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If there was one thing Minerva did not do well, it was playing the role of damsel in distress. However, as she took her first conscious breath all she could think of was wanting someone to remove her from this hell that she had no undoubtedly fallen into.

She way laying on a relatively flat surface, but it was also jagged and sharp. She felt like she was being attacked for her every moment, but that might have just been a broken rib pressing against her lungs. Her eyes were held tightly shut as she could feel the bright heat pouring down from the sky above, she wasn't sure if she had the strength to roll over so as to open her eyes without those being assaulted as well.

Her bad luck was finally letting up as clouds covered the sky from the brightness of the midday sun. Hazel eyes fluttered open to take in her surroundings at last. There was green and brown everywhere, a complimenting mixture, but mostly green. It reminded her of her closet back home.

The thought made her pause. Back home... so where was she laying, anyhow!? The last thing she could recall was fighting with a shape shifter... where she was given a choice; accurately guess where her friend Puck was, (with no hints at all, of course) or be sent flying to a random place to start her searching for him from there. She clearly had failed, as she had found herself in a forest. A large forest... she was definitely far from home.

She held her breath and pushed up on the ground slowly with the palms. Her chest was burning and she quickly brought her hands up; one to her mouth and the other to clutch at the fabric at her chest. Her body shook with a few coughs but then she was fine-- well, as fine as she could be in her state.

She turned her head, looking for any sign to tell her where she was, when she saw her wand resting at the base of an oblong shaped rock. Her eyes widened. She had forgotten that she was holding it when she fell. Now that she was sitting up, she could see that the ground was littered with rocks and sticks. She didn't particularly feel like crawling across what she had just laid on for who knows how long, and so made her way to stand up.

Standing up was a slow process, but it didn't seem to be giving her any more problems. She grinned weakly at her victory before she began to walk over to the rock. She had barely made it halfway when her gasp echoed throughout the woods. A sharp pain had spiked up her back, and sent her dropping to the ground again.

-- ----- -- ----- --

The next time she came-to, the first thing she registered was that she was on a much nicer surface than that of the forest floor. Also, the smell of freshly baked bread was in the air, and the sounds of someone busy in the kitchen filled the room. She could definitely breathe much easier, as well. She could feel the bandages wrapped around her midsection and took a deep breath to celebrate.

Of course, having a dry throat from dehydration caused that breath to turn sour as she released a rough cough. This sent silence throughout the building, and Minerva almost regretted her actions until one short, plump lady and a tall and lanky woman came barreling in. Nothing seemed very threatening about these two. They both had black hair twisted tight into differently styled buns atop of their scalps. Makeup was heavy on their faces, but it was still evident that they were relieved.

“Are you alright, child?”

“Yeah, I'm fine thanks.” Minerva raised a hand to her temple and applied pressure as if that would rid her of the now oncoming headache. “How long was I out?”

“Three days already! I will fetch a new pail of water.”

The young witch raised a brow at the older womans' choice of words. Did she really look that dreadful? A simple glass would have sufficed.

Once she was left alone with the other woman, her eyes finally focused and zoned in on something she couldn't help but to comment on.

“Your dress... is there a festival going on?”

The woman wore a long blue kimono, with white lily patterns decorating it with white trim along the edges. Along with her hair and makeup, it was certainly plausible that Minerva had stumbled upon some kind of ritualistic day.

“Festival? Oh no dear. Not at this time of year, well, not for our village. Where are you from? If you don't mind me asking. Perhaps the neighbouring village over the mountains? I have never been there, but I have also never seen clothes quite like yours. Very unique.”

Uh oh... Minerva's mind began speeding up;; with curses of disbelief, questions, and courses of action. She had come to the logical conclusion that she indeed was no where near home. Not if they referred to villages, and thought simple clothes like hers were unique. And heck, not when they dressed like they do on a daily basis! It she didn't have the other womans' full attention, she would have smiled.

“You mean... But if I'm not from around here, then how did I get here?” Her eyes widened and she looked around more operatically. Really, it was to get a better idea of where she was and possible escape routes, but that's not what the other woman would think. “Just give me my one phone call and I'll be out of your hair.”

“I've got the wa-- sister dear, what's wrong?” The chubbier woman of the two set down the pail of water on the floor at the foot of the bed before grabbing a glass and filling it for Minerva.

