"Hey, uhm … are you ready?"

He tries.

He keeps trying.

He hates it.

What’s wrong with him? He’s never felt this bad whenever he has to perform this.

"… yeah.

 …

Let's go" I’m sorry.

The spring sun shines warmly on them. The breeze blowing lazily and the sweet scent of spring into the open windows of the carriage. It's nice. Albeit a bit distracting from the heavy task at hand as he focuses on the young leaves of the trees on the road.

The duchy isn't new to him, but it never ceases to amaze. The blooming flowers of the trees scattered along the sides of the cobblestone road, houses that pass by, lively chatter, and of course the occasional stray animal.

.

..

…

The carriage stops.

"Cmon little brother! I'm sure things will go better this time!"

Ah.. To be so optimistic

Enviable

He steps out of the carriage.

The light emanating from the sun is basically blinding, leading him to squint and put his hand horizontally on his eyebrows to avoid being overwhelmed by its brilliance. Why must the heavens do this to him now… why today…..

Thoughts on joining the great star in the sky echo through the back of his head.

No matter.

Walking closer to the minor shrine, he spots the others. Spade, Hearts left and right, Clover, Diamond, and Tete. Though it appears her grace hasn't arrived yet. What might she be doing?

No. matter.

Time to put this show on the road.

"… have the preparations been made?" A series of nods. Sigh, she’s going to miss it. Where is she?

…

“Then we shall proceed." Reluctantly. Honestly now, they all look more tired of being here more than he is. What in the world are they doing here to look so exasperated?

 The scraping of chalk against stone and fabric is quite nice until the circle is finished. All he can remember after that is the burning pain of magic getting forcefully pulled out of your body, constricting your hands that you channeled it through, rapid breathing. His lungs are on fire, no, it’s freezing cold, it hurts it hurts it huRTS STOP STOP-

His vision swims.

He tries to stay standing but fails and starts falling backwards onto the ground. His eyes impossibly heavy and threatening to close right then and there. Is his nose bleeding? Is he crying? He doesn't know. Everything's numb and his body feels like lead.

Gentle arms wrapped around him as that accursed light magic pouring into this fragile body. Smoke and the smell of something burning. Aahh, it still hurts. Someone is whispering something, but he can’t make out who.

“hahh… oh geez, uhm, you’re alright, it’s fine, yeah, you’re alright, you’re alright! Just… just take a short nap, ok? I’ll take care of it. You’re safe, it’s fine…”

He’s too tired to listen to the rest of this and shuts his eyes before unconsciousness takes him.

He doesn’t dream.

He never really does. He just can’t.

Though this time it’s different.

...

It's cold.

The sun is too bright.

Time to start another day.

It’s cloudy today.

Nothing out of the ordinary, winter brings seasonal changes that often decrease the amount of sun we get. Although Daylight savings is ridiculous in her opinion.

Though the streets do seem emptier than usual.

Temperatures are beginning to drop, which would usually not deter the population from going out and about, only changing their attire for something warmer.

… odd

Is today everyone’s day off or something? Sleeping in late? It could be that considering it’s currently 9 am.

… actually, why is she here? It’s Sunday, she doesn’t have any classes.

Although

Lately she’s been feeling off. There’s this strange pull in her chest. Almost feeling like it’s guiding her somewhere.

Call it a gut feeling, if you will.

This ‘gut feeling’ has been nagging on her mind for a while now. Perhaps 2 weeks? It didn’t feel too important and it was nothing to consider going to the doctor for.

Though one day it completely overwhelmed her mind and leading her to flunk a test.

That sucks.

So perhaps this is why she is currently wandering the streets and following the voice in her head that sounds young and strangely like herself.

Ominous.

Anyways.

Where are they taking me???

We’ve walked 5 blocks already! At this point she would have taken the bus!

Of course it doesn’t respond to her, but it was worth a shot complaining in her head. Faintly she hears a huff of annoyance.

Turn right

Right? But this isn’t a corner.

…

Turn right

Turn right!

Turn right!!!

Ok ok!!!

She turns her head right as commanded and sees…

…

A field???

It’s just a fenced field, what’s so special about it?

Go

Fine!!!

The field is nothing special. Some tall, overgrown grasses. Some weeds. Some shrubs. Ooh! A coin!

…

Pfff a penny? Useless. Ugh.

… she hears a soft sigh in the back of her mind. Rude!

Look for a patch of something reflective.

Reflective? Like, a mirror? Why would that be in a field like this?

**************************************************************************************

…

When all of a sudden, she hears that agitating, grating sound.

“What in the world was that?!”

…

No response

Sigh, guess she’s gotta look for this by herself. Ugh.

Walking around the field isn’t all too bad.

The grass is lush and dark green and there’s all sorts of little plants scattered around such as clovers and dandelion.

What in the world could be reflective here??? Water???

Scanning the area, nothing seemed to catch her eye. Other than the fact there Is just a giant field of grass and bugs in the middle of a city that no big corporations have bought yet is ridiculous. Almost like this was staged, like it was just willed into existence.

… yeah, that’s ridiculous, nothing like that can happen, pshh.

Suddenly, something caught her eye, this small field of dirt where plants that closely resembled grass grow. The dirt looks darker than the surrounding variant and the ‘grass’ is significantly shorter and thicker, giving off an almost fruity aroma.

Though the alien grass is a point of interest, what really steals the show is the small, circular, slightly dirty, flat mirror-like object. Half buried in the surrounding detritus and reflecting out light from the sun that is currently hiding behind the clouds.

“What in the world...?”

Stepping closer, trying not to touch the ‘grass’, the mirror seems to darken for a second, before fading back to its normal reflective state. It doesn’t look dangerous or anything. It’s just a mirror in the ground, right? Surely not the strangest thing in a random field in the middle of a city.

Touch it

Excuse moi what.

Touch the mirror you degenerate

“Why in the world would I do that?”

Because I said so

OKOK FINEE, SO RUDE!

Stepping even closer, the ‘mirror’ seems to ripple in beat to her steps. What kind of reflective substance ripples in accordance to vibration?

Here goes nothing… she dips one finger in…

…

Oh?

It’s colder than she imagined, like cool water. It would normally feel nice but it’s quite cool today.

She dips her whole hand in. and then the other. The liquid ripples and splashes around but doesn't get her or her clothes wet. Or anything at all, actually, it just returns to its source(?).

It’s oddly satisfying to play with. Even if the cold is starting to turn the tips of her fingers slightly red.

She hears a rustling sound behind her. Strangely enough, the weird ‘grass’ is gone. She turns around, hands still in the substance when.

…

She’s falling.

Falling through the hole in the ground filled with this weird reflective substance.

PUSHED BY A FUCKING PLANT?!?!?!

HOW DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN??? WH-WHAT THE HELL???

NEVER MIND THAT, FOCUS ON GETTING OUT ITS FREEZING IN HERE AND SHE CAN’T BREATHE AND-

No wait, why isn’t she running out of air? She’s been thrashing about and…

Don’t think about it.

Huh?

Oh, good. You’re here.

I am, thank you for guiding her back.

Not a problem for you, dear.

Rest now, my lady. I will deal with this. I will carry the world for you.

Charming.

What the hell.

Is the voice in her head talking to the other voice in her head.

Don’t resist. Everything will be alright. 

There’s a suffocating feeling of you being dragged underwater by a current. Knocking the air out of her lungs. Is she drowning? No, that burning feeling isn’t here. What is going on stop stOP STO-

…

I’m sorry. I’ll stop for a little bit. How about we exchange names for now.

…

The feeling is gone.

She can’t stop shivering; the cold is all she can focus on. Her teeth feel like they’re about to grind each other back down to dust from the chattering.

“Wh-who the h-hell are you? Where am I?!”

I’ll tell you soon. I was planning to bring you to me.

This is your calling, My guiding light.

I'm sorry, again...

“H-huh?” That suffocating feeling returns, albeit; much softer. The endless void provides no comfort, and the voices have gone silent.

There’s a light behind her. It grows and becomes blindingly bright. She is about to start pleading again before she hears something…

---- -- --ease…

Then it fades to black.

The feeling is gone; it leaves the lingering taste of salt on her tongue. She’s no longer suffocating in the void. There is light seeping through her closed eyes.  Muffled voices in the background talk amongst themselves while another voice speaks a bit louder than the rest.

Taking a dare, she opens her eyes.

There are some people around her, clad in ivory robes. The sun is shining bright with the canopy above her. Where… is she? It appears that she is sitting on a rather large rug with burnt material in a sort of patterned circle. There are three walls, one on her right, one on her left, and one behind her. It’s made with some sort of warm colored wood with darker shaded bark supports by the corners. The rug is tinted purple with small spots of dark red, producing a rather unusual color combination along with the rough burn indents. The canopy is a softer indigo with it swaying gently in the wind and illuminated by the sun. The people in front of her were still quietly conversing in a language she does not understand.

Behind them on her left, there are a small group of people; two men, one woman, and two children. One of each respective gender, from what she can tell, they’re a bit far and with the ones in ivory blocking some of her vision, it’s a bit hard to make it out.

