I was tense for a minute as I tried to take in what was in front of me. It was obvious that this was some kind of dimension that I hadn’t been to before and, based on what Mom and Dad told me, it was very possible that this guy was the one who brought me here. Something else that was strange was the fact that he sounded like me, at least a little bit. I went to put my hands in my pockets thinking that I still had the gym shorts on but I found that I was in a nice pair of black jeans with a Carhart jacket on. The T-shirt I was wearing was also completely black. Had this guy given me clothes as well? “Ok. This is certainly interesting. What is this?” I meant it to be a blanket question so that I could possible get a better grip on what was going on. I needed to get back home as fast as possible.

The man smirked, “It’ll take a bit to get used to, but I’ll explain everything, in time.” He turned away and started walking into the desert like he was going for an afternoon stroll. “Mind if we take a walk while I do so?”

What was up with this guy? Was he from a different time as well? Who spoke like that? I relented to the questions in my head and started following him. “Sure, as long as you tell me who you are?” I tried to make it seem like I was trying to start a casual conversation but it was a question that I absolutely needed answered. Until I figured out a way to get out of here, I had to get as much information as I could.

The man chuckled, “Oh, yes that would be helpful in explaining things as well.” He extended a hand to me with a smile that seemed genuine. “I’m you.”

I stopped where I was. What the hell did he mean by that? Was there a copy of every person in each of the dimensions or something? That would make sense with the multi-dimensions theory, but he seemed to be older than I was. I slowly extended my hand out until we were shaking hands, “Alright, nice to meet … me?” I honestly wasn’t sure how I should respond to such an answer.

The man chuckled again, “I’m only a figment of yourself in your head. An idea of what you will look like in the future.” He spread his hands out with that smile again. “This is your dream world. Everything here is under your complete control.” He bowed at the waist and placed a hand over his heart. “I am simply an image created to ease you into the place.”

Ok, now I was even more confused. This was my dream world? Was it like a constant lucid dream or something? I shook my head as I had to fight the urge to ask all the questions that were building up. Was there ever going to be a time that I didn’t have a question from now on? “Ok, I guess that makes some sense.” I looked around us, only finding the massive white desert in every direction. “However, what exactly is this dream world?”

The other me started walking again, so I followed along just behind him, like he was giving me a tour. “For starters, time runs a little differently here. Time can run as fast as your brain can calculate. If you want an actual figure to go by, with all of your concentration, you could make it so that time passed …” He tapped his chin like he was trying to figure out what the best number would be. I was expecting something like a thousand times faster, which would have made sense with my higher brain function. “One hundred thousand times faster than the time outside of here.” He was all smiles as the blood drained from my face. Just how fast was the calculation ability of my brain now? That was an outrageous number. That would mean that a single second could be over half of a month in here. What he said next dragged me out of my stupor. “So, you’ll have plenty of time to fuck around in here. Another fact is that your imagination is the only limit here. You can build anything that you wish, so don’t hold back.” He suddenly stopped and held out a hand over the sand. “As an example, here is something you have dreamed about before.” As he finished, a motorcycle that I’d seen in the window of a shop rolled up and he sat down on it. “Care to join?” He shot me a smirk like he was testing me.

I personally didn’t like that, but it was something that I would have to know if I was going to use this place effectively. I imagined a Harley that I’d seen on a TV show, and it rolled up, just like I had pictured it. The barrel of metal around the engine was in the design of a skull and the handles were ape hanger style. I sat down on it with a smile. He had been right. I’d always wanted one of these, ever since I saw one in seventh grade. “Wow.” It was all I had to say in response as I revved the engine.

I looked over at the copy of me and it seemed like he had the same idea as me. We both took off like a bat out of hell. All I could do was smile with the experience. As we raced across the desert, I thought about what it would be like to do a cross-country ride on one of these. That thought alone brought a highway into existence beneath us. I saw the copy of me smile with the fact that I was getting the hang of things in here. Then the desert started to shift and change to my whim. Grass fields sprouted out from the highway and the flat landscape of the desert rose and formed rolling hills into the distance. As I continued to think, everything around us slowly shifted along, until a city began to rise in front of us. It was a towering view from this distance. It wasn’t until we actual got to the first buildings that we started to slow down. We brought it down to a nice cruising speed.

When I notice my copy nod off to the side of the road, we pulled off the road and parked the bikes. It was interesting to see a city that was easily recognizable but know that this was the first time that I’d ever been here. Why did it feel so familiar? There was also something strange about the place. There were gyms, cafés, restaurants, and all manner of shops around, just as I had imagined. Then it seemed to hit me like a truck. “Where are all the people?” My copy didn’t have to answer. As I said the question, people started to appear out of thin air. It was like I had breathed life into an abandoned city.

