Memories

James felt himself drifting through the void. Stars shot past him. He began to slow down, and a house appeared around him.

A high-pitched voice rang out, "You need to start preparing for college. It will creep up on you before you know it."

"Mm." A deep voice agreed. "Listen to your mother. You have a hard road ahead of you if you want to be an actor. You need to prepare yourself for failure."

James stared in shock with wide eyes. His parents were in front of him! However, they were several years younger than he remembered. He was sitting at the dining room table with his parents! He looked down and saw his body was fat and short! It was his body from when he was in middle school!

"Why so quiet?" His father questioned. "I can always find you a job if you choose not to go to acting school."

"Acting school?"

"Have you still not made up your mind?" His mother complained. "I really do think it's the only thing that will make you happy."

"Happy? Does anything really ever make me happy?" He grinned. A slight hint of sorrow was hidden within the smile.

"James." His mother walked over and held his head within her arms. "What's wrong today? Are you not feeling well? We can put you on the depression medication again if you want. There's nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone struggles sometimes."

"No." He shook his head as tears appeared in his eyes. He spoke in a hoarse voice, "I think I'll be fine. Can I skip school today?"

"Why should we let you skip school?" His father frowned. "You can let your feelings stop you from doing what you need to."

"Now, now." His mother smiled. "Everyone needs a break once in a while. He can make up the extra work tomorrow."

"It's because you baby him like that so much that he skips school and gets bullied."

"Haha!" James accidently laughed aloud.

"Hmm? Is something funny about what I said?"

"No, dad. Sorry." He shook his head. 'Dad was such a hard-ass in middle school. Mom spoiled me rotten. They switched roles when I entered high school. It's weird seeing Mom act so nice again.'

The couple continued to chat, and James watched happily. It had been such a long time since he had seen them. Time slowly passed.

"Time to go to work!" His father stood up to leave.

"Can you skip work today?"

"Of course not! Somebody needs to put food on the table. The cars aren't going to sell themselves!" His father folded up his newspaper and left the house.

His mom got up and smiled. "I need to get ready to." She pinched his cheek and smiled. "Have a good day. Try not to think about the problems at school." She went to get a changed for work and rushed out the door.

James stared at the now empty house with nostalgic eyes. 'What's this pressure on my chest? It hurts.?' The scene faded away and he reappeared in the starry sky. Tears flowed down his eyes as he thought back to the meeting with his parents. The lights flashed past him once again and he appeared within his master's castle.

"Yale!" Skeleton smiled. "You must walk the path of the magus and the knight to become a deity."

"A deity?" He questioned. "Do I even want to become a deity?"

"It's not a matter of wanting it or not wanting it." His master shook his head. "The path of deities is the path of the faithful. If your heart has found its path and the faithful believe in it then it will naturally happen. Of course, that's only if you reach the peak as a magus and knight first."

"The path of my heart? I don't know what that is."

"It is the combination of your life's experiences and personality. Slaughter, love, greed, wisdom. Infinite paths exist on the long road ahead of you. You must walk that road to the very end."

"A road? My parents said something similar…"

"Mm." He nodded. "Even mortals find their own path in life. So, tell me, Yale. What is it you want to do in life?"

"I want to go home…"

"Then you must become strong enough to go there. Going home is not a path. It is a goal that is obtained at the end of your path. You must find the path first if you want to go home."

His master and the castle faded away. He appeared in a starry sky once more. 'Ugh, my chest feels tighter.' The stars sped past until he stopped in front of a display window.

[Hello James.]

"System…" He looked around at the surrounding stars. "Did you cause all of this?"

[I merely set things in motion. All of the memories and speeches came from your own subconscious.]

"But why did you do it?"

[I've been tracking your emotions since you came to this world. Exhaustion, pain, joy, sorrow. Your emotions have been fluctuating a lot lately. I can see the depression behind the false smiles you show to others.]

"And?"

[I thought it might help if I gave you some time with your loved ones. This was the only method I could use.]

"I see… Why Skeleton though?"

[I only pulled your most important loved ones from your memories. Since he appeared then you must view him as a close family member.]

"Ew, That's kind of disgusting. Are you sure you don't just have a glitch?"

[I'm sure.]

"Okay… Well for what it's worth. Thanks.

[You're welcome.]

He hovered in the void next to the display for a few minutes before growing bored. "Hey? Now what?"

[You're dreaming. You should wake up soon. Dying within the Dream Feature naturally won't kill you.]

"You could have told me that."

[I wanted to mess with you. Stop calling me useless in the future and these sorts of things won't happen.]

"Tsk. Useless bastard."

He laid comfortably within the void while admiring the stars. 'I think I quite like space. I wonder I can experience it for real someday when I get strong enough… Ugh. Why does my chest feel so tight?'

…

James opened his eyes and saw his familiar dorm room around him. 'Hmm? Did I black out drinking again?' He tried to sit up but felt a heavy pressure on his chest. 'Eh? Is that the cause of the tight feeling?' He looked down and saw a short girl with two small horns sleeping on his chest.

"GAH!!!" He screamed as he shoved her off and rolled onto the floor. "Charla?! What are you doing on my bed?"