On her right there is…

A woman, kneeling on the ground, holding who seems to be a teenage boy in her arms as another woman tends to him. Did something happen? What’s going on? Why does he look so… dead?

One of the people wearing ivory robes walks up to her and starts speaking.

“----- ----? --- --- -------?”

… she makes a confused face, eyes squinting as she is still sitting on the ground. The sun making the figure look almost ethereal.

“…--. ---, ---, ---- -----! ------ --------- ----. -- ---- - ---------- ------- ----. --, -------- ---- --- ---- ----. –‘- -- --- ---.”

Sigh, what is going on…

“----- ---- ---!”

One of them scurries away towards the group with the sickly-looking boy and starts doing… something. Their back is facing towards and it’s covering most of it up.

The others are saying something in a tone that would best be described as an adult talking a child out of doing something bad. Something like ‘stay right there while I handle this’. How patronizing. She reaallllyy wants to curse someone out right now.

The one that walked away comes back and starts speaking to the others. The woman tending to the boy starts to stand. As she dusts off her flowing cream dress, she turns her head in our direction. Braids whipping in motion. Light breeze tickling her bangs. Her face is quite dainty and angular while her body maintains a boxy figure. Her lightly tanned skin making the cream fabric appear brighter and more regal. Dirty blonde hair with an orange head band by her ears keeping it in place. Braids framing her face and reaching to about her chest. Hair in the back a bit longer reaching her mid back. Golden sandals reaching up to her knees and cream opera gloves. It’s very cute and gives an ethereal presence.

She walks over to the other group on her left. She converses with the five people while looking in her direction a few times. Gesturing with her hands before ultimately holding them in a clasped position near her chest. Hanging her head a bit before lifting it back up and turning towards the group on her left. The girl holding the boy is still kneeling on the ground supporting him but has lifted her head and started to talk to the others. Soon enough, the ones wearing ivory join in. They engage in something with a few aggressive tones of voice and attempts to calm from the woman in cream and the one kneeling on the ground.

… is she getting sidelined?

What is going on….

She is about to stand up and ask what is going on (though they probably won’t understand her but it’s good to try) when the boy, still being cradled, stirs. From what she could see, which was not much since she is about 3 meters away, they open their eyes and try to get off the girl. She looks surprised (she’s not too sure) and starts frantically speaking words she cannot understand with a worrisome tone. Asking if he’s ok, probably. The boy just holds his head with his right hand as he uses the other to prop himself upright. Feet bracing against the cobble below. He blinks a few times before scanning around, seemingly indifferent to the people talking around him.

He spots you.

And…

Freezes.

His eyes widen as he stares at you. Is there something on your face? His chest rises and falls with unsteady breaths and for a moment, it feels like it’s only you and him.

.

…

Something taps your shoulder.

It’s one of the people in white.

“---… -- ---- -- ----------- --- --, -------?”

…

SHE STILL DOESN’T KNOW WHAT THEY’RE SAYING IS EVERYONE HERE SLOW???

They step aside and she sees the girl, who was kneeling, standing up and offering a hand to the boy. She’s wearing a white blouse with a pink knee-length skirt along with white tea-length gloves and some white crew socks with frills and pink slip-ons. Her brown, wavy hair tied in 2 pigtails halfway up her head and accessorized with a pink bow on each. Pale skin complementing the warm brown. She starts to walk towards her with a bright smile, finally close enough to see her rosy lips and lovely magenta doe eyes. She says something while kneeling in a sweet voice before rising and stepping aside.

…

It’s the boy from before.

He crouches down into a squat before ultimately sitting down about 2 feet from you. He doesn’t meet your gaze, but she can tell that he’s really pretty. Long raven dark bangs caress his soft, rounded face. Same skin tone as the girl in pink except he has eyes that remind her of the deep, dark, ocean.

…

Like drowning…

…

Like something lifeless…

…

Anyways,

There are two longer sections of hair framing his face that are in front of his ears. His cheeks are lightly flushed as he adverts his gaze somewhere else. He’s wearing some sort of plain white dress shirt with a sort of bell-shaped sleeve and a blue tie and black shorts. His shoes are white with gold and blue accents and a high heel. Most likely to compensate for his… appearance that falls a bit… short. If you catch her drift. Unless it comes short of your expectations. Hehe, puns… WAIT NO THAT’S SO RUDE YOU JUST MET THIS GUY.

He takes something out of his pocket before meeting your eyes and tilts his head a bit to his right. Something makes a slight ding-ding sound. It’s… his earrings! Long gold chains with little stars at the end. You can tell he’s nervous by how he’s biting his lips a bit. She glances at his hand to see what he’s holding.

…

It’s chalk??? Why does he have chalk in his pocket???

There’s a look of confusion on her face when he gets up and walks closer towards her, now standing on her right. He motions something along the lines of ‘scoot over’ or something before plopping back down and drawing a large circle with the pristine chalk. He adds a few symbols before drawing…

.

…

A game of hangman???

He starts to write the prompt but then probably realizes that she doesn’t know the language. The others are on the sidelines watching what’s happening or having a heated conversation again. He whispers something before closing his eyes and writing something.

W H A T   I S   Y O U R E   N A I M E

… the spelling is a bit off, but this is this is the first semblance of English she’s seen here.

He hands you the chalk and gestures you to write it on the big white dash of chalk

MY NAME IS HATSU

He mumbles something along the syllables of ‘haht-zu’ which is pretty close.

He draws a head on the rope before writing the next prompt.

This goes on for a while until the whole body is drawn and many questions about her have been answered.. Some questions are weird such as; W H A T   I S   Y O U R E   B L O O D   T Y P, W H A T   I S   Y O U R E   M I D D L   N A I ME, etc. Occasionally someone from the crowd would ask something and he would respond, not looking up, in a small voice. The spelling doesn’t improve even as we write to each other, is it lost in the translation? Matter of fact, how do we both understand each other (to an extent) even though we have no idea what the other is saying???

The group has mostly stopped their conversations, only sending others occasional glances and yawning from boredom. It’s been about… 10 minutes?

He writes down one more question. This time, slower.

W H Y   A R E   Y O U   H E R E . . . ?

…

Is this guy serious? Didn’t they summon me like some crappy isekai???

No, calm down. He probably doesn’t know either.

She picks up the chalk and starts writing again. Slow, deliberate, powdery, pristine white strokes.

I DON’T KNOW…

She goes to hand the chalk back when she notices something.

He’s just… staring…? Something feels a bit wrong in the way his eyes look empty. She’s about to ask if he’s alright before he snaps out and looks up at her. He says something to the group of people, one scurries off. He returns a beat later holding what seems to be a silver ring and necklace pair. They placed it on the circle with symbols and hangman game (why is it hangman if there is no actual hangman playing???). The boy adjusts some things before whispering something and closing his eyes. There’s a gentle glow on the chalk before returning to normal. He passes her the necklace and gestures her to put it on.

Well,

There isn’t much to do but listen.

She put it on as he slipped on the ring.

“h-hem, can… you understand me?”

…

?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

“…WH-WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?!?!?!”

He stares at you with a neutral expression before standing up and giving a small smile. He offers a hand which you take and lift yourself up.

“… it’s a relief that it worked… hello there, miss Hatsu, let me introduce myself.” He lets go of your hand before taking a step back. “My name is Minni St Fraunz, call me Minni or Min if you would like. I am 17 and use he/they pronouns. These are my coworkers and some members of our local church. There will be one more person arriving shortly.” He does a little bow before nodding to the rest of the congregation to introduce themselves. He seemingly deflected from talking about this weird jewelry that magically makes you understand new languages.

“Good day my lady! My name is Spade! I command the knighthood in these lands and it’s a pleasure to meet you!” the man with the dark brown hair with red tips introduced himself. He appears quite prideful with that bold red suit and ridiculously glamorized sword on his right. There is a poppy in his left pocket, right over the heart.

Well now she knows for sure she’s been ‘reincarnated in another world’ or something like that. This is terrible. So terrible in fact that she feels like she is about to ‘slime someone out’.

As the youth say.

Ugh.

“Good day, little miss. My~y name is Blue Diamond. Known for their rarity and beauty! Fancy a gem? I’m the man to find!” He… seems eccentric? Boisterous? The clothes are decked out in gems and jewelry. navy hair neat and tinted slightly lighter at the ends. Lots of silver and gems on his person and probably even more in his house.

“Good day, miss.” One of the kids spoke up. Wait… Min said that these are his coworkers and church members. She can tell easily enough that the ones wearing ivory robes are part of the religion but that still doesn’t explain why there are two kids here.

“We are the hearts.” The other one introduces “If you are thinking that we are too young, we are 23 years old. Unfortunately, we are short. We are fraternal twins. You can call me Lefty and my sister Righty. We maintain law in these lands.” Well, that makes more sense. The two both have platinum blonde hair and similar clothes. White shirt with a light gray blazer, black knee-high socks, and some white loafers. What tells the two apart are how the boy has shorter hair and his bangs cover his right eye while the girl has longer hair and her bangs cover her left eye. They both also wear a pair of black shorts and skirt respectively.

