DAYS UNTIL WAVE: 90

"What happened to you? You look like you got hit by a truck."

I look up from my desk to see the only person who ever showed me any kindness, Kaori, A tall{ish) blonde with sparkling green eyes which usually shown with an inner light I long since lost. She was looking at my new set of bruises with a look of concern. I give a very disinterested "the usual" and try to go back to sleep. The hell does this chick want from me? I glance over to see the "crew", Max, a mountain of a 10th grader at 6'6 and 240lbs with the cliché blonde hair blue eye jock thing going on, his forever-in-his-shadow lackey Justin, with his whole I'm Mexican so I'm tough facade, and last but not least their creepy friend Zack, who was often found leering at every girl that breathed in his general direction, glaring daggers at me which in itself wasn't all that unusual, but there seemed to be a extra dash of murderous intensity today. Not surprising, given the class goddess was talking to a jackass like myself instead of one of Max. Who is this jackass you ask, well no one too special. At an utterly unimpressive 5ft 10in height and comfortable in my 245 pound frame, throw in matted brown hair, which i kept short as it was an irritating hassle when long, and a pair of brown eyes that, according to the classroom gossip, had a piercingly dead look in them and you pretty much get me. Not that impressive right? And on the other side of the spectrum was Kaori, tall at 5'5, with long blonde hair which hung to the small of her back and shown like polished gold in most any source of light, her green eyes that put most emeralds to shame had a strange calming effect on anyone who looked into them, to her moderate cleavage. Her skin was always slightly browned, which was quite the accomplishment given how little tanning weather we had in the is town. Tall, fit and tan. She was easily the best looking girl in school. Which was made it all the more confusing and at times infuriating to the others in the class that she give any of her precious consideration to an outcast like me. Seeing Max glaring at me I figure he'll want a "word" with me later.

Clearly unsatisfied with my nonanswer, Kaori, pinches my ear and pulls, not too hard but hard enough to make me grumble.

"Did you get in another fight? Seriously...Can't you go one day without a fresh set of bruises, or cuts?"

I yank my ear back,

"hey, leggo, Barbie I need that, and wat do mean another? Jesus."

I rub my now tender ear before ignoring her again. We'd been friends since we were in kindergarten, so it was more of the same, I get jumped, she gets pissed that I fought, ten minutes later she wants my help with some subject she's currently struggling with.

"hey Barbie, I'm fine thanks for asking by the way, oh and how's that physical science report coming?"

I ask in a condescending tone,

"you gonna need my help again?"

She steps back red in the face, embarrassed, and flustered,

"Its coming along fine and I d-don't need your help-p this time! Idiot!"

She'll ask in twelve minutes swear to god. I can always get under her skin at the drop of a hat.

"Hey don't talk to her in like that, worthless retard, the fuck you think you doing?"

There it is, that took longer then I expected. Max sauntered over and smashes my head off my desk, or at least tries to, as I deftly move to the side for a book under my desk, causing him to miss and end up tripping on my desk leg and falling on hie face. Que hysterical laughter from the class at his blunder. I look at him rising confused,

"what happened, first time with your new feet? Well don't worry I think the floors okay, my desk is too for that matter so there's that."

Max gets back to his feet murder in his eyes, I look up at him with a veiled smile on my face. The class had fallen silent for his violent tendencies were well known and feared by everyone. Well except for myself. Which irked him to no end that a punk who was lower then his chest was completely unafraid of him, when even the teachers tried to keep him happy. No matter what Max or his buddies did to me I was never scared of him or the slightest bit intimidated. Now you're probably thinking, well why not? Right? Well the answer to that is simple: He couldn't hurt me. My home life was such a hell that anything Max did was just the usual for me. My pain tolerance was insane, all thanks to my family life which only Kaori knew just how bad it could be. She'd seen the scars, the bruises, dislocated joints,{no broken bones thus far}, and the other injuries that come standard with a fucked up home life. Compared to that Max's attention was child's play. Didn't stop him from trying to top it though. Max was about to throw a fist my way when the teacher walked in,

"What's all the commotion about now? Settle down I have an Announcement. Max Find your seat."

The teacher was a short woman, only 5ft, with a strange habit of mothering her students, her name was Miss Charlotte, Everyone called her Miss spider to mess with her. Max glared at me a little longer before moving off to his desk next to Zack and Justin. Kaori took her seat next to me as always. Miss Charlotte waited for the students to take their seats before speaking.

"everyone, your parents will be joining us today for class so be sure to be on your best behavior!"

OH Fuck, I thought. I look over to see Kaori staring at me concerned again. I shrug as if to say whatever, before looking to see the parents file in. Heh Odds are they're not here, why would they take time out of their day to spend it on their little failure? As each new person enter the class I open my text book for the class, Basic life sciences, and start reading the current chapter on algae blooms.

"hey look what the cat dragged in, What's up Tyler?"

I look up to see Kaori's brother Kazuma standing beside her. He looks like his sister, heh, well they are twins. Kazuma was a decent guy, but He and I were different in the regard that he was a hopeless optimist and I'm a nihilistic pessimist, but he did his best for his sister.

"hey I thought I sensed the presence of a foreign entity, but its just your ugly ass."

I respond without skipping a beat,

"The folks must be pretty desperate if they had to drag your goldilocks-lookin ass in here."

Kazuma laughed,

"glad to see you still got that pissant spirit of yours T-rex, how's Kaori?"

"Not sure, Kaz, If you were oh say turn 180 degrees and look down you could ask her yourself. Hey barbie, this guy belong to you?"

I point a thumb at her chuckling brother. Kaori was smiling her pearly white smile, dazing a few people behind me,

"sorry no, he doesn't, better put him in the lost and found."

Her laugh was like listening to a wind chime on the edge of a forest in late-spring. Kazuma was chuckling too,

"Well unfortunately T-rex i found my sister so I'll see you around, Though hopefully not."