She woke up and rubbed her eyes. "Mm? We slept together obviously?"

"What?!" His eyes widened in shock. 'First Lumi and now Charla? Do I have a thing for dragons?! No, wait. She's only 13?! I'm a 19-year-old man! I'm going to prison! The inmates will kill me! I've already killed a bunch of their own for combat practice! Mommy, what should I do?!'

"Are you okay?" she questioned. "You keep muttering to yourself."

"Huh? Ah, yeah. I'm fine."

Suddenly, the door slammed open. Virgil walked in while laughing, "Haha! Yale, did you have fun with my sister last night?"

"It's not like that!" He replied desperately. "You have to believe me! I would never do something to her! She's too young for me!"

"Eh? You're into older girls? I planned on having you marry her though?"

"Marry?! I'm already engaged to Lumi! Besides, she's too young to get married!"

"I'm not too young!" She pouted with a red face. "Most ordinary girls get married at 13. I'm almost 14!" She rubbed two of her fingers together nervously. "And stop making him misunderstand brother! We didn't actually do anything!"

"Eh? We didn't?" James questioned.

"Of course not!" She complained. "I just slept here since we'll be married in the future anyways! It isn't a big deal!"

"Married? Ah, I guess it wouldn't matter if we did something then… Wait, no!" He turned to Virgil with an angry look. "Start explaining!"

"Okay, okay!" Virgil laughed while putting his hands up defensively. "Let me explain. I left for the capital after you told me you didn't want to marry Lumi. I set up an engagement with my cousin instead. She has a good temper and is royalty! You don't even have to change your last name!" He put a fist up to his chest confidently. "Did I, your brother, do good or what?"

"Ughh!!!" He rubbed his forehead as he groaned. "How is this possibly a solution? Now I'm just a cheater with two engagements! How is this any better?"

"Haha, it's simple! Obviously, a city lord's daughter can't compare to a royal princess! The city lord will have no other choice but to end your engagement with Lumi! See? Everything's perfect!"

"What about Lumi then? She'll be completely humiliated!" He turned to Charla, "And you're just okay with marrying me? We've never even met!"

She rose her chest proudly with her hands on her hips. "I trust my big brother! He told me I'd be marrying a handsome genius of Sea Salt Academy! He said you were the personal disciple of a 9th grade magus! Where can I find a better husband my age than that!"

James turned towards Virgil with sharp eyes. "You didn't tell her who my master was did you?"

"Relax!" He grinned while some sweat covered his forehead. He hadn't thought the news would be taken so negatively. "I told the exact truth! As for Lumi, who cares. She can find someone else. I'll even help her find someone! It's not like you and Lumi actually slept together anyways…"

"Wait! How do you know whether or not I did anything with Lumi?! Even I don't know if I did something or not!"

"Eh… Haha, about that…" Virgil began to explain the whole story of how he setup him and Lumi together in bed.

The more James listened, the angrier he became. He placed a hand on Virgil's shoulder and squeezed tightly. He gave a big smile, "Brother, your heart was in the right place, but your actions were not. Follow me!" He walked out of his room and left the castle.

"Hey wait!" Virgil yelled as he followed behind. "Where are we going?"

"What grade have you reached as a knight?"

"Eh? Knight? I haven't started yet. I've focused on magus training. I'm almost at the 3rd grade you know!"

"I see." He nodded. "Very impressive. I'll be sure to thank you properly for your gifts. Come with me." The two soon reached his masters castle and entered. They were granted an audience within the throne room.

"Oh?" Skeleton questioned. "Why have you brought your friend here, Yale?"

"Master!" James fell to his knees and kowtowed towards his master. "My good brother Virgil has showed me great favor! Alas, I am too poor to repay this gratitude!" He looked up at his master with teary eyes. "I beg you master! Please don't let him waste his potential! He's almost become a 3rd grade magus despite not training as a knight!" He kowtowed again, "I beg you master! Please give him your special knight training!"

"Hmm…" Skeleton rubbed his chin. "I don't normally teach my special training to outsiders."

Virgil realized what was going on and his eyes widened in shock. He had heard of the hellish training Skeleton was famous for. He slowly began to back up as sweat covered his forehead. He smiled, "I couldn't possibly waste your esteemed time Senior Skeleton. I'll just take my leave…"

"Master!!!" James yelled as he glared at his master with red eyes. "If you train him then I'll owe you a favor! I'll do anything you want that doesn't involve my body being violated!"

"Oh?" His master smiled while glancing between the two boys. "Make it two favors. No expiration date."

"Deal!"

"No! I don't want it! I've got a date tonight. Just give the training to Adam! I bet he'd like it!" Virgil turned and made a run for the exit. Skeleton easily covered the distance and grabbed him by his collar. "Let's get started, prince. I'll whip you into shape! Gahahaha! I was getting a bit bored since I already finished Yale's training." He laughed happily as he carried him towards the gardens.

'Hah, I'm such a good brother. Not just anyone can train with my esteemed master! He might even save his path for becoming a deity someday! Oh, come to think of it. I forgot to tell master I finished carving the spell matrix… Eh, it can wait a few more days… weeks… let's go with months. Yup, I'm just not talented enough!"