Ok, Guys, I am on break for the summer, so I will have more time to work on the story, so updates will be a little bit faster. I might get job though, so so I won't have 100% free time, but I won't be worrying about an exam or a paper to prepare for. I'm really excited for this arc, because it's building off something that was mentioned in the early chapters. Don't you love it when you can expand on something that you never expected to expand on? I would like to thank my beta, redscarfninja for her efforts in beta'ing this chapter. If you want to read something that is written like a professional novel, with meticulous attention to detail, then I recommend checking out their story "Holes In The Sky".

Seicentotrenta

Unknown Location

"Ok..." I say as I look around at the surrounding forest, its appearance foreign yet familiar at the same time. The others are also looking around, trying to figure out where the hell we are. "We need to find the nearest settlement." I proclaim, and the others nod in agreement. I put the mirror in my Requip space, and lead the way through the forest, walking the opposite direction of the lake. We didn't walk long before we come across a village only a minute or two later.

The village is small - about the size of Rosemary, with small to medium wooden houses mixed with others that were made of stone. Almost all of them have thatched roofs, but some of the bigger ones have more modern looking ones. The largest building by far is a church that looms over the other buildings; a church that looks eerily similar to the one in Salice. I look to Kagura and she nods her head, letting me know that she sees it too. The village also has people walking through the streets made of dirt, and a lot of them are pulling farm animals around via rope around their necks. These villagers are odd, because I don't know if my eyes are deceiving me or not, but they are wearing very old fashioned clothes. Like, really old fashioned clothes. The style of these clothes is from at least 100 years ago. The women are wearing white long sleeved shirts that are tucked into long skirts that went almost to the ground, and are wearing bonnets on their heads. Most of the men are either wearing a some form of jacket, varying between brown and black, or are just wearing dirt stained shirts and hats.

Where the hell are we? Somewhere stuck in the past!? It almost looks like a freaking renaissance festival.

"Uh, guys, do you know where the heck we are?" Risley asks, vocalizing what we are all thinking.

We remain silent.

"I'll take that as a no…" Risley says awkwardly.

"Well, I think we should go check it out and find out where we are, right?" Araña suggests timidly, unsure what to do in this situation.

"Yes, we should." Kagura says, her voice a mixture between serious and curious.

We make our way toward the village, and as we are walking through it, people are giving us curious looks, like we are the strangest things in the world. It feels like there is a weight on my back, because of all the eyes on me and my friends. We arrive at what I assume is the village market, due to all the stalls full of produce, freshly butchered meats, and lots of people walking around, sampling the products. The air is filled with the sounds of farms animals, the clopping of horses, and the idle chatter of conversation. I then decide it's time to ask around and find out where we are, and I search around with my eyes for the nearest stand, which in this case, is a stall selling various vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, beats and many more. The man operating the stand is wearing a green shirt with its sleeves rolled up and a dark, beige apron over his shirt. The man looks to be in his late forties, with dark black hair with sideburns tipped with a little bit of grey. He has a thick mustache and his skin has an olive complexion.

As we walk up to him, he gives us strange looks, like the rest of the town has been giving us. I've haven't felt so socially awkward since that one time Risley drew on my face with marker and I walked around town all day being stared and laughed at, much to my confusion. When I found out, Risley got a first-hand lesson in why you don't mess around with electricity. She was shocked so hard, that she was jittery for days.

I stop in front of his stall. "Excuse me, Sir, but me and my friends have been traveling around, and we strayed off the beaten path and seem to have gotten lost in the forest. Would you mind telling us where we are?"

The man eyes us, before nodding. "Ah, yes, Signorina…" He starts in a heavy Fiorian accent, which is the Eathland equivalent of Italian. I didn't know that people in this day and age still had it, but god damn, it was sexy! His voice is like velvet, and so masculine. "…You are in the Village of Salice, just northeast of Hargeon. If you take that road over there, it will lead you straight there." He says while looking away, pointing to the road he mentioned.

