Orphans to Time
(Friz's Point of View)
The shock from the
travel messed with my head. Upon waking up in an inn that looked new, I knew
something was off. I was either in Pinnacle territory or dead. At least, that's
how I reasoned with myself. I looked around to get my bearings. I was lying on
a bed in a three bed room. A closed door was on the far left side of the wall
opposite me and, going right from there, was a coat rack, a dresser, a shorter
dresser with a TV on top, and another dresser identical to the first. The wall
to my right had windows covering most of it, but the curtains were drawn. The
beds on either side of me were empty, but I saw red fur in one of them and navy
blue fur in the other. Feir and Ghast had been here. They were watching over
me, and for that I was grateful. The left wall had a closet towards the wall
behind me and went further at the end opposite me. A light source was putting
lines of light on the ground, and I assumed it to be a bathroom. The wall
behind me was blank.
The door to the
bathroom opened and Ghast stepped out. I sat up and said his name. He jumped
and looked towards me. His mood suddenly improved and he ran to the door and
poked his head out, shouting, "Friz is awake!" the other eight anthros and a
taller version of Nick all came into the room, welcoming me back to the world
of the living.
"It's about time
our leader woke up." Feir said with a joking tone. I stood up and immediately
fell back on the bed due to a searing pain in my head.
"Well now I'm sure
I'm alive, at least." I groaned.
"Are you okay,
Friz?" Ghast asked. I felt the bed shift as he sat next to me.
"If you call 'having
a headache' okay, then no, I'm not okay." I complained, rubbing my head. "This
feels like I was hit with a brick and then felt onto the corner of a desk."
"I had headaches
from travelling before I got used to it." Timler assured me, "It should wear
off in a minute."
"Regardless, where
are we?" I asked.
"The more important
question is, 'When are we?'" Timler corrected. "The answer to that is
approximately one thousand years in the past."
"And it's not
primitive? That's unlikely." I said skeptically.
"This era was
actually a new beginning for most countries that we know of from our time."
Regir said. "I remember a lifetime in this era was utopian, almost. Anthros and
humans initially lived in piece due to the anthros' existence being a feud
between human countries. The nuclear war that created anthros was even what
made me into what I am today."
"Two questions."
Nick interrupted. "What? And also: Freaking what?"
"I was born in the
year 2050. Super soldiers existed by then, and I had stolen some of the
research to give myself endless youth. The fallout gave me my animal form, and
I will finally see the prophecy I learned as a kid during this time." Regir
explained.
"So you're over
2000 years old? How is your mind not mush?" Julio asked.
Regir responded, "The
same way my body isn't ash, really. I'm able to keep both my body and mind
young, and I would reset my memories at the end of each of my lifetimes before
regressing to an infant and having my closest friend put me up for adoption. I
recently learned for about the twentieth time that my memories can never be
permanently erased, as well." Before anyone else could ask questions about
Regir's questionable past, the front door was unlocked and open by what I
assumed to be a housekeeper. Gary swore and went into the other room, telling
us to stay in here.
(Gary's Point of View)
The housekeeper, a
pudgy woman with tanned skin and was wearing pink scrubs ad a cleaning apron,
came into the room and almost freaked out when she saw the state of the room.
Regir had changed three times, and the stench wasn't that appealing. While I
was thankful that they were here to clean, we couldn't risk getting too much
attention this early on. I accosted the housekeeper with my charm.
"I'm so glad you're
finally here. We need your help. After you clean the room, go get my name put
onto the register and get me a key. My name is Luke Robinson." The lady was
easily affected by my charm, and she only acknowledged me before getting to
work on the room. I practiced my charm previously on Nick and found that almost
rude authority works best, and asking for a favor doesn't work at all. Testing
it on the others showed that the more a person idolized or was attracted to me,
the more easily manipulated they were. Nick had become quickly immune to my
persuasion, probably because he loves me in a brotherly way, and naturally
disobeys me from the sheer principle. Unfortunately for him, if I force power
into my voice, he still is forced to obey, so he's careful not to openly defy
me now. As much as I love him, I need to make sure he does what I ask without
question so I can protect him. I walked to the window outside and peaked
outside the curtains. A completely different city than any I've seen was on
display for me to see. I watched kids, anthros and humans alike, playing ball
in the streets. I saw anthro neighbors having a friendly chat on the porch of a
human's house with that human over a cup of coffee. I felt that for once we
found a place we could stay for the rest of our lives and be happy. The only
problem I had was a sense of unease that was almost tangible in some parts of
the big picture I was watching. I looked back at the housekeeping lady and saw
her nametag said Hilda. "Hilda, after you've gotten us a key, send your manager
up. I need to have a talk with her."
"Was my performance
unsatisfactory?" She asked. I heard a strange accent in her tone that I
scarcely heard in Nethermost.
"No, no. You've
done amazingly. I just need to ask her a few things." I said. It's strange, she
suspected me of reporting her, and so the charm implanted the idea of my
disappointment as an unwanted outcome into her head. I could see this ability
being far more useful as I practiced, and soon this hideout would be the safest
place for us...