I turned to see that my copy was completely surprised. “You sure do learn quickly, don’t you?” I was scratching my head as I tried to figure out how fast I could build a country or even an entire world in here. Then the copy place a hand on my shoulder with a smile, “It looks like I’m no longer needed. Please enjoy your world and feel free to make into an entity here, but for now …” He seemed to trail off as if something was distracting him but there wasn’t anything from what I could tell. Then his eyes grew and I could feel rage and fear grip my shoulder. “You need to go, NOW!!”

There was a blinding light from all around and I found myself sweating in my bed. Kerana was growling at the door and I could hear light sounds coming from the main house. It sounded like footsteps, but they weren’t any that I could recognize. Then I heard the sound of a blade slicing across flesh. I didn’t hesitate to leap right through the wall behind my bed. It shattered like a simple window before my strength. I could still hear my parents heart beats but they were faint and fading quickly. There was another heart beat that started to quicken as I lept through the wall that led to my parents room. I was expecting to find someone robbing us, but what I actually found was far worse than I could have imagined.

Mom and Dad lay in their bed, their throats slit by a knife. My Mom’s hand slowly rose toward me and I knelt on her side of the bed. “Take … care of … Austin.” She said through half closed eyes.

Tears were already falling from my face as I was about to answer. Then her hand went limp and her heart stopped beating. I had already heart the last beat of my father’s. How could this have happened? Mom and Dad were fighters from another dimension. Then my hearing picked up the quick footsteps of someone running across the fields out front. My rage took over. It was him! I ran through the opposite wall and found the culprit dashing through the tall grass. As it chased after him, his head turned and for the briefest moment, I saw a smirk on his face. It seemed like he thought that he’d gotten away with this heinous act. The moment he saw me, however, I could hear his heart skip a beat and I saw fear on his face. Then fire seemed to shoot from his hands and feet, propelling him into the air.

Was that magic? No matter, I wasn’t going to let him escape with just that. He was picking up altitude, but not fast enough to get away from me. I squatted with my new strength and launched myself into the air after him. I saw him glance over his shoulder again just in time to see me grab onto his ankle. He released a blood curdling scream as I started swinging him around in the air. “WHY!!???” I demanded from him as I let him go soaring through the air below me. What I hadn’t realized was that I had thrown him directly at the ongoing football game at my school.

Austin Conwell

I was at yet another football game with my best friend, Jade. We were in the front row of the bleachers because we’d shown up early just for that. The purpose was so that we could talk to our other friends that were on the cheerleading team. It was a home game, so they were the ones who had the most time during breaks. The teams were in a huddle right then actually. I could hear the head coach scolding the team because they had let the opponents steal a touchdown during one of the kickoffs. All the while, the bleachers were filled with the sound of school spirit, singing along with the cheer squad.

I was cheering along with everyone else, until we all saw a light appear in the sky. It looked like something on fire was plummeting toward the field. “Hey, what’s that? Were there going to be fireworks?” I nudged Jade as we both looked at it.

Jade seemed just as confused as I was. “No, I’m apart of the prep team, so I would have been told about that.” We both squinted as we tried to figure out what it was. That was when the coaches shouted for their teams to take cover and screamed for the cheer squads to get off the field. It looked like it was headed for the center line.

We all braced ourselves for the impact of whatever it was, but I could have sworn that I heard screaming coming from whatever it was. There was no way that was a person, right? Just as I had that thought, it impacted the center line. The shockwave blasted the coaches off their feet and everyone around me started to panic. In the blast of dust there was a second impact that was worse than the last. We could hear the ground crack deafeningly from that impact. It also shook the bleachers. People were climbing over each other trying to get out of the bleachers and I heard screaming from the cheer team. I could barely make out the football players running into the tunnels that led to the locker rooms. There was something about this that didn’t make any sense though. Had that been a person that blasted into the ground?

The dust started to settle and as I was being led along by Jade, who had grabbed my arm, I saw something get thrown from the small crater that was still filled with a cloud of dust. I heard a thud by the goal post and looked to see a man crumple to the ground. He was covered in blood and limp as he sat on the ground, supported by only the goal post. My blood ran cold with the thoughts of what was going on. I was a massive nerd when it came to things in space. So, naturally, my first thought was, “Aliens were fighting it out in our football field.”

