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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[The guide confirmed the shrine maiden's statement that nobody knew how they got in Luceti, much like her - but apparently, from what Ai was reading here, it was the Malnosso Organization that had something behind it. She noticed that there was a section that provided further explanation, but it was the introduction that she read first.

What caught her attention was the fact that there were people in Luceti of many worlds and times - not just her own.

What about the girl walking with her, though? She was clearly Japanese, and yet, she was obviously capable of unearthly magic. Did she come from the Japan she knew, or instead, another world where it also existed? Or did she learn magic here? She appeared as if she was younger than Ai - her body language and tone towards her were indicative of that.

And those crows that followed her just added to the enigma.]

You are Japanese...

[A few passed until Ai said anything after her statement.]

...But you cannot be from where I come from.

[There was more confusion in her gaze than suspicion, though there was an element of both.]

Unless you learned the magic you used here?

[Rei kept on walking, silently waiting for Ai to get through what she could and ask questions. The first comment drew a wry smile. It usually did.]

Hai. I am from Asakusa, in Tokyo. Where are you from?

[She laughs quietly at the second. Another thing she'd come to expect.]

I am a miko. I've always had spiritual talents. But you are correct. I learned more magic here.

[Ai knew of Asakusa, in Taitō, but she hadn't gone there before. Where she was from, however, was not far away from Asakusa at all.]

I am from Kibitou. I am a high school student there.

[If she truly had such talents as a shrine maiden before she came here, then that would fit with the common belief that they did indeed have special powers of some sort... Though Ai was more inclined to believe that her being in Luceti made it possible to perform the magic she did.

If anything, given her attire, the other girl being a shrine maiden was obvious from the start.]

I have not been to Asakusa before. I imagine you were brought in Luceti from there recently?

[Ai would ask more about the powers and how Rei learned them, but she noticed that there was an "Abilities and Limitations" section in the guide she had been given, which probably explained it.]

[Rei nods, not having heard of the city, but she expected as much since she wasn't particularly well traveled. But that question draws a bitter frown from her. Recently, she only wishes...]

I've been here a full year as of...tomorrow, actually.

[She shakes her head, remembering coming in, and the battle, and...everything that'd happened since she arrived. But she never faltered in her step, her poise remaining perfect.]

Oh. I am sorry, I've been horribly rude. I am Hino Rei. May I ask your name?

[Full year was a long time. Just how much was Ai going to spend here herself? And doubtlessly there were people who've been in Luceti for even longer than that.

She dismissively waved her hand a little in assurance after what the girl said next, and what she then asked of her.]

No, it is okay, I apologize myself. I am Ai Nanasaki.

[A smile crept up on her face in her response.]

It is a pleasure to meet you.

[Rei offered a half smile and a polite inclination of her head. Ai. That was a nice name. Short and to the point. Sweet too, in a way. The kanji for it said volumes.]

It's nice to meet you, Nanasaki-san.

[She really was. A teenager her own age, ish. With a polite disposition. That was always nice, someone at least familiar with home]

What year was it, when you left?

It was 2012.

[The girl nodded as she answered, briefly looking back at the journal in her hand.

If Rei had been in Luceti a year, Ai would've concluded that it was 2011 when she was taken. However, the guide mentioned that people were taken from different times too, so that disproved her theory and warranted her question.]

What year was it for you?

[Rei nods, she should've guessed. Times were off]

It was 1994 for me. But that's fairly normal.

[Her eyes widened a little in surprise. Well, that was an interesting coincidence.]

1994 was the year I was born, actually.

[So much time had passed since then. Japan, and the world as a whole, had evolved to be a different place after that.]

This is... surreal. Life must have been very different for you back then.

[Ai looked down to the journal again, catching a glimpse of the next paragraphs that explained that she would have to take extra care of her wings, always making sure that at least one of them intact.]

[Rei gives Ai a half smile, and nods once again.]

Mmm, that is an interesting coincidence. I suppose a lot has changed in that time.

[Stepping nimbly over a root, she slowed her pace to walk beside the other girl.]

You would be surprised. There were many mysterious kidnappings and other things going on at home. Here, it's just on a smaller scale.

[The Dark Kingdom...]

[Ai turned her head slightly sideways to listen intently to the other girl, processing what she was saying to her. And indeed, the news of such kidnappings happening right at that time surprised her.]

R-really? I have not heard of any kidnappings happening then - at least, not any more than we usually get even today. Though crimes in general have reduced in the past few years.

[The last comment unnerved her a little, though she had already read something about experiments happening in Luceti. The recollection made her look back at the guide she held in her hands, at the table of contents specifically, and indeed, she saw that it was further explained there.]

It's...probably just a difference in our worlds. It's nothing to worry about.

[Rei's voice starts slowly, and finishes quickly. She's not going to be discussing the Dark Kingdom. Though...]

Unless perhaps you remember hearing about a princess coming to Tokyo, around then, it's not likely our worlds are the same.

[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.

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