Chapter 8: My parents are the main characters.

I have to say, finding out a bunch of stuff at once sure is fun. I've got several fun parts of my status that I've finally understood. Like,

Title - One of a kind: you are the first and only of your kind to exist! How exiting, a new adventure! With this title you can name your species whatever you wish, and can now hide your race from the prying eyes of ID stones. Analyse? Nope, analyse can still see it lol. There are so many possibilities in your little body!

This one kind of pissed me off. Why the hell is it so condescending damn it?! Even my own status is treating me like some kid. And while the opportunity to name my race is cool, I don't know what I would call it, so I'll pass on that for the moment. Next,

Title - Reincarnated: You've been reborn! Wow, what kind of luck is that! You have the memories and knowledge of another life, but whether they can be applied to this life or not is debatable. This is a different world after all! with this title, the holder is given a second stigma based on their previous life's characteristics. Try live a long, fulfilling life.

Um, did I get analyse because of my awful hobbies in my past life? I did enjoy picking apart plot lines and pointing out all the holes in them as well as judging and doing the same to people around me... well, it's turned out for the better. Although, do most people only have one stigma? how boring.

Stigma - Mind over matter: Is naturally super talented at things that rely heavily on the mind, like magic or politics. When learning, time taken to understand and memorize is shortened by amount of interest and passion the holder has for the subject matter.

This stigma of mine seems both amazing and disappointing. On one hand, It's amazing, but on the other hand I can't just memorize a bunch of random stuff that might be useful. On top of that, in a fantasy world, as an animal, it would be more useful to have a strong body. Also, this right here confirms the existence of magic! Hell yeah! I know what I'm going to spend a stupid amount of time wasting on! Let's ask mum and dad about magic later.

Humanization: the holder has the potential to gain a humanoid form. Next checkpoint is 25%.

I kinda figured seeing as both my parents can become humanlike, but that checkpoint thing is rather interesting. I guess I'll find out what it's all about when I reach it. I also checked the explanation of stigma, but it was pretty much the same as what mum told me, there wasn't any new info. Overall, a great haul in terms of information.

But, now that dad and Xenia have come back looking rather windswept but satisfied, mum is calling a family meeting. "What's happening Diana? Are we in trouble?" Dad looks rather serious for once, but the two kittens wriggling around in his arms are rather distracting. My eldest brother Julian and second sister Azazel are the most active of the five of us, so they had to be held down for this discussion. Meanwhile, my other brother Rowan is an angel, plopped down next to me and being completely silent. Xenia's on my other side, and the three of us are looking quite precocious if I do say so myself.

"Nicole has analyse." Mum throws a fast ball straight to dad, and it's totally caught him off guard if his face is anything to go off. He whips his head over to me, and I nod, looking and feeling rather smug honestly. My siblings are all confused, but they seem to realise that this is something important, because I've now got my whole family staring straight at me.

"I'm going to get you to check all of our statuses, okay Nicole sweetie?" I don't see anything wrong with this, so I nod to mums suggestion. "Who should I start with?" Mum gestures to herself, and I decide to try this out. I stare at her and think 'Show status'

*Ding*

---status---

Name: Nicole

Age: 34

Race: Heavenly Tiger

Title: Holy beast of the sky and land; Murderous; Beastly; Innovator

Stigma: Bloodthirsty maniac; Holy dominion

Humanization: 100%

---status---

......

Scary. What is this? Is this my lovely warm amazing mums status? Wait, maybe the titles and stigma are just really misleading. Let's check.

Stigma - Bloodthirsty maniac: The holder goes batshit crazy as soon as they see the blood of an enemy. Turns berserk in battle and will not come back to their senses until they're either somehow snapped out or there is nobody left standing. Don't make this person your enemy.

Title - Murderous: thirsts for others blood and has committed murder so much that it's no longer a bad thing in the holders eyes. The holder has a high chance of being mentally unstable in some way.

Title - Beastly: a total beast. Barbaric in ways of slaughter. Not someone who negotiates. If there is a problem, violence will be the answer for the holder.

What the fuck. Somehow, reading the explanations only made it worse. Mum, I'll always listen to you from now on. When I close the status and look back at mum, I'm shaking in fear. She somehow seems satisfied by this, what a creep.

"If you're that scared all of a sudden, I'm going to guess that you've successfully seen everything. Hahaha! My titles are rather nasty, huh. What's the explanation of my stigma? I have a faint idea, but I'm not sure." I read out loud to her what I've seen on the screen, and by the end it isn't just me scared. Everyone except for mum herself is terrified. 'Dad, why you too? You had kids with her. Oh wait, there was something else I wanted to ask.'

"Mum, what's a holy beast?" I'd gotten distracted by the scary criminal stuff, but there was another unfamiliar term in her status. Mum looks like she's expected me to mention that, and dad had also twitched at the mention of the term. "The holy beasts are the guardians and overseers of this world." She grins, and it's a thing of dark, cruel beauty. I can't look away as she continues. "There are 8 of us, and our job is to govern our dominions and keep the world on track and orderly. It's a very old, sacred position." Somehow, I don't really want to know how they do that. Also, "Are you born with it as a stigma? What happens to you if that happens? Do you die?"

"The title is hereditary. It will choose it's next owner out of your siblings, and that person will become my heir. When I either die or step down, the title goes to the heir and the inherit the stigma giving them those powers. The holy stigma's are one of those irregulars that I mentioned to you." Mum explains very concisely, and after finishing seems to remember something. "You don't need to only ask me, your father is also a holy beast. Check his status."

BOTH OF THEM?? This is some kind of high class genetics pool that we've been given huh. Wait, does that mean that two of my siblings are going to become holy beasts one day? Wow, I'm part of a really important family. Anyways, time to look at dads status. Brace yourself Nicole.

*Ding*

---Status---

Name: Sebastian

Age: 31

Race: Dragon (winged)

Title: Holy beast of light and darkness; enigma; Morally grey

Stigma: Nurture and boost; Holy dominion

Humanization: 100%

---Status---

Dads is slightly less concerning, but seems rather random instead. I mean, enigma? Why is dad an enigma. And I hope that stigma isn't what I think it is. Lets see.

Title - Enigma: this person, while being a publicly known figure, is also a total blank. Everyone knows they exist, but not who or what they are. Obviously very stealthy and private, more people need to be like them. The holder is an expert at minding their own business and telling others to do the same.

Title - Morally grey: They've been corrupted. Not quite a villainous criminal, but also definitely not an upright citizen. Someone keep an eye on them because they could easily lose it. Most likely thinks murder is okay for some reasons. (It is)

Stigma - Nurture and boost: naturally an amazing teacher. They make learning easy and fun, if unconventional. At the very least, you won't be stuck in a classroom with the holder around. They can boost the motivation of those around them with just a few words or a smile, and loves almost all children , unless they're directly against them.

Oh damn. I can kiss my safe classroom learning goodbye, because when mum and dad find out what this is, I'm getting thrown right off that cliff again. I'm gonna cry. "Nicole baby, could you tell daddy what his stigma is? I'm dying to know, I've never been able to figure it out." He's spoken, and I can't think of any lie that could get me out of this, so I just blankly tell him before I know it. Mum is looking somewhere between horrified and excited, while dad is absolutely delighted. Meanwhile Xenia who has also suffered at his hands has somehow managed to go pale despite being a scaly dragon.

brothers, sisters... I'm so sorry. I don't think we'll make it safely to adulthood. We might not even get there in one piece.