An American Isekai'd Ch. 02

Thank you all for your support and comments. I am happy you are enjoying it so far. Here is the next chapter, but first a couple of notes.

This chapter is also dry and does not contain any scenes for reasons outlined in the chapter. At this point, the story has taken on a life of it's own and the first scene will not be until Chapter 4 for world building and plot purposes. As I've said previously, I wish to write a good story, not just another "Dick Biggins fucks everyone from paragraph two on."

All opinions and views expressed in the story are the opinions and views of the characters, respectfully, and do not reflect the views of the author.

All person(s) engaging in, witnessing, or interacting with any content of a sexual nature are over the age of 18.

A big shout out and thank you to the editor of the first two chapters, KenjiSato, for his amazing work. That man loves his commas.

Without further ado:

Chapter 2

An Eccentric Fae

Zeke could feel himself floating in the darkness. Sulena had been right, this was, indeed, like a dreamless sleep, but the fact that he was conscious of it must have meant that he was waking up. He thought about his experiences with the gods, and their words to him. Sulena's words, in particular, had resonated with him, and he felt some relief from the memories of his past life.

Well, seems like it's time to start my new life in this world... what was it called again? Krakennassy? Calabrese? He strained his mind to remember the last words of the god, but he had been so sleepy then that it had been hard to focus. Eventually, he gave up and figured he would probably hear it again someday, and moved on to other thoughts.

I wonder what my parents'll be like? he mused. Then, a thought suddenly occurred to him. He couldn't remember his childhood. Not the one from his past life, but from this one. Sulena had said that his old memories wouldn't return until his body was old enough to handle them, but did that mean that he would forget all of his new life's memories? Was this new body just on autopilot until then?

As his senses started to return slowly, he began to feel his body once again.

Something was wrong. There was a heavy weight on him, and he struggled to breathe. His right shoulder and the back of his head had a numbing ache, and he could smell a sharp scent in the air around him. He recognized it immediately.

It was smoke. Specifically, the smell of burning wood, but mixed with another, more terrifying, smell he knew. Burning flesh. He struggled for a moment, trying to move his body, but there was something hard and jagged pressing into his back, sending pain up his spine. He slowly opened his eyes and allowed them to adjust.

The first thing he noticed was, it was dark and he had what appeared to be a strange Heads-Up Display over his vision. There were faint lines of information, semi-transparent, so as not to cloud his peripheral vision, and they occupied the corners of wherever he looked. There was even a faint cross-hair that followed the direction of his focus. But, the second thing he saw sent horror piercing through his heart.

All around, bodies were lying on the ground and fire was raging in the trees, basking the scene in an eerie orange glow. Two of the bodies to his left were on fire, sending thick black smoke into the sky above them. There had obviously been a fierce battle and whoever these people were... had lost.

On top of him, covering his body, was a woman with blonde hair, wearing an odd-looking pink dress with frills. There were numerous arrow shafts protruding from her back and her body was cold and stiff. Zeke knew, immediately, she was dead.

As he looked around the scene of chaos before him, he saw next to them lay the body of a man, face-down, with dark brown hair, similar to what he had chosen in the character creation. He was wearing a blue coat with gold trim and shoulder pads. He wasn't moving, and Zeke could see blood pooled beneath him.

Behind him, the wreckage of what appeared to be a horse-drawn carriage, towered over his head. He was sitting in an upright position against the rear wheel, with the axle against his back. The horses had long since run away, probably when the fight had broken out.

Fear and adrenaline surged within him, and he had to fight to keep his panic at bay. Thanks to his training, he went into work mode and, calming himself, tried to assess his situation and what he should do next. First, he needed to get out from under the woman, who, based on her position, had died trying to shield him.

She must have been my mom, Zeke thought, with sadness and pity. Guess I won't know what she was like now.

As he tried to lift and scramble out from under her body, he felt a sharp pain on his right side. He had noticed the pain before, but was too shocked by the scene he witnessed after waking up. He turned his head to look, and sticking out of his shoulder was the shaft of an arrow. The wound was no longer bleeding, and he surmised that it was shallow, but he knew better than to try and pull it out, as doing so would probably cause even more damage, especially if it were barbed.

As he examined his wound, the pain in the back of his head increased and, freeing his left arm, he brought his hand to the spot where it hurt and pulled it back in front of him. It was covered in thick, dark blood. It was obvious that he had been unconscious for a while and explained why whoever had attacked them had left him behind. They probably thought he was dead, as well.