But I'm paying attention, because of the sheer shock of what he just said. We can't be in Salice! This place was backwater and stuck in the 7th century! Salice had 40,000 people and paved roads! Unless…

"But we can't be in Sal-mmmpppffff!" Araña blurts out, but I quickly throw my hand over her mouth, muffling her.

"Sorry, about that…" I say with an award laugh, and Araña gives me an annoyed look . "My friend here doesn't have much manners *awkward laugh* Sorry for that." I clear my throat and regain my composure. I can feel an annoyed grumble from Araña through my hand. I look to her and give her the 'Be quiet and let me talk' stare. I look to the others, who have similar looks of shock on their faces, but they quickly acknowledge my silent message. I look back to the man, who's expression is a mixture of confusion and curiosity. I feel myself heat up in embarrassment. I hate being awkward in front of strangers.

"Tell me, signorinas, are you from Crocus?" He inquires. I raise an eyebrow at his question and he begins to explain further. "You speak similar to a pair of Crocian merchants we had a few months ago, and your fashion sense is quite… unique… Those Crocians have always had such crazy fashion senses…"

Ok, I can play this off. I put a small smile on my face. "Are we that obvious, mister?" I say with my most casual voice, and tilt my head to look genuinely confused on how he knew. Grade A acting right here. Get me an Oscar.

"Si, Signorina, your Crocian accent is very apparent. And if I may ask, why are the four of you so far away from home?" He questions.

"We were privileged enough to be taught magic, and we are exploring the world. Crocus is a bit… stuffy. The air out here is so much cleaner, and you don't have to worry about constantly bumping into people all the time." I respond with the first explanation that came to mind.

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You're wizards!?" He exclaims. "You don't see much wizards around here, especially female ones." He says with a skeptical expression.

I shrug and hold up my finger, making it spark for a quick second with electricity. It was only for a moment, as I didn't want to cause a scene, but it was enough to prove my claims. "Is this enough proof, mister?" I say with a small smirk.

The man is shocked, then a huge smile overtakes his face. "Well, I'll be, you're actually wizards. You must have had some good connections to learn magic!" He laughs. "Well, I wish you luck on your travels." He says, his voice joyful. "Buona giornata!"

"Buona giornata!" I imitate, probably butchering the pronunciation. I look to the others and signal them to follow me as I start walking to a find a place where we can talk in private. I look back and see that Risley and Araña are looking at me with great confusion, while Kagura is looking at me in suspicion. I lead my friends to a more calm, and quiet part of town, and face them, ready to explain my theory on what I think happened.

"So, Rubi, I suspect you might know what is going on here?" Kagura questions seriously. Risley and Araña look to me for confirmation as well.

I scratch the back of my head nervously. "Yeah… I think I have an idea on what happened, but well, it's kinda…."

Kagura quirks a brow. "Kind of what?" She inquires.

"Well, it's kind of… crazy…" I say hesitantly, and Kagura has a look of mild of confusion.

"More crazy then getting sucked through a tiny mirror?" Risley questions.

"Yeah, what can be more crazy than that! Rubi-nee?" Araña chimes in.

"Time Travel." I say simply, and I swore I can hear the crickets chirping, which is weird, because the sun is out. I am not crazy! As a science fiction fan, I have watched shows like Stargate, Star Trek and many others, and my favorite episodes were the ones where they would travel through time. Back in my previous life, I would search the web for stories of time travel, especially fanfictions of my favorite shows. I've read so many stories about the subject, that failing to recognize it happening before my very eyes, especially now that I live in a world where such thing is possible, would make me facepalm in embarrassment. Anyway, Kagura has an expression of skepticism and slight annoyance, Risley looks like she has heard the most absurd thing in her life, and Araña just looks plain confused. "What? Is there something wrong?" I ask seriously, even though I know my idea is ridiculous at first glance.

