(Sunday, 19th of Lover's Harp Moon, 2021)
It was a rainy night, with the only sources of light being the lampposts dotted on the cobblestone street and the light escaping from the windows of various buildings. The streets were lonely tonight, but they were far from quiet. The sound of rain filled the ears of the lonely person who walked under a black and purple umbrella. Angelo carried a cardboard box in the clasp of his opposite arm while walking down the streets until he came across a dark alley. The darkness of the alleyway made it out of the way and out of any normal person's sight line. Angelo entered the dark alleyway, to see that it was mainly empty. There was only a mysterious, shadow person standing in the middle of the alleyway, clad in darkness.
"Hello father." Angelo greeted the mysterious entity with a glare, and on the mysterious entity's dark face, a set of red glowing eyes could be seen. "It is three in the morning, on the dot."
"You always were the perfect child." The entity's voice was low and almost sounded like a growl. "Now...the components, do you have them?"
"Yes father, eldritch cow carcasses, familiam, and melted wax of the future." Angelo handed the box to his father, and his father opened the box to look at the contents of the inside. "Is there anything else you need for the ritual?"
"I told you not to even mention that word outside of there." Angelo's father put an emphasis on the word 'there' as he scolded Angelo. "Still, these components alone will not be enough, we need a hair of a hero and a hair of the devil."
"I am aware, father, and I am currently observing all of my classmates to find the best candidate for the 'hero' part of the ritual." Angelo reported to his father. "There are other ingredients, I know. But at this pace, we shall be done by Fall."
"Good, the preparations will be done by then too." Angelo's father informed the man before sinking deeper into the darkness. "Remember, you must succeed, there is no room for error."
"Yes father." Angelo bowed before the man sinking into the darkness, then he turned his back and began to walk away, back to Sanctuary. "The hair of the hero...there are four possible options, so whose should I get? The chosen one, hard worker, child of fate, or the determined nobody?"
(Wednesday, 22nd of Lover's Harp Moon, 2021)
It was time for another mission, and this mission was in some kind of summer camp in a country called Achisi Algi, or Achisi for short. This camp was somehow still in full swing despite it being the middle of winter. Jack's group had to take a Jeep there, due to the various evergreen trees making shuttle travel close to impossible. The team this time consisted of Hero, Matt, Alice, and Jack. The driver parked in the parking lot, allowing the four of them to exit the jeep before the driver drove off to gods know where until the mission was over.
"I'm glad to finally be on a mission with you, but I'm not too sure about the...erm...other two?" Alice pointed at Matt and Hero, both of whom were looking around. "At least this is someplace I've been to before."
"You came here before?" Jack pointed at the camp and saw children playing around and whatnot. "Why though?"
"Oh this is a summer camp for summoning demons." Alice informed Jack, and mentally Jack wondered why he was here. "This is how I made a pact with my first demon, Alighieri!"
"In exchange for what?" Jack asked whilst crossing his arms. "Pacts don't just happen at random."
"Oh I just have to draw magic circles and sacrifice something like hair, toenails, fingernails, or dead skin." Alice pulled out a vial filled to the brim with clipped fingernails. "And since then, I've been collecting all my nails and stuff!"
"If I didn't know that, I would have called you gross." Jack honestly replied, and Alice put the vial back in her pocket before punching his shoulder. "So what are we supposed to do here?"
"Hey! Y'all made it!"
The person who called out to the group was a dark skinned woman with frizzy hair that was pulled back by a bright pink ribbon that matched the color of her eyes. Her outfit consisted of khaki shorts and a pink tank top. The woman rushed down from what Jack thought was the camp office and hugged Alice.
"Alice, it's so good to see you!" The woman hugged Alice, and Alice swiftly returned the hug.
"Abigail, you're running the camp now?!" Alice questioned excitedly, and the woman, apparently named Abigail, nodded. "Oh my goodness, congratulations! I'm sure you'll make a great camp instructor!"
"Oh hey, are these your teammates?" Abigail broke the hug and examined Jack closely. "Nice to meet ya, name's Abigail Williams, daughter of the former owner of the camp, Michael Williams. You must be Jack right?"
"Um, nice to meet you, but I don't have the slightest clue who you are." Jack awkwardly looked at Alice, who nodded.
"It's fine, I met Alice while she and I were attending this summer camp, and she told me about how you're an archeologist." As Abigail explained, Jack looked at Alice, who nodded again. "Now that you both are attending Sanctuary, I wanted to give y'all a congratulatory gift, so take this."
Before Jack could protest, Abigail handed Jack a piece of paper with a bunch of magic elemental circles on it, and he began to absorb the magic from the magic circle on the paper. Meanwhile, Abigail handed Alice a box of something and winked to the goth before guiding the team deeper into the camp. The woman guided the four of them to a cabin away from all the others.