“I believe our young guest has amnesia, once she found out she did not house here she looked quite a fright and started babbling about strange things.”

“I am right here, you know!” Minerva would have preferred to not take away the sound of annoyance in her voice, but that would not help her cause. She knew nothing about this place, it almost seemed like a world shift – but that was a bold term to be using when she was unsure of the situation. She most certainly could not pretend to belong here and then mess up at every turn, no. This was a good, if not totally lame, option. She had to play it safe.

“Of course dear!” The taller girl of the two rushed over, taking the glass from her sister and placing it on the table next to Minerva and dropping a straw into it for her. “We are merely worried about your health. The injuries you are suffering from are quite like if you had fallen from a great height, but there was nothing around that could have caused that. Well, except for the mountains. But you would have needed to have some crazy magic voodoo to get to where you landed from falling off a cliff over there.” Her lips curved up into a smile to accompany the small joke Minerva wasn't supposed to get.

But that was one thing she did understand. Magic!

“Excuse me...” Minerva started again, ignoring the sisters' hospitality at the moment. “Did you happen to bring anything with me, when you brought me here?” Her voice practically dripped with hope and curiosity. She needed to have her wand! It was necessary for survival, especially in strange lands – for if it got into the wrong hands... To hell with it, Minerva just wanted it like a child needs its' security blanket.

“Anything at all?” She pushed.

“You know, now that you mention it...it did look like you were reaching for something, but there was nothing but plain sticks all around you.” The shorter sister placed the back of her hand against Minerva's forehead. “Whatever brute that hurt you must have taken what you think you should have had with you. Poor dear;; amnesia is such a terrible illness.”

Her face blanched. Her wand was gone, and she was with strangers, in a strange world. They intended to baby her, and she was going to have to let them. She wasn't well enough to move around on her own, nor did she have the knowledge to do so without getting into trouble.

Thinking that her newly paled skin was attributed to trying to remember the 'bad memories of the brute', the two continued to fawn over her for a few more minutes as Minerva's thinking went into overdrive. She took a few sips from the offered glass of water before placing it back down on the table. There was nothing she could think of to remedy her horrible situation. She just had to get better and look for her wand... in the woods...

“I'm going back to sleep, please leave me be.” She grabbed the edge of the blankets and ripped it over her head. She felt a soft pat on her knee as the women took the pail and left the room, murmuring sweet things that Minerva had no mind to pay attention to.

She was in really big trouble.

Momoko curled up on the uncomfortable hospital bed, pulling the crinkly feeling sheets over her shoulders, trying to sleep. The blinds were closed and the lights were off, but still little vines of light came from the machines near her, and the IV in her made nothing better. She sniffled a little, wanting Roka to be with her. He made her feel better in situations like this. Outside she could hear nurses gossiping rudely about various patients.

"And the one in here?"

"Oh, poor dear. She's hardly alive, poor thing. I don't think she'll be able to continue carrying..." The voice faded into the barest of mumbles, then suddenly they laughed. "Well, see you later."

"Bye!

Momoko rolled over, frowning. This was doing nothing to make her feel better. In the cornor of the room, two glowing dots stared at her, and she rolled over again, wondering why there needed to be so many machines in the room. True, she loved machines. They never cheated, manipulated, hated, or lied to her. But right now they seemed over bearing as she spotted two more glowing dots.

Sitting up, Momoko spotted another pair of glowing dots... on the door! Momoko reached over and flipped the light switch on. The first thing she saw was the mirror on the side wall, with her own deflected reflection staring back at her. Her long hair messier then usual giving her a distinctly horrific expression.

Sighing, she looked around for the lights on the door, but saw nothing. Falling back into her pillow, Momoko saw dark shapes shifting on the ceiling. Gasping, she rolled out of bed and onto the ground just as one of the dark shapes fell onto the bed she had just occupied.

The other dark shapes also fell, then grew into little human like figures with antenna and glowing eyes. A half cry broke out from her mouth as she stood up, ripping all the wires and tubes away from her as she dashed to the door, trying to open it. Momoko found, to her terror, that the door would not budge. It wouldn't even rattle. The little human like things shivered, then began bounding towards her. "Nnnnn!" She banged her fists on the door, making wretched screams. But no one came as the little shadowy creatures advanced.

