[Exposition: Cool]

"Protect me from what?" Leah forced the question out even as the strange teenager made himself comfortable on her couch. The past few minutes had been a whirlwind of emotions and events; and, she was determined to not let get herself swept up in everything. She was still in her own house. The pale, athletic, blue-haired teen looked at her from the couch with a confused look on his face.

"Wait, did you just ask me something?" he asked. Leah couldn't help but laugh at his nerve.

"WHAT?" her voice came out loud between her obnoxious chuckles. "You're a stranger that comes into my house from god-knows-where and you say, 'I'll protect you', and make yourself at home?? Of course I have questions," she said. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU???"

"Oh nooooo...," the teen shut his eyes tight as if he were doing complex math in his mind. He was obviously debating something and Leah found it curious that she was willing to let him. She wanted to grab him, shake him and toss him out onto the lawn for stepping into her house uninvited. But, as she stood there, the motivation to do anything dissolved as soon as she decided on it. It couldn't have been a coincidence that she got a death-threat tossed through the window minutes before she found the stranger in her house. But, as confident as she was that the two incidents were related somehow, she felt that he was trustworthy deep down in her soul. Then, he opened his eyes suddenly and smiled.

"Nothing's changed," he said. He looked up at her from the couch. "What's your favorite number?" he asked.

"One!" Lean blurted the answer out. The teen nodded to reaffirm himself. He patted the couch next to himself to invite her to sit on her own couch. "I get credit for completing the quest as long as you survive, even if you're Awake," he said.

"What are you talking about?" Leah asked as she sat next to him.

"My name's Frost by the way," he introduced himself by extending his hand.

"Leah," she shook it briefly, then let go of his surprisingly chilly hand.

"So, let's start knocking out those questions," Frost grinned. He raised his left hand upward and frigid white mist began flowing out of his palm. Leah felt a chill run down her spine as the air around them began to crystallize. Then, she felt cool air around her feet too. She leaned forward and realized that Frost was sealing them inside a sphere of snow. White frosty walls were rising from the ground and closing from above them. It only took seconds before they were comfortably sealed inside.

"First of all, I don't really know what I'm protecting you from. The quest generates random monsters every time," he said.

"Why do you keep calling it a quest?" she asked him. Despite being surrounded by ice, Leah still felt comfortable.

"'Cause it's a quest," Frost shrugged. "I'm playing a game and I need to protect you to get a Paladin ability," he replied.

"What?" Leah was stunned by his casual reply. "You're playing a game and you need to protect me.... what does that make me?" she asked. Frost chuckled.

"Well, until recently, you were just an NPC," he said. "Now, you're not. After I get credit for the quest I'll take you to Mundo; he'll explain everything I can't." The crashing sound of glass sounded on the other side of the ice wall; then, it was followed by a roar. Soon, pounding began on the snow sphere.

"Don't worry, they can't break through," Frost said. Leah believed him; but, she wasn't sure if it mattered either way.

"I'm an NPC....?" she mumbled the question to herself.

"You were," Frost replied. "But now you can choose what you want to do instead of getting protected from assassinations all the time. The best part is you can make your own character now," he added. Leah perked up at that. Games had always been a hobby of hers; at least, she felt like they were. She understood what an NPC was and the thought that she was ever one left her unsettled. But, things were different now. If she understood him correctly, that meant she could play the game from the other side now.

"I can make my own character??" she asked. She scooted closer to Frost and found it easier to block out the pounding and screeching happening outside the frosty ball. "What are my choices?"

"Uhh, it's kind of involved," Frost said. "There are 25 classes, 25 races, and 10 souls."

"Oooh! That's a lot of options," Leah's inner gamer peeked out some more. "So, I pick a race and a class... what are the souls for?"

"Kind of the same thing," Frost nodded. "Your race choice consists of two parts; Body and Soul. So, you get to choose two races. You can choose any of the 25 races for the body; but, the Soul options have an extra 10 choices."

"Huh?" Leah asked. "You get to be two races?"

"Well, let me just explain what I am," Frost replied.

"My class is: Paladin. I picked Diamond Elemental for my body...," as he said it, his pale skin and insides turned translucent. Leah found herself chatting with a clear, crystalline mannequin for a moment before he took on his normal pale color again. It happened so fast and naturally that it didn't even occur to Leah to be surprised. He'd already proven he was capable of amazing things and she hoped he was telling the truth about everything.

"...I also picked Vampire for my soul," he said. "Diamond Elemental gives me access to certain abilities and Vampire soul lets me equip some other ones. It really lets me customize how I want to play; and that's not even getting into the class specializations."

"Whoooaaa...," Leah was struck quiet with awe as her mind filled with combinations. She didn't know all 25 classes and 35 souls available; but, she imagined a lot of them to be standard fantasy classes and races. It was in the silence that she realized there were no more sounds coming from outside the snowglobe. Then, Frost chuckled as the sphere began to disintegrate around them.

"Congratulations, you survived," he said. She was only worried for a moment before the sphere fell away completely and she could see the rest of her house. She imagined it to be a mess; but, it was perfect and pristine as she left it. As it always was. "Ready to go meet Mundo and make your character?" he asked as he stood from the couch.

"Yeah....," Leah nodded as she rose to her feet too. She was relieved when her house wasn't destroyed; but, the more she thought about it, the more she realized she wasn't a particularly neat person. She'd never put any effort into cleaning the house. Somehow, it was always just clean. That realization unsettled her the most. As she studied the immaculate, too-large-for-one-person home she decided something. If what Frost was about to show her was as magical as she hoped, she'd never see this house again.

"...I'm ready to create the new me."

***
Thank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is story #1788 in a row. (Story #343 in year five.). This story is part of an ongoing saga that takes place at a high school in my universe. It began on August 22nd and I will be adding to it with prompts every day until May 26th. They are all collected in order at this link.

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