As he turned to speak with Kaori there was some yelling coming from the hallway. I stiffen like a dead rabbit as I hear the yelling,

"where's that piece of shit son of mine, Fuckin retard supposed to be here, worthless waste of sperm, why didn't I get an abortion? Jesus Fuckkin retard!"

I slump in my seat as the yeller enters the room, Revealing an extremely obese woman, who barely fit into her dress, her halfassed bun messily tangled and strewn about her face. Behind her followed a pencil of a man with dark skin and a exhausted look on his face, as if following the moving mound of flesh as a laborious effort. Which to be fair it was, My mother, Jeanie and her husband{my step father, don't ask} Moran, Trailing behind them with a look of disgust on her face came my sister, a similarly obese girl a year younger that myself. Oh and incase i forgot, I'm fifteen, so you know a sophomore in high school, not sure why that matters but there you go. My mother waddles to my desk,

"THERE you are you little shit, the fuck is the reason I had to take a day off from work to come babysit your bitchass in school for?"

SMACK!! My head jerks to the side from her slap, I take it in silence and just apologize,

"I'm sorry they didn't tell me why yet, I just found out about this like five minutes ago myself."

my tone flat, eyes low. She goes ballistic, yelling about come I didn't text her,{ I don't have a phone}, why didn't I tell her, with various insults and rants about me in the process. I stopped listening, only picking up one word in three at this point. I see Max and his crew laughing at me and my situation. Kaori and Kazuma were just sitting there looking at me sadly like they knew they couldn't do anything to help me. My sister was also laughing. My mother stopped talking long for my Step-father to say, in a flat bored tone,

"you know you're in trouble when you get home right?"

I reply

"Yeah I know"

in a monotone voice. So much for a quiet night. My "family" finally goes to the back of the room with the other parents and take their seats. Miss Charlotte starts the lesson timidly, trying to pretend anything had happened. I take out my notebook and start taking notes quietly. My face a perfect calm and serene mask. Inside I'm just, tired of my life, my parents, the nonstop pain and misery that was my existence. I was on my own little island of pain and loneliness, watching the endless others on their ships and rafts passing me by, leaving me to my fate, even Kaori and Kazuma. But that's okay, I'm used to it. As I'm taking notes wrapped up in between my thoughts and the lesson, I drop my pencil. fuck I lean over to pick it up and notice a bunch of blue writing on the hardwood floor. Curious, but not wanting to draw attention in case I'm hallucinating, I pick up my pencil and sit back up in my seat. I look at the writing and start following it with my eyes, the writing was in a different language then any I had ever seen before. As I'm a gamer and loud and proud anime fan I've seen a few different languages in my time, 'course I can't speak a word of any of it. The blue writing seemed to have a whimsical way about it, and as I trace it I realize it formed a circle around the entirety of the classroom and through it as well. It formed a two-tiered blue circle on the floor, that nobody seemed to have noticed yet. As I consider how to deal with the fact there's large blue writing on the floor one of the students, a mousey girl with black hair raised her hand.

"yes Sera, what is it?"

Miss Charlotte asked in her quiet voice.

"Um, Miss Charlotte what's with the blue circle on the floor here?"

" what blue circle there's no cir-"

Charlotte walked over to her desk and saw the circle. She got a confused look on her face as she saw the sky blue words.

"I've no idea what this is"

Then as everyone in the room looked at the strange decoration, it started to glow and pulsate as if coming to life. Que the students starting to panic. I grab Kaori's hand as she starts to scream, she looks at me and comes down from her own fear. I'm feeling strangely calm as the circle expands and flies off the floor incasing everyone in the blue glow, just before a bright light floods our vision and as I close my eyes against the brightness, Kaori squeezes my hand tightly, Wow her hand is soft, and damn is that a strong grip. The brightness dims and we open our eyes. I realize we're on the floor and stand up, help Kaori to her feet.

"you okay?"

ask her, she nods dumbfounded at the tun of events.

Tyler turned from her nervous face and started to examine the room in which they were transported to, there were torches along the walls of the circular chamber, they seemed to be made of a dark red stone, if he had to guess was a form of granite or sandstone, polished to a mirror like shine, the floor was a white material which as he looked at he realized it was pure mica, not sure why some would make a floor out of it but there it was. The other people, students and parents alike were all getting to their feet and getting their bearings. Tyler's own family came over to him bitching as usual.

"the fuck just happened eh retard?"

Tyler knew to answer would only incur another rant and/or a slap across the face so he remained silent and continued examining the room. As he was doing so, he noticed something in the corner of his vision. It was a strange dot similar to an hourglass as he focused his attention on it it expanded into a strange Heads Up Display, or HUD, Interface you usually see in video games. It had his name, age, sex, height, weight, along with a visualization of his body, in the top left corner of his vision there were three bars, one said HP, which he took to mean health points, a blue one that said MP, again going of gamer logic, Tyler took it to mean Mana Points, and the red one was, called EXP, which to complete the stereotypical game trifecta, probably meant experience points. As Tyler read the names of the bar he noticed that in the center of his vision above his 3d model was the phrase LVL 1. I'm level 1? great, ten bucks says this is one 0f those "slay the big bad monster save our world/ protect our world from x bullshit. As he thought this, Kaori grabbed his arm and clung to it like a drowning man clung to a life ring, Tyler could see she was on the verge of tears,

"Tyler what's going on? where are we? I'm scared."

Her usually calm and confident demeanor was gone in the face of their situation. Tyler gave her a kind smile, the HUD disappearing as he looked at her,

"Don't worry, I'm sure we're gonna be fine. I think I know what this is but not certain yet. If all else fails, you got me right?"

She looked at him and wiped her face before giving him a happy smile,

"yeah if you're' here we must be safe right? Thanks I'm good now, Though can I still hold onto your arm?"

