"Parrtay! WAAHOOO!" A drunken Charlotte, commonly known as Shirley, shouted. Being momentarily louder than the others with a beer bottle in her hand.

It'd been just a few hours after she had regained her magic, and she had been surprised -but more so confused- how quickly she had gotten from point A, winning a neuroi battle after getting her magic back, to point B, being at the celebration party.

Yoshika Miyafuji sat on the sidelines, siping her cup of juice with her eyes closed, frowning, letting the scene go by.

Who and how is this mess gonna get cleaned? I'm not gonna do it- by myself at least.

Yoshika took another swig of her juice, watching Eila, who drank just a little too much, trying to serenade Sanya with a slurred song. However, Sanya didn't appear to be enjoying it.

Either that or she had a good tolerance and poker face, or maybe drunk Sanya has mild autism as there was a empty bottle of wine next to her with her hand loosely gripping it.

There was a loud breaking of glass.

There goes another light bulb… Hope that nobody doesn't break anything el- Ah, there goes that window…

"Hartmann! You shouldn't drink while on duty!" Gertrud scolded.

Erica, glassy eyed, a bit red, and holding a wine bottle turned to Gertrude with a goofy grin, "But *hic* Truuddeee~ It tastes shhoo good!" Erica took another gulp of wine.

"Yyyooooouuuuuuuu… *hic* should-really-try-some!" Erica finished quickly.

"You are a soldier of Karlsland! You should-" Gertrud's lecture was cut short when Erica pounced on the brunette and, with lightning like speed, locked her mouth onto Gertrud's, which, unfortunately had some wine still left inside. Gertrud Barkhorn was shamelessly "shot down" early into battle.

Those who're sober were trying to control the drunken mayhem as much as they could. But, they were having little progress.

Peace and quiet is nice, but gets really lonely at times. Not to mention boring. If its something like this with my friends, then I can tolerate it.

"Miss."

Yoshika, hearing and feeling someone poke her side, turned to the said someone. A girl dressed in a pink dress stood next to her with her hands behind her back. She appeared to have a mixture of Fusoan and Britannian aspects. Her hair was cutely short and black, and had wide brown eyes like a cat's. A warm smile, similar to a mother's, curled her lips.

"What's your name?" She asks.

"Yoshika Miyafuji. But, you shouldn't be here, you might get hurt."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Hera." Hera's smile then became sad, "You shouldn't be here either, Yoshika."

Yoshika blinked, and she began to rub her neck, "Well… I am under aged to be in a bar-"

"That 's not what I mean." Hera interrupts.

Yoshika was confused. What was this child talking about? If Yoshika shouldn't be here -for whatever reason- then where should she be?

"I mean you shouldn't be here."

Yoshika's brows furrowed and put on a frown of confusion as she set her cup on the countertop, "What… What do you mean?" She asked, nervously.

"You're lucky Zeus didn't come to you. He sucks at rock, paper, scissors." Hera remarks.

Rock, paper, scissors? And another name: Zeus. What is this little angel talking about?

Questions were briefly halted when Hera pointed to the members of the 501st, "Look at your friends, what do you see?"

Yoshika slowly turned like a old machine that hadn't ran in forever, as if she was still indecisive on following this girl's orders. But, nothing was wrong.

Gertrud was still on the floor with Erica cuddling her unconscious body, asleep. Shirley took a big gulp of beer, the biggest Yoshika had ever seen a person do while nearly falling over. And Eila was now trying to kiss Sanya, but every time Eila moved in, Sanya shifted her head in the opposite direction.

"Hera, what're you talking about? Things are-"

"Parrtay! WAAHOO!"

Yoshika had only blinked. Things changed. The light bulb and the window that was supposed to be shattered wasn't.

Yoshika's eyes widened, "Wait. What happened?"

Eila was trying to serenade Sanya, but she didn't seem to care. Crack! There went that light bulb.

"Hartmann! You shouldn't drink while on duty!"

A possibility crossed Yoshika's mind that it was just a coincidence that everyone were repeating their actions, but one wouldn't be able to one thing perfectly a second time… Or a third… Or a fourth…

Hera's smile slowly turned a little sad and her eyelids fell just a little as Yoshika slowly began to dawn on what's actually happening. Suddenly, Yoshika felt hot, really hot. She grasped for her clothing, but they weren't there… Looking down, Yoshika jumped out of her chair. The whole entirety of her skin was burnt to charred black. It then became hurtfully for her just to stand.