Then I looked back at the crater to see a massive man step out of the cloud of dust. There was something familiar about him though. What was so familiar? I would have remembered seeing someone like him before. That unkept hair and those dangerous piercing eyes, I’d seen them before somewhere. Wait a minute. “Seth?” I just said the words out loud, but it solidified in my head. What had happened? I’d never seen him so mad and what had happened to him? Why did he look like that? I didn’t get to find out as Jade shoved me into her car and we left the football field as fast as Jade could drive.

Seth Conwell

Every one of my muscles was bunched up with the rage that had filled me. I’d kicked the man in the chest after landing next to him. When I stepped out of the crater, my eyes fell upon the crumpled body of the man that killed my parents. My fists were clenched, and my jaw was locked as I started walking toward him. I was going to find out why he had done such a thing, but after that I was going to kill him. I’d never killed anyone before, but this was certainly going to be the first person. No one was going to get away with killing my family.

I was about halfway to the man when a griffin landed in front of me. What the hell was a beast of legend doing in front of me? Then the griffon morphed into a man in a grey suit that had a badge I’d never seen before on his chest. He took the badge out and put it at arm’s length like a cop that was about to tell me to back off. “That man stands accused of multiple homicide and he is my prisoner!” He shouted at me. What was he going to do? Put this murderer on trial? Fuck that. I continued walking toward the man and the griffin man started shaking with what I would expect to be fear. “I will be the one to take him in!”

That was when a woman in what looked to be leather armor landed by shoulder checking him. “No, he’s mine!” She threw a shield my way and tried to sprint for the man that I was after.

I couldn’t have that. I moved faster than I ever had before. The dust and everything that was around me wasn’t just slowed down. It was like I had completely stopped time. I stopped just in front of her and hit her in the stomach. Time started moving again and she went flying into the bleachers, blood shooting out of her mouth. It was lucky that all of the people from the game had made it out already. I turned around and started walking toward the man from before. I only took two steps before the two of them got in my way again.

The griffin man went to a knee and presented his badge again. “My name is Moss Griffin! I’m a deputy of the Interdimensional Police Force! I know that you’ve probably never heard of them, but they represent justice throughout all of the dimensions!” I stopped at the mention of the dimensions. What ever this force was must have quite the influence if they had authority throughout all of the dimensions. Moss breathed a sigh as he saw me stop. “Now, this man’s name is Galec and he’s slaughtered at least five families in the past year alone, according to our records.” He stood up and started backing toward the body, but a glare from me made him freeze. That was when I saw his vision lower from my face and his eyes widened. Before I could tell what he was looking at, he fell to a knee again and placed a hand across his heart. “I apologize for my rudeness. I didn’t know that I was addressing The Bringer of Change!”

I was confused by his reaction until I saw that the woman had also dropped to a knee. Her previously aggressive demeanor was one of servitude. What the hell was going on. I know Mom and Dad said that I was an important person throughout the dimensions but just how important was I? For two people, who had just been fighting me over who had the authority to take this Galec, now were bowing before me like I was some lord. “Why the hell are you your knees now?” I was so dumbfounded that some of my rage gave way. I noticed that Galec was trying to crawl away, so I threw the shield that I’d caught at his head. There was a thud and he went limp again. I’m not going to let you get away you son of a bitch.

After waiting for me to turn back to them, Moss stood and bowed. “I pledge my soul to help you in your endeavor.” He clasped his hands behind his back in a form of parade rest, like he was waiting for orders.

The woman shot to her feet after that, planting a fist over her heart. Then she held out that same arm to me. “With the clasp of the arm, we will be bound together, and my soul will be yours to command.” I was so confused that I was too slow to resist her lunge as she forcibly clasp my arm and I felt a magnetic force descend on my arm. Then it was gone and she nodded her head, falling into the same position as Moss.

What the hell was going on? Was this going to be a regular thing? I’d have to ask them some questions before heading home. “Hang on a minute while I go deal with that fucker.” I teleported to where Galec was lying and lifted him up by the back of his cloak. He was completely unconscious. I grimaced. This was much too public of a place to torture someone. I’d have to take him back home where there wasn’t anyone. That realization just made me even more pissed. I teleported back to the two want-a-be cops and looked them over. Then I looked at Moss. “Since you were following this guy, do you know where my house is?”

Moss nodded his head, “Yes, sir.”

I shook my head with the sir stuff. “Then take her to my house.” Then I realized something else, “Hey, what’s your name?” I was looking at the woman then. I’d failed to get her name, so if this weird little gang was going to stay together, I needed to know it.

She stood strong, “My name is Anne. I am a Godling from the lower dimensions.” She said it like she was answering her commanding officer. What the hell was with these two?