He slid his legs free and made an effort to try to stand without placing weight on his right arm, but his legs were asleep and he collapsed a few times. Finally, after kicking his legs while lying down for a minute, he managed to get the feeling back to them and was able to get up. He looked over the body he created, checking for more damage. He was clearly an adult, with his body being somewhere between the ages of eighteen and twenty, but he felt weaker than he should have been, based on what he had created with Ignaxi.

He walked, unsteadily, over to the man in the blue coat to try to find a pulse, but the instant he touched him, he knew that it was too late. He was cold and stiff, as well. Zeke crouched over him for a moment before lifting his head up to examine the other bodies surrounding him. Some were wearing armor and had swords lying near them; a couple had arrows peppering them; the rest had deep gashes across their chests, or were missing their heads altogether.

A few were wearing black cloaks with strange designs on them instead of armor, their faces obscured by hoods. Only the two nearest him were dressed differently, and he surmised that the man with the blue coat must have been his father.

"What kind of shit is this?" he cursed out loud. "I just get here and already someone is tryin' to kill me? Oohh... I'm gonna give that god an earful when I see him again."

The smoke from the burning trees started to choke the area around him, and he knew he had to get away from it. The fire was starting to spread, albeit slowly, but still put him in an even more dangerous situation if he stayed. He looked around him to gain his bearings, and try to find anything he could use.

To his right was the forest, with flames licking at the trees, and to his left was what appeared to be the face of a steep cliff wall, jutting up into the sky. It was too dark to see how high up it went, so he decided that, when he was ready, he would follow it closely, away from the fire. That way, at least, he would know what was on one side of him.

He glanced over at the carriage and saw a tattered piece of cloth hanging from the open door that had once covered the broken window. Using his weight as leverage, and being careful not to injure himself further, he tore it off the rings that held it in place. With his teeth and good arm, he ripped a section off into a ribbon and, sitting down in order to use both hands, without moving his right arm too much, he fashioned a crude sling.

Using the same method as before, he tore another two ribbons and carefully wadded one up to place on the back of his head and used the other to wrap around and keep it in place, tucking in the end since he couldn't use both hands to tie it. He knew it wouldn't hold long, but he was running out of time.

He then put his head and neck through the sling he had made, and painfully placed his right arm, which had grown stiff, into it and pinned it against his torso. Gathering his strength, he stood up again and walked over to one of the bodies wearing armor. He looked upon the man, sighed, and picked up the sword on the ground next to the corpse. It was heavy, but since he had no idea what had happened, he figured it would be better than nothing if he were to be attacked again. He could also use it as a makeshift walking stick to help stay steady on his feet. The last thing he picked up was a burning piece of wood that had broken off the carriage to use for light.

With one last look around, Zeke's eyes filled with tears of pity and sorrow at not being able to help these people, or to even bury them. He could only leave them there and hope someone else would come along, or that the fire would cremate the remains. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and left the scene of his awakening, keeping the cliff wall on his right and using the sword to keep balance, while trying to hold the dim torch in the same hand in front of him.

He walked for what felt like about thirty minutes, far enough for the light of the burning forest to disappear behind him. It was hard to hold both the torch and the sword with one hand, so progress was slow. He looked up into the sky to try to find some stars to navigate with for a moment, before he realized that it wouldn't work. He was not on Earth anymore. The stars here were probably all different than the ones he knew, but it didn't matter anyway, because the sky was dark and there were none to be seen. It was then when he remembered the HUD that was inside of his cone of vision.

He had been too focused on surviving to give it much thought before, but here as he walked, he decided to pay it more attention. He found that if he concentrated on it without turning his head, he could look at it and read the information. There was some writing at the top and, below it, were four bars. The writing read the term 'Lv. 12' in a white font. The bars were colored and labeled; a red one on top, the classic Health Points gauge; a blue one beneath it, which he assumed was his mana as it read 'MP'; a third green bar below that, which was his stamina, labeled as 'STA'; the last bar, however, was clear except for a golden outline that was sectioned into four parts. The letters next to it read 'SP'.

The mana bar was full, but the HP bar was below three-quarters depleted and the stamina bar was decreasing slightly with every step. If he paused for a moment, it would slowly fill back up until he took another step.

A warm breeze suddenly hit his face and snapped him back to the world around him. Since he was dressed so lightly, wearing only a blue shirt and matching pants, and it wasn't cold outside, he guessed that it must be summer wherever he was. The breeze felt nice circling his body, and he was starting to relax when he felt a drop of liquid hit his face. Dropping the sword, but still holding the, by then, burnt-out torch, he carefully used his hand to wipe the droplet from his face and brought it close to examine it. To his immediate relief, it was just water. He picked the sword back up and kept walking.