She was blushing just the slightest bit, Tyler, nodded smiling himself. As he did he reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out his six-inch switchblade.

"good thing I thought to bring Spike eh?"

She chuckled,

" I know right"

Just then there was the sound of a large door opening and many booted feet approaching the scared group. A pair of large double doors opened up revealing a large bank of heavily armoured soldiers with a robed man in the center of the column. First thing Tyler noticed about the men was that they were in full plate armour, the steel polished to a glimmering shine, next they were moving like they practiced their movements on the daily, third they were carrying spears with red ribbons tied to the heads. Then Tyler spotted the center boss of the solders armour, a flying red dragon burning a field with a knight upon its back. Tyler turns his scrutiny upon the man in the robe. He was an old man with a wrinkled face with an unreadable expression on his face, even Tyler who specialized in reading people couldn't pierce that mask. The man's robes were of the purest white fabric, Tyler didn't know what kind it was. The white was bordered by red trim on the arms, and gold on the collar, everything about this man screamed high priest of some sect or another. As the man looked over the group his expression shifted the tiniest amount, but it was enough for Tyler to catch a look of distain in his eyes, which spoke volumes to him. With that sliver of an emotion Tyler could see how their group looked to the man, and what the man was thinking to an extent. The man was eyeing them, not as people, but as tools for him to use as he saw fit. Until the man noticed Kaori, His eyes lit up in a way that that made Tyler instantly put him on the top of his predator list, the man then noticed Tyler standing next to her and he without hesitating put his arm around her and pulled her against him with his knife in his other hand and looked the man dead in the eye with a dark glint in his eyes. The robed man eyes widened a little as he realized what that meant for him and looked away. kaori was confused until she saw his expression and realized he had just protected her, she didn't know from what or why but she knew he had just stuck his neck out for her.

"wha-"

"shh I'll explain later, but for now stay close and away from that priest."

She nodded and leaned into him. For the first time the man spoke, his voice a low baritone, he was clearly used to having others listen to him when spoke.

"Welcome brave warriors, to the world of Lectis, I am the Pope of the Holy Brotherhood of Humankind. My name is Skyr. I'm sure you must have many questions but if you will follow me I will see them answered. Come"

With that the "Pope" turned around without waiting for a response and started walking back through the soldiers behind him., the soldiers parted way for him to pass, as he did a tall, muscular man with a full beard and mustache in shining white plate mail stepped forward,

"alright everyone follow us please."

His tone was friendly enough but there was a no nonsense aura about him mixed an air of command that galvanized the scared students and their families into action. Miss charlotte was the first to follow and the others went with her. Tyler kept Kaori under his arm and his knife ready. As they passed the bearded man he glanced at them and, again Tyler stared him down, this time however the armoured man smiled and nodded approvingly,

"Looks like you got some backbone, Thank the gods"

Tyler learned a lot from those few words, both about the world, the man who spoke them, and, most interestingly about the religion of the world. The bearded man trailed after Tyler and Kaori, keeping a set distance behind them, which to Tyler seemed the perfect distance for a quick reaction if something were to go wrong. That guy's probably captain of the guard, or the royal knights. Skyr is definitely gonna come after Kaori for some reason or another, I do not trust that man, I will Not let her go anywhere alone with him, he had the look of someone used to power. For as I always say, There is no man more untrustworthy then one who speaks of god. Tyler kept his wits about him as they walked along a extremely lavish hallway. It was as wide as a tennis court and taller then a phone pole, all made of a rustic red stone that threw a unexpectedly homey feel to the room. feels like I stepped into Redwall Abbey They passed a large stained glass window. The window depicted the same imagery as the knights armour boss, a red dragon flying and burning a field, an armoured knight upon its back. Must be the royal family's crest or something similar. Then Tyler noticed the view out the window itself. The window he peered out of was high enough from the ground that in order to see it one would have to lean out the window at a dangerous angle to see the direct ground below, next were the green fields and rolling hills in the distance, a far cry from Berlin's mountains and valleys. But the thing that caught and held Tyler's attention was the massive island floating in the sky over the green fields, it looked like it was hung in the sky by some cheap Hollywood string, but there it was, an island in the freakin sky. Then a shadow passed the window and an airship floated by, it's floats full bloated and the deck bristling with crewman doing this and that to keep her aloft, It had a carefree feel, right there he made a decision: one he was going to fly in one of those, Two: he was going to take a piss of the edge of that floating island, Third: He was never going back to his original world.

"I'm never going back"

Kaori looked at him quizzically

"huh?"

"don't worry bout it, hey we'll get left behind come on."

They hurried down the hall after the others.

"hey kid hold fast a moment."

They stopped and turned to see the bearded man coming up behind them, He walked up to them and gestured to them to keep walking after the others.

"Noticed the Nidhogg, did ya? she's a fine warship, if I do say so myself"

Tyler kept walking as he replied,

"Nidhogg You say? She seemed like a fine craft though I have no knowledge myself of such things."

"aye lad a fine craft she be, I sailed abroad her many a time, let me tell you there's few better feelings then the wind in the riders, blue sky all around you and your mates with you as you set out on a journey. Oh by the by, me names Gruven, nice to know ya."

The man extended a large mailed hand to Tyler who promptly gave a hearty shake,

"pleasure Gruven, my names Tyler, that's Kaori. So I take your the captain of the guard around here."

Kaori elbowed Tyler in the ribs, and smile as she shook the big mans hand. Gruven seemed a jolly sort of fellow, and genuine to Tyler, after gently shaking the lady's hand Gruven turned to him with a belly laugh,

"HAHAHA I like you lad, you got spirit, I'm not the captain of the guard, but the Royal guard."

Tyler chuckled,

"that was my second guess. So, the Nidhogg, you said she's a warship, what kind of arms is she packin? And what class is she?"

Gruven got a gleam in his eye as he warmed to the subject of the airship.

