Chapter Text
"Preparing to start Wind Crystals one and two!"
"All systems ready to go!"
From a large, circular gate in front of us came the sounds of a strong windstorm, indicating that the wind crystals had been activated.
My name is Rae Taylor, and today, my wife, Claire Francois, and I are trying out the Nur Empire’s new teleportation technology. After the incident 9 years ago with the original me, Rei Oohashi, we were able to find traces of the technology meant to keep the loop system running. The Nur Empire was the first to study this new technology and Empress Philine Nur began trying to find ways to implement it into daily life. The teleportation gates happened to be one of those projects that she figured would make the world better. After the initial tests had gone by, Philine asked Claire and I if we would want to try out this new technology when we had a school holiday.
As Claire and I watched the start up process for the gate, Philine came up to us. "How have you two been? It's been what, 5 years since I last saw either of you?"
We both turned to greet our friend.
"You know," I said. "You're starting to sound more and more like your mother."
Philine groaned, obviously not happy with that fact. "Don't remind me. I'll just blame it on the position of Empress of Nur."
Hoping to get her mind off of the topic, she turned to Claire. "So, what have you two been up to?"
Claire bowed, polite as ever. "Rae and I actually founded the Bauer All Girl's Academy, so we've both been rather busy with that. I've heard you've started an institute focused on the research of technology. How is that going?"
Philine raised her arm to gesture to the teleportation gate. "See for yourself."
As Claire and I turned to look, the final preparations were being made to the gate.
"Establishing Gate Link!"
"Connection stable, proceed!"
The scene that played out before us reminded me of Gundam anime from my previous life.
A person wearing a hard hat came running over to our little trio and bowed to Philine. "Empress, the gate is ready."
"Good, prepare for shut down once Rae and Claire here go through the gates."
They bowed once more before running back.
Philine turned to us. "Well, the time has come to try it out. I assume you've already signed the waivers?"
She was referring to some NDAs that Claire and I had signed already. When I had signed mine, I reminisced about my old office life back in Japan, having to keep quiet about new products and the like.
"Yes." We both said it in unison.
Philine waved to us before heading to a building.
"Good luck you two. I'll see you on the other side."
Claire and I walked over to the gate. It was now filled with something that looked like a whirlwind in the center.
Claire turned to me. "Are you ready?" She was speaking in such a calm tone. How could I not be ready when she sounded like that?
Grabbing her hand, I said, "With you by my side, I'm always ready."
With a smile, we both walked into the raging storm.
A loud noise, like the blowing of a typhoon, overcame us both in an instant. Worried with what was happening, I squeezed Claire's hand tighter as we stood there in a white, swirling void.
Practically yelling, she called out to me. "Rae! Can you hear me!"
I looked to my side. Claire was still there, her beautiful golden curls being tossed about in the space we were in. "I can hear you, Claire! But, when did your clothes change!?"
"Huh?!" She looked down to see what I was talking about. "What the-!?"
Similarly looking down, I saw that my clothes were the same as hers. Claire and I were both back in our uniforms from when we were in the Royal Academy, red jackets and all.
In our moment of confusion, the wind stopped and our surroundings changed. I was expecting to be by the other Teleportation Gate, but instead, we stood in a hallway made of stone bricks with a dirt ceiling. It was somehow both unfamiliar, and familiar at the same time.
I took one look around before saying, "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."
"Rae, now is not the time for such jokes! And who is this Toto and this Kansas place you speak of?"
I ignored her as I caught a glimpse of light at the end of the hallway. "This way, Claire."
"Rae, don't ignore me!" She was so cute when she was upset.
Leading her by the hand, we made our way to a large, circular opening that had a fountain in the center with a pillar jutting out. Seeing the shelves built into the walls made me realize where we were.
My jaw dropped.
Claire, looking worried, asked, "Rae, do you know where we are?"
I shook myself out of my amazement before turning to my wife. "Claire, do you remember when I told you that in my previous life, there was a book of prophecy all about Bauer, and that's how I knew about the revolution?"
She nodded. "Yes, I do remember that, but didn't it turn out to actually be a game or something that the original you had based one of those loops off of?"
"Yes. Well, where we are right now is in one of those books of prophecy in a story called Dungeon Meshi and this," I spread out my arms to gesture to the room, "Is the Beginner's Plaza."
Claire's eyes sparkled. "Rae, this is amazing! How many other books of prophecy did you have in Japan?"
