Chapter 1: Starting a New Life with an Odd Companion

Early Morning in an Unknown City

So... somehow I survived certain death. Well, I know I was saved erm... put back together? Resurrected? Honestly, I'm not quite sure what the proper terminology would be for the resurrection of a shattered soul who had already passed on from life. Hmmmm, perhaps I'll shelve that traumatic line of thought for another time. After all, I'm in somewhat of an odd predicament, aren't I?

The magus nodded to themself, their hazel eyes taking in the sights of what appeared to be a city straight out of human history... well it would have been save for the demihuman-like folk mixed in with normal humans walking the streets and the carriages on the streets being pulled by... were those dinosaurs? They sort of looked like the typical fictional depiction of raptors. This appeared to be some sort of major city, that much was clear from the many buildings, stalls, and large diversity of people roaming about.

Right- this is clearly another world with potentially little connection to Earth... guess I should take stock of what I've got on me, beyond the obvious of course. I didn't think I'd still have this thing on me after all... The magus thought taking note of the silver arm that had taken the place of their right arm. Strangely enough, It felt less burdensome than before... significantly so actually.

The magus looked around their environment, ensuring no one was looking their way before narrowing their gaze- their eyes flashing gold for a few brief seconds, their eyebrows shooting up in surprise at their discovery

There is a lot more mana in this environment... its almost staggering, not to mention it seems like that woman made some modifications to my magic circuits somehow. I have a larger capacity of magical energy- jeez to be able to do something like that... just what kind of being was she? Still, all in all... with this much more magical energy in my system and the environment, using Airgetlám without it burning away my soul might just be possible, well as long as I only use it sparingly and avoid going full power with it... so that's good to know.

The magus activated a rune on their coat, it would ensure that whenever their sleeve slipped revealing the silver arm, that it would appear to look like a normal human arm. With a quick lookover of their appearance, the magus gave a content nod and started stretching out their back- smiling widely at a certain realization.

I wasn't sure at first... but it looks like she managed to bring over my wings too.

Though it wasn't outwardly visible it was clear that the mage's mystic code 'Angelus Alis' was still grafted onto their magic circuits- something very relieving for the magus to realize.

Still… I feel like something is missing... I have my belongings on me from before, I can remember my name, the foundation of my magecraft, and I even retain the use of my mystic eyes so… is it my other memories? Ah… that's not great. There were clear gaps in the mage's memory- for example, they remembered fighting the foreign invader but failed to recall many of the details leading up to that encounter. They remembered the bulk of their past but a lot of it seemed more... blurry, and that wasn't mentioning the even more concerning gaps in memory that the magus was sure weren't there before.

With my soul the way it was, it seems hoping for a full restoration was probably too much to ask for. Still, I won't panic about that just yet... at least not until I've figured out my next steps here.

With a sigh the magus set off, intending to get some information from the locals about this place.

So I'm supposed to find someone and stay with and protect him right? I'd rather not piss that lady off, and it sounded like things might get rough for the guy, so I'll have to see if he's around here as well.

Now, what was the guy's name again...?

Sometime later

Tucked away in an alleyway a loud sigh sounded out. A young black-haired man in a tracksuit loudly complained to himself as he wrung out his wet jacket. So far, Subaru really hadn't had the amazing day he was hoping to have once he realized that he had been spontaneously transported to a new world.

"Is this really how this is supposed to go? Wasn't I summoned into this world to be a hero?! Where'd my protagonist status go?!" Subaru cried out as he checked over his items, still wet from the tumble he had taken into the city aqueduct earlier. It was one bad thing after enough since he got here and frankly, he was already fed up with it all.

First, he had run into a frankly rude merchant who yelled at him for not having the right currency, and due to his inability to read the language he had then wandered into the women's bathroom... and then into a demihuman-only bar... that last one in particular led to him getting shoved into a river for his trouble.

At least this still works... he thought to himself as he checked over his flip phone.

"Not that there's any point in having it!"

Taking stock of his other items, he glanced over at the bag full of convenience store snacks that he had been carrying when he got pulled into this world and sighed again.

"Seriously what is with this crappy starting gear anyway! What am I supposed to do with some chips and ramen!"

"Where is the cute girl who summoned me anyway, shouldn't I have met her by now?" He grumbled out loud Seriously this day couldn't get any wor-

"Well... actually if you don't want the ramen I'll take it! It's been a bit since I've had the good convenience store kind from Japan," A cheery female voice rang out from the shadowy entrance of the alleyway corridor.

"Ah, you're finally here! The cute girl who summoned me!...ah." As the girl came into the light, Subaru couldn't help but pause, stunned by her appearance.

She's so...

Before Subaru stood one of the most attractive women he had ever seen. She was somewhere around his age, her height a few inches or so below his. She had medium-length light pastel pink hair. Her outfit seemed to consist of a black sweater with a long-sleeve white jacket accented with red on top of it, her hands were covered by a pair of black gloves. She wore a red skirt, with black leggings and boots. Looking at her face her eyes were a clear hazel, and a look of surprise adorned her face, alongside a small blush. She stopped short for a moment before opening her mouth to speak.