“Ah, is it finally my turn? Hello dearest Alice of somewhere unknown. You may call me Madame Clover. I’ve been waiting for a long time! How are you feeling? Nauseous? Dizzy? Hurt anywhere?” She seems to be quite a bit… much….

Her hair is a vibrant sage to clover green in 2 small buns, letting the rest flow down, resembling a clover’s three leaves. A dark green sundress with gold sandals and a golden chain with pressed clovers in a clear box. Small accessories such as her necklace and earrings all have clover shapes. Quite fitting as her name is literally Clover. Though there is one thing she got wrong…

“Uhm… Madame? My… name isn’t Alice.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that.” Lefty answered “She has a silly little quirk for when something is interesting. She always calls it Alice. Meaning curiosity or something. All her research and perhaps even people, albeit rare, are called Alice if they intrigue her.”

“That’s…” certainly odd. But people can have their own quirks.

“It is most definitely not silly young one! How rude you are! I should just grab one of my scrolls from my lab and cast this on you!” wuh? Rude???

“Scrolls? Lab?”

“Oh, silly me! I forgot to tell you! I’m head of the department of magic here. I manage research and scroll productions for the public, battalion, and sometimes even for outside businesses!” Woah there, is everyone here an important figure???

“Speaking of business…” Min mutters softly “Look what the cat dragged in.” He bows his head a bit in the direction in front of you.

There’s a pastel purple carriage being pulled by two brown horses donned in elegant drapery standing by on the side. The coach driver sits there like he’s the most joyous person ever. They have a weird looking pin on their vest. The door opens to reveal a young woman, presumably in her mid-20s, wearing an off the shoulder, pastel purple dress that flows to the ground. Sharp clicks of her stilettoes echo on the cobblestone. Her hair is pristine, lighter than the twin hearts, with tips dyed purple. It’s not that short, about the length of up until the border between upper and lower back. Pearl jewelry decorates her neck, accentuating her neckline with pearl earrings and bracelet. Long, pastel blue, sheer opera gloves on her arms and a few bracelets and rings. She’s beautiful, ethereal even.

The others are bowing their heads respectfully as she walks by and stops a bit in front of you.

She stares a bit, her eyes a lovely swirl of periwinkle and sky blue, before turning towards Min and whispering something in his ear. He nods a few times before responding in a normal volumed voice.

“Everything has been set,” he holds up his hand and shows her the ring on his finger “please proceed. Though not everyone has introduced themselves.”

“Oh dear, did I interrupt everyone.” Her voice is soft and sweet, perfectly matching her appearance.

“More like you’re late. Was it entirely necessary to take that long?” Min is a lot sassier for some reason… hidden animosity? A close friendship, former relationship???

“Very much so Minni. Teehee!” her voice is still sweet, but it carries a hidden edge. A smirk is etched on her face as she bats her lashes.

She forces herself to look at Minni’s face.

…

It doesn’t look much different.

His eyebrows are a little scrunched up though. Maybe a slight frown? Besides that, they keep their regular neutral expression… mostly.

“…sigh, don’t keep our lovely guest waiting… go introduce yourself, I’m going to sit down somewhere else…” true to his word, he walks over to your right, exchanges a few words with the girl in pink, and sits down on the cobble. Feet bracing against it as he uses his arms as support. He looks up at the sky with an unreadable expression before crossing his arms over their knees and looking at the cobble in front of him.

“…”  Her smile doesn’t fade as she turns to her. She extends her right hand for a handshake which she accepts.

“My name is… well… you can call me Jelly! I manage these lands and am, if you would, the boss of the others. Who might you be?”

“My name is Hatsu, pleasure to meet you, Lady Jelly.”

“Please, drop the formalities.”

“Alright then, nice to meet you, Jelly.”

Her smile grows a bit wider as you say that. She shakes her hand before letting go and allowing the rest of the people to introduce themselves.

There are only two people left who haven’t officially met her yet, so she waits for either one of them to approach.

Eventually, the girl in pink jauntily walks up to her.

“Hello!!! My name is Milli!!!!! I’m that sad sack’s big sister! It’s so nice to meet you! I’ve been waiting for so long!!!!!!!!! No need for formalities just call me Milli! Or Mils! Or anything you want! Let’s be friends!”

What a bundle of sunshine she is. Her retinas are burning.

“Nice to meet you as well Milli.” She responds, a bit awkwardly.

She squeals and runs off.

Then comes back.

Dragging the woman dressed in cream here.

“There’s still one! More! Person!!! That still hasn’t introduced themselves!!! Cmere cmere cmere cmere…” she basically pushes the other towards her with excitement. The others seem unfazed as if this happens far too often.

She wouldn’t be surprised if that was true.

The lady in cream sighs and gently pries Milli’s fingers off.

“Milli, go bother your brother or something.” She says in a monotone, yet warm, voice.

Her face visibly drops for… some reason.

“B-But! He says that he’s tired! I don’t wanna disturb him!!!”

“So… you chose me?”

“No! I want you to introduce yourself to Hatsu and let her join our tea party group!” your what now?

“Sounds reasonable,” she turns to her “Hello there, my name is Tete. I come from somewhere up north so my accent and name is quite foreign. Apologies. I am a saintess in the church and represent them in feudal affairs. As Milli said over here, it would be an honor for you to join our tea party group.”

“Yeah! It’s fun! All the girls get together to gossip, drink tea, and play around together! Clover, Righty, Lady Jelly, Tete, and I would be soo happy if you joined! Sometimes my brother pops in to tell us something or drag one of us out for important matters though…”

…

Tea parties huh?

Sounds fun.

Might as well make the best of it here.

“I… would love to join your tea party group!” she says with a light smile on her face and softening her eyes. Milli starts jumping in joy while Tete just stands there with a soft smile.

“Though…” Milli stops jumping and turns to look at her. Tete tilts her head inquisitively. “Could you explain what you all do here? I’ve heard everyone talk about work and whatnot, but I don’t know what any, er, some of you do.”

Milli puts a hand on her chin and looks up, thinking for a second before answering.

“Well… it’s not like we can’t tell you! We just do some pretty important stuff! Spade manages the duchy’s knighthood, Blue manages the area’s natural mines and economy, Clover works on magical engineering in her study, the twins are the highest level of judgy judges, and that’s all for the 5 of them. For the rest of us, Jelly is our acting regent as her father has been bedridden for some time now, Tete manages religious events and represents the church, though I am technically part of the manor’s ‘big shots’, I enact plays for the public to increase our mark and view, and finally, my brother! He manages some of Jelly’s paperwork and maintains order in life such as welfare and safety from incoming attacks.”

“But… isn’t that Spade’s job?”

“Kinda! He leads the army, but my brother keeps the city safe. Using his gravity magic to shield the city from falling debris from the mountain range and attacks against any enemies that might’ve gotten through! He also sometimes performs with me on the stage somewhere over there,” she waves her hand somewhere in the area somewhere right of her before resuming her explanation.  “He’s quite good at acrobatics! Though, he’s quite clumsy and does not do well under pressure. Sigh, unfortunately, our coach is quite insistent on pressuring people into greatness. We can’t fire him because we signed a contract, but I do feel bad after every show since he always gets hurt somehow. And he’s always like ‘A potion will fix me up’, ‘I’ll just ask lady Tete to heal me’ that’s not the point!”

Milli is quite frustrated at this while Tete and her give looks of sympathy.

“Mmmph… sorry for venting all this to you Hatsu… I’m… I’m going to go to the others…” Milli says before she walks off.

“…”

“…”

“…” Tete lets out a breath of air as she watches Milli go. When she starts talking to the others, Tete faces you. “… sorry, I’m not good with words.”

“It’s alright, neither am I.” she looks around to see Spade, Blue, Lefty, Righty, Clover, and Milli are discussing something. Jelly is standing over Min as he sits cross-legged perpendicular to her direction. Some exhausted ‘get me out of this situation’ look on his face.

“We should get you to the manor and arrange a room for you.” She turns towards Jelly “Lady Jelly! Stop bothering our youngest member and actually do your job.”

She turns towards the two of us with the expression of a kicked puppy. Minni looks up at you with grateful eyes.

“Sigh, fine.” She says with much exasperation in her voice. “Follow me to my carriage…”

She begins to walk with Jelly before Minni stands up and tells her something.

“Hatsu…”

“Yes?”

“I’ll… I’ll see you later. Lady Jelly isn’t mad at you; she just doesn’t like to do work. Ehehe…” he looks down at his feet, words laced with exhaustion.

“I… see…?”

He doesn’t elaborate further. Instead, they bow their head a bit and walk off towards his sister. And getting in their own carriage.

Tete enters a carriage with the priests, and the others have their own with Spade at the reins, looking rather joyous.

Jelly’s carriage is as grand as it is outside. Soft purples lining the walls, velvety cushions, a small shelf of snacks and confectionaries on the side… and more of course. It’s so dreamy to be in.

We spent the ride exchanging small talk.

It didn’t feel like the ride was long until the coachman popped his head through the small window behind the reins saying that the ride would take a few minutes longer than intended due to unforeseen traffic.

Then she realized they had been in the car for about half an hour.

Time flies when you’re in good company apparently.

