koiwamizuiro | 1st Dive: Beginnings [Action]

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1st Dive: Beginnings [Action]

[A quiet and peaceful slumber after a long, tiring day in high school for Ai Nanasaki ended up with her waking up in the middle of a forest, her body on the ground surrounded by leaves. Not that she thought she was waking up at first, but that she was in the middle of an odd dream, rather. A particularly vivid one.

It was a bit cold - certainly colder than her room had been - and her body didn't feel as relaxed as it did on the comfy mattress. And she was lying on something else other than the ground.

As Ai leaned forward, her eyes inspected her surroundings curiously, her head feeling a bit dizzy. It resembled the hill her grandfather owned, but... there was something off about it. She wasn't on the route she usually took, either - there wasn't one to begin with.

Still feeling something on her back, she reached over her shoulder and touched what felt like a wing. Also, she seemed to be wearing a peculiar white sundress and not the pyjamas she had gone to bed with.]

Huh...

[This was so strange. And it felt real. It didn't feel like a dream.

Ai continued turning her head around, and it wasn't until her gaze landed on a book right beside her when she stopped doing so.

The girl reached out and inspected both covers of the peculiar object with curiosity in her eyes.

Standing up with the book in her hands, she opened it up, trying to make sense of what was happening. But what was inside of it just seemed to confuse her even more at that point.]

Where am I...?

[Her voice sounded as confused as it could be. It was a good question. And why did it feel like she had wings on her back?]

(OOC: Ai will be walking around the forest while inspecting the book, trying to either find anyone who could help explain what was going on or a sign of civilization. You can catch her there.)

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[That was definitely not something that happened in her own world, which would reaffirm Ai's earlier suspicion that Rei didn't exactly come from the same place she had. Certainly not if she always had at least some kind of powers... No matter the beliefs, there was yet to be any proof of shrine maidens practicing such magic.]

No, I have not heard of anything like that.

[Ai shook her head as she said it, and then raised a brow confusedly. Where Rei came from sounded like an alternate reality of sorts, because she was still clearly Japanese, and yet...]

So... does that mean the Japan you know is different than the one I was taken from?

Yes, it does.

[Rei nods tersely, offering up a meager smile. Simple enough, if Ai was as practical as she sounded.]

This place pulls people from many different sorts of worlds. In mine, things are definitely different.

I see...

[Ai nodded herself. If somebody was taken from Earth, it didn't necessarily mean that it would be from her own... 'version' of it then, and as she just saw, sometimes a different time in history too.

And that knowledge had to become something normal and commonplace for her during her stay here, regardless of how long she would remain here, and it was true for everybody... She definitely had to spend some time gathering her thoughts together.

As she walked side by side with Rei, she read more about the experiments she saw a glimpse of before, in text. So those were indeed the kidnappings that the shrine maiden mentioned... That made her curious about something.]

Have you ever been kidnapped by the Malnosso yourself, Hino-san?

[Was it related to her gaining even more powers than she already had in her own world?]

[Rei shook her head emphatically at that question. She'd been lucky. Very, very lucky.]

I have not been, no. My friend has been kidnapped three times this year, however. And more besides. Not...everyone has to deal with it. It seems random.

[There was worry in Ai's eyes and expression. Trapped here was bad enough, but to be one among the kidnapped by the Malnosso and experimented on sounded even worse. There was no way she would be able to defend herself against someone who just transported her to another world.]

I am sorry about that... is your friend okay now?

[As for the experiments themselves, they seemed pretty random as well from what she was seeing. Aging, inner thoughts sharing, personality switching, amnesia, even falling in love haphazardly... And those were only a few examples from the ones listed on the guide, and it said that there were even more possibilities.]

...I wonder what they gain from all of this. I am not seeing any logical reasoning for it.

[Whatever happened, Ai couldn't help but hope that she would not be a direct victim to the Malnosso. A lot of these experiments would terrify her, and others would change who she was.]

It seems like that is the reason why they are taking us from our worlds in the first place, though...

[With that in mind, there was no reason for them to just take her here for nothing... A thought that wasn't exactly comforting.]

[Again Rei nodded, her expression slightly distant. Ami had been turned into a child, she'd been turned into a different version of herself, and oddly enough she'd just started floating away. Lighter than air. It had been a truly bizarre week that week.]

She is, the experiments were largely harmless. Just...abnormal.

[That, at least, Rei has the stock answer.]

Nanasaki-san, I know this is probably quite troubling. But for the most part, the village is a quiet place. [Most days]

The reason...that we are given anyway...is that the Malnosso are trying to find a way to send us home. All the information we've gathered lends itself to that as well. They are just as trapped as we are. The world is what pulls us here, not them.

That is good to hear.