This brought about another problem, it was starting to rain. Zeke knew he needed to find shelter because even if it was warm, if he were to get soaked he could still succumb to hypothermia. That would not be good, since he had no idea how long it would be until daylight, or even how long a day was. If nothing else though, this would help to control the fire before it spread too far and became an inferno, burning down the forest.

Trade one problem for another, I suppose, he thought.

He continued along the rockface for another few minutes before he could feel himself getting tired, his body growing heavy. He checked his stamina gauge and saw it was low. With a head injury, he couldn't go to sleep, but he would still need to find somewhere out of the rain to rest a bit. Luckily, the rain had not yet started to fall heavily and was only a light sprinkle.

He trudged along, stopping every few minutes to let his stamina refill, but still nearly dragging himself. After another thirty minutes, it started to rain harder. At the same time, however, the sky started to lighten up, bringing him hope that it would be day soon. This helped him to see a bit further ahead and not trip on the various stones he walked across occasionally, so he tossed the useless piece of wood that was once his torch, aside.

Up ahead, he could see an outcropping of rock that looked like it might hide a small alcove embedded under it. Even if it didn't, the rock still appeared large enough to shelter him from the rain for a while. He sighed with relief and started toward it, but as he drew closer, he noticed something unusual.

A faint green light appeared to be coming out from the rock wall beneath. It wasn't visible from farther away, but having come closer, he could see it clearly. This indicated that there was, indeed, an alcove in the wall, but he was wary of what the light might be. Possibly some sort of fungus with bioluminescence? A man-made light? A dangerous monster?

Zeke couldn't be sure, but he needed the shelter as it had started raining even more. He decided to risk it. He still had a sword, after all, so he wasn't completely defenseless. He crept slowly, and quietly, as he could, towards the rock. It helped that the rain was loud and masked his footsteps. As he grew close, the light seemingly moved, going from the ground up higher. He paused again, curious, before moving on.

As he approached the corner, he pressed himself to the wall and slowly peered around the edge. What he saw nearly made him fall over. It was a figure... a tiny, human-like figure. She was only about six inches tall (15.25 centimeters), with translucent insect-like wings on her back. She sat on a small rock sticking out from the wall, and was wringing water out from her long red hair and giving off the faint green light. She wore a dark green tunic, that looked like it was made of leaves, which came down to form a skirt around the middle of her thighs. She was flat-chested and around her waist, wore a gold belt that had a small, pearly-white stone in the center.

It's a fairy! Zeke thought excitedly. I wonder. Can I speak to her? I don't wanna scare her, but I need some help. Could, or would, she even help me?

Zeke decided there was nothing to do but try. He never knew fairies to be dangerous. Mischievous yes, but not outright dangerous. The worst he figured would happen is she would run away and he would be right back where he was.

He stepped out in front of the entrance of the alcove and tried to speak softly. "'Scuse me," he said. "Can you help me?"

The fairy stopped what she was doing and looked up at him, startled. Upon seeing him, she let out a squeak and immediately was airborne.

"Ahhh, human!!!" she screamed, her voice high pitched.

She flitted, maniacally, around the alcove in a panic before slamming her small body into a stalactite that hung from the ceiling of the cramped enclosure. Her body slowly fell to the ground, stunned, and swayed like a leaf from the air resistance of her wings.

Zeke resisted the urge to laugh at the display, fearing it would make things worse, and instead, dropped the sword and strode forward, leaning down to scoop her into his hand. She was just a tad taller than his ring finger from the wrist up. He held her as gently as he could, while he waited for her to come to.

After just a moment or two, she started to stir in his palm. He was glad she had not been seriously hurt because he had no idea how to stabilize a fairy. As she regained her senses, she looked up at him, dazed, before her face froze in fear.

"Please don't eat me, please don't eat me!" she squeaked, going into a fetal position and covering her face and head with her arms.

"Eat you? No, no, no. I don't wanna eat you. I promise, I don't mean you no harm," Zeke said. "I didn't mean to scare ya, I just need some help. I'm lost and injured." He couldn't suppress a laugh any longer as he spoke to her.

"Hold on, wait..." The fairy paused, suddenly bolting up and staring to the front, her face twisted in confusion. She looked up at him with a puzzled expression, her tiny eyes open wide.

"How are you talking to me? I've never met any humans who could speak the language of the Fae. Not that I have met a human before, but that is beside the point. I've never even heard of anyone else who has spoken to a human. There aren't any stories of it, either... are you just some dryad who wanted to scare me? 'Cause, I'll have you know..." the fairy gushed.

"Pretty sure I'm human," Zeke interrupted. She seems a bit hyper, he thought, smiling down at the girl.

