• “God dammit, Kei, where are you?”
    “Hiding…” Kei snickered and ran into the brush. She rested against a tree and smiled. “Am I really that hard to find, Ai?”
    “I must admit, yes, you are.” Ai sighed and pulled her hair behind one ear. She looked left and right and then yelled out, “Just come out here!”
    “No, you have to find me.” Kei laughed and Ai ran towards the noise. She saw Kei and tackled her. They held each other on the ground and laughed. Ai rolled on top of Kei and smiled.
    The two stared at each other and then they both blushed. Ai stood up and helped Kei up as she did. Ai didn’t want to admit it, but that seemed to happen every once in awhile. Why did that feel so awkward? We’re just friends…
    Kei felt the same way. She fixed her hair pony and pushed up her glasses nervously. “Do you want to head into your house?”
    Ai shook her head, “Not yet, I want to explore my field a bit more.”
    “Fine by me.” Kei shrugged her shoulders and followed Ai. The two went to the tree and looked down at the creek a few feet down. They both noticed something moving below and moved closer to the edge.
    Then Kei noticed the ground splitting ahead, the creek splitting in two and the water flowing into the earth. Kei grabbed Ai’s shoulder and was about to tell her what was happening but actually looked at Ai’s face.
    She looked so pensive and in a trance. She didn’t budge as the crack in the earth headed for them. Kei pulled on Ai but to no avail. They both slipped into the earth and tumbled downward into the darkness.

    Kei woke and looked to her side. Ai lied there, her long black and purple hair in knots. Kei sat up and shook Ai suddenly.
    “Ai? Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Kei looked out of her cracked glasses and at her surroundings.
    They seemed to be in some sort of cave and water dripped from the walls. She looked up and saw the crack from whence they had came. Water was still falling from the creek and making a kind of bed for the two.
    Kei stood up and looked down the long opening of the cave. She nudged Ai again with her foot and winced. Pain shot through her and she looked at her hands. They were bruised and scraped. She lifted her shirt and looked at her stomach. She seemed okay except for the other bruises.
    Ai moaned and looked up at Kei, “Why are you stripping, Kei?”
    Kei pulled down her shirt and blushed. “I’m not stripping, I’m checking for injuries. Are you hurt at all, Ai?”
    She sat up slowly and put her weight on her left arm. She screamed and collapsed back on the ground. Kei went to her side and put a hand on her back.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “My arm…” Ai panted quietly and moved her arm to Kei. “Does it look broken?”
    Kei looked down at her left arm and noticed that it was bent in the wrong direction. She put her hand over her mouth and gasped.
    “What’s wrong with my arm?”
    “It’s broken, Ai,” Kei replied quietly and helped Ai stand up. “We’re going to find you some help and fix your arm. After that we’ll find out why we’re here and what’s going on.”
    “You’re plan doesn’t sound half bad.” Ai leaned on Kei and she wrapped an arm around her. She helped her to the cave opening and they looked around.
    To their amazement they saw sunlight and grass. Kei looked from the cave to the meadow and was genuinely puzzled.
    They fell from the earth above and landed inside of it but yet they go out and there’s a whole other level of the earth with sunlight. She scratched her head and looked at Ai who was also confused.
    A man appeared from nowhere and stood before them. He wore green and blue robes and held a long staff in his hands. He looked young but he smiled like he was wiser than his years.
    “Welcome young ones. How do you fair?”
    Kei looked at him and raised an eyebrow, “We’re in a little bit of pain here and want some medical help.”
    “Ah, can be done.” He clapped his hands once and then they were in a cottage. Ai and Kei stared blankly at the one room house and then looked at each other.
    “Where do you think we are?”
    “I have no idea,” Ai replied, “I was starting to think we fell right to the other side of the earth but the Chinese don’t have magic powers, do they?”
    Kei smiled, “You’re sense of humor never ceases to amaze me.”
    The man gestured to a couch and the two sat down. He went to Ai first and knelt down to her eye level. “What’s troubling you dear?”
    Ai lifted her left arm slightly and winced. “I think I broke my arm.”
    “I’m afraid you did. Why don’t you take a look? It’s bent the wrong direction.”
