Processing

We continued to ride on top of Eclipse for a couple of blocks until we realized that his appearance might attract too much attention.

I asked Marcia what we should do and she just suggested we stop for a minute.

"Ask him to dive into a shadow" she suggested.

"Pardon...?"

"Eclipse is a shadow lion. This type of monster can enter and leave the shadows of our world whenever they want. It's basically like their happy place!"

"I... I see..." the more I hear about these things the more it felt like my brain was going to explode...

I did as she said and told Eclipse to hide in some shadow, and sure enough, the thing just jumped into a concrete wall like a kid running to a pool and vanished in its shades.

"Welp, that settles that! Let's go!" Marcia commented.

She started to walk in the direction we were going before but quickly halted once she realized I wasn't moving.

"Lance...? Lance, what's wrong?"

She came to my side and stared into my face, unsure of what was wrong with me.

"Hey, Lance! You there??" she kept talking while waving her hand.

"Please... I need a minute..." I whispered.

"Oh... Okay..."

The reason why I was acting like that? It was finally sinking on me that none of this was a dream. I actually just went through all of that, I actually just got attacked by some random dragon boy and almost got killed, I actually just called out a monster lion out of thin air and caused it to destroy my school, and I actually was talking with a girl that can just create objects made of transparent gold like it was nothing.

I moved to the nearest pole and started to throw up a little bit. My body was finally properly reacting to everything that was going on.

"This is all real..."

"..." Marcia didn't respond and just kept watching me.

I stared at her with disbelief, "Do you- Does this happen to you all the time? How are you so calm??"

"We come from a family of adventurers... Our parents have been fighting demons and monsters since we were babies. This might sound weird to you, but I basically grew up with this kind of thing" she explained with complete calm like she was some kind of expert in this subject.

She was younger than me, and yet, she acts so mature. What kind of life did she have? What kind of life I almost had?

"So... My parents... And your parents..." I tried to ask.

"They were part of the same group" she continued, "They were close friends who would go on adventures together and fight by each other's side."

My parents were adventurers... Just like you would hear from a fantasy movie or book. I've lived my whole life as a regular kid while being part of such a strange legacy.

I'm the son of people who would go around fighting monsters...

But if that's true... Why...

"Why am I not like you? Why did I go to school all this time while you were fighting monsters like them?" I asked while cleaning up my mouth with a tissue.

"Your dad told me you were in danger or something... He sent you here so you would be safe" she explained.

"Protect me from what? From Kurt?"

"Don't know... I didn't ask for all details. All I asked for was what my mission would be. That's all I really cared about."

"Seriously...? You didn't think it would be important to know more about the situation before diving into it?"

She just shrugged at me, "Not really... I'm planning to do this a lot more in the future... I can't be bothered to care about the life story of all my clients."

"Clients...?"

"Yeah. You are my first client. My parents gave me the mission of bringing you back safely. If I do, they will finally let me join them on their missions as well. That's why your safety is my top priority right now!"

"... So, basically I'm just a package that you need to deliver in your eyes..."

She turned her face away and forced a smile, "Hey, you said it, not me..."

I see... Whatever... At least I know that I can trust her.

After starting to feel a little better I consider returning home immediately, but a sudden thought crosses my head.

"I need to make a quick stop..." I announce.

Marcia doesn't object to it, probably assuming it's best not to go up against the "package's" wishes, and we both start moving towards a certain house not too far from our current location.

After nearly twenty minutes of walking, we finally meet our destination as I stand in front of a door and ringed the bell to call out its owner.

The door itself doesn't open but I start to hear someone talking behind it.

"What do you want...?" a young male voice asks.

"Hey, Kenny..." I respond, "I just came to check on you to see if you were okay... I saw your calls..."

This whole time I've been under the assumption that I was just having some kind of delusion and that this was not real. Now that I know that it all actually happened, I needed to see if my friend was doing well.

He was with me the whole time things were going downhill so I can assume he must be as lost and scared as I was. But while I had Marcia and Eclipse by my side to help me calm down and stay safe, Kenny had been alone this whole time. He needed someone to talk to.

"Can you please open the door?" I ask.

"I'm okay... Please go away..."

I paused. His words caused my whole body to flinch.

"Kenny, please! That guy is not gone. You don't have to hide anymore!"

"I said go away!!!" he shouted while slamming his hand on the other side of the door.

"K- Kenny...?"

"Lance... Please just go away... Please..." he begged. I could tell that he was crying from the tone of his voice, "I can't see you right now..."

"Okay... I... I'm just glad you're safe... Goodbye, Kenny..." I commented.