[It did seem like the experiments were mostly strange and sometimes disturbing other than causing any real actual harm - though they would have if their effects were permanent. Still, Ai wouldn't mind if she was lucky enough like Rei not to be among the ones picked for that.

She looked the girl's way as she was explained more of what the Malnosso were doing. It was true that she didn't have nearly as much experience, nor did she know enough yet, but it seemed odd to her that these kinds of experiments were performed in hopes of bringing people back to the worlds they were taken from.]

Oh.

[Remaining quiet a little after processing what she was told, Ai glanced at the paragraphs explaining the departures in the guide.]

If the Malnosso are also trapped like us, and want to bring us back, then why don't they cooperate with us instead of kidnapping people randomly, or share more information?

[To their credit, the guide did say that sometimes when a person was taken by the Malnosso, they would disappear, presumably having returned to their world. There was no proof of that, however, and Rei herself didn't seem certain.]

It just seems hostile of them. We cannot truly help them this way, either. They have powers that we do not.

[Rei grimaces at that. She really didn't have an answer, or any good answer for that question. She wishes she did, because spirits know that the girl could use some comfort. But she really...doesn't know. And probably for the first time, her mask of calm breaks. She looks sad, and somewhat apologetic. as she replies.]

I have no idea what their motives are. I know that I do not trust them. I know that they've hurt my friends. And I know that I think of them as my enemy, no matter what they might say.

[Soft, but firm. With a dangerous glint in her eye. They are the enemy. No matter what anyone else might say.]

[Ai noticed the change of tone in Rei, seeing the glimpse of sadness she displayed, warranting a worried expression on her own face.

From what she had understood in these few recent moments of clarity, the Malnosso were not a group that she would ever want to encounter regardless of what their true intentions were, for it was their methods that she did not like. And seeing the way Rei reacted affirmed that they did more harm than good, after all, if they were even the ones who managed to send people back home.

She was given little reason to trust them herself. At least, right now.]

At least the people who are here, in Luceti, can cooperate with each other.

[At least they should be - she hadn't seen the situation there yet, but hearing that the village was mostly quiet and it housed the people who were transported here, then sharing the same fate should unite them, if only in a way.]

I do not know how I will be able to help, but... if there is a way I can, I will work for getting people back to where they belong.

Well, we're somewhat united in our suffering.

[Rei's smile is slightly bitter.]

Well, most people here learn to defend themselves if they can't already. There are clubs for keeping up morale and for construction. And some people offer martial arts training.

[Ai took note of the bitter smile, her lips pulling into a slight frown. It sounded like they were faced with an enemy that nobody knew a great deal about, and even the guide didn't have all the information.]

At least people do disappear from here eventually... Maybe they truly have been brought back to their worlds, after all.

[She wanted to look on the bright side of things, and another thing that comforted her was reading about the fact that time supposedly stopped back in the Japan she knew while she was here. If she ever returned, then... she would be brought back to exactly where she had been taken from before, as if nothing had happened. Her family and friends wouldn't have to worry about her, and that brought her no small degree of relief.

She nodded at the girl's suggestions - it seemed like there was something written here about the matter too, and there was even a school... which made her curious about something.

She then looked inquisitively towards Rei and asked her something that wasn't mentioned in the guide.]

How many people are there in the village? What are they like?

[She would find out soon enough, and yet, she couldn't help but be curious on the matter. Rei's world was much like her own, just an alternate reality really... but what of the other possible places that people could come from here?]

They do return. People sometimes come back, with their memories of this place intact.

[That's a question that she can answer though, and she nods, smiling.]

There are a two or three hundred, if I remember correctly. And they are as varied as trees in a forest. People who travel the stars like in movies, super heroes, knights and sorcerers, talking ponies. I know a boy who pilots a mecha at home to fight aliens.

[Now that was a motley assortment. A Japanese girl with magical powers was surreal enough, and Ai was yet to see the real strange things like talking ponies, apparently, and who knows what else. She gave a meek smile of amusement at Rei's response.]

...Talking ponies?

[Two or three hundred was a fairly small number of people. That made it even less likely that she would meet somebody she had actually met in her world, or at least people from the Japan that she knew.]

It sounds like a rather colorful place, then.

[She only nods.]

Yes, talking ponies. And a dragon. An actual fire-breathing dragon. Some spirits and gods, and oh, it is fairly lively. I'm sure you'll meet plenty of...interesting people.

[Like Marco.]

Really, it isn't as gloomy as it sounds. It's a quiet, country life, like living far out in the Inaka.

[Ai couldn't help but have her eyes widen once more, and while Rei seemed amused by it herself, it didn't look like she was joking.

Just what kind of picture would she be faced with when they reached the village? Was it one of Gods and ponies walking on the roads and minding their own business, spirits flying around casually among all the normal people and everyone talking as if it wasn't a big deal?

