I Don’t Want to Start a Story!

Elder Aris dragged him up the stairs before they arrived at an ominous, dark room. There was nothing on the circular floor at the top of the stairs. A thin mist covered the floor, which probably had some magic neutralising properties. Above them were seven holes carved into the high walls, each with a seat and person sitting in it, aside from one empty chair. Presumably the seats of the Elders. Orbs were illuminating the circular floor, but there was nothing lighting the people above. Max wasn’t sure what the point of obscuring their faces was. He knew who they were.

Sitting in the middle with the only chair surrounded by junk was the frail Asian Elder, presumably Elder Ji-min. On his left was the beefy outline of Darius, then the stick thin shape of Elder Nova, before ending with Elder Charaka. The right seat next to Elder Ji-min’s was unoccupied for Elder Aris, then it was the staring woman with traditional clothes, and finally Edric.

The moment Cy had caught up with them, Elder Aris made some gestures causing the room to lighten up a lot more. Why were their faces easy to see now? What was the point of sitting in the darkness before? Ambiance? Presentation? A puzzled Max looked back to see the staircase vanish before the fabric was ripped harshly from his mouth.

“Stay here, don’t do anything until we’re ready to start. Don’t talk to each other. Don’t look at each other.” Elder Aris warned. He kept a nasty glare towards Max as he walked backwards towards the wall below his chair. After tapping on the wall without looking, the wall descended to show some stairs before ascending the moment the Elder began to climb up it backwards.

It was a little awkward standing below the silent Elders. Elder Charaka let out a little cough, which echoed. He seemed a little drained compared to yesterday. It must’ve been tiring repairing everyone’s ears.

Max tried to get a reading from Edric, but his face was a stoney neutral. No wonder he managed to mingle in so well with others. Trying to appear nonchalant, Max wiggled his shoulders while his head was slightly tilted in Cy’s direction before standing still again. Edric didn’t change his expression or acknowledge the action at all.

“Let’s get started.” Elder Ji-min stood up, causing all the others and Elder Aris to stand before their chairs and sit down again in unison. As strong as these seven were, their actions befuddled Max slightly. What was the point of that? Did they practise it in private? “Let’s commence with the interview for your application. Your name is Max, correct?”

“Yes.” Max sneezed before shivering.

“… Are you alright?”

“Just a bit damp.”

“Damp?”

“Elder Aris-” Darius began before being cut off by the man himself.

“The holding cell’s budget needs to be re-evaluated.”

“The budget’s not the problem-”

“Enough.” The old man’s voice commanded authority. The instant silence following showed that among the Elders, he was respected the most. “A matter for another time. Are you okay to proceed with your interview?”

Considering the pushiness and assertiveness Max had experienced with the other Elders, there was little doubt in his mind that the offer to delay the proceedings was not a genuine one. “I’m okay.”

“Good. My name is Elder Ji-min. This is Elder Darius…” The old man went on to introduce everyone in the room. All of their names were known aside from the staring woman, Elder Obi. “And of course, little Cyrus invited you to enter and helped you complete your application, so we asked him to attend.”

An awkward Cy kept his hood lowered and facing down towards the floor. Was it out of respect? Or was it drilled into him? Either way, Max didn’t like this posture. “Cyrus.” Cy jumped slightly from his name being called before realising Max wasn’t talking to him. He was talking to Elder Ji-min. “I thought this was an official interview. It’s a bit inappropriate to be using nicknames during my interview, isn’t it?”

The boldness seemed to have a positive effect on Elder Ji-min, who smiled towards him. “Forgive me. You’re absolutely right. Cyrus has been assisting with your application, so we have a few questions for him.” Cy was looking puzzled. It had been years since other members of the community called him by his real name. “But I’ll start with you, Max.” Elder Ji-min pulled out their paper application. Had he been sitting on it? There were enough pages that it was probably nice padding to the chair. “What’s your age?”

Wasn’t this question 2 on the application? It was completed in the medical exam as well. Why did they need to do it again? “Elder Charaka said it’s twenty-two. I don’t know. I have no memories.”

“Very well. What’s your height?” That was question 3?

Story Name:

Long Lost Son

Genre:

Folklore

Description:

The MC discovers their origins and decides to return to where they belong.

Goal:

Bring back the seven mythical creatures to your hometown.

Difficulty:

★★☆☆☆

How to Start:

Discover where you are from!

Motherfuckers. What was the point of repeating the same questions when they were already answered? Max started to mentally curse as he remembered what some of the questions were. Where is the applicant from? Where are the applicant’s parents from? Are there any concerning genetic conditions? Birthmarks? Which geographical locations does the applicant’s DNA point towards?

“Let’s skip the questions on the medical exam,” Elder Charaka interjected. God bless this man. He may not like Max, but Max was warming up to him again.

