“Carmine!” a shrill voice called out from inside the orphanage. “You get back here right now, young lady! How dare you use that kind of language in front of the other children!”

  To Chase’s surprise, Carmine actually winced at that. He couldn’t exactly blame her for it, though; she was much closer to the source of the yelling than he was, after all.

  Unfortunately for Carmine, she had been so stunned by seeing Chase standing there that she had frozen in place, making her easy prey for the person who’d apparently been chasing after her. As Chase watched, an old lady, who looked to be in her late-seventies, ran up and picked Carmine up in her arms, giving her a harsh glare as she did so.

  “We don’t use those kinds of foul-mouthed words here,” she chastised. At that moment, she saw Chase standing there, and somehow, her glare got even harsher. “Oh, I see the other escape artist has returned as well. Honestly, I have half a mind to put you two over my knee for all the trouble you’ve both been causing recently. You’re lucky I’m feeling somewhat merciful today.”

  Chase said nothing, still too shocked by the sight of a young Carmine to even consider moving, even as the old lady stomped over to him and picked him up in her other arm. Carrying both of them, she stepped back inside the big building, then marched over to a nearby corner and placed them both down.

  “Both of you face the wall,” she said. “Chase, you get twenty minutes for running away; Carmine, you get an hour for running away and using foul language. Don’t even think about trying to move from this spot until your time is up, otherwise I really will put you over my knee.”

  With that, the old woman stomped away. Judging by the sounds of pure chaos coming from some of the other rooms, she was no doubt off to discipline some of the other children living in the orphanage. Not that it was any of Chase’s concern; no, that spot was reserved for the Demon Queen currently facing the wall directly next to him.

  “Okay, I’ll bite,” Carmine growled. “What in the hells is this?”

  “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this is timeout,” Chase ventured.

  “What? No, not that, you idiot! This!” She gestured to herself for emphasis. “What in the hells did you do to me?!”

  “I could ask you the same thing,” Chase retorted. “The last thing I remember is killing you, and then out of nowhere, I woke up in a field, and I’m maybe six years old again. Now, call me crazy, but I don’t know of any magic capable of doing that.”

  “Nor do I,” Carmine hissed. “If you think this is my doing, then you’re wrong. I was more than ready to accept the sweet release of death, as I’m sure you were as well, and yet somehow, I’m here.”

  “Believe me, I’m just as confused as you are. Maybe the Gods had something to do with it?"

  Carmine grimaced. “Not likely. They wanted one of us to kill the other – why bring us back when they’d already gotten what they wanted? That makes no sense.”

  “Your guess is as good as mine, then.”

  Carmine fell silent at that. After a moment, she let out a sigh. “...So,” she began, “we’re not dead. We don’t know where we are or how we got here. What do we do now?”

  “I don’t know,” Chase admitted. “I always figured I’d die fighting you. I never really thought about what was going to come afterwards. Even if I had, I doubt I would have anticipated something like this.”

  “Then… you don’t want to fight me?”

  “Not particularly, no.”

  “And why is that?”

  “Do you not remember our conversation?” Chase asked. “You know, the one where we both admitted the entire thing seemed pointless? I’m pretty sure we were both about to agree on the Gods being a bunch of rat bastards, too, if only you hadn’t died so fast.”

  Carmine bristled at that. “I had a sword in my torso!”

  “And I was missing multiple limbs. You’re gonna need a better excuse than that.”

  She grit her teeth. “Trust you to be absolutely infuriating no matter where we are.”

  “Thanks, I try. Of course, now we need to figure out what we’re going to do next. Because as much as I don’t feel like fighting you, I don’t think you feel like fighting me, either. Am I right?”

  Carmine hesitated for a moment. “...You’re not wrong.”

  “Okay, then. So what are we going to do? Personally, I think the first order of business should be figuring out where we are and how we got here. Any idea how to do that?”

  “None at all.”

  “Great, then we’re at an impasse.” Chase let out a heavy exhale. A thought suddenly occurred to him, however, and he turned to look at Carmine out of the corner of his eye. “Quick question for you.”

  “Why should I bother answering your stupid questions?”

  “Just humor me. Can you use magic?”

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  Carmine blinked. “...You want me to cast magic in the middle of an orphanage? You realize how destructive that would be, right?”

  “I mean, I don’t doubt that you’re capable of it-”

  “Fuck you.”

  “-But no, I just want to know if you can even call upon it.”

  “Why not try for yourself, then?”

  “Do I look like a mage?”

  “No, you look like a six-year-old.”

  “Ha-ha,” Chase said dryly. “But seriously, can you?”

  Carmine glared at him. “Honestly, I don’t even know what you’re talking about-”

  She suddenly froze, her eyes going wide with shock. A few seconds passed of her staying frozen before Chase shifted.

  “Carmine?” he asked. “What’s-”

  “Try to use magic,” she suddenly urged.

  “What? You know I can’t-”

  “Just try. You know the basic principles behind how to use it, right?”

  “Of course I do. But I was trained as a Warrior, not as a-”

  “Just do it, would you?” she growled.

  “Alright, alright, geez…” Chase conceded. “Though I honestly don’t see what the big deal is-”

  He paused when he suddenly noticed something flash before his eyes as he tried to focus on the innate power of his soul. It only lasted for a moment, as the sudden image took him by surprise and caused him to lose his focus, but after a quick moment to adjust, Chase was able to get it to persist.

  System integration locked. Basic requirements for integration not yet met.