The fairy looked him up and down. It had grown brighter out, and they could see one another more clearly. "How do you know my language?" the fairy asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

He hadn't noticed before, but then she having said that, her words did sound strange to him. It definitely wasn't English, but somehow, he still understood everything she said and she understood him. Could it be some part of the blessings that Ignaxi and Sulena had spoken of?

"I... I don't know. I'm just speakin' like I normally do," Zeke answered. "I didn't think 'bout there bein' different languages. I'm kinda new here, I guess."

The fairy stared at him, further squinting her eyes, her mouth slightly agape. She then snapped her head back straight.

"Okay, that proves it. I've gone nuts. Completely off the rocker. Mom told me to stop eating those mountain ash berries, but nooo... I just had to go get more. Now, here I am, flying into shit and talking to humans. I was just trying to get home and not get wet. I knew I should've stayed home today..." the fairy blurted, frantically. "By the way, do humans normally grow branches?"

The fairy pointed to the arrow in his shoulder.

"Uh... No, not that I'm aware of," Zeke replied. "I just woke up a while ago, and apparently, I've been shot. It kinda hurts, actually. Which, was my reason for askin' your help."

"Oh, okay, cause I saw it and was like, this guy's a dryad. I bet Saoirse is in on this. That bitch is always trying to get me. It's all because I kissed her boyfriend that one time. One time! It's not my fault I'm adorable..." the fairy started in again.

"Um... sorry, I don't know what you're talkin' 'bout, but uh... do ya think you could help me?" Zeke interrupted her again. How much can she say in one breath?

"Oh... um, yeah. Sorry. I guess I could... but after I'm done, you have to let me go, okay?" the fairy said, with her head down.

"You're free to go whenever you'd like," Zeke told the tiny woman. "I ain't tryin' to keep ya hostage or nothin' like that."

The fairy looked up at him again, trying to gauge if he was telling the truth or not. Then she just shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm Saibh (Author's Note: pronounced S-ī-ve), it's nice to meetcha. Now, if you will find some place to sit, I will heal you," the fairy introduced herself.

"I'm Zeke. Nice to meet ya, too. Will anywhere work?" he asked.

"Yeah, it shouldn't take too long," Saibh replied.

Zeke found a dry spot inside the alcove and, after moving a few rocks out of the way, eased himself down, sitting cross-legged on the ground. The fairy rose from his palm and flew close to the center of his chest. There, she held out her thin arms and Zeke watched as the light she emitted started to change.

At first, it began to glow brighter, then condensed in the center of her body and traveled down her arms to her hands. Once it arrived, her hands started to glow.

"Heal," commanded the fairy. The tone she used sounded different to Zeke, not her usual strange airy words, but deeper. It was almost angry or maybe stern, but certainly different and he couldn't quite understand why.

The light in her hands spread and covered his chest, making it glow the same soft green as she once did. Zeke looked on in amazement at his first encounter with magic. Immediately, the pain in both his shoulder and head started to subside. The HP bar in the corner of his vision also started to fill, nearing the halfway point within only a few seconds. Zeke turned and looked at his shoulder, wondering, if maybe, he should have pulled the arrow out first. But, to his surprise, he watched as his body seemed to push the arrowhead out, slowly.

Soon, the barbs of the arrowhead were visible and after a few more seconds, the arrow dropped into his lap, leaving only a small hole where it had been. Then, that, too, started to close and mend. His HP bar was over three-quarters of the way full, and he was feeling much less stiff. He glanced back at the fairy, whose face was scrunched in concentration. That was when he noticed it.

Radiating out of the jewel in the center of the fairy's belt was a faint golden light. He hadn't seen it earlier because the light she gave off had hidden it. Zeke's eyes widened in surprise.

Naw, it couldn't be, he thought. I thought I had to search for years or somethin' and they were supposed to be humans. There's no way I already found one.

Zeke remembered Ignaxi's explanation about the mana of the gods and stared at the jewel, wondering if maybe something else glowed in the same way. It seemed unlikely that what he was searching for would just fall into his lap as soon as he woke up and he decided to ask Saibh about it.

"Saibh, can I ask a question?" Zeke queried.

"Hang on, I'm concentrating. Almost done," she responded.

A moment later, his HP bar was full and she dropped her arms, the light from her hands faded and returned to its normal, surrounding, green glow. Zeke thought it looked more dim than before, though.

"There, all finished. Now, what did you wanna ask?"