A whistle drew her attention though, away from the door and to the mirror. Momoko's mind had no time to ponder why a whistle came from the mirror, instead she dashed over to it, just barely slipping past the little creatures. A hand suddenly reached out and grabbed her, pulling her into the mirror.

She was falling, down and further down a pitch black abyss. Everything was cold, but she could not move to even shiver. Her poor excuse of a voice was lost to the void and...


Sitting up, she placed her hand on her stomach, feeling nauseous. Momoko blinked, looking at the heavy red fabric on her arms. "Hm?" She placed her hands on the ground, feeling soft green grass. Standing up, she felt a blast of wind hit her face, carrying the smell of sea salt. Lookin around, she saw a dirt rode behind her, and strange man on a cart, with two weird bird like things pulling it.
"Hey, lady!" He called.
She pointed to herself.
"Yes you! Do you need a ride to town?"He asked. Momoko blinked, wondering where in the world she was. Or rather, what world. But she nodded anyway and walked over to the cart, climbing on. "Yah know, young lady, you kinda look like a fire bender to me, I mean, I'm not trying to offend or anything, not all nobles have children with the ability, but ya got that look about you, kinda like my brother's wife, I tell ya, if there was ever a woman who..."
Momoko sighed, having the feeling that this would be a very long cart ride. She instead contented herself to stare at the new sights. She had never seen so much green before. They reminded her of Roka's eyes, such pretty eyes.

Finally, they arrived in a very lovely town that stood near a beach, people were walking up and down the various paths, talking or going into little shops. Momoko wondered where she was exactly, certainly in no modern time!

The cart stopped, and she got off, waving good bye to the man before walking up and down the dirt street. A hand suddenly grasped her shoulder, and she quickly turned around to see a skull....? No wait, that was just the faceplate of a armored man. "Excuse me, young lady, shouldn't you be up there? It's dangerous out here. Thieves and pickpockets." He spoke in a deep voice.


...

And that was how Momoko ended up as the guest of the Jian noble family. They were all convinced she was mute and had amnesia ('Likely because of her bad health poor girl,' was the Lady Jian's opinion). So now she laid in a rather nice bed with a tray of tea near her. Asking questions was not an option, she didn't want to be mistaken for a loon. So for now, she was stuck in the Fire Nation.

Minerva's head snapped up at the sound of her name. "Oh thank the gods," she muttered under her breath. She did not even bother to hide the grin as she watched Alaric make a show. He was probably enjoying every minute of this charade.... But of course, so was she. It was like a breath of fresh air to see a familiar face and she was itching for him to come closer so she could finally get away from the good docter and his excessive bragging skills.

"So you are her... fiance?" Li would have been lying if he hadn't said he was disappointed, but as the man came closer he could see where the truth was set. The two foreigners seemed to compliment each other, there was this air of difference that seemed to surround both of them. Their garments both also appeared to have been made from some exotic and expensive material, it was rare to see that quality.

As pure gold coins were offered to him, his eyes lit up. "Yes, well -- I always try use my skills to the best of my ability. I couldn't let this be-- er, your beautiful wife heal improperly. What kind of doctor would I be! But I must warn you, she has amnesia so--"

The last thing she was expecting was for Alaric to profess their engagement to the whole villiage, but in this day and age, whatever that was, it would probably be necessary to get her out of here. As soon as the wizard took hold of her free arm, she practically ripped the other' from the posession of Li ignoring the dull roar of pain coming from her side. No offense to the doctor, but she needed to get out of here. The fingers of her free hand wrapped around Alaric's upper arm, and normally she would have viewed it as a weak-girlish move but all she cared about at this time was getting out of there.
"Oh doctor don't be silly, how could I possibly forget my husband-to-be?" She raised a hand and touched the side of Alaric's face just above the jaw, and turned to look at Li. "Thank you for all you have done, and for taking me on this walk! I may never have gotten home if it weren't for you!"

"Nice dress," she murmered to Alaric with a sly smile.

Nearby, one of the heavily built farmers sniffed, "I always love happy endings, your babies will be beautiful!"

A red tinge adorned her cheeks, and she was quickly leaning in again "Can we go now, Don Juan? I need to get to that forest."

