Finding my Parents in Another World

Zack huffed as he climbed yet another inclined road snaking along the mountainside.

Should have gone to the fucking gym

He watched enviously at Pende and Epta effortlessly walking up the steep incline while engaged in some discussion. He would have been even more envious if Enea had still been with them but she had flown away on the wind long back.

" See ya buncha slowpokes back at the hideout." She had said mockingly as she whizzed by them.

Wish I could do that

Zack had thought at that time, but now he just wished he had kept more fit. Even if he were younger he doubted he would have been able to keep up with the two red cloaks infront of him.

Over the journey he had learned little about the Chianti Hunters except that they were rebels.

"Our leader will explain all to you." Pende had said with a smile, while Epta had just grunted. The latter was still annoyed over the lightning incident near Odania.

Zack could surmise that the red cloaks were enemies of the current government (or Kingdom to be more appropriate) and he could also see that they were a different race from the guards they had slaughtered. Both Pende and Epta were darker skinned, and had bronze-like skin compared to the fairer guards. But he didn't know the source of this conflict.

Guess I am about to find out.

But for how long does this infernal road go?

They had been walking for three hours now. The sun which was shining brightly in the sky was now almost down the horizon.

I hope we reach before nightfall

Zack didn't know what kind of creatures stalked these mountainous road at night, and he didn't have any desire to find out firsthand.

Finally, after what seemed like another hour, Zack saw something resembling a broken down manor in the distance. As he came closer he saw that the manor was in fact completely destroyed except for a few pillars here and there, but there was a veritable community living on its grounds.

"We are here." Pende said as he moved into the manor grounds though the open gates. Seeing him and Epta, the people immediately came up to greet them.

"Hey it's Pende."

"How did it go my man? Got the treasure?"

None of the people were wearing red cloaks except for two at the very end who were warily looking at Zack.

It seems they are some kind of generals.

Pende and Epta went over to those two red cloaks standing there after greetings all the other people in the manor.

"Brought an Otherworlder for the boss." Pende declared proudly pointing at Zack.

"Are you sure he is an Otherworlder?" One of the red cloaks, a woman, asked. She was unnaturally tall, almost 2metres tall it seemed to Zack, and hunched over. Her eyes were bloodshot and she had dark bags under her eyes as if she had been awake for a long long time.

"Yes I am sure, Tria. Don't overanalyze everything." Pende said with a sigh.

"This time, unusually I must say, I do share Tria's concerns. The last guy you brought claiming as an Otherworlder turned out to be a Crown assassin." The other red cloak said. Zack wasn't able to see much of his face, except for the fact that he had on glasses, owing to the fact that he seemed to be wearing a mask on half of his face from nose downwards.

"If this guy turns out to be an assassin, I'll eat my cloak. And anyway if that happens just kill him like last time Dio."

"I'll hold you to that promise." Dio said, glaring suspiciously at Zack, who just let out a nervous smile.

"I-I am not from this world so forgive me if I get any of the customs wrong." He stammered out.

Epta grunted at that and pushed him forward.

"Just go ahead old man, ain't no one got the time to listen to your blabbering." He said irritated.

Zack gulped and walked forward as ordered. Epta walked along with him, while Pende stayed behind, evidently to show whatever treasure he had been sent to recover to Dio and Tria.

As Zack and Epta walked forward, they entered what seemed to be the great hall of the destroyed mansion. In the middle of the mansion, there was a large cusioned chair and a man was sitting on that chair, surrounded by advisors. As with all other leaders ("or generals" Zack thought), this man was wearing a red cloak as well, but from his demeanour it was immediately obvious that he was the boss that Pende was talking about.

In appearance, the man was nothing special. He was about the age of his son, and was quite a bit shorter. His hair however was completely white, as if bleached. But the most striking feature about him were his eyes. As he looked up to watch Zack and Epta enter, it seemed as though each of his eyes were changing color every single second. It created a sense of deep unease within Zack, but it also fascinated him.

Is this also a magik of this world?

"Lord Miden." Epta said, kneeling down on one knee.

"I told you Epta, don't bother with the Lord nonsense. I am not the Lord of anything." The man on the chair said. His voice was silky smooth, while also containing just a hint of irritation.

"And who is this?"

"An Otherworlder. This time for sure." It was Pende who answered. He had entered the hall along with Dio and Tria and all three of them came forward and kneeled, leaving Zack the only one standing.

Miden sighed. Then he whispered , "Inito." There was a gust of wind which rose up around the throne and seemed to completely surround the chair. For a moment nothing inside the wind storm was visible. Zack looked around in panic, thinking it was some sort of enemy attack on Miden, but none of the other red cloaks seemed perturbed.

After some time, the wind cleared and Zack saw that Miden was no dressed in some sort of silver armor with a further cloak behind him. There was a scary on his forehead, which went over his right eye which was closed. His left eye was open and was shining extremely bright, as if there was light pouring out of them.

Miden turned towards Zack and focused his open left eye on him. Zack felt a shudder as something passed through him but it was too quick for him to react. Almost defensively he pushed forward his hands and a spark of electricity shot out again. Unlike last time though, this time the spark bounced off harmlessly against Miden's armor.

"[[The Everlasting Eye]] is my Inito power. As long as my left eye is open, no attack from the bearer of it's target has any effect on me." Miden explained, although Zack understood almost nothing of his explanation.

