Karma

"Rowan! Are you okay?"

I rushed over to her.

She was still conscious, and I could see her mouth forming a faint smile.

"Yeah. Don't worry. I had to use a lot of Karmic Energy for that attack, so I'll be pretty useless for the next couple days, but after that I'll be swell."

She paused, probably seeing the confusion on my face.

"Ah, but you won't know what that is, will you. Damn. Basically, my aspect Render of Karma allows me to use energy from my future self in the present. I can use this Karmic Energy in a buncha ways, but they pretty much all involve me boosting my body's capabilities. What you saw this morning was just a few seconds worth. Just now, I went a little overboard cuz I was pissed, and kinda lost control, so I ended up using a couple days worth. Sorry. While I'm drained, you shall take care of me, servant. You owe me your life."

"When did I become your servant?!" I protested. I couldn't help myself from smiling though. I had never heard her talk so much. Her way of speaking was so endearing.

Sadly, Serric interrupted our fun.

"Rowan, surely you understand that staying here will be impossible. A Radical found us, and not only that, but you actually killed it. I don't know how high rank it was, but we're in massive trouble regardless. The chances it was traveling alone are slim. We have a day at most to make our escape from here before reinforcements catch up to us. For all we know, there could be another one outside right now. Heading to another protected area is our only option. I'll wake up Gloria, gather my things, and disable my Divining Orb, and then we need to get moving."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Rowan asked.

"Sorry, you can't move, can you. Asher, you'll have to carry Rowan. I can-------"

"No, not that. Well, that too, but that wasn't what I meant. You told me that I wasn't strong enough to beat that Radical. But I did it. When are you going to compliment me? Praise me? Am I still not living up to your expectations?" Rowan asked. This was the first time I had heard her sound genuinely hurt.

Serric's eyes softened.

"Well done, Rowan. I'm proud of you. You really are amazing, you know." He said warmly.

Rowan was still lying on the ground, but I could tell those words made her want to get up and hug him.

"Thanks, dad." She said.

By this point I had guessed that these two were not biologically related. Rowan was from Earth, or at least I assumed so, and the chances of two people from a family coming here together were impossible. Serric had likely adopted Rowan as a daughter.

But seeing them like this, I could tell that the love they shared was just as strong as any family's.

"Alright, I need to start gathering my things. Asher, lay Rowan down on the bed." Serric requested.

I stepped over to her, trying to ignore the severed head and corpse laying just a couple feet away.

"Try anything funny and you're a dead man." Rowan whispered, as I put my arms under her to pick her up.

"After seeing what you did to that guy? The thought didn't even cross my mind." I grinned.

I lifted her up and set her down on the bed, then turned towards Serric, who was shuffling through the numerous papers and notebooks on his desk.

"So what are these Radicals anyways?" I asked. "I've been kinda in the dark this whole time."

"I'll tell you while I get things ready."

He grabbed several papers and notebooks from his desk and put them in a large travel bag he had grabbed from under the bed. He then started moving around the room, nearly tripping over the headless corpse several times in a darkly comedic fashion. The fact that he was still in his pajamas from this morning made the sight even more macabre. 

He first grabbed the rest of the papers and notebooks from his desk and placed them in the tub in the bathroom. He snapped his fingers, and one the papers began to burn. Within seconds, the entire pile was in flames. He also grabbed several books from the bookshelf, including the large poetry compilation he had been showing us before the attack, and placed them in his bag as well. Finally, he grabbed a couple sets of simple clothing from his dresser. As he was doing this, he gave me a general outline of the Radicals.

"To put it simply, the Radicals are an organization of powerful beings of all sorts of races, backgrounds, and ideologies, all motivated by the collective belief that otherworlders such as yourself are an extreme danger to Reverie and should be exterminated at all costs. Keep in mind that Reverie is its own world with its own people in it. Although the entire population can be traced back to otherworlders if you go far enough back, most of the people in Reverie aren't even aware of your world's existence. And the Radicals would like to keep things that way."

"But why? Have the people from our world caused problems for this world in the past?"

"In a way. To put it simply, the main reason you are viewed as a threat is because you're far too powerful. The type of mindset that allows you to cross the barrier between our worlds and come here is also the same type of mindset that leads to otherworlders possessing far more powerful magical talent and aspects than usual. This tends to cause... disturbances."

It took me a little while to process this.

"They sound like the good guys to be honest."

Serric's lip curled.

"I suppose it may sound that way from my explanation. But they're little more than a group of cold-hearted killers obsessed with keeping the world under their own control. I can explain more later, but we don't have much time."

Serric finished collecting everything he wanted from his room and walked down the hall, knocking quietly on the second door on the left. I watched him enter what I assumed was Gloria's room and could hear him speaking inside. Shortly afterwards, they both came out. Serric's bag seemed to have been filled even more.

"Asher, carry Rowan downstairs. I'll get dressed, and once I disable my Divining Orb we're leaving. Gloria will make a path for us through the fields. Be ready for an attack at any moment. If that happens, take Rowan and run as fast as you can. I'm counting on you."

Five minutes later, if one were watching the cottage, they would see a bizarre group leaving out of the hidden back door. A semi-elderly man in terribly mismatched clothing held a large bag over his shoulder, glancing around suspiciously. An aged woman accompanied him, quiet as a mouse. Behind them was a young man with dark brown hair, blue jeans, and a red hoodie, princess carrying a loudly snoring redheaded girl in similar attire.