Crimes of transmigration

[quest: destroy the king of titans' fragment.

Description: a group of humans are fueling the fragment with mana and aura, prevent their success.

Reward: clue on enlightenment.]

Hali and Odysseus were starring at me with confused looks while I was obliviously checking the contents of the mission, until Odysseus broke the silence.

"Dimitris…?"

"What? Something wrong with your quest?"

I turned to look at them, but I quickly felt something was wrong with their looks.

While Odysseus sighted in relief at my answer, Hali was completely bewildered.

"What's wrong?"

"You can't possibly be Dimitris, who are you?"

I looked at Odysseus who was shaking his head and I realised something was definitely wrong.

Willing some of the water from the falls to make a mirror in front of me, I was shocked to see my face, my old face.

"Damn, I really am the exact copy of father."

I hastily took a bearing of my surroundings and soon realised we were in an all to familiar scenery.

This was my homeland, both in place and time.

Modern buildings were everywhere, in the distance I could even see the bustling tourists taking pictures. Luckily we were a little further away from the masses, but the situation was dire nonetheless.

I couldn't exactly go around with those two wearing Ancient Greek attire.

"Okay, you both need to hide, I'll be back with some new clothes for you. We can't attract too much attention."

Hali was about to debate, but Odysseus quickly took care of her and brought her further away from me finding a place to hide.

Then I started to move towards the shopping district as fast as I could without using any spell and after some time it hit me.

I checked myself up, and I was me.

Klaus Damocles.

But I could also feel my Archana and all my abilities as Dimitris still within me.

What's going on here? Status.

[name: Klaus Damocles.

Affiliation: !error!

!error!

Detection of #######

Commencing transfer of authority.]

[name: Dimitris Klaus Damocles

Affiliation: Itaca, Avalon, House of Damocles]

Everything else was the same, but my name and affiliation changed. I could also feel my stigma: crest of Damocles, was slowly strengthening.

What the fuck is going on?!

Checking in my pocket I found my smartphone and upon unlocking it everything was in its rightful place, but something was amiss.

The date on my phone displayed a date exactly 1 year after my death.

Then why was I in my original body?

I even opened my banking app, and surely there were the exact amount of money I had, barely a couple hundred dollars.

The shopping spree was completed in a daze and after paying with my phone I quickly returned to Odysseus giving him the clothes.

Time passed quickly. I was completely focused on the waterfall, my mind a complete mess.

"Is that really Dimitris?"

I could hear Hali's confusion, but I could blame her.

Turning towards them I assumed a serious tone.

"From now on, only call me Klaus, nothing else. There's something deeply wrong here. I don't think this is a simple time fissure."

Odysseus came forward and held my hand.

"D… Klaus, is this your home?"

"Well, not exactly, but it's near enough… wait a second? You're speaking English? Hali you too?"

"I… yes, I've been studying with Merlin to surprise you… as for Hali, she's receiving help…"

I was honestly moved by his effort. I tightened the grip on his hand and just as I was about to hug him, my phone rang.

"What's that?"

"A communication device."

As I took out my phone, cold sweat formed on my forehead and back, my heart skipped a beat and my breath got caught.

"Father…"

Odysseus immediately recognised my alarm and quickly prevented Hali from making any sound.

I picked up the call.

"I DO NOT KNOW WHO YOU ARE OR HOW YOU GOT YOUR HANDS ON MY LATE SON'S PHONE, BUT DON'T YOU EVEN THINK OF ESCAPING. MY MEN ARE ON THE MOVE AND YOU WILL ANSWER MY QUESTIONS."

Tud tud tud.

That was it. He didn't even wait for an answer but I knew we were in danger.

"Hali. Erect a barrier for you two. Now."

Unable to refute my command, Hali immediately created the barrier and as soon as she was finished I felt the familiar presence of the house of Damocles extraction team.

I raised my head and started pointing in seemingly random positions.

Hali and Odysseus confused by my action didn't utter a word and just let me act.

"I hope you don't expect to catch me by surprise? How regrettable. Such poor stealth skills."

When my words came out, my companions widened their eyes, they couldn't detect anyone, yet here I was pointing in random directions with my eyes closed and implying we were surrounded.

"It seems you think I'm bluffing, very well."

I took down the hood I had previously wore to buy the clothes.

"Kassandra, Winona and… the last presence I'm not really familiar… could it be Helena?"

Soon the three figures emerged from their hiding spots and encircled me with their blade already touching my neck. Sure I could dismiss all of them, but I needed to make sure of something.

Odysseus on the other hand wasn't really able to keep his cool.

"Klaus!"

As my name was announced, the three ladies finally looked up and as soon as they made eye contact with me, their daggers fell, they retreated and with trembling eyes kept starring holes at my face.

"It… it can't be…"

"Young master Klaus… but…"

"You died exactly 1 year ago…"

Of course their reaction was logical, but something inside me was churning.

I picked up the daggers and threw them in their direction.

"Such a disgraceful behaviour, I will not tell the patriarch of your shameful actions, when is he going to arrive?"

The three hurried to get their weapons back.

"The patriarch will be here in a moment…"

"Very well, get the fuck out of my sight and bring us coffee and a meal, my companions and I have some business to take care of."

They bowed and disappeared.

Hali and Odysseus, still with bewildered faces run to me with a barrage of questions.

"Hold on. I'm not sure yet, but if my assumptions are correct… we did not only travel in time…"

"You mean, this might be your actual home?"

