Afloat – Chapter 1

My everything hurts!

"Mama, ooooh
I don't wanna die
Sometimes I wish I'd never been born at all"

-Bohemian Rhapsody (1975)

If an author reuses an icebreaker from a past fic that he thought sounded really cool, is it self-plagiarism?

That is not the question I'm going to ask myself, you, or the void. The question we're going to be asking today, my dear readers, is:

If a depressed teenager fails to kill himself and gets transported to a fictional world in a forest, when he falls does he make a sound?

At first I was inclined to believe that you'd be crazy to ask me this question, and then, just to spite you, I'd tell you that something that cannot happen by default can't make a sound.

*sigh* But apparently no, he does indeed make a sound, a sound loud enough to wake up the dead. Let me tell you my story. It's pretty cool. Actually, most of it sucks. But don't take my word for it, read it for yourself.

I stared at the thousands of white dots on a black board that made up the night sky. Usually, I wasn't that much of a "Staring at the sky and wondering about life" kind of person, but for tonight I was willing to make an exception. The sky was beautiful tonight, it truly was, and for once in my life I had really wanted to explore it, if only with my eyes. Some said that when you died, you became a star as well. I wonder if that would hold true for me as well. Maybe I'd be that one shitty star that didn't even make it to being a brilliant one that shone in the sky just for whatever romantic idiot to "gift" it to a girl because he has no money.

I began listening to the chirps of crickets as well, secluded in this small hole in the world, as they did whatever their chirping meant. No real idea. I would hate to learn that it's a sign that crickets are having sex or something equally gross, so they're just chirping to me.

Dying is a way slower process than you would figure... it's taking like, the time for me to make a full monologue.

What else is around me… Trees. And being trees, I listened to them gently swaying in the wind. I stared as they had their small battle against the elements, only occasionally getting respite in a never ending cycle.

Sounds familiar.

I should've brought my phone, to be honest. The idea that I would need something to entertain myself with while waiting for my (slowly) incoming demise would've been so laughable twenty minutes ago.

You know, I never did finish the report I needed to hand in to make up for the 4/10 I got on my latin test. Guess I'm never going to do that now. Ms. Pala will just have to, I certainly am not returning from the grave to hand it in.

What else…

I stared bemused as a moth came to land on my nose. It began climbing on my glasses, just walking around and giving me an easy view of it. Didn't look anything special, brownish with no distinguishable pattern at least from the underside of its wings. And then, just as it came, it flew away.

Huh. Downer.

I like to think that without the current context, I would've enjoyed just coming to lie down here doing nothing. Yet here I am. Worst comes to worst, I'll be sent to hell and I'll have deserved it. I think in the Divine Comedy the contrapasso speaks about turning into a tree or something.

I began hearing footsteps. Someone's come to save me from myself, huh? Or maybe it's just someone who will pass by and not notice me. That would be so ironic.

…

At some point, I must've conked out, because I then managed to wake up with a start, trying to sit up, only for pain shoot through my whole body and a hand to force my head down. Looking up in a panic, I stared (as much as I could, with my vision being all blurry and shit) as a hand lays itself on the top of my head, and the person who it belongs to. A black head of hair is the first thing I notice, and further squinting on my part reveals a serious and concerned face staring at me. I try to look down at my chest, but I can't. Trying to talk also reveals itself fruitless, as I realize that there is something in my mouth. For the second time this day, fear starts to creep in. What are they doing to me?!

"Easy there. Don't move. Lissa's still working on you. We're almost done, stay strong." The man holds my head down and turns back to staring at my chest as someone (I can feel their hands) is digging through my innards. Ohgodohgodohgodohgod-

"Woah!" The guy says as his face comes back into my field of vision. "Stay calm. Everything will be fine. Deep breaths, friend. You're going to live, just hold on." I can't answer, though I try to calm down my breathing (was I hyperventilating?) to glare at him. However, before he can answer, I hear the voice of a young girl speaking.

"3… 2… out!" She suddenly says as I was about to brace myself for whatever was to come. Suddenly pain lances through my chest, making my ears ring.

I'm feeling really tired of everything, to be honest. Tired of living first thing first. Tired of wearing a mask. Tired of pretending to be happy for my family. Just… tired.

And hence, through the pain and the tears that stung my eyes, I slept once again.

To be honest, I would've liked more for my last memories to be the chirping of the crickets,, the stars and the trees. Oh, and the moth. But begggars can't be choosers.