"Yoshika, you need to wake up."

"What're you talking about?!" Yoshika screamed, having a panic attack.

"I'm awake right now, aren't I?!"

Hera slowly shakes her head with her eye closed, still frowning, "This place isn't real. This is what you wanted. You never wanted to leave your friends. Despite what people say, deep down you knew you weren't powerful, you knew yourself: a little girl who just happened to be lucky to have powerful magic."

"That's not-"

"You didn't even care about the world or other people, did you?"

That sentence shut Yoshika up.

"You never really apprehended the promise you swore to your father. You just agreed out of sheer lack of understanding, like a child. All you really cared about was yourself."

"What do you know?!"

Hera opened her eyes and tilted her head, "Am I wrong?"

Yoshika kept stumbling over her words, trying to find a plausible excuse.

"If I'm wrong, then go back to the real world. Prove to me what I said was wrong." Hera turned, and began to walk towards the door of the bar.

"Then how do I get out of here?"

Hera halted, and looked at the Fusoan, "Excuse me? This is your head we're in, so to speak. All you have to do is wake up."

Easy said than done, you lil' twerp.

Yoshika's eyes widened.

What did I just call her?

"Not a great start, Yoshika." Hera said, seething, "Fine…" Hera irritably sighed, "I'll make it easy for you. Close your eyes. And when you open then again you'll be back in the real world, little girl."

Ignoring the small insult, Yoshika closed her eyes. When she opened them again, bright sunshine forced them to close again. The wind brushed against her skin, easily making notice that she doesn't have any piece of clothing on. Regardless, Yoshika sat up slowly. It was if she hadn't moved for ages. Groaning from the stiffness of her body, she finally took in the setting around her.

She was in a forest. And out of all of the ambient sounds, a nearby waterfall was the most noticeable. That would be probably a nice first step. Yoshika slowly got up on her feet, however, her legs were like jelly, and fell back onto the dirt. She tried again. Same results.

"I need… a… a… a stick or… Ah!" Not to far was a stick of an ideal size suitable to use as a walking stick.

Stick in hand, Yoshika pulled herself up, and began to progress towards the sounds of the waterfall. Short minutes later, she found it. Yoshika's throat was dry and her mouth also. The water seemed to charm her, seeing the small waves and ripples.

"Mmm… " Yoshika pursed her lips, "I am kinda thirsty."

Yoshika slowly crouched down, making sure not to fall over, cupped her hands into a bowl and set it in the water- then abruptly stopped.

"What the…?"

In the water's reflection, Yoshika can see her face and the distinctively two brown animal ears sprouting from the top of her head, indicating her activation of her Familiar. She didn't even notice the tail brushing against her skin until now.

Momentarily forgetting her thirst, Yoshika gingerly patted the left ear- yep, it was real, so was the other. Yoshika also noticed that her hair color was more identical to her animal ears.

However, try as she might, Yoshika couldn't deactivate her familiar or call him out.

"Kuji? Hello?"

Silence.

Even though this phenomenon was worthy to be investigated, the water was still staring at Yoshika. Forming a bowl with her hands, again, she scooped up and pulled the water to her lips.

How long had she'd been asleep to think that drinking plain water was this full of taste and refreshment? Yoshika found herself drinking more… and more…and more until she was full.

Her belly now a miniature water jug, Yoshika plopped onto the ground,disregarding the hard rocks pressed against her skin. She then started to feel sleepy. Drinking that water was like putting out a fire, her energy was extinguished and all that's left is smoke.

Yoshika felt her eyes getting heavier and heavier, her eyes were closing subconsciously and darkness was slowly enveloping her vision- then it was complete darkness.

As fast as the darkness came, her eyes opened to see a complete different time of day- the sun was setting, it was nearly night time.

Yoshika bolted upward, but grimaced from the hurtful sensation of the red circles on her skin. Regardless, however, she needed to find shelter or at least civilization.

Yoshika grabbed her stick, and quickly came up and walked at a random direction, which, later, was a bad idea- there was barely any light now.

