*Penn*
While Tobias found himself in a valley filled with monstrous tortoises, talking slimes, and other nerve-wracking things, Penn, the second oldest of the Boyde sextuplets, was teleported about a mile away from a bustling city. He was on the side of the road, in a bunch of bushes, safely away from the rumbling wagons that passed by him.
He paused, wondering what the heck just happened. And then a screen popped up in front of his face.
> System Interface Notification: Integration Process
>
> [For the integration process to begin, you must complete three tasks: allow voice recognition, facial recognition, and mental recognition.]
Penn didn't know what this thing was but he liked daring to go through the unknown, so he subjected himself to the unpleasant integration process.
He liked his HUD and, finding it was easy enough to manage, opened up his status.
> System Interface: Status Menu X
>
> Character:
>
> Name: Penn Boyde Species: Human Essence: Level 1 Experience: 0/100
>
> Character Stats:
>
> (*.*) Total Regen Points Health 100/100 7/minute 0 Attribute points Stamina 100/100 7/minute 0 Path points Mana 40/40 8/minute 0 Tree points
>
> General Resistance - 7; Mental Resitance - 8
>
> Attributes:
>
> Attributes: Attribute Points (0) Strength- (Increases Attack Power, Lifting Weight) 7 (+) Agility- (Increases Speed, Dexterity, Reflexes) 6 (+) Constitution-(Increases Weight, Density, Hardness, Health Gained Per Level) 6 (+) Endurance-(Increases Regeneration of Health and Stamina and General Resistance) 7 (+) Wisdom-(Increases Mental Resistance, Willpower, Mana Regeneration, Common Cense, and Intuition) 8 (+) Intelligence-(Increases Memory, Mana Pool) 4 (+) Charisma-(Increases Charm, Persuasion) 10 (+) Luck-(Increases Odds in Your Favor) 11 (+) Perception-(Increases Understanding, Senses, Awareness) 4 (+)
>
> Skills: N/A
>
> Paths: N/A
>
> Trees: N/A
Penn nodded to himself. This was cool.
"A fantasy world, huh?" Penn said to himself, sitting up in the bushes. "And I'm alone..." He eyed the city in the distance and wondered if there was a tavern in it. He could use some booze an a few hook-ups before Tobias inevitably found him.
That was how you can sum up Penn's personality. He was a relatively calm guy, good-looking, always looking for a good drink and pretty ladies. Technically, he was Tobias's second in command, being the second oldest Boyde. But Penn wasn't into the whole keeping everyone together thing. That was for Tobias. His big bro always handled everything.
Penn stood up and stretched. His head still ached from the mental recognition, but he was doing alright, so he started for the city. On the way, he thought about how much time he had before Tobias dragged him back to the rest of the family.
"This is a fantasy world. It oughta be big, I think. Mr. T would have a hard time searching for all five of us. And he'd probably put us in order of priority. He'd think of Cass first. Then Ignatius, because that idiot was the reason we're here in the first place. Then it came down to either me or Nell..."
They were both capable of handling themselves if they were alone. Penelope more so than Penn because she shouldered most of the responsibility that Tobias couldn't take.
So Penn would be third. He frowned. He'd have to hurry along with his plans then because Tobias surely wouldn't let him have his way with this world for too long.
"Alright, fine. So that leaves...Ody. Okay, scrap the list, she's first. Cass could probably handle herself for a little while so T can rein that monster in..."
Penn shuddered, thinking of the destruction the youngest of his siblings could do. And in a fantasy world, where leveling and getting stronger was possible? Perish the thought!
He reminded himself to stop thinking about it and let Tobias handle it. After all, even thinking about Ody gives her power. Sighing, he sped up, relishing the newfound freedom he had. This was going to be-
"Not so fast, Penn."
He whirled around, wondering why someone in this strange place would ever know his name. And then he saw Penelope.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
*Penelope*
Penelope was sitting in a ditch. She didn't know why she was sitting in a ditch and that was a problem. She was sure that medallion was just some piece of crap Tobias got from a senile old man. She remembered rolling her eyes when he told her and the others about the old man's warning and was about to tell him her thoughts when Iggy had to go ahead and toss it into his juice.
And now, they were here. Or well, she was here. In a ditch.
Then, she saw the screen and nearly screamed. But she caught herself when she realized it was only a screen and nothing else. Then she frowned.
"What...is this thing?" She gently poked the screen and it flickered before the words 'Voice recognition complete. Prepare for facial recognition' appeared. Before she could figure out what that meant, the screen flashed, blinding her for a few seconds.
She blinked rapidly and then tried to get her bearings. Things were moving a little too fast for her. And then the screen flickered again.
> Facial recognition complete. Prepare for mental recognition...
She woke up just a moment later, saw the HUD, and sighed. She half-wished Iggy was here. That bum was a videogame nut and could probably tell her what was going on and how to work this thing.