Shrugging, I said, "Who knows. There could just be the two, or there could possibly be hundreds out there." I began moving through the crowd, hoping to find a certain gathering of people. "Come on Claire, let's go on an adventure!"
In the middle of the plaza sat four people around a pot over a fire: A tallman, an elf, a half-foot, and a dwarf. They were precisely who I was hoping to find and they were just finishing they're Big Scorpion and Walking Mushroom Hotpot.
I turned to Claire. "Watch this."
As the tallman began speaking, I started mouthing his words as Claire watched me. "That reminds me, we haven't introduced ourselves yet."
It was the dwarf's turn as I continued mouthing the conversation of the party. "My name is Senshi. In Dwarven, it means 'Seeker'."
The tallman began speaking again, introducing him and his group. "I'm Laios, she's Marcille the Magician, and this is our Lockmaster, Chilchuck."
Their conversation carried on while I continued to mouth it.
"Rae, you're knowledge of things like this can be rather frightening."
"You think so? I only remember this conversation so well since I've read it so many times, I don't really remember any of the others."
Claire was starting to look concerned again. It really was a bad look for her. "Rae, how do you think we're supposed to get back to our world?"
Holding her hands in mine, I gave her a reassuring smile. "I have an idea, so just follow my lead, okay?"
She nodded. "Okay, Rae, I trust you."
I looked back to see that Senshi was walking away, leaving the three others behind. This was the perfect time. "Let's join them, shall we?"
I tightened my grip on Claire's hand and pulled her with me as I ran to the group of four heading further into the dungeon.
"Rae! Why are you doing this again?!"
The commotion that Claire was causing made Laios and his group to turn to us.
I spoke first before they could get a word out. "We'd like to join your party!"
Laios, hand reaching for his sword, said, "Who are you two?"
I bowed once I had stopped. "My name is Rae Taylor, and this is Claire Francois. We hope to join you in journeying down into the dungeon to defeat the Red Dragon."
He looked both of us up and down before finally dropping his hand. "Are you nobles? What are you doing in the dungeon?"
I opened my mouth to speak, but Claire cut me off. "Forgive us, Laios, for our sudden intrusion. It may sound delusional, but we accidentally arrived here from another world while testing something for a friend of ours and we believe that we need to join you to get back to our world. If you're worried about us holding you back, I can assure you that we can handle ourselves quite well."
Chilchuck butted in. "Another world my ass. You just want to join us and then have us pay you once we defeat the dragon!"
I leaned down, whispering into his ear so no one could hear. "How are your wife and daughters doing, Chilchuck Tims?"
He froze up. "How do you know about that?"
Standing back up, I said, "I know everything about you four. I know your pasts and I know what you're going to do, I even know why you all enter this dungeon time and time again."
They all looked baffled, even Claire look surprised despite the fact that she had been on the receiving end of me using my Otaku knowledge plenty of times already.
"I hope that is enough to convince you of our predicament. As for money, us getting home to our world is pay enough."
It took a bit, but once they recovered, they huddled together, probably to discuss Claire and I joining them.
"Was this always your plan? To cow them into submission?" It was Claire that was speaking to me.
"Actually, I was hoping that Laios and Marcille would try to defend us, but it appears that they don't quite believe us."
"Why them specifically?"
"Well, Chilchuck doesn't trust people very easily and Senshi probably only sees us as children since we aren't dwarves."
Claire blinked a few times. "I still can't comprehend your knowledge of this place."
Smiling, I said, "You don't need to, I just want you to enjoy the story."
They finally got out of their huddle with Chilchuck coming over to us. "You can join us, but don't try anything funny."
In mock salute, I said, "Yes, sir."
This made Claire punch much shoulder. "Rae, don't be rude."
"If you're going to punch me, don't hold back. You know I like it."
"Rae! We are in public!"
I hung my head in shame. "Sorry, Claire."
"You should be." With a humph, Claire began walking.
The rest of the party exchanged some confused looks before eventually giving up and following Claire with me in tow.
As we descended to the second level, the floor's trees and spires expanded out before us. It was one thing to see it on the manga pages and in the anime, but it was another thing entirely to see it in person. The trees were so green and it just looked so serene, if there weren't any monsters that we had to deal with. I, for one, did not want to deal with any man-eating plants.
We began walking along the suspended bridges of the forest as Claire asked a question. "What is this dungeon? There's a sky and trees while we're on the second level down."