"Well Nidhogg a fierce cat, she's carrying thirty-four longarm cannons along with the crew of fifty, she's also sports five inches of steel reinforced wood paneling to deal with incomin fire, though, that rams the more terrifiyin weapon she bears, its a twenty foot anitite wedge sharpened like a blade along it's edge. She's a rammer, in a real fight she don't care wats beside or behind her as she charges the enemy head on and runs em down. As far as class goes she's a line breaker, thats' her purpose and she does it well. damn well at that."

Tyler nodded thoughtfully as he crunched some numbers in his head for the craft's weight and buoyancy.

"how do they fly then carrying all that?"

"harr harr, SkyCite, The magic stone that allows ships to fly when combined with those large balloons yous saw atop her. it's a constant balancing act for the helmsman to keep her aloft, too little stone and the ship stops, too little air in the bags an she falls, too much stone and she explodes, too much air an the bag bursts. Get it right and it's like a dream. Oh we're here take a seat and listen to the Pope."

They were in a large dining hall, everyone was already seated drinking something out of cups. As Tyler moved towards a seat Gruven leaned in for a moment,

"Watch that lass o' yours around Skyr, I wouldn't trust him with my girl, no sir."

"Agreed"

Tyler sat down next to Kaori, who had caught the exchange and finally realized why Tyler wrapped his arm around her for earlier. She sat next to Tyler now more aware of his every action then ever before. Tyler was busy looking about the room as he usually did when in a new room, she felt a lot safer in his presence then anywhere else. He had placed Spike the knife in front of him on the table, in easy reach, just in case as he would say. She wished she had his courage to face anything without flinching.

Tyler was looking around the chamber taking note of anything interesting, like the fact that they were surrounded by soldiers in full battle armour, and carrying swords. He spotted Gruven near the Pope, who was standing at a pulpit overlooking the gathering, as Tyler looked at the pulpit he noticed the motif on the wall behind it. A massive red dragon rearing up on its widespread wings roaring defiance at the sky red flame spewing from it's maw. I guess they worship a dragon god or something. interesting that the Royal crest has a similar dragon, wonder who in this country wields the real power. probably the pope given all this. Tyler wasn't too concerned yet as the Skyr wanted something from them so he'd keep his schemes under wraps for now, at least until the feeling out of the room ended. Tyler then noticed the pope looking at Kaori again this time Tyler looked him the eye with an open warning in his eyes as he took Spike and rub its edge testing it. There was zero fear in his gaze and plain old fashion contempt, I know what you are and what you want and you can't have it. Skyr seemed amused by Tyler's defiant stare down before addressing everyone.

"Thank you all for coming and again welcome to the world of Lectis brave warriors. Allow me to explain why you were summoned to this world and the role you are expected to play. First let me explain the world to you in this manner here, Ladies would please serve our guest some refreshments."

As he finished speaking, a large number of maids walked in pushing trolleys and carrying covered platers, cups and plates. Tyler expected no less from how organized and efficient the ladies were about there duties, what he DIDN't expect were the different types of maid there were. They had the stereotypical French maid complete with bonnet, the gothic Lolita which he had always admired, and others he didn't recognize. As one approached him and Kaori with a covered plater he moved to the side to allow her access to the table, when he did so he noticed her ears were pointed like a knife, and he realized with a start that he was looking upon an elf. A friggin elf for gods sake! She was rather tall and extremely slender with delicate features and decent cleavage, maybe a large b cup, her eyes were a deep red and her skin a shade of brown. She noticed him gawking and gave a slight smile, her teeth were pure white with a pair of slight fangs bordering her full lips.

"Ahem"

Kaori had apparently had enough of him ignoring her for a new girl and elbowed him in the side a bit harder this time. Tyler jumped and looked at her like what? The elf was smiling as she unloaded the platter of food and drink, the spell had been broken and Tyler was thinking clearly again. Now he noticed that there were other types of people then just elves, he noticed a short girl with a large bush of a tail, similar to a foxes tail by Charlotte, A girl with bunny ears by Max and his buddies, Poor girl, having to wait on those idiots, Another elf with black skin and a more feral look about her then the one who had served him and Kaori, then he noticed one girl that instantly became his favorite, a tall, pale skinned beauty with bat like wings growing out of her back, a long spiked tail swished back and forth behind her and there were a pair of curling horns protruding from her head. Her eyes were a deep shade of red, similar to blood, and her pupils were slanted like a cats. her hair was long and thick, and a more vibrant shade of red then her eyes, it was more the luxuriant mane of a lion then the head of hair on a mere human. Her breasts were large as well, easily a pair of double ds, and they bounced whenever she took a step. A devil girl, a friggin devil girl, I always knew i was gonna burn in hell someday, but damn do i hope there are more devils like her down there, if so i don't think it will be so bad, hotter then holy hell am i right. That's when the Devil girl looked at him and grinned lewdly, like she read his mind, and took an extra hard step adding an extra bounce factor to her magnificent mammeries as she passed. Tyler was impressed, Kaori was pissed, she stomped on his foot, causing him to jump,

"ow what the hell Barbie!?"

"eyes front pervert"

she growled, That's when Tyler realized he was in deep shit, but before he could destroy her state of mind he smelled the food sitting before them, which was more of a pressing issue. There were steaks of an unknown meat type but smelled divine, salads brimming with various types of fruits like apples, pears, some lettuce heads and more that he didn't recognize. There were also pies and cakes, all served by the small army of maids. As Tyler gorged himself on meats of all kinds and flavors he paid special attention to the maids demeanor and body language, seeking to see into the nature of the keep they were in, as the old saying goes, want to learn about the top ask the bottom. Or in this case if you want to know about what kind of higher ups you were dealing with ask their servants. so Tyler paid attention to the maids not busy with serving anyone for clues. He didn't get very far as the Devil girl he had been ogling earlier walked up to him,

"greetings Warrior my name is Lyrica, and I'm to be your personal servant during your time in our care, it is a great pleasure to serve one such as yourself."

