QM's Note: OH GOD WHY AM I DOING THIS?!
This is my worst idea, ever. I have never done...
This is my worst idea, ever. I have never done...
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I got transported to another world and didn't even become the main protagonist! (Isekai Quest)
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Statistics (8 threadmarks, 5.7k words)
User Total Anya Homura 8 -
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1.1: Glorified Character Creation
- Location
- Wouldn't you like to know?
- Pronouns
- He/They/She
QM's Note: OH GOD WHY AM I DOING THIS?!
This is my worst idea, ever. I have never done anything like this, and I'm not even a fan of most isekai stories. All my info for this stuff comes from TVTropes and what I learned from Mother's Basement videos. And I don't have the best track record with quests to begin with, seeing how the farthest I've gotten into a quest is like... 6 updates?
You're probably not seeing a reason to read this. If you do, I first have to praise you for seeing what I cannot, and then beg you to stick around so that I may be able to see it too.
The main gimmick I'm thinking of is that the player character is never going to be That Guy. You know, the one who typically saves everyone, has epic powers, gets the girls? Yeah, this character may have epic powers, and get the love interest/s, but she's never going to singlehandedly save the world she finds herself in. That's up to That Guy, who is coincidentally starting his adventure the same time she starts hers. What's the setting, you ask? Well, I have a few ideas, but you'll have to see it for yourself.
This is probably going to be a trainwreck, but let's see if I can stick with it, why not?
Protagonist Name Vote (Surname, forename):
[] Nakamura Mae
[] Ienaga Chifuyu
[] Kuroki Sayomi
[] Write-In
Protagonist Appearance Vote:
[] Write-in
Protagonist Relationship with Family and Friends:
[X] Strained
[JK] That's it. Literally just strained. This isn't so much a vote as roundabout exposition.
You're not what you would call an interesting 15 year old.
Well, "besides from the constantly being transferred around the school system and country for your parents' job" thing. And the fact that you know a rather impressive amount of knowledge over western media from your dad's large collection of it that you peruse out of boredom.. And you would probably murder to get an actual dog instead of rocks painted to look like them (thanks a lot, mom). Not to mention the fact that you have more than 50 ideas for the job you want when you grow up, which you cycle through each day; right this minute you're pretty sure you want to be some sort of storyteller, you could probably pull it off... No you can't, your writing skills are just horrible. Maybe you have a chance as a person in food service?
...So maybe you're interesting. But you don't feel like it, even when it's kinda blatant that you're a perfectly good, intriguing person. Maybe it's the relative isolation you love/feel like you need due to the fact that you can't exactly bond with people when you're always on the move. Maybe it's the fact that the culture you live in is primarily centered around humility and self-sacrifice, thus having the potential to completely wash away a generation's sense of self-confidence should things get like that. These are clearly questions for another day, however.
It's a quiet weekend at the new apartment. Mom and Dad are both gone from the place, as usual, leaving you to deal with homework and take care of the house.
You can get away with calling watching TV "checking to see if cable works here", can't you? Yeah, you can.
You sit on the couch and turn on the TV to see a boring news channel. Compelling, for sure. You flick through the stations before coming across a rerun of Madoka Magica. Good enough.
You drain your glass of water sometime around Sayaka and Kyoko fighting, leading you to sigh and get up to put it away. As you put it into the dishwasher, though, you see something out of the corner of your vision-- glow?
You turn around to see a sheet of golden energy surround you, with white markings emblazoned onto the gold. You try and step back only to feel what's like a wall behind you, but--it's still just the energy, around you in a circle.
Crapcrapcrapcrapwhatisthis- you think as the gold light then swarms your vision and leaves it black.
When things come into focus, you're looking at a dark roof with pipes filled with colorful matter swarming across it.
"...what," you manage to say as the face of a girl who looks around your age comes into view with a grin on her face.
"Haha, it worked, it worked!" She exclaims happily in your face.
You can't help but immediately just crawl away from the girl and say:
[] "What the hell?!"
[] "What even?"
[] "...I've got to be dreaming."
This is my worst idea, ever. I have never done anything like this, and I'm not even a fan of most isekai stories. All my info for this stuff comes from TVTropes and what I learned from Mother's Basement videos. And I don't have the best track record with quests to begin with, seeing how the farthest I've gotten into a quest is like... 6 updates?
You're probably not seeing a reason to read this. If you do, I first have to praise you for seeing what I cannot, and then beg you to stick around so that I may be able to see it too.
The main gimmick I'm thinking of is that the player character is never going to be That Guy. You know, the one who typically saves everyone, has epic powers, gets the girls? Yeah, this character may have epic powers, and get the love interest/s, but she's never going to singlehandedly save the world she finds herself in. That's up to That Guy, who is coincidentally starting his adventure the same time she starts hers. What's the setting, you ask? Well, I have a few ideas, but you'll have to see it for yourself.
This is probably going to be a trainwreck, but let's see if I can stick with it, why not?
Protagonist Name Vote (Surname, forename):
[] Nakamura Mae
[] Ienaga Chifuyu
[] Kuroki Sayomi
[] Write-In
Protagonist Appearance Vote:
[] Write-in
Protagonist Relationship with Family and Friends:
[X] Strained
[JK] That's it. Literally just strained. This isn't so much a vote as roundabout exposition.
You're not what you would call an interesting 15 year old.
Well, "besides from the constantly being transferred around the school system and country for your parents' job" thing. And the fact that you know a rather impressive amount of knowledge over western media from your dad's large collection of it that you peruse out of boredom.. And you would probably murder to get an actual dog instead of rocks painted to look like them (thanks a lot, mom). Not to mention the fact that you have more than 50 ideas for the job you want when you grow up, which you cycle through each day; right this minute you're pretty sure you want to be some sort of storyteller, you could probably pull it off... No you can't, your writing skills are just horrible. Maybe you have a chance as a person in food service?
...So maybe you're interesting. But you don't feel like it, even when it's kinda blatant that you're a perfectly good, intriguing person. Maybe it's the relative isolation you love/feel like you need due to the fact that you can't exactly bond with people when you're always on the move. Maybe it's the fact that the culture you live in is primarily centered around humility and self-sacrifice, thus having the potential to completely wash away a generation's sense of self-confidence should things get like that. These are clearly questions for another day, however.
It's a quiet weekend at the new apartment. Mom and Dad are both gone from the place, as usual, leaving you to deal with homework and take care of the house.
You can get away with calling watching TV "checking to see if cable works here", can't you? Yeah, you can.