I turned to Marcille. I had a plan, but I needed her to get closer to Claire for it to work. "Marcille, you were researching Dungeon composition, why don't you explain what's going on with the dungeon to Claire?"
She side eyed me, but sighed. "It all began in a small village. One day, the floors of the catacombs gave way when a small earthquake struck, and from within, a single man emerged. He claimed to be the ruler of the golden kingdom, destroyed a thousand years ago, and that his once magnificent land, sunken by a deranged magician, remained caged underground to this day. "To those who defeat the magician, I offer all that is my kingdom." Leaving those words behind, the man crumbled to dust. That was six years ago, and the castle, which was once covered in gold, is on one of the bottom floors. Scholars say that the spires on this level are actually the very top of the same castle."
Chilchuck chided in. "Good job reciting that story word for word, Marcille."
"Hey! It's obvious she didn't know, so I was just telling her it."
Claire turned to her. "Thank you Marcille, I appreciate you explaining it to me."
Marcille blushed a little before turning forward again.
"Actually, on the topic of the dungeon," Chilchuck pointed to one of the trees to the side of our path, "I've always wondered, but why doesn't such a tall tree poke through the surface?"
Laios turned to where the half-foot was pointing. "Perhaps this place is out of harmony with the world above. It's a cursed dungeon after all."
We continued on for a bit until someone yelled.
"Aaagh!"
We all looked to see that Marcille had fallen.
In unison, both Chilchuck and Claire said, "Marcille, are you all right?" They then both glared at each other.
"I stumbled on a gap in the bridge."
Laios offered a hand to help up Marcille. "We've come a long way. Everybody's tired. Let's pick a spot to set up camp and have an early night."
As we searched for a suitable resting place, Laios, Chilchuck, and Marcille reminisced on past adventures through here.
"They sure are good friends, aren't they?"
Turning to Claire, I said, "They are, but I guess being faced with life or death situations multiple times will do that to people. I do hope we can get closer with them, though."
"Oh, yeah. Let's go hunt a monster that we can make dinner out of." Laios had just spoken the very words I had always wanted to hear.
Claire froze. "M-monster? Dinner? We're going to eat a monster for dinner!?"
"Shh, it's fine, Claire. They cook the food properly, and it'll taste really good. If you need, I can help make it, and look," I gestured to Marcille who was having her own problems regarding eating monsters, "Marcille doesn't want to either. Think of it like those green peppers. You may not like them, but you need to eat them." I looked deep into Claire's eyes, trying to reassure her. "Okay?"
She sat there for a bit before nodding timidly. "Okay."
I smiled, then kept walking. "Let's hurry up or we'll be left behind."
"I should have known! The plants are bursting with teeth, too! Those are Man-Eaters!"
Marcille was having a fit, meanwhile, Claire was scared out of her wits.
"Rae! Why did you think this was a good idea! You did not tell me there was going to be man-eating plants!"
Chilchuck face palmed. "Great, as if Marcille wasn't enough, now we have two people that like to complain."
"You two. You're wrong. They're only known colloquially as 'Man Eating Plants.'" Laios then went on to explain the intricacies of these plants and how most of them don't actually eat people, which I already knew, of course.
The four of them then went to go try to get some of the fruit, Marcille tried to blow it up, Senshi stopped her, and then Marcille got captured by one of the plants.
"Marcille!" Claire looked frantic.
I sighed. "She'll be fine, Claire."
"Rae, you are not taking this seriously!"
"Sorry, it's hard to feel worried when you already know what's going to happen. Just don't interfere and she'll survive."
As I said that, a large plant spit out a dead man next to us.
Shock and horror hit Claire like a truck, causing her to scream as she ran into my arms.
"Aaagh! The plant ate somebody! You lied to me Rae!"
"I didn't say anything about that, though!"
Chilchuck looked at me disapprovingly. "Hey, would you quiet down your friend while we deal with Marcille?"
It was obvious Claire was about to protest about being called my friend, but I covered her mouth before she could. Not quite yet, Claire, not quite yet.
He glanced at us one more time before heading back over to where Laios was.
Once Claire had finally calmed down enough to speak properly, we joined the group to hear Laios say, "I imagine it would feel pretty good. So how was it?"
I had actually been curious about how being grabbed by a plant would be too, so I stood next to Laios and asked, "Yeah, how was it? I've always been curious."
Marcille looked at us both with an expression so recognizable that it was practically ingrained in my mind as the face of an elf who had seen too much.