She said, or more like purred, her voice a seductive rasp that sent a shiver up Tyler's spine. It took him a second longer then usual for him to respond, a fact not lost on Kaori,

"ah, thanks, Lyrica um, well, this is a first, well lets see"

he trailed off completely hypnotized by this alluring creature before him. Lyrica laughed and leaned in close to his face,

"How may I serve you? Master?"

Her breath warm on his face and smell of cherries, he gulped before Kaori Jabbed him with a fork, "Wake up idiot, she's waiting"

the sudden pain combined with Kaori's voice brought him right back to reality with a bang. Tyler looked at Lyrica and only then noticed the presence on his mind, a pressure that was trying to push him toward more lewd thoughts about the sexy creature before him. That helped him realize what he was dealing with,

"Aww so you're a succubus, are you not?"

Lyrica's eyes widened a little like she didn't expect him to figure it out, before laughing again,

"That I am young one, though I am surprised you're still sane after diving so deep into my seduction trance, anyone else humankind, beastfolk or demon would have lost their minds in an endless bliss after succumbing to my spell so readily and completely. Curious most Curious indeed. That said I am still to be your personal servant while in the care of the king. That much was true."

Tyler took a drink of black tea,

"Well Lyrica I'll say this now, you won't get me with that trick again, now I appreciate your help, though I still need information from Skyr about this land and it's peoples and what we're doing here."

He turned to Kaori,

"thanks for that Kaori, I owe you one"

"Yes well as long you don't get taken in again by her I'll let it go."

she took a drink of her own tea, though Tyler noticed her smug grin and the blush on her cheeks. Tyler then noticed that Lyrica was still awaiting orders,

"Lyrica you can rest for now I'll holler if I need u Kay?"

"As you wish master"

She headed off toward an alcove by one of the mantles along the wall. Tyler turned to see where the pope went and found him ascending the pulpit again, though when he looked over to see Tyler watching him he got a strangely sour look on his face, like he wasn't happy Tyler was keeping an eye on him. twenty bucks says he put Lyrica up to that little stunt to make me lose my mind and remove a potential thorn from his side. Skyr then cleared his throat and everyone turned to hear what he had to say.

"Now I feel like you realize that there are more then just humans in our world and some wield powers different then our own"

Skyr looked directly at Tyler when he said this, Well that settles it,

"now the reason you were summoned to this world is to use your formidable power and help humanity fight of the invading army of monsters, how you chose to do so is up to you, the monsters attack in waves every three months and humanities only hope for survival is to throw off the attacks when they come, we don't know how many attacks there will be, or how many foes will come from each assault wave but regardless you must help us fight them off every time they occur. The next attack will occur in three months time from today the countdown begin. Now the one who summoned you to this world was of god of reality, Dragonis, the creator of our world and the bridge between worlds, we at the Brotherhood of HumanKind worship the Red one as the chief deity among the pantheon of Lectis. Now as for your rewards for your efforts in the coming war, I will leave that to the king and you Warriors to discuss, now the King is His Royal Highness Ishtar Von Vernillion King of the country Vernillia a sovereign human kingdom and is one of the four principle human nations of Lectis. You will meet with the king on the morrow so to commence you journeys and begin building your strength. All I can Say to you Warriors is good luck in the coming battles."

In the wake of this bombshell announcement, that they were expected to fight in a war, and that it would begin in three months no less left the room stunned. Well except for Tyler of course, he nudged Kaori,

"We're traveling together, Agreed?"

He took her hand in his and squeezed it tight, She looked at him the fear gave way to relief,

"Agreed"

They were the only ones not in some form of panic. Everyone else was ranting and roaring, some demanding to be sent back, others panicking, and still others rocking back and forth either in the stairs or on the floor. Tyler looked over to Lyrica, who noticed his gaze and came over,

"Yes How can I serve you my master?"

"Could you show us to our sleeping quarters please Lyrica?"

"Certainly right this way please."

"sweet come on Kaori you're with me tonight, I don't trust anyone else here."

"kay"

She followed Tyler and Lyrica towards the door.

"Hey where are you going?"

Skyr approached them along with Gruven,

"We're going to crash for the night, and come up with a plan for tomorrow."

Tyler replied, still headed for the door. Skyr looked from Tyler to Kaori,

"You will share a bed chamber?"

"Yes since we'll travel together make sense to get used to sleeping in the same room."

Goes Tyler watching Skyr eye an uncomfortable Kaori, at this point Tyler moves in front of her to shield her from Skyr's hungry gaze. The pope faced him

"I'm afraid that is impossible, both sharing a bed chamber and traveling together as well, for the Warriors have always traveled alone."

"Tyler looked the pope dead in the eye, an intense anger burning in his gaze,

" Did you not just say that dealing with the attack waves is up to our discretion, How'd you put it? How we choose to do so is up to us? well we chose to fight together to deal with them. Now as for the chamber thing, I don't remember asking for, nor requiring your permission to do so, the only permission i needed is from Kaori and I got It. Good day to you my good sir. Come on Kaori"

He turned to leave with Kaori under his arm without waiting for the pope's response or dismissal. Kaori followed him, with a happy smile on her face. Tyler heard a rasp of steel behind him, pulling Kaori with him he surged to the side as a swordblade swooshed past them by inches. Gruven wielded said blade, the pope smiling behind him.

"I don't recall giving you leave to have that girl as I claimed her for myself, too bad for you Warrior." Gruven smiled apologetically,

"Sorry lad, orders you know, Fraid I can't break my oath, don't worry your death will be painless, I promise."

Tyler Looked at Kaori's terrified face and that was all he needed to move into action. Lyrica was nowhere to be seen. Tyler stood up and faced the Knightcaptain. He pulled Spike from his pocket. The pope laughed,

"seriously what can you do with that pathetic toy? Gruven Kill him quickly, I want to play with my new toy."