“Godling? I’ll have to ask you about that one.” I shouldered Galec and started jogging out of the field. I could hear the two of them take flight behind me. That was when I realized that I could feel a dark presence that was observing me. It was strange. I could feel something like death, but it wasn’t evil just dark and sort of foreboding. I stopped just outside of the fence line, when I saw that a football player was leaned up against the fence. “Who are you?” If my senses were correct, then that dark presence was coming from thig guy. He wasn’t overly intimidating, just big, kind of like me now.

He bounced himself off the fence and chuckled, “I’m Boris Schmidt.” He held out his hand to me with a smile and I finally saw his face, which was a bit unsettling. He had completely black eyes and the complexion of his skin was sickeningly pale. “I would like to join you on your quest.”

Quest, not adventure? Why the hell was so much stuff happening so fast? It was a bit of a relief that I didn’t have another person kneeling before me to pledge themselves, but this was still too fast. “Why should I let a complete stranger who’s only told me their name into this?” I needed to be more defensive. Based on what Mom and Dad said, there were some very powerful people that would be after me now.

Boris lowered his hands with a smirk, “That’s a good question and a valid one. I have a bit of an interesting history throughout the dimensions and I know that, if I stick with you, I’ll get a chance to get back at someone I’m not powerful enough to face quite yet. Is that a satisfactory answer for you?” He seemed to be telling the truth, but only time would tell if I was about to make the wrong decision.

“Follow along if you want, but I don’t trust you yet.” I sighed and started jogging along the tree line instead of the roads. “By the way, is everyone I meet from another dimension going to try and join me?” This was getting ridiculous. If everyone I met wanted to join my cause, whatever that was, this was going to be dangerous.

Boris jogged along beside me, “Sorry but that’s pretty much going to be the norm. You’re going to have that problem for the rest of your unnatural life.” I saw him rub his chin a bit before looking at me with that smirk again. “Do you know what the other dimensions are like yet?”

I just shook my head. “Has my whole life gone topsy turvy?”

Boris laughed whole heartedly, “Yep, basically.”

I hoped that I wouldn’t lose myself in the depths of information that I was going to have to learn about the world. I knew that some things I knew were still valid, like human anatomy, history as far as my dimension was concerned, and that English was a common language even in the other dimensions. I needed to sit down with this, Boris, and the other two so that I could get more information about what was going on. “Think that you can keep up if I pickup the pace?” I needed to get this done fast.

Boris sighed, “I guess I have no choice.”

I took off at full speed, stopping time once again. When I looked over my shoulder, I saw that Boris had started to sink into his shadow. So, that was one of his abilities? If he could use shadows as transportation, then there must be a whole lot more that he could do with them. It didn’t take long for me to get to the front door of the house. I stopped at the door, knowing that I would have to face the reality that living here was never going to be the same. I was never going to get to eat my Dad’s stroganoff again. I wasn’t going to get to play boardgames with the whole family ever again. In one night, my entire life had taken a drastic turn.

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

I pulled the front door open and strode past the dining room and the kitchen, heading up the few steps that led to the living room. Dropping Galec’s still unconscious form onto the floor, I sat on the couch and stared at him. He wasn’t all that extraordinary. He had black hair and wore simple clothing, but I knew that looks could be deceiving. He’d used something that looked like fire magic, if magic was a common thing in the lower dimensions. I didn’t not believe it but to see it for the first time was a little unsettling. Another thing that I noticed was that, even though a lot of his bones were broken, he body was slowly healing. That was good in my eyes because it meant that I could keep him alive to get information from him. I didn’t believe that this murderer simply killed my parents for sport on the day that I received my powers, that was too much of a coincidence.

At the edge of my vision, I saw a shadow slide up the stairs and Boris emerged from it, now out of his football uniform. He wore a suit that was completely black with a long trench coat and bright white sneakers. That seemed like an odd fashion choice for someone that could control shadows. He looked down at Galec as he put his hands in his pockets. “I’m guessing this guy isn’t going to be happy when he wakes up.”

It was such a simple statement of fact that I chuckled, “No, he’s definitely not going to be happy.” Then a coldness took me over as some of my rage returned. “Because I’m going to be killing him after I ask him some questions.” I was sitting perfectly still on the couch but I could tell that I unsettled Boris. I could feel that he knew I was being completely serious. He slowly walked over to the opposite end of the couch and took a seat. I turned to him with a question on my mind. “So, what that interesting history that you were talking about?”

Boris cleared his throat and smirked, “That would be a good start to explaining why I want to join you.” He looked up to the ceiling as he got ready to answer my question. “I am one of the many sons of Hades, and one of the only blood relatives of Death himself. That’s the long-short of it.” He scratched his head as he seemed to want to tell me more.

