Let's Hang Out

Requested by Patrick Brown - A day in the life of the Five Bodies!

It was the seventh of December, though the month wasn’t called that here. Kreig really wasn’t too sure exactly what it was called since he hadn’t learnt Mandarin fluently yet, but it was still the same month. Knowing that the months numbered twelve even in this world made him happy.

It had been two years and around one month since he and his friends had been summoned. Most of this time had been spent training and learning various cultural things, though the most important area of study had been the religion they now belonged to.

The Holy Order of White Roots.

Kreig still wasn’t sure what to make of it. It wasn’t as though they had any evil intentions, but Kreig couldn’t help missing his family. How were Sammy and George doing now? Had his brother gotten a good job? Was his sister doing well in school? If she was being bullied or anything, he would obviously beat them up for her. That was his duty as her older brother, after all.

Not that he could actually do anything, considering that he was, well… Not on Earth anymore. A bit of a bummer, that.

“Come on!” Rudy shouted as he threw another fist towards Kreig. Side-stepping just as he had been taught, Kreig avoided the blow, replying by striking Rudy in the chest instead. The smaller boy stumbled back, staggering for breath. “D-, damn it Kreig, stop hitting so hard!”

“I’m not hitting hard, you’re just a wuss,” Kreig replied confidently, letting his smile twist into a victorious grin.

Rudy growled. “Don’t celebrate yet!” Making use of his smaller and more agile form, Rudy leapt off the ground, twisting in the air to deliver the strongest kick he could muster right to Kreig’s bare chest. Kreig’s grin grew wider as he grabbed Rudy’s leg. His chest felt sore at being struck by the kick, but he could take it. With Rudy in his grip, he threw him to the ground, knocking the air out of him once again.

On the ground, Rudy gasped and tried to breathe.

“Don’t be too hard on him, Kreig,” Charlie called out from the sidelines, where he sat sharpening his daggers.

Kreig shrugged and leaned down, holding out his hand to Rudy. The smaller boy’s eyes hopped between the hand and Kreig’s face until he finally gave a small smile and took it, letting himself be brought to his feet. “Damn asshole. Let up on training your defences, won’t you? One of these days I won’t be able to get through that thick skull of yours!”

“No hard feelings dude, but if you train a bit more I’m sure you’ll be able to kill a monster someday,” Kreig said.

Rudy bristelled. “Meathead. Keep talking like that and-,”

On the other side of the training grounds, something exploded. Kreig and Rudy shared a look before dashing off towards it. Charlie, despite having been seated on the ground, somehow got there before them.

Jamie coughed out a small black cloud. “Okay. That didn’t exactly work.”

Covered in soot from head to toe, Peter rubbed at his eyes. “And you just had to point that thing at me, huh?”

Jamie waved his golden wand from side to side. “Hey, this is quality make! It’s not like aiming it at anything in particular makes it go off, it just… Well, sometimes when I see your ugly mug, I can’t help feeling the need to cover it up. You don’t mind, do you?” He grinned.

“Why, you…!” Bringing up his holy tome, Peter chanted an inscription. “-Clean!” A poof of magical smoke billowed out of his tome, covering both him and the nearby area. When the cloud cleared, Peter was once more standing in his pristine white priest’s garb. Compared to him, Jamie’s clothes were just a tad less fancy, though no less magical.

Kreig, Charlie and Rudy all wore nothing but pants. They had been sparring for a few hours now, meaning that wearing anything more than that would’ve left them half-dead, despite the season.

The Kingdom of Alumni was a kingdom known for its eternal summer. It was the northernmost country in the world, and yet it was able to survive thanks to what was commonly referred to as ‘The Light of God’. This light kept the entire kingdom sunlit all through the winter, letting flowers bloom even on midwinter eve. Still, that didn’t mean that it was entirely warm, either.

But if the everlasting summer was good for one thing, it was sparring. No matter the time of day or year, the Five Bodies could always find time to train.

As of yet, they hadn’t been used for much of anything. They all remained young, and the general opinion of the priests and nobles alike was that they were simply too young to be sent out to fight. However, that didn’t mean that their days were easy and workless - far from it.

Every day, they would train in their respective arts.

Since their jobs were quite different, they had spent much time separated, being taught by tutors and professors alike. So far, the only thing keeping them from being seen as full members of the Alumni Kingdom was the fact that only one of them (Peter) spoke Mandarin fluently. Considering that they had been there for two years, this might be seen as a surprise, but it really wasn’t.

English was the holy language that all believers strove to learn. Why should a divine being that spoke only English learn the lesser language of the commoners?

Peter had been adamant in learning it since he couldn’t stand knowing nothing about the world, but the others remained only semi-fluent. Of them all, Kreig’s Mandarin was the worst.

He knew the names of certain sword arts and types of fighting, and he could say rudimentary things like ‘Retreat!’ or ‘Fight me!’ but nothing beyond that. He couldn’t read it at all, and he wasn’t interested in learning to either. If he needed something read, he could just ask Peter to read it for him, no?

The only person he knew who couldn’t speak English at all was his sword teacher, but they communicated through grunts and shouts anyways. Everyone else was a priest or cardinal or pope or highly stationed believer and they all spoke English at least semi-fluently. He had no real reason to learn Mandarin, and those around him didn’t ask for him to learn it either.

Regardless, he knew that one of these days he would probably need to know it. But that day was not today. Today, they were relaxing. Sort of.

Since the five of them were to act as a team one day, they were given plenty of time, opportunity and encouragement to hang out and work together. They ate most of their meals together, they slept in the same room, and, much like today, they sparred plenty. Or, in Jamie and Peter’s case, they researched new skills and spells together.

“Alright, my turn,” Peter said, bringing up his tome again.

