There's a flame next to me.
It's burning brightly in phosphorescent hues, more than I can count.
It's next to me but it isn't hot, as if it were not even there. I reach for the flame to see if I can feel anything at all. My hand passes through material that spawned in between me and the flame, whether it had always been there or suddenly appeared I cannot tell. There is nothing that can stop me from reaching the flame.
As my hand nears the flame, the flame takes shape. Wildly spiralling into itself, the flame becomes a fractal contained by a ring.
I enter the ring.
The ring enters me.
We are one.
**************************
As I wake up, I realize that what just happened was a dream. That was the trippiest dream that I've had in a while. I begin mentally preparing myself to leave the room just in case Gemma decides to ambush me or my other sisters turn out to be just as weird.
Wait.
There's something cold on my finger.
I look down and the runic ring is being worn on my right middle finger. I've never really moved around much in my sleep before, I wonder if that's what my dream was about. In any case, since this is the only thing that is really tying me to my old world, there's a really good chance that this could unlock some kind of cheat when I roll for my foundation! I should keep this on until I either find out why I have it or what it does and decide what to do with it from then on at that point. Still, the overwhelming sight I saw in my dream leaves me confused as to how real it was. Were all of those colors a visual representation of mana?
I suppose I'll find out in a week.
I check my countdown to tell the time and it turns out that I only napped for 30 minutes. That isn't too bad in all honesty, at least I feel refreshed now. I dress properly in some of the more proper type clothes in my closet and look down at the mirror on the inside of my closet door. Right now, since I unbuttoned all of the buttons on the sleeves and the top two buttons of the red flannel I fancy myself to look like a small hipster with the form fitting khakis and red and black plaid.
I sweep my hair back which falls to my lower back and approach the door. It seems that this kid also doesn't like haircuts. Good shit my guy.
When I open up the door, I make sure to not be behind it at all in case Gemma decides to slam it open for me. Since the coast seems to be clear, I exit out into the hallway. I make my way to the kitchen where I met my new parents earlier. Seeing that no one is there either, I decide to wander around the house until I find the living room or something. It doesn't take long until I'm greeted by the sight of an empty recliner facing a filled couch with five people on it. Is this an intervention?
I stand there awkwardly in the door frame until Gemma notices me and calls out.
"Come sit on the recliner Gilly!"
"Alright" I reply.
I make my way to the recliner and plop myself down. Taking a second to look around the room, I notice that there aren't many things around for entertainment. There looks to be one of those old fashioned record players and a massive 30's style radio that's taller than me on the wall behind the couch. The furniture seems to be designed for comfort as the focal point however rather than keeping with the old timey vibes. Leather bound and puffy, both the recliner and couch look like excellent places to sleep. There's a 3'x2' family portrait on the wall to my right with rather high quality brush work and color mixing. For a moment I can't help but wonder whether or not we're an affluent family but then I realize that the standard that art is kept to must be high seeing as how people can raise their [DEX] stat in order to get better at most things that take skill. A floral rug covers most of the wooden floor in this room, leaving only an inch of clearance between the hem and the wall. The red background accented by the golden hues in floral form accents the room quite nicely. Between the family and I is an oval coffee table that has many rings from drinks with no coasters despite a full set of six coasters on it. I can't help but feel that it is my fault that the table is like this. Above the table is a small chandelier with seven stick candles dimly lighting the room, adding to the wonderfully rustic ambiance.
"Are you just gonna keep staring around the room looking like a lost puppy or what Gilly?" A short brown haired and tanned tomboy called out to me from the left side of the couch. There's a huge grin on her face and a squint to her eyes that reminds me of this one manga I read not too long ago.
"Oh sorry about that, Jacklynn" I respond.
"My name isn't Jacklynn, It's Althea!" Jacklynn retorts
"Yeah sure"
The rest of my sisters and mom giggle a bit seeing this happen while dad just sighs with a slight smile. Althea pouts for a bit before bouncing back. Althea is rather unsurprisingly wearing a baggy plain t-shirt and long basketball shorts with a few grass stains visible here and there. She looks to be about 10. For some reason she's sitting cross legged on the couch instead of sitting like a normal person. Of course since she's sitting cross legged, she's invading the personal space of the small girl next to her who looks to be only 5. A pale blonde wearing a dress reminiscent of old Victorian wear, she reminds me of a frail porcelain doll. She glances at me and frowns a bit as she casts her gaze downward.
I call out to her and ask " And what would your name be?"