“If your father is Hades, the god of the Underworld, and your brother is Death, who is your mother?” It was a simple question to me, but it seemed like it wasn’t so simple for Boris. He had sat upright and was scowling at the floor. That was the reaction that I’d been hoping for. Everyone has something to hide and something that they want to protect or save. It looked like Boris had a want to protect his mother.

“Why do you want to know about my mother?” His jaw was clenched and his fists were balled up on the couch cushion.

That gave me enough of an answer to know that he was at least being honest with me. “Nothing really. I was just hoping that you weren’t the perfect spy that came to infiltrate the group that would seem to form around me.” I’d decided to give up on doing things by myself. No matter how powerful I became, there were probably more powerful people throughout the dimensions, not to mention the gods themselves. I wouldn’t let anyone off the street join my cause, but I would need allies.

Boris interrupted my thoughts with outright laughter, “Wow! You’re that calculative even though you’re what … fifteen?” He relaxed back on the couch and placed his hands behind his head. “I honestly can’t wait to see what you can accomplish.”

That confirmed it, Boris was just an observer, for now. Based on his attitude alone, he seemed to be waiting to see something. The second I had that thought, there was a loud noise from the front door, like it had just been broken down. I was going to investigate but Moss and Anne came barreling into the kitchen. They stopped grappling when they saw me, opting to stand facing away from each other. Just looking them over, I could tell that they had been fighting. Moss had a hoodie on now and the hood completely covered his face. Anne had her arms crossed in a failed attempt to hide claw marks that were on her chest and forearms. If they were just going to fight each other all the time they were going to be a liability.

“If you guys aren’t going to get along, get lost.” I stood from the couch and strode down to where they stood defiantly. “Moss, take your hood off and uncross your arms Anne. They shared a worried glance before doing as they were told, and I saw the full extent of what had happened. Moss had a broken nose and two black eyes. Anne had foot long claw marks on her forearms and chest. They didn’t look too deep so there wouldn’t be any permanent damage. As I looked them over, they continued to share worried and scornful glances. I just crossed my arms, “Ok, give me one good reasons why I shouldn’t just kick you guys out of here right now.” It was time to hear their excuses.

Anne was the one to start by shouting, “I can’t stand him! He’s rude and doesn’t know his place!”

Moss was still calm and collected but I could tell that he was just as angry as Anne. “She is entirely intolerable. She has no edict whatsoever.” He crossed his arms as he scoffed.

Anne pointed at him accusingly, “You see! He can’t say a thing without being condescending!” She also crossed her arms and gave Moss the cold shoulder.

Moss chuckled and clapped in a mocking gesture, “Oh, condescending, I think that’s the largest word I’ve heard you say, congratulations!”

Anne turned with rage in her eyes, “You want more broken bones in that face of yours pigeon!?” She put up her fists to start a fight.

Moss began morphing into a griffin and snarled, “You take that back! Don’t compare me to that poultry! You want more claw marks to add to your collection?!”

These two were acting like children. I was curious as to why they were so against each other but that would have to wait. I took a small breath and shouted at the top of my lungs. “QUIET!!” They both clamped their hands over their ears and were shivering before me. All I could do was grimace. “Look, if you guys really want to come with me on this grand adventure, you’ll shake hands and leave it at that.” I shouldered past them and strode through the bathroom that led to my parents’ bedroom. Just as I grabbed the doorknob, there was a loud blasting sound and I turned to see what looked like smoke coming from the living room.

When I opened the door to the kitchen, Anne, Moss, and Boris were on the ground. I could still hear their hearts beating, even though Boris’ was weird to listen to. Galec was standing in the middle of the living room dusting himself off. From the looks of it, all of his bones had healed. Then he turned to find me and a smile came to his face. “Ah, there you are. You scared the shit out of me that firs time. Now, I get to finish off the whole family.” He raised his hands with a maniacal grin on his face that annoyed the shit out of me.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but my emotions influenced my surroundings. My rage had taken over and the only thing on my mind was killing the man in front of me. The result was the fire on his hands going out and some kind of gravitational force planting him on his knees. I slowly walked up to him with my fists clenched and a glare on my face. By the terror in his eyes, I could tell that I was quite frightening. “For starters, if you thought that after killing me you would have taken care of the whole family, you’re dumber than I thought. Second, you will not be leaving here alive or even in one piece.” He was sweating as I gripped his neck and lifted him off the ground. “Third, you are going to answer my questions.”

A look of complete panic came over his face as I explained what was about to happen. “What the hell is this?” He vainly tried to rest my grip from his throat as he tried to escape. “He said that this was going to be just as easy as the others! This isn’t what I took the contract for!”