Gruven came at Tyler longsword held horizontally to his chest and pointed at him, Tyler stood his ground Spike held out in his right hand his left open ready to grapple. Kaori backed against the wall, "Tyler win this Please."

She was in tears pleading, knowing the horrific fate that awaited her if he fell. But she had never seen Tyler fight with something he actually cared about on the line, she had never seen what he was capable of when he got serious, if she had, she wouldn't have worried. Tyler charged the more experienced man knife ready, Gruven went to sidestep the seemingly bullheaded charge, only for Tyler to sidestep with him and tackle him to the ground, As they both fell Tyler wormed his way underneath the bigger man and locked his legs around the armoured waist of the Knight, the knights sword flopped useless to the ground with a clamor, Tyler Plunged the knife in the opening under the armpit of the captain, soaking the weapon and himself in the man's lifeblood. Gruven Grunted and tried to free himself from Tyler's embrace, but was unable to, his armour getting in the way and Tyler's ground based strategy paying dividends, Gruven tried crushing the small man beneath him but only succeeded in giving Tyler an opening for the back of his armour, where the breastplate met the plate legs, Spike dived in with gusto, seeking the man's kidneys' and spinal code, Gruven Went limp and Tyler Shoved him off and surged to his feet, grabbing the fallen knights sword, flipping the blood-soaked Spike around and closing it he tossed it to Kaori, who caught it deftly. Tyler raised the Knights longsword and faced the pope, both hands gripping the blade, taking up a side stance blade held straight out, A I dare you stance. The pope looked shocked that this kid, freshly summoned, untrained, had killed one of the most experienced knights in the kingdom with such ease. Tyler spoke in a low growl,

"You're next priest."

He was about to lunge at the bastard when Kaori grabbed his arm,

"look leave him we need to go now more soldiers are coming!"

She had dried her tears and seemed to be alright now. "

Very well"

Giving the pope one last hate filled glare he took Kaori's hand and took off down the hallway a group of soldiers chasing them. As they ran back down the hallway they had originally came down after being summoned, Tyler took the lead turning down a side hall along the way, the bootsteps of troops echoing behind the fugitives. Tyler was definitely feeling the exertion of hardcore running for your life, combined with the unfamiliar weight of the fallen captain's longsword in his fist, a panting Kaori a step behind him, and the fact that he wasn't in the best of shape physically you get the result of a man out of breath only after fifty{if that} meters of sprinting. As the two of them ran through the halls, passing terrified maids, servants, and others he didn't recognize, he realized just how fucked the pair of them were; running from a power-mad pope, a group of highly trained, far more experienced soldiers who patrolled these very same halls they were running through on the daily, not to mention the fact that solid ground was several hundred meters below them, all the while with no clue as to where they were going. Tyler knew they were like rats in a maze for the pope and soldiers, as neither he nor the blonde beauty beside him knew the slightest thing about the building they were in, then as if to prove his point, they turned a blind corner to find a squad of five knights in full armour coming the opposite way, crashing into the runners head on. Tyler crashed into the leading soldier's chest taking him down with a loud clang, like someone had dropped a kitchen of pots and pans, Kaori, ever dexterous, practically danced around the other four knights as Tyler extracted himself from the mess of man and metal on the floor. The knights seemed completely stunned to see a young man and woman racing around as if chased by the lord of death himself, that confusion lasted until one of the men noticed that Tyler was covered in blood, along with the blade he held,

"Hey watch the fuck ou-, ohh by the dragon, that's captain Gruven's sword! Hey! halt! Men after them, that's the captains blade!"

"Kaori, move!"

Tyler grabbed her hand and practically dragged her along the hall until she found her stride again. As the turned the next corner the group that had been originally chasing them caught up to the new group of soldiers, adding to their problems.

Meanwhile the second in command of the royal knights, a wall of a man clad in fur armour, named Gregor, was explaining the commotion to the remaining classmates and parents left behind in the dinning hall,

"The Warriors Tyler and Kaori are now enemies of the Kingdom of Vernilla, wanted fugitives who stand responsible for the murder of the brave Royal Knight Captain Gruven Von Lectis in cold blood, the theft of the Captain's family sword, threatening a Church official and attempted murder of the Pope himself. The pope is safe and currently under armed guard in his personal quarters. He is unharmed, though shaken. As we speak, the royal guard, the city militia, and local adventurers are currently scouring the town and the castle for the bastards with kill on sight instructions. They will not get far, I stake me oath on it."

He explained his gruff rumble of a voice. In the stunned silence of the dinning hall, the students and adults, who mere minutes ago were in a full blown panic over the pope's proclamation about their forced participation in the war for humanities very survival, were strangely quiet as they digested the fact that two of their own were wanted criminals, and for the murder of the jolly-seeming Gruven no less! As they were processing the wild turn of events, laughter filled the room, not just any laughter, but the extremely cynical, divisive laugh someone has when making fun of someone's oblivious blunder. The newly-promoted Captain scowled, and marched over to the insolent offender, only to find a obese woman, an equally obese daughter, and pencil of a man behind the cackling.

"What is the meaning of this? Do you people have zero respect? What do you find to be so funny, eh? Speak Up, lest you join the two monsters in their just punishment!"

Roared the hulking, fur-clad barbarian. The woman stood up,

"I'm fuckin laughin cause you actually think yur gonna catch that little bastard and his whore girlfriend. Take it from me, that fuckin retard is slipperier than a wet snake, and craftier then a blood-hungry fox. yer not gonna catch I'm if ya wanted to."

The woman replied with the condescending tone of one having to explain how 2+2=4 to a forty-year-old adult. Gregor looked like he was about to burst at the seems, How dare this heffer belittle the efforts and competency of the Royal knights? "oh, and what makes you so sure about that?"