You sit on the couch and turn on the TV to see a boring news channel. Compelling, for sure. You flick through the stations before coming across a rerun of Madoka Magica. Good enough.
You drain your glass of water sometime around Sayaka and Kyoko fighting, leading you to sigh and get up to put it away. As you put it into the dishwasher, though, you see something out of the corner of your vision-- glow?
You turn around to see a sheet of golden energy surround you, with white markings emblazoned onto the gold. You try and step back only to feel what's like a wall behind you, but--it's still just the energy, around you in a circle.
Crapcrapcrapcrapwhatisthis- you think as the gold light then swarms your vision and leaves it black.
When things come into focus, you're looking at a dark roof with pipes filled with colorful matter swarming across it.
"...what," you manage to say as the face of a girl who looks around your age comes into view with a grin on her face.
"Haha, it worked, it worked!" She exclaims happily in your face.
You can't help but immediately just crawl away from the girl and say:
[] "What the hell?!"
[] "What even?"
[] "...I've got to be dreaming."
Worldbuilding and Stuff
- Location
- Wouldn't you like to know?
- Pronouns
- He/They/She
A GUIDE TO LEY:
Ley is effectively the main resource that this world has that's different from Earth. Magic is another thing, but it's ultimately less important. Everyone knows Ley and has a basic idea of what each Ley type can do, which shall be recorded here for convenience's sake.
FIRE:
Fire Ley is the second-most commonly used Ley, and a substitute for Lightning Ley in poorer/more downtrodden areas. It can fill the same role as Lightning Ley in lighting and heating, but tends to outright destroy most things in its way in combat. Coloration is an orange-red.
WATER:
A type of Ley typically seen with travelers, due to the fact that it can basically serve the role of water. It does have uses in combat, however. Coloration is a navy blue.
AIR:
A combat Ley, can be used to gain bursts of speed in a battle, and create tornadoes. Silver coloration.
EARTH:
This Ley has multiple uses, from helping plants grow, to causing earthquakes. Sepia coloration.
ICE:
Incredibly cold to the touch, when poured over something it will instantly freeze that object. Tends to be poured into Ley-proof glasses and left to warm up during summer. White coloration.
LIGHTNING:
Lightning Ley is the most commonly seen and used Ley, simply because of how many different things it can be used for: heating, electricity, combat, an energy booster... Cyan coloration.
LIGHT:
A utility Ley, and so far that's about it. Used in areas with access to it as decorative lighting, usually. Bright yellow coloration.
SHADE:
Arguably the most useless of all Ley, being useful for spreading some dark fog and not much more. There's probably more to it but the QM hasn't thought of it yet. Dark gray coloration.
ARCANE:
The most dangerous of Ley types, since it can play the role of any Ley type randomly. It is not used very often because of this. Pale purple coloration.
Ley is effectively the main resource that this world has that's different from Earth. Magic is another thing, but it's ultimately less important. Everyone knows Ley and has a basic idea of what each Ley type can do, which shall be recorded here for convenience's sake.
FIRE:
Fire Ley is the second-most commonly used Ley, and a substitute for Lightning Ley in poorer/more downtrodden areas. It can fill the same role as Lightning Ley in lighting and heating, but tends to outright destroy most things in its way in combat. Coloration is an orange-red.
WATER:
A type of Ley typically seen with travelers, due to the fact that it can basically serve the role of water. It does have uses in combat, however. Coloration is a navy blue.
AIR:
A combat Ley, can be used to gain bursts of speed in a battle, and create tornadoes. Silver coloration.
EARTH:
This Ley has multiple uses, from helping plants grow, to causing earthquakes. Sepia coloration.
ICE:
Incredibly cold to the touch, when poured over something it will instantly freeze that object. Tends to be poured into Ley-proof glasses and left to warm up during summer. White coloration.
LIGHTNING:
Lightning Ley is the most commonly seen and used Ley, simply because of how many different things it can be used for: heating, electricity, combat, an energy booster... Cyan coloration.
LIGHT:
A utility Ley, and so far that's about it. Used in areas with access to it as decorative lighting, usually. Bright yellow coloration.
SHADE:
Arguably the most useless of all Ley, being useful for spreading some dark fog and not much more. There's probably more to it but the QM hasn't thought of it yet. Dark gray coloration.
ARCANE:
The most dangerous of Ley types, since it can play the role of any Ley type randomly. It is not used very often because of this. Pale purple coloration.
ICE + EARTH:
Tastes like chilled cocoa.
ICE + EARTH + FIRE:
Hot Cocoa, but not.
ICE + FIRE:
Evaporated on contact with each other. Not surprised.
ICE + WATER:
Resulted in the Water Ley turning into Ice Ley. Weird.
ICE + AIR:
The Refinery is covered in snow now.
LIGHTNING + EARTH:
Evaporated on contact with each other. It probably would've tasted good.
LIGHTNING + ARCANE:
Exploded soon after settling. That was horrible.
LIGHTNING + AIR:
World sped up from my point of view, but later results confirm that it simply speeds up a person. How far it does is unknown right now.
FIRE + AIR:
Could breath fire for a few minutes. Don't drink inside.
WATER + AIR:
Breathed in bubbles for three hours. The three worst hours of my life.
WATER + ARCANE:
WHY IS IT SO SPICY?!
FIRE + ARCANE + AIR:
Same results as Fire + Air, only spicier and therefore more burnt books.
SHADE + LIGHT:
Evaporated on contact with each other.
SHADE + LIGHT + ARCANE:
Shade and Light continue to cancel each other out, leaving Arcane alone in final result.
FIRE + LIGHT + LIGHTNING:
Created a hot, blinding light in the jar. Now used as a nightlight in my room. My hands are still kinda burnt.
(more to be added!)
Tastes like chilled cocoa.
ICE + EARTH + FIRE:
Hot Cocoa, but not.
ICE + FIRE:
Evaporated on contact with each other. Not surprised.
ICE + WATER:
Resulted in the Water Ley turning into Ice Ley. Weird.
ICE + AIR:
The Refinery is covered in snow now.
LIGHTNING + EARTH:
Evaporated on contact with each other. It probably would've tasted good.
LIGHTNING + ARCANE:
Exploded soon after settling. That was horrible.
LIGHTNING + AIR:
World sped up from my point of view, but later results confirm that it simply speeds up a person. How far it does is unknown right now.
FIRE + AIR:
Could breath fire for a few minutes. Don't drink inside.
WATER + AIR:
Breathed in bubbles for three hours. The three worst hours of my life.
WATER + ARCANE:
WHY IS IT SO SPICY?!
FIRE + ARCANE + AIR:
Same results as Fire + Air, only spicier and therefore more burnt books.