I walked with him held out in front of me through the door that led to the porch. The door blew to splinters along with the glass wall that made up the rest of the opening. I brought him close to my face as I started my questioning. “Who said that to you? If you don’t answer in the next three seconds, I’ll squeeze the life out of you.” I’d never killed anyone before but that wasn’t going to hold me back. Galec had destroyed the only thing that I held dear and he was going to pay for it.

“The King of Darkness!” He shouted frantically. “The ruler of Sempa! The Dark King!” He was rattling off what I could only assume were nicknames of a very evil person. “King Zan! I told you, so let me live, please!!” He was crying now, out of sheer terror.

“I already told you that you weren’t going to get out of here alive.” I squeezed with all my might and felt his neck crumble in my hands. There was a resounding snap, and his head went limp falling back, lifeless. I let go and his corpse thudded to the ground like a sack of potatoes. I looked down at my hand and trembled. I had now killed a man, one that deserved it, but that didn’t change the fact that I had killed. The thing that confused me was that I felt nothing from the event. It was like I had simply righted a wrong, nothing else. I looked back to the living room and saw that no one had woken up yet.

Based on what I had seen, Galec had used a massive blast of flames to diminish the amount of oxygen in the air, causing everyone to loose consciousness. I scratched my head with the realization. The I face palmed myself. What was happening to me? My mind was moving far faster than it had before and it was coldly emotionless in it’s decision making. I was calculating everything that I could see. “What exactly is going on?”

“You have become the most powerful being on the planet.” Elania said from behind me. As I sat back down on the soot covered couch, she floated in front of me and leaned down like she was speaking to a child. “You are now an immortal being in the full sense of the word, with that comes certain perks. Your mind now has the ability to predict the future or the past. Needless to say, it will take some time to get used to.” She looked over the three unconscious figures and chuckled, “I see that some of your followers have already arrived. Take good care of them, will you?” Then she disappeared once again.

Why was Elania like that? She just showed up whenever she wanted to drop bits of advice now. As I thought about that, Boris stirred in his slumber. He gripped his forehead with a grimace. “That was rather unpleasant.” He went to sit up and nearly rolled over with the shaking that came. Then he laid back down. “That was a terrible idea.”

Maybe Boris would have an answer to the question that was rattling around in my head. “Who is King Zan?”

Boris turned his head to me with a quizzical look in his eyes. “Could you repeat that question?”

I said each word with emphasis, “Who. Is. King. Zan?” It was the only thing that I wanted answered right now.

Boris slowly sat up to a seated position and groaned, “I was afraid that was your question. I think it’s best if that morpher was the one to answer. He probably has more information than I do.” He shakily got to his feet and slumped onto the couch, staring at the ceiling. “Those two are going to freak out when they wake up.”

I sat patiently with my hands clasped under my chin. Now that Galec was out of the way, there wasn’t any danger. Since he didn’t even know that I had a sister, Austin probably wasn’t in any danger either. I would wait to hear what Moss had to say. It didn’t take long, because they both started to wake up just after I was thinking about Austin. Moss groggily swung his hands around with talons for fingers while Anne shot to her feet with his fists up. They were both confused by the scene before them. I couldn’t blame them. They’d been attacked to find out that not only had the assailant been dealt with but both myself and Boris were completely calm.

Moss stepped up to me with worry in his eyes, “Why do I get the feeling that you don’t have any good news?” It was a valid question. I was probably scowling at the wall as far as he could tell.

Boris leaned back on the couch and chuckled, “Go ahead, ask him your question, Seth.” It didn’t sit well with me that Boris already knew my name, but it also wasn’t all that surprising.

I stared Moss in the eyes as I asked my question. “Who is King Zan?”

I saw the life drain from his face as realization crossed his face. “Only the most powerful being in the world. He’s one of the dimensional rulers. However, unlike the rest of the rulers, who were put in their positions by the gods, Zan killed the ruler of Sempa and took his place. It’s been a dimension of criminals ever since. If he says jump, the ancient kings of Egypt would jump right out of their sarcophagus.” He flopped onto his back with a grimace. “It’s a good thing that you’re The Bringer of Change, because you’re rumored to be the only one who can take him in a fight.”

Anne seemed to pout as she heard Moss’s explanation, “Just this once, I agree with bird brain. He’s not just a dangerous individual, he’s a danger to all of the dimensions.” She looked down at the floor after that. It seemed like she was holding something back, which I didn’t see a problem with. If everyone who met me simply started telling me their life story, I’d think that they were all out to get me.

