I made my way up the stairs. I needed to get away from all of them. The audacity to be like, "Hey, you're going to be shipped off to this world's equivalent of Harvard for 4 years with no explanation or say in the matter. Hey, wanna go camping?" It just pissed me off. I bet they have their reasons; there's clearly something going on that I'm not aware of, and it has to do with that blasted Mr. Blaxen. Whatever he told my parents in the dining room really must've shaken them. If only they’d just tell me dammit.

After a minute I arrived at mine and Varis's bedroom, I stopped when I heard faint sniffling on the other side. That's right, I thought; he ran up here earlier. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. At least I'd give him the courtesy of letting him know I'm here.

"Go away!" Varis cried from within the room.

I took a deep breath; my nerves were still on edge, and I responded to him in an equally shaky voice, "Varis, it's me, Luna."

There was a bit of silence. "O-oh…" I faintly heard him mumble. There was a shuffle, some grunting, and objects moving behind the door. Did this kid barricade the door? I thought as he opened the door, his head poking out and I could see his green and blue eyes were puffy and red. "Co-come on in." He said and opened the door a little bit, I saw his bedside chest, and our chair pushed off to the side in the middle of the room.

He did fortify the room. I thought with a blink as I stepped into the room, and he shut the door behind me. Without warning, he flung his arms around me and pulled me into a tight hug.

"Gyak!" I squeaked. "Can't… breathe!" My back popped as he gave me one tight hug and released me, leaving me hunched over, gasping for breath.

"You're not going to let them take you away, are you? You said no, right? Did you?" He bombarded me with questions desperately.

I took a couple of deep breaths and shook my head. "No."

"Why not?" His voice wavered. "You're smart! You can talk them out of it."

I straightened up and looked at Varis sadly. "All three of them are very adamant that I go."

"Ada—what? N-Nevermind, you need to tell them no." Varis crossed his arms.

"I wish I could, Varis." I sulked as I went over to my bed and sat down. "But Mom and Dad seem scared, even Soza."

"Scared about what?" Varis huffed. "Mom knows magic, and Dad used to be a cool soldier, and now he's a constable! Soza is like a sniper! They're all badass; why would they be scared?" He asked throwing his arms up in the arm.

I shrugged. "I don't know." I looked up at him. "Haven't you noticed that Mom and Dad have been very nice lately? Like, more so than usual? Dad is taking a lot of time off of work; Mom is telling us stories and showing us more magic; and Dad started showing us how to shoot." I sighed.

Maybe I'm just reading too much into things. I thought to myself. Overthinking as per usual.

If there's one thing I wish had left me when I died and woke up in this world, it was my damned paranoia. I can't help but fear that something is out to get me, that something isn't right. Father and Mother made it clear they weren't sending me away just to send me away, and I saw it in their faces. They genuinely looked scared. Something bad is going on.

Varis came over to me and sat beside me. "I haven't really thought about it…” He said softly and took he deep breath. “I just liked all the attention." He said as he took on an unusually mature tone as he sniffed and wiped his eyes. "I don't want you to leave." He said as his face broke and he covered his eyes. "I don't have many friends, and you're so fun to be around. Wh-who's going to be my brain when you're gone?"

My heart broke hearing that, and I reached out and pulled him into a hug. "Oh, you big goof. It won't be too bad," I said in a hushed tone. "Soza said it'd only be for four years."

"That's like forever, though!" Varis whined, and I sighed quietly.

"I know, it's a long time. But it'll be okay; Father says we can use these things called image casters, and I can write letters and stuff!" I said, trying to find a silver lining in all of this.

I doubt there's any way I could weasel my way out of this, and I definitely don't want to upset my folks. Maybe it would be best to go with Soza to this academy in Yankston. The thought was terrifying—to go across an entire ocean to a different continent abroad. Do they even speak the same language over there? Maybe common, but I barely speak common as it is. Even in my old life, the furthest I ever traveled from home was like eighty miles to my state capitol. That's it. I never traveled to another country; most of what I did was dabble in Japanese because I was a fucking weeb. Even then the furthest I got in learning that language would make it so that I could probably survive as a tourist in Japan. However seeing as how things turned out in that life, I never got to test it.