Needless to say, I was forced to help pick fruit from the plants.
Finally finishing up, we made our way to a hollow in one of the trees and set up camp. Once we had finished getting everything set up for the night, Senshi set about making dinner. I had asked if he wanted any help, but he said he would be okay for tonight.
Senshi was going through the instructions by talking to himself and Marcille was getting rid of the seeds because Laios wanted to keep them. Really, everyone was keeping busy, except Claire and I.
I had made sure to buy us some small packs and sleeping bags, and we had our wands on us, but there really wasn't anything we needed to do before going to bed. So, we just sat there and watched Senshi as he cooked.
Marcille eventually decided to come and sit next to us. "So I've been meaning to ask, how do you two know each other? Are you both from the same world?"
Finally, now I could spill the beans. "Actually, Claire is my wife."
Marcille blinked a few times, wearing a blank expression. "Huh?"
It was Claire's turn to say it as she held my hand, our fingers intertwined. "Rae and I are married." She was so cute whenever she gave a proud smile.
"But... aren't you both women?" Marcille, the elf that I shipped with Laios' sister back in my previous life, was confused by the existence of gay people. To put it lightly, I was baffled.
"And? Is there something wrong with that?" While I was shocked, Claire stood up to defend us.
"Isn't it unnatural though? Like, isn't love only supposed to be between a man and a woman?"
I finally shook off my initial shock. "Actually, there are quite a few animal species that have same sex relationships."
"Same thing with monsters. There's a decent number of species that will sometimes court members of the same sex. It makes perfect sense for that logic to apply to people." Even Laios was standing up for us now.
Chilchuck took another swig of coffee before joining in our conversation. "Hey, Marcille. Why are you so hung up on this when it's obvious that you clearly have feelings for Falin."
Laios' eyes went wide. "Do you really, Marcille? I had no idea."
"N-no, you've got it all wrong! Falin and I were just really good friends!"
I covered my mouth partly, only letting sound head in the direction of Claire. "Somebody's still in the closet it seems."
Claire nodded in agreement. "Definitely. We need to do something about this, Rae. You know, I haven't kissed you at all since we got here. How about a small peck?"
"Yes! It's flirty time!" I had been wanting this all day.
We brought our lips together and kissed, moving apart after a few seconds.
"Your lips are soft Rae. I really want to do that again, but maybe longer this time."
Marcille was visibly flustered, Laios was wide eyed, well more wide eyed then he had been previously, and Chilchuck just groaned. "Ugh, get a room, you two."
Claire moved in for another kiss, but I put my finger to her lips. "Not right now, dear, I think Senshi is almost done making dinner."
Almost on queue, Senshi announced, "'Tis finished."
The scent of something like a Quiche filled the hollow and it smelled absolutely amazing.
We each took a slice and began eating. The taste was rather odd, but good. It was salty and the fruit actually tasted closer to a mixture between a squash and a tomato with the main part of the Man-Eating Plant Tart tasting of crab somehow. Is this what scorpion tasted like?
Claire was very hesitant at first, but she eventually took a bite, lighting up almost immediately after tasting it.
"It's amazing! Rae, this is as good as your cooking!"
I took in the praise with pride. Claire complimenting my cooking was always a highlight of my day, but being told something was as good as my cooking was amazing. "You know, it was actually Senshi who inspired me to start cooking."
Senshi turned to me. "But ye barely know me lass. How could I inspire you to start cooking?"
I winked at him. "As I said, I know everything about you. So, thank you for inspiring me."
While Senshi and I talked, Marcille and Laios were arguing about plants... again.
Once we finished, we cleaned everything up and finally turned back to the dead guy. I left Claire in the hollow while the rest of us decided.
We passed around a few ideas, such as reviving him with magic, but in the end, we timed him up and let him hang from a tree.
"Reminds me of something I saw at the gallows." Chilchuck was right, it did look rather grim.
Finished with dealing with him, we finally settled down for bed. Marcille went to bed first while Laios stayed up to look through his book about monsters. Eventually, Claire and I were ready to sleep, our sleeping bags next to each other.
"Good night, Claire."
"Good night, my Rae."
Chilchuck groaned. I understood that he didn't exactly like adventuring party romances, but he would just have to suck it up for this adventure since Claire and I were stuck in this world, and because I also had some plans for Marcille's relationship status.
That aside, I drifted into a peaceful dream where Claire and I had returned to our world.
But that night, Marcille had both a nightmare, and a dream...