Kenny didn't respond and we just left without saying anything else.

-------

-------

I walked down the sidewalk and kept thinking about whether or not I should have tried harder to speak to him.

Even though it was because of me that Kurt had come to school today, I still wanted to let him know that I didn't want any of that to happen.

"Hey..." Marcia called me out while she walked behind me.

"What...?"

She stared at me for a moment with analyzing eyes before replying, "Who was that?"

So now she was curious about me? "That was Kenny... He... He was my best friend... And... Well... My only friend..."

"Is it okay to leave things like that...?"

It wasn't okay at all... Kenny was always there for me when I needed him. Even when everyone else ignored me, he still tried to stay by my side. Hearing him tell me to stay away hurt more than I expected.

"He has all the right to be mad at me... I would have done the same in his place..."

"Even though it wasn't your fault? Even if you feel bad about it?"

Why was she bugging me about this so much?

"I don't mind..."

She rushed to stay in front of me and forced me to stop and look at her, "Then why are you crying?"

Crying? I was crying?

I raised my hands and touched my cheeks. My fingers were wet.

I really was crying. How did I not notice that??

"If you feel bad, you should go talk to him and explain what happened" she said.

"Explain how???"I wiped my tears and began to glare at her, "No... It's better this way... If he stays close to me he might be in danger again... In fact... Until I solve this thing with my parents, it will be better if I don't get close to anyone...

Not that I was that close to many people to begin with..."

"But you're hurt..." she noted.

"I can deal with it..."

She raised her index and leaned forward as if she wanted to give me a lecture, "My parents taught me that a warrior that can't handle his own inner demons is doomed to face disaster in battle."

"... I'm not a warrior..."

"You should talk to your friend."

"I know what I'm doing okay? Kenny was the only one who was nice to me during my entire school life. I'm not gonna drag him into my mess and risk his life again!"

"You're making a mistake..."

I was starting to get irritated. The last thing I needed right now was someone younger than me trying to tell me how to live my life.

I just walked past her and continued my path back home. The two of us remained silent during the whole way. A very, VERY, uncomfortable silence.

I got tired from walking after a while and the two of us took a bus for the rest of the way. Marcia flinched for a moment acting like she had never seen a bus before. I don't know why but that made me laugh a little.

Still... The moment I took a seat on the chair I realized just how exhausted I was. When I think about it, I did feel like trying to perform that 'magic' or whatever was like my body was being drained. All that on top of running around the whole school like a maniac. No wonder I was tired.

Although... Marcia performed some much more crazy stunts than me with her golden thingies. If I was that tired, I could only imagine how she was.

On top of that, even if it was just her job, she still risked herself to help me.

I probably should try to be nicer to her.

"I will talk to Kenny again tomorrow..." I whispered, trying to please her early wish, "But let's just let him calm down by himself a little bit first... Once he feels better-"

I stopped once I turned my face to look at her and realized that she had fallen asleep on the bus chair.

Yeah... She really pushed herself much harder than me...

Again. That made me laugh a little. Maybe it's because she was finally acting like a normal kid.

"Thank you for saving my life..." I mumbled to her sleeping face.

We finally arrived home and I exited the bus while carrying Marcia on my back. I'm kinda starting to worry about her future as an adventurer, to be honest...

I entered my building and waited for the elevator to come down to reach my apartment.

Well... The apartment that I lived in at least. It actually belonged to my aunt Evlin, but she had allowed me and my mother to live here for the past couple of years.

I was really thankful for her. Since my mother couldn't see, I would have been in trouble if I had to take care of her by myself.

The doors opened and Marcia finally woke up while I pressed the button.

"Eh... Where... Where are we...? Did we get caught?" she mumbled while still being half-asleep.

"Yeah, we were found by a pack of wild goblins are now being brought to their king as offerings..." I joked.

"WHAT!!?? That jerk is still alive!!????" she gasped.

"I'm just kidding... This is my home..."

"Oh... I... I knew that..."

Huh... So goblins are a thing, apparently...

I wonder how many things from fantasy books are also real. I at least know that dragons exist, although I never imagined dragons could assume the form of humans.

It's so strange to think there is this whole world I know nothing about. Just what exactly am I getting myself into?

The elevator finally reaches my floor and I step out while preparing myself for what is to come.

"What's wrong now...?" Marcia asked.

"Sorry... Just taking a breath for a second... Lots of stuff going on in my head right now..."

"Well... Just remember that whatever happens, I'm here to help you out. Whenever you're ready..."

"Thanks! Okay..." I pick up my keys and finally enter my house after opening the door, "Let's do this..."