"Rubi, I think that idea is absolutely absurd." Kagura says flatly.

"Yeah, I agree with Kagura on this one." Risley agrees.

"What do you mean by time travel?" Araña asks curiously.

I decide to answer Araña first. "Time Travel, as in we have been transported somewhere in the past." I look around some more to get an estimate on what time we are in, and look back to the girl. "I'd say we are a good 150 years or so in the past."

"But we didn't time travel. This place being called Salice is just a coincidence, not this nonsense you have suggested, Rubi." Kagura argues, to which Risley nods her head in agreement. Araña looks between us and decides to stay neutral.

Oh boy, it's time to go into debate mode.

"Ok, let me show you why I am right." I say as I crack my neck joints and clear my throat. I put one finger up. "First, look at the clothing everyone in this town is wearing. They are old fashioned. Like, very old fashioned. I don't even think people in the most rural of areas wear those types of clothes anymore. I remember seeing pictures in history books of people wearing those clothes over a hundred years ago." I then put a second finger up. "Secondly, that guy we just spoke to, he had a heavy Fiorian accent. While you might find some remote parts where some people still have it, he referred to our way of speaking as 'Crocian', and he spoke perfect Fiorian, which is essentially a dead language that was dying out even a hundred years ago, and is only spoken today by linguists." At this point, Araña and Risley are looking more convinced, while Kagura still looks unfazed. I put up a third finger. "Thirdly, isn't it odd that the lake we appeared at looked exactly the same as Lake Sirena, and that the church in this town is exactly the same as the one in Salice?" This last point got both Araña and Risley on my side.

Kagura still isn't completely convinced yet, but looks slightly less skeptical. "It's still more likely for this to be all coincidence than what you are suggesting. Seriously, you know how unlikely that theory is?"

I smirk, because I have one more point that will put the final nail in the coffin. "Oh yeah? Well why don't you take a look at that?" I say as I turn Kagura around and point to a building being constructed, and a statue being erected in front of it. A very distinct Statue. A statue of the founder of Salice. The same statue that was in front of the mayor's office.

Kagura stares for a moment, completely silent, before slumping her shoulders. "Fuck my life…" She says quietly under hear breath. She doesn't usually drop the F-bomb often. She looks to me, "Ok then, what now?" She asks.

I pull the mirror out of my Requip space and begin inspecting it. I sense same small magical signature when I found it in the library and I try putting magic power in to it, to see if I can activate it somehow, but it is unresponsive, and I stop so I don't accidentally break it. I look up to see the others looking at me and I shake my head. "Sorry, guys, but I don't think this is gonna work right now." I then get an idea and put a hand up to my chin. "Although…" This causes them to look at me in rapt attention. "Maybe we were sent here for a purpose!" I exclaim. This got me skeptical looks, and puts me on the defensive. I put up my hands. "Hey now, a lot of stories I've read where the characters get sent back in time by some weird magical object, it's always for a purpose! I swear!" I then go into lecture mode, which got audible groans from my friends. I started explaining the concepts of time travel using scientific terms like causality. Was it a bit unnecessary? Maybe. But it's not every day you get to go back a couple hundred years in the past! After I am done explaining my very complicated concepts, I notice the Araña is staring out into space, completely lost, eye twitching; Risley looks like she is in some sort of trance, lost in her own world, and Kagura looks like she is paying attention, but has no clue what I was talking about and is really bored… Awkward Silence… I feel my cheeks go warm with slight embarrassment. I think I over did it. I clear my throat. "Just trust me! Okay!?" I exclaim.

It is at this moment, that all of our stomachs combined into a cacophony of violent grumbling. Crap, we been so distracted by figuring out what was going on, we forgot that we didn't eat! "I think we should find something to eat…" Kagura says and the others nod, and begin walking back in the direction of the market place to buy some food.