SHADE + LIGHT:
Evaporated on contact with each other.
SHADE + LIGHT + ARCANE:
Shade and Light continue to cancel each other out, leaving Arcane alone in final result.
FIRE + LIGHT + LIGHTNING:
Created a hot, blinding light in the jar. Now used as a nightlight in my room. My hands are still kinda burnt.
(more to be added!)
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The Cast
- Location
- Wouldn't you like to know?
- Pronouns
- He/They/She
Name: Johanna Alcott
Age: 15
Gender: Female
Personality: [QM's notes: Please don't ask me to describe any personalities. I'm bad at it, especially for viewpoint characters.]
----
Magic: ????
Preferred Weapons and Ley: ????
----
Ties with others:
Mom--warmly strained, if that's a thing.
Dad--warmly strained, if that makes sense.
Cherry Langley-- She seems nice, honestly! Even if she is the reason you're here to begin with. Her smile's still kinda pretty.
Guy who beat you out for the main protagonist spot by five minutes-- You don't like him. You're pretty sure he's insultingly bland.
Name: Cherry Langley
Age: 15
Gender: Female
Personality: A cheerful girl who means well. She has a surprisingly analytic side when it comes to making notes about Ley.
----
Magic: Flash Step-- she can teleport herself and items she can reasonably hold distances. It is unknown how far these distances are.
Preferred Weapons and Ley: ???
Name: Alva Arche
Age: Late teens
Gender: Female
Personality: A young woman who draws attention to herself and loves it. She seems pretty nice when you get past the first impression, though.
----
Magic: ???? (Cherry suspects it's something to do with charisma)
Preferred Weapons and Ley: Spears,
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The Archives of the Quest
- Location
- Wouldn't you like to know?
- Pronouns
- He/They/She
Because no-one has time to look through each threadmark.
Also home to omakes, if this ends up getting those.
Also home to omakes, if this ends up getting those.
1.2: Introduction
- Location
- Wouldn't you like to know?
- Pronouns
- He/They/She
QM's note: fun fact, I accidentally lost my first attempt at writing this because I'm doing it all here and my keyboard is a lil bitch. That made me wail in despair for a few seconds, no joke. Also, thanks to everyone who's decided to vote so far for reasons I don't quite understand.
"What the hell?!" you exclaim at everything and nothing.
The suspiciously-Yuna-looking girl frowns as she follows you with her gaze. "Huh. Thought heroes were supposed to be collected about this."
She shakes her head and walks over to you with a grin, sitting down to make eye contact with you when she's close enough.
"Hiya!" she says. "I'm Cherry Langley, and welcome to Fount, hero!"
...what? What the hell?
"Uh... huh?" you stammer out.
"Soooo, sorry about the state of the Ley refinery, but it honestly looked way, way worse before I got to it, I think summoning you back into the realm kinda mucked it all up," the girl-Cherry- offers apologetically. "If it's not intruding, what's your Magic, and why did it take a specific spell from that big ol' book to bring you back?"
"...What," you say in response. You aren't good at conversations today.
"Ohhhh, is this one of those tests where the hero makes sure someone's worthy of the knowledge of something super secret by acting like they have no clue? Because if that's the case, I promise not to tell anyone!" She has such a wide smile, pretty sure she knows what you're doing when you have no clue what's happening.
"Um, miss, I'm really, really sorry but I just don't know what you're talking about," you say. "All I know is that this golden circle pretty much just teleported me here."
She frowns at that. "Oh... really?"
"Really."
"...Then I'm sorry. I was so sure you'd come with full knowledge of everything. That was pretty silly of me." she smiles in an effort to apologize, then holds out her hand to you. "We should start from scratch, then. Hi, I'm Cherry Langley."
You taker her hand, and she pulls you both up. "I'm Johanna Alcott, and if I could get an explanation on where the hell I am, I'd really like it."
Cherry nods. "Right then," she says as she lets you go to grab a container on a bookshelf. "You're currently in one of the three 'Havens', places fully safe from terrible monsters and the forces of the Overlord. The Overlord is a terrible, terrible man who wants the entire world to be his, and is really close to getting there. He's crushed any attempts at rebellion in his own domain, so those of us who want to live good, fulfilling lives have to plot and plan and basically do most of our fighting here or on neutral ground."
She grabs the container and opens it. Inside is a map that she rolls open and points to a specific place on it. You see that it's a rough circular sketch of a city around what appears to be a fountain.
"That's Fount," she explains. "Named for a few things, first being the fact that it's literally right on a spring of drinkable water. The second is that this one of the biggest hotspots of every sort of Ley. We don't even have to do mining for it, we can just put pipes into the earth and it just comes to us!" She waves her arms around to emphasize, and you get the feeling that the pipes with energy inside are probably holding whatever this Ley thing is.
She looks back at you. "You probably have a lot of questions, so just ask me one and I'll try my best to give you a good answer!"
You have questions. An awful lot of them. But what to ask first?:
[] What's this Ley thing you keep talking about?
[] So Fount's like, a home for a resistance then?
[] Do you know why the Overlord wants the world?
[] Why did you call me a hero?
[] Write-in
"What the hell?!" you exclaim at everything and nothing.
The suspiciously-Yuna-looking girl frowns as she follows you with her gaze. "Huh. Thought heroes were supposed to be collected about this."
She shakes her head and walks over to you with a grin, sitting down to make eye contact with you when she's close enough.
"Hiya!" she says. "I'm Cherry Langley, and welcome to Fount, hero!"
...what? What the hell?
"Uh... huh?" you stammer out.
"Soooo, sorry about the state of the Ley refinery, but it honestly looked way, way worse before I got to it, I think summoning you back into the realm kinda mucked it all up," the girl-Cherry- offers apologetically. "If it's not intruding, what's your Magic, and why did it take a specific spell from that big ol' book to bring you back?"
"...What," you say in response. You aren't good at conversations today.
"Ohhhh, is this one of those tests where the hero makes sure someone's worthy of the knowledge of something super secret by acting like they have no clue? Because if that's the case, I promise not to tell anyone!" She has such a wide smile, pretty sure she knows what you're doing when you have no clue what's happening.
"Um, miss, I'm really, really sorry but I just don't know what you're talking about," you say. "All I know is that this golden circle pretty much just teleported me here."
She frowns at that. "Oh... really?"
"Really."
"...Then I'm sorry. I was so sure you'd come with full knowledge of everything. That was pretty silly of me." she smiles in an effort to apologize, then holds out her hand to you. "We should start from scratch, then. Hi, I'm Cherry Langley."