  “...Carmine,” Chase ventured. “What does this mean?”

  “Why are you asking me?” she hissed.

  “You’re the mage between the two of us. You’re seriously telling me you’ve never seen this before?”

  “Of course not! Why do you think I seem so confused about it?!”

  At that moment, the old woman came walking back towards the two of them.

  “Chase,” she said. “Your time is up, you’re free to go. Carmine, you’ve still got another forty minutes.”

  Initially, Chase wasn’t sure what to do. Given that he was a child, it seemed the old lady expected him to jump for joy and go play with the other children or something, but obviously, nothing would have appealed to him less than actually doing that. And besides, him and Carmine still had much to discuss.

  “Actually, I think I’ll stay right here,” Chase told her.

  “Yeah, not happening,” she said. “The last thing I need is you two planning yet another escape attempt together. Once was enough, believe me. Honestly, the sooner we can get you two adopted out, the better…” She shook her head. “Now go, would you?”

  Chase shared one last look with Carmine before tentatively stepping away from the wall and walking off.

  They’d talk later, obviously, but for now, he was going to have to figure things out on his own.

  XXX

  “Chase, wanna play ball?”

  Chase let out a tired sigh from his spot lying on the floor. “For the hundredth time, I’m busy.”

  “Busy with what?” the other young boy asked.

  “Doing anything else, that’s what. Do you mind?”

  The boy across from him blinked in surprise, but eventually shrugged and walked off to join a few other boys. They all seemed disappointed that Chase wasn’t going to play with them, not that he cared, given that he had more important things to worry about… for what little good it was doing him, that is; try as he might, Chase was finding it difficult to put two and two together. Even with Carmine helping him earlier, they’d come up empty with regards to any possible explanation.

  And that was a thought – Carmine and him, helping each other. Ten years ago, he’d have cut the throat of anyone who’d even thought to imply such a thing. But now, stuck in this strange new world and with nobody else to turn to, it seemed… not entirely insane, he supposed.

  And at this point, he was sure it was a new world, because nothing about it made any sense otherwise. The world they’d both come from had been as good as dead by the time they’d fought each other, with the war between humans having reached its apex. Both species had successfully killed each other almost to the last, with the world itself caught in the crossfire. The only thing left was for either Chase or Carmine to put the proverbial final nail in the respective species’ coffin. The fact that this part of the world alone was apparently so lush, green, and carefree spoke volumes to Chase.

  If this had been his old world, then there would have been no need for an orphanage, because there would have been no orphans to worry about in the first place.

  It should have been a sobering thought, but at this point, he’d grown used to those.

  Of course, if they were in a new world, it begged the question of what to do next. All his life, Chase had known nothing but combat, and he knew Carmine had to be the same way. She was clearly just as lost as he was, and yet at the same time, neither one of them desired to return to their status quo. That left them at an impasse.

  “Hey.”

  At the sound of Carmine’s voice, Chase turned towards her. “Hey. Has it been forty minutes already?”

  “Apparently. What are you doing?”

  “Lying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, trying to come up with something to do now that life as we know it is over, and trying not to have an existential crisis in the process.”

  “Mind if I join you?”

  “Knock yourself out.”

  Carmine did exactly that, lying down on the floor next to him and staring up at the ceiling. For a few minutes, neither of them said anything until Carmine spoke again.

  “So…” she ventured. “I don’t know you personally, Hero. But I assume your upbringing was similar to mine – that is, training to fight and kill one specific person for your entire life.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well… suddenly, neither of us has a purpose anymore. But is there really anything wrong with that?”

  “What do you mean?” Chase asked, turning towards her.

  “Think about it,” Carmine urged. “We’ve spent so long fighting and training and killing and bleeding. We’ve both lost more loved ones than we can probably count. Is it so really so bad to just… not have anything to do for once?”

  Chase blinked. “...Are you saying we should make the most of this?”

  “I don’t know, maybe. All I know is that I don’t particularly want to fight you anymore, and I’m sure you feel the same.”

  “Pretty much,” Chase admitted.

  “So, why not enjoy a small reprieve?” she asked. “A vacation, if you will.”

  “A vacation,” Chase echoed. Slowly, he shook his head. “Never had one of those.”

  “Neither have I, but there’s a first time for everything.”

  “I suppose so. Alright, Carmine, let’s make it official, here and now – you don’t try to kill me, and I don’t try to kill you.”

  “Deal.”

  “Shake on it.”

  “What?”

  “Shake on it,” Chase urged. “It’s like forming a contract. I hear Demons are big on those.”

  A vein pulsed in her forehead. “I know what it means to shake on it-”

  “Then let’s do it, here and now.”

  “Very well. Give me your hand.”

  To her credit, Carmine didn’t hesitate. She offered Chase her hand, and the two of them shook on it.

  And right as they did so, the old woman came stomping over.

  “There you both are!” she said. “I was wondering where-” She paused when she saw the two of them holding hands, surprise crossing her face before it was replaced with a look of rage. “No. Nope. Not happening, not in my orphanage.”

  “What?” Chase asked.

  “None of that PDA stuff in my orphanage,” she insisted. “The last thing I need is to worry about that, especially between you two troublemakers. There will be no cross-gender hand-holding here. Back to the corner, both of you. Thirty minutes each.”

  “We’re six years old-”

  “I know what I said. Corner, now. Chop-chop.”

  And that was how Chase and Carmine found themselves in the corner again for the second time that day.