Chapter 4: The Beginning
The next morning, I woke up with my legs hanging over the edge of the sofa and my head upside down. "Not again......" I moaned, getting up. I was wearing the clothes from the tailor I had saved yesterday, and my skirt had turned inside-out when I shifted my legs, much to my chagrin. I quickly straightened it out just in time, as Ralstan walked downstairs yawning. "Good morning." He mumbled, heading to the kitchen. "Morning." I replied, picking up my long coat, putting it on and buttoning it up. The cloak joined the 2 layers of clothing around me. "Well, Ralstan, I guess I should be going now." I sighed, opening the door. "So fast? You can't go alone!" Ralstan protested from the kitchen, running out with a cup of cocoa in his hands. "I've been travelling alone for the past 10 years." I said in a cold tone, then realized what I had just said and turned around. "Sorry...... I'm just too used to talking to people like that..." I walked back into the house. Ralstan's fist was shaking. "Reika...... Sometimes I feel as if I don't even know you..." He sighed. "A lot of things happened when we were separated..." I explained, then realized I wasn't doing much to help. "I'm sorry......" I blinked a tear away and ran out the door.
I walked out of the city gates, looking back on Perion. "Ralstan......" I slammed my fist into the wall. "Why am I so stupid!? He's my brother......" I moaned, falling to my knees and sobbing gently. Suddenly, a cloud of dust rose up all around me, and I barely had time to draw breath before being swallowed into the ground.
......
When I woke up again, I was in an expansive room with multiple stone statues lining the sides. Not only that, the lone statue in the middle of the room looked like a huge demon with three horns on the head. I gasped. "I'm in deep trouble." I groaned as two of the statues came alive and grabbed my arms, stopping me from moving. Kicking them didn't even scratch their petrified skin. Suddenly, the demon statue in the middle of the room reached out a hand, grabbing my head. I passed out.
*Ralstan's PoV*
I managed to catch up with Reika before the dust cloud rose around her, but I jumped in after a few seconds of hesitation. "I really did it this time......" I moaned, dropping into an expansive room. There was a large demon statue in the middle of the room, and it's hand was on Reika's head. I drew my spear and jumped towards the statue, but Reika suddenly turned around, blocking my attack for the statue with her dagger. "What!?" I gasped. Reika's eyes were black, and so was her hair and bow. Even her dagger's ruby crust was emitting an ominous black glow. All the statues in the room disappeared, leaving both of us to fight alone. Or rather, let me get pummeled. I couldn't hurt my own sister, even if she was being controlled! Her dark side was really showing now. "Reika!" I yelled. She ignored me and drew her bow, launching two quick shots at me. I dived aside in time, but she had anticipated my move and was in front of me with her dagger out. "Graah!" I ducked the swipe and tried to punch her in the stomach. She dodged it by dashing aside in the air and came at me again. "Stop it, Reika! I'm sorry!" I shouted. Again, she ignored me. Whatever magic was controlling her, it was really strong.
Suddenly, I spotted a tear leaking out of her right eye, and her movements slowed dramatically. She still had some control over herself, and I quickly dashed behind her, jabbing a finger at the nerve cluster at the base of her neck. She then passed out, and her weapons and hair reverted to normal. "At least I got here in time......" I breathed, grabbing a piece of paper from my rear pocket and scrawling a symbol on it. "SEAL!" I roared, placing the paper on Reika's head. The entire paper turned black, and I burnt it with a fire spell. A demon howl resonated through the air, and Reika got up. "What did I......" She stared at her open hands. "Don't run off alone like that." I advised, hugging her tightly. She started crying into my chest. "Are you okay now?" I asked. She nodded, still crying. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier..." I quickly apologized. "No...... I should be... the one... apologizing..." Reika cried. "Just promise that you won't show me the side that I just fought. Cold and heartless isn't the personality I want for my sister." I smiled. She nodded violently, and her hair covered my face. "But...... I'm used to..." She mumbled. "You can show your other side to the demons or people we may fight. Just don't give me that attitude." I patted her on the back gently. She finally stopped crying.
I ran to the wall of the cave, poking my spear at spots in the wall. I found a place that sounded hollow and blasted a hole through the wall with a focused Dragon Roar. "We have a way out." I announced. Reika was still weak from being possessed, so I had to carry her again. "Sorry about this..." She moaned. "It's okay. If you start travelling again, I'll be going with you." I smiled. "Really?" She asked. I nodded. "My family's more important than my job." I chuckled, opening the door of my house and setting Reika down on the sofa. She instantly fell asleep. "I swear, I will protect you, even if it means losing my life." I swore, staring at her sleeping form. I had lost her, thrice already. I didn't intend to lose her a fourth time. I took a seat on a separate sofa. No way I wanted to get kicked onto the floor by Reika, I had enough experience of sharing beds with her already.
......
*Reika's PoV*
When I woke up, Ralstan was sleeping on a sofa opposite me, and again, my hips were bunched up in the air. "Why do I keep waking up like this?" I mumbled, getting up. My coat was folded up neatly, lying on a side table, and I walked over to Ralstan and kneeled down. "Bro, if there was one person I'd be willing to die for, It'd be you." I smiled, planting a kiss on his cheek. He stirred slightly, but didn't wake up. I glanced at the kitchen and strolled in, taking a look around. He didn't have much in the way of appliances, and he pretty much only had a toaster, an oven, and a refrigerator along with cabinets lining the walls. I opened one and was immediately appalled. "When did he get addicted to instant food? It's unhealthy." I groaned.
Even though I didn't like instant food, I cooked up two packets of curry noodles for both of us and brought them to the living room in two bowls. "Do I smell curry noodles?" Ralstan's cheerful voice rang through the air. I smiled and set down a bowl in front of him. "Thanks." He grabbed a pair of chopsticks that I had placed on the bowl and started slurping the noodles in. "I've been meaning to discuss something with you." I sat down beside him and started eating my noodles. "What?" Ralstan looked at me with a few strands of noodles dangling from his mouth. I couldn't resist laughing as he quickly sucked them in. "Okay...... I've been doing some research during my travels, and I figured out that the demon realm is supposed to be several dimensions away. The world's dimensions are arranged in the form of a long rope. Think of each section as a separate dimension. We're on one side of the rope, and the Demon Realm is on the opposite end. 100 dimensions, 98 controlled by demons." I sighed. Ralstan nearly exhaled his noodles out of his nose. "WHAT!? 98 dimensions under demon control!?" He gasped. "I got it from the Magician's 4th job master. She's been studying the time-space continuum for several years now." I traced a line in the air.
"We're in the second dimension that's not under demon control, and the dimension behind us...... We're the final wall separating the demons from the last dimension on the chain. The last world's also supposed to be capable of fighting back, but nothing that's not magical can kill demons. They only have conventional weapons like guns, even bombs. They also have giant robots, like the ones in Omega Sector. I know because there's a few places where the dimensional barriers are really weakened, and it's possible to walk out of this dimension into that one or even peek in. In fact, there's one of those wormholes right behind your house." I said. Right at that moment, there was a loud bang from behind the house, accompanied by a flash of bright light. "What the hell......" I got up and ran to the back of the house, flinging the door open. "What happened?" Ralstan followed behind. "We have visitors." I quickly grabbed my Dragon Shinebow and nocked an arrow to the string, pointing it at the 'visitors'.