"If only I had a light… " Yoshika wishfully thought.

At this point in time, Yoshika caught the familiarity of walking again. So she didn't need the stick anymore, but kept it for self defense just in case. Knowing how to manipulate fire would be usefully at this moment, but Yoshika wasn't sure if Pyromancy was teachable.

It was nearly dark now, however, Yoshika was still able to make out most of her hand and most of the grass underneath her feet. Certainly odd, but it wasn't arguable.

Yoshika walked a few more miles before noticing a silhouette of some sort of structure big enough to be a small facility. Taking into account that the front door -seemingly gigantic and tough- was blown open, Yoshika weighed her options.

From what I can see, someone has been here. And I don't know if whoever came here will come back, but…

Yoshika looked around and listened to the ambience around her. Nocturnals were now out and about, using the hours they have before hitting their sacks. She weighed her options wisely.

But, I don't know what's out there, in this forest. So, better than nothing… I suppose.

With her decision finalized, Yoshika entered the facility. A wretched smell welcomed her nostrils, causing her to gag and nearly lose her stomach.

From what she could see, red was splashed all over the walls like an abstract artist gone insane. Crippled and cut bodies lay in their waste. One body at the end of the hall stretched in front of her, had looked as if it was waving "Hi" at her because of being impaled by poles in three different areas: the Abdomen, the head, and his left hand.

Silent dread was Yoshika response, as she tried not to breathe in the disgusting stench. She stayed their bare naked and barefooted in the facility full of blood, like a statue. Yoshika weighed her options again, and "Leave now!" was ten tons. But, despite how much she really wanted to, Yoshika couldn't leave.

Something possessed her body forwards, shivering at the cold, slick feeling under and in the spaces between her toes. She really wished that she had shoes on. Yoshika proceeded deeper, keeping her measly stick firmly in nervous hands.

As she treated discreetly as she could, Yoshika was also looking for a moderately clean place to briefly rest. After all, she had been walking non-stop since she had woken up the second time. Speaking of, Yoshika retracted back to that dream where Hera had told her to "prove herself." But, what exactly did she have to prove?

Ah, a clean room.

The room Yoshika had found appeared to be a medical room, as if the red cross on the box on the wall in front of her didn't give that away. However…

Is there anything I could cover myself with?

If Yoshika didn't cover her self, there would be a slight chance she would get sick- even though she's never caught a cold before, she could probably get a fever.

Across the room, hanging on a hanger, was a doctor's white coat. Yoshika picked the coat off and wore it, smiling at the small warmth. The coat was thin, but it was better than nothing.

Then, suddenly as she admired the feeling of cloth on her skin again, she felt something clasp over her mouth and felt a cold, sharp point of metal.

Yoshika looked down and collected as much as she could because she felt the point dig deeper in her skin; a sign of to keep her eyes at bay. She only saw a hand covered with a black glove.

Two people emerged from the dark shadows of the room, they all wore black and had masks over their faces. Yoshika assumed that the one gripping her was the same.

Slowly the two in front of her drew guns of a caliber she hadn't seen before. It was difficult for Yoshika to determine the whole aspects of the guns, but, regardless, judging by their outlines, were dangerous and would obviously do more damage than the stick in her hands.

The two in front stared at her for a while, then the one of the left turned his head to look at the one on the right. The way his head was turned as if it was disbelief. Then the one on the left put away the gun as did the one opposite of him.

However, the one keeping the knife on her throat refused. The two in front appeared to have noticed this, and the one on the right rose up his right hand and drew it downwards as if it were an order to stand down.

"Stand down… "

The one on the right was now confirmed male as the masculine voice roughly escaped the mask.

The one behind Yoshka finally obliged, but, didn't waste his aggression by pushing her to the ground, but, ultimately let go, in a way.

Then she felt herself getting picked up. Yoshika opened her eyes and saw the two in front of her before. The one from the left had shined a flashlight in her face, causing her to flinch and squint.

"What is your name?"

The one holding her, the male, asked her.

Yoshika hesitated because she didn't know the slightest of who these people were.

"Y-Yoshika-"

The male swiftly interrupted her.

"Just the first name." WIth the same nonchalant tone as the two times he spoke.

