After several long moments alone in the bathroom, I finally composed myself enough to bravely go back into the lounge where Isabella was. I opened the door, walked out of the bathroom, and immediately spoke up before she could say anything.

“NOT ONE WORD.” I was firm in my speech. I wanted to make certain that there she knew how serious I was feeling right now. “Not one word about earlier. That didn’t happen, we won’t ever talk about what didn’t happen, and what didn’t happen will never happen again.”

Isabella looked at me and giggled and then slowly nodded her head.

“UNDERSTAND?!” I’m not one to usually raise my voice like this, but I was going to be certain she knew how serious I was. “IT NEVER HAPPENED.”

Giggling and holding her hand to her face, she replied, “I understand. Nothing happened.”

All I could do is sigh and blush and go over to the chair and pick up the dress I had worn yesterday. Isabella could keep running around naked all she wanted to, but not me. Not unless I just need to! I wanted to take care of the clothes we had, not do without them.

Pulling the flowery dress over my head, I finally just plopped back into the chair. Isabella was still tittering lightly to herself, but I decided I just wasn’t going to hear that. Taking a deep breath, I made certain to call my tone and finally asked, “So, you had something important to tell me earlier?”

Isabella giggled once more, bounced over, and sat down on the couch across from me and then crossed her legs underneath herself to get comfortable. I could see everything – and I mean everything! – but she didn’t seem to care one whit. Deciding that after what had happened to me in the bathroom, all was fair now, I didn’t even try to look away as she wiggled left and right a bit and then nestled herself into the best position on the couch.

“Can I tell you now?” She half hopped on her knees, she was so excited. “Can I tell you now? Can I?!”

Nodding my head up and down – I don’t know if it was my body’s way of saying, “sure, tell me now”, or if it was just my heads way of following her womanly charms as they moved up and down with her as she hopped – I swallowed down a mouthful of saliva and told her, as calmly as I possibly could, “Yes. You can tell me now.”

“Oh! GREAT!” She hopped half a foot up and then came back down in her excitement. “Last night I learned so many things from that book, and I think you’ll want to know a lot of them also! The theory of what a lot of it talks about can be applied to a bunch of different things I think!”

“Okay.” I made certain to keep my voice calm and steady. I wasn’t going to get wrapped up in her pace. Someone had to stay calm and focused.

“For starters, I learned a bit about the stats and what they represent. There’s a whole section of the book which seems to describe wizard types in the past, and it tells about ranking their strength in magic. It’s all a little complicated, but I think I’ve sorted out how it works, and it corresponds directly to the stats in the chart we see.

“For a normal, average person, it seems like the baseline of a stat is ten. So, if we’re talking about strength, let’s pretend a normal guy would be able to lift 100 pounds. I know, it’s probably more, but 100 is a good number to deal with here. Now, as far as the stats are concerned, and as far as I can tell, he’d rank about a ten on the chart. Ten is average.”

She paused for a moment to catch her breath and I thought about what she’d said. I guess it could make sense. After all, I’d always been a slacker and I hadn’t tried too hard in sports or class. I suppose if I was honest with myself, I probably was a little bit weaker than the average male student my age. I nodded to show that I understood and followed along with what she was saying so far.

“And then the book talked about some of the great wizards in the past. Names like Merlin and such that were supposed to be at the pentacle of human capacity. They were ranked as twenty on the scale, and they seemed to be where we’d rank Olympic bodybuilders if we were talking strength. It didn’t go into much detail about how wizards were ranked below a ten, and from the tone of the book, I think whoever wrote it didn’t think anyone that low was even worth mentioning. I assume though that if, from ten to twenty, we go from average to world record high, then from zero to ten would be just as large a change in the opposite direction. From average to about the weakest ever recorded in human history…

She paused for a moment to collect her thoughts, and I too took a moment to think things over. If she was correct, and I had no reason to doubt that she was, then it meant I was already as healthy as any human had even been in the history of our species. It also meant that she had as much mystical potential as any of the wizards from out of legend, like Merlin.

“If that’s right, then how can you have a negative in a stat,” I asked out loud?

“Umm.. I was pondering on that earlier,” she admitted. “All I can conclude is that apparently the change has altered the limits of human potential. Whoever the puniest human on the Earth was before with S-P-R, whatever that is, I’m now several ranks worse than them! I’ve kind of been worrying about it, but there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do about it right now since I’m not even certain what it is, so I decided to just let it be.

“But,” she wiggled and I watched as she readjusted herself again, “If I’m right, it also means that a twenty might no longer be the limit of human ability. If we can go below zero now, then we can probably go above twenty.”

“Above twenty,” I muttered to myself. “Then after that, we’ll be superhuman, won’t we? Off the charts of anything ever recorded before...”

I let my thoughts trail off not really expecting a response, but she answered me anyway. “That’s what I’m thinking anyway. We get to push the limits of humankind! We’ll be able to do things that no one has ever did before!” She was starting to bounce again, and I watched unabashedly. If it wasn’t going to bother her, by golly I wasn’t going to let it bother me either.

