Pain surged through Idika’s veins like fire as she laid prone on the ground. After several agonizing minutes the sensation faded and she was able to stand. She hardly had a moment to gain her bearings when her vision was obscured by a bright blue light. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust and she realized it was not a light but an ornate blue rectangle, partly transparent, that floated in front of her. It was filled with text, and she was surprised to find she was able to read it.

  Idika read the message, paused, then read it again. Her complete and utter confusion remained the same. What did it mean by milestones? Was that referring to the random things she did that had made her grow? And she was apparently connected to a system now. What system? Why was she connected to it now? Questions filled her mind so quickly she couldn't keep her thoughts straight. The whole time the little blue box sat before her eyes, making her feel more irritated. Idika wished the damn thing would just go away. Then it did.

  Just as quickly as it had appeared, it popped out of existence. Then a new one took its place.

  She stared at the new message in disbelief. It contained even more new and unfamiliar information than the last one. But if she understood it clearly, everything had just changed. She could now understand whatever language her mother was speaking and talk back to her. But what was truly exciting to Idika was that she now had the ability to read. Not wanting to waste another second she mentally closed the notification. No more blue boxes appeared.

  Idika eagerly stood, and noticed how much stronger her limbs felt as well as the new angle her height gave her. She was just about to head to one of the many tables piled with her mother's journals, when a voice called out to her.

  “Hey, where are you going?” much to her surprise it didn't sound like their mother. The voice was high pitch, excitable and child-like. Turning Idika found her brothers, the three that had undergone the change during the brawls, standing before her. The center boy, presumably the one who called out, stepped toward her. His hair fell loosely around his face, almost like a main, not quite touching his shoulders. It was crimson in color, contrasting his orange eyes and green skin. A familiar smirk played at his lips.

  “Malkadian?” it took her a moment to realize she had said the word aloud. Her own voice sounded strange, but the confirmation she could now speak was exhilarating. The two boys standing behind him looked shocked, but Malkadian only smiled wider at her.

  “So you can talk now too. That's good! It makes things a hell of a lot easier,” he padded up to her, giving a firm patt on her back. Idika was caught off guard by his strength, the force of the gesture caused her to stumble slightly. He chuckled at her reaction.

  “Sorry sis! Still getting use to my strength! But I do have a question for ya,” she raised an eyebrow at him, “What did you do so you could grow?” his question took her by surprise. Idika thought about it for a moment before answering.

  “Well . . . It happened right after I killed that giant roach, so I’m assuming it was that.” She gave a halfhearted shrug, “It feels a little random what the system decides works and what doesn't.”

  “System?” a voice asked, the other two boys approached them. Idika saw that the one with a sour attitude had spoken and she felt herself prickle a little in annoyance. At first glance she thought his hair was black, but closer inspection proved it was a deep marune, and it had a bizarre sheen that made it look greasy. The boys eyes were a dark amber color, the combination giving his an almost sinister vibe. She then reminded herself to not be so quick to judge, she hadn't even spoken with him yet, maybe he just had resting goblin face.

  “You sound awfully confident for someone who just figured out how to talk,” the boys nose wrinkled in contempt, and Idika felt the slightest sense of satisfaction at her gut reaction being proven right. Some people were just insufferable.

  “Well,” She shot back, “It’s just an educated guess, but given the way it tracks what we do, alters our body's and minds and presents us information in a way we can interact with. Concluding it's some sort of system feels pretty reasonable. Plus it was in the notification,” she then crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at her brother. He crossed his arms back and gave a huff.

  “Well, ya, duh. Anyone could figure that out,” he muttered under his breath. His companion stepped forward with a big smile.

  “Don't mind him! He just gets a little moody when other smart people are around! Anyway we should introduce ourselves!” the boy gave a dramatic flourish of his arms and a mock bow, his wild candy apple red hair sticking out in different directions and his orange eyes held a mischievous glint, “I am Drazahar,” he then straightened and ruffled the other boys dark hair, “Cranky here is Makadian and it looks like you already know Malkadian,”.