You taker her hand, and she pulls you both up. "I'm Johanna Alcott, and if I could get an explanation on where the hell I am, I'd really like it."
Cherry nods. "Right then," she says as she lets you go to grab a container on a bookshelf. "You're currently in one of the three 'Havens', places fully safe from terrible monsters and the forces of the Overlord. The Overlord is a terrible, terrible man who wants the entire world to be his, and is really close to getting there. He's crushed any attempts at rebellion in his own domain, so those of us who want to live good, fulfilling lives have to plot and plan and basically do most of our fighting here or on neutral ground."
She grabs the container and opens it. Inside is a map that she rolls open and points to a specific place on it. You see that it's a rough circular sketch of a city around what appears to be a fountain.
"That's Fount," she explains. "Named for a few things, first being the fact that it's literally right on a spring of drinkable water. The second is that this one of the biggest hotspots of every sort of Ley. We don't even have to do mining for it, we can just put pipes into the earth and it just comes to us!" She waves her arms around to emphasize, and you get the feeling that the pipes with energy inside are probably holding whatever this Ley thing is.
She looks back at you. "You probably have a lot of questions, so just ask me one and I'll try my best to give you a good answer!"
You have questions. An awful lot of them. But what to ask first?:
[] What's this Ley thing you keep talking about?
[] So Fount's like, a home for a resistance then?
[] Do you know why the Overlord wants the world?
[] Why did you call me a hero?
[] Write-in
1.3: Literal Minutes
- Location
- Wouldn't you like to know?
- Pronouns
- He/They/She
There's something you really, really have to ask:
"Yeah, um, why did you keep calling me a hero?"
Cherry looks at you again in slight confusion. "You mean, you don't even know about the hero thing?"
"Does it look like I know anything about what's happening besides what you tell me?" you retort.
She nods at that. "Okay, you make a great point." She then puts the map down on a desk and drags you over to an opened book. She flips back through the pages at an almost blindingly fast speed, eventually stopping near the beginning. "I'll be honest, this explains it far better than I could. You read this while I..." she stops there, seemingly thinking. "I'm going to go talk to someone! I'll be right back!"
Cherry then lets you go and slips out of the room via a nearby door you hadn't noticed before.
Huh. You shrug and turn to read it.
It has a weird rhyme on it, saying something about a "chosen hero" summoned to Gaia (which you assume is this world's name) during the 91st year of the land being "all but devoured by a demonic overlord's unstoppable hunger". ...you're pretty sure longer and hunger don't rhyme like the way this seems to want you to think.
But besides that, it's starting to get pretty clear what sort of situation you've found yourself in: a "trapped in another world" story. Of all the stories you'd wanted to happen to you as a child, this was honestly pretty low... so you guess it makes sense that this is what happens to you. The universe loves its irony, after all.
But still, you? Not a generic black-haired guy with even less personality than you? That's surprising.
Well, you guess you can probably game the system with this knowledge. Stick with Cherry, learn more about this new world, solve everyone's problems and kill the obvious bad guy, then hop on the first flight--or portal, you guess--out of here. Shouldn't be too hard.
The door that Cherry left from opens, and you see Cherry walk back in, looking... shocked?
"Are you alright?" you ask.
Cherry looks at you and then looks back at the ground. "'m really sorry," she mutters.
Huh?
"Uh, Cherry?" What happened?
She sighs. "...it turns out that you're not the hero."
...what?
"Then, uh, who is?"
"A boy, slightly older than me, I think? His name is Yosuke Seto, and he got summoned just 5 minutes before you did," she says dejectedly, probably because she thought she was the one to bring her world's hero into Gaia.
...This guy beat you for the right of being "hero" by 5 minutes. 5 minutes. You need to know whether or not he--
"The guy doesn't have black hair, does he?" you can't help but ask.
Cherry looks at you weirdly. "...uh, is your Magic the ability to tell things about others or something?"
Damn. You got beat out by the stereotypical isekai protagonist. That... honestly sucks. A lot.
But, looking at Cherry, you realize something.
She lives here. She thought she was the one to change something. She probably needs a distraction.
[] Ask about Fount.
[] Ask about her family.
[] Ask about Ley and Magic, whatever those are.
[] Write-in.
"Yeah, um, why did you keep calling me a hero?"
Cherry looks at you again in slight confusion. "You mean, you don't even know about the hero thing?"
"Does it look like I know anything about what's happening besides what you tell me?" you retort.
She nods at that. "Okay, you make a great point." She then puts the map down on a desk and drags you over to an opened book. She flips back through the pages at an almost blindingly fast speed, eventually stopping near the beginning. "I'll be honest, this explains it far better than I could. You read this while I..." she stops there, seemingly thinking. "I'm going to go talk to someone! I'll be right back!"
Cherry then lets you go and slips out of the room via a nearby door you hadn't noticed before.
Huh. You shrug and turn to read it.
It has a weird rhyme on it, saying something about a "chosen hero" summoned to Gaia (which you assume is this world's name) during the 91st year of the land being "all but devoured by a demonic overlord's unstoppable hunger". ...you're pretty sure longer and hunger don't rhyme like the way this seems to want you to think.
But besides that, it's starting to get pretty clear what sort of situation you've found yourself in: a "trapped in another world" story. Of all the stories you'd wanted to happen to you as a child, this was honestly pretty low... so you guess it makes sense that this is what happens to you. The universe loves its irony, after all.
But still, you? Not a generic black-haired guy with even less personality than you? That's surprising.
Well, you guess you can probably game the system with this knowledge. Stick with Cherry, learn more about this new world, solve everyone's problems and kill the obvious bad guy, then hop on the first flight--or portal, you guess--out of here. Shouldn't be too hard.
The door that Cherry left from opens, and you see Cherry walk back in, looking... shocked?
"Are you alright?" you ask.
Cherry looks at you and then looks back at the ground. "'m really sorry," she mutters.
Huh?
"Uh, Cherry?" What happened?
She sighs. "...it turns out that you're not the hero."
...what?
"Then, uh, who is?"
"A boy, slightly older than me, I think? His name is Yosuke Seto, and he got summoned just 5 minutes before you did," she says dejectedly, probably because she thought she was the one to bring her world's hero into Gaia.
...This guy beat you for the right of being "hero" by 5 minutes. 5 minutes. You need to know whether or not he--
"The guy doesn't have black hair, does he?" you can't help but ask.
Cherry looks at you weirdly. "...uh, is your Magic the ability to tell things about others or something?"
Damn. You got beat out by the stereotypical isekai protagonist. That... honestly sucks. A lot.