"Aaah!" I gasped out as I woke up. I don't want to die, I don't want to die-

"Whoa!" My brother said, from the side of my bed. "Remind me to never wake you up again if you're gonna kick me like that!" I looked down at my chest. No knife. No blood. Nothing. I mean, there were copious amounts of sweat, but what could you expect from someone who decided to cover himself up even during summer because it's cozy?

"Sorry." I said, not quite able to stop shaking. "It was a really bad dream. Like, lava flowing upwards kind of bad." We shared a shudder at that. For some reason, we were both really traumatized from side-scrolling levels that had something chasing you, be it lava, fuzzies (the Super Mario kind) or anything really. Don't get me started on SA-X, I didn't pick up the gameboy for weeks after the first encounter.

I began stretching my arms and legs, still lying down while doing questionable noises, the most important part of getting up in the morning.

"What time is it?" I asked groggily, pressing my face into the pillow.

"9:30." He replied. Damn.

"Why'd you wake me up so early? We've got nowhere to be…" I mumbled into the cushion.

"Because you don't have to sleep." He said, pushing my face so that I was now receiving air. I lazily raised an eyebrow at him. "Why?"

"You just can't." He replied, tossing himself onto me and UGH-

"Get off, you're heavy!" I wheezed.

"No." He said, pulling himself into the bed with me and starting to push me with his legs.

"What the hell!" I said, falling onto the space in between the beds. So he wanted to play this way, eh?

"I can sleep here too." I said, grasping my pillow and putting my arms under it.

"No!" He shouted, grabbing me and forcing me to get up. However, I wasn't a master of sleeping for nothing. If he wanted me to sleep upright, I could do it.

"Wake up." He poked me in the cheek.

"Don't wanna." I said, leaning into him to use him as a headrest.

"You can't sleep! You'll die Nick!" He began shaking me.

"Cool." I said.

"Wake up!" He began shaking me stronger. "You can't give up on me now!" He said, but I was far too weak to even open my eyes.

"WAKE UP!"

I woke up to the sound of snoring, crackling fire and the heat emanated by it. Blearily opening my eyes, I stared upwards. My chest hurt, but it hurt a whole lot less. How was I even alive?

Not having enough willpower or strength to get up, but not feeling sleepy enough to go back to sleep, especially through the pain, I simply closed my eyes, listening to everything that was around me.

"What an eventful day, eh Chrom?" the voice of a young girl asked. It wasn't the voice of the person who was holding me down before though. "First Daraen, then the bandits, the forest and bear meat" she made a gagging sound at that, while a male voice (that sound vaguely familiar, though I couldn't place it) chuckled. "and now we stumble upon a half-dead guy, and we have to do a surgery on the fly!" She exclaimed. Hold on, these people hadn't even bothered calling an ambulance or anything? Were they nuts?

"Yes, about that, Milady." Another man spoke up, tone so stern that I could just imagine the frown on his face. "I recommend you exercise more caution next time. We knew nothing about him, it might've just been an attempt to lure you into a trap. Naga knows what people are willing to do to get their hands on money." The man concluded, earning a gasp from the girl. "You can't be serious! He would've died had I not healed him!" wait, what? Healed me? What is this, an RPG?

"As much as I loathe to admit it, I must agree with Frederick." A third man commented. Wait, Frederick? "It was not wise to just rush towards him like that, Lissa. A ruse from the escaped bandits, or even them taking someone hostage to get revenge on us." Lissa? Bandits? What the hell?!

"But… coming from you..." The girl began speaking, sounding chastised and defiant. The first guy, the one who had chuckled, however cut her off. "And I must disagree with you there, Daraen. Had it not been for my sister's timely intervention, our guest might've not survived his wounds." Daraen?

The girl beamed. "Thanks, Chrom! At least you're with me on this…" Ohhh, I get it. I'm in a coma and I'm imagining stuff. That makes sense. Well, let's just wait it out then. Didn't feel like doing anything before, still don't feel like doing anything.

They continue to speak as I simply lay there, unmoving. The heat is nice even though I feel so cold inside, nobody is bothering me and I can't really muster up the will to get up. Nothing really important is said, inane gossip mostly just them eating and chattering and talking about what to do once they reach Ylisstol and how Lissa will stuff herself full of pastries to make up for what she's eating now. Boy, this is one hella boring dream, isn't it? Then again, I always was a boring person. That's why I just decided to-

Suddenly, I totally can't guess the reason, the conversation became a lot more interesting than listening to my own thoughts. Let's do that, hmm?