She looks back up at me before looking down again and sniffles for a bit before quietly whispering "Adelaide"
Looking at her is starting to actually make me feel bad right now. I may not have any clue why this is happening or whether or not Giles' soul still exists here, but the thought that I may have inadvertently caused this wonderful family to be torn apart is grating on me. The least that I can do to make up for whatever happened is to keep this family safe. Hopefully the gacha will allow me to do that on my birthday. I don't know if Giles can return but if he can the only tears that I'd want from this family are of happiness. After all, what kind of monster would I be if I didn't feel some kind of remorse for erasing a child from existence and ripping his family away from him? I may not be responsible for it, but even soldiers under order without a choice will live a life of regret.
"Well Adelaide, if you ever need help don't be afraid to rely on big brother. That's what I'm for after all"
"Mn" Adelaide muttered in response.
Jacklynn muttered something under her breath after that but I couldn't quite make out what she said.
"Well Gilly, after big sis Gemma left you alone to nap, we talked for a bit and decided that it was a good idea to have a little get to know you with you so that things wouldn't be so strange without your memories. We'll all say our name, age, birthday, favorite food, hobbies, and our favorite memory with you!" Mom announced.
"Isn't that a little much dear?"
"Shut up Gerald. This is for Gilly. Anyways I'll go first. My name is Elora, my birthday is the first of Kokabiel, my favorite food is ambrosia, my main hobby is playing card and board games, and my favorite memory with you is when you would come home from a long day or a tough day and rest your head on mommy's lap before passing out!"
"You forgot your age".
"Shut up Gerald. It's your turn now".
"Well as you may have guessed my name is Gerald. I'm 36 years old and your mom is 34 years old. My birthday is the third of Bezaliel, my favorite food is something that only your mother knows about, my hobbies include naps and reading, and my favorite memory with you is when you threw up on mom after she was boasting about how you loved her more as a baby".
"Gerald!"
"Heh"
Haha I quite like these two, they probably make wonderful parents!
"Oh geez you two, you're always like this" sighed Gemma. "Anyways it's my turn! My name is Gemma and I'm 14 years old. My birthday is the seventh of Sariel, my favorite food is steak, and my hobbies include tracking and espionage. My favorite memory with you is all of them. I love you".
I think I know why this brocon is into tracking and espionage. I swear to myself that I will do my best to learn disguise skills and the like after I get my foundation!
"Like you can say anything about being 'always like this' Gemma. After this we should have you and Gilly switch spots so that we can have a serious discussion. Whatever for now, it's my turn. My name is Althea and I'm 9 years old. My birthday is also the seventh of Sariel, just like yours and Adelaide's so it's not worth mentioning anymore. My favorite food is cheeseburgers with onion rings, my main 'hobby' is crossend, and my favorite memory of you is when… um… uh… I guess when you managed to place in the top five of your grade's crossend match".
"What's crossend?"
"Oh you don't remember what crossend is? Well whatever. Crossend is a sport that can have anywhere from 4 to 100 people. The field is shaped differently depending on how many players there are with one central location and 6 foot wide paths extending out of the center that get longer with more players. Oh and the center also gets bigger with the bigger number of athletes playing. Anyways, there is a large ball in the center as big as a watermelon that players pick up to become 'active'. Each player starts at the end of their path and whenever an active player reaches the end of your path, you lose the game. The winner is the last person standing!"
"Ah I see, thank you for your introduction and explanation Jacklynn!"
"You're welcome! Wai-"
"It appears to be your turn Adelaide, are you ready?"
"Yes! I-I'm Adelaide, and I'm 5. I like chocolate mostly. Umm… I don't remember the next thing but I do remember my favorite memory! It was when you would walk me to school and home every day".
"I can still do that for you, I'm here right now after all".
"Y-yes"
I'd always wanted a little sister, but since I grew up with no siblings at all I resigned myself to attempting to have a daughter. Now that it looks like it'll be many years before I'll have to start worrying about relationships again, I might as well be a good big brother.
"Alright, now that we've introduced ourselves to you and hopefully helped you feel more comfortable here, let's play a card game!" Mom concluded
Playing games to ease tension and grow relationships can certainly be a good move, but there is an exception known as one. Nothing is safe during a game of one.
Now all of a sudden, everyone is getting up and leaving the room. What? Even Adelaide left the room. I suppose that they all left to get their favorite games.
As they return, I notice that they're all carrying what appear to be large decks of cards that are sleeved in different colors. Mom is carrying two. They all sit down around the table, but only three are on the couch now and the other two are fetching a chair from the dining room to sit down on. They place their chairs at either end of the table so that now going clockwise from my spot, it goes Adelaide, Dad, Mom, Gemma, and then Althea with Adelaide and Althea at either end of the table.
Mom passes me a sleeved deck of cards and starts to explain to me the rules of the game. As she gets into her explanation after a while, I realize that this game is exactly like my favorite card game Sorcerer, specifically the Captain format! Sure the ability names and terms are named differently, but the game is functionally the exact same! I'm going to rinse these scrubs.