Life Will Change Book 2

Chapter 4: Humanity's Companion

Begin!

~Normal POV

Akira didn't know what to make of Sophia being "humanity's companion." It sounded like she was saying she was not human. That couldn't be true. Aside from the strange pigtails, she looked human enough to him. But then so did Lavenza... ok, maybe this wasn't that strange of an occurrence. Still, she seemed friendly enough. Almost like she was a small child.

"It's nice to meet you," Akira replied, politely.

"Nice to meet you as well!" Sophia said, eagerly. She went to look him over once more with curiosity. "Are you human? Do you have a name?"

"My name is Joker. And, yes, I'm human... Last time I checked."

Sophia giggled. "I can see why you're called 'Joker.' Ok, I've memorized it. So, do you know where this place-"

"Yo, Joker, ya find any- uhhh..." Ryuji had followed him to see what was going on, and was now staring at Sophia with confusion. "...Who are you...?"

Morgana trotted over to them and looked just as confused. It wasn't likely to bode well to find another person lurking in the Metaverse besides themselves. They knew that from experience. Not that Sophia looked dangerous, but it was a wise precaution nonetheless.

"Where'd you find her?" The cat asked. Sophia stared down at him in a way that only made him more confused. "Uh, can I help you?"

"... A raccoon?" Sophia said, quizzically trying to identify what he was based on his cartoonish form.

Akira and Ryuji snickered while Morgana got offended. "Try a cat-! Wait, don't try 'a cat!'"

"Make up your damn mind..." Ryuji said, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, who's this? Got a real funky getup..."

"I am Sophia, humanity's companion." Sophia answered, brightly.

"...Apparently, she's humanity's companion," Akira said, smirking. "I mean, you can't get much clearer than that."

"The hell does that even mean," Ryuji asked. Akira merely shrugged in response.

"Were you dumped down here by that Alice girl, too?" Morgana asked.

Sophia thought for a moment. "Hm... I just learned that I have no memories. So, I do not know."

She walked away from them to look around. While she was distracted, Akira told his two friends how he found her. He chose to not question how they didn't notice that bright light earlier when they weren't even that far from it.

"She was trapped in a box...?"

"Weird... ya think she's dangerous," Ryuji asked.

"She seems harmless. I think if she wanted to hurt us she'd have done it right away," Akira answered, "Plus, she asked me if I was human..."

"Sooo... she's not human?" Ryuji said, looking more freaked out now.

"Looks that way, but I don't think she's a Shadow either..."

"Well, whatever she is, we gotta find a way out. Nobody's solving any problems in this dump that's for sure-"

"In trouble?" Sophia asked.

Ryuji flinched at her sudden approach. They didn't notice she came back over to them. "Whoa, when did you-?!"

"If you're in trouble, I can help." Sophia continued, eagerly. "I am humanity's companion. My purpose is to be helpful to humans."

"...You want to help us out?" Ryuji said, slowly. It was unclear how she could do such a thing if she didn't even know where they were to begin with.