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“Ugh, this shirt was not working,” Leo Kurosagi was in his dorm room, trying to take the perfect selfie. The lightning was good, his hair and makeup were amazing, but he couldn’t find a good enough shirt. But he wasn’t going to give up yet. He opened up his dresser and the world went pink.
“What was that?” He looked around as his eye sight went back to normal. Instead of his dorm room, he was in an. . .old castle? Cracked stone bricks made the walls, with broken stain glass windows and cobwebs. Outside it was dark, the only light coming from a. . .purple moon?
“Shh shha,” There was a sound of shuffling around the corner. Using his special artifact Bubblegum, he created a sword and got ready to fight.
The noise stopped when a weird sack creature appeared from behind the corner. It was the size of a large sack of potatoes, made out of faded patterns. It had two large buttons for eyes, and a frown stitched on. It looked up at him for a second, then jumped.
All it took was one slash of his sword and the sack thing disappeared in a puff of purple smoke. All that was left of it were some string laying on the ground.
There was another sound in the distance now, two sets of foot steps coming his way, one that was in heels.
Then appeared a pink haired girl, and a little white walking cat in a yellow cloak. The girl looked between Leo, the strings on the ground, and his bubblegum sword.
“Hello, my name is Nikki, and this is Momo,” She gestured to the cat. “It looks like you can take care of yourself, but please be careful while you’re in the castle,”
“You don’t recognize me? Here, let me step into light,” He walked in front of her, and waited for recognition to appear in her eyes. But it never did.
“Sorry, I don’t know you. Are you a traveler from the Starhail Federation?”
“The starhail what? I’m Leo Kurosagi, from Tokyo,”
“Tokyo?” Now recognition was in her eyes. “Like Tokyo, Japan, on Earth,”
He rolled his eyes. “Yes, Tokyo, Japan on Earth. Is there any other Tokyo out there?”
“Hey, you don’t have to be so rude, you know,” Momo said.
“I wasn’t being rude, I was asking a question,”
“How did you get here?” Nikki asked.
“Huh? I’m not sure, I was in my dorm room, then there was a flash of pink, and I was here, wherever here is,”
“You’re not on Earth anymore, you’re in Miraland,”
He stared at her, looking for signs of delusions or lies.
“If this is some sort of prank, it’s awful,” He moved past her and looked at the courtyard of the castle. Seemed a bit elaborate for a dumb prank.
“It’s not a trick! You’re really in Miraland!” Momo yelled as he ran after Leo, with Nikki following behind.
“Prove it then,”
“Check your phone,” Nikki said.
Leo didn’t want to listen to her, but he might need to call someone for a ride back home, so he opened his phone.
Great, this place has no bars. “What am I supposed to be looking at?”
“Try finding your location,”
He tapped the map app. It showed the Darkwick academy grounds, but the little dot that was supposed to represent him was gone. He started to frown.
“Okay, the maps not working, but there’s still no way I’m not on Earth anymore,”
“You’re so annoying!” Momo stamped his feet on the ground. “Didn’t you get attacked by a monster earlier? That should prove we’re not on Earth!”
Leo shrugged. “I deal with monsters all the time on Earth, I am one. That doesn’t prove anything,”
“What!” Momo looked like he was about to throw himself at Leo, but Nikki moved between them.
“I know how to prove to you this isn’t Earth. Take my hand,”
“Take your hand? You’re a complete stranger, and you think you have hand holding privileges? Don-” She grabbed his hand anyways, and in a swirl of stars, they were now in a completely different place.
They were on a beach of pink sand, and the ocean reflected the starry sky above. A few feet away from them was a giant floating. . .woman? Her body was made out of the night sky, with a shining star in her chest. She had long pink hair that flowed behind her, and half her face was cracked into pieces.
“Oh, another lost traveler,” The woman said. “I presume you are having a hard time believing you left your home realm?”
“Where am I!” He shouted.
“Right now, you’re in the Sea of Stars, a place that connects various worlds together. Somehow, you got taken from your world to Nikki’s,”
“Then take me back,”
The woman smiled at him. “The Sea of Stars has no rhyme or reason, it can not be commanded to send someone back so easily. For the time being, stay with Nikki. She’s the saviour of Miraland afterall,” The woman drifted high up into the air and flew far away.
For a moment there was only the sound of the waves crashing as Leo took everything in.
“There has to be a way back, right?” He asked Nikki. She only gave him a small frown.
“We’ve never been able to find one,” She stepped closer and reached for his hand. He didn’t jerk away, and she gave it a squeeze.
“I’m from Earth too. Maybe not the same one you’re from, but I’ve been in Miraland for a while, and I have a house that you can stay at, if you want. You don’t need to listen to The Seer’s advice,” Her eyes were honest in a way he hadn’t seen in many.
“If you can’t take me back home, then I guess a place to stay is the next best thing,” He said.
“Wonderful. I’ll have a room set up for you in no time,” She smiled back at him, and he fought the urge to return it.