Ai had a lot to get used to...

And then she lifted her brows at Rei's last comment, which was comforting in a way, but yet, she had trouble imagining a quiet life...]

Is it really like that?

[With what she was reading here and what Rei was telling her, the Malnosso surely made life difficult for everyone in Luceti.]

I do not think I would be truly comfortable with the Malnosso potentially abducting me, but... if I can live a quiet life for the most part...

[Her voice trailed off. She didn't know how she had gone to accepting the situation for what it was, but she had, and she was already trying to make the most of it.]

It is. Things happen slower here than in cities. I spent a little time in Niigata, studying at a mountain retreat and it was like this a bit.

Nobody gets truly comfortable, but it doesn't happen every day, or even every week.

[Rei gave her a reassuring look. Or what she hoped was one]

What are your hobbies?

[Studying at a mountain retreat honestly sounded appealing to Ai. Quiet and isolated, relaxing... She would be able to clear her thoughts easier and study better, too.]

I am afraid I have not had such an experience. I have been living in a city almost my whole life, so it will be a change of pace for me.

[Hearing herself say that was amusing to her. That was insignificant in comparison to the fact that she was now in another world, one that was filled with unearthly creatures and people trapped along with her.

She didn't have to think about the question regarding her hobbies, answering almost immediately, with a smile creeping up on her face.]

Well... I love swimming, most of all. I took up classes in high school and I became a captain of a swim team. I was looking forward to being a coach to my class in my senior year, too...

[That was another thing she would start worrying about right now if she hadn't seen the note saying that time had stopped back home. She could only hope that was the truth...]

Edited 2013-03-16 20:32 (UTC)

Swimming? Well, there's plenty of chances for that, Nanasaki-san.

[Rei smiles over at the girl, a possible new friend, and then nods towards the edge of town that's now coming into view.]

My housemate, Ami Mizuno-san loves to swim too. You should look out for her, I'm sure she'd love to have a partner.

There are?

[Ai's voice gained no small degree of relief when she heard Rei say that she could swim somewhere here. She was even excited.

Her eyes immediately went to glance back at the book in front of her, taking particular note of the fact that there seemed to be a section called "The School" and another one named "Notable Facilities". Perhaps there was a pool somewhere there?]

Oh, I would like that, Hino-san.

[Though swimming was an activity Ai loved doing whether she was alone or with others for different reasons, she had gotten used to having her team with her sometimes as well. It'd be nice if she wasn't the only one who shared that passion here, either.]

There is a simulation chamber that can make nearly anything. And a hot spring, yes.

I could easily teach you how to make a nice pool.

[A simulation chamber capable of almost anything was the most advanced piece of technology Ai had heard of existing before... This new information compelled her to ask how such a thing could be real, but then again, she remembered where she was - Luceti, a place where magic clearly existed. It wasn't technology that made all of this possible.]

Oh! I can make a pool in the simulation chamber?

[Just how close to the real thing would it be, though? Would she feel the same sensations swimming in something made out of the simulation chamber? How was the water going to be like?]

Would it feel any different than a real pool?

[A hot spring sounded great though, yet another relief to hear that there was one in Luceti - she'd certainly go check it out when she could. It looked like she'd have most of the amenities she had and enjoyed back at home, too...]

You can. Even the pool from your home, if you like

[She shakes her head. She understood the questions, and they were all pretty common.]

Not at all, it feels the same. And in the summer, there is a beach.

[That was fascinating to hear - she could bring places from her home here easily with this, and doing so with the pool was a good idea.

Ai imagined one of her first trips would be going to that simulator, after she settled in. That hot spring, too. She knew she could certainly use the time to collect her thoughts.]

Looks like I will be doing a trip around Luceti soon after I get there...

[She said so with achuckle. Indeed, all of this information reaffirmed Rei's statement that being in the village wouldn't be as dreary as Ai initially feared. She hadn't gone to the beach too often at home either, so having it close by during the summer would be another nice opportunity for her to take advantage of. If she stayed here for that long, that is.]

[Rei nodded again as the village came into view]

First, let's get you some real clothes, then we'll find you an apartment.

[Ai noticed that they were finally nearing the end of the forest herself, and parted her lips a little at the sight of the village. So this was where she was going to meet the talking ponies, the Godlike creatures, the spirits and knights.

It was quite an intimidating thought now that they were finally close, and it just hit her like that.

She then turned her head in Rei's direction curiously, realizing something that she could probably get an explanation for in the guide, but she spoke first regardless before checking it for answers.]

Um... can I get either of those without any money?

[It was probably obvious that she didn't have anything on her right now. Even if she did, she doubted any amount of yen would do any good here.]

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