Odysseus was clearly scared, after all he knew about my former family it was understandable, he didn't want me to have anything to do with them.

"Odysseus, I will not abandon you for them. They had already made their choice and so have I. But if this is really my dimension and time, we need to know what's going on. You remember how I told you mana didn't exist in my world? Yet here we are."

"I just don't want you to fall in their grasps. Klaus, whatever happens, we need to complete the quest and get back home."

A chill run down everyone's spine but mine, at that moment the voice of the man I admired the most came out of seemingly nowhere.

"And where is my son's home exactly?"

My heart started to slow down, but at the same time, fury was building up inside me.

"So? You unknown nobody, where is my son's home if not my own?"

That was the last drop.

I raised on my feet, but never bowed.

He might have been the split image of Zeus, but he was no one to me anymore.

"I greet the patriarch of the House. However. If your next words towards my companions hold the slightest tinge of mockery. There will be consequences."

"Where was this cold demeanour during your training Klaus? But most importantly, how are you alive?"

I didn't answer. There was no need to, but I was going to repay him.

"Where is the anger I felt on the phone? Or do you only hold negative emotions mr. Damocles."

"I am still your father Klaus, be respectful."

In the distance I saw the girls I sent to get food approaching, but I didn't want to wait anymore, so I just blinked the food on the table for us three.

Completely ignoring the man who brought me to life, I smiled warmly to Odysseus.

"Odysseus, try these! Then you'll understand the real difference between our foods! Hahaha Hali you too! Stuff yourself you half sardine, this mission will be hard."

The two smelling the irresistible scent of fast food and coffee, couldn't hold back anymore and started devouring everything, I gave my share of food to Odysseus, only keeping the coffee, during all this exchange, the representatives of house Damocles were shocked.

"YOUNG MASTER! YOU AWAKENED A TELEPORT SKILL! THAT WILL BE SO USEFUL WHEN YOU GET BACK TO THE HOUSE!"

"The fuck are you talking about? I've been disowned, cut the crap and leave if you're satisfied with your discovery."

The 3 girls were speechless, but my father, the ever image of stoicism, was fast to get back on track.

"What mission are you on?"

"You don't seem so shocked? But since there's mana in the atmosphere I guess something might have happened."

That was the moment my father's face cracked.

"You really don't know? Then how do you have that skill?"

"I don't, and it's not a skill. Now tell me what happened."

He then went on a tangent explaining everything that had happened.

The day of my death a huge rift opened in the sky right over the hospital I was staying at, and monster and mana started to invade the planet. People started to awaken skills and constellations appeared granting further power.

Soon gates started to appear that connected to different dimensions, bringing both opportunities and destruction. They called them dungeons, just like the novels everyone knew about.

They never found my body, so they assumed I was sucked in another dimension, which was true, but since the advent of mana and people awakening healing skills, they had been trying to find me in every possible gate, knowing I could now be healed and brought back to the family.

That moved me a little, but after the time I spent with Long, those feelings were quickly dispatched.

Odysseus, hearing the conversation was growing angrier by the second.

"How shameless of you! Do you even realise how you've been treating this so called son of yours?!"

My father threw a glance at him and soon inquired me.

"Are you letting this man talking this way to your father?"

"Is he lying?"

"…"

"Exactly, now since this is settled, it seems this world is riddled with difficulties related to space, my mission however is related to time, so… unless you have informations regarding a cult about time travelers or the king of titans, our ways part here."

"I don't know about cults, but there is a new church revering the king of titans."

The three of us jumped at the same time.

"WHAT? WHERE?"

"You don't think I'll give you information for free, do you?"

Bastard.

Odysseus quickly took out a bag full of drachmas and threw it at my father.

"Here's the payment."

"Do you all have a space related skill?"

"…"

"Odysseus, get back the drachmas, he has no use for those, and he's way richer then we'll ever be."

"How can that be? Klaus I'm the fucking king of Itaca."

"Well, you could say this man is the king of this continent's underground."

"…"

Silence reigned supreme at that moment and I knew we were not going to move forward whatsoever at this pace.

"Stop wasting my time. What do you want us to do for that information?"

"Well, that depends on your skill rank?"

"Old man, you're getting on my nerves, skill ranks mean shit. Odysseus and I are mages, Hali here is a warrior, why do you keep bringing up skills? That teleport before isn't a skill, it's a spell!"

"You weren't joking?"

"Why the fuck would I joke! Aren't you a mage yourself? Sure you still need to form your first circle, but you are clearly a mage!"

"What about Kassandra and the others?"

"…"

"…"

"Are you for real?"

"100%"

"They are all warriors. Mages are rare either way, nothing shocking."

He assumed a pensive position and soon bombarded me with other questions.

"You don't think I'll give you information for free, do you?"

"Fair enough. Here's the deal, to this day there's 3 rank D dungeons in Toronto, Niagara Falls and Hamilton. Nobody seems able to clear them despite having D and above skills. Prove your claims and I'll even help you with that church personally."

Does he think I'm a fool?

He wanted to have me do the job of 3 teams for a single piece of information and his intervention?

"Yudher Damocles, I hope you don't think of me as a fool."

I started circulating my Archana covering my entire body with lightning and expanding my pressure.

"I'm not straight out torturing you for informations because I know it's useless. But I can still kill you with a snap of my fingers."

Fire lilies of destruction.

"Be very careful with your next demands."