56 A Whole New World - Part 3

"What do you two want to do today?" Lera asked as Ayanni and Paroppe finished their breakfast. Lera didn't eat with them, opting to wait until she was no longer in her 'ghost' form.

"I want to try watching Sparkling Gate." Paroppe cheered in hype.

"That does sound fun, but could we do that later?" Ayanni asked the group.

"What do you want to do Ayanni?" Lera asked him.

"I was thinking of going to school with Thrann."

"I don't think that's going to work the way you want Ayanni." Paroppe said.

"What do you mean?" Ayanni asked back.

"I looked it up on the internet. You need a parent or guardian to enroll you."

"Didn't you say that you didn't want to go to school here?"

"Well, that's true. I only want to fight and train my body. I still looked it up so I had an idea what to expect. In the information about the world, fighting was… less than where we came from, but schools offered 'clubs' and a few in schools are for fighting. I would like to do that, but you need to get the whole school 'package' to join one. With our age, we aren't even adults here."

"I did see that. I was disappointed that we can't even have a glass of wine…" Ayanni sighed. "What do you think Lera?"

"I do want to go to the school and look around. That feeling wants me to see what the school environment looks like."

"Then we are in agreement to at least go there."

Paroppe might have disagreed, but the moment Lera said she wanted to go, Paroppe agreed as well.

Ayanni grabbed his tech pad and asked if Thrann was still home.

[I'm just leaving.]

"Hurry up and finish your food Paroppe. He's leaving right now."

---

"What are you two up to this morning?" Thrann asked as he greeted them.

Paroppe interjected, while holding Lera's hand. "We're coming with you."

"To school?" Thrann was a little bit more than just confused.

"Yes, Paroppe and I want to see what your school is like."

"It's just like any other school out there… Why do you want to?" Thrann pressed the down arrow for the elevator.

"I want to learn."

"And I want to fight!" The main reason was so she wouldn't feel as vulnerable as she was when she attacked those bandits. She really should have just ran away with Lera, but if she didn't she wouldn't be here now. Lera had mentioned that the only reason she had understood her powers was because she was hurt. She squeezed Lera's hand some more.

"They won't let you in. If you want to, just have your parents enroll you in school." He looked at them like they were crazy.

"That makes sense…" Ayanni looked towards Lera. "We have things to do anyway."

"Get in then." Thrann sighed as he pressed the button for the lobby.

Once inside, Ayanni removed his tech pad from his wrist to hold it against his ear.

"Lera, good morning." Ayanni was staring at the ceiling during this conversation. It did take a moment for Lera and Paroppe to even understand what he was doing. "Paroppe and I will be out for a while, if you need anything let us know."

Lera didn't really understand what he wanted to talk to her about and why he wasn't waiting until they were in private to talk. There were two other people beside Thrann, Ayanni and Paroppe. It had to be time sensitive if anything. Though she had no idea what it could be.

"Yes, we'll 'split' it later. I know you have somewhere to go and I won't stop you." He paused for a moment as he pretended to hear a response. "Alright, take care and talk to you later." Ayanni had listened in on a few conversations these past two days. It gave him enough as to how people talk on phones.

"You two are going somewhere else, instead of the school, but are fine with me following Thrann?" Ayanni just nodded as he reattached his tech pad on his wrist. "Why didn't you just send a text message?"

"Paroppe, since we're still new here, why don't we go and explore around today? That park looks like a fun place."

"Actually that sounds like a great idea!" Paroppe was more than interested in getting back into nature, even if a whole city was surrounding it. The last patch of green in a silver city. From their apartment, that was what she saw out the window. It was a complicated view. Wonder of a new world and lonely that the forest was surrounded on all sides.

As they exited the elevator and building, Lera followed Thrann to the right while her friends went left.

"Going to have to ask them what characters they want to play. Paroppe likes to fight and Ayanni learn… would they go for the opposites?" Thrann mumbled to himself as he walked along the sidewalk. Lera was able to hear him easily enough. In the next moment, Lera got a call on her tech pad.

"Paroppe, is everything all right?"

"All good. I talked with Ayanni and he said for you to take a look at the school. Him and I will take a look at this 'dojo', maybe head to the library and then later the park. When you are done with the school give us a call.

"I will and take care."

"You too."

Lera hung up and followed Thrann.

---

The building he entered was similar to most buildings around this area. Though the entrance had bricks, most of the building was more modern like the buildings around. There's a patch of grass and tree to the left of the entrance, a path and a bench. To the right was most of the building that was covered in glass. Like a curved 'L' and the entrance was closer to the ninety degree angle.