"i'm the rats mother, thats why. Fucker makes escape look like an art form. It's the only thing that worthless waste of a birth is good for, runnin away that is."

Gregor was a little stunned that a mother could talk like that about her own child, With a mother like that, he shook his head to clear the blasphemous thought from his mind, and merely ordered the woman to be silent, and turned to survey the rest of the room. As expected some of the gathered people were scared, others were quietly discussing the days' events, others still were angry, one stood up, Kazuma, Kaori's brother,

"So, let me make sure I understand this, You're saying that, together, Tyler and Kaori attacked and killed Gruven the previous Knight captain? Without any trouble at all? Even though Gruven was vastly more experienced, armed and armoured? Tyler, who could barely run ten meters without stopping for breath, and Kaori, who is less then half the captain's size? Really? I'm sorry but there's no way they pulled that off. Especially given how the three of them seemed to get along together when we were walking to the hall. They were conversing like old friends. Tyler carries a six inch switchblade on him usually, your telling me that beat a longsword and years of training? Seems a little far fetched to me."

"And who're you that you know them so well?"

"I'm Kaori's brother, and Tyler's friend though he doesn't seem to think the same of me."

"Is that so?"

Gregor signaled to the knights, and they surrounded Kazuma, swords and spears pointed at him, "perhaps you would like to 'assist' us in apprehending them then? Then you can ask them why and how yourself."

Kazuma's protest was cut short by a spearpoint at his neck as he was marched out of the room. Gregor then once again faced the assembly,

"Alright everyone you are to be escorted to your chambers for the evening, then tomorrow the meeting with the King himself."

with that Gregor went to join the chase for the fugitives, as he left, the remaining people in the room were led by the leftover knights to their sleeping chambers for the evening. Murmurs and whispered conversations broke out throughout the column of interworlders,

"whats' gonna happen to Kaori and Kazuma?, She didn't really kill anyone right? I'm sure it was all that Tyler's fault as usual and Kaori was just dragged into it as always!"

There was not a shred of pity for Tyler, or a single word in his defense, Kazuma had been the only one to defend him and he had been taken away at spearpoint. The students and parents were led to their quarters for the night, lavish rooms for each of them on the top floor of the tower, the complete opposite direction from the desperate chase still going on below their very feet. The former classmates and associates of Tyler and Kaori slept badly that night as the was the constant sounds of horns and alarms throughout the night.

DAYS UNTIL WAVE: 89.

Tyler and Kaori didn't sleep at all that night, between dodging patrols and narrowly avoiding capture numerous times they, by some freaking miracle made it to the ground floor of the large keep. Kaori was exhausted, her head constantly falling forward and her nearly falling asleep when motionless, Tyler felt bad for her, this was probably the first time she had to stay awake and alert to such and extreme extent like this, she wasn't used to this. Not that Tyler was in much better shape, though he was more accustomed to people being out for his blood, for some reason or another, he was still exhausted from the near misses and close calls from the top of the tower to where they were now. They were also hungry and thirsty, though Tyler had the pleasure of pissing out of the window of the tower on a higher floor, which was kinda cool if he was honest. Though Kaori thought he was an idiot for that one. He got revenge though when it was Kaori's turn, he had to stand guard outside a lavatory on the thirty-first floor of the tower while she pissed,

"Just be glad it's not your time of the month right now eh?"

He snickered,

"Oh my dear, dear friend, I'm so glad you can still find the time for jokes when our lives are on the line, though I hope you'll indulge me for a moment when I get out of here for a moment so we can 'discuss' your turn of phrase, so please joke away."

She kicked him in the balls for that one, worth it though. After recovering they had kept running. Now they were so close and yet still so far from their goal of the town. Both exhausted and short on time they took stock of their situation. Thy were looking out the window over looking a rather foreboding moat filled with black water that seemed to roil and churn on it's own accord, that fact convinced them that simply diving into the moat was a bad idea as Tyler was not a very good swimmer, and Kaori was not confident enough to help him in the water. Plus the roiling and churning waters hinted at unseen currents beneath the surface, further adding to the moats danger factor.

"That water looks like a bad idea, Tyler, I know you suck at swimming, even the 4ft section of the local pool was a challenge for you! Plus I don't like the way those ripples look, I'm thinking underwater caves or off shoots of the main causeway, not to mention what might be living in there too."

Tyler nodded,

" I agree that moats' bad news, though for the sake of options, lets keep it as a worst case scenario backup plan kay?"

He turned to continue scanning their options: the first option was the bridge leading into the building in the north of their position, but, as it was a main access point for most foot traffic in and out of the tower, it was probably heavily guarded, next was the moat which was the most risky option, the last was trying to get high enough in the building to jump onto a passing airship and hope to stick the landing and remain undetected, that last option got a look of disbelief from Kaori when he proposed it,

"Tyler"

she spoke in a low, slow voice, as if speaking to a small child so as to not scare it even though she herself was fuming,

"what...in the blue sky-loving hell...is wrong with you? Just curious, cause it seems to me that you might have a death wish, or are just plain suicidal."

Tyler had looked at her with a quizzical look of confusion on his face after she said that.

"Well, Barbie, I'm Sorry that my ideas don't involve primping and preening, cause if they did we'd be out of this mess already, though, I still doubt we'd get every far, since that personality is a real turn off though."

