"What is this?" I demanded. "Why does it say that Lilia is your first child? She's younger!"

Mom gasped. "Oh honey..."

Lilia and Dad looked away, avoiding my gaze.

"What is this?" I asked once more.

"Honey...you're adopted..." Mom revealed.

I felt my world shatter.

...

...

...

"I need a moment to clear my head." I decided. I turned away, stomping outside of the house.

"Honey, wait!" I heard Mom cry out, but I didn't stop.

I need some alone time right now.

I left the house as quickly as I could, sitting down outside. I can't believe it! I guess this is why I looked different from the others.

...I'm upset.

Not about the fact that I'm adopted.

That they lied to me. When were they going to tell me?! I'm sixteen already! If not now, then when?

Would they have ever told me..?

...

Who am I? Does this have anything to do with the System?

I went to check the System's progress, which was shown in a small loading bar at the very bottom right of my vision.

[50%]

It's still going to be a while before it updates.

"Hey, you alright?" I heard John ask, sitting next to me.

"I don't know..." I sighed. "Did I overreact?"

"I don't think so. I mean, you did basically find out your whole life is a lie." John replied.

"Man, that sure makes me feel better." I said, rolling my eyes.

John chuckled. "Adopted or not, they're your family. They didn't want you to know so they could protect you."

"..." I stayed silent, mulling over John's words.

"...Thanks." I softly said.

"No problem. I'm not just your best friend for nothing, ya know?" John replied.

I chuckled. "Yeah, you aren't. That's for sure."

The two of us laughed together.

"I'm heading back inside. Come on in whenever you fell you're ready." John said, standing back up and walking inside.

They were just trying to protect me, weren't they?

...

I need answers. Who am I? Maybe that can help answer my questions about why I have this System. Maybe my...birth family was connected to the supernatural.

This sudden reveal has left me with too many questions.

I sat outside for a little longer, enjoying the sunlight. I just needed some time to cool off.

I stood up, and walked back inside. When I arrived everybody turned to look at me. I looked to Mom and asked her one question.

"Who am I?"

The room was completely silent, before Mom finally answered my question.

"I don't know." She revealed.

"What?" I asked.

"I don't know. It was years ago when we had found you in the church." Mom clarified.

"A church?" I'm confused. "What?"

"Let me tell you the whole story." Mom requested. I nodded, allowing her to move forward.

"It was twelve years ago, back when Lilia was only three. We used to live at a church. Your father was a priest and I was a nun." Mom explained. To emphasize, she showed me the necklace she wore. On it was a cross.

I wonder how they would react if they knew Angela was a literal Angel...

"One morning, when we woke up we found a four year old boy in the church. He was just wandering around, extremely confused. He had no idea where he was." Mom continued.

"When we asked him where his family was, he replied that he didn't know his family. The poor boy couldn't remember anything. He had amnesia." Mom stated.

"That little boy was you. We searched all over the town for your family, but they were nowhere to be found. We think they abandoned you and you developed amnesia from facing that trauma at a young age." Mom explained.

"So we decided to take you in, and make you our son. It was then we moved from the church. We were already thinking about it after we had Lilia, but you reinforced that decision." Mom finished.

"I see." I replied.

Amnesia? I had amnesia? I mean, I don't remember any of that...

This feels like an annoying plot device to keep a mystery rolling. Come on! This could have answers about the System!

[60%]

"...I understand why you hid it, but please don't hide anything else from me." I requested.

"Then we have one last thing to tell you." Mom replied seriously. She then looked to the others. "Please go to the other room for a bit. This is a secret."

"Of course Mrs. Walker." John answered, taking my friends into the other room.

After they closed the door, Mom went and locked it, leaving me and my family alone in the room. She waved her hand in front of the door knob. What was that for?

Mom, Dad, and Lilia all sat on a couch, and gestured for me to sit on the one across from them.

"You probably won't believe this, but it's true. The supernatural is real." Mom stated.

Wait...she knows? They know?

"You know?" I gasped.

Their eyes widened. "You know?!"

I avoided eye contact with them. They used to live at a church. How would they feel if their adopted son had a demon arm?

