#ilae open

The words blurred over the paper, sloshing around until they settled - the same message, permanent. He inhaled slowly, collecting himself. “This is fine.”

He neatly folded the paper and tucked it in his suit pocket. Straightening his tie he let the muscles of his face relax into a controlled calm. “I’ve kept myself well, ate only the finest. I’ve gotten out of worse than this, bien sûr!”

❝Where the hell am I? What was with those weird cosplayer girls, anyway? Witches? Pfft. Whatever,❞ he scoffed as he reached for his cell phone. Maybe Fuuka could help him get back to the-- wait. Where was his phone? Or his evoker? Or his freaking snacks?!

⊀ ✺ ⊁ – Despite the hardships he’d been put through while living in space, he’d never truly been pressed to find food. Hell, he hadn’t had anything resembling an outdoor excursion in ten years. 

Thankfully, this didn’t mean he wasn’t prepared--all that time sheltered left him longing for the wilderness, and he found solace in his father’s many books.They taught him things he would have learned, on the planet he was removed from too soon.

So, yes. He was prepared. He knew all the ins and outs and could tell the poisonous from the not, and he had a good guess as to why the sky was blue; he was certainly ready for the wilds of Earth.

Which this was not.

Slaine was in the middle of contemplating this bush before him, which seemed (by all outward appearances) to be the standard blackberry plant. However, in this new world, this could be anything. There was no known extent of the witches’ magic. This could just be another trap.

Stock still and hesitating over one-ounce berries, a nearby rustling alerted him of a potential guest. Grabbing a stray branch for protection, he took a defensive stance.

What the hell had just happened?

Had he not been doing something important before all this? Of course he had been! Shaking his head, Kouha gathered his thoughts while taking a look around. Wherever this place was, he certainly wasn’t anywhere near home. But he had to get back! He had to. His hand unconsciously slipped back over his shoulder, to grab his sword.

Might as well take a look from above, right? He needed to gather his surroundings.

Eh? Something was wrong. His fingers grasped at empty air behind him, lips curving into a slight frown. Ah, he didn’t have it.

“Those women...”

How was he supposed to get anything done like this?! Letting out a frustrated groan, Kouha rubbed the back of his neck and started to walk, slowly. Carefully.

The witches had told her during their movie/dream/hallucination/whatever that she was now in a magical kingdom called “Ilaefaci” rather than in Osaka, which was something she could get behind. Travel sounded amazing every time she heard one of her caretakers at the studio ramble on about their “vacations” and “time off”; this was most likely just a weirder version of those. 

They then explained where she would be living - in a “hut” in a beautiful place called “Ilmatar”. Gosh, just saying the name left a beautiful feeling in her mouth and she couldn’t wait to look upon it’s splendor.

But before she could be given the directions to said splendor, the witches had vanished and she was left with only herself and the midday heat of an unfamiliar wilderness.

Shit.

It’d taken at least an hour of walking through the thick forest before she’d found some type of help. And now she was going to talk it’s ear off.