"Guys, I think I'll hit the… grass." The voice that by now I had learned to associate with Daraen (or Robin, if you prefer) said. "The day's been exhausting, and after that bear I'm feeling drowsy… do we have any bedrolls?" he yawned. After a few seconds he continued. "Meh. it's fine. Despite a certain blue-headed prince's opinion, the ground's a perfectly acceptable place to sleep." He chuckled wryly, prompting a giggle from Lissa.

"Guess I'll take first shift then." Chrom said. "After what happened today, I don't think I can find sleep as easily as you can, Daraen."

"Milord, are you alright?" Frederick asked, concerned.

"Thank you for your concern, Frederick, but I'm alright. Just a bit shaken, I suppose." Chrom reassured the Great Knight.

"…very well milord. I will be here if you require me for anything, and I'll be taking second and third watch."

"Are you sure you'll be alright sleeping for just a few hours?" Daraen inquired, his tone sounding concerned.

"Rest assured, Daraen" Frederick was sounding like he was biting through a lemon to say his name "that I am perfectly capable of working with little to no rest. Anything for-" his speech was interrupted by Lissa, who started saying in a deadpan "Milord and milady, who need my presence else lest anything happens. What kind of protector would I be if I wasn't up to the task, especially when not within the walls of Ylisstol?" she sighed. "But yeah, he'll be fine, at least till we get home. And then he'll probably fall over and sleep for 24 hours."

And after a round of goodnights, there was no more noise, aside from the crackling of fire. Since it appeared I wasn't dying anytime soon, much to my chagrin, I took that as my cue to get up.

So yeah, I was getting up.

Definitely doing it.

Okay, now I'm actually doing it.

Yes.

Any moment now.

Even though I don't feel like it.

The ground is kinda comfortable once you get used to it, to be fair.

The grass is more cushiony than I thought.

No, I have to get up. Or not.

Nah.

Daughter of Nowi.

I wonder if this dream was gonna last long enough for me to see any of the kids?

Definitely not if I just stayed down.

So should I get up?

Perhaps.

Alright, doing it for real now.

Or not.

But yes, I'm doing it.

Nobody was entertained by this gag past the fourth line anyways.

Putting my hands on the ground, I began the herculean effort that was pushing myself up to witness any of my… saviors.

That's right, they saved my life. Maybe. Unless this is a coma.

Is a coma supposed to be this painful? I don't think a coma is supposed to be this painful.

On the other hand, the alternative is completely bollocks, bananas, nuts, and a whole fruit salad of other adjectives that are synonyms to the word crazy.

So, what are we going with, the sane but depressing coma theory or the screws loose isekai theory?

…

You may as well start calling me Alice cause… something something… rabbit hole. Screw you, I'm no good at making up sayings. Matrix reference anyways.

Anyways, I managed to at least get myself in a sitting position to stare at the four people that by all means shouldn't exist. And there they were, sleeping on the ground like nothing bothered them. I for a fact know that I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing that there are insects ready to climb on me at every occasion.

Well, three of them were anyways. The other, a blue-haired man was concernedly staring back at me from his spot near the dying embers of the campfire that I was right next to, where they had also roasted an entire bear in.

"You alright there friend?" he asked.

"Friend?" I asked.

"Are you saying that we're enemies then?" He raised an eyebrow. At my wide eyed expression, he started laughing.

"Don't worry, I was joking. And you don't look like an assassin, do you?" he gave me a Smile™.

"My knife was definitely in the wrong place for an assassin." I muttered, fiddling with the Team Plasma necklace around my neck. I had this bad habit of never managing to keep my hands still. I had taken to rotating a keychain around my finger but... it wasn't here. I think. Hold on, is it? I dug inside my pockets, looking for the set of keys to little success. "Um... did I have anything on me besides..." I began gesturing to my chest.

"No, we only saw your necklace and the knife, along with your strange attire," Chrom replied before thinking for a moment, "Perhaps you were attacked by the same bandits that raided Southtown?" Ignoring the comment about my clothes because you certainly don't dress normally buddy, I started thinking about my situation. Might as well roll with it.

"I... sure, let's go with that." I said, unsure what to do with myself just sitting there aside from biting into my thumb's nail and hanging out with Philip D. Payne. (Or as friends would call him Phil D. Payne). Since we're already a foot and a half into the crazy, might as well go full not quite right in the head. So perhaps... "I'm not from around here. Any chance you've seen portals lately?" It was as valid as a theory as any. But still, why was I even trying to attempt casual conversation with a prince?!