But, looking at Cherry, you realize something.
She lives here. She thought she was the one to change something. She probably needs a distraction.
[] Ask about Fount.
[] Ask about her family.
[] Ask about Ley and Magic, whatever those are.
[] Write-in.
1.4: "It's going to burn me."
- Location
- Wouldn't you like to know?
- Pronouns
- He/They/She
You say the first things to come to mind.
"Ha, um, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by Magic, so maybe? What is that, anyways?"
Cherry tilts her head and stares at you for a moment, before--disappearing?! What the-
You feel an arm around your back and turn to see her besides you. "Everyone on Gaia has their own unique Magic, that gets triggered through meditation or stressful events... or whenever the Magic within thinks it's right. I like to call mine Quick Step, since it basically speeds me up to get somewhere quicker," she says with a slight grin. "It's mostly just for me and me alone, but that works! Makes keeping the Ley stocks filled easier."
"Yeah, I'm curious what that Ley thing is anyways," you say in response. "I mean, I'm pretty sure it's what's in all of these pipes, but I don't know much more than that?'
She nods her head. "Well, you're right about Ley being in the pipes. It's like, our main line of offense and defense in combat, and it's very useful for just utility stuff. For instance, Fire Ley is... well, I'll show it off."
She grabs your hand and pulls you over to a pipe with a reddish-orange energy--Ley--flowing through it. She then starts turning a knob on the side of it, and a bit of the Ley starts pouring out. "Put your hand under it for a second."
You look at it. "It's going to burn me," you conclude. "I'm going to get first-degree burns."
She laughs a little. "No, it just feels like warmer water, trust me."
You glance to her, then back at the Ley. Slowly you reach your hand to go under the Ley, bracing yourself for hurt...
And it doesn't. Cherry was right. It feels... actually pretty good.
"Huh," you say. "Feels good."
"I told you it wouldn't burn," Cherry replies. "Fire Ley on its own is really pretty easy to handle, it's the stuff like Lightning Ley or Arcane Ley that you have to watch out for."
You pull your hand back and turn to face Cherry. "How many types of Ley are there?"
She turns the knob, stopping the flow of Fire Ley onto the ground. "Well, there's 9, and we have all of them here in pipes if you want to look."
You nod at that, and she points over to the next pipe, one with silver matter running through it. "Well, to start with, that's Air Ley. It's a combat one, really, helps people gain bursts of speed when consumed and creates tornadoes if concentrated. And if you combine it with Shade Ley, you can make clouds of smoke, which is helpful for getaways."
"Shade Ley? Which one is that?"
She tilts her head over to the pipe filled with it, and you're not surprised to see it's mostly gray.
"I'm not sure what that one can do besides darken an area, really," she says. "Even when working with other Ley, it tends to be used as a distraction or something."
"Ahhh. What's the aquamarine--er, cyan? Turquoise... well, what's the Ley next to it?"
She laughs. "That's Lightning Ley, used for a lot of things, really. If you look around, you'll notice that there's more pipes with that Ley than there are any others. That's because Lightning Ley is basically the main source of light when combined with Light and Fire Ley, it helps with heating and stuff, it can basically create thunder and lighting when used on the battlefield, and it's just pretty cool all around."
The next few minutes go on like that, and you learn a lot about the different types of Ley.
[Worldbuilding Post: Info on Ley gained]
It seems like the attempt to distract Cherry has been going well.
Maybe you should keep it up?
[] Write-in.
"Ha, um, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by Magic, so maybe? What is that, anyways?"
Cherry tilts her head and stares at you for a moment, before--disappearing?! What the-
You feel an arm around your back and turn to see her besides you. "Everyone on Gaia has their own unique Magic, that gets triggered through meditation or stressful events... or whenever the Magic within thinks it's right. I like to call mine Quick Step, since it basically speeds me up to get somewhere quicker," she says with a slight grin. "It's mostly just for me and me alone, but that works! Makes keeping the Ley stocks filled easier."
"Yeah, I'm curious what that Ley thing is anyways," you say in response. "I mean, I'm pretty sure it's what's in all of these pipes, but I don't know much more than that?'
She nods her head. "Well, you're right about Ley being in the pipes. It's like, our main line of offense and defense in combat, and it's very useful for just utility stuff. For instance, Fire Ley is... well, I'll show it off."
She grabs your hand and pulls you over to a pipe with a reddish-orange energy--Ley--flowing through it. She then starts turning a knob on the side of it, and a bit of the Ley starts pouring out. "Put your hand under it for a second."
You look at it. "It's going to burn me," you conclude. "I'm going to get first-degree burns."
She laughs a little. "No, it just feels like warmer water, trust me."
You glance to her, then back at the Ley. Slowly you reach your hand to go under the Ley, bracing yourself for hurt...
And it doesn't. Cherry was right. It feels... actually pretty good.
"Huh," you say. "Feels good."
"I told you it wouldn't burn," Cherry replies. "Fire Ley on its own is really pretty easy to handle, it's the stuff like Lightning Ley or Arcane Ley that you have to watch out for."
You pull your hand back and turn to face Cherry. "How many types of Ley are there?"
She turns the knob, stopping the flow of Fire Ley onto the ground. "Well, there's 9, and we have all of them here in pipes if you want to look."
You nod at that, and she points over to the next pipe, one with silver matter running through it. "Well, to start with, that's Air Ley. It's a combat one, really, helps people gain bursts of speed when consumed and creates tornadoes if concentrated. And if you combine it with Shade Ley, you can make clouds of smoke, which is helpful for getaways."
"Shade Ley? Which one is that?"
She tilts her head over to the pipe filled with it, and you're not surprised to see it's mostly gray.
"I'm not sure what that one can do besides darken an area, really," she says. "Even when working with other Ley, it tends to be used as a distraction or something."
"Ahhh. What's the aquamarine--er, cyan? Turquoise... well, what's the Ley next to it?"
She laughs. "That's Lightning Ley, used for a lot of things, really. If you look around, you'll notice that there's more pipes with that Ley than there are any others. That's because Lightning Ley is basically the main source of light when combined with Light and Fire Ley, it helps with heating and stuff, it can basically create thunder and lighting when used on the battlefield, and it's just pretty cool all around."
The next few minutes go on like that, and you learn a lot about the different types of Ley.
[Worldbuilding Post: Info on Ley gained]
It seems like the attempt to distract Cherry has been going well.
Maybe you should keep it up?
[] Write-in.
1.5: Water + Arcane = SPICY
- Location
- Wouldn't you like to know?