The streets are nothing short of lively with people hustling and bustling about. There are vendors, cafes, restaurants, general stores, and more lining the streets. Each with bright colors and a cheery crowd.

“Impressive, is it not?” Jelly asks.

“Ridiculously so… How do you manage this? So many people entering and leaving all at once must take up a lot of time.”

“Unbelievably so, I swear! In all my stacks of paperwork in my office as well as Blue’s, since he manages the economy, he also helps with commercial matters, and Minni’s, Commercial matters take up so much of our schedule! Not only do we have to inspect goods for disease or contraband, which already takes a lot of time and money and even more if we find something, if one gets through, WE ARE LITERALLY DOOMED. This is the center of trade! Right here! In this dutchy! If an outbreak starts, THE ENTIRE NATION IS DOOMED.” Jelly seems quite passionate about this topic (oh wow, really?).

“…It seems you care a lot about this nation.” It gets a laugh out of her.

“Me? Concerned? Of course I am! Our emperor is a deadbeat and is basically a figurehead. He doesn’t give funds for improvement, pass laws for safety, bring in any significant revenue! AND YET, HE STILL SPENDS THE MOST OUT OF ALL OF THE NOBLES. THEY BRING IN LESS THAN A SUFFERING BARONY YET THEY SPEND MORE THAN THE GRANDEST DUCHY IN THE LANDS!!!” She’s getting extremely heated over this topic, best to switch- “WORST OF ALL!!! THE TAXES ARE EXTREMELY HIGH TO COMPENSATE. THEY DON’T DO ANYTHING YET, THEY YEILD THE HIGHEST COLLECTION RATE?! The dutchy I rule has a 12 percent tax policy due to its high commerce. This is high but the average revenue is also higher than normal. The average in other noble houses is around 7 percent. BUT THE EMPEROR. IN THE CAPITAL, THE TAXES ARE A RIDICULOUS 20 PERCENT. AND THE NOBLES? 25 PERCENT. WHAT THE-

…

Ahem.

Sorry about that…”

“…It’s quite alright, I would be even madder than you were.”

“Nice to see another one against that blasted emperor. I don’t see how some of the nobles support him.”

“Sigh, me neither… maybe it’s because they like being able to have basically freedom?”

“True, all he does is drink wine all day.”

“That’s…”

“Terrible? Unhealthy? Extremely useless? Yeah. Three quarters of the empire think so too.”

“I… see…”

We both let out an exasperated sigh before realizing what we both did.

And bursting into laughter.

“Ahaha! Great minds think alike!”

“I suppose they do, Hatsu. Aha!”

“Hehe…”

“May this be a start to a wonderful new friendship!”

We both smile at each other and talk for the rest of the ride.

The manor leaves something to be desired.

That something being color.

Walking into the area surrounding it, there are houses, farms, schools, etc.

The problem is

Nothing is very colorful.

The streetlights glow a soft purple on black poles (they have electricity here?), most of the houses are made of this pale wood and black stone bricks. Paths? Black stone bricks. The only thing standing out is a brown wood house(?). in this area of monochrome, the brown house stands out a lot

Walking closer to the manor, it seems like nothing has really changed.

The walls are lined with black stone bricks and the walls a pale white wood. The surrounding gardens contain the same with trees sporting gray trunks and white leaves. The occasional cherry blossom in the mix. Pale, soft flowers litter the grass with the (also black stone) walkway cutting through cleanly. The walls are also black stone.

Whoever designed this had a… unique taste.

There are two guards standing by the gate before spotting us and opening the gate.

The manor has no door; it seems they trust the outer wall’s gate enough to remove the door. Instead, there is a large arch made of, you guessed it, black stone bricks. Extremely unique, like never seen before (ehehe). The floor is a warm brown with pastel carpets lining a path inside. On the right of the entrance, the carpet is darker as it leads to another wing. Vice versa for the left. There are soft purple tinted lights hanging off the ceiling. Not quite as grand as a chandelier though nonetheless still very pretty. The walls keep it simple with arch windows and shelves with flowerpots and such on them. An occasional display of art on the wall adds a pop of color to the, rather bleak, despite the décor, home. There are two staircases leading up to the second floor on both sides of the room and an arch in between. Most likely leading to the back gardens.

“I must say…  your manor is amazing…”

“Teehee! Thank you! Unfortunately, I didn’t build it, otherwise, the colors would be completely different! My father did and he had quite the penchant for monochromatic designs such as wearing two-piece suits in primarily black and white. Perhaps gray if he was feeling daring. Gold or silver trim if he was feeling adventurous. Drove my mother insane dealing with him. She loved colors and everything happy and cute. To appease her, he planted a garden in the back which she spent most of her time there until she passed… ah, I’m ranting again. Sorry. I’ll find Cody to arrange a room for you. Until then, you can explore the place. Cody will find you when dinner is ready.” She smiles at her before walking away.

Well alright then.

The manor is grand, for a lack of better wording. There appears to be two main floors and higher areas on the west wing.

The first floor of the east wing contains a bathroom, a few spare bedrooms, a shelf with a few books and flowerpots, and an arch leading outside to a garden. The garden is filled with different fruit trees such as apples, peaches, pears, cherries (they grow on trees???), and plums. At the roots are a few of those pale flowers again as well as bits of moss and grass. She wanted to pick some but feared getting in trouble…

The west wing has an office for Minni that she tried to enter but then got shooed out by some people working inside. There is another bathroom and a few doors that… lead to nowhere…

As well as one that’s closed and nailed a notice to not enter due to repairs.

Of course she went in.

The room is… destroyed. Like, completely gone. There are grass and dirt everywhere and is just an opening to the gardens. Burns cover some of the wooden floor, giving her the impression of an explosion happening here (and the exasperated faces of Minni and Jelly having to do more paperwork to fix this, poor them).

The second floor of the main building has a large wall of glass facing the front of the mansion as well as a dome on top of the center of the ceiling. There is a map on the wall opposite to the glass showcasing the entire empire with a purple jellyfish pin showing where they currently are (very cute).

The east wing is nothing special. Aside from the fact that they are in an enclosed glass space with water around it.

So basically.

She is underwater.

This is a big pool.

There are DOORS LEADING INTO THE POOL

AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POOL.

Very scenic and pretty, though the water and glass scare her and the books underneath it, 8/10.

There is a room where it’s also a bunch of books.

But there is a table in the middle and the shelves on the sides have cups filled with chalk and writing resembling runes on the table and floor.

She didn’t go inside; afraid she would mess something up. And partially because it felt a bit rude to intrude on someone else’s workspace. Though throughout her entire time wandering around this place, she hasn’t encountered anyone. Weird. She would expect for there to be staff up and about but it’s desolate here.

Anyways,

There are three display cases, each with a suit of armor holding a weapon. An intricate sword, trident, and mace. Shining with silver and care. Next to them appears to be a tearoom as there is a hot plate, pitcher, multiple tea sets, and a shelf full of tea varieties and confectionaries. Looks yummy…

She (with much intelligence) decides not to open the doors to the giant pool looming over her and instead goes to explore the west wing.

Her plans are thwarted on the account of the west wing being a small medical ward and Jellyfish’s bedroom. Which she does not enter out of common courtesy. There is a staircase leading to another floor by the wall of glass.

Climbing up and opening the cellar-like door, she is greeted by a lovely breeze. Apparently, the ‘third’ floor is a large open-air patio with rails on the sides, for safety of course, and another stairwell leading upwards to more floors on the west side of the building.

The view is… phenomenal. Being just above the tree line and allowing one to see the land below it. High enough to reduce the people below to colorful little blobs since the manor is on a rather large hill. The steep isn’t that slope, smooth enough for a pair of horses to comfortably carry up a carriage uphill but large enough for the air to seem a tad bit thinner. She can see the markets, houses, stage (though it is a bit farther so it’s quite blurry), a training encampment, and more. Beyond the walls are a large lake on her left and fields on her left. A cobblestone road splits it in half with small branches leading to piers on the lake, likely for fishermen.

This… is not something she would ever think to see. Back in the city, all she would see is concrete, concrete, concrete, and you guessed it, more concrete. The skyscrapers were impressive, but they got boring quickly. Just another building on her way to her destination. And at night, it’s never dark. Blackout curtains cost way too much and as a broke University student with a desk, a bed, a closet, and a mountain of trash in her dorm. A place that she lovingly named ‘Room of Doom and Despair’. Not to mention the weird people and noise that made her start carrying pepper spray.

Oh right, speaking of pepper spray…

She reaches into her pocket and finds a small bottle of pepper spray, keys, phone, lip balm, wallet, etc.

Huh.

Well, half of these things won’t work in this world. My keys wont work, there’s no internet, my cards and cash won’t be accepted…

Well, that’s a problem for another time, Let’s enjoy life right now. She wonders if there’s a clock somewhere to tell the time. It felt like she had been wandering for a while. Looking at the sun is not a good idea to tell time, and there are still a few places to look at…

Welp, exploration! Continued!