"Wait!" I exclaim, stopping them. They look back at me as I am about to deliver the bad news, which is a fair assumption. "If I am correct, then the year is around X630-631ish, because the mayor's office is still not complete."

"So? What does that have to do with anything?" Risley remarks.

I start explaining. "That means, the money we have won't work. The jewel wasn't overhauled and standardized until another several decades or so. So basically-"

"We have no money." Kagura finishes my sentence.

"No!" Araña bellows in desperation.

Risley falls to her knees. "No…" She says quietly. "This can't be happening…" Her voice is conveying the loss of hope.

After a few moments, Kagura sighs and pulls the girl up, putting her back on her feet. "Ok, listen. The solution to our problem is simple. We should do some work around town and earn some money. If you don't mind waiting a few more hours, we can pool our money together and buy enough food to last us for a day or two."

"And, we should split up, doing different jobs so we have different sources of income." I add, which gets nods from everyone else. "Ok, I'm going to stay here, and see what jobs I can find. I suggest we go to different areas of the village."

With that, the group walks away from me, and I look around, my eyes immediately going to the unfinished mayor building. I see a group of men struggling to lift a large, heavy stone that was cut into a rectangular shape. The Mayor's office is a gothic style building that was made of stone at the lower levels. And if I remember correctly, it started out as the town meeting hall, before becoming the mayor's office when the village became a proper city. Seeing the men struggle presents me the perfect opportunity to help and earn some money. I walk over, and notice the men are shirtless, their ripped muscles are drenched with sweat and are panting heavily. Great, that's distracting… "Excuse me, but why are you trying to lift that stone by hand?" I ask, getting the attention of what I assume is the leader of the group, because he looks the oldest and has an air of 'in charge' about him.

The man is bearded and his chest is hairy, and he looks to be in his late thirties. He was about the same height as me, and he wiped his forehead, before answering my question. "Well, Signorina, our lifting equipment broke, so we have to lift the lighter blocks by hand while we wait for the black smith to repair the part that broke." He says, before sighing heavily from exhaustion. I see that the other men have stopped what they were doing, and are listening in on our conversation.

"Oh, that doesn't sound good." I say before looking him in his eyes, "Would you mind me helping? It looks like you could need some extra hands." The man looks at me, and the men behind him look at each other, before breaking out into laughter, which makes me confused. Why would they be laughing at my offer?

"Yeah ok, Signorina, you wouldn't be much help. This stone is a bit too heavy for someone like you. Maybe you could find an extra man to help us." The leader says between laughs, and the others behind make sounds of agreement.

Did he just… He did! I offer help and he responds to me with sexist degradation! I feel anger well within me, and the men fall deathly quiet. "Oh…" I say in a low, threatening tone, which causes them to take on expressions of fear. I walk towards the stone, and I feel small sparks crackle from my body, which causes the men to fearfully scramble to get out of my way. I lift the stone above my head with minimal effort, and walk over to where it needs to be, and set it down, making a loud crunch as the stone connects with another. I turn around to see the men looking at me, their jaws open all the way to the ground. I feel a smirk on my face. "So. I offer my help, and you pay me." I say in a cocky voice. "Deal?"

The men pick their jaws off the ground and nod vigorously. "H-How?" The leader asks, amazed at what he just saw.

I put up a hand and spark some electricity through it, causing the men to stare at it, wide eyed. "I'm a wizard, and picking up a few stones is not the hardest thing in the world." That is true. Most wizards can easily pick up things many times their own body weight. That stone probably weighed close to a thousand pounds, but to me, it felt like a couple of pounds. That shows the huge disparity between magic users and non-magic users. Even the strongest of men, cannot beat me in a contest of strength because of the natural strength boost I get from the magic that flows through my body. It's no wonder the ruling class was made of magic users for a long time. Normal people just can't compete with them, and humans naturally follow the strongest around.