Since Moss and Anne fell silent after their explanations, I opted to change the subject. “What can you tell me about Galec?” As I asked the question, there was a scratching at the porch. When I looked, I found Kerana peeking her head up from the other side of the porch. I waved her over and she came to sit next to me with her ear down. I guess she could probably feel the rage that I was holding in, as well as the sadness.

Moss was the one who actually pulled out a piece of paper to start talking about Galec. “Galec Carson, age twenty-nine, confirmed as the murderer of four families throughout different dimensions. It’s also been confirmed that he works solo. It wasn’t until recently that the IDF found out that he has been working under someone. However, even the higherups couldn’t figure out who it was. To think that he’s been working for the Dark King, that’s going to be a problem. I don’t know whether to be happy or terrified by that particular bit of information.” He sighed as he folded the paper back up and placed it in his pocket. Then he looked up at me with something that I’d seen before, hope. “I’m pretty glad that you’re the real deal. There have been more than a few people that the IDF have investigated in the past only to find that they were imposters. There isn’t a doubt in my head that you aren’t the real thing, because of that.” He pointed at my chest, where the molten infinity symbol still pulsed with my heartbeat.

I looked down at it once again. I’d simply accepted it as a part of me now. “What makes this so special? Even with my limited knowledge of magic, that hasn’t even been confirmed yet, something like this shouldn’t be that difficult to imitate.” Which was true. Based on what I knew about the many magic systems that were in the light novels and fantasy series that I’ve read, illusion magic would be only one of the simple ways to make this appear to be real.

Moss leaned on his arms with a sigh, “Although that may be true, yours is different. There isn’t enough magic in this dimension to make something like that appear. Also, with the amount of power that it’s pulsing with couldn’t even be found on some of the lower dimensions.” He chuckled as he stated it, almost like he couldn’t believe his own words. “That right there is the genuine article.”

Anne was nodding her head while Boris was just continuing to relax. Well, I didn’t really need confirmation, but it was comforting. It also solidified just how much people in other dimensions knew about me. I looked back to the bathroom and grimaced with the thought of what I was going to have to do now. I stood and strode over to the top of the stairs. “Please stay in here while I take care of things around the house.” I called back to them as Kerana got up and started following me.

“What things are you doing?” Anne asked as she stood up to follow me. She froze when I held out a hand.

“I am going to be cleaning up the mess that Galec made, please let me do so alone.” I heard her sit back down as I strode through the bathroom with Kerana.

“Master, who are those people?” Kerana asked as we made our way through the bathroom. “They smell funny. Especially that guy on the couch. It’s almost like he doesn’t have a scent.”

I stopped at the door to my parent’s room and sighed, “They’re going to be coming along with me for a while. I don’t know if I can trust them yet but I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.” I looked down at her and noticed that she was shivering.

“Master, what’s behind this door does not smell good.” It was an obvious fact to me, because I knew that what was left of my parents was behind the door.

I knelt down next to her and rubbed her neck. “Kerana, I have to go away for a little while. I don’t think that you can come with me. Will you be able to watch over this house while I’m gone?” It was the only way that I could think to make sure that she didn’t follow me. If I gave her a job to do, then she would be more willing to stay here, out of harms way.

Her tail wagged a bit and her tongue came out of her mouth. “Of course I can do that, Master.”

A smile came to my face with how easily she seemed to understand what was going on. “Then please make sure that you stay out of sight. There should be plenty of game for you to hunt around here. Get going.” I patted her on the side as she shot out of the room.

I turned back to the door and slowly took the doorknob in my hand, like it was the entrance to a horror house. I knew that I was not going to be okay with this, but it had to be done. I opened it and found the scene that I had left behind. Tears welled in my eyes again and I found that I couldn’t do it. My feet carried me back to my room out of the whole in the wall and I found myself curled into a ball on my bed, clutching my blanket like a child. Nothing was ever going to be the same.

As I laid there, my mind wandered to the dream realm and I found that it too had changed. The thriving city was in ruins and dark clouds blanketed the sky. Light rain filled the air and I didn’t want to be there either. I blinked and I was once again standing in front of my parents bed, like I had unconsciously walked over to it while I was in the dream realm. Just as I had thought, whether I could take it or not, this had to be done.