I couldn’t help but smile. “I have to admit, the idea does sound interesting. It probably also explains why it’s harder to improve past a certain point without spending cheat points. Think how long a body builder has to work to add another ten pounds to his limit that he can lift successfully without hurting himself.”

She nodded enthusiastically, and had to reach up and push her glasses back up on her nose better. “That’s how I was thinking, too!”

But,” she continued on, “I have even more to tell I discovered that there’s some sort of party system in the game!” This time she bounced so hard, she actually knocked herself off the couch and into the floor!

Bouncing back up, flopping back onto the couch once more, she repositioned herself and then continued on as if nothing had happened. “Anyway, as I was saying, there seems to be a party system of sorts in this new world! I tried to invite you to one last night, but I kept getting donka donka noises and messages about how I couldn’t invite another to party with me until I had chosen a name. It seemed like you knew something about the names, from the way you were talking earlier, so I thought it best to wait and ask you about them when you woke up.”

Letting out a deep sigh, I nodded at her. “I have some experience with the naming system,” I ruefully admitted.

“Then tell me about it!’ Bounce! Bounce! What type of energy level did this girl have? She was making me tired just watching her, and I know my CON was at least twice what hers was.

“Okay! Okay! Just calm down for a moment and let me think of how to explain it!” She pouted her lower lip at me, but then she sat perfectly still and waited, hands in her lap twiddling her fingers.

Finally, I let out another deep breath and tried to keep my voice as calm and steady as possible. If she could show composure when she did something silly like bounce herself off a couch and into the floor, I could do the same when telling her about my name.

“From my experience, names are apparently ‘Harbingers of Destiny’ or something like that according to the messages that popup. You have to be careful though, you only get one chance to choose one, and if you say the wrong thing at the wrong time, there’s no taking it back. They’re also apparently unique, so if you choose one that someone else has, it’ll refuse to accept it, and you only get three tries to choose a name before it assigns you one automatically.” I waited to see if she understood what little I could tell her, and after a moment she nodded at me.

“So, Names help guide our destiny. We only have three tries to choose one, or else we get a random one. We can’t have one anyone else has. If we speak the wrong thing, we can’t change it. Is that all correct?”

She was being serious and calm for the moment, so I just nodded solemnly for her. “That’s all I can tell you about them.”

“And apparently both people have to have one to form a party, so I’m going to need one too. “ She sounded a little uncertain at that last part, so I raised my eyebrows in silent question. Seeing my look, she asked, “You already have a name don’t you?”

“Yeah,” I answered embarrassedly. “I didn’t know the rules for the naming process when I chose mine, and I screwed up. “

It was her turn to cock an eyebrow in my direction. “So what’s your name then, if you screwed it up?”

Sighing, I told her. “Bloody Hell.”

She stared at me for a moment and blinked a few times and then giggled. “Maybe that explains why you were such a bloody mess the first time I saw you. I thought you were one of the monsters that had found some way into the room! “ Her face paled slightly whiter, which I took to be the way she now showed a blush after the book had altered her appearance. “I am sorry about attacking you, you know. I didn’t know.”

I couldn’t help but squirm and reposition my dress a bit more carefully in my lap. I thought she looked exceptionally cute and exotic sitting there and blushing like that, and Little Bud was wanting to stand up and take a closer look at her too it seemed. Coughing a bit to help hide my actions, I told her, “It’s no biggie. What’s done is done, and one thing I’ve learned is that we can’t undo the past in this world. If we could, I wouldn’t still be called ‘Bloody Hell’, now would I?”

She giggled, bounced up, and then half pounced into the chair to hug me. “Thank you!” She squeeze me and I could feel the pressure of two soft melons against my chest. “I’m so glad you’re the one who came in here. Even if you do seem to get yourself in a bloody mess on a regular basis and look like something the cat chewed up and spit out, you’re not a bad guy at all. I’m honestly very grateful for that.”

“Uhhh… No problem. My mother raised me to be a good person. You can thank her for the way I turned out.” I had no idea where I was supposed to put my hands, or what I should actually do in a situation like this, but I was determined I wasn’t going to blush! This girl has embarrassed me enough! I thought it was supposed the be the guys who marched around all proud and showy while the girls squealed, covered their eyes and ran way! Isabella wasn’t nothing like that, and I didn’t have a clue how to take her!

After a moment, she let go of my neck and then pulled away. I thought she was going to go sit back over on the couch, but instead she sat down in my lap and leaned back against me. Acting like it was the most natural place in the world to sit, she asked, “So how do I get to choose a name, Drake?”

“Umm…” My mind was blank.

“Drake?”

“Ummm…..”

She leaned over and pressed her forehead up against mine to check to see if I had a temperature and I couldn’t take it any more! I stood up, she plopped out of my lap and back into the floor, and I pointed out the window and yelled, “Oh my goodness! Did you see that?!”

Instantly she was back on her feet and bouncing over to window and leaning left and right looking. “What? What was it?!”