"Portals?" Chrom seemed confused at my reply, "I haven't seen a portal and I doubt I would even recognize one." "Uhm..." How do I even go about describing them? Why is a dream being so demanding of me saying the correct thing? Is this fire emblem by Telltale Games?! "I... think it looks like an eye? I didn't see it well..." Or rather, I saw it for like two seconds in a cinematic. But still. "An... eye?" Chrom stared at me as he processed what I said.

I grasped for words before giving up. "Nevermind." I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose before gesturing with my fingers in a round shape. "Just-it's a huge circle. But I guess you haven't seen any."

"If it is your quest then I will be sure to keep an eye out for them," Chrom answered.

"Not really. Actually, if you see one it'll probably be the one to keep an eye out for you, and not in the nice way." I frowned. "Be sure to run away from them, or at least be ready for a fight." I sighed. "But no, I just wanted to know where exactly I landed."

"We are a few miles away from Ylisstol in the Charcoal Forest," Chrom answered, "and I will be sure to take your advice."

I mulled this over. I really didn't have any idea about where this was, though I could hazard a guess. "I have no idea what you're talking about." I sighed. "But thanks anyways-" Should I reveal that I know who he is? I don't think I should. "Erm..."

"What is it... I don't think I have asked your name yet," Chrom extended his arm, "My name is Chrom."

"Yeah, the exact same problem." I sighed. "Name's Nick." I said, extending a hand before that happened to send me in a fit of pain in my chest. "Eurgh..." I said, retreating the hand from where I was extending it.

"Oh," Chrom jerked his arm back guiltily, "Perhaps I should not agitate your wounds. Lissa would have my head if I did."

"...was she the one digging through my chest earlier?" I asked, despite already knowing the answer. What I didnt have to fake, however, was the full body shudder that flowed through me.

"Yes she was," Chrom intensely stared at me, "Although she was curious how you were nearly fatally stabbed in the middle of nowhere yet had no other wounds." I could tell Chrom had some idea of what happened but was prodding me for information.

With no other places to sit on and not feeling comfortable enough to sit next to the guy on the log that he had positioned himself upon, I simply sat down on the ground, gritting my teeth from the pain. "Terrible life choices." I muttered.

"Not much of an answer," Chrom muttered, "Sooner or later Lissa is going to get it out of you."

"Sounds like a nosy person." I commented. "But there isn't much to the story, really. I stuck a knife in my gut. By the way, where is it?" I asked.

Chrom's expression turned serious, "With Frederick. He didn't want you to have access to a weapon you could use against us, and I will be sure to side with him if you try to regain it after what I've heard."

I snorted at that, pulling my knees closer to my chest before realizing it was a Bad Idea™. "Fine. Just wanted to know if it had broken or anything, if there was still. It was a gift. a poorly used one, but a gift nevertheless."

"Heirlooms are quite important," Chrom tapped the sword at his side, "I should know that as mine is of great importance beyond just my family."

"Not quite a heirloom, just a birthday gift, but yeah." I nodded.

"Where-" Chrom started, but interrupted himself. "Do... do you feel that?" He asked. "Hm?" I questioned. "I just... I feel like someone is watching us." He said, his tone low and hand on Falchion. I bit my lip. Should I warn him about the attack? I mean, I already told him that there was a portal in the sky watching us, but still…

~I am the eye in the sky, looking at you…~

Turning around, I checked on the others. "It's not them." I said, feigning obliviousness, though I legitimately did not feel what he was talking about.

The prince stayed silent, staring around himself for a while. Eventually, he got up. "Wait here." He said, getting up. A cute yawn stopped him from doing so. "What are you doing still up, Big Brother?" Turning around, I saw the princess of Ylisse rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Turning towards the Ylissean prince, I told him under my breath. "Could you keep mum about the whole..." I began gesturing towards my chest. He nodded, though he was still frowning.

"Hey! You woke up!" Lissa piped up from right behind me. I just realized that either Chrom was speaking really quietly, or both Daraen and Frederick (who were lying not too far from me) were really heavy sleepers. Which, I mean, could be for plot convenience. But still.

I don't even know what to tell her. What is this shit, nobody prepared me for an isekai. They just up and sent me in a random world. They've even chosen one of the worst worlds they could send someone in, this place sees a self-insert like every 2 days. Couldn't I have been sent to like animal crossing, and just become a millionaire by shaking trees and picking apples? This is so unfair.