Zeke removed his arm from the sling and, gripping his shoulder, rotated it a couple of times. The pain and stiffness were completely gone. He removed the bandages from his head and touched the spot where he had been injured. He pulled his hand back and looked at it again. No blood this time, but he could still feel some dried in his hair. He turned back to the fairy when he was satisfied that he was totally healed.

"That's amazin'. I feel a hundred-percent better," he commented.

"Yeah, well, I know a thing or two," bragged Saibh, looking pleased with herself. "You gonna ask that question, or what?"

"Oh, right, this'll be kinda strange, but it's about your belt," he began. "Do you know where it came from or anythin' 'bout why it has golden light coming out of it?"

"This thing?" replied Saibh. "I found it a few years ago after I was... well, that doesn't matter. I thought it was pretty, so I picked it up. Had to get it off a gross, rotten hand that it was on first, though. I almost gagged into my mouth three times. It smelled horrible. But, a golden light, you said? I don't see anything coming out of it."

When Zeke heard that, he knew something was up. He just needed to get a closer look. "Would you... would you mind if I held it for a moment? I wanna take a good look. I think it might be somethin' I'm supposed to be searchin' for."

The fairy cocked her eyebrow at him. "Aren't you a bit bold to be trying to get me out of my dress already? I mean we just met and now you are already wanting to look at my tiny lady bits. Pervert."

"No. No. It's nothin' like that. It's... a bit hard to explain, but I'm searchin' for people or maybe things that have a golden light. It's like a quest I gotta do. I'll give it right back," Zeke explained, defensively.

Saibh narrowed her eyes at him for a moment before grabbing the belt at her waist and shimmying it down over her hips and ass. Once she got it over her thighs, she drew her legs up and through it, while still floating in the air. She then offered it to him and dropped it into his palm.

As it landed in his hand, Zeke saw that unlike a normal belt, it was a solid piece of gold. In fact, it was not a belt at all, but a ring. Simply fashioned, with a stone enclosed at the top. Zeke held it up to his face and looked into the jewel to see if he could notice anything. It still gave off the faint golden light.

Break it. A voice, sweet and melodic, came into his mind.

What was that? he thought. Is there someone speakin' to me?

Break the ring. Please. Set me free. Let me die already, it hurts so much being like this. I just want to die.

Zeke's eyes widened at the voice in his head. He looked at Saibh, who was floating in front of him, watching with a curious expression. Zeke sighed, knowing he was about to upset her.

"Saibh, I'm sorry 'bout this. I promise to make it up to ya," he said. Then he placed the ring on top of a large rock and quickly grabbed another, slamming it down onto the ring and breaking the stone at its center.

"Whaaaa!" Saibh cried in shock.

But, before she could react any further, a brilliant white light filled the space they were in. Zeke had to shield his eyes from being blinded as it rose above them. The light stopped a few inches over their heads.

"Thank you. Thank you so much. I am finally free," came the voice that he had heard in his head. The light then exited the alcove and disappeared.

Zeke lowered his hand and looked out to where it had vanished, but he no longer saw anything and the alcove was dim once again He turned back to look at Saibh. The fairy had her head down and shoulders hunched, probably dazed from the brightness of the light.

"Waaaaaaah!" she suddenly exploded, tears streaming from her eyes. She zipped towards him and started beating him on top of the head with her tiny fists. "You big meanie! Waaaaah! You said you'd give it back! That was my favorite belt! Waaaaah!" She continued hitting him while crying and it took Zeke quite some time to calm her down. When she finally quit hitting him, she sat on a rock and sobbed.

"My belt... *sniff*... My pretty, pretty belt," Saibh whined. She turned and shot him a dirty look, her eyes red from tears.

"You owe me a new one!" she declared. "And it had better be prettier than that one. I'll never forgive you until you get it!"

"I said I was sorry a million times already," Zeke retorted. "I promise you, I'll get you another one to replace it, but it was important that I did that."

The fairy glared at him for a few more seconds before she gave another hard sniff.

"So... what was that light, anyhow? And who was that speaking?" she asked.

Zeke sighed. "I think... I think it was a god, but I ain't sure."

"What do you mean a god?" Saibh pressed. "Why would there be a god in my belt?"

Zeke stared ahead, thinking about whether or not he should tell her. On one hand, she probably wouldn't believe him, and, even if she did, she didn't seem like the type to be able to keep a secret. On the other hand, he was alone and lost in an unknown place and she was the only person he had met so far. After weighing the pros and cons, he decided to just spill it.

"I don't know. I... I ain't from 'round here," he began.

"Well, duh," Saibh said, sarcastically. "There are no humans around for a long, long way. They pass by from time to time along the road, but most are terrified of the mountain and stay away."

