(Ophelia)
***
With no thoughts in mind, I stood and dashed, smearing the muddy lettering. A thin layer of crust formed on my soles through the swampy trails. I had no idea how long she had been walking, but the fading letters of her message in the dirt told me it had been a while.
There were no leaves covering the path on which I ran; instead, my feet sunk an inch into uncovered soil with each step. It reminded me of the beach from before, but the vile bugs crawling under my arches took all the magic out of the experience.
As I darted through the forest, I had the displeasure of tripping over a relatively small stone. It caused me to land face-first onto the ground.
My eyes stung a little, so I tried to frantically wipe them as particles swished—unwanted continents over globes of color. Of course, my hands were even dirtier, so the pain intensified. I had to remain in my embarrassing position until my vision cleared.
Yet when it did, a horrific sight greeted me. I opened my mouth without a scream.
*When you enter nature, you technically shouldn't be scared when you invade something's home.*
Two eyes with vertical pupils stared into mine from a few inches away. They belonged to a coiled rattlesnake, tightly wound. The reptile hissed at me and shook its tail like a commandeering teacher, ready to dig its long, gnarly teeth into whatever skin and soul it could grab.
Rushing to stand up, I almost slipped, but I made it to my feet. I backed up to get a safe distance from the snake.
*Easy there.*
Then, I booked it around the creature with a pale face.
That was a close one, I thought.
There came a point at which I was too tired to keep running, already beyond the adrenaline rush of a determined second wind. I forfeited a few minutes to rest by a particularly large oak tree because there was no way the vermin could slither that fast. I needed to regain my breath, and I also held out some hope that water would fall from the leaves like after a heavy rain, tumbling onto my head like a shielded waterfall.
"What are you doing?" a voice yelled nearby under the sound of my labored exhales.
I suddenly didn't feel breathless or sweaty as I stiffened.
*Is this a miracle? A mirage?*
Because that was Koharu.
But she was in trouble.
I ran in the direction her shout seemed to come from. The trees thinned, and I was soon at the edge of the forest. I hid behind a trunk to watch, carefully scoping out the situation.
"Miss, this is private property. We're asking you to leave. Otherwise, we'll have to detain you." A person with a strange uniform clinked a pair of odd shackles in his hand.
"Nobody owns a forest, sir, and I can't see how you can detain me with that little thing there," Koharu taunted.
*Don't stir up trouble here, too!*
She was screwed if she opened her mouth any more. Trying to keep her from making another shitty choice, I made my presence known to the weird but seemingly official men.
"Now, sirs,"—I popped out from around the curve of rough bark—"it was a simple mistake. We were just lost, and we saw no signs saying this property was owned by anyone. Could you spare us some mercy, now?"
Koharu was shocked. "Ophelia?" She reached a hand up as if she was going to slap me, but she harshly retracted it to her side.
*If you don't get arrested for being on private property, at least don't get arrested for some low-grade assault.*
"What the hell is wrong with you?" As rough and hurt as her tone was, she hugged me. "I thought you were going to leave me for good," she whispered.
She almost bawled, and one of the men cleared his throat to remind us they were there.
He looked at me. "Why are you two here? This is a superfund site. It's closed off to the public."
"What's a superfund site? Does it have to do with money?" Koharu asked with curiosity, but she came off as a little ignorant. It was fortunate her expression neutralized.
The man wasn't amused. "Everyone should know what it is. It's dangerous. Don't play dumb. Why are you here?"
"Well, I don't! Excuse the hell out of me for asking!"
Koharu became enraged. I placed my hand over her lips to shut her up.
*We'll be fine if you stop running your mouth about trivialities. We'll be running from the authorities soon if you don't, though.*
"Sir, we were sent from the Galaxy Kingdom by a magician. They tried to banish us for…"—I scratched my neck—"dating."
Something about it hurt me to say. I was accustomed to expecting some backlash from commoners, but a thick skin grew to encapsulate me.
"For something like that?" He crossed his arms and showed a confused expression. "What are you playing? 'Dungeons and Dragons'? That sounds straight out of the eighteenth or nineteenth century."
"I speak only the truth, but is this not the 1800s?"
I was relieved at how the man brushed off my statement effortlessly. In a way, it was comforting that magic was the more incomprehensible thing I mentioned, but he ushered me towards a series of questions that wanted to tumble from my mouth.
"Lady, that was two hundred years ago. We don't have magicians running rampant or anything. The only people with magic are the nobles," another uniformed man remarked.
Koharu bit my hand to force me to remove it. I pressed my lips together tightly, puffing out my cheeks so that I didn't release an endless string of curses like tied handkerchiefs.
She asked, "And nobles from other kingdoms?"
"They have magic, too."
"Then, why don't I?" she complained.
"Koharu, quiet down," I whispered in her ear.
"No!" she protested as she stepped away. "I want to find a way out of here!"
Kicking at the grass, an officer replied, "Simple: You're not a noble."
Koharu had the most offended, desperate look, and I was certain nothing would calm her down from that.
"I'm a princess from the Galaxy Kingdom. What the fuck are you talking about? I should have plenty of magic."
The man holding the shackles rolled his eyes. "And I'm the king of the Gazillion Kingdom, but you don't believe me either. The only princess I serve is Princess Roslynn."
*Because that's not even a kingdom…? You probably haven't seen a crown in your life, yet you act like you're so powerful.*
Koharu's face was red, and she huffed. By then, she seemed too angry to express herself with words, which was probably for the better.
Another man sighed. "You both get off the property. I can see you're a bit… confused, so I'll let you slide for today. I had better not see your faces in this forest ever again. It's not safe for anyone. Plus, it's trespassing. Understood?"
Koharu and I (begrudgingly) nodded.
*I should consider myself lucky we're getting off without any issues. We could definitely be doing a lot worse, but we're so clumsy at speaking that even the biggest introvert would mock us.*
Through a gate in a wire fence, we exited onto a paved concrete road with the mutual understanding there was no way out of this place unless we worked together. On the surface, it appeared to be a frail alliance, but beneath it, there was a wholesome sense of care underlining our actions.
*Even if I'm hurt, I still love her.*
And without unnecessary words regarding our earlier conflict that could have exacerbated it, we searched for a temporary place of shelter as the sun fell over the horizon slowly. We were heavily aware of our growing hunger and need to strategize.
Of course, there was the first major hurdle of processing our relocation to the Terrestrial Kingdom—to which neither of us had ever been—and the fact we blasted from the past into the future. I didn't want to believe it, but all the signs were so overt that I would have been a complete idiot to ignore them as I watched the haunting motions of objects around me that I never thought were feasible.
At the very least, I thought, we had one of the most fundamental human needs to get through the coming obstacles: Each other's companionship—romantically or not.
*But is that enough? Or do I wish to claim the world for myself by asking something of the sort? Let the millions of possibilities of the positions on a game board decide that for themselves.*