Chapter Text
The front door swings open, banging violently against the wall. The books rattle on the shelf at the impact. Akaashi watches from where she’s standing in the room, her arm halfway in the air holding up a book, as a woman carrying a thick leather-bound makes her way inside. Her wild black and white hair bouncing about as she walks.
Akaashi observes that the woman wore light traveling armor with thick, belt-like suspenders that connected to her baggy pants, which had many different pockets. A sword was strapped to her side, her tunic sleeves rolled up to her elbows. From where Akaashi was standing, she could see a small bruise forming on the woman's jaw. An adventurer of some sort, Akaashi thinks.
The woman walks over to the front desk and drops the heavy book down on the table. The thud is louder than Akaashi anticipates, which makes her jump a bit. The adventurer begins to ring the front desk bell quite obnoxiously, “Ding Ding Ding! Anyone here?”
Already anticipating a certain interaction, Akaashi takes a deep breath before clearing her throat and making her location in the bookstore known. The woman turns, her hair flying every which way.
“Oh, hey! Didn’t see ya there,” she says, “Say, do you buy books from people?”
Akaashi observes the book as she makes her way towards the front desk. It is much larger than a regular hardback book that she usually stocks in the bookstore. It was decorated with thick, gold metal swirls and had a large keyhole on its side. The book was a deep, dark brown color with a small bird-like outline on the cover. Just being near it, she could feel the magic.
Akaashi lifts her eyes to the woman in front of her, “Where exactly did you get this book from? It reeks with magical energy.”
“I found it in a chest in one of the dungeons I was in,” says the woman, a few strands from her wild bangs falling in front of her face, “It was mixed in with a bunch of other treasures, all of which I was able to sell! So, how much would ya give me for this bad boy?”
“I don’t purchase magical items, too much of a hassle to deal with,” Akaashi says after a moment of contemplation. She adjusts the thick suspenders at her sides. She usually plays with them when she starts getting anxious. She didn’t like magic, too uncertain and strong. Having this book around was bad.
“Oh, come on! It’s just a cool-looking book, I’m sure it doesn’t have any magical qualities to it,” the adventurer says as she opens the book, “Look at it! It’s stunning, the pictures practically jump out at you!”
Akaashi watches, slightly horrified, as the woman moves to graze her hand on the page with a picture of two little elves making shoes.
“No wait–” Akaashi’s hand collides with the girls’, making it so both of their hands connect with the page in the magical book. Akaashi sees a bright white light flash from under their hands before she completely loses sight of her bookstore.
–
Akaashi hits the ground with a hefty thud, her elbow colliding with the wooden floor as a grunt escapes her. She opens her eyes, trying to let them focus, waiting for the spots in her vision to go away. While her eyes adjust, she hears a startled pair of squeaks before two loud thuds echo out. When she can finally see again, she spots two little elves on the ground, unconscious, and a very crazed salt-and-pepper-haired woman holding a wooden bat.
“You knocked them out!?” Akaashi yells out.
“What are those things?”
“They’re elves!”
“Oh. I thought they were goblins,” she says, “I hate goblins, they’re way too touchy, and they always smell like crap.”
Akaashi was too stunned to say anything. The recklessness of the girl was beyond her. As she sat on the ground, dumbfounded, a million questions started running through her head. Where was she? Why were there elves? Where is her bookstore? Why was she forced to be around the adventurer? Was this some kind of punishment?
A flash of light appeared in the corner of the room. The adventurer immediately fixed her stance, ready to attack whatever was about to come out. The light disappears as fast as it appears, and in its place stands a man in a sparkly light blue suit. His silver hair was swept away from his face, and a dark mole under his left eye moved as he spoke.
“What the hell? Oh! People!” he says excitedly, “By the magic, we haven’t had people here in years!”
Akaashi slowly stands up from the ground and walks closer to the adventurer. In the place of magic and chaos, she finds familiarity in the girl next to her (even if it was her fault that Akaashi was here in the first place). The man in the sparkly suit approaches them with a wide smile.