"Oh...um, thank you for the compliment? I... uh, I don't think anyone's ever been so earnest and forward with calling me cute before... so I'm not really quite sure how to react to that...um," Evidently, she was very caught off guard by his words, she looked down for a moment as if to recenter herself.

...That's such a cute reaction! Subaru couldn't help but think seeing her flustered state.

"Ahem! Right, I should clarify... I'm not the one who summoned you- erm but I think I know who did- she summoned me as well! So that's the situation there...so yeah! Anyhow, you must be Subaru, right? I'm Rayla, it's nice to meet you!" She closed the distance between them and offered up her hand for a handshake with a cheery disposition.

"...It's nice to meet you too...Hey, wait back up a second did you say you were summoned here too? So you're also from Earth? And if you didn't summon me, where is the one who did? Actually, how did you know my name and how did you even find me?" Subaru asked having withdrawn the hand he had instinctively reached out, once he realized the oddities of the situation.

"Oh those are very valid questions... so yes! I'm from Earth too, and actually, I have no idea where the one who summoned us is, I only spoke to her briefly- which is how I know your name by the way, she told me to keep an eye out for you. And for that last one… um, yeah when I walked by the alleyway I heard you ranting to yourself... you were being pretty loud there... It uh... it sounds like you've had quite the bad day... sorry I kind of listened for a bit before I came in so..." Subaru broke out into a blush hearing that, as Rayla smiled at him a little sheepishly.

"About that whole rant...right...I um, I was just..." Failing to find a reason to excuse his retrospectively childish rant Subaru fumbled over his words.

Rayla giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. "It's fine, it's fine! I would also complain if I had fallen into the city canals, really that's such a bad stroke of luck Subaru... but don't worry! Now that I'm here we can turn that luck around-" She stopped short spinning around.

"Whoever is waiting over there, you can come out now." Before Subaru had a chance to ask who she was talking to, he heard a set of footsteps coming from where Rayla had entered the alleyway, as three men in ragged clothing stepped into view.

"Oh? You heard us sneaking up on you huh, well I don't care much for whatever the heck you two were going on about... so I'll make this simple, if you don't want to get hurt cough up whatever valuables and money you've got on you!" The ringleader of the apparent thugs spoke as he approached the pair of otherworlders.

"Oh crap, a compulsory event!" Subaru briefly glanced at his companion before stepping in front of her protectively, he opened his mouth to speak when…

"Move it, you guys! Get out of the way!" A short blonde girl ran on through the alleyway, drawing everyone's attention, she gave everyone a brief glance before barreling on by, jumping onto the side wall in a single leap before leaping up onto the rooftops and sprinting off in a display of superhuman agility. Unnoticed by everyone else in the alley Rayla's eyes flashed gold as she observed the girl leap away, her eyes widening in surprise at what she saw.

Subaru turned back towards the thieves "Erm... so I don't suppose seeing that made you feel any less hostile by chance?"

"Actually, It just pissed us off even more," was the thief's curt reply, as he took a menacing step forward.

"...Yeah that figures," I can't let these guys hurt Rayla... Think Subaru, think! It's an ancient rule that whenever someone gets summoned to another world, they display supernatural abilities... I'll mow these guys down and make them stepping stones for my bright future here. "Get out of my way... you lumps of XP!"

Subaru burst into action delivering a punch straight into the face of the largest of the thieves knocking him down, quickly spinning into a kick that hit the smaller thief dead on sending him flying away. Subaru shook his hand not expecting the pain from hitting someone before turning to the ringleader of the group. It doesn't matter, this world is set up so that I'll be strong, my adrenaline is surging- he charged straight forward "I've got this!"

The thief simply smiled pulling out two daggers and causing Subaru to immediately grind to a halt.

"Gah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry please spare me!" The man only smirked deviously before he charged forth and kicked Subaru sending him flying back, the other two thieves had gotten back up and were approaching as well. Subaru could only begin to mentally prepare himself for a beating when a cheerful, yet somehow chilling voice spoke out.

"Ah man, and you were so close to winning for a moment there! Well don't worry about a thing Subaru-kun... I'll take it from it here. After all, regardless of the place... I find I really can't stand bullies," A sense of dread filled the air causing everyone to momentarily freeze as Rayla stepped forward from where she had been watching, a smile plastered onto her face, and her eyes shining a bright eerie gold.

Well, first impression aside despite him having a similar aura to the lady who summoned us, it does seem Subaru is just an ordinary guy. I'm not sure why she wanted him protected... but at least I can see why he would need help in a world full of danger like this... there are some serious monsters out here. She mentally shuddered thinking back to a certain encounter she had with a red-haired knight earlier when she had been asking around for information. Anyhow... that aside, I guess I should mop up this situation... let's see, who should I take down first... Her eyes drifted towards the thief with the knives who had kicked her new companion.