I’m sorry mother. I don’t mean to lie, but I needed to do something. I think you’ll forgive me in this instance. At least I hope so.

Sighing and calming myself, I took a deep breath and finally said, “Ah never mind. I think it was just a crow or something that zoomed past the window and startled me. It’s gone now.”

Pouting, Isabella turned back around and looked at me. “Well, don’t scare me like that again. I thought there was something nasty out there.”

“Sorry,” I lied. “But to answer your question, all you have to do is reach out and touch the screen where it says name. After that, tell it what you want and don’t say a word until you know what you want. It doesn’t ask for a confirmation or anything.”

Slowly I sat back down on the chair, and she came bouncing back over and positioned herself cross-legged on the couch once more. I’m not certain where she picked up her habit of sitting at, but it certainly didn’t seem very ladylike or proper to me.

For a long moment, she sat in thought and I sat staring at her. Finally she said, “Stats,” and reached her hand out in front of herself and tapped the screen. I was absolutely quiet, as I wasn’t going to be responsible for someone having another screwed up name like mine. I could tell she was reading something in front of her, and then she finally spoke.

“Oathbound StarChilde.” She waited expectantly for a moment and then gave out a little, “Oh,” of surprise.

“Effects! Advantages! Skills!” She called out several words after that, that I’d never used before. I quietly repeated, “Effects, advantages,” under my breath, but all I got was the doaky doaky noise twice. Apparently I lacked whatever talent or requirement it took to view whatever popups she was currently reading.

Finally she finished reading and spoke up again. “It seems as if a name can affect you different ways. Mine says I receive an experience bonus of one percent for each week that I go without breaking any oath. If I break an oath, I’ll stop gaining experience until I pay the proper ‘penance’ for the oath breaking. “

She paused for a moment, and I couldn’t help but be shocked! To completely stop gaining experience! In this world the way it was now, that almost seemed like a death sentence to me.

As If reading my mind, Isabella giggled. “Not that it’s going to matter to me. A Starchilde always keeps their word. You mother might have taught you to be kind, but my father made certain to teach me that. I wouldn’t break an oath, even if there wasn’t a penalty involved.”

All full of curiosity, I asked, “Then why choose that for a name?”

She looked me directly in the eyes, and without so much as a blink said, “Just so you’d know you could trust me. We’re in this world together, and we have to have faith in each other. I’ve made promises to you already, and I wanted you to know you could trust in those and trust in me. Trust has to start somewhere.”

I was shocked witless, but she never took her gaze off from my eyes. I could tell she was dead serious.

“But… But… Aren’t you worried I’ll tell you do something kinky or embarrassing? What if I told you to let me touch your breasts?”

Without taking her stare off my eyes, she stood up and then put each hand on her hips and thrust her chest out towards me. “Then touch them.”

Normally she seemed so lighthearted and giggly, but at this moment I could tell she was serious. Slowly I reached out and cupped one soft mound in each hand while she just stood there and let me.

“What… What would your father say, if he saw you right now?” I had to ask.

She just shrugged her shoulders lightly. “It doesn’t matter. We promised each other: you wouldn’t hurt or kill me, and I’d do whatever you said. In a world as turned upside down as this one, I think it’s a fair enough deal. Knowing that I’m with someone who will never hurt me, or kill me… In this world, that’s an amazing source of strength and comfort. I don’t regret our bargain at all.”

“Besides,” she continued lightly, “I know what Father would say. He’d just ask me when you were going to get me a ring. Father would consider us married, you know.”

“Ma.. married!” I felt the world spin and let go of her chest and flopped back in the chair again.

“Yeah. Married.” Seeing as I was finished feeling her, Isabella sat back down on the couch and crossed her legs underneath her. “After all, when two people get married, what are some of the big things they promise each other?”

“Ahh… umm..” My mind was blank, and apparently so was my voice.

“Doesn’t a woman promise to love, honor, and obey?” She emphasized the word ‘obey’. “Doesn’t the guy promise to protect and cherish? Isn’t a promise to ‘never hurt or kill’ really quite similar to that?”

She was still just staring into my eyes, and didn’t say a word while the cogs froze and my brain stopped working. Mother, Forgive me! I think I’m married! After a few moments of just staring at each other, when she saw I wasn’t going to answer, Isabella finally settled back down and got herself comfortable once again.

Finally speaking again, Isabella said, “Party Invite, Drake,” but then shook her head back and forth. “Sorry. I forgot. Party Invite, Bloody Hell!”

DING!

A message window popped up in front of me.

You have been invited to join a party with Oathbound StarChilde.

Will you accept?

WARNING: Parties can not be canceled or disbanded once formed.

Can’t cancel the party? Or disband it?

“I accept.” Oh mother, PLEASE forgive me. I know I’m married – or worse – now!

Weakly I said, “Looks like we’re together for now and always in this new world it seems.”

Isabella just smiled like it was the only logical outcome, and that she’d been expecting it from the beginning….