There is a dining hall in that white tower above the west wing. Tables with patterns of different wood colors (mainly brown and white but the whole manor is filled with it) and flowers with patterned vases. She hears sounds coming from the door with a sign saying ‘Kitchen’ and decides not to go in. They’re probably preparing dinner. Speaking of, she didn’t eat lunch. She’s a bit hungry but decides not to do anything about it.

The room next door to it is labeled storage.

It’s locked.

Oh well.

The dining hall is shaped like an L with the top right of the L being cut out for… a glass wall and a room with a staircase leading up.

The door is also locked.

Okay…?

Defeated, she walks out of the dining hall and looks behind the manor for the first time.

There’s a weird shadow on the ground.

She looks up and…

WHAT THE HELL IS THAT.

THAT IS. A TOWER. FLOATING. IN THE SKY.

.

…

OKAY.

GUESS THINGS JUST WORK DIFFERENT HERE.

She turns around, still bewildered when she sees a man in a sleek butler’s uniform. A maroon tailcoat with a black vest underneath with matching slacks and a white dress shirt underneath. A monocle on their right eye and silver hair covering their left. Their skin a warm nutmeg contrasting from their pale hair. They pull out a pocket watch and (presumably) check the time before setting it back in their pocket and walking towards her.

“Good day miss, my name is Rafid and I am the head butler of this estate. I have prepared your room.” He extends a hand towards the stairs and waits for her to move.

Of course, she has a million questions like why the head butler prepared a room instead of a regular staff member or what time it is, but she decides to be quiet for now.

Following Rafid, he leads her back downstairs and towards the east wing on the first floor. The room is near a stairwell she didn’t explore and apparently the bathroom.

Which is.

Next to the stairs.

Not the worst.

Her room is… bleak. To say the least.

It’s comfortable, just… empty.

The bed, bed frame, desk, and one out of the two paintings on the wall are primarily white with maybe gold or a few warm tones to accent it. The walls are brown like the walls she had seen earlier but other than that and a few chests on the side, everything is bleak white.

“…”

Rafid sighs with the exasperation of a man that is so done with everyone’s shit.

“Apologies for it being so sparse, our shipment of room décor available for you to use doesn’t come until tomorrow.”

“It’s alright. It just feels a bit… uncanny”

“I felt the same when I started working here miss.”

“I… see…” The room itself isn’t that bad. Maybe a few flowers and such would do it better. Ooh, and some better sheets.

“Miss, do you know where all the utilities are?”

“Such as?” she questions back as she turns towards him.

“Bathroom?”

“Yes.”

“Changing room?”

“I can do that in this room but yes.”

“Kitchen and dining room?”

“Yes.”

“Farm?”

“Huh?”

“The farm outside.”

“You mean the orchard over there?” she says, pointing towards the back of the manor where there is that arch that leads to a fruit garden.

“Yes, that too but there is a larger one.”

“Where in the world would that be?”

“Upstairs”

…

“… huh?”

“Would you like me to show you? Though, there is a bit of a climb.”

“I… I would love to see it.”

“Please follow me, you may take fresh fruits and vegetables to your leisure to snack on throughout your stay here as long as you do not take too much or take any of the ones being grown for seeds.”

“I will keep that in mind, thank you.”

He leads the two of them up the stair well she didn’t explore and to a rather tall ladder.

Climbing up it, she sees the glass from earlier holding up the water on the second floor. There is a partition between it and another layer of water before reaching the top and seeing a rather large farm filled with vegetables. They probably source livestock from another place like that farm in the village.

“Well, this is impressive. How do you maintain it?”

“Cody maintains the gardens on occasion and the glass holds up because it’s reinforced with mana and thin bits of metal.”

“Cool…”

“I will leave you to settle now, someone will come to find you for lunch as it is about…” he checks his pocket watch “12 o clock. Good day.” He finishes as he walks away.

Well, not much to do but wait.

She climbs down and walks back to her room. She isn’t bored, but she isn’t particularly stimulated in a way.

So,

Nothing much to do here anyways.

Let’s just wait then.

There’s a knock on her door.

“Come in.”

Oh! It’s Jelly

“Hello there, we meet again. Did I keep you waiting long?”

“Not at all.”

“Alright then, care for lunch?”

“I would love to.” She wonders what type of cuisine is in this world. Hopefully not that trope where all the food has no seasoning and is only supposed to look good. Dear god.

And so, we go back into her carriage and to the markets.

She was quiet this ride around.

Maybe she’s just busy with things or worried about something.

The restaurant she brought me to specialized in fish dishes apparently. Which is… not the worst, she doesn’t have an allergy or a problem with fish. It’s just… an odd choice.

A waitress brings us to a table and hands a menu for the both of us.

Huh, she can understand the language here. Nice.

Eventually the waitress comes back, and they both order their own respective meals. Then she comes back with their food.

“So,” Jelly starts, cutting into her salmon “Did Rafid show you your room yet?”

“Oh! Yes, he did! It’s quite nice, thank you”

“Not a problem, although the décor Minni ordered won’t be here until tomorrow. Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine, Rafid already told me and it’s not your fault”

“…”

She doesn’t say anymore, a soft smile left on her face.

The food is pretty good…

“It’s… about 1 pm.” Jelly remarks. “Nothing much to do until dinner… say, would you like to explore the shops here? A friend of mine owns it and would give me discounts- n-not that I need it, you can get whatever you want. As… as a welcome present.” She’s blushing a bit and appearing bashful, though… a welcome present? That’s so nice.”

“Oh wow, really? Then… I accept! Thank you!”

Jelly just stays quiet and continues walking.

Hmmm… what should she get? Maybe some clothes? She doubts that they would have any for her to wear…

“Hmmn… could we go to a clothing store?”

“A clothing store?”

“Yes, I- er… don’t have any clothes besides the ones I’m wearing…”

“Ah. That makes sense.”

And so, off they went

The two hopped from store to store for a while, buying a variety of goods from clothing to snacks and everything in between.

Then they stumbled upon a weapon store.

Swords, bows, daggers, plenty of different weapons, all beautifully crafted. Though one caught her eye.

This giant great sword that she would estimate to be about up to her waist with a golden hilt and purple accents on the handle and hilt as well as some butterfly accents and such. She can’t help but look in awe as if that sword perfectly suits her.

“What seems to have caught your attention?”

“Hm? Oh! Sorry, it’s just that great sword over there that’s so pretty.”

“I see… oh, that one? That appears to be a decorative piece, it’s not very functional or sturdy in that manner. It’s supposed to be for display only and can take apart for easy shipping. The blade is dull and the handle is too short and… Oh, sorry.”

“It’s alright, ooh! Look over there! They’re selling candies.”

“Huh? Oh- alright.”

The two go to buy a variety of small taffies in a box. Trying one, the milky taste is sweet and creamy but not overpowering and the dried fruits add a lightly sweet flavor to it. It’s not as good as modern candies but it is still decent.

“Hmmn…” Jelly mutters something while checking her watch.

“Is something the matter?”

“No, it’s just- we should be getting back soon. The twins planned a surprise for you. Well… just Milli did. Minni was caught in the cross-fire. Anyways, it’s about 5 pm. We should go.”

“Alright then, lead the way.”

They arrive back at the manor and drop off their stuff. Jelly puts her share of the haul near the entrance and calls for Rafid to sort it later while she goes to her room to sort.

Clothes in the chests, folded of course, candies in the other one, accessories on the table, some makeup, combs and brushes, stationary sets, etc…

Okay! All done!

She walks back to the entrance to see Jelly talking to someone. She notices you and signals for them to go away. Which they pick up on and leave with a bow and out the door.

“You ready for dinner?”

“Yup, should I change into something better first?”

“No one would care, you’re the star of the show today.”

“Sounds scary.”

“It’s not, you’re just our first summoned person and we need you to defeat the demon king or whatever. But, if you’re not up to it, we can elect someone else, we have multiple candidates. N-NO OFFENSE OR ANYTHING!!! IT’S- IT’S JUST YOU’RE OUR BEST SHOT SINCE YOU HAVN’T BEEN AFFECTED BY THE ENERGY AT ALL YET MEANING YOU HAVE THE GREATEST SHOT          !!!” she quickly goes from professional to flustered in the span of 5 seconds. It’s quite endearing and almost funny in a way.

“No offense taken, don’t worry. Say, should we get to dinner now?”

“hggghhhhh… alright…”

“Uhm… you said this would be dinner, yes?”

“I did, is something the matter?”

“We are at a stage.”

“Yes?”

“To eat dinner?”

“Oh right, Milli told you that the two of them were performers, right?”

“They did but what does that have to do with anyth- oh…”

“Yeah… I was out for a while before lunch because I was taking care of matters and… Milli made an impromptu show for you and the nobles that will be visiting tomorrow. I’ve informed them of your arrival. A few have already come and will be watching with us. Now come on, the show is starting.”

She’s basically pushed onto a wooden bench with a matching table in front of it as Jelly takes a seat next to her. The stage looks very nice with gray stone bricks lining the sides and many arches and windows. There is a main building that sits in the center with walls around it, framing the stage, and that brown wood for a roof. The towers to the right and left of it sit tall with bridges connecting the two in the middle of the towers and the top, almost at their cone roofs with a blue and pink flag respectively.

“HEEEYYYYY!!!”