Zeke sighed again and gathered his thoughts. He proceeded to tell Saibh everything. His past life, about the gods, waking up surrounded by death, and all that had happened to him since he had first come to in the white room. By the time he finished, it had stopped raining, the clouds were cleared, and the sun was set in the sky, marking the morning.

"Wow," Saibh said, when he was done. "Here I thought I needed to lay off the berries. Great, just my luck, I meet a human for the first time and he's as crazy as I am."

"I ain't crazy... I think. How else do you explain what happened when I broke the ring?" Zeke retorted.

"I'll admit that one's a thinker." Saibh sighed. "So, let's say I choose to believe you. That you're some hero from another world, tasked by the gods. What do you plan on doing next? Like I said, the nearest humans are at least two week's walk from here and even then, it's only a small village, and they tend to suddenly up and move."

"Well, the first thing I am goin' to do is take a nap. A lot has happened in a very short time, my stamina is low, and I'm tired. After that, I'll need to find some food or somethin', then start headin' toward the village you mentioned. Maybe they can help me out," said Zeke.

"Ugh... fine. Then, I'm going with you. You won't last three days in the forest and I know the direction they were last settled in. Besides, you owe me a new belt and I'm going to make sure you get me one. But first, we will need to make a familar's contract," Saibh said, shrugging her shoulders.

"A familiar's contract? What's that?" asked Zeke.

"Geez, you really don't know anything do you?" Saibh huffed. "A familiar's contract allows me to join your party as your familiar. It means we share our power and experience and you can summon me when you need me. Now, let's get started. First, gather mana into your hands and visualize the contract."

"I don't know how to do that, I've never used magic before," Zeke replied.

"Errrrr..." the fairy growled in frustration. "Just imagine the energy in your body, feel it, then bring it into your chest and let it flow through your arm and into your hand. This is basic stuff, really. After you have gathered it, concentrate and visualize a contract. Then, use your will to activate it by saying, "Contract"."

That last word was once again different from the others she spoke. It made Zeke wonder what, exactly, it was, but he dismissed it from his mind, and instead, followed Saibh's directions.

He closed his eyes and tried to feel for the energy that was his mana. At first, he didn't feel anything at all and felt silly just sitting there. After a few minutes of concentrating, however, he could feel a sensation traveling through him, almost like electricity. When he concentrated deeper, he could feel his skin tingle. It felt like it was alive.

Zeke focused on that sensation and tried to use his will to herd it into his chest. He remembered the feeling of moving the cursor when he made his body with Ignaxi and squeezed his eyes shut tighter, feeling it start to gather. Once he felt it was dense enough, he willed it to travel down his arm. He could feel it flowing, tingling and making his arm get goosebumps, until finally, it settled in his right palm.

Zeke opened his eyes and looked at his hand. It glowed with a blue light, the same color as his MP bar.

"Good, now, visualize making me your familiar, point your palm at me, and release it using the word I just taught you," Saibh explained.

Zeke looked at the fairy and turned his palm to face her.

Visualize makin' her my familiar, he thought. What the hell's a familar supposed to look like anyway? Some sort of pet? She ain't being very specific.

Zeke thought for a moment and imagined her with a collar around her neck, following him around. Like a dog, maybe.

"Contract." he spoke.

A large blue circle appeared in front of his hand. All around it were strange markings that rotated around another symbol in the center, a six-pointed star. The light from his palm increased and extended out, flowing through the circle and encompassing the fairy. It flashed brightly and, around her neck, a slender collar appeared. It reminded him of Ignaxi's table and tea-set, with the way the outline appeared first and slowly filled in.

Once it was fully formed, there was another flash, then both the circle and the glowing light faded. When everything had stopped, Zeke looked closely at the fairy. Around her neck was a silver choker with a metal ring hanging from the front, just under her chin.

"Ahhhh! What is this!" cried Saibh. She brought her hands to the choker and ran them around it, a look of surprise and confusion etched on her face. She grabbed the collar and tried pulling on it with all her might, but it wouldn't budge.

"You!" She turned to Zeke. "What did you do?!? What is this thing around my neck?"

Zeke stared at her in shock. He didn't know what was going on.

"I... I just did like you told me," he stammered. "Did I... Did I do it wrong or somethin'?"

"You idiot! You big moron! Ahhh... I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" Saibh cried again and threw herself at him; once again, drumming her fists onto the top of his head, but this time kicking and pulling his hair, too.

"Hey, hey! Stop that! Ow!" Zeke said, trying to shield himself from her tiny onslaught.

Suddenly, her body glowed with a blue aura and she stiffened, stopping her assault mid-kick. When she could move again, she floated back in front of him with a look of anger.