Alright Nick, you can do it. If this is a game world, simply become a character, get in the role of Nick. Who is Nick?

A depressed piece of crap who wasn't brave enough to-

Yeah that's not what we're looking for. You've "role-played" (put on a mask) as a cheery kid for the better part of sixteen years, you can do it for two more. It'll be like playing D&D, alright? We got this. 3, 2, 1…

"Hey, are you even listening to me?" Suddenly a voice called from near my ears, startling me out of my funk and making me jump.

Forward.

Into the fire pit.

MOTHERF-

Thankfully, I was able to stumble out of it with no real damage being done to anything besides my sneakers. I did feel something liquid trailing down my chest as I felt something open up marginally, and I began coughing from a cloud of ash made from stumbling inside said the fire pit.

"Woah!" Lissa was there soon after, staff in hand. "Are you okay?" I groaned in response, keeping myself up on unsteady legs. The blonde looked torn between concern and amusement, but as she saw me get up she began laughing,

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." I rolled my eyes, muttering to myself. "Troia…"

"What was that?" she asked, and

After she was done, wiping a tear from her eye, she walked up to me and jabbed her staff close to my chest. "Stay still." She said, and I managed to cringe only slightly when the tip of her staff began glowing as she smiled reassuringly. I took in the condition of my clothes to realize that my shirt had been completely cut open, the buttons rendered useless by the fact that there was a precise sword cut down the middle. I hadn't even realized.

"I'm gonna need new clothes." I commented as I watched in morbid curiosity as the gaping hole in my chest (I may be exaggerating a little here) fixed itself, leaving in its wake tissue, and why am I looking towards the sky?

I numbly felt a hand holding the back of my head up so it wasn't like I had just up and fallen over, but still. One moment I was looking at my chest and the next I was laying down on my back.

*rumble* I also felt incredibly hungry now.

"Easy there." I could hear the healer's voice call, and suddenly I was upright again. "You've just been healed, don't strain yourself. The wound is closed, but your body still needs time to recover." Managing to catch myself from falling once again after I was no longer being held upright, I turned towards the generous portion of bear that was next to the fire, separated from the ground using a fabric of some kind and encircled by a generous amount of salt that looked suspiciously similar to some kind of sacrificial rite.

Normally I'm a skittish person. Seeing that bear, that had probably cleaned in a less than average way, roasted on a branch that they found god-knows-where, I would've quite simply gagged and turned away.

But...

Nothing had seemed as delicious as that bear right about now. I think that they wouldn't mind if I take Frederick's share of the meal, right? If I remember correctly, Frederick hated bear meat. Oh well, more for me!

I grabbed a rib that still had some meat around it, sunk my teeth in and-

Remembered that this is not an anime.

"Oddio che schifo." I said as I forced myself to swallow the first bite of the meat and trying not to gag.

"Yeah, tastes like boots. I've never seen someone go from ecstatic to disgusted in such a short time!" Lissa giggled at my misery.

To put it simply, the meat was tough and chewy, and tasted relatively bitter. I moved to bring the rib away and put it back (etiquette about not eating food after the first bite the last thing on my mind right now) when my stomach growled louder in hunger. Maybe…

Fuck it.

The second bite was nowhere as bad as the first one after my expectations had already been shot. Still bitter, still nasty, but edible.

"So, what brought you here?" Lissa asked me the million dollar question as I ate in silence, the sleepiness washing away while I ate. And what was I going to answer? What did I want to be?

"How can you still be eating that?" Lissa said, looking at me as if I was a caveman. I shrugged. Nick hun- I was hungry, and I had worse. Like sugared pasta. Or sugaredchicken strips. I've had a lot of times that sugar was mistaken for salt, okay? Nevermind that. Excuse time.

Well, at least let's try to keep a consistent story. "Well, I dropped out of a portal that opened in the sky." I casually mentioned to her. That was still the strongest theory I had, considering that was the only way to travel between dimension and I wasn't in some nondescript island that held the only stable portal, while Lucina popped out of a random portal that closed soon after.

"You what?!" She shouted at me, finally waking up (quite brusquely too) the other two sleepyheads who were with us, whom I was starting to believe had a concentration of plot armor situated around their ears. Unlike them, I'm not a happy camper.