A cloaked figure runs up to us, clutching onto their drapery tightly, as if to hide whatever was underneath at all costs. The voice sounds familiar though.

When they finally approach, she can see a bit more of their head that wasn’t covered by the cloak’s hood. Brown strands peeking out it and a bright smile as lights illuminate the bottom half of her face. Hmm sounds familiar… wait… what?

“Is-is that you Milli?

“In the flesh! I can’t wait for you to see my outfit, it’s so cute! But… it’s confidential. For now!”

“Oookay?”

“Teehee!” she skips off towards the stage.

Alright...? Something feels off but maybe she’s just nervous

Let the show begin!

“-nd now a short intermission to clean the stage and prepare for our next performance!”

The food isn’t bad. Rich meat dishes, which is to be expected considering this is basically a medieval-style world, along with apparently vegetarian dishes as well. Very accommodating. The performances have also been wonderful with some consisting of:

• An opera singer
• A mime (it was funny)
• Two trapeze performers doing something acrobatic up there with music accompaniment

Apparently, our last show would be the twins. The previous performances left her on a good note and excited to see theirs. Milli mentioned that her brother is good at acrobatics. So, maybe something similar to the trapeze performers?

*crackle*

The announcer comes live again.

“Thank you for your patience! Now, may we have an applause for our last performance of the evening?!” a round of applause. “Thank you! Now, I introduce you; Milli and Minni St Fraunz! I’m your announcer Estarie and it is now our final show at 7:02 PM!” oh man, it’s gotten late. She’s basically on the edge of her seat waiting for the two of them. The lights dim off, waiting for the starting que.

“HELLOOO!!! IT’S ME! LET’S START THE SHOW! LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!!!” it’s Milli!

The lights on the stage turn on and point to the center. And she sees…

Nothing.

Just the floor.

Wonderful

“AH-AH! WRONG SPOT. UPSIE DAISIES!” the lights point up to reveal Milli, standing on the top bridge’s railing. Milli sitting next to her calmly.

Now believe her when she says their outfits were busy, extravagant, and beautiful.

Milli wearing a fluffy pastel pink dress with a circle skirt and white frills lining it. Puffy bell sleeves off the shoulder and not going past her elbow. Magenta bows on both with long ribbons blowing in the evening breeze. Hair in her two pigtails but now donning more bows. Her socks are now knee length and with horizontal stripes of pink and white. Chunky magenta boots that couldn’t be higher than one centimeter thick for stability. It’s very cute, meanwhile her brother seems like a direct contrast. His raven hair flowing through the air. This time, their ends appear to be a bold blue. A silver hairpiece resembling a star inside a gear contrasts the hair on their head. Their costume almost resembles a sailor’s uniform with a bow on his chest, the black short sleeved shirt with a large collar and shorts. Except, he wears something underneath with white, fluffy, cuffed sleeves and white stockings. As well as some sort of tailcoat behind them that reaches to about their calves. Instead of his previous boots he wore that were white with gold accents, this time, they’re black with silver crosses on the sides and silver heels.

Which aren’t that thin

They just seem obscenely high. Like, holy crap high.

“WELL DON’T WE HAVE AN AUDIENCE TODAY! LOOKS LIKE WE NEED TO TRY REALLY HARD! ISN’T THAT RIGHT MINNI?!”

“Very much Milli, let’s give it our best shot!” a smile breaks out on his face despite him speaking with about half the joy of their sister. They hoist themselves off the rail and stand on it instead. The two reach their hands out for each other, take it, and nod. They face back to us and jump right off in unison.

Milli falls lower than Minni and as soon as she is about to reach the ground, she throws her partner back up where they do a flip and land back with grace next to her. Holy shit, how did his heel not break. Holy shit, how did she do that with one arm???

“WELL, WHAT A DRAMATIC ENTRANCE! FITTING FOR THE TWO OF US DON’TCHA THINK?”

“Very much so, sister. We should have the most dramatic entrance in the world.”

“AND PERFORMANCE!”

“And performance. Let’s make history this time!”

“HERE! WE! GO!” they link arms and Milli launches Minni back into the air, where he does a backflip and starts pummeling down to the ground headfirst. It looks dangerous. It looks threatening. It looks fun.

How exhilarating!

Step, one, two… twirl, spin one, two, three, lean back…

Performance is such a nonsensical thing to do, is performing actions that may endanger oneself for others cause joy? Is it because no one else has the confidence they could pull it off? Not that it matters right now, cmon, focus! Land that throw! One, two, thre-!

What is that?

Is that a person? Up on the support beams?

What are they holding? Is tha- OH SHIT THE GROUND IS COMING UP STICK THE LANDING STICK THE LANDING STICK THE LANDING!!!

He doesn’t land as gracefully as he would like to…

No time. That was most definitely a match.

In a wooden stage

Now that he’s focusing, they can smell oil. Their hands feel slippery too. No time, we need to shut this off.

“PAUSE. RIGHT NOW. IT’S AN EMERGENCY!”

Lots of murmurs in the crowd. Milli turns to look at them with a concerned expression. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see their coach absolutely fuming.

It doesn't matter, he could get punished as much as the coach wants, what’s important is keeping her safe. Their eyes stay glued to the figure who stares back at him. They can’t make out their face, but he knows something. They’re dangerous. They’re doing something he can’t tell what though.

“Uhm… little brother? Is something the matter? Did a critter spook you again?” a hand on his shoulder. He turns to look at her. Her wide magenta eyes, so full of concern over him. So underserving. Should he tell her? He can take care of it himself…

He realized too late.

Wooden stage

Oil

Cloaked stranger

Crowd of nobles

Isolated space

SHIT!

“EVERYONE GET BA-“ AN EXPLOSION, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FU-

“WAUGH?!” SORRY MILS, I’LL BUY YOU A NEW DRESS LATER! HAH! DA MIHI PRAESIDIUM!

He extends his right hand, using the left to brace the other. A raging fire cuts through the unprotected area. What in the world?! It was a little too late to notice because when he did, the barrier was already down.

Terrorism has really evolved, hasn’t it? From just setting fire to your rivals crops to magically engineering pieces of metal that can cut through magic like butter and dig into your flesh. Small enough to be packed next to the gunpowder in bombs yet dangerous enough for it to be quite the crisis.

Now when you do that to a close combat mage at point blank, lacking their usual gear, attacked on a surprise, and tired from a whole choreography, you would land quite the hit.

And a hit they did land; they got backwards with anti-magic enchanted steel in their face and right arm after the barrier broke. Flames threatening to consume him and irritating the wounds. There are less on the left arm so he decides to focus on recovering that one for now. WHERE IS EVERYONE WHEN HE NEEDS THEM??? WE NEED TO GET RID OF THE FIRE FIRST BEFORE WE CAN DEAL WITH THE METAL! THE METAL IS IN. THE. FIRE.

“HAH! LEFT ARM CLEAR CASTING EXTINGUISHING SPELL! GET BACK! CONTACT EMS! HUP! IGNEM VOLUNTATE MEA PROHIBE!!!” DAMN IT ALL! WHAT IN THE WORLD IS LOWERING THE POWER OF THIS SO MUCH??? DOESN’T MATTER, THE FIRE’S ALMOST OUT!

“-NI! HOLY LORD ABOVE! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!” WHO THE FUCK IS THAT.

Oh right, Hatsu was summoned today. That’s her running away with Jelly to safety. There’s lady Tete on the side and…

Milli…

She’s crying

…

Shit.

He probably looks like a mess right now, they can vaguely feel something hot flowing down his face and right arm. The other one slightly shaking with something he can’t name.

Should he say something? What’s there to say? The others are busy evacuating and dealing with the fire while he sits here being useless. Maybe he should apologize? Try to help? Drop another few thousand coins on the others to reconcile?

“uhmmn…” he looks down, hoping his hair hides his face a bit. “…sorry about that Mils… I… I saw something and I didn’t want anyone to get hurt…”

Her breath hitches and she sniffles a bit. He… he should go buy her an even prettier dress; this one is probably ruined.

.

OW???

Apparently, Milli crashed into his chest, sending him backwards, losing balance, and having his back meet the ground. It’s not doing his head any favors, but this isn’t for him, it’s for his sister. Do it for her, do it for her, do it for her.

Urgh

It kinda hurts.

“…you don’t need to apologize, if it weren’t for you, a lot more people would’ve gotten hurt or even killed…”

“…”

Is she sure about this?

Does he deserve this?

It was for his own selfish desires…

Oh, Lady Tete is saying something.

“-ld you er- like some healing before we bring you home and call a doctor?

A doctor? “Oh- uhmn… It’s alright, I’ll just drink a potion…”

“Minni. We will be getting you a doctor. You have metal lodged in your head and arms. Possibly more spots. We. Are. Getting. You. That. Doctor.”

“YEAH, WHAT SHE SAID!!!”

Scary.

“Sigh, alright fine. Let’s go.”

I hope Hatsu is alright and this didn’t freak her out too much

What the fuck just happened.

So she was watching the performance all nice and things were going well when Minni stopped it, pushed Milli off the stage (hope she’s okay), tried to cast a barrier, AND THE WHOLE THING EXPLODED IN FLAMES. LIKE, TH WHOLE STAGE.

