The Mimic in Monsterland

“MOM!”

I jolted out of bed at the sound of screaming. Sunlight flowed through the second story window. Where? I gazed around the room. A few anime and JRPG posters adorned the walls of the room. Various gaming knick-knacks and trinkets sat on the desk and TV in the small bedroom.

“Tim stole my comb! Again!”

“No I didn’t. And besides, it's not going to help the rat nest you’ve got up there anyway.”

“MOM!”

My head hit the pillow. Right, back home for spring break. Yahoo…

The shouting died down not long after mom hit the scene, giving the twins some much needed physical discipline. The thwack from mom’s trusty wooden spoon companion reverberated all throughout the house. Some things never change.

I stared up at the ceiling of my old bedroom, lamenting my poor luck. My original plan for the week was to chill at the beach with some friends. One of my buddies' grandparents owned a sweet beach house a couple of hours away. We were all geared up and ready to go, then his grandparents reneged on the whole thing. Something about renewing their vows and needing the getaway urgently. We were disappointed, but what could we say? And there was something sweet and beautiful about two elderly people still seeking that passion for each other. And it was fresh ammunition to sling at Andy. Poor guy shivered when he got off the phone with his oversharing grandfather.

Not that I didn’t empathize with him. Gramps almost never spared any details when speaking of love. Nasty old fart.

I shuffled out of bed, then down the stairs. I stopped once I got to the bottom. My eyes widened and then blinked slowly as I tried to process what I was looking at. This wasn’t the kitchen of my childhood home. This was a kitchen ripped straight out of a fantasy novel. No electric stove top, no faucet and sink, no fridge. Just wooden walls and primitive windows, with some vines growing in and out of them. It held the same shape as my childhood kitchen, yet every appliance and piece of furniture was turned into its medieval counterpart.

Gabby and Tim sat on rough wood stools, pouting and rubbing their heads. They wore strange garbs, Gabby wore dull red robes and a brown belt, Tim wore brown leather armor and a large sword sat on his back.

They both looked up at me entering the room and smiled. “Morning sleeping beauty.” The two said in tandem. They shoved each other after sharing an annoyed expression.

“Ahem.” Mom cleared her throat and the two flinched. Gabby crossed her arms. Tim just got up and walked over to me. “Ready to go, Liam?”

I stood stock still, completely perplexed by what was going on around me. “Where, what’s happening?”

“Breakfast is happening, dear.” Mom spoke up, turning to me. Concern filled her face once she looked over at my baffled countenance. She wore a basic housedress and a white apron. She walked over to me and placed her hand on my face. “Are you okay? You’re not sick, are you?”

Tim smacked my back. “Nah, he can’t be, He promised to show me some awesome new sword techniques.”

Gabby got up and walked to my side. “No, Liam said he’d show me that new spell he was working on in the Legion.”

The two’s pout-off started once again, but none of it made any sense. Why? What?

I closed my eyes and swallowed. I reopened them to see that my family had changed even further. Gabby now had long furred ears poking out the sides of her head, Tim had some antlers growing out of his, and mom had dark black feathers where her hair once was.

I jumped back, shutting my eyes. But when they opened, I wasn’t in the surreal fantasy version of my childhood home anymore. Vicious fighting and bloodshed surrounded me. A cat like monster lunged at my face, only to be cut down by Tim’s sword just before its large teeth sunk into my throat.

“Get it together, Liam! We have to save her!” Tim’s slightly bloodied face looked calm on the outside, but panic set in his eyes. A panic I recognized. I’d seen it only once before, when Gabby almost took a bad spill off the neighbor’s trampoline when we were kids.

“Help!” A pained yell echoed across the battlefield. We both turned and saw our sister…laying underneath a giant bear-like creature. Its giant paw rose from the ground.

“Gabby! NOOOO!”

I sat up, clutching the air above my face. “Gabby!” My eyes whirled around the unfamiliar space. Empty beds lined up throughout the room. A desk with old medical tools strewn about and vials filled with odd colored potions sat above them on a shelf. Where am I? Where’s Gabby and Tim?

I looked down and saw that I was in a bed, shirtless and sweating. Bandages wrapped around my torso. Before I could investigate further. A woman burst into the room, she had white feathers draped down the side and back of her head. She rushed over to me. In a breathy and strained voice, she spoke. “Are you well?”

“Umm.” I nodded. Then reality crashed back down. Right, Kniyas. Monster Genes, Tropes, all that.

“Yeah, sorry bad dream. Where am I? How long was I out?”

“Medical room. Two hours.” She answered in the labored, rough voice again. She knelt down and began checking the badges. My cheeks flushed red at her sudden closeness. I turned my head away from the gorgeous bird girl, but then back down after temptation grew in my chest. As she tended to the bandages, my eyes fell on her pretty face. The look of complete concentration she wore made me feel guilty. This sweet girl was focused on nothing but my wellbeing at the moment, and I was shamelessly trying to check her out.