I was afraid to just go to the gym most nights. Always paranoid that something might happen. It's funny that in my past life, I was always scared of some mass shooting happening, and to think that's how I fucking died… kind of makes me feel vindicated. What happens if I go to this other country and something happens? Not just to me, but to my folks? How am I going to help them or help myself? I don't want to go. I'm fine here. In this house, with Varis, Mom and Dad, Soza, and my books. Everything is fine as it is. That I know of.

I sighed heavily. Part of me actually misses my old life now. Maybe because it was easy? I sometimes wish I could simply sit at a computer, tune out the world, and watch anime. Or play some games. Fuck, I miss video games. Yet here I am, forced to face my issues.

"I have an idea." Varis said, his right fist striking his left palm.

I raised my head. "And what would that be?" I asked with a defeated tone.

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"We could run away! You and me. I'm strong, and you're smart. We can become adventurers!" He beamed, and I couldn't help but crack a smile at that.

I may be around his age physically, but I wish I was mentally. To have the naive and blissful thoughts of a child would be fantastic. Yet I always wonder why that isn't the case. Why do I still remember everything from before? Whatever, existential questions can come later.

I took a deep breath and giggled. "As wonderful as that plan sounds, Varis, I don't think it'll work."

"Why not?" He harumphed and crossed his arms again. "Mom and Dad did it. I think. So why can't we?"

"Because Mom and Dad are adults." I said, throwing my arms up. "You're like, what? Eight? And I'm going on seven." I placed my hand on my chest. "We're just little kids."

"So what? A lot of my story books have kids our age exploring the world." His cheeks puffed out as he pounded my bed in frustration. He got up and kicked some loose toys on the floor.

"That's because those are story books, Varis." I gestured around the room. "This is the real world. Where monsters and bad people are. If you and I go out there to "run away," a lot of bad things could happen to you and me."

"Like what?" He looked at me.

My heart sank into a dark spot as a few very, very touchy bad things came to mind. Especially with the prospect of my new identity. I bit my lower lip and carefully stepped around the subject. "Like being eaten by monsters or kidnapped by bad men."

"Then we kill them! Dad showed us how to shoot."

"We don't even have a gun."

"We take fathers!"

For fuck's sake, I thought, you're arguing with a child. Remember, he's just a kid. Take it slow; don't get mad.

"Brother," I said softly taking a few deep breaths to calm myself, "I am not going to run away. The world out there is scary, maybe."

"How do you know?" He spun around to face me. "You never leave the house."

I gritted my teeth and sighed. "Because I just know."

"Stop talking like Momma! I'm older; I've been around longer!" He growled, his fists balling up.

I swore my teeth felt like they were going to crack. I hate that argument; even in my old life, hearing the phrase "I'm older, therefore I know more" always got under my skin.

"It doesn't matter if you're older, Varis." I said slowly, doing my best to hide my anger, though judging by his reaction, I was doing a bad job.

He, too, was shaking and turned away from me. "This is unfair!"

"Life isn't fair!" I snapped at him. "I don't get a choice in this either! Do you think I want to be sent away?"

"Then run away with me!"

"No!" I raised my voice. Life is never fair; it isn't meant to be. In my old life, I've constantly been dealt a bad hand. My parents, school, my job, finding a place to live—none of it was good. The world was shit; everything was overpriced; it was either live a life of debt going to a school to get a degree in a job that might get automated in a year or go slave away in a factory or an office job. I chose the latter. For years, the life I chose had me dealing with overpaid executives screaming at me about quotas, deadlines, and whatever. I could've probably quit and run away, but then what? Live off social security until I find another job that'll treat me the same? Be homeless?