"Just so the four of y'all know, all the campers will be summoning their patrons tonight at the full moon, I had y'all show up just in case anyone loses control of their patron." Abigail informed the group with a clap of her hands. "In the meantime, y'all can do whatever, just stay out of the camper's preparations. But around midnight, we'll really need y'all's help."
"Hey, didn't you have a Badger pet?" Matt pointed at Jack, and Jack nodded. "Where is it?"
"I left Jojo at Sanctuary with Zane since his mission this week is just glorified tech support." Jack answered Matt's question before thinking to himself. "I wonder how Zane is holding up with her though..."
(Meanwhile at Santcuary)
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"
"HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!"
(Back to Jack)
"Yeah...I'm sure Zane's fine." Jack thought out loud to himself as he watched Matt enter the woods. "Where are you heading?"
"Me? I'm gonna go tear down a tree and use it to train my body." Matt answered as Hero watched him. "You guys wanna come with?"
"No thanks, I wanna try performing a ritual." Jack recalled a spell that he absorbed from the manga in Hina's bag from the last mission. "I think that it summons someone from another world, specifically a hero."
"Well if the ritual fails and you need a hero, just give me a holler and I'll show up as soon as possible." Matt promised before slapping Jack's back. "Anyway, see you around, friend!"
Jack watched as Matt walked into the forest and then Jack entered the cabin where his group was staying. The cabin wasn't all that luxurious, but it did have four adult sized beds, which was good. It was also very empty, the only things in the room were the beds. Jack walked to the center of the room and pulled a piece of chalk out from his pocket to begin drawing on the old wood floor.
"Watcha doin?" A cheerful voice spoke up in the barely lit room from behind Jack, and Jack turned around to see Hero, standing there.
"Trying a summoning ritual." Jack answered the blonde before continuing the circle. "Hey, where's Alice?"
"Alice went with Abigail to go help." Hero informed Jack before crouching beside him to watch you draw the magic circle.
"Well that sucks, I could have used her steady hand." Jack commented before shrugging. "Well, I might as well do my best."
Jack finished drawing the magic circle after gods knows how many hours, and Jack thought it was pretty good. The magic circle before him was just a generic magic circle. Jack still decided to try out his new ability, and placed the edge of his fingertips on the edges of the magic circle. Jack took a breath in and out, and the magic circle actually began glowing a white color, much to his amazement. The circle simply glowed brighter and brighter, and Jack was forced to close his eyes. A wave of cold engulfed the room, it was like a miniature blizzard was occurring within the room. Soon, the blizzard stopped. and Jack opened one eye to look at what happened. Somehow, there were clumps of snow all around the room and there was even snow on Jack and Hero. In front of Jack, The magic circle disappeared, and in its place stood a somewhat short soldier. A soldier who looked like he was from the 1930's, clad in a white hooded jacket, with white pants, light brown boots, and a gray wool mask that covered his nose and mouth. The man's hair couldn't be seen because his hood pulled up. The man was holding a M/28-30 rifle without a scope, along with some more equipment on his back, including but not limited to, skis and a submachine gun.
" Vänrikki Simo Hayha, 6th Company of Infantry Regiment 34." The man introduced himself and Jack was surprised. "What's the situation?"
"Holy crap fuck snitties, the spell actually worked?!" Jack shouted in disbelief before addressing the man, apparently named Simo. Weirdly enough, he gave off the same vibe as Nikola. "So...if this spell is right you came from a different world after you died, and have been brought to this one thanks to an excess of magical energy in our atmosphere."
"Got it." Simo accepted his fate rather quickly and examined the area around him. "So...what needs getting done?"
"Actually, I'm not sure, I didn't think I'd get this far." Jack got up from the ground and pulled his hair back. "I know I need help, I just don't know what I need help for."
"What?" It was hard to see, but Jack could tell his expression was judgemental.
"Basically I'm in deep shit and I have no idea what I'm doing anymore." Jack explained to the man as simply as he could.
"So you're like any other college student?" Simo asked, and he did raise a pretty valid point.
"Basically there's a massive threat and everyone keeps giving me priceless artifacts that are like super weapons to help me get stronger in hopes of combating this threat along with the rest of my class."
"Why are you complaining about that?" Simo asked a follow-up question. "That sounds pretty good for you."
"Yeah until you realize I lost all of my skills when I got amnesia along with my right leg." Jack pulled up his right pant leg up to reveal the prosthetic. "So yeah, I'm scared shitless and have no idea what this threat is."
"Anything else?"
"Well there's the fact that someone is out there going after familiam, eldritchified cow carcasses, and possibly some other shit for no reason." Jack thought for a moment before remembering Hero. "Oh yeah, the idiot behind me."
"Hello!" Hero waved to Simo from behind Jack, and Simo returned the wave.