Inside it was bright. White lights and white floor. The design on the floor had the school colors and a design of their mascot. To the left of the entrance was the admin office, on the walls there were a few banners with matching school colors. Lera followed Thrann up the staircase just off center, to the left of the entrance, to his locker.

The same feeling permeated over Lera's mind and body. Uncomfortable and nostalgic. It seemed her past self, Kear's, opinion of school was low. The familiar feeling of being alone caught up with her.

"Thrann, how are you this morning?" Lera turned her head back towards Thrann and his locker. Just to the left of Thrann as he stuffed his backpack in his locker was Urenol.

"A little weird, but fine otherwise. I didn't see you online last night, anything happened?"

"I was just tired. What do you mean weird?"

"My neighbors. They wanted to come here, like one would a café."

"I see. Are they going to be joining us for the next session?" Urenol questioned.

"They've said they're interested. I'll be helping them make their characters after school."

"You sure you can handle two more players? Even considering their total noobs?"

"Actually… I won't say too much," Thrann said with a sly grin, "I have the perfect plan to add them in."

"Oh alright. If you need help let me know."

"Of course. I'm heading off to class. See you at lunch."

"See ya!"

Thrann grabbed a few of his supplies, books and notebooks, and headed back down stairs towards a class room.

Lera on the other hand kept staring at the people walking and talking with their friends.

---

"The moves he showed us were so basic." Paroppe grunted after she and Ayanni left the dojo.

"I'm sure those were just basic moves and if you joined their dojo, then you would learn more advanced techniques."

"Ayanni you don't have to point out the obvious. It's been a little stressful, I don't know… Want to fight?"

"Not here, let's try to find somewhere more isolated." Ayanni took a moment to open up the map on his tech pad. "This place is too peaceful." He didn't mean the street they were on.

His destination, that he chose on the map, didn't mean much. He just needed a destination that was away from most of the shops and facilities that were on the map. There was a river to the east, with a bunch of areas that had little places nearby. As they made their way, they found an underpass. Above he barely saw any vehicles as they were coming up on the underpass. Next he looked around and other than a few dogs, at least they sounded like dogs, were barking.

He started taking off his hoodie, leaving a simple black shirt underneath. Just like Paroppe, he was wearing one too. He enjoyed the pockets in front and the hood that he could put up if he wanted. They did expect some form of exercise today, with the dojo and school, but since neither presented an option for them, they had to settle with a dark underpass.

"Since I have the advantage, want to do assassin rules?" Ayanni proposed this due to the fact that he can see better in the dark.

"Why not, but no range. I want to fight hand to hand." Paroppe looked around at the various cover and miscellaneous garbage laying about. "Afterwards, let's go for a straight battle."

Assassin rules were more to help the defender learn patience. They knew an attack was coming and with it being dark, the defender would get anxiety. Forcing an attack was better by playing a subtle game with your opponent. If the defender creates a fake opening, then the attacker will be drawn in a trap.

"Fine by me."

---

It was the second period and Lera was just listening in class. She actually was recording the whole class on her tech pad. She did it with the first one and will for the whole day. She plans on sending it to Ayanni and Paroppe so they have an idea what schools are like and what Thrann was learning.

For the most part, this class was about the history of this world. None of the information she was hearing triggered any familiarity. It was a disappointment, but she didn't care. Another chunk of that feeling was gone once again. Removing this feeling and replacing it with new memories was helping her.

"What led to the march on Shard in nineteen-eleven? Thrann why don't you tell us." Even though Thrann didn't have his hand up, like the other students, he still called on him.

The main reason for that was due to Thrann nodding off. He could barely keep his eyes open these past few minutes. Lera did see the answer in the book a student behind Thrann had open. He was a bit out of it and she wanted to help him.

"The government's tax mandate." She whispered into his ear.

At that moment, she realized she did what she wanted to avoid. By interacting with him, like that, she used her power. Even if it was small, even if it was something minor, she used her powers to help him. In her ghost form only Ayanni and Paroppe could see and hear her. She could pick up objects or wear them, but talking to someone else took a conscious effort to change her preset rules to help him.

She noticed that Thrann had jumped when he heard her, but he answered what she had said.

"If you're paying attention, keep your head up. As Thrann said, the tax increase had led the people to march on the city. The moment sparked a change that led to a new government forming."

None of that really mattered, but she did notice that Thrann was looking around him. Not in an obvious way, but he was searching for her. It made the most sense and the fact that he looked freaked out, didn't help anything. She made a mistake… again.

