict was that the guards would be notified, and security would be tightened, but it is highly improbable that any Goblins attack. Aiden was just listening to them for a few minutes without saying anything. When they were finally done, he cleared his throat and spoke. “Well, it is definitely good news that the Goblins are gone…for now at least.” His opening was enough to get the attention of both men. “Indeed lad, and you weren’t half bad for your first quest. I can’t wait to see what we can do now that your Sun Aura has been activated!” Duran seemed to have remained in a jolly mood. Aiden fidgeted with his hands a bit and cleared his throat once again. “Yeah… about that. I have a favour to ask… and Traynor, you should listen as well.” Aiden proceeded to explain to the men what happened outside the inn. Duran frowned in thought and caressed his beard with his uninjured hand. Traynor looked at Aiden and his mentor with a glint in his eyes. “That’s a great idea! I am perfectly fine with having you train my sister!” Steelthunder looked at Traynor who had now placed his hand on his shoulder as a friendly gesture. “Besides, I don’t think having her around me is any good. Half the time I’m scared to accept dangerous jobs because of her.” After Traynor was done talking, Aiden saw Duran turning to him as if he wanted a second opinion. He shrugged and after a bit of thought Steelthunder finally answered. “I am going to accept,” Traynor smiled and was about to thank Duran, but he lifted one of his fingers to prevent him from talking. “but only because I feel bad for an adventurer to have you as their teacher.” The final remark hurt Traynor’s pride a bit, it was way worse coming from one of their local heroes. The professional simply nodded and sighed. “I suppose I don’t have much else to do here. Lin said that my injuries are all healed, so I’m good to go.” He took a few steps towards one of his guest rooms he was currently using. “I’ll get ready, get a good night’s sleep and head off tomorrow at dawn.”

Aiden and Duran nodded farewell to Traynor before he retreated inside his chamber. As soon as Traynor left Duran let out a massive yawn and took a step inside his room. “I’ll be going now as well. I’ll rest my arm for a day or two and then we’ll resume our training. In the meantime, I suggest you don’t overwork yourself.” Aiden nodded in agreement and yawned as well. “Don’t worry sir, I’ll rest as much as I need to.” The two men said goodnight to each other and parted.

Aiden went back inside his room and sat on his bed thinking about his experience in Goblin Town and the Parasite he is unlucky enough to host. He was, honestly, pretty sick of being surrounded by people way more powerful than him. -Maybe, this Demon helps me grow, become a hero or a legendary adventurer! – Aiden shut his eyes tight and then reopened them. He tried to snap some sense into his thoughts. There was no way he would risk using the powers of a Demon that is eager to take control of his body and mind. Although, he was feeling something flaming inside him, as if a wildfire was burning up his soul. -Is that the feeling of magic? – Aiden had never felt something like that before. It was the feeling of having a brand-new world and powers to learn and use. Of course, he was late to get a grasp of his situation, in fact, he felt hopeless… The vastness of this new frontier was intimidating to say the least. He was just trying to go with the flow and follow his days until luck got him out of this situation, but there was something else driving him forward now. Aiden had finally found ambition. He decided to set a goal, a very unrealistic one, something he dreamed of since he was a child. Aiden had a faint smile on his face while thinking of a future where he was someone important, someone strong. A hero that had songs written for him, theatrical plays and stories of his adventures, kings that payed respect to him and enemies that bent their knee in front of him. He wanted that. Aiden already had enough knowledge on subjects that remained the same between dimensions to be on the same level as the people provided with high-end education, so he could focus in growing physically and spiritually. -But… how am I supposed to do that? – Aiden brought himself back to reality to re-evaluate his current position. He thought for a moment and decided to share part of his ambition with his mentor. -Duran was an adventurer I believe, he ought to understand my desire! Tomorrow I’ll talk to him. – With that final thought Aiden laid on his back and stared at the wooden ceiling for a few more minutes. -Lin hasn’t arrived yet… I’m getting tired. – He wasn’t able to have another thought and fell asleep earlier than usual, unsure of what had gotten into him and fuelled his ambition.

Chapter 6: The Catalyst.

END