"You big dummy! That wasn't a familar contract! That was a slave contract! Ugh... today is the worst day of my life! First, I get soaked, then about shit my myself from fear when you showed up suddenly, got my favorite belt broken, and now I am a freaking slave!" Saibh raged. "Why does this stuff always have to happen to me?"

She ranted on to herself for a while. When she had finally gotten it all out, she turned back to Zeke, who was just staring at her, dumbfounded.

"So, stupid, how long did you set the time limit for?" she asked.

"Time limit? You never said anythin' 'bout a time limit," Zeke replied. "I just followed what you said. I didn't know what a familiar was and assumed it somethin' like a pet, so I imagined a collar."

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Saibh cursed, running her hands down her face. "Uuuuuugh... ten years! Ten years, I am going to be stuck with a moron like you!"

"Ten years? Why that long?" Zeke asked.

"That's the default length of time for a slave contract unless you set it differently," Saibh explained, exasperated. "I swear I'm gonna get you for this. Mark my words. You had better take good care of me! No perverted stuff, or when I'm free I will kill you! I want my new belt, too!"

"Is there any way to dispel it or somethin'? Like a magic key or spell?" he asked. He felt badly, he didn't mean to enslave her. He just thought they would be friends or something.

"I don't know," she replied, sharply. "It's not like I've ever been a slave before, you know. I do know someone that may know more, though. I guess we will have to go see her. If we are lucky, maybe she will be able to free me and give us some food before we set out, if we are not, you'll probably be killed. Win-win for me, either way."

Zeke didn't like the sound of that, but it was hard to argue with her. He was responsible for her situation, after all. For the time being though, he was tired. He looked up at his MP gauge and saw that the spell had taken almost all of it, with only a sliver remaining. His stamina was just over half-full, though. It seemed to be filling faster, his body having been healed.

"Okay, we will go see your friend after I take a short nap. I'm startin' to get hungry and I owe you a chance to be free, anyway. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you my slave," Zeke told Saibh.

"Whatever, just go to sleep. All of this has made me tired, too," Saibh snapped back.

Zeke could have been imagining it, but he thought he could hear a bit of happiness in her voice. No matter, he would deal with things when he woke up.

It had gotten much warmer out, so Zeke moved some more rocks out of the way until he had made a softer spot to lie down. He then took off his shirt and wadded it up to use as a makeshift pillow. As he lay on the ground, his thoughts turned to the wreckage of the carriage and the bodies he had to leave behind. He furrowed his brow at the memory and fell into an uneasy sleep.

*

**

As Zeke slept, he tossed and turned, his dreams twisting the images that had crossed his mind before he'd fallen asleep. Suddenly, though, everything went dark. As he opened his eyes, he saw that he was once again in the white room.

He looked around him and realized that he was no longer wearing any clothes and took a minute to admire the body he had created once again.

"Hello?" he called out.

"Wow, aren't you a handsome man," a voice called back out to him. "Did Ignaxi let you use one of his toys?"

Zeke recognized the voice. It was the one that came out of the ring. Appearing before him was the form of a woman. Like Ignaxi and Sulena, she was featureless, with red and pink colors flowing through her shape. Occasionally, a hint of black also appeared.

"Yes. He let me use his character creator to make this body," Zeke answered. "May I ask who you might be?"

The womanly figure giggled. A cute sound that activated something within him.

"I see you spared no expense on your cock," they commented, still giggling. "Men," they sighed, finally.

This made Zeke a bit self-conscious and he moved his hands to cover himself.

"Aww... no need to be shy, it's quite lovely. I am Shinnick, the god of love, zeal, and hate and I owe you many, many things, but first and foremost, my thanks," the god said.

"Were you the god trapped in the ring?" Zeke asked.

"Yes and thanks to you, I finally got to come home," Shinnick answered.

"How did you get trapped in a ring? What could cause somethin' like that to happen?" Zeke questioned the god.

"I am afraid, I do not know. I descended to see the state of the world and how much love existed. I was born as a woman, and after I matured, fell in love with a nobleman," Shinnick explained. "We married and on our wedding night, he made sweet love to me and I gave him my blessing. We were together for only a few months. One night, I lay in his arms and fell asleep after our session, and the next thing I knew, I was trapped in that ring, my soul screaming for escape. I had been trapped for a long time, though I am still not sure how long. It was very painful."

As the god finished their story, Zeke could see the reds across their form getting deeper in color. The black also appeared more often than before. Their speech became harsh and deep, full of anger.

"Whoever did this to me will suffer for their transgressions. I will make them pay and they will wish their soul never existed. I will never forgive them," the god said, fiercely.

