thanks to Kiri for all the amazing support and criticism! Maybe you should just say "screw you parents (such a good influence) I wanna have an account so I will." Just for me and you okay, kiri? Email me at Hannalovesal Gmail. com

Chapter 2

~Zoe~

"You are Zoe Hill, right?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. I nodded and gestured for her to follow me as we headed back to my apartment. It was a silent walk, and it was awkward. I didn't know what to say and I had so many questions floating around in my head. Before I could open my mouth, we arrived at the apartment building. Holding the door, I let Lydia in first before leading the way to my apartment. I hadn't realised that I had been holding my breath until I let out a sigh and sat down on my bed.

"So you got dragged here too, huh?" Lydia asked, breaking the silence, "What's your story?"

"I- I don't remember a lot of it," I whispered in reply. Man, I wish I wasn't so scared to talk to people, but I guess that's why I was always bullied. Lydia just stared at me, making me slightly uncomfortable and I looked down at my hands. I heard a small scraping sound to see that Lydia had sat down at the table. Thinking that we could possibly link the dots of our arrivals, I grabbed some paper and a pen from the drawer and sat down across from her.

"S- so what's your story?" I stuttered slightly, wondering if her story and my slightly jagged one were anything alike. Lydia was silent for a minute, a serious look on her face.

"Well, I think you remember when I was kicked out of English, right?" she asked, me humming in reply, "Well, I ditched class and went out to buy some stuff and on the way I met this strange old woman."

Before I even registered what she had said, I gasped. A little bit of that memory came back to me.

I sped up towards the gate when I collided with an elderly woman, causing both of us to fall. I quickly stood up and assessed the damage.

"I- I'm so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going," I said, helping the lady up. The elderly woman shook her head as she dusted off her skirt.

"You…" she began, trailing off a little.

"Me? What about me?" I asked, confusion taking over and completely forgetting about my resolve to get away from the school.

"You… are Zoe Hill?" she asks, her voice cracked and eerie.

"Y- Yes. I- That would be me," I replied, terrified that she knew so much about me for a stranger. Was she stalking me?

"You're fate, no longer exists on this world. You're fate shall be transported to another world, another time, another place entirely. As will you. You shall venture to this world as well-"

"A- as well? Who else is there?" I asked, bewildered.

"Let me finish, child. This world is a world of Anime. You hold a great magical power within you. It will serve greatly for the good of that world. I see a storm, a terrible raging storm that shall take your lives. I see you, child, and a bag of groceries. I see a tree. A good tree it was. Unfortunately it was not good enough-"

"I'm going to die from a falling tree holding groceries," I finished, my voice and body shaking lightly.

"Yes child. This is your fate in this world. Then it will be no more." with that, the old lady disappeared…

"ZOE!" Lydia yelled, making me yelp as I snapped back into reality, "I lost for a minute."

"S- Sorry," I apologized, slightly shaken, "I- I just remembered something."

"What?" she asked, her eyes blazing with curiosity. I explained the flashback quickly and concisely, hoping we could get a lead on what we were doing here. Her eyes widened as I finished.

"That old hag…" Lydia said, "She said pretty much the same thing… except I died in a car accident."

I nodded, the pieces coming together. The old lady had predicted our arrival in Fiore and our deaths on Earth.

"That would mean I died as well, right?" I asked, more for myself than anyone else. Nevertheless, Lydia nodded. I shuddered, fear quickly taking place of my former confusion. I had written down the things our arrivals had in common, like the old lady and her predictions. As the two of us pondered over the sprawled notes on my table, a question arose in my head.

"H- Hey Lydia?" I asked, instantly catching the auburn haired girl's attention, "Why do you think we were brought here?"

"What do you mean?" she replied, looking confused. I took a deep breath, hoping what I was about to say wouldn't be too weird.

"You know, like, we were teleported here from another world. We're basically different people now. T- There could be a chance that there was a reason for bringing us here. Y- you know, l- like we had a role to fulfil and then we would go back and find out we had been in a comatose state or something," I said, taking a deep breath from talking too much too quickly. Lydia stared at me, her eyes showing surprise, but confusion as well.

"That's some deep thinking," she said, before chuckling, "then again, that's expected from the smartest junior in high school."

"A- actually… I got the idea from a Pokémon game," I said with a nervous chuckle. Lydia's eyes widened, but then relaxed with a smirk.

"Well, I guess you could be right with your theory," she said, leaning back on the chair. I quickly went to the kitchen to get both of us a glass of water. When I came back, I saw Lydia with a worried look on her face.

"Um… Lydia, is something wrong?" I asked, setting the glass down in front of her. She sighed and took a gulp of water before replying.

"If you're theory turns out to be right… would you want to go back?" she asked, her gaze turning to the papers, "Because I sure as hell don't."

I sat down and thought it through. I admit, my life back then was hard and not something I'd want to back to. However, I didn't want to leave Stacey behind. I didn't want her to be hurt a second time. You'd think with it being just Stacey and me, it'd be easier with less mouths to feed, but they were wrong. My father died a little while after I turned five. My mother couldn't take it. After waiting six months for some miracle to happen… she did it.

She committed suicide.

She didn't think of her two children that she'd left behind. She didn't think of the trouble she'd leave us with. I thought Stacey would share the same fate as my mother, but she didn't. She stuck with me, left school and got a job (she was 14 at the time). She got me into school and I had sworn that I'd do my best to get good grades for a better paying job.

"Zoe," Lydia's voice came out surprisingly soft, "Why are you crying?"

As soon as she had asked, my hands flew to my face. Wet streaks had formed on my face. I let out a hollow chuckle before wiping the tears.