I spent the rest of the afternoon helping out with the construction of the town hall, doing most of the heavy lifting, and even learning how to mortar a brick. Getting a lesson in stone masonry was a bonus of this job, and the hard work distracted me from the growing starvation welling up within me. Well that, and numbing my stomach with electricity to nullify the hunger pains. By the end of the afternoon, I had worked up a good sweat, and earned a good 100 jewels. All cast iron of course. 100 jewels might sound like chump change, but in this time, it's a pretty decent payout. Gotta love inflation.

I wipe the sweat off my brow, and notice my friends standing where we split earlier, looking at me. I walk over to them, and ask, "So, guys, how was your day? Any luck?"

Kagura nods, Risley grimaces and looks like a mess while Araña grins brightly. Kagura holds out a pouch with quite a few jewels in it. "Together, Risley, Araña and I earned a combined total of 500 jewels."

I smile. "Good, that means we have 600 jewels total to get some food and rent a room at an Inn." I then look to Risley. "What happened to you?" I question. She looks like she has had one hell of a bad day. Well, more so then she already was with the whole time traveling situation.

Risly grumpily blows a hair out of her face. "Kagura and I helped on a farm. Our job was to round up horses, and get them to plow a field. For some reason, Kagura got all the nice, calm ones, while I got the ones spawned by Satan." She grumbles.

"They would have listened if you were a bit calmer and patient, instead of being spooking them with you rowdiness." Kagura points out flatly, which earns her a dirty look from Risley.

Before Risley could retort, Araña interjects. "I made a bunch of things with my web magic, like leashes and ropes and even necklaces!" Araña exclaims excitedly.

Risley looks away from Kagura, and pouts. "Lucky…" Risley mutters under her breath.

I snort with laughter. "Ok, I think you guys seen what I've done, so I think we should go find an Inn." We then went off searching for a place to stay, and for about 30 minutes, we found nothing. At this point, the sun was going down, and we don't have much daylight left. "This can't be possible… What village doesn't have and Inn!?" I say desperately, before falling to me knees. "Why!?" I call to the heavens. I then clutch my stomach in pain, which has struck me with great anger and furious vengeance. "Why…" I groan.

I hear Kagura sigh behind me. "Stop being so dramatic, Rubi, we can just camp outside, and we can just hold it until-"She is interrupted by a large grumble, which I assume is her stomach. "…Morning…" I hear her say with embarrassment.

To go a day and a whole night without food and shelter… This was a god dammed tragedy of the worst possible kind!

"Hey, Wizards!" A woman's voice calls from behind.

I look behind to see a woman with long, dark blue hair, wearing a white long sleeved shirt and a dark long skirt. She is waving at as us.

"You are the wizards, yes?" She questions with a fiorian accent.

Kagura looks to the woman. "Yes, we are the wizards." She answers.

I stand up and walk next to Kagura as the woman smirks. "Great." She says, before walking up to us, and I notice that she has ocean blue eyes along with high cheekbones and a rounded chin. I also notice that her attire hides her figure, but if I were to guess, she is hiding a voluptuous figure underneath the masking clothing. And no, I am not checking her out. I'm being purely objective here. "I've noticed the four of you working around, helping our town, I would like to thank you… My name is Arvella Bernini." She says with a smirk, and extends her hand out. Kagura shakes it.

"It was our pleasure. You have a nice little town here. One of the nicest we've seen." Kagura compliments.

The Arvella's smirk widens. "Thank You. It's not every day we get wizards around here, especially ones that are young women like you four."

"Yeah, we have been getting that a lot around here…" Risley says as she walks up to my side. "It's kinda old after a while…" She says tiredly.

Arvella shrugs. "Well, not many women learn magic, but I assume it's more common in Crocus, no?"

"Uh yeah, way more common in crocus…" I say semi-confidently. I keep forgetting that everyone here thinks we are from Crocus.

"Anyway, I've noticed you four haven't anywhere to stay, and it would be rude of us, as a town, to not provide any form of shelter for those who have helped us." She starts, and I perk up what I hear.