- Pronouns
- He/They/She
"So, how do you use Ley? I mean, you've told me what it does, but you haven't told me how to make it do the things," you say.
Cherry smiles and grabs a vial from a shelf by a Water Ley pipe. "There are two main ways to use Ley," she says as she opens the tap on the pipe. "One is to pour it into specially made channels in clothing and weapons, the other is to just down a bottle of it. Well, in combat at least, regular stuff like heating and cooling just uses pipes." The Water Ley fills up the vial.
"There are... channels in clothing, then?" you ask. "How does that work?"
"I have no clue," she admits. "The family's mostly centered around the actual gaining and selling of Ley, not the technical stuff that makes it useful in a fight. By the way, a common hobby of mine is seeing what off-the-wall combos I can come up with for Ley. You have any suggestions?"
"Hmmm, have you tried Water and Arcane yet?" you reply. "For that matter, how does combining Ley work?"
Cherry starts filling up another vial at the one Arcane pipe. "Well, unless you're drinking one after the other, it can't be done with just the pure Ley. We have a distillery in the next room if you'd like to see it while I explain."
"Yes, of course!" you agree. Cherry then opens a door you hadn't paid much attention to before, and walks inside a room.
You follow her into the room and see a much smaller and more orderly room than the one with the Ley pipes. It's got a desk with shelves of bottles and complex-looking devices you assume are meant to help with Ley combining.
As Cherry goes to work pouring small portions of the vials into different devices that you assume help distill the Ley, you look at an old notebook and start flipping through it. There's a lot of doodles at first, then around the halfway point it turns into notes of Ley combinations.
[Worldbuilding Post: Cherry's Notes on Ley Combos gained]
After a while, Cherry says: "Okay, it looks like it's edible!" and you look at the final product:
Two indigo-liquid-filled jars sit before you. Cherry goes and unscrews the lids on the jars while you notice Lightning Ley being channel through a series of pipes in the background.
"You ready to try?" she offers you a jar.
You nod your head and take the jar, which you then drink as she does.
That's... wow, that's really spicy. Really, really spicy.
You think you may need some type of dairy product.
Cherry clearly thinks so too, as she spits out the Ley mixture she had drunk and pours what was in the jar onto the floor, where it sizzles.
"Okay, 'really spicy' is going in the notebook," she says as she places the jar back on the table. "I'm going to go grab some milk, want me to bring you some?"
You nod your head and gingerly place your jar back by the other one as Cherry teleports away.
A few seconds pass before she comes back, two glasses of milk in hand. You're given one and you down it.
"Thanks," you say after drinking it. "...Does this happen often?"
She nods. "Well, not as often around this time of year, when the rest of the family's off at Torch and I'm the one in charge here."
Oh?
"Torch?" you ask. "Is that another one of the Havens, like this city?"
She nods. "Yeah, it's far south from here, so it takes a month to get there and another month to get back. They leave me in charge when they're gone for the trade deals there."
[] "Trade deals?"
[] "So your family's gone a lot?"
[] "That explains some of you getting away with blowing up the place sometimes."
[] Write-in
Cherry smiles and grabs a vial from a shelf by a Water Ley pipe. "There are two main ways to use Ley," she says as she opens the tap on the pipe. "One is to pour it into specially made channels in clothing and weapons, the other is to just down a bottle of it. Well, in combat at least, regular stuff like heating and cooling just uses pipes." The Water Ley fills up the vial.
"There are... channels in clothing, then?" you ask. "How does that work?"
"I have no clue," she admits. "The family's mostly centered around the actual gaining and selling of Ley, not the technical stuff that makes it useful in a fight. By the way, a common hobby of mine is seeing what off-the-wall combos I can come up with for Ley. You have any suggestions?"
"Hmmm, have you tried Water and Arcane yet?" you reply. "For that matter, how does combining Ley work?"
Cherry starts filling up another vial at the one Arcane pipe. "Well, unless you're drinking one after the other, it can't be done with just the pure Ley. We have a distillery in the next room if you'd like to see it while I explain."
"Yes, of course!" you agree. Cherry then opens a door you hadn't paid much attention to before, and walks inside a room.
You follow her into the room and see a much smaller and more orderly room than the one with the Ley pipes. It's got a desk with shelves of bottles and complex-looking devices you assume are meant to help with Ley combining.
As Cherry goes to work pouring small portions of the vials into different devices that you assume help distill the Ley, you look at an old notebook and start flipping through it. There's a lot of doodles at first, then around the halfway point it turns into notes of Ley combinations.
[Worldbuilding Post: Cherry's Notes on Ley Combos gained]
After a while, Cherry says: "Okay, it looks like it's edible!" and you look at the final product:
Two indigo-liquid-filled jars sit before you. Cherry goes and unscrews the lids on the jars while you notice Lightning Ley being channel through a series of pipes in the background.
"You ready to try?" she offers you a jar.
You nod your head and take the jar, which you then drink as she does.
That's... wow, that's really spicy. Really, really spicy.
You think you may need some type of dairy product.
Cherry clearly thinks so too, as she spits out the Ley mixture she had drunk and pours what was in the jar onto the floor, where it sizzles.
"Okay, 'really spicy' is going in the notebook," she says as she places the jar back on the table. "I'm going to go grab some milk, want me to bring you some?"
You nod your head and gingerly place your jar back by the other one as Cherry teleports away.
A few seconds pass before she comes back, two glasses of milk in hand. You're given one and you down it.
"Thanks," you say after drinking it. "...Does this happen often?"
She nods. "Well, not as often around this time of year, when the rest of the family's off at Torch and I'm the one in charge here."
Oh?
"Torch?" you ask. "Is that another one of the Havens, like this city?"
She nods. "Yeah, it's far south from here, so it takes a month to get there and another month to get back. They leave me in charge when they're gone for the trade deals there."
[] "Trade deals?"
[] "So your family's gone a lot?"
[] "That explains some of you getting away with blowing up the place sometimes."
[] Write-in
1.6: A Plan and A Dream
- Location
- Wouldn't you like to know?
- Pronouns
- He/They/She
"So your family's gone a lot, then?" you ask, feeling a small bit of kinship.
"Well, not too much, it's really only the three months that they're gone every year, and I used to go with them until, well, just this year," she explains. "I kinda begged to be left in charge of the Refinery this year, because of..." she trails off.
Oh. Yeah. Makes sense. Which reminds you of something rather important.
"...on, uh, that note, is there any way to, um, send me back?" you ask after a few moments of silence.