Yet the guilt wasn’t enough, my gaze went lower, stopping at her chin where I saw something. I squinted down and noticed a strange mark on it. It was a scar, one that started at her chin and ended in the middle of her throat.

Poor girl, that explains the voice. That’s awful. Noticing that scar sobered me up. I stared at the wall until she finished. Recollections of the day's recent events came to me. The introductions with the squad, the Feral revelation, and the duel with ass-face. I must have passed out after the fight. How lame.

The bird girl poked and prodded at my side, which surprisingly didn’t hurt, only tickled. I squirmed in my seat. My caretaker giggled at my expense. “Fennel was right, your regeneration is top notch.” She whispered, must be easier on her voice.

“Thanks.” I said while rubbing my neck and smiling stupidly.

She giggled again and walked over to the desk nearby. She jotted something down in a journal. “Up and attem. You’ve got training to get to.” She said, without looking away from her notes.

I swung my feet out over the edge of the bed and stood up. I stretched my back and did some trunk twists, loosening my body up. I wasn’t sore in the slightest. Which I could hardly believe after the terrible symphony of cracking and popping my spine and ribs made during that intense brawl. I looked back at the girl. Must have had some help from a healer. My regen is good, but not two-hour-nap good.

She handed me my shirt and went back to her writing. Everybody writes so much here. Part of me wanted to make some small talk with her, but the words weren’t coming to me. I was severely out of practice speaking with wildly attractive women, and it was showing right now. I coughed and went to give her another quick thank you. “Thank you Ms…” Then my neurons decided to actually fire, informing me that I had no idea who this wonderful creature was. “Umm. Sorry, never caught your name.”

“Gloria.” She said, now messing with some of the vials on the shelf.

“Thank You, Gloria.”

The door to the room opened up before I could say more. A familiar young dwarf walked in. “Good, you’re up. Perfect timing, I was about to throw a bucket of water in your face if you weren’t. We have group training to get to.“

I nodded at the dog-eared dwarf. “Sure thing, Fennel.”

He shook his head and straightened his back. “It's Captain when we’re in the Legion.” He tried his best to be serious, but the small facial twitches betrayed him. Anyone could tell it was a facade he was putting on. But there was a decorum to follow, and it didn’t bother me.

“You got it, Cap.”

Fennel sighed. Gloria giggled behind us. Fennel’s face relaxed as he looked at her. I turned to see her reaction. She directed a brilliant and warm smile at the dwarf. I scoffed. Never had a chance. I nudged the bewitched dwarf. “Let’s get out there, Cap.”

Fennel jolted out of his reverie. “Yes.” I walked out of the room with Fennel in tow. I chuckled to myself. The door led to the main squad room where the introductions took place. Fennel took the lead once he was away from his lady friend and could presumably think straight. We walked out of the hall and back to the outdoors. The sun sat right at the top of the sky. Plenty of day left.

Other squads were around the field, some exercising, some fighting training mannequins. Much larger ones than the reptile Fennel and I pummeled the other day. I did notice a lack of sparring. I asked Fennel why.

“Sparring isn’t very common in our training regiments. We are raid fighters first and foremost. Training focuses on fighting monsters and teamwork dynamics. The latter is what I wanted to focus on today, but Zaner and you mucked that up. Now that gets pushed back another day.”

“Hey, he started it.”

“I know, but did you have to go that far? I know he's a pain and deserved it, but now he’s out for today. We can’t afford it. It's already been two weeks since the last raid.” Fennel's words hardened as he spoke with a sense of apprehension.

“He didn’t give me much of a choice. Bastard should’ve gone down quicker.” I said with a snicker, allowing some of the pride from my win to leak out.

“Don’t make light of this, Liam!” Fennel’s voice hardened. “That’s what makes him such an important part of the squad. That stubborn refusal to fall, to lose, has saved our squad more than a few times over. That’s why I need him on the same page with everybody else. The next raid could come any day. I won’t lose any more of my people. Especially not because of some stupid pissing contest.” Frustration poured from Fennel’s voice.

Ice ran down my spine with his last statement. Fennel’s harsh and solemn tone shocked me. But he was right. I thought about why I was in the Legion Barracks in the first place. The new recruits were there to bolster this squad’s forces. Forces they lost in the last raid. People who died.

“Sorry, Captain, you’re right.”

Fennel nodded once. “It's not a game, we fight for our very livelihood, Liam.” He sighed and continued speaking. “Enough about all that. What’s done is done. Now it’s time you actually met those you will be fighting with.”