Jelly took her back to the manor and let the others deal with it. While evacuating, she heard Spade and Clover shouting orders while Blue and the twins helped evacuate (Blue helped one before his coat caught on fire and he ran away).

Now, she’s sitting in her room. After a nice shower and changed into clean clothes. The nightgown she wears is quite comfortable. It’s a soft purple with some white embroidery at the edges.

There’s a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

It opens a crack and Jelly pokes her head in.

“Hello, just checking in, are you feeling alright?”

“Yes, no pain or anything abnormal whatsoever.”

“If you feel something, find a staff member or me alright?”

“Mhmn, got it.”.

“Will you be staying up later? It’s about 8:30 pm.”

“Hmm… maybe a little longer then.”

“Alright. I’m doing a little work until about 9 o clock. If I don’t see you after, goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

She leaves and shuts the door.

Hmm… nothing much to do… she can’t doomscroll anymore…

Maybe she should start journaling?

Well, why not.

She grabs a notebook and pen from the stationary set on her desk and begins writing.

Dear diary,

Wait, maybe not. She crosses it out.

Dear journal,

Today is my first day in this new world and it has been an emotional rollercoaster. I was given a magic pendant that helps me understand the world and a shopping spree by the duchess of the land, Jelly. I attended a show where there was a terrorist attack(scary). But the performances were pretty cool. Min got impaled a bit, but I think he’s fine. I’ll ask him tomorrow.

Goodnight journal

I don’t know the date, fuck.

She closes the notebook.

It’s quite dark out.

Maybe she should go to bed.

Oh! There’s a light switch!

Goodnight world.

It’s early.

The clock reads 6:02 am.

Minni unceremoniously passed out from blood loss and the pain after the adrenaline faded. Now, they wake in their bed, face and arms covered in bandages, and still in yesterday’s clothes.

Looking to his side, there is medicine (presumably from the doctor) with a note on how to take it. There are also a few rolls of bandages, medical tape, gauze, burn cream, and a bottle of disinfectant. Standard stuff.

He should take a shower and change the bed sheets, they’re dirty from yesterday.

Come on now, you have a picture to keep up.

One hot shower later, and he feels alive again. They decide if he should just drink a potion, but he wouldn’t want Milli to get mad at him again…

Suppose not then.

They covered most of his forehead in some bandages with disinfectants. Some of their cheeks are also scratched but it doesn’t feel that deep so he just lets it be. It’s already scabbed over.

His arms are a different story.

They tend to wear long sleeves or tight tops but wearing those would probably irritate the wound or the bandages over it. Is there anything in their closet that would help...?

Oh! How about this. A white collared short sleeved shirt and a gray vest. That’ll do. His blue tie… black shorts… and finally, shoes! They’re feeling a white knee-high sock situation with black ankle high boots. Fashion genius.

Can’t forget the earrings, stars as always.

He picks up his black crossbody bag and looks at the clock. They’d like Milli to sleep in (and not catch me sneaking out) after all that’s happened, so they’ve got to be quiet.

The clock reads 6:43

Time to start the day.

The manor isn’t far; it’s just past the markets. In the morning, there isn’t a lot of traffic. At night though, it’s a different story.

The shop owners that have been preparing for the day have been staring at them quite a bit. Is there something on their face? Or are they looking at the bandages? Surely the news has already spread around…

They stop at their local café that sells breakfast that he tends to buy daily. The food is good.

“Hello madame, how are you.”

“Doin’ pretty good lad, most likely better than you. Ya doin’ good?”

“I’m alright madame, it just looks bad. May I have my usual?”

“Scoff, ‘course you can AY JIM, GET ME THE KID’S USUAL”

“HOLY SHIT HE’S THIS PUNCTUAL DESPITE WHAT HAPPENED???”

“YOU BET YOUR ASS!!!”

“GOD DAMN!”

“…”

“Here ya are kiddo, one sandwich with black coffee and I’m throwing in a strawberry turnover for free. No buts.”

“I- alright… here’s the money.”

“Keep it kid, get well soon”

“Are… are you sure?”

“Just take it and get outta here.”

“I… alright… th-thank you madame.”

“No problem kiddo.” She ruffles their hair, messing up his perfectly manicured appearance, but he doesn’t mind this time. Madame is like a mother to them. He puts the box of food in his bag and grabs the coffee before waving goodbye and stepping out the door.

Pocket watch reads 6:54.

Good, he has time to get a snack before heading to the manor.

Taking a sip of his coffee, he stops at a fruit stall to order some for the day.

“Hello sir, could you slice me some apples and strawberries to go please?”

The owner doesn’t grace him with a response and just gets to chopping.

Soon a rather large cup with two toothpicks sticking out of it appears. He wraps the top with paper before securing it with a thin string.

“Thank you, how much would that be?”

“Just take it kiddo.”

“Huh?”

“Scram.”

“Uh… alright. Have a nice day…?” he walks off

Time: 7:03

They sip their coffee

Bitter, slightly coarse, and jolting him awake.

Time to go!

A knock on her door wakes her up.

“Excuse me miss, I’ve brought breakfast.”

“…wuh???”

“May I enter?”

“Yeaahh yeahhh suree…”

Rafid walks in as she finally sits up in her bed. He’s pushing a cart in front of him with plates on them.

“I have brought you breakfast. Unfortunately, her grace has reserved the hall for the diplomats joining us.”

“Oh, uhm, it’s fine. Just leave the food there please.”

“Do you have any allergies?”

“None of the sort.”

He does as instructed and leaves.

There are a few small plates on the desk with one larger plate.

The larger one appears to have something resembling pancakes which smells divine. The smaller ones appear to have fruits, a small pitcher of syrup, a bowl of cream, and a cup of water.

As much as she would like to gorge herself right now, she needs to get ready for the day first.

Teeth brushed… clothes changed… hair done… okay!  Let’s start the day.

She grabs one of the knives on the table with her right hand and a fork with her left and cuts into the pancake after pouring some syrup, cream, and berries on. She takes a bite and…

!!! SOFT!!! SWEET!!! IT’S SO GOOD!!!

Before she knew it, she ate the whole stack of pancakes and downed the glass of water. Hell yeah.

She hears some steps outside her room and perks up. It doesn’t sound like Rafid’s shoes nor Jelly’s on the wooden floor. Who could it be? She hears some keys jingling and unlocking a door.

She opens her door a bit to peek outside.

Someone entered that large room over in the corner of the floor. She thought it was a guest room or something, but it was much bigger.

Hmmm…

Let’s check it out! Why not?

She walks over to the door left slightly ajar with a sign on it saying “Do not clean area” which sounds funny as if that person would like to keep it messy.

She opens it and sees…

Rows upon rows of books. Dust collecting on some of them. Some shelves reaching the ceiling. A platform sits halfway through the two shelves reaching the ceiling with a support slab with a ladder on it for access to it.

And on that platform, there is a small rug and…

Unlocking the door to their office, he is greeted with stacks of paperwork. Some left over from yesterday and some new from the recent incident. It is currently 7:34 am and their assistants don’t arrive until noon because of their studies at the nearby academy.

With a sigh, they put down their bag, grab their breakfast, and start eating while working. Their right hand seems out of commission for a while, so he has to use his left.

They start with yesterday’s work of building requests, maintenance, funding, etc.

How bothersome.

Nothing he can do about it though. Ugh.

They take bites between papers. Signing one, authorizing repairs, etc… up next, they need to write a report about the incident. At this point, they’ve finished their sandwich and coffee. He should be doing it but they then remember that the materials he needs are in his storage.

Which is…

About 5 meters from Hatsu’s room…

He doesn’t want to wake her since it’s about 8 am…

But he needs to get this report done, they don’t want to do it later.

With a sigh, he grabs a few sheets of paper, a pen, a bottle of ink, and a clipboard.

Let’s just get this over with.

Is… is that Minni? Their back is facing towards her, but his raven black hair is hard to miss. Especially in this sparkly magical world where everyone’s hair is colored a different shade of the rainbow.

They have a stack of books next to them, a few open and the others closed. A small silver music player sits on top of the bookshelf singing a peaceful song that resonates deep within your soul. It calms you in a way that also saddens you. Like that phrase ‘the disturbed be comforted by what disturbs the comforted”.

They seem to be writing something with their left hand (isn’t he right-handed? He drew with chalk yesterday with his right hand.) and used their right to hold a book. They haven’t seemed to notice her yet, so she stays silent. She really wants to ask if he’s alright after what happened yesterday…

Suddenly, she hears fast-paced steps rapidly approaching. Minni hasn’t seemed to notice still for some reason, and she can hear the clicks of someone’s heels getting louder and louder and…

“MILLI ST FRAUNZ OF SAINT FRAUNZ VILLAGE WHY IN THE HOLY LORD ARE YOU HERE?!”  Oh, she full named him, he’s in trouble now.

Milli bursts in with explosive force which makes her, and Minni, jump in surprise.

“OH MY GOO LORD WHAT- HAH… huuu… It’s…it’s just you Mils… w-what, do you need something? I’m writing a report on yesterday.”

