Within the next 24 hours Waver and Sieglinde sat on a plane to Fuyuki. Waver had knocked out a few hours into the ride, the result of staying up all night researching any kind of spells to acquire the Japanese language, but to no avail. He leaned up against the plane window, snoring lightly. Sieglinde sat next to him, flipping through a magazine nervously. Before boarding the plane she'd downed a vial of what was known in the magus community as "instant acquisition." It had taken her the whole night to make. As soon as the plane landed she'd have to activate its effects, but for now she just hoped that she'd made it correctly. She didn't know what she'd do if it ended up being a total failure, which was a total possibility given her lack of knowledge.
She flipped to another page and pushed the worry out of her mind. What concerned her more was where she and Waver would be staying. He said he had it covered, but didn't give her any more information, partially because he was passing out from exhaustion before they even made it to the airport.
Rubbing her eyes, Sieglinde yawned and tried to stretch.
"Ouch, watch where you're moving," Waver said, scooting away from her arms.
"Oh, did I fall asleep?" she asked, blinking away the sleep from her eyes.
"Yeah, we're almost in Fuyuki. It should only be a few more minutes until we land."
Disregarding Waver's personal space Sieglinde stretched her body over his seat and pulled open the window shade and gasped. She'd never been to Japan before and the sight of the lit up city getting closer made her giddy with excitement. She couldn't wait to explore.
"Hey, Waver. You never told me where we'd be staying," she said as she leaned back into her seat.
"About that….you'll see when we get there…" he said, looking away from her and back towards the window.
"Welcome back, Waver!"
Sieglinde blinked as she watched the elderly woman embrace her friend in the doorway. What was even happening?
"Oh, and you even brought your girlfriend!" the old woman cried, letting go of Waver and coming to embrace Sieglinde. She only laughed nervously and returned the woman's hug. She shot Waver a confused look and the old woman let her go.
"Glen, Waver and his girlfriend are here!"
An elderly man walked into the doorway and patted Waver on the back.
"It's nice to see you, Waver. You've definitely grown since the last time I saw you. And this is your girlfriend, right?" he said, extending his hand toward her "It's nice to meet you miss…"
"Sieglinde," she said, shaking his hand.
"Ah, pretty name for a pretty girl! You did well!" the old man nodded toward Waver.
"Oh let's not stand out here all night," the old woman said, grabbing Sieglinde's bag from her and pulling her inside. "Come inside, dear."
Shutting the door to his room Sielginde glared at Waver.
"Did you seriously brainwash these people into thinking you were their grandson?! Are you crazy?! And why am I suddenly your girlfriend, huh?!"
"Calm down, okay. I knew we needed somewhere to stay so I found them. I thought they just had a grandson but then they brought up his girlfriend so I had to play along, okay!? It's not my fault!"
Sieglinde face palmed. This was not what she was expecting at all.
"Oh my god Waver, what happens when they find out you're not their grandson? Then what?"
"That shouldn't happen, I made sure their memories would stay altered for at least two months."
"First you're stealing people's mail, then coercing girls into going to a foreign country with you…now you're brainwashing old people and using their home… You're a criminal."
"Okay, I did not coerce you. You volunteered to come with me. You can go home if you want," he said, turning around to unpack the suitcase on the bed.
"Hmmm, okay well what are my new in-law's names?" Sieglinde asked, sitting on the edge of the bed and watching her friend unpack.
"Martha and Glen," he replied, not looking up at her. Sieglinde just watched, amused.
"Waver, how many sweater vests do you even own?"
"Shut up," he mumbled, moving his sweaters away from her.
"Oh my god and everything's green…" she laughed. "You freaking dork!"
"Can you please get out of here?"
"Fine, fine," she laughed, exiting the room and heading downstairs to speak with the grandparents.
Talking with Martha was actually fun. She told Sieglinde the story of how she met Glen, when they moved to Japan, and even when their "grandson" was born and all the times he would come visit them.
"I'm so glad Waver came back to visit us, it's been so lonely without him," Martha said while Sieglinde poured her a cup of tea.
"How long has it been since he visited?" she asked, genuinely curious. She poured herself a cup too and set the pot on the coffee table.
"Oh, the last time he visited was when he was ten. It's been nine years…" she said, looking off sadly. She shook it off immediately and smiled at Sieglinde. "But that's alright, I know he's been busy. I'm just glad he's back now."
Sieglinde frowned. She felt bad for the old woman. It made her wonder if her real grandson would ever come visit again.
"He was really excited to come see you and Glen, I'm happy I got to come with him," Sieglinde said, sipping her tea. A part of her felt bad for lying, but the smile Martha gave her as soon as she said those words seemed worth it.
The two continued to chat and get to know each other until Waver came downstairs and headed toward the door.
"Oh, Waver, where are you going so late?" Martha asked.
"It's not important, I'll be back later. See you," he exited the door without looking at them. Martha's face visibly fell.
Sieglinde swallowed her tea quickly. She knew parents and grandparents hated their kids going out late at night.
"Rice!" she blurted out.
"Excuse me?" Martha asked.
"He's uh..getting rice. For tomorrow. He told me he missed the rice you used to buy him at the convenience store when he was little and, uh, he went to buy some…yeah."
"Oh, he should have asked us to get him some! Glen and I would have bought some before you both came."
"Oh, you know Waver…he didn't want to bother you two. That's all. I'm sure he'll be back soon."
Two hours later Waver wasn't back. Martha had shown Sieglinde to her guest room where the two had unpacked together, but Martha was growing worried about her grandson and was starting to pace around the living room. Glen had joined her, sitting at the kitchen table, waiting for him. Sieglinde sat on the couch chewing her thumb angrily.
Does Waver have no regard for these people's feelings? Ugh! she thought, glancing at the clock. It was almost midnight.
"Hey, Glen, Martha, can you guys show me upstairs one more time? I forgot which rooms belong to who," she said.
"Oh, of course, dear," Martha replied, stopping her pacing and leading her upstairs. Glen followed, rearing to tell Sieglinde about the window leading to the roof again.
As soon as the three were upstairs Sieglinde tapped her wrist twice.
"Somnum…" she whispered and two small, blue butterflies appeared in her closed palm.
"Where is your room again?" she asked them as they were across the hall.
"Over here sweetheart," Martha said, turning around to point at the room. Sieglinde walked by her and Glen, opening her palm to let the butterflies out.
"Don't you think it's a good time to go in there and sleep?" she asked them.
"You know, I do feel tired…" Glen said as one butterfly passed him.
"Honey, it is late. Let's go to sleep…" Martha said as the other landed on her shoulder.
Sieglinde watched as the two entered the room and shut the door behind them.
"That should do it," she said, making her way back to her room. She didn't know what Waver was doing but she was starting to feel the jetlag she'd successfully fought off since she arrived. She peeled off her clothes and threw on an over sized t-shirt before falling into bed.