“Hello, my name is Sugawara Koushi, or Suga for short. Here’s my business card,” he says as he whips out a small white card from his blazer pocket.
The adventurer takes the card and reads the contents out loud, “Sugawara Koushi, magical specialist and agent to the realm of fairytales.”
“What does any of that even mean?” Akaashi asks.
“Well, I pretty much make sure that everything in this realm runs smoothly. If any of the fairytale creatures have problems, I guide them towards the help they need to solve them. And on very special occasions, when humans visit, I help them by explaining the gist of this world!”
“What world? Where are we?” Akaashi asks, growing more anxious by the second.
“You, my dear humans, are in the Realm of Fairytales!” he says with a flourish, “Pretty much you got yourself stuck in a fairytale book.”
“What!?” the two girls exclaim in unison. A fairytale book? She liked reading fairytales, not being part of them.
“I just love getting that reaction,” Suga says, “I’m assuming you two didn’t touch the pages intentionally.”
“No! I sensed the magic in the book. I felt that it was dangerous in some way, but this idiot was too fast and we both accidentally touched it.” Akaashi was beyond frustrated now.
“Idiot!? How dare–”
“How do we leave?” Akaashi asks, cutting the girl off.
“Oh, it’s quite simple! You just have to go through the crystal pool.”
“Where would that be?”
“At the end of the book.”
“And where are we?” the adventurer asks.
“About in the middle,” he says.
“How do we get to the end?” Akaashi was growing very impatient with these vague answers. She could feel a headache forming at her temples.
“Glad you asked,” Suga says as he claps his hands together, “You are currently in a fairytale. Each fairytale is a chapter. To get to the end of the book, you have to complete each remaining story. To do so, you need to achieve the Happily Ever After in each tale! Once you reach the end of the fairytale and get your happily ever after, a mini-portal will appear that will take you to the next chapter– the next fairytale. You do this until you reach the end of the book, where you’ll find the crystal pool. All you have to do then is jump through it, and you’ll be back to your current reality! Simple as that.
“If you know the fairytale, then achieving a happily ever after should be a breeze. If you don’t know it, it’s up to you to figure it out.”
“What if we don’t get this happily ever after?” Akaashi asks.
“The fairytale restarts. You’ll be stuck in one story until you figure out a way to achieve the happy ending. You cannot go backwards in the book, but you are able to get completely stuck in a chapter. Stay in one place long enough, and you’ll become part of the story, and you’ll be erased from your current reality.”
“Erased!?” the girl next to Akaashi exclaims.
“Yes! You cannot exist in two different worlds. Once you’re stuck in this realm, you’ll cease to exist in your original reality.”
The two girls stood in silence and looked at the man with fear in their eyes. Stuck in a book? Akaashi didn’t want to be stuck in a book. She didn’t want to be stuck anywhere. She wanted to leave and forget that magic exists. Her bookstore was unattended, and she was starting to get uncomfortably homesick.
“Don’t look so afraid, girls! There’s a very small chance that you’ll be stuck here. But it’s always good to be cautious.” Suga’s smile seems unmoving.
“Is there a time limit to this whole… thing?” the adventurer asks.
“Nope! Just move through the stories and get out, that’s about it.”
The two stayed silent. Akaashi’s mind was running with thoughts of the worst possible scenarios. She looks at the girl next to her, golden eyes meet her own blue ones, and there’s fiery determination in them. Akaashi takes a deep breath and looks at the man in front of them again, “Alright, I guess we have no other choice.”
“No, you don’t!” Anyways, if you two ladies have no more questions for me, I’ll be taking my leave,” he says, starting to turn away from the two.
“Wait, how can we call on you if we need help?” the adventurer asks.
“You can’t! I’ll find you when you need me most; otherwise, you’re on your own,” he says, “Have a magical time!” With those last two words, Suga turns into a bright light and vanishes from the room.