Cherry looks down and sighs. "I... I dunno. The book I was using to get you here doesn't have anything on returning people to where they came from. We could try to reverse-engineer it, but a lot of the resources I got for it are really rare and it'd take at least a few months to get them here, if they'll even work for that..."
Huh. The matter of getting you home seems really complex, for starters. Cherry's outright said she doesn't know how to do it, so figuring out the way to get you back would probably take a long time.
...But, you think you may actually be okay with that.
"Well, that's okay," you say. "We can figure it out as we go?"
"You want to try it?" Cherry asks, eyes wide. "Even though it's probably going to take months of effort and you being here?"
You shrug. "I was going to be stuck here anyways, why not have a goal?"
She smiles. "Heh, yeah!" She then yawns. "Oooh, what time is it..." she then vanishes to look at a clock somewhere, then steps back. "I don't know how tired you are, but it's like... 12:30 here, I'm going to go upstairs. Want to sleep in my sister's bedroom for the time being?"
You nod, and follow her through the house and into a rather... pink room. Nothing against pink, just... you hadn't figured girls on the other side of the magic bullcrap would be fans of pink too.
Cherry yawns and stretches. "I'll see you in the morning, Johanna!" she says as she leaves for her own bedroom.
You yawn too as you realize you're feeling really drained somehow. Likely because of everything that's happened.
You collapse onto the bed (nice and soft, you notice), and it occurs to you that this could well be just the weirdest dream you've had in a while.
You guess you'll see when you open your eyes tomorrow.
You get yourself comfortable and slowly drift into sleep.
In the corner of your mind, you hear a deep laugh from nowhere and everywhere
You don't know what's happening
You really don't know and don't want to know
You can't even look down because when you do
All you see is tendrils tying you here
Leaving you stuck
Helpless
You're not accepting that.
[] Something burns in you-- your rage consumes you and leaves you with an inner fire of anger, and flames leap at and destroy the darkness around you.
[] Everything overflows inside your mind-- you're left watching the waves wash away the darkness that held you.
[] Emotions blast through you-- and leaves to batter at the darkness around it, swirling it around and taking it away as if it was caught by a tornado.
[] There's a rumble below you-- and the darkness quakes, and shakes, and gets swallowed up by an idyllic forest path you know will keep you safe.
[] Something cools, and hardens in you-- the darkness freezes into place, leaving you a path through the new ice sculptures.
[] Thunder echoes in your mind-- lightning fills the darkness and destroys it from within.
[] You stop struggling, and you shine-- the darkness recoils from your light.
[] You surprise yourself, and let yourself fall into it-- to discover it doesn't harm you, and lets you search for color and warmth beyond the darkness.
QM's note: Yep, this is choosing Johanna's Magic. Y'all are allowed and encouraged to discuss the choice among you, because once you make your pick, there's no take-backs.
"Well, not too much, it's really only the three months that they're gone every year, and I used to go with them until, well, just this year," she explains. "I kinda begged to be left in charge of the Refinery this year, because of..." she trails off.
Oh. Yeah. Makes sense. Which reminds you of something rather important.
"...on, uh, that note, is there any way to, um, send me back?" you ask after a few moments of silence.
Cherry looks down and sighs. "I... I dunno. The book I was using to get you here doesn't have anything on returning people to where they came from. We could try to reverse-engineer it, but a lot of the resources I got for it are really rare and it'd take at least a few months to get them here, if they'll even work for that..."
Huh. The matter of getting you home seems really complex, for starters. Cherry's outright said she doesn't know how to do it, so figuring out the way to get you back would probably take a long time.
...But, you think you may actually be okay with that.
"Well, that's okay," you say. "We can figure it out as we go?"
"You want to try it?" Cherry asks, eyes wide. "Even though it's probably going to take months of effort and you being here?"
You shrug. "I was going to be stuck here anyways, why not have a goal?"
She smiles. "Heh, yeah!" She then yawns. "Oooh, what time is it..." she then vanishes to look at a clock somewhere, then steps back. "I don't know how tired you are, but it's like... 12:30 here, I'm going to go upstairs. Want to sleep in my sister's bedroom for the time being?"
You nod, and follow her through the house and into a rather... pink room. Nothing against pink, just... you hadn't figured girls on the other side of the magic bullcrap would be fans of pink too.
Cherry yawns and stretches. "I'll see you in the morning, Johanna!" she says as she leaves for her own bedroom.
You yawn too as you realize you're feeling really drained somehow. Likely because of everything that's happened.
You collapse onto the bed (nice and soft, you notice), and it occurs to you that this could well be just the weirdest dream you've had in a while.
You guess you'll see when you open your eyes tomorrow.
You get yourself comfortable and slowly drift into sleep.
~
You dream of an overwhelming darkness around you, leaving everything unseeable in the pitch blackIn the corner of your mind, you hear a deep laugh from nowhere and everywhere
You don't know what's happening
You really don't know and don't want to know
You can't even look down because when you do
All you see is tendrils tying you here
Leaving you stuck
Helpless
You're not accepting that.
[] Something burns in you-- your rage consumes you and leaves you with an inner fire of anger, and flames leap at and destroy the darkness around you.
[] Everything overflows inside your mind-- you're left watching the waves wash away the darkness that held you.
[] Emotions blast through you-- and leaves to batter at the darkness around it, swirling it around and taking it away as if it was caught by a tornado.
[] There's a rumble below you-- and the darkness quakes, and shakes, and gets swallowed up by an idyllic forest path you know will keep you safe.
[] Something cools, and hardens in you-- the darkness freezes into place, leaving you a path through the new ice sculptures.
[] Thunder echoes in your mind-- lightning fills the darkness and destroys it from within.
[] You stop struggling, and you shine-- the darkness recoils from your light.
[] You surprise yourself, and let yourself fall into it-- to discover it doesn't harm you, and lets you search for color and warmth beyond the darkness.
QM's note: Yep, this is choosing Johanna's Magic. Y'all are allowed and encouraged to discuss the choice among you, because once you make your pick, there's no take-backs.
1.7: Seven bottles of Fire Ley on the wall...
- Location
- Wouldn't you like to know?
- Pronouns
- He/They/She
The darkness surrounds you, and you meld into it
This doesn't frighten you, or surprise you, or anything
In fact, it's probably the most natural thing in this dream
Those tendrils, chains binding you in place, are no longer visible, and you just float through the inky depths, searching for a contrasting view
You seek for what feels like forever, until suddenly something overwhelmingly bright comes into view, and in shock you close your eyes and, when you think you've adjusted enough to the bright
This doesn't frighten you, or surprise you, or anything
In fact, it's probably the most natural thing in this dream
Those tendrils, chains binding you in place, are no longer visible, and you just float through the inky depths, searching for a contrasting view
You seek for what feels like forever, until suddenly something overwhelmingly bright comes into view, and in shock you close your eyes and, when you think you've adjusted enough to the bright
~
You open your eyes, and yawn as you realize that the roof is a light pink.