"I have no fucken idea what his deal is but something is up, and I wanna know." Jack pointed his thumb at Hero. "I don't think he knows what his deal is either, so I'm gonna investigate."
"Why bother investigating though?" Simo wondered out loud. "Why not go with it?"
"From the way Herakles acts, it's a threat that could end the world, and he's insistent on taking it on himself." Jack thought to himself. "I don't want anyone to die thanks to this threat, so I guess I'm trying to force my way into the problem to help."
"You're an idiot, but lucky for you, I have nothing better to do, so I'll help you." Simo then raised one finger. "On one condition though, I get my own small farm out of this. With dogs too."
"Dope, but I should probably give you context since you came from...where exactly?" Jack knew that Simo came from a different world, but that can be any world.
"Finland." Simo answered, and Jack had no idea where that was, and you even checked your map device to see that place didn't exist. "I guess this is a different world after all. Certainly explains why I'm younger now. So what's this planet called anyways?"
"The planet we live on is called...Na'iidzeeł, and the continent we're on is Desponia!" Jack just remembered the name of the planet. "Oh, wait, I should tell you everything there is that you need to know about this world and this current fiasco."
"That would be immeasurably helpful."
So Jack began to explain everything he knew to Simo, who the important people in the world were, what the deal was with Sanctuary, and what he knows about 12/12/12. Simo listened intently, and the two of them sat on the edges of two beds in the room that happened to be close by while Hero meditated. As Jack explained the monsters and such to Simo, he took a moment to examine his rifle and submachine gun.
"...Is there any chance I can get some better ammo at some point though?" Simo asked, and Jack agreed. "While I am comfortable with these guns, but I fear they won't do me much good against demons and such."
"Yeah, let's see if this camp has anything." Jack suggested before he and Simo left the cabin, but not before letting Hero know. "Hero, Simo and I are off to get better ammo."
"Okay!" Hero waved goodbye to the two of them, and you noticed how Simo appeared to be sweating.
"I should also ask for new clothes while I'm at it." Simo pulled at his collar. "It's a lot warmer than Finland here."
"Good idea, but don't worry, Oneiro is a bit colder." Jack noticed Abigail and Alice sitting at a bench, so Jack called out of Abigail. "Hey Abigail! Do you have some weapons to give to my friend here?!"
"We're a summer camp that summons demons n shit, of course we got guns!" Abigail shouted back at Jack before pointing at the office. "There's a basement in there, third door on the left in the hallway!"
"Thank you!" Jack shouted back before guiding Simo to the camp office.
The office looked like any park ranger station, with files, a desk, and multiple chairs. There was also a rifle on the wall, one that Simo was eyeing. Jack followed Abigail's instructions and went down the hallway, his boots clacking against the wood floor. Jack reached the door and opened it to reveal a set of concrete stairs that led down to the basement. Jack led Simo down the basement to the basement, and the two of them entered a room full of a variety of firearms. Simo's eyes glistened upon seeing the different kinds of guns. From rifles to handguns, and even shotguns. Simo picked out a pretty advanced looking handgun for himself, as a kind of third gun. Jack decided to ask about the scope-less rifle.
"Do you not like using a scope?" Jack asked the man while he examined various rifles.
"No, I have to raise my head slightly to look down the scope, which gives my enemy a larger target to shoot." Simo explained while he gathered some specialized ammo. "There's also this scope glint I absolutely hate. Also, is there any oil in here for gun maintenance?"
"I'm not sure, try checking the cabinet in the corner." Jack pointed at the cabinet in question, and Simo opened one of the drawers to see tools and oil. "Bingo. You know, you kind of accepted being transported to a different world rather quickly."
"Well I died in my previous world, so I'm assuming that this world is the next life." Simo shrugged as he continued gathering supplies. "Not sure if this place is Heaven, Hell, or Valhalla though."
"No idea what those places are, so my guess is that we're the middle ground." Jack noticed a sniper rifle on one of the weapon racks, and he picked the sniper rifle up. "You know, with my luck when it comes to finding artifacts, this sniper rifle might just be one."
"Are you serious?" Simo questioned, and Jack confirmed this by nodding. "Damn, I can actually see how that's a problem. You're never given time to improve with them?"
"Nope, such is the life of the college student." Jack decided to take the sniper rifle, but unlike Simo, Jack opted to keep the scope on it. "Still, I like to think I'm at least somewhat decent to have lasted this long."
"The fact you lasted this long is nothing short than dumb luck and meth infused determination that reminds me of a report I read on Aimo Koivunen." Simo commented while glaring at Jack. "So when are we supposed to help those kids summon demons...that's a sentence I never thought I would say."
"Don't worry, I feel like shit's gonna get a LOT freaking weirder when you meet the phantom with hella blades and Jojo the honey badger."
"And now I wish to go back home."
"Too bad, I don't know how to send you back."