Jamie stretched and hopped in place, loosening his limbs. “Hit me.”

With a chant and a point of the finger, a small wisp of magical energy trailed from Peter’s finger before finally reaching Jamie, where it struck and entered his forehead. The two wizards-in-training stared intently at the spot. Kreig, Rudy and Charlie watched as well, all hoping it wasn’t a lobotomy-spell or something.

A small pop resounded as a little white flower with red dots bloomed from Jamie’s forehead. All five blinked at it.

“Holy being!”

“God below, it worked!” Peter exclaimed, grinning. “Well, would’ya look at that, Jamie? You’re finally pretty!”

Jamie nodded sagely, making the flower bob up and and down. “This is one of them love-flowers, right?” A glint in his eye shone brightly. “With this, maybe I can finally get me a girl.”

“Yeah Peter,” Charlie said, butting in. “Do a few dozen more and they won’t be able to see his face anymore!”

Not replying, Peter leaned towards Jamie and plucked the flower from his forehead. Within seconds, the tender bloom wilted. He frowned. “Hm. Not good.” Brows furrowing, he turned to Kreig. “Hey, you’ve got the Good Magic skill, right?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, yeah dude. It’s only at level II though,” Kreig replied. Why in the world would Peter ask him that? If Kreig’s memory wasn’t acting up, both Peter and Jamie had long since gotten to level V, gaining the skill Holy Magic in turn. Now that Kreig thought about it, he really had to train his magic more. A paladin should hopefully be good enough at magic for him to be able to use it fluently and effectively in battle.

Kreig glanced over at Charlie and Rudy. Lucky bastards. They didn’t have to learn anything but combat. Sure, Rudy wasn’t all that good at fighting, but if Kreig was allowed to focus on the sword alone, he would’ve reached level V already.

“I’m going to tell you a chant and I want you to try it out, okay? Your level is kind of low, but you should be able to do it,” Peter said, stepping closer to Kreig.

“Uh, do what?”

Not explaining anything (like usual), Peter slowly gave an inscription. With no other reaction to give, Kreig listened intently, trying to put it to mind. Peter repeated it two more times before finally stepping back, knowing Kreig well enough to understand that he had memorized the chant. “Just try to focus it on your hand and it should be fine. It’s not a bad spell or anything, so…”

Kreig honestly didn’t want to try out some random spell, especially not on himself. But since it was Peter that had told him to do it, he couldn’t refuse. He focused his attention on his hand.

Slowly, with great uncertainty, he spoke the inscription and felt how his energy drained into his hand.

With a pop, a small flower bloomed. Kreig blinked at it.

Before he had time to react or ask anything, Peter plucked it and held it before him. In his other hand, he held the wilted remains of the other flower.

Surprisingly, Kreig’s flower didn’t wilt. Peter squinted at it. “Hm. Interesting…”

“What?” Jamie asked. “What does it mean?”

“I’m not sure,” Peter responded thoughtfully. “But I think that… I told you the spell is supposed to summon a flower that represents your love, right? Well, there’s a chance that if you have no love, or…”

“You’re calling me heartless?!”

“No, no! Maybe a little, but I think it wilts if the will of God is that you won’t find love. Or something.”

Jamie collapsed to his knees. “I-, I won’t find me a girlie?...”

“Hey, do me!” Charlie cried, pointing at his forehead. “I’m sure to find love, right?”

Peter thumbed his lower lip. “I did Kreig since I know he’s a chick-magnet, but you…” His eyes sharpened into slits. “Are you sure you’re ready to face the truth? The word of God is absolute. If your flower wilts…”

“If it wilts, I’ll purposefully go to a brothel to make sure I find love!”

Rudy hit Charlie in the back of the head. “Idiot, sleeping with someone doesn’t make you lovers. It takes more than that.” He crossed his arms. “More than any God could predict.”

Charlie pouted. “I don’t care, I still wanna do it. Come on Peter, I’m ready for it!”

Shrugging, Peter pointed his finger at Charlie’s forehead. “Fine with me.” The chant fell easily from his lips, ending with the bloom of a flower on Charlie’s forehead. The teen grinned at it. Before Peter could do anything, Charlie plucked it from his forehead himself. And, in a matter of seconds, the flower wilted. Likewise, Charlie’s face fell into despair.

“Nooooo!! This can’t be!” he cried.

Peter turned his finger on himself and gave a chant. Within seconds, another little white flower bloomed. Fingers trembling only a little, he removed it from his forehead. “Well, would you look at that.” It didn’t wilt. “That’s a bit…” Peter scoffed and threw away the flower. “It isn’t all that important.” Finally, he turned to Rudy. “How about you?”

Rudy frowned at him. “I’m not going to leave myself to the wits of some random-chance spell. Leave me out of this, man.”

“If you say so, dude,” Peter replied. Slowly, his expression turned thoughtful and he gave just one, fleeting glance at the still fresh flower that lay in the grass behind him. He turned back to Kreig. “Listen here. I know you’re not the romantic type or anything, but if you ever find yourself a girl who you really wanna stick with, give her that flower. And I’m not talking about some fling or a fangirl or a nun you happen to like. Unless you plan on marrying that girl, you don’t give her the flower. You get me?”

Kreig suddenly felt a bit accused. “Uh, sure? I don’t really-,”

“This flower means love. Not ‘like’, not ‘fancy’, love. Remember that inscription. However long it takes, when you find your girl, you give her that flower. That way, God knows you’re being serious and not some chick-catching bum.”

“Um, alright?”

Peter nodded, stalwart. “Good. Now, it’s getting kind of late, so let’s leave this here, okay?”

The rest agreed.

128 years later, Kreig still remembered his vow.

He made damn good on it.