"Are you offering a place to stay for the night?" Kagura asks cautiously. She is trying to keep her expression polite and professional, but if one were to look closely, you could see the stars in her eyes at prospect of not sleeping outside, and maybe even a meal.

The woman simply nods, and I think I never been happier in my entire life. "We're saved…." I mutter out loud, and Kagura slaps my arm lightly. "What!? We have no food, and I'm hungry!" I half whine.

"That's rude, Rubi." Kagura scolds, then her stomach let's out what sounds like an angry, howling roar, and she blushes.

"Looks like you body doesn't lie, Kagura-chan." Risley snarks, and then her stomach goes off as well, and she clutches her stomach and winces.

Kagura composes herself. "Are you sure? We would hate to be a burden."

I look to Kagura in desperation. Why!? Why are you trying to ruin this for us!?

Arvella snorts with amusement. "Well, I actually have a big meal prepared for tonight, so you pose no burden to me." She states casually.

This woman is a saint!

Arvella puts on a sincere expression. "I insist. You four have earned it." She then turns around and starts walking the opposite direction from us. "Come, join my family for dinner." She says over her shoulder.

Kagura, Risley and I exchange looks, before nodding in silent agreement. They start following, but I don't, because I notice that one person has been silent. I look behind me, and slightly to my side is Araña, staring in contemplation. I look to her. "Araña?" I say, trying to get her attention, but to no avail. I then snap my fingers a few times, and that does the trick.

She snaps out of her daze. "Wha-Oh, sorry Rubi-nee I was just thinking…" She says.

I raise a brow. "What were you thinking about?" I inquire.

"Well... that woman…" She says, seeming to struggle to find words. "Well, I don't know how to describe it, but she seems strange, yet familiar." She puts a hand on her chin, and her face turns contemplative. "I can't help but think I've meet her before, but that's impossible because we are a few hundred years in the past." She then shrugs. "Oh, well. I think it's the hunger getting to my head." She chirps and runs off to catch up with the others.

I think back to our conversation, and now that I think about, I too am getting feelings of familiarity... What a conundrum. Oh well, I'll think on this later, because right now, I have a fever, and the only prescription is more food! With that, I run after the group, and follow Arvella back to her house.

We eventually arrive, and her house is a bit bigger than most of the other homes in the village, with it being two stories and having a more modern roof. It is on the edge of the forest, so that's probably why it's a bit bigger, because of more space to build. Arvella stops at the door and faces us. "I'd like to welcome you to my home. Make sure to take off your shoes, and I will have dinner ready shortly."

I'm disheartened a bit by the fact we would have to wait a bit more, but I should be extremely grateful to Arvella for inviting us to her home and treating us to dinner.

Never turn down a free meal.

I'm sorry for not much happening, but the next scene is a pretty big one, and I felt that this was a good point to stop it. Plus, the next scene is very information packed with character development that I felt deserves it's own chapter. This arc is practice for writing multiple characters in one scene. I know when I get to canon, I will have a lot of character's dialogue to keep track of, so this arc is me preparing for that. I am sorry if the dialogue is jarring or if one character doesn't talk. I'm trying to improve that part of my writing.

I would like to thank my Italian Expert, RadioPoisoning for helping me with anything Italian related in the chapter and in the future. One thing I would hate to do is get a foreign language wrong.

Rubi can be quite scary, and I love writing scenes that let her channel her inner Scarlet, and frightening the crap out of people. I know some people will be in disbelieve that Rubi recognized time travel so quickly, but since she is based off me, she has read tons of time travel stories, and has seen tons of different ways it could happen. Plus, she knows it can happen in the FT universe. I feel as though I could of spent more time in her trying to convince the others, but I felt that would be dragged out.

I can't wait to write the next chapter, because it has some really fun parts to it. If you are confused what time they are in, the hint is in the Title.