Zoe Amelia Hill! Didn't you swear never to show any weakness in front of anyone?! I berated myself before looking up at Lydia.

"I- it's nothing," I replied, hoping she wouldn't press on. Luckily, she didn't.

"It's vetting late. I should get going, goodnight," Lydia said, standing up. I stood up and followed her out the door.

"Goodnight. It was nice talking to you," I replied, waving goodbye as she left the building.

~Lydia~

Well, this has to be the single most awkward walk I've ever had- no scrath that, the second single most awkward walk I've ever had. I could obviously tell she was deeply thinking, and her eyes met mine a couple of time. Surprisingly, when I look at her, it reminds me of back then. When I wasn't such a Rebel...ah, finally, we're at a cute little apartment. She let's me in then sits down on her bed, huh. Should've known she was holding her breath.

I said the first thing,"So you got dragged here too, huh? What's your story?"

"I- I don't remember a lot of it," She whispered, sounding so cute and shy. Geez, God your making me seem gay. I push out a chair at her table and sit. Damned hard floors and they're scraping noise. She then grabbed some paper and pen...is she taking notes? Well then, I'm not one to judge.

"S- so what's your story?" Oh my god she's stuttered. Kawaii overload! Ahem, Lydia Azella Durwood, what has moma told you about overreacting? That's what I thought.

"Well, I think you remember when I was kicked out of English, right?" I ask her, and she hummed in reply. "Well, I ditched class and went out to buy some stuff and on the way I met this strange old woman."

As soon as I said that she gasped and zoned out, deep into thought. Well then...I see...I wonder if laxus can charge my phone, or if I can find a way for NaLu to happen...That'd be awesome...okay seriously this has gone on long enough.

"ZOE!" I yell, this made her yelp. Back to reality I see.

"S- Sorry," She apologized, slightly shaken, "I- I just remembered something."

"What?" I asked, curiosity getting the best of me.

She explained her daze flashback quickly and concisely, obviously hoping we could get a lead on what we were doing here. My eyes widened as she finished.

"That old hag…" I said, "She said pretty much the same thing… except I died in a car accident."

She nodded in response.

"That would mean I died as well, right?" She asked, more for herself than anyone else. Nevertheless, I nodded. She shuddered, fear quickly taking place of her former confusion. Zoe had written down the things our arrivals had in common, like the old lady and her predictions.

"H- Hey Lydia?" She asked, instantly catching my attention, "Why do you think we were brought here?"

"What do you mean?" I replied, confused as hell. She took a deep breath, obviously about to explain something.

"You know, like, we were teleported here from another world. We're basically different people now. T- There could be a chance that there was a reason for bringing us here. Y- you know, l- like we had a role to fulfil and then we would go back and find out we had been in a comatose state or something," she said, taking a deep breath from talking too much too quickly. I stared at her, this has to be the deepest shit I've ever heard.

"That's some deep thinking," I said, before chuckling, "then again, that's expected from the smartest junior in high school."

"A- actually… I got the idea from a Pokémon game," She said with a nervous chuckle. My eyes widened, but then relaxed with a smirk. Oh, little miss a student is A student is an Otaku now, is she?

"Well, I guess you could be right with your theory," I said, leaning back on the chair. She quickly went to the kitchen to get both of us a glass of water. When she came back, she probably saw me with a worried look on my face.

"Um… Lydia, is something wrong?" She asked, setting the glass down in front of me. I sighed and took a gulp of water before replying.

"If you're theory turns out to be right… would you want to go back?" I asked, my gaze turning to the papers, "Because I sure as hell don't."

I thought of that night. Little five year old me hearing my parents fighting. Life had always been hard for my parents. My father constantly drank, and my mother struggled to pay all of our bills and often got stressed out, but she always tried to spend all of her time with me. Always.

That night dad had been drinking and came home smelling like other women, he was obviously sleeping around because it was late and they're was just no excuse for him to create. I remember peering through the door, and then mom screamed. A gunshot.

Police arrived shortly after due to the neighbors, and my dad was tooken away and I was tooken in my Molly. I hate that woman. I look up and see Zoe crying, and my heart ached for her.

"Zoe," My voice came out soft, because I knew the look in her eye. The grief. "Why are you crying?"

As soon as I had asked, her hands flew to her face. Wet streaks had formed on her face. Zoe let out a hollow chuckle before wiping the tears.

"I- it's nothing," she replied, hoping I wouldn't press on. Fine then, tell me when the time is right for you. I won't press on.

"It's getting late. I should get going, goodnight," I said, standing up. She stood up and followed me out the door.

"Goodnight. It was nice talking to you," she replied, waving goodbye as I left the building.

I walked home quickly, because surprisingly, she lives only two blocks away from me. I stand and stare at the door for a moment. Thinking deeply about the conversation I just had. A+ student- no, Zoe, is just like me. She shares my grief and sorrow. My loneliness...I wonder if she's ever felt suicidal like me...oh well.

I walk into the door and I'm greeted not so surprisingly by Mira.

"Gosh, Lyd what took you so long? I was worried you had collapsed on me again!" She complained.

"Sorry Mira, I was just talking to Zoe." I respond.

"You still scared me. I just don't want you to- well..."

"Lisanna. I know Mira-nii." I wanted to tell her that she was okay, that she was just in Edolas, but I can't. Because that's canon breaking, a no-no.

"...well, I've made you some dinner, I have to go home to elfman now, and don't answer the door and keep it locked!" Okay, mom.

"Got it."

"And do-"

"Mira."

"Okay, bye!"

I sigh and eat my dinner then crawl into my cozy covers for a goodnights sleep.