They turned back to Zeke.

"You... I will give you my strongest blessing. You will act as my sword and find whoever did this and send them, screaming, to me. I have already arranged it with Sulena" they raged.

Zeke could tell the moniker of hate was not to be taken lightly with this god. He felt sorry for whoever it was that he was going to have to send. Like a light switch, though, the god calmed down and spoke to him once again in the sweet and melodic voice from before.

"I will also give you other abilities that you will enjoy greatly, as my thanks for rescuing me, but there will be a catch," they said. "First, you will not be able to use them until your body and mind have matured further in this world, but should you remain pure until then, the powers will be much, much, greater. Should you not, they will be weakened considerably."

"Whaddya ya mean pure?" Zeke asked, though he suspected he knew the meaning.

"No sexual activity whatsoever until you reach your twenty-third birthday," Shinnick answered. "That means self-stimulation as well."

"Oof... okay, I think I can handle that," Zeke commented, a little less than self-assured.

He hadn't been a huge hit with women in his old life anyway, especially while he was an alcoholic, so he was used to long dry spells. But, to tell a man who was of prime age that he couldn't even do it himself, well, that was going to be a challenge.

Zeke stared at the god, contemplating his future and after a few moments, Shinnick spoke again.

"It seems our time here has come to an end. Remember what I have told you and I wish you the most happiness one can hope for. Farewell, until we meet again," they finished, fading back into the white.

Zeke felt himself growing sleepy once again. He closed his eyes and faded into the dark.

*

**

"Hey, hey dumbass, you gonna sleep all day?"

The squeaky voice of the fairy filled his ears and stirred him awake. Opening his eyes, he saw Saibh flitting over top of him. He was lying on his back, looking up towards the top of the rock.

"Did ya have sweet dreams?" Saibh asked him, giggling.

Still groggy, Zeke sat up and shook his head, regaining his bearings and remembering his conversation with the new god.

"Well, I know who was in the ring now," he said, blearily.

"Oh yeah? Who might that be?" questioned the fairy.

"Based on the fact that you rolled over on your back and covered your junk, I bet they were beautiful," she teased.

Zeke ignored her. "They called themselves Shinnick, the god of love and hate," he told her.

"Oooh... I heard they were scary," Saibh commented. "Did they tell you what happened? How'd they get stuck in my belt?"

"They said they didn't know, but wanted me to find whoever it was and make them suffer before sendin' them to the gods for their revenge. You're right, they were pretty scary, especially when angry," Zeke explained.

"Well, there's no time like the present. Get up and let's go. I'm starving over here," Saibh commanded.

"Awright, awright. I'm goin', I'm goin'," Zeke retorted, annoyed.

He got up, put his shirt back on, and walked to the entrance of the alcove. He picked up the sword that he had dropped and, looking around himself, placed it through the belt he wore, pointed down. He hoped the handguard would keep in place since he didn't have a scabbard. His stomach grumbled, relating his hunger.

"How far's your friend's place?" he asked Saibh.

"They are not my friend, exactly" Saibh snapped. "Everyone around here knows them, and the friendlier one has a lot of knowledge about magic, but the other isn't what I would call friendly."

Zeke shrugged and stepped out into the sunlight. Saibh followed him and flew out in front.

"Follow me," she said. "It's not too far, maybe an hour's walk or so."

He sighed and went behind her, following her around the mountain in the same direction that he had traveled the night before. He checked his stamina along the way and saw that it had refilled completely. Other than being hungry and thirsty, he felt great. His MP bar has also refilled to just under three-quarters. He wondered, exactly, how much magic he could cast. That spell didn't seem too complicated, but it used up a lot of his mana.

As they walked along, the pair of them chatted back and forth. Zeke learned that Saibh was not a fairy. She laughed at his ignorance and told him that she was a Fae. Zeke asked what the difference was and she explained that Faerie was the place where her people lived, not what they were. She sounded a little depressed as she spoke about it, but continued with various stories of the people there.

After walking for over an hour, they stopped in front of an entrance to a massive cave. A literal hole in the side of the mountain, easily fifteen feet (4.5 meters) tall. Zeke gawked at the size of it before peering inside, but was only met with darkness.

"Okay, this is it," said Saibh. "We just need to go inside."

Zeke swallowed and gathered his courage. When he was ready he took a step toward the mouth of the cave.

"HUMAN!" a deep, but feminine voice roared from within. Zeke froze in terror. "I do not know what you are doing here, but should you take another step toward my home, your head will roll! The only reason it has not already, is because I am in a fair mood today. Leave now or die!"