---

"You are nothing without your shield! Muahahaha!" Paroppe started off with an evil laugh as they made their way back to the apartment.

"Your punches are nothing compared to Jev though."

"True." Paroppe slumped her shoulders at the mention of her brother. She noticed a similar effect with Ayanni.

"After cleaning up, want to go to the library with me or want to split up before meeting at the park?"

"I'll stay here. You can take a shower first. I'm gonna stop by the market…? They have a market here right?"

"Something like it. It's a store down the street. I'll send a link to the destination."

"Thank you."

---

Lunch time and Lera is sitting at the end of the table a few seats away from Thrann.

She was still down from her mistake. Though she recognizes it as a mistake, so moving forward she must try to be more aware of it.

Lera watched as Thrann's friends sat down near him. Urenol, sitting next to him, while Carxs and Ophebo sat across.

"Hey!" Carxs said after setting down his food on the table.

The others greeted him including Ophebo. She didn't hear his voice last time, so it was nice to hear him. He had a soft voice. Actually, she remembered that he did talk during the game, but she just forgot.

Everyone started talking about mundane school topics. Nothing of note for the morning.

"So they're your neighbors?" Carxs asked Thrann.

"Yea." Thrann replied.

"They seemed pretty cool." Ophebo added.

"Any idea what kind of characters they might play?" Carxs asked.

"Not yet, I'll talk to them tonight about it."

A small silence took over the table, until Urenol spoke up.

"They looked like our age right?"

"Yea, I asked Ayanni he said he was sixteen."

"Where does he go to school?"

"I think he used to be homeschool with his friend."

"Didn't you say they lived together?"

"Yea, but I don't think it's like that. There is someone else there too, Lera is her name."

"What about their parents?"

"I don't know. My mom didn't even know we had new neighbors until a few days ago when I told her I met them."

The conversation then turned to tv shows and video games. Lera did listen in, just mindlessly. For the most part she was done with staying around Thrann and wanted to explore the rest of the building, but she at least wanted to finish her video for Ayanni and Paroppe.

---

Paroppe was roaming around the store looking at all the different foods. Some were in packages, others fresh, some were just out right frozen. It was exciting!

She roamed around sniffing almost everything until she noticed the stares coming her way. After a while she picked only what looked fresh. Everything else, just didn't make sense. The next thing on her mind was looking up recipes. She'll save that later tonight when she gets in bed.

The main problem she faced was how to pay for these items. This place was big, huge compared to places in Suul. She walked around looking for people leaving the store and seeing where they had paid. Upon arriving she found people putting items on a moving black-like road thingy… she really didn't know how to put it. The store employee would put it over a red light and there was a beep. She noticed after, the employee would say the price and people would either pay with cash, the paper like money with coins she would use, or that plastic little card.

Once it was her turn she did the same, paid and left the store. Once she was out the plastic bag that she was carrying was thrown in her bag. After she didn't want any of the food to go bad. She did her best to stay out of sight from everyone.

On her way home she decided that looking up different foods was the best idea. Though she made sure to keep an eye where she was walking. She didn't want to get lost.

---

School had ended and Lera saw that Ayanni and Paroppe were already at the park. She made her way out and past Thrann heading their way. She stuck to the roads, even following street signals. She was happy that the information on the world had included that in there otherwise, like her friends, they might have gotten hurt. Though it wasn't a problem.

Ayanni had messaged that he was hungry, so he and Paroppe would be near the park entrance where a food stand was. She made her way there and saw them standing off to the side eating their snack.

"Having fun?" Lera asked as she got closer.

Paroppe's back was leaning against a concrete pillar next to Ayanni. "Really good!" She still had food in her mouth, but it wasn't too difficult to understand her.

"Not too bad. I've been reading and found out a few cool things. This whole world is so interesting."

"It's good you both are doing well." Lera was able to see their smiles easily.

As Paroppe took the next bite, some red and yellow sauce fell on her dark blue blouse. "Seriously!" She wasn't too thrilled about that.

"Just clean it… I guess it's better to do it back at home." Ayanni was about to tell her to use magic, like normal to clean it up.

"How do they clean stuff here?"

"I… don't know." Ayanni's knowledge about this world was limited. The information Lera had given him before they came here included a lot, that he tried his best to memorize and keep notes on, but how people cleaned their clothes here without magic was something he wasn't too sure about. There was a river, and water was available in their home, but that seemed too inefficient for this world.