He backed up, raising his knives in a threatening manner "H-hey there back up, I-I'm armed y-you know, I'll seriously hurt you," his voice trembled- his instincts screaming at him that he was in danger- this woman, she must be a-

"...Yeah I think you'll do just fine as my first test dummy..." She took a step forward, before instantly crossing several meters in a burst of wind, her fist slamming into the thief's sternum, sending him flying back into the wall, a loud crack sounding out into the alleyway. Rayla winced at the noise, before turning to the other two now-shaking thieves.

"Oops... I was playing it safe since this is a new place and all... but I think I overdid the reinforcement. So uh... that said, do you two mind helping me find the appropriate amount of force to use? It would really help me out a ton." She looked at them with a smile, her hands held behind her back in a playful manner. The thieves could only stutter and cling to one another in fear, causing her smile to widen.

"Ah, I'm not hearing a no, so thanks I do appreciate the help. Oh, and don't worry I won't hit you straight on like I did to the last guy, I had a different spell in mind for you two," she raised her arm, her open palm facing toward them, and the air itself seemed to coalesce flowing around her arm.

The thieves let out a yelp and turned to run- but it was already too late as a sudden gust of wind rammed into them slamming them against the wall, another set of cracks sounding out, knocking them out cold.

"Ahaha whoops that... uh, that was still a bit too much power, wasn't it...? Eh... that's my bad you guys, I'd apologize to you later, but... well, you know, you did start this whole thing, soooo," She shrugged at the unconscious thieves, letting her shining eyes fade back to their typical hazel color.

She was playing it off, but she actually hadn't meant to hurt them as badly as she did- she was always just a little too clumsy when it came to judging how much to hold back on her power. It was clear that the thieves most likely had multiple broken bones after her attacks sent them flying into the wall which wasn't great, given she had only been hoping to do just enough damage to knock them out. She turned to face Subaru expecting to have to calm him down after seeing her actions. After all, she had used magic and brutalized the three assailants, most civilians would be scared out of their minds-

"That was so cool Rayla! How did you do that?!" Subaru rushed up to her his eyes sparkling in excitement.

Rayla blinked her eyes in confusion at his glee, "Wait... um, what?" Ignoring her response, Subaru kept talking.

"Did you get powers when you came here or did you always have them… wait if you did, does that mean magic exists back on Earth too? That's so cool, you sent those guys flying with a wave of your hand, can you teach me how to do that?! OH WAIT!"

He grabbed her hands in his excitement, looking as if he had just had a moment of brilliant insight. "Are you like, one of those magical girls?!"

"Eh?...EHHHH?!" to say the least and to Rayla's vast surprise, Subaru was perhaps a bit more different than your average everyday guy as she had thought earlier.

"W-wait a second that's not... I- I am NOT a magical g-," Before a very flustered Rayla could correct the grievous error in his assumption, a new voice rang out into the alleyway interrupting her.

"You two there, don't move!" A woman stepped into view- she seemed to have the appearance of a human but with pointed ears, long white hair, and purple eyes. A serious look adorned her face as she appraised the situation, specifically zeroing in on the injured trio of bandits still knocked out on the floor, a small gray and white cat-like creature floating in the air next to her protectively.

"This uh, this looks really bad for us doesn't it...?" voiced Subaru who scratched the back of his neck sheepishly... Rayla could only sigh in response.

AN: Here's the first official chapter of the story done, I decided to post the prologue and first chapter at the same time. I have to say, it's pretty fun to finally write a crossover with this OC- I've had her around for ages but haven't had a chance to put her into a longer story yet. Anyway, I hope she's making a good impression on you all so far. Her behavior comes off as goofy with Subaru, which contrasts her more serious actions and thoughts but then again up until this point, she's been dealing with super serious situations. Also, Subaru here kind of caught her off guard, especially given that the first thing he did upon seeing her was call her cute. Of course, as I've tried showing - no matter what's happening or how she's behaving, she hasn't stopped observing things and is keeping her guard up at all times. Ah yes and in case you're wondering her magecraft and mystic eyes will be explained... eventually. Until next time.

PS: I have to admit, I'm horrible at describing appearances, and I suck at art, so I've generated an AI image of the character's rough appearance and I'll post it as the cover image of the story when I upload the next chapter, it's pretty close to what I had in mind. Oh yeah, and about the character being a female OC- I was actually partially motivated to write this story when I realized that there aren't many stories that use a female OC as an MC in this fandom, I wonder why that is? Well, in any case, I guess that leaves me to have fun experimenting with the idea in this story. Hope you like it.

PSS: And it's probably obvious, I don't have any editors or the like, and I'm still new to writing so expect it to be a bit awkward as I get used to this. That goes for grammar and structure and potential plotholes- figured I'd give you a fair warning not to come into this with high expectations about quality. Anyhow beyond doing my best to review the chapters before posting them, I'll try and make edits to the chapters if I notice something off, but otherwise, we'll just see how it goes.