Skipping the ones on the medical exam, the unfortunate stack of questions continued as Max realised no matter how he answered, every question on the long application form was going to be asked. He tried to answer to the best of his recollection of what he wrote. Occasionally, Cy would interject if the information was confusing for those unfamiliar with the world outside of Tsujuma.

“What was your salary at your previous place of employment?”

“40 gaeles a month.” All the Elders gave a pitying look. Was it really that bad?

“Food and lodging were provided,” Cy added to save some of Bessie’s reputation. “It’s a low… slave wage salary, but the cost of living in the village was also low.” The pitiful looks didn’t change much.

“I didn’t realise it was that bad,” Max whispered to Cy. “I usually didn’t even get all of it.” He looked back to the Elders. “I got a large bonus when I was laid off though.”

It didn’t change again. They already knew since they had declared Bessie’s bonus and the jackpot money as cash they were bringing into the community. Finally, there was a question that wasn’t in the original application. “In your application, you applied for permission to work as well. Would you be willing to work for 50 gaeles a month?” Elder Ji-min asked.

“Yes!” “No!”

Max had answered without thinking. It was 10 gaeles more than his previous salary! He didn’t really need the money anyway. The look on Cy’s disappointed face made him rethink for a second. Was it still really bad?

“Minimum wage within the community is 100 gaeles a month,” Elder Edric clarified for Max’s sake. “Let’s go on to the next question.”

The questions continued until they reached the end of the thick document. After all that, Max felt done with the situation. He wasn’t sure if he even wanted to enter this magic community anymore. Exhaustion from being tense for most of the night was starting to wear away at him.

Elder Ji-min continued to lead the interview. “That concludes these questions.” These questions? “Cyrus, is there anything you want to add?”

All eyes turned to Cy. Max wasn’t too sure how he was going to be in front of the Elders. Usually, he had a silver tongue around people who weren’t sailors, but his confidence had vanished the moment they stepped through the teleporter. “Max has no fate.”

… That was it? Wasn’t he going to add anything else?

“Who cares?” Elder Aris loudly whispered to make everyone feel uncomfortable. Who was he even trying to whisper to anyway?

“Elder Ji-min made me leave Tsujuma because I needed more real-world experience.” Elder Ji-min gave a nod to show it was true, even though everyone already knew about it. The gremlin child, Haiddeck, made it clear to everyone by the pitch when he shouted his slurs.

“In the community, during my travels to Max’s village, and within the village itself; I’ve never seen someone with the absence of fate like Max. Travelling back, I did witness one other person without a fate at the inn we were staying at.” He did?! Cy never mentioned it. “But the next morning the same person suddenly gained their fate. I have been sticking by Max’s side for months now. He never had a fate while I was around.”

“I can verify his claims. Every time I try to see his fate, there has been no colours, numbers, or symbols.” Darius confirmed. “Max’s soul is readable though. His soul aligns with the report I submitted this morning.” He made a report on his soul? Darius never said anything about it. Maybe it wasn’t necessary until they realised the potential threat Max was.

Elder Ji-min stared down at Max for a moment before he grew pale and clutched the side of his head. Was this the typical reaction from people trying Cy’s kind of magic? “They are accurate about Max’s lack of fate. I have questions about your report, Elder Darius.”

“As do I.” “Me too.” The other Elders jumped to speak. They had been waiting for this report to be brought up.

“We’ll get to that in the second part of the interview,” Elder Ji-min promised. There’s a second part? “Is there anything else that you want to add, Cyrus?”

Cy looked across at the neutral faces of the Elders. For once, Darius was not smiling at him. When they made eye contact, he quietly yawned.

Max was about to speak when Cy’s words caught him off guard. “Max sometimes talks in his sleep.”

“I do what?” No one had told him this.

Cy gave him a shrug. “It’s not often, to be fair.” He turned back to the Elders. “I know Max doesn’t have any memories, and I don’t know why. But sometimes he says the name ‘Ellie’ in his sleep. Perhaps she has something to do with why he’s an amnesiac.”

If Cy had said her name just a few days earlier, Max would’ve been ready to pounce and act defensively. Instead, he found himself oddly calm as he kept a puzzled look in Cy’s direction. When Darius brought her up earlier and made a mockery of her memory, it had hardened him slightly to the memories of his last life. Without it, Max would’ve struggled to maintain a neutral expression on his honest face.

“Perhaps,” Elder Charaka said, causing Max to look at the other Elders. What the fuck was going on? He couldn’t place the various expressions on their faces. Even Edric was unreadable. From a guess, he looked… bitter?

The only slightly positive reaction was from Darius. The corners of his mouth were twitched up slightly, but not enough to make a clear smile. What were the father-son duo planning?

“If that’s everything Cyrus, you may leave. Please wait in the courtyard until we have decided the verdict of Max’s application.”