Miden however seemed satisfied with whatever he was doing. He nodded and another gust of wind rose up. When this gust cleared, he was back to the form he was before, sitting casually on the chair.

"What the hell was that?"

"Of course I don't expect you to understand what happened just yet." Miden said calmly.

"Think of it like this, it is a way of scanning your memories and your power to verify that you are who you said you were. That is what my magik does." He continued.

"That looks like nothing of the magik I have seen yet."

Miden laughed gently. "Yes maybe not. I am something of a special case myself. Don't worry Otherworlder, or rather Zack. That is your name isn't it?"

Guess he wasn't lying.

"Yes it is."

"Don't worry Zack. We will help you find your wife and son. Of course provided you help us too. Some quid pro quo I believe as you would say."

A shiver ran down Zack's back. He had initially wondered how Miden's power had made him leader over people like Pende or Epta who seemed much better combatants. But he was slowly realizing just how terrifying the boss of the Chianti Hunters actually was.

Not to mention I don't believe that's even close to the full extent of his powers

"Well?" Miden asked, cocking his head questioningly to one side.

"I don't have a choice do I? I need to find my family as soon as possible. I will do what needs to be done for that." Zack replied, with more confidence than he was feeling.

Miden nodded.

"Then let's go for a walk shall we? The rest of you are dismissed."

Zack started as he realized that the remaining red cloaks had remained in the same kneeling position throughout this conversation.

.XX.

"Mt Gukiu is the second talled mountain in this Kingdom." Miden said as he and Zack walked around the edge of the mansion grounds.

"What's the tallest?"

"The Yela. However no one dares climb it, therefore for all intents and purposes this is the tallest mountain on which humans can inhabit."

"And that's why you have your stronghold here?"

Miden nodded.

"Quite perceptive old man. Indeed that's the case. Although our people have been calling this mountain home for a much longer period of time. I guess that's why it was easier for us to setup a stronghold here."

"Our people?"

"Yes. I guess we owe you an explanation of everything before we can ask you to help us.

We, as in all the people you see on the mansion grounds, are not native to the Kingdom of Anusuril. No no, we come from an older Kingdom. The Great Kingdom of Chrysafenios. The Golden Kingdom.

Well I say we, but none of our fathers or grandfathers or even their grandfathers have ever seen this land. About a thousand years ago on this world we had a terrible war." Here Miden paused, and Zack was surprised to see a deep anguish in his face.

Such strong emotions for a war over thousand years old?

Miden quickly regained composure and then continued, "The Great War some called it. I don't know what was so Great about it though. The brutalities, the wanton destruction of that conflict still inspire horror stories till date. Rape, pillage, crucification, nothing was too brutal for the warmongers of that time. There were three Great Kingdoms during that time, Chrysafenios, Anusuril and the Kingdom of the Goddess. After the war, Anusuril was the only one standing.

The prevalent wisdom, and the teachings of our ancestors tell us that Anusuril used a forbidden method, a cursed method, an unspeakable method to achieve this victory. It was so unspeakable that history books make no mention of this. And thus there is no one alive who knows how the war ended, how the other two Kingdoms were annihilated, how Anusuril won and more importantly what the Mist really is."

"The Mist?" Zack asked confused. He was following along with the story with enraptured attention, but this seemed a sudden change of context.

Miden solemnly nodded.

"The Mist. A few hundred years after the Great War ended is when it first appeared over the ruins of the Golden Capital of Chrysafenios. It spread throughout the whole Kingdoms of Chrysafenios and the Goddess within the last thousand years. And now it enroaches onto the final kingdom Anusuril. No one knows what it is. No one who has gone to investigate it has ever returned.

It used to be the case that if you were in Anusuril, then the Mist was just a story you told your kids to scare them. However over the last decade, the enroachment of the Mist is now visible from Harabur, the northernmost border of Anusuril. And now finally these idiots are taking notice of the threat of a thousand years."

"And you and the rest of the Chianti Hunters are descendents of the people of Chrysafenios?"

Miden nodded.

"Refugees of the Great War. Sneaked across the border after the destruction of the Golden Capital and its consequent ransack. However we never forgot, and we will never forgive." Miden's eyes glinted with murderous rage, even though his face remained emotionless.

"But revenge for what? You don't even know what happened."

"Exactly! Exactly exactly Otherworlder, we don't know what happened. But there are people who do."

"Like who?"

Miden looked from the mountaintops to the west. Zack followed his look but he couldn't see much except for smaller hills and villages dotted across them.

"The King does. It is a secret passed through the Royal Family."

Zack looked at the young leader incredously. His white hair ruffled about in the wind hiding his eyes.

"You mean to interrogate the king??"

Miden smiled. "Why not? Our ancestors have been trying for ages, but if we don't succeed now then we never will. The Mist will kill us off before another generation can try again. No we have to do what has to be done."

Zack looked at Miden, impressed with the ambition and determination in a man this young.

No wonder they call you the leader

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Help us."

"Help you?!? How can I help you?"

"Maybe you alone can't. But together with your wife and son you definitely can. After all that is why you were sent to this world weren't you?"

Zack found himself at a loss for words. Miden was right, the golden light sent them all here to help them.

Save us

And these guys are my best bet to find Zoe and Raorka

"I'll help you. Tell me what you want from me for now."

Miden nodded, and then turned around from the west and looked to the east.

"Odania. Your first mission is to help in slaying the tyrant Firmi Ja of Odania."