She had turned on him red in the face with anger and embarrassment and was about to whack him one when a patrol of hunting knights came by at that moment and they had had to take off again. So with the airship jump firmly off the table, they were left with a moat dive from either the tenth or fifteenth floors, or a ballsy walk out the front door along the main bridge in or out. As they weighed the options, Tyler adjusted the Captains sword on his back, for as they had run through the halls of the tower they had hid in various rooms along the way, one being a small guards' armory, mainly stocked tunics, and light armour. As they were wearing clothing that screamed outsiders, from Tyler's denim jeans, grim reaper t-shirt and Timberland work boots to Kaori's V-neck blouse, capri cut-off jeans and converse sneakers, He figured they could do with a change of clothes. Kaori had complained saying how much the shoes alone had cost, she ultimately agreed once reminded of the fact their lives were at risk. So they had scoured the small storage room. Tyler was the first to find things that appealed to him, A black shirt and hood combo reminiscent of a hoodie, only made of thinner material, under which he wore a thin shirt of chainmail armour. the chain links rubbed his skin and felt really weird, but he bore it silently, happy to have some form of armour, he also found a pair of light pants made from a form of soft leather, with a pair of spiked kneepads atop the timberland work boots, as they closely resembled the boots worn by soldiers. He had also snagged a scabbard for the Captain's sword he had taken from the fallen Gruven, Which he hung across his back, from right shoulder to left hip, before he had done so, he took a moment to examine the his new best friend. The sword was between four and five feet in length, with a leather grip, a simple steel crosstree, and a blade that started narrow and the guard and widened out before narrowing again into a vicious needle-like point. The blade itself was a deep silver, barely scratched, though whether that was from care or lack of use Tyler knew not, when the blade was swung it produced a whistle that sent a shiver down both Tyler's and Kaori's spine, it produced such a pure sound, it was surprising that it came from an object of such death as a sword. Now having completed his own warrior's image he turned to check out Kaori's transformation: She had opted for a light green tunic that clung to her slender frame, emphasizing her moderate cleavage, leaving her back exposed to the air, a pair of light brown pants that were little better then skinny jeans, through far easier to move in, and belted by a leather strap with notches cut into it for pouches, pockets and other such adventurer gear. Her long beautiful blonde hair she tied into a ponytail and hung passed her waist. Completing the picture she had picked up a pair of high cut black leather boots. She wore a pair of fingerless gloves, and armed herself with a bow and a quiver of arrows from the supply of arms in storage. All in all, she could of passed as an elf without pointed ears with the outfit she had chosen, Tyler found himself thinking about just beautiful she truly was, something he had always known but never put much stock into, She really is as gorgeous as everyone thinks she is, damn am I happy I'm running with her instead of-wait the fuck am I thinking? That's Kaori for fucks sake! get your head outta ye ass! He shook his head to knock the annoying thoughts away. He turned to the weapon racks and grabbed a bow and quiver for himself, along with a pair of small Sgian Dao daggers, one he hid in his boot, the other he was gonna give her for the same purpose.

As he looked over the weapons Kaori watched him from the corner of her eye, she had caught him staring, something he never did before, a fact not lost on the young woman. She was not mad or annoyed, as she normally was when she caught someone ogling her body, used to it as she was, instead she was strangely happy that he had been checking her out. She WAS a little disappointed when he shook his head as if to cleanse himself of impure thoughts and went to look at weapons instead of her, What embarrassed to get caught checkin out the hottie in the room? hehe how cute. Still though, why am I disappointed that he stopped? Do I WANT him to stare at me like that? Do I like him like that? It's TYLER for Christ's sake! She was a little flustered by the thought and as such had had to retie the knot on her boot. After their wardrobe change, Tyler and Kaori had dumped their old clothes into a barrel at the back of the storeroom and used some nails and a hammer they found to nail it shut. Tyler would've preferred to burn them but circumstances being what they were, he settled for the barrel. After that they had moved out, still dodging patrols left, right and center, bringing them to their current predicament; looking out at a bridge over the moat trying to decide the best course of action. Tyler was looking at the number of guards patrolling the bridge, along with the usual pedestrians like merchants, craftsmen, visitors, and other such riffraff. Tyler noticed that the guards were systematically searching every merchant wagon coming in or out of the tower, and throwing the hoods of every passerby to look them in the face, clearly trying to find the two wanted fugitives. As Tyler watched he noticed that the wagon searches were only upon entering and leaving the tower, and only the once, for as a wagon entered the main entranceway a guard took the driver aside, while another climbed aboard and poked the wagons contents with a spear, once that search was done the driver was allowed back on the wagon and waved along. The same took place with wagons exiting the fortified tower, though as Tyler looked on he noticed a rather large hole in the guards search tactics. They're only checking the cargo, not the tops of the covered wagons, or the undercarriages either for that matter. And some of those wagons have side paneling that droops with more then enough space for a body to hide under there. Given me and Kaori's frames and sizes, we should easily fit beneath one of the larger wagons. As Tyler came to that conclusion, he put the discovery to Kaori. Her response caught him off guard,

"Are you serious? that's such an obvious one that I Bet their doing it on purpose to lure us into a trap. How do you know they're not searching the underside out of sight down that road? Remember, these soldiers are not idiots, they know what their doing."

Her voice was not sharp or condescending, as he would have expected but more of a quiet whisper, different from the usual snarkiness she used when correcting him. Tyler was shocked and a little relieved he didn't have to do all the thinking for the two of them.

"Alright, I see your point, I'm open to suggestions if you have any. If not I say we take the chance and as soon as we clear the first search we drop from the wagon and roll to the side and try to blend with the crowd. Your right saying it's obvious, painfully obvious at that, but that might work in our favor since is such and easy go to for a pair of escaping fugitives."

Kaori leaned against the stone of the windowsill thinking, while Tyler checked for any incoming patrols, the guard was due any minute but for the moment they were in the clear. Kaori grumbled,

"I got nothin, Plus I agree with you on the fact that the wagon is so blatant that it might be overlooked, so I say we go for it, as we don't have much of a choice either way."

"alright let's go for it, let's say, if all goes well we detach at that point in the bridge that has the platform for sightseers, if not I'll detach and cause a diversion and give you a chance to escape, in that case, I'll dive into the moat, so I'd appreciate your help with that."

She nodded and the plan was put into action.