I stuck my pinky finger into my left ear. "Geeze Lissa, I think you might've woken up the dead with that shout." Daraen and Frederick rushed over, one of them with a lance in hand already.

I looked behind myself, looking for the Ylissean prince, also known as The Walking Plot™ since I had lost sight of him. Aaaand…

"Where's your brother?" I asked her, looking around myself. She shrugged, before narrowing her eyes at me. "Hey, I never told you my name, or that he was my brother." I froze a little, but Frederick came to the rescue.

"Milady! Are you alright?!" Frederick 'The Wary' Frederickson asked, pointing his Silver Lance in a non-unthreatening way towards me.

"Meep." I replied from my spot on the ground as I stared at the sharp point of a lance. Lissa waved her hands in front of her face to stop me from making me into a Nick Skewer, coming at ya, for just 2.99$!

I really ought to get less distracted.

"It's fine! I just got startled by a… snake." She tried to defuse the situation, and I nodded frantically. "It was huge!" I added. "And it had these weird gray scales with black stripes!"

"Was milady bitten?!" Frederick asked, looking extremely concerned. I almost felt bad for the guy, but it was strongly outweighed by the fact that he had just threatened to kill me without a second thought.

Lissa was about to say something, but I was faster. "Nope." I mentioned. "She shouted so loud it ran away. Still, I'd rather not be bitten by something in the night." I grumbled, faking concern, while Lissa nodded in agreement to my story. Thankfully Frederick bought it, because the next thing you know, he was going around, lifting up rocks and looking for a snake that fit our description.

Daraen remained with us however. "Where's Chrom?" He asked, completely uninterested in both me or the snake, and damn my sassy tongue, I couldn't stop myself. "Hello to you too R-Daraen." I deadpanned at him. He looked confused. "How do you know my name?" He asked as Lissa resumed narrowing her eyes at me.

I didn't even need to lie this time. "No better time to sneak in your names than open heart surgery." I chuckled. I didn't have to fake my shudder, because aside from it being the single most painful experience of my life, so much that I still feel it despite having been healed completely, feeling someone dig through the junk inside your chest and touching the ribs is just plain weird.

Lissa stared at me in empathy for what happened, but Daraen held no such regard. "About that. What happened to you to cause such a thing? Were there any bandits from Southtown that we didn't manage to clean up?"

"Sure. Let's go with that." I replied, not offering any information on the subject. Daraen noticed this and impatiently stared at me in askance. "Then what?" he said.

I got up, narrowing my eyes at the black/very dark blue haired guy. Unfortunately, the effect was rendered moot by the fact that I needed to look up to look at him in the eyes. I unfortunately was just slightly taller than Lissa, while this guy fell just short of Chrom height (5'9/175cm-ish). I didn't like this guy. While in the game he was meant to represent me and I wasn't a self-loathing asshole when I played the game the first time around, this time he was a complete other person. I don't know what people find so likeable about Daraen enough to make him able to make friends (or more than friends) with literally everybody, but he was the same person that could send people to their death without a hint of remorse.

"Well, I was stabbed in the gut after a severe case of Mindya." I told him, completely straightfaced. If his confused expression was anything to go by, he had fell for it. Lissa was also listening intently to me, though that was probably because it was a disease she had never heard of.

"Mindya? What is- nevermind that, what kind of disease requires you to be stabbed in the gut?!" Daraen asked, bewildered. I grinned at him, turning my back towards him.

"Well. To put it simply, Mindya is short for Mind your own damn business, asshole." I grinned, looking towards the forest. However, my amusement was short lived.

I knew exactly what was going on, but I still had to remain in character. "Um?" I called out to the three of them. Daren was grimacing at me, thinking about something. Frederick- pffft.

Frederick had ultimately managed to find the snake I had completely made up on the spot, and was lecturing Lissa on the fact that this species was completely harmless, and which snakes she was actually supposed to look out for. I cleared my throat loudly, making them all turn towards me.

"Is the prince of Ylisse known to be a pyromaniac?" I said, pointing towards the forest, a huge cloud of smoke that completely encompassed the sky above that chunk of the ex-forest. I say ex-forest because the flames were already in the process of devouring it entirely and without any kind of firefighters this place would soon become the Actual Charcoal Forest.

"No. No he's not." Frederick said with grave tone, and a hint of fear?

I took a deep breath, pondering over the fact that I had already fucked canon not even two hours in my stay in this world, assuming it to be real. It did feel pretty real.

"Well. Fuck." I summed up the situation.