Prologue
I woke up...
I woke up just to see a hardwood ceiling above me.
That's strange, the last thing I remembered was me being stuck inside my own locker, another vile prank by my once best friend. Her again... It was always her, she and her two best friends, Sophia and Madison. And of course the group of girls who followed them to stay popular. It just didn't matter what I did, they always found a way to make my life miserable.
No matter who I tried to show that they were doing that horrible stuff, they wouldn't listen. Wouldn't take the word of a „loser" over the word of the almost-model, the their track-star and the girl who looked like she couldn't hurt a fly.
But that didn't really matter now, first I needed to find out where I was, make sure this wasn't just another vile prank.
Slowly I straightened my back and sat upright. I was about to look around when...
„Ah, you finally seem to be awake, ze!", came the voice of someone I had never seen before...
It was a girl. A girl with clothing that kind of resembled a maid-outfit. In black and white. On top of her head rested a stereotypical witch's hat. Wait... What?! Where was I?! A Cosplay festival or something? She seemed to be about my age. Blond hair tied into a braid which fell over her right shoulder, tied with a dark red bow. She seemed a bit brash but her golden eyes shone with hidden intelligence. Wait... Golden eyes? Contact lenses or something? In her hand she held a basket of... Were those mushrooms? She promptly put the basket on a small table standing by.
„You're probably wondering where you are right now, but don't worry, you're safe here, this is my home, ze!"
I looked around the room. Home was one word for it. It looked more like a storeroom, with so many seemingly random things lying around. Altough Taylor had to admit that the atmosphere was unbelievably cozy.
„Um... Thanks for providing some shelter, I guess... But how did I get here?", I was still a little confused about everything. I mean... How did I get from the locker to this place?
„Ah... Well... I found you in the forest, near my nice little abode here. You seemed to be in a pretty bad shape, but there were no real wounds so I was able to safely bring you here. I'm Marisa by the way. Kirisame Marisa, just an ordinary magician. At your service, da ze!", well... She was pretty straightforward.
„Magician? Is that some kind of joke? Is that why you wear that hat? Because you are cosplaying or something? Because magic just doesn't exist."
„WHAAAT? You've never heard of magic before? It's real, da ze!", she accentuated her point by waving her hand and creating a star shaped thing of light or energy or something in it.
„Y-you're a cape? You don't just show someone your power... that can be dangerous!"
„Cape? What does an article of clothing have to do with magic?"
„You don't know what a cape is?! A parahuman?"
„Parahuman? Is that something like a youkai?"
„Y-youkai? What?"
„You know, like those hellravens, or those Tengu. You follow me?"
„S-sorry, I really don't know what you're talking about.", great, her host seemed to be of the insane type...
„Now, that just won't do, knowing nothing about what the other's saying! Collect your thoughts! I'll make us some tea and then we'll talk. You probably won't go anywhere with how it's snowing outside", and with that she went off, presumably to the kitchen, taking the basket filled to the brim with mushrooms with her.
A few hours later...
Wow... That had been a lot to take in. It appeared that I was stranded in some kind of magical wonderland. I still couldn't wrap my mind around it: Fairies, Zombies, Vampires, Demons, Goddesses...
And the girls sitting just a few feet away from me, apparently were a witch. A REAL WITCH!
How the hell did I even get here... The witch-girl, Marisa, suspected it was some woman, or youkai, named Yukari... when she heard that I did not come here willingly she immediately suspected said woman/youkai. I wondered if this Yukari did such things often, that would certainly explain the „Dammit, Yukari!" that seemed to be regularly spoken around here.
„Looks like you'll be spending quite some time here, ze!"... What?! Why couldn't I go back?! I knew this was some kind of trap.
„Why can't we just ask her to send me back?"
„The lazy hag's hibernating, ze! Started yesterday evening."
„Can't we just wake her?", please let that be the case. I don't want to be stuck so far from home!
„Not happening. Can't even reach her easily without her own help, da ze!", and just like that, my hopes of returning home were crushed. For now. „Sooo... Since you won't be returning home very soon, how 'bout I show you around, ze! Maybe teach you some Danmaku first, so you'll be a bit safer."
„Danmaku? What's that supposed to be?", I spoke out my thoughts. When I saw her starting to grin I knew that I really shouldn't have asked...