I started the process of cleaning the room. I carefully wrapped my parents in their bloody bed sheets and gently placed them outside. After removing the comforter and other blankets, I checked for blood stains all over the room. There was more blood than I had thought. It covered the floor and some of the walls even. I wound up tearing up the carpet and wrapping what rubble there was inside of it. Oddly enough, the bed itself was completely clean. Then I went outside and made my way over to the garden that was behind the guest house. It had been planted and cultivated by my Mother over the years. It was the only place that I could think of that they would find rest. That was when I noticed that there was a rectangular piece of grass in the center of it, just big enough to dig a grave for them. That confused me. Had Mom known that they were going to die? If she did, why didn’t she warn me? I buried the thought as I grabbed the shovel from under the porch. If she didn’t, then Mom had a reason for keeping that to herself.

I dug a whole up to my chest and went to get my parents from the yard. I carefully laid them together and filled in the whole. I hadn’t noticed that it had started to rain. I strode over to the porch that was attached to the guest house and ripped two boards out of it. I carved the words, “Here lay Dan and Christina Conwell. May they find love in the Afterlife. RIP.” I planted the boards as a headstone at the top of their grave.

Then I knelt down in front of the spot and clasped my hands together, tears long since dried up. “Lord, if I am to be the Bringer of Change, please look after these two souls. They lived a harsh life, but they lived it to the fullest with Austin and I. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, may they rest in the afterlife how they lived in life.” I stood and started back toward the main house. I wanted to see how the three of them were getting along.

What I found was that time had seemed to freeze. They were all motionless as they played monopoly. I could only smirk at how the game was going. Anne had nearly lost everything, and Boris already had the most expensive properties. I was a little confused as to why it was still pouring rain outside, but time was frozen in here, but my mind was preoccupied with other things then. If what I was to do was save the dimensions, then I was going to be going to war with this, King Zan. I was going to not only need their minds but their abilities and connections as well. This was going to be combat on the most massive scale. I didn’t like that I was being dragged into it but I also had a feeling that, if I didn’t help, everything was going to be lost.

I decided that I had accomplished everything that I wanted for the night and started walking back to the guest house. As I walked, I found myself back in the dream realm. Was there something else that I needed to know about this place? My question answered itself as I saw what was before me. The city was gone and in its place was a single hill covered in lilacs. The clouds were still roiling overhead with light rain pouring. Two lines of people were formed in front of me. Everyone was in black suits and dresses. At the end of the lines was a solitary crypt that had a single phrase etched into the top of it. “Here lye Daniel Aaron Conwell and Christina Merry Conwell. Father and Mother to Austin Merry Conwell and Seth James Conwell. Never Quit. Life is full of surprises. May they rest in peace.”

I fell to my knees and shouted at the top of my lungs. “AAGGHHH!!!!” More tears came to my face and all I could do was scream in defiance. I was never going to see them again. They had gone through ore hardship than I could possibly imagine, and they only kept that from me to spare me. They were the two greatest people that I had ever known. They were my parents. Whoever this, King Zan, was, he was going to have a rough awakening when I found him. This tragedy was not going to go unanswered.

As I came to grips with my grief, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to find my father standing over me. I blink at the fact he was standing right before me. Then I remembered that this was the dream realm and that he was just a figment of my imagination. I found my mother on the other side of me. I stood and wrapped my arms around them. No matter if it was a dream or not, I was getting to see them again and got to say goodbye, “I’m going to miss you guys.” I held on for all I was worth until they finally pulled away from me.

Dad tapped my shoulder with a sigh, “Make sure that you take good care of you sister, alright?” He was nodding his head as he said it.

Mom placed a hand on my cheek and rubbed away the tears that were falling from my eyes. “Take care of yourself too sweetheart, okay? It’s not the end for us, just another beginning.” Then she took my father’s hand in hers and they walking past the crypt and into the field of lilacs.

“I’ll be sure to do both of those, Mom, Dad.” I wiped my face and my fists tightened. “Things change now.” I turned away from the crypt and my mind went to work on building a new city with a single purpose, to make me stronger. I trained my body with every martial art that I could recall. Once I was certain that I could face anyone in single combat, I tore that city down and built a world that I would rule over as a god to see if I had what it took to even do that. I kept watch over that world, not interfering in the lives of the people that lived there. If a worldwide incident broke out, I would give hints here and there to the residents of the world. Then I built another world alongside that one but I was directly involved in it, giving select people abilities and skills to face the terrifying monsters that roamed it.

I learned quite a lot on that first night. I learned a small fraction of what I was capable of and was still finding out much more. The more I found the more there seemed to be no end to what I could do. I spent the rest of the night repeating that cycle, build a world, train, rule, mourn, build, train some more. I found out later that I had spent the equivalent of five and a half thousand years on that first night in the dream realm. I didn’t think that there would ever be a time that I wouldn’t mourn the loss of my parents. Why would there be? The only other thing that was on my mind the rest of the time was how I was going to tell Austin that our parents had been murdered.