  “Idika,” she replied, giving them a nod and Drazahar gave her a broad smile.

  “Wow! You already figured out your name? It took us a few hours to find that,” she cocked her head in confusion.

  “What do you mean ‘find’?” the boys stared back at her, now also confused.

  “He means the weird blue square with stuff written on it,” Malkadian replied, miming the shape of a square in the air with his fingers.

  “I saw it right after I changed, but it just said I could read and write a bunch of languages. It didn't say my name.” Idika explained, still feeling lost in the conversation.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “It wasn't on that screen,” Makadian replied, rolling his eyes as if she had just said something unbelievably stupid, “It was on the big one. You know, that one that has all the information about you?” his tone dripped with condescension, but Idika did her best to let it go. Though it was very hard not to snap back.

  “Ya, I haven't seen that one yet,” was her answer, at this her brothers once again looked confused.

  “If you haven't figured out how to see the big screen, how did you know what your name was? And Malkadian’s name too for that matter.” Drazahar asked, his expression equal parts baffled and curios.

  “It's what mother called me.” she said simply, giving them a half shrug, “I picked up your name the same way,” she nodded in Malkadian’s direction, “I tried to learn the others, but she would use multiple names at the same time or they were often clustered together so it was hard to figure out who was who.” she concluded her process and was surprised by the dumbfounded looks her brothers gave her. Then Malkadian started cackling.

  “Sorry Maka! Looks like you're not the smart one in the family after all!” he continued to snicker as Makadian glared daggers at him, gnawing on his lip with one tusk as if trying to hold himself back from saying something. Drazahar covered his mouth as he stifled a giggle, resulting in Makadian giving him a rough shove that barely caused him to stumble and only made him giggle harder.

  Idika stared at the trio, feeling both lost and out of place. How had they managed to grow so close so quickly? It had only been a few days, and most of that time they had been unable to communicate. Yet here they were, bantering and teasing as naturally as breathing, as if they had been doing this their whole lives. Which, Idika supposed, they had. They were siblings, family and were growing up together in the same home with the same mother. Then why do I feel so out of place? Is it because I’m a girl and bonding is easier between brothers? Or am I just . . . different?

  Idika couldn't help but think of her time in the realm of rebirth, her fractured memories from another life, and the woman in black robes. Staring off at the other side of the yurt she watched their other siblings, still so small and fragile, gurgling and tottering around on shaky legs. The stark difference between them and herself made the distance feel so much farther. Looking back at the trio before her she watched them interact, their body language open and easy, no hesitation as they spoke to each other. Idika stood in her family home, surrounded by her siblings and yet . . .

  “You want me to show you?” Malkadian’s voice broke through her rambling thoughts and brought her back to the present. Where she had evidently missed an entire conversation she was supposed to have been participating in.

  “Show me what?” she asked, feeling a little awkward.

  “The big screen, obviously.” Makadian quipped, but she chose to ignore him and instead focused on Malkadian.

  “Ok, show me.” she nodded at her brother, watching him intently. He scratched the back of his neck, suddenly looking oddly self conscious.

  “Well I can't literally show you. We found out that when windows are open only the person they belong to can see it. But we can help you figure it out.” he explained, and it made sense. If they all had access to this system then it must be something everyone had, so it would explain why she had never see the windows around their mother. They probably were there, she just couldn't see them.

  “What do I need to do?” Idika asked, eager to get started. Her brother shifted from foot to foot, looking awkward again.

  “Well, it's not exactly something you do, more like something you feel?” he gestured his hands vaguely and Idika narrowed her eyes at him.

  “All three of you have managed to access this screen, right?” she needled, suddenly feeling very doubtful of the boys claims.

  “Yes we have!” Makadian shot back, sounding rather petulant as he crossed his arms and hunched in on himself.

  “More than once?” Idika asked, and watched as her brothers squirmed a little. All bluster and confidence gone.

  “A couple times, but it's a little hit or miss,” Malkadian admitted, “We were trying to get a better idea of how it worked when we saw you change. but you know what they say, learn by teaching!” the phrase felt somewhat familiar to Idika, but she was also fairly certain he wasn't using it the right way. But without anything else to work with she would have to use with what she had.