"Oh trust me, I know that better than anyone at the moment. Why, I've been here for over a week! This was the first time I was allowed out of the house and it was the best timing ever. Thank you, by the way." Her arm dropped from Alaric's and wrapped around her middle for the extra support.

"But as to how I got here? That is somewhat of a confusing story." She paused a beat as she wondered how she should start. "I came across this shapeshifter, in the form of Puck. Once I figured out it was trickery and that Puck was captured somewhere, I was given a choice: accurately guess where he is and be sent to help him, or guess wrong and be sent... somewhere else."

A chuckle escaped her lips, "Even with all the knowledge in the world, one wouldn't have been able to guess accurately without any hints. And so I got sent here, and was dropped from the sky. Busted a rib or two on the fall and these two nice women found and took care of me. Unfortunately..."

Her eyes scanned the ground constantly, if only she could remember any landmarks. "... My wand did not make the journey with me. No mortal would see a strange stick on the ground among all the rest and think it important."

Suddenly a thought hit her and she paused in step, "Wait... you followed kids from school!? Like, Darkwood school?" She paused a beat. "I didn't think anyone was capable of traveling to other worlds. Oh this is brilliant, not completely since I'm sure those guys will destroy something, but that means we can travel ourselves! And get out of here! ... But how..." She continued walking again.

"You don't happen to remember the spell they used, do you?"

Minerva grinned in Alaric's direction, "Welcome to the story of my life!"

At the worried tone of his voice, Minerva quickly shook her head. "Don't worry about me, I feel fine." She lied. "I'll just have to take it easy, hm? Besides, we have more important things to worry about... like how to get out of here. Ancient Egyptian wont be of any help...."

Minerva continued her slow pace as the wizard made a dash towards a rock where a dark cat perched. The reunion between the boy and his pet was cute, but what grabbed her attention was, "My wand!"

She took the offered item from Alaric and scratched the cat under his chin. "Thank you so much Graymalkin, you're a smart one." With cats being her favourite animal, and her animagous form, it was no wonder she took such a strong liking to the cat -- even before knowing that it was more than a mere animal. She stuck her wand in her pocket and looked around.

"So what now, Alaric? I know I came to this world from here, but I don't think we can leave the same way. We could always search for those two boys, but they might be gone already. Ugh, my hair is so tight I can't even thing!" Her hands raised to her hair and undid the tight bun, the normal waves had turned into bunches of curls that framed her face nicely.

"Much better."

Graymalkin purred even louder. You're welcome, he replied, allowing her to hear his telepathic message.

"Well, I... have no idea, really," Alaric said, slightly despairingly. "I mean, I'd like to look for the boys and Puck, but I'm not sure how to go about doing so. We don't really have any way to find out where they went, do we? So we're pretty much stuck until we can follow them..."

He grinned as she let down her hair. "It looks beautiful like that," he commented.

Then a boy and a dog came from what seemed to be out of nowhere. The wizard was somewhat suspicious of them, but if there was a chance they knew where the phoenix and his telekinetic friend were, then he would see what they had to say. Even so, he kept a hand on the shortened staff he had tucked into his belt. "I'm Alaric," he answered. "Where did you come from?"

Graymalkin hissed angrily at the dog, and Alaric scooted away from it, not sure of its intentions but not wanting to risk anything.

Yasu smiled, putting his hands up. "In answer to Alaric, I come from nowhere. Yet. I'm a What Will Be or a What Could Be." He explained. "I don't technically exist. I'm sort of like them, a Nobody... except they're Once Was's." He explained cryptically.

"And to you," he turned his head to Minerva. "Don't worry that much, Oberon knows when to stop acting stupid." He suddenly held up his hands in front of him, and a gray orb appeared, before disappearing and leaving a pair of long claw like weapons, attatched by what looked like webs to his gloves. "And I am perfectly capable of defending myself."

Yasu put his hands together. "You both came at a good time, They are currently organizing, and I'm not too sure what they're planning to do. I think one of them captured someone, uhmm, Robin? Robin something? I don't really recall. ??? doesn't give me much information." He spoke, the name of which he spoke unheard, but known.


((Note: lol, ???'s name doesn't exist, so it's ???. It's funny. Like when the word 'picture' was stolen.))