“YEAH, I WANT YOU BACK HOME, RESTING, AND NOT HERE WRITING A REPORT ABOUT THE VICTIMS OF YESTERDAYS INCIDENT THAT YOU WERE A PART OF!”

“Uhmn… Lady Jelly probably would like an in-person experience, she led Hatsu to safety because it was first priority and missed most of it.”

“THAT’S NOT THE POINT! YOU GOT METAL. LODGED. IN. YOUR. FACE. SURELY A REPORT COULD WAIT A FEW MINUTES, right Hatsu? Defend me here.”

“Huh? Wha- oh hello Hatsu, I didn’t see you there. Are you doing alright?”

Well… “Probably better than you, does it hurt?”

“No, not at all. I took some pain medication this morning.” They give you a smile before moving onto another topic. “So,” he sets down the things they were holding and crawls over to the ladder. “What brings you here? Do you need something? It would be better if you asked someone else today instead of Jelly or I. She has things to attend and, well, I don’t have much today. My assistants can take care of the rest.” He jumps down from the platform and lands perfectly on his heels with grace.

“No, I don’t need anything, I heard you unlocking your door earlier and came to check out what the sound was. Sorry for intruding into here.”

“Not a problem, this place is just a spare bedroom that I use as storage for archived files and sources for reports since my office can’t fit it all. I hardly use the bed over there anyways.” He gestures to the bed on her right. It’s similar to hers except the canopy is a checkerboard pattern of cyan and black with some drapery adorning it of the same colors. The bed frame is black with gold accents and the sheets are cyan.

“The bed is… quite pretty.”

“…Thank you, personally, it isn’t my taste. I prefer blue more, but when I went to buy sheets, they were out of blue and I didn’t want to go back another time, so I just bought the cyan ones. Then it turns out we had a dutchy wide shortage of blue dye. I would know because I had to write a report on why Lady Jelly’s dresses she ordered were dyed cyan because the shop didn’t have enough blue to finish it and used yellow as filler instead.”

“That sounds terrible.”

“It was very, for shows I had to dye my hair cyan for a bit of time.”

“I feel like you would look good in cyan though.”

“He does” “I don’t” the siblings say at the same time.

They turn to look at each other before looking back at her and saying “Yes he does” “No I don’t” at the same time. Again.

The two stare at each other for a bit before Milli starts laughing and Minni just smiles with his hand over their mouth.

“Alright, then. I will be off to finish my report. If you need money to buy things, come to me. If you’re bored, go to Milli. If you’re hungry, go to Rafid or the gardens.” He begins to walk back to his platform when Milli stops him by grabbing their shoulder.

“Hold it right their little brother. Your hand is still injured. My acts are still fresh.”

Acts are still fresh? “Sorry, what do you mean by your acts are still fresh?”

She turns her head to look at you. “Oh! It’s a play on words. It was ‘My coffee’s still hot’ but then I don’t drink coffee… and since I usually use this phrase on my brother, I incorporated a theatrical element in.”

“Ohh, I see. Makes sense.”

She nods and turns back to her brother, who is avoiding her gaze.

“Soo… Minni’ she says with a sweet grin. They visibly jolt in surprise, and she can basically feel what face they’re making. That guilty face when someone is caught in trouble of something. In this case, being at work on a normal (to an extent) day.

They sigh and turn around. “Alright, you win Mils. I’ll finish this report and then I’ll go home.” They try to compromise.

Of course, it doesn't work.

Her smile doesn’t waver as she grabs her brother by the waist and slings them over her shoulder. She walks out the door as Minni just accepts his fate and doesn’t fight back. Before leaving entirely, she pops her head back in and asks her something.

“Heya, Hatsu?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you doing something today?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Great! Do you want to hang out with us?”

“I thought your brother was supposed to be resting.”

“I will be at my house. Under house arrest. By my own sister. You’re welcome to come with us to play games. Technically, we are both not required to go to work today because we were both directly affected by yesterday’s accident.”

“And yet, you went to work anyway. Isn’t that right, dear brother?”

“… at least let me grab the fruit I bought this morning home.”

“Fine. So, Hatsu, care to join us?”

“I would be honored, thank you.”

“It’s not an issue, Hatsu. Now, Milli, can you put me down. I need to get to my office. I locked the door when I left it.”

“Hmph, fine. But no running off!”

“I won’t…”

Minni unlocks the door to his office.

It feels much more different from the rest of the manor. The room is oddly L-shaped. The walls have a dark blue wallpaper with little golden stars decorating them. The furniture isn’t like the rest of the manor either. Instead of a warm brown, it’s extremely dark wood. The table, chairs, and lamp made of the same material. A plush blue rug sits underneath the furniture. There are also cushions and throw pillows on the chairs.

They walk into their office and take a left. There’s a sound of a door opening and closing. Most likely his actual office.

A few moments later, he comes back with a few papers bound by a folder in his arms, their bag hanging across the body, a small carton of fruits in a bag on their arm, and an empty disposable cup of what appeared to be coffee.

“What’s with the papers?” she asks.

“I need to put them in my home archives.”

“I see.”

“Alright, you have everything?”

“Yes, Mils.”

“Great, home. Now.”

Their expression looks grief struck. It’s kind of funny.

“So, where is your home?”

“Hmn? Oh, it’s just past the markets. Very recognizable. You won’t miss it.”

“What does that mean???”

“He means that his house stands out. In our neighborhood, the houses are usually made of normal stone bricks and light woods. Like mine. But Min over here decided that they had a penchant for dark colors. Their house has dark bricks like the manor over here and this mysterious expensive wood that doesn’t grow in this region. It’s blue and quite sturdy. And there’s a large gate made of solid metal.”

“You’re so mean to my house.”

“I’m speaking fairly of it.”

“Sigh… let’s just go…”

And off we went.

Milli… wasn’t kidding when she said their house stood out. It certainly does. Especially next to that bright pink house next to theirs. The nameplate on the pink one says “Milli St Fraunz” while the blue one says “Minni St Fraunz”

“Your houses are… next to each other???”

“They are!”

“Why not just live in one house???”

“Milli’s taste doesn’t match mine. Technically this is one house. We just split it down the middle and designed it to match our tastes. Theres a tunnel on the second floor connecting the two halves made of glass. It really doesn’t matter which side you enter from as you can go to either side interchangeably.”

“I… see.”

“Let’s enter through my side, Mins’s side is too heavily protected with their two solid metal gates and enchanted door that only opens to them.”

“It’s for safety.”

“It’s overkill.”

“Fair, but I’d rather over than under.”

“You have a point.”

“Let’s just go in already.”

“Fine.”

Milli walks up the steps to her house and unlocks the door.

“Come on in! My house doesn’t bite!”

She follows Milli with her brother walking behind her. The walls inside are pink like the outside with that warm brown wood again for flooring. Soft furniture of the same material occupy the space. She spots the tunnel that Min talked about and caught a glimpse inside their home as well. It’s dark and almost erie.

Min walks through the tunnel and into their own home. Most likely to put down their things and sort their papers.

“Well then, care for tea?”

“Oh, sure.”

“-ND THEN SPADE, TRYING TO CATCH THE CHICKEN ON THE LOOSE, FACE PLANTED INTO THE GROUND! IT WAS HILARIOUS!!! THE CHICKEN THEN RAN TOWARDS BLUE WITH THE ANGER OF A THOUSAND BEASTS! BLUE RAN AWAY FROM IT SCREAMING SO LOUD PEOPLE FROM ACROSS THE CONTINENT COULD HEAR HIM! EASILY ONE OF THE FUNNIEST MEMORIES HERE!”

The two girls had been passing the time by gossiping and retelling memories. At one point, Minni came back with the box of fruit and his own tea bag stating he doesn’t prefer sweeter teas. Which was odd considering this tea is more floral than sweet. His was a dark, bitter smelling tea. It would almost convince her to be coffee if she didn’t see the tea canister clearly reading “Tea”.

“If I may…” Minni butts in. “I would like to discuss our next terms of action with Hatsu here. You can stay Mils; I would just like to talk to her about this as soon as possible.”

Her? “Me?”

“Yes”

“What do you need?”

“Your purpose.”

Now her attention was fully on him. Purpose? Is this some sort of philosophy thing?

“Purpose?”

“Yes- er, well. I suppose not exactly. You do not have to be bound by expectations. Has Lady Jelly mentioned what we summoned you here for?”

“She did mention something about me needing to defeat a demon king…”

“Basically. We need you to provide salvation to this rotting world.” They take a sip of their tea. “To defeat the one plunging the world into the abyss. It’s completely fine if you refuse. We could just send you back from whence you came.”

“Send me back…”

“Yes. Do you have something to miss back at your home? Anything would be reasonable.”

Well… “Not really I suppose…”

“…”

“… I’ve made up my mind.”

“Go on.”

“I will join your cause.”

They look into your eyes. The bandages on his face apparent and increasing their cute factor. Deep eyes stare at yours while your similarly dark eyes stare back. They break first with a slow blink and a smile.

“Welcome aboard. It’s good to have you here.”

You smile back

“Likewise.”