"A washing machine, but I don't know too much about it other than it cleans clothing." Lera explained what her feelings had told her. "Just wait until you get home for now."

"Seriously…" Paroppe wasn't happy about the stain on her clothing.

"By the way, I took a video of a typical school day. I just sent it to you both."

"Thanks, I'll take a look at it later." Ayanni was excited to see it.

"Ugh… thanks Lera." Paroppe wasn't happy, but when Lera said that she was thankful.

"By the way, I looked up schools and enrollment… It won't be happening for us. I gave in and started looking stuff up on the internet. It's convenient, but it just lacks what I want from it. At least it's something…" They both had an idea Ayanni was that way, at least Paroppe was more sure of herself, but hearing him say it made them worry a bit. The main thing holding him back was how easy it was to get information. If he was going to have easy access, he might not be able to stop himself.

"Just be mindful." Paroppe placed her hand on his shoulder.

It did take a moment for Ayanni to get what she meant. He smiled and grabbed her hand and then held out his other hand towards Lera.

"Are you two up for a walk?"

Lera and Paroppe nodded, although Paroppe dragged Lera on to her left side, so that Ayanni was on her right and she could hold both their hands.

---

"Let's start with what race you want to be."

Thrann was in their home, sitting on a stool next to the counter top. They were pretending for now that Lera was in Paroppe's room resting. All four of them were there though looking at the list that Thrann had.

"What do elves do?" Ayanni asked. When both Lera and Paroppe looked at him, he just shrugged.

"They get dark vision, that lets them see better in dark areas. Better rolls on perception checks. Like looking around and noticing anything. Elves are also better at resisting magic."

"Dark vision?" Paroppe asked. She was just as surprised as Ayanni that elves were similar that way.

"Yea, just seeing better at night. Most people pick a bow as their weapon when they play an elf due to it being a dexterity weapon. It just means that when you roll your stats, the highest you put in dexterity and then the bonus gets added to your roll."

"I saw that last night. Everything they did used that D20." Paroppe mused more to herself, but pointing it out as something she thought was interesting.

A while later, Thrann had gone through the other races and classes.

"I know what my character's going to be." Paroppe stood up and walked around the room, to escalate the suspense. "My character's name is going to Jev, a human monk."

Ayanni burst out laughing, along with Paroppe. Lera was chuckling, but she joined in once she saw Thrann's face. He didn't understand who Jev was. Which Ayanni helped him fill in.

"Jev is Paroppe's brother. He liked to fight with his fists too."

"I see…" It was a little too late for him to laugh and since he didn't get it right away it was just awkward for him. Though that didn't stop him from picking up where they left off.

Since the party didn't have a tank, as Thrann said to Ayanni's suggestion, he decided to do what he normally did in real life. He chose a fighter class playing as a dragonborn. The thought of being able to breath fire sounded cool to him.

A while later they rolled their stats and finished up their characters.

Paroppe did have a little fun with her character 'Jev'. She made her second highest stat charisma, so she could talk her way out of situations and her lowest intelligence. She took a picture of it and sent it to Jev. Lera didn't think Jev was going to like that once he found out what it meant.

At first when Thrann had seen what they were writing, it was their language from their world. She had to quickly adapt the understanding of language that she gave them, and everyone else, to also what they wrote themselves. So when they wrote it now, it was in their language, but Thrann would see it as his own. Creating an auto translate for the readers.

It was another thing she had to do with her powers, but this time it was more important as it would affect them in the future and how everyone perceived the writing of the people who were given this power.

Then again that was probably her justification. An excuse that she could use whenever she used her powers.

She brought up her doubts with Paroppe before she went to bed.

"I used my powers Paroppe. Not just helping you with that language, but I helped Thrann at school. He was falling asleep and the teacher asked him a question. I told him the answer, but since he isn't normally able to hear me, I had to make it so he could. Of course then what I just did with the written language stuff… I don't know. Am I losing control again?" Lera was a bit fed up feeling so out of control.

"You had good intentions right?"

"I did, but what if my good intentions one day help destroy a city. I just can't stop thinking about the worst case scenario."

"Don't think too hard about it. You need to trust yourself a bit more. I'll do my best to help you out Lera."

"Thank you."

They shared a small hug.

"I wanted to watch Sparkling Gate, but creating our characters took so long. Want to stay home tomorrow watching it?" She raised her voice so Ayanni could easily hear her.

"Sounds fine by me. By the way Paroppe, dinner was amazing." Ayanni praised Paroppe.

"Just trying out new stuff. Then it's a plan. Stay inside and watch Sparkling Gate!"