And Yoshika shut up. Yet again, the two in front of her no longer spoke for a period of time, looking at each other repeatedly and using hand gestures as if they were talking to each other.

They both nodded in agreement, and the male put Yoshka up onto her knees.

"Follow us, help us, and you'll get answers." The man said so quickly that Yoshika didn't get any time to ask question, and, instead was forced forward by the aggressed on behind her to follow the three deeper into the facility.

Some time later, and after a few complaints of no resting only from Yoshika, they found where the blood was the new paint for the walls, completely dry and giving the uncomfortable scent of dry iron.

Nearby, a corpse lay on the floor. The man's face still kept his fearful expression as if he was still experiencing the moments before his death. Yoshika took a closer look, and a bug crawled out of the eye with a sickening slick noise, causing the witch to gag.

No mercy for the weak, however, as Yoshika was forced forwards again by the aggressive one, keeping her hand over mouth. At the least the blood here was dry, that was the least of Yoshika's concerns, though, as they went even deeper, to the center.

She then heard a subtle rattle of chains. The man must've noticed this also, because he held up a straight hand to make the others stop.

"There's someone there?" Yoshika whispered.

The man glanced at her, then forwards again, saying nothing. The man motioned his hand forwards slowly and gently, and the other two understood. Yoshika didn't, however.

"Get down!" The man ordered, whispering.

Yoshika crouched down, hoping that she wasn't revealing anything to the person behind her. The man in front crept up to the door in front of them, and opened it slowly and silently and saw a single person in a bloodied room.

She appeared to be asleep. She was nude, but had shackles on her wrists, ankles, and had one on her neck like a leash. There was an oversized bloodied, rusted pole next to her, easily noticeable that it was used. The man could make out animalistic features on her person: Floppy grey dog ears and a dog tail.

It had seemed safe enough, so the man motioned the others to follow him. They walked up to the person and saw who it was.

The man fished a photo out of his pockets and looked at the person and the photo repeatedly. Yoshika moved to the side to see who this person was.

"Gertrud?"

The grey ears twitched at the mentioning of her name. Gertrud's eyes cracked open, and her head rose lazily. Scanning the room and sniffing scents in the air; she suddenly picked up one that she liked, apparently, as her face grew more and more awake as she followed it on her hands and feet like a dog.

Yoshika indulged herself in her own thoughts.

Wonder why she's acting weirdly? Well, anyway, whatever caused her to be this way I'm sure that she'll snap out of it sooner or- gah!

In mid-thought, Yoshika had suddenly carried the weight of the world, or a person so to speak. While Yoshika was in her own world, Gertrud was sniffing her and had leaped onto her with her arms around Yoshika's neck.

Yoshika persisted to not fall over, even to the point of nearly going on her toes to keep her balance. Seeing the burden Yoshika was given, the man tried to get Gertrud off. But…

"GGGRRR…"

Gertrud had unexpectedly growled at him like a dog would on guard, baring fangs (so to speak), and toting a vicious face that morphed her face to one that would even cause the bravest to back away.

The man drew his hand back. Then tried again, and received the same results. The man put his head down, briefly, as if he were sighing. He put away the photo and looked at Yoshika.

"Since she seems to only like you, you have to carry her out of here." It wasn't a question. It was an order.

Visibly showing her discomfort, Yoshika agreed and followed the three out of the facility after near fallings and unnecessary accidents.

Yoshika followed the three, with Gertrud still on her back, until they stopped at a strange vehicle that surprised her at first sight. It was black- it's metal showing hexagonal patterns outlined in cyan. Yoshika knew what this was.

"W-Wait a minute!"

Then she heard a weird suction-like noise, and suddenly the Gertrud got heavier.

"H-hey!"

Because of Gertrud's weight and her locking arms around her neck, Yoshika fell backwards. Shortly after, Yoshika opened her eyes and saw a shape of a boot.

Then everything went black.


It'll probably be another while for the next chapter, and I'm trying the align format above to see if it makes reading the sentences easier. If it doesn't then I might change it. While making this chapter, I've concluded that this rewrite will be a lot different from the original besides a couple of things, maybe. But, essentially, this will be different as you guys will see in the next chapter. So... yeah, that's it for now...