"Please, we can't tell you if you don't tell us." Mom pleaded.

"...Fine. Break the illusion." I requested. Krystal had told us apparently we can break her illusion if we wished, since she allowed us. I'm not sure how the hell that works.

The sound of glass breaking filled the room, but our windows were fine. My arm now looked like it's demon form, free from the illusion.

They gasped.

Rolling up my sleeve, I showed them the full arm.

"What...happened?" Gasped Lilia, looking at my arm.

"I accidentally discovered the supernatural on my date with Anna. In response, I had to end up joining a School for Monsters." I started my story.

"There was this one guy who was an absolute jerk, and I ended up having to fight him. I sacrificed my arm in the process to win." I explained.

My family didn't say anything, and just walked closer. I braced for impact.

And then they engulfed me in a hug.

Ah. I was being stupid.

It doesn't matter if I'm adopted. It doesn't matter if I have a Demon Arm. My family is still my family.

I let out a few tears, before quickly wiping them away. We separated from the hug as I calmed down.

"So, what are your other friends then?" Asked Mom.

"It's complicated. Can you let them in?" I asked.

"Of course." Mom replied. She waved her hand, before opening the door again.

My friends entered the room. I saw them eye my arm, confused.

"You can break the illusion. They know about the supernatural." I stated.

Krystal nodded. Upon snapping her fingers, their hidden monster features came back.

"John and Anna are both Arachnids, spider people." I started.

"Krystal is a Kitsune, and Sapphire is a Dragon." I continued.

"Brutus is a-...Wait...what are you Brutus? I never asked." I realized.

"I-I'm a Great White Merman..." Brutus nervously replied.

"Cool. And Angela is...well...an Angel." I finished.

Their eyes widened as Angela released her wings, allowing everyone to see. A golden halo appeared over her head.

My family immediately bowed down in front of Angela.

Calm down! Don't just bow down to my friend! This is really weird!

"An Angel! We're so sorry!" Dad cried.

"Oh...uh...it's okay..." Angela awkwardly responded.

Yeah, she doesn't realize that Angels are kind of a big deal for humans. Especially ones that work at the church.

The church...

That's where they found me. Maybe that place has an answer. An answer about myself.

Just maybe.

"I'm going to go to the church." I stated, standing up.

"Why?" Asked Mom.

"I...I need to see." I replied.

"Anna can go with him. We lived in Arcadia for three years." John suggested.

The other three girls grumbled in annoyance. They had no counter to that.

I saw John wink at me.

Darn it John! He knows! He knows!

I tried so hard to hide it! Even from Sally! I don't know if she can go through my memories though...

[80%]

Well, a little while longer until the System updates. I wonder what the change will be.

"Come on Anna." I nodded to her, before exiting the house with her following. As we left, she immediately latched onto my arm.

Calm down! Calm down!

You see, my greatest secret was that I have a crush.

On Anna.

Yeah...

That's why I was elated when I found out Anna liked me! That's why holding hands was so difficult! And then I got the System, and now my chance is ruined.

Don't get me wrong, I love the System. But I just don't think it's fair to Anna, or the other girls. They deserve better.

And that's why I've been trying my best to hide this from Sally. She's going to say something like "you have to get a monster harem you lazy but."

I sound like one of those "extremely noble harem protagonists" don't I? Ugh, those guys were so annoying but like able and now I'm becoming one of them.

I don't want that! I'm not gonna break my morals though.

Anyways, I like it how it is at the moment, even if they do stunts like asking for my hand in marriage suddenly.

"Hey! Wait up!" I heard Angela yell. Wait what?

She grabbed onto my other arm, glaring at Anna. Anna glared back, sparks flying between the two of them.

"No! Go back! You didn't even know what a television was!" Anna hissed.

"You can't deny me the right to go to church!" Angela protested.

"It's obvious you're here for another reason." Anna growled.

Well, you guys aren't being very subtle, now are you?

As we approached the church, a strange feeling racked my body. I knew this church. It felt so familiar. I've been here before.

Yet I can't remember ever being here before...