    Ai swallowed and looked down. She gasped and dropped her head back. Kei put her hand on Ai’s shoulder and did her best to reassure her.
    The man flexed his fingers and waved them over Ai’s arm. He put his hands on her arm and looked up at them. “You shouldn’t feel anything but just in case why don’t you put that pillow in her mouth?”
    Kei grabbed the pillow next to her and put it into Ai’s mouth. Ai grabbed Kei’s hand and the man quickly snapped the bone back into place.
    Ai bit the pillow and screamed into it. Tears streamed down her face and she cried silently.
    “There, I fixed it, but we’re going to have to keep it under wraps while the bone mends together again.” The man left the two and went to the other side of the house looking through the cupboards.
    Kei turned her head to Ai and took the pillow out of Ai’s mouth. Ai was still gripping onto Kei’s hand and she wouldn’t pry her fingers apart. Kei sighed and Ai cried more.
    The man came back and quickly wrapped Ai’s arm. He tied it off and then smiled. “It should be better in less than a week.”
    Kei glared at the man. “Who are you?”
    “Me?” the man pointed at himself, “I’m Yorin, a mage for the Allies.”
    “So then… where are we?”
    “You’re in Toland, a universe unknown by other humans on Earth.” He stood up and stroked Ai’s head, “I’m just glad you made it here in one piece, Aihara.”
    Ai blinked and looked at Yorin. “How do you know my name?”
    “There are certain things that best be revealed by own eyes.”
    Kei smirked, “Then what’s my name?”
    “No idea, miss.”
    Kei’s mouth dropped open and she turned away from the two.
    “Don’t worry, Aihara, everything will be all right.”
    “Okay… but what are we doing here? There is no way this is just coincidence.”
    “It isn’t coincidence. Toland needs you, Aihara. I’m glad my enchantment worked. I just wished that I could’ve gotten you here safer.”
    Aihara joked with Yorin, “Couldn’t you just have let me borrow a unicorn to ride to get down here?”
    “Sorry, but unicorns are expensive to rent.” Yorin shrugged and looked at Kei. “Miss, there might also be something that needs your assistance as well.”
    Kei scoffed. “Ai’s the destined one, I just fell in the hole with her.”
    “Who knows, she might need you later.”
    Ai and Kei looked at each other and then Ai blushed. She let go of Kei’s hand and turned back to Yorin. “What do you need me for?”
    “Why don’t we go take a look?” Yorin place both his hands on each girls’ shoulder and then they appeared before a large stone slab in a cave.
    On the slab were pictures and diagrams of a person. Ai and Kei walked forward to it and Kei placed her hand on the engravings. She traced them slowly and did her best to read the chicken scratch of a language.
    She turned to Yorin and cocked her head. “What does this stuff say?”
    Ai quickly spoke up, “Hold on, Kei, I can understand this.” She stared at it a little longer and then started to read off gibberish. Kei just stared at her.
    Yorin smiled, “Aihara, you have to translate.”
    “Right, hold up.” She looked at it again and smiled, “It says, ‘She will come, far above her home. Hair of two shades and eyes of confidence, she will be the warrior of legends.’ I think it’s talking about me.”
    “That would make sense because you can read this gibberish.” Kei sighed and pulled her hair back.
    “Why can I read this? I’m only fluent in English…”
    “You are the warrior of legends, Aihara. Of course you can read your native language.” Yorin smiled.
    Kei crossed her arms. I feel so out of place here. She walked away from the two newly bonded friends and sighed. “I’ll be waiting for you guys to be done.”
    Ai tilted her head and put her hands by her mouth. She looked up at Yorin and whispered to him. He nodded and gestured to Kei. Ai ran to her and grabbed her arm.
    “Kei, is everything okay?”
    “Oh, yeah, everything’s hunky-dory. Why don’t you run on back to destiny while I try to find a way back home?”
    “Kei, I don’t want you to go. Will you stay here with me?”
    “What would I even do to help you, ‘warrior’?”
    Ai quickly hugged Kei. “I just need you here, Kei. Please stay.”
    Kei slowly put her arms around her and patted her back. “Fine, I’ll stay, but only because you want me here.”
    Ai smiled and went back to Yorin. They started talking again and Kei smiled. Anything to make you happy, Ai.