Or not. He was kind of an idiot...
Just like her brothers, Penelope figured out how this worked, marveling out how simple yet complex it was. She pulled up her status and felt proud of what she saw.
> System Interface: Status Menu X
>
> Character:
>
> Name: Penelope Boyde Species: Human Essence: Level 1 Experience: 0/100
>
> Character Stats:
>
> (^.^) Total Regen Points Health 100/100 10/minute 0 Attribute points Mana 80/80 11/minute 0 Path points Stamina 110/110 10/minute 0 Tree points General Resistance - 10; Mental Resistance - 11
>
> Attributes:
>
> Attributes: Attribute Points (0) Strength- (Increases Attack Power, Lifting Weight) 9 (+) Agility- (Increases Speed, Dexterity, Reflexes) 8 (+) Constitution-(Increases Weight, Density, Hardness, Health Gained Per Level) 5 (+) Endurance-(Increases Regeneration of Health and Stamina and General Resistance) 10 (+) Wisdom-(Increases Mental Resistance, Willpower, Mana Regeneration, Common Cense, and Intuition) 11 (+) Intelligence-(Increases Memory, Mana Pool) 8 (+) Charisma-(Increases Charm, Persuasion) 12 (+) Luck-(Increases Odds in Your Favor) 5 (+) Perception-(Increases Understanding, Senses, Awareness) 7 (+)
>
> Skills: N/A
>
> Paths: N/A
>
> Trees: N/A
Penelope had been a cheerleader back home. Strength, endurance, agility, willpower, and charisma were a given. She did pretty well in school, bringing home A's and B's, so the intelligence was expected. Perception because she always had to be aware of what was happening at home. She was Tobias's eyes and ears whenever he wasn't around, so being able to keep him updated was a must.
Which was how she noticed a familiar someone walking by her ditch, a big smile on his face.
Penn.
Penelope was all for helping Tobias keep the younger three of their siblings in line and away from harm. But Penn? That lazy bum couldn't care less. And Penelope just knew that wherever he was headed, it probably wouldn't help the Boyde Bunch―yes, she thought of that name and she was proud of it, although her siblings never identified themselves as a part of it.
So, she climbed out of the ditch, which was hard to do with a long skirt and slippers, and marched up to her brother.
"Not so fast, Penn," she called.
He spun, turning to face her. He was confused for a moment until he saw her face. "Oh...Nell. Um, hi?"
Penelope felt a scowl forming on her face and snapped, "Were you worried about any of us after whatever just happened? Or did you just wanna find the nearest ass and stick your little friend in it?"
"First off, I don't like the emphasis on little. Second, I'd buy her dinner first. And third, well, you're fine!"
"I just woke up in a ditch," she deadpanned, giving him a flat stare.
"How was I supposed to know that?"
"You-ugh, nevermind. Come on, we need to find the others."
She grabbed him and started pulling him away from his destination.
"Now, wait a minute-"
"I'm not waiting, Penn! We don't know where any of them are! They could be hurt or worse! Why aren't you worried about this?"
"I-look out!" He yanked her back, pulling her out of the way of a carriage pulled by two majestic horses. The driver shot her a look and shouted something she couldn't understand.
Penelope pressed her back against Penn's chest. Her heart pounded fiercely in her chest and her knees shook. She'd been this close to getting run over but the driver didn't even offer up the smallest of apologies!
Penn squeezed her shoulders and whispered, "News flash, Nell, but you should start paying attention where you're going."
Her eyes widened when she realized she'd almost walked on to a busy road, bustling with traffic. Wagons and carriages dominated the unpaved path, but she saw clusters of people hurrying along, trying to avoid cranky drivers and nasty horses.
"Look there," Penn muttered, twisting Penelope's body so she could see the city behind them.
She sighed. "So much for 7 Perception..."
Penn grunted and then dug around in his pants, pulling out his wallet. "I say we go into the city and-"
"How do you know the others will be there?"
"How do you know they won't be?"
They started arguing, with Penelope against going and Penn all for it. Penelope wanted to take control but Penn refused to back down. The fight for dominance ended when Penn said, "I'm eight minutes older. The oldest makes the decision right?"
She would've argued that Penn had no right to make that claim because he never helped in making any decision, but arguing wasn't going to get them anywhere.
And besides, it was starting to get dark. The three suns-yeah, that had shocked Penelope when she'd first seen them-were spreading further apart. The darkest blue one went towards the west and the lightest blue one headed towards the east. The one in the middle seemed to be staying where it was, but it was rapidly changing colors.
"That's nice," she muttered, watching the sky as she followed behind Penn.
He glanced up too and shot her a smile. "Mom would've loved to paint this."
Her heart ached as she nodded. "Yeah..."
Reaching out, Penn grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. Together, holding hands, they marched towards the city, ready for whatever was waiting for them.