That's just how life fucking was. And then I died and woke up here. I didn't get a say in how my other life played out; sure, I got to choose which shitty route to go down, but no matter what it ended in shit. I thought I had escaped from all of that, but even now… in this new world, it seemed like I had found happiness. Yet just like before it’s all getting ripped away from me.

Varis looked at me, his lower lip quivering. I sighed and covered my face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scream at you." I lowered my hands and looked at the floor. "It's best we just ride things out. We don't want to make hasty decisions. We have a whole year to think this over, and who knows…" I looked up at him, smiling lightly, as if trying to seem optimistic. "Things might change. Maybe I won't need to go away."

Varis didn’t respond right away. His gaze drifted to the floor as he idly kicked his feet his face deep in thought. After a moment he looked up at me. "Can you promise me something?" He asked and I blinked and looked at him, confused.

"Promise you what?"

"Do you promise me that if you ever do go away, or we get pulled apart…" Varis took a couple of deep breaths to compile his composure and looked me deep in the eyes. "That you'll come find me?"

I blinked a couple of times, and my heart felt a flutter. I couldn't help it, but my emotions began to bubble up. Fuck, did I always cry this much? I sniffed and wiped my eyes as I got up, walked over to him, and hugged him. As much as this kid gets on my nerves, I can't not love him.

"I promise, but only if you do the same for me," I said as I gripped him tightly.

Once more, Varis was a jumbled mess as he sobbed and sniffled, his arms encircling me. "I promise!" He choked out.

After a few moments, we broke apart our hug and stepped back from each other. We wiped our eyes clean and smiled at one another. I glanced at the clock and saw that about twenty minutes or so had passed since coming up here. "On a happier note," I started as I wiped my eyes once more. We shouldn't keep our parents waiting too long. "Madam Soza brought an offer up at the table earlier."

Varis composed himself and puffed his chest out as he tried to pull the cool brother act back out. "And what would that be?" He asked as he tugged at the collar of his polo.

"She wants to take us all on a field trip," I said, smiling warmly despite the offer having pissed me off earlier. I hoped maybe something like this would cheer up Varis.

Varis's eyes widened. "A field trip?" He repeated. "Where?" He shifted, his childish excitement starting to return.

"To the Heinland Mountains, you know those big, scary-looking peaks to the north-east? They look big and purple in the evening." I described, and he nodded his head rapidly. "Soza wants to take us there."

My brother’s eyes turned into saucers and twinkled not with tears, but with unbridled happiness. It amazes me how quickly his mood can shift. "We're going to be explorers?"

Seeing a moment to capitalize on, I smirked and said, "Better, adventurers." I winked at him, and his building excitement erupted his fist violently pumped into the air.

"Heck yeah!" Seeing him one eighty into a happy mood was a massive relief, and I smiled along with him. "I always wanted to climb a mountain! Maybe we'll see a dragon or a giant!"

I gulped and laughed nervously. "Hopefully from a safe distance at least!" I added.

"Yeah! But even then, Mom and Dad are cool adventurers; they can fight it—"

"We don't know that for sure!" I reminded him. "But we won't know the specifics of the trip till we go down and talk to them some more."

Varis hesitated as his mood began to 180 back to where I didn’t want him to be. "I-I don't know," he stuttered. "Father seemed pretty angry."

I took a deep breath, stepped towards him, and grabbed his large hand. "It's okay. Everyone was on edge, but trust me when I say that Father calmed down shortly after you left. It's okay; he wasn't mad at you. He's just… mad at everything."

"Doesn't that include me?"

Shit that was a bad choice of words.

I cleared my throat. "What I mean is, Papa has a lot on his plate, but that doesn't include you." Varis nodded. "Now, c'mon, let's go talk to them so we can learn when to start packing for the camping trip."

Varis nodded and gripped my hand gently as I guided him towards the door. If this was to be my last year with my family before going off with Soza, I could at least try to make it a memorable year.