Huh? You know the roof of your room, it's painted white and not this cheesy color!
In fact, this entire room is too pink for your tastes! Whose room is thi--
Oh. Yeah. Yesterday happened.
So, this is real after all. Nice to know.
You pull yourself up and out of the bed, stretching and yawning as you do.
You can smell something that smells like that pancake recipe that your mom made once, and you follow it out of the room and down the stairs to the house's kitchen.
Cherry's there, her hair down, mixing some sort of batter while a large griddle heats up and assorted berries lay on a dish on the counter.
She's humming a tune to herself when she notices you. "Heh, good morning, sleepyhead!" she grins.
"Good morning," you reply. "How'd you sleep?"
"Pretty good, thanks! You?"
You think for a minute.
"Yeah, I think I slept well. What are you making?"
"Flapjacks. I didn't know whether you like blueberries in yours or not, so I decided to go plain," Cherry says as she scoops out a bit of the batter and pours it onto the griddle. "You can still sprinkle them on afterwards, if you'd like!"
You walk over to the counter and pop a berry into your mouth. It tastes far better than the ones from the supermarket. "Thanks, I will!" you say through your nabbing of a few more. "And, uh, will you need any help with that?"
Cherry laughs a little. "No, I've got this," she pours out the last of the bowl onto the griddle. "You can help by bringing the plate over to the table, though."
You smile in return, and carry the plate with the blueberries over to a big table with two places set.
In a few minutes, Cherry comes over with a stack of pancakes on a plate.
The two of you waste no time in claiming and devouring them.
Once the rush of fast eating slows down, conversation starts back up again.
"So, what's the plan for today?" you ask. "More experimenting in the lab?"
"That would be great, but 'fraid not," Cherry answers. "The refinery does also have an actual trade attached to it, so right now there's kinda a business to run. Would you mind helping me keep track of today's stock as I do stuff up front?"
You don't exactly have much better to do, so you agree to help her.
An hour or so later, you're in a store room with a bunch of Ley bottles, each with a name tag stating its' type, waiting for the first order from Cherry to come in.
You're sort of worried you'll break some of them before the day is over.
At least the order doesn't take too long in coming.
"Johanna, we have a bottle of pure Fire Ley back there, right?"
You check. "We have seven!"
"Great! Mind bringing one out?"
You grab a bottle and walk out to the front where... Oh.
A pale haired woman in a black outfit leans over the counter, a slight smile on her face. You feel intimidated and flustered, all at once.
"So, you're the girl Cherry summoned into our realm?" she asks you.
You nod.
"My pleasure to meet you," she chuckles.
"Alva, stop," Cherry cuts in. "Johanna, this is Alva Arche. She's one of Fount's best fighters and guards, but she's also too charismatic for her own good," she adds in a way that makes it seem like she's trying to get Alva to stop looking at you so freaking seductively. You mean, she's probably more than a few years older than you!
Alva laughs. "Well, yes, that is all true. If I may ask, Johanna, how are you liking what you've seen?"
"I'm, uh, liking a lot!" you stammer out and wow. You thought you were bad with words yesterday!
You blush from embarrassment and try to think of a topic to switch to.
[] Write-in.
Huh? You know the roof of your room, it's painted white and not this cheesy color!
In fact, this entire room is too pink for your tastes! Whose room is thi--
Oh. Yeah. Yesterday happened.
So, this is real after all. Nice to know.
You pull yourself up and out of the bed, stretching and yawning as you do.
You can smell something that smells like that pancake recipe that your mom made once, and you follow it out of the room and down the stairs to the house's kitchen.
Cherry's there, her hair down, mixing some sort of batter while a large griddle heats up and assorted berries lay on a dish on the counter.
She's humming a tune to herself when she notices you. "Heh, good morning, sleepyhead!" she grins.
"Good morning," you reply. "How'd you sleep?"
"Pretty good, thanks! You?"
You think for a minute.
"Yeah, I think I slept well. What are you making?"
"Flapjacks. I didn't know whether you like blueberries in yours or not, so I decided to go plain," Cherry says as she scoops out a bit of the batter and pours it onto the griddle. "You can still sprinkle them on afterwards, if you'd like!"
You walk over to the counter and pop a berry into your mouth. It tastes far better than the ones from the supermarket. "Thanks, I will!" you say through your nabbing of a few more. "And, uh, will you need any help with that?"
Cherry laughs a little. "No, I've got this," she pours out the last of the bowl onto the griddle. "You can help by bringing the plate over to the table, though."
You smile in return, and carry the plate with the blueberries over to a big table with two places set.
In a few minutes, Cherry comes over with a stack of pancakes on a plate.
The two of you waste no time in claiming and devouring them.
Once the rush of fast eating slows down, conversation starts back up again.
"So, what's the plan for today?" you ask. "More experimenting in the lab?"
"That would be great, but 'fraid not," Cherry answers. "The refinery does also have an actual trade attached to it, so right now there's kinda a business to run. Would you mind helping me keep track of today's stock as I do stuff up front?"
You don't exactly have much better to do, so you agree to help her.
An hour or so later, you're in a store room with a bunch of Ley bottles, each with a name tag stating its' type, waiting for the first order from Cherry to come in.
You're sort of worried you'll break some of them before the day is over.
At least the order doesn't take too long in coming.
"Johanna, we have a bottle of pure Fire Ley back there, right?"
You check. "We have seven!"
"Great! Mind bringing one out?"
You grab a bottle and walk out to the front where... Oh.
A pale haired woman in a black outfit leans over the counter, a slight smile on her face. You feel intimidated and flustered, all at once.
"So, you're the girl Cherry summoned into our realm?" she asks you.
You nod.
"My pleasure to meet you," she chuckles.
"Alva, stop," Cherry cuts in. "Johanna, this is Alva Arche. She's one of Fount's best fighters and guards, but she's also too charismatic for her own good," she adds in a way that makes it seem like she's trying to get Alva to stop looking at you so freaking seductively. You mean, she's probably more than a few years older than you!
Alva laughs. "Well, yes, that is all true. If I may ask, Johanna, how are you liking what you've seen?"
"I'm, uh, liking a lot!" you stammer out and wow. You thought you were bad with words yesterday!
You blush from embarrassment and try to think of a topic to switch to.
[] Write-in.