  “Alright,” she complied with a sigh, “So what am I supposed to feel?.”

  “You sort of need to focus inward,” Drazahar piped up, pointing at his chest.

  “Ya, like you want to look at yourself, but from the outside,” Malkadian added.

  “Just try to think about yourself like a book you want to read.” Makadian chimed in, sounding the least annoyed she had heard him so far. The various pieces of advice felt a bit overwhelming, but Idika closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting everything fall away. She focused on each perspective her brothers provided and tried to find a common thread. Looking inward, viewing from the outside, reading herself. It all had revolved around a third person perspective of herself to gain more knowledge. The screen they described seemed to contain information that pertained to them individually. Like a character sheet.

  Thoughts and memories buzzed in her mind and latched together. It was like a game. The black robed woman had called her something. A Player Soul. Player. A phrase erupted in the forefront of her mind. Player information.

  “It might take awhile for you to get the hang of-” Malkadian’s words faded into background noise as Idika heard a small chirping sound and opened her eyes. Before her was a large blue screen, rimmed with swirling gold filigree.

  “Woah,” Idika muttered, “Our family name is Bloodstorm?” she mused out loud, she had to admit it did sound cool. A fuzzy memory pressed its way into her mind. The tree, the test, Ignis, the list of names. Her name was on it. Idika Bloodstorm.

  “Wait, you actually did it?!” Drazahar exclaimed excitedly, startling her out of her thoughts. Without thinking she closed the screen to look at him.

  “Umm, ya? Wasn't that the point?” she asked, feeling caught off guard.

  “Well, ya. But it took us each about ten attempts before we managed to pull it up the first time. We were racking our brains for forever trying to figure it out! And you did it on the first try!” Malkadian responded, a mixture of awe and disbelief clear on his face. Idika shrugged feeling oddly self conscious.

  “You all did give me some pointers, so maybe that's why?” she offered up with a shrug.

  “Beginners luck! And your riding off our hard work!” Maka declared, though the expression on his face was very clearly a pout of indignation. Idika chuckled, she decided not to tease him about it. An idea struck her. She focused on her brother and the desire to summon his information to her. It was a completely outhere idea, her brothers already said no one else could see their screens when they had them up. But the terms, system and player information had pushed her to giving it a try.

  Then, just like that another blue screen appeared.

  Idika staired, dumbfounded. It had actually worked. But even more bewildering was the information it had given her. Tier? Was that some sort of power level? And what did ‘Trifecta Soul’ soul mean? But what really stood out to her was what she read right below that. Player Soul.

  She focused on the word ‘Expand’ and second window appeared next to the first.

  Idika stared at the new window dumbfounded. Its appearance only gave her more confusing terms, countless new questions and no answers. But there was one phrase she did recognize ‘The Countess’. Reading theos words made her blood run cold at the memory, it felt like recalling a dream, but the recollection of the pain felt like a wound just starting to scab over. What was the connection between her brother and that . . . thing? She was so deep in thought that she didn't realize Maka was only inches away from her face until he spoke.

  “You got a problem with me?” he snapped, startling her and making her take a step back and close the open windows. He scrunched up his face in confusion at her, “What? Did I scare you or something?” Malkadian and Drazahar came closer, looking somewhat concerned.

  “You feeling ok?” Malkadian asked, and she shook her head, partly in response but mostly in an attempt to shake off the cold sweat that had started to run down her back.

  “I was trying to see if I could summon Maka’s information. It worked but-” The three of them looked shocked but she continued, “It said he had a ’Player Soul’, like me. At least that's what she said . . .” her words trailed off as her thoughts overtook her again and she brought her thumb to her mouth, chewing on her nail. Her brothers did not say anything at first, instead exchanged nervous glances. There was silence for a moment before Malkadian spoke again.

  “You mean the woman in black?” Idika’s hand dropped to her side in surprise as she started, opened mouthed at her brothers. Their expression were solemn. “She spoke to us too.”