Quinn was a fairly generic teenager by most standards. He was close to finishing his final year in sixth-form, though he still idled around at home, gaming and watching whatever it was he stumbled across. He wasn't unhealthy; in fact he was far from it. He maintained his health, keeping fit and regularly attending the gym each day. It was more a hobby than anything else, and so the routine worked.
That was all gone now.
One thing that stood out to him now was that, strangely, all those hours wasted away watching things online likely hadn't gone to complete waste. Of course, neither had his time at the gym, though his knowledge regarding this particular topic seemed prudent, given the circumstances.
Finding himself in the dark void had been strange but not unbearable, as went the strange arena he'd been in just moments ago. They were odd and entirely out of the ordinary, but then it wasn't as though he couldn't make do. He was forced to accept those situations—and while he was forced to accept this situation, he'd have to do so alone.
"This is…earth," he muttered to himself, eying the empty courtyard. "Why…am I here?"
There were trees, which while nice to look at, were outlined by a strange hue. It wasn't necessarily that they weren't trees, but they looked slightly off to the point Quinn could notice. There was almost a yellow, beige effect hanging over them, as if a transparent blanket had been layered over them.
Strangest yet, there were familiar buildings scattered about the complex. At first glance they appeared to be the kind of traditional Japanese temples and buildings you might see in games or anime, though then this wasn't a game nor was it some story—it was real; and these buildings were familiar.
That's…not possible though, right?
Trying to rationalise what was going on seemed like a prudent thing to be doing, considering there was no one around to answer any of his questions, but then if he were to consider the fact a hovering space man had swallowed him with the void, what did it really matter?
"Okay," he told himself. "If…that is the case, now what?"
Looking around, it didn't seem like the strange spaceman was waiting around behind a tree or in a bush to explain things, so Quinn began walking around. It was a nice change, being able to experience life again after experiencing death. Almost like taking a dip in the ocean after accidentally burning your skin, you could liberate yourself from pain and absorb all the comfort in life.
Quinn did enjoy it, for all of a minute before he began to think about it properly. He'd died, perhaps only an hour or so ago now, and now he was here, in what could have easily been eighteenth century Japan. What was he supposed to do?
"Gather strength," he repeated to himself. "Do I need to become a samurai or something?"
He shook his head. Humouring himself was all well and good, though that biting sensation in the back of his mind was beginning to make a little sense the more he explored the complex. What had been ramping up doubt was slowly transitioning into unwilling acceptance.
On paper, it didn't make any sense. It was nonsense, through and through. That said, there was no paper in sight—and even if there were, it would have likely already been stained by the hovering spaceman to the point that it didn't matter anymore. There was clearly a new set of rules that governed his life now, considering he'd been pulled from death's very own grasp and flung somewhere else, all against his will.
"With that in mind, I should probably find someone that can tell me what to do, right?"
Again—as all things seemed to be with the spaceman—as if rehearsed, a woman stepped out from one of the buildings. At first glance, she wasn't overly familiar. She could have easily been any unassuming woman, what with her brown boots, blue jeans, and leather jacket. As far as Quinn was concerned, she was just someone who happened to be walking out of the building, but then he noticed something.
"A…shark?" he mumbled to himself, narrowing his eyes as the woman stuck her jacket on. She brushed her blonde hair up a moment later, locking eyes with him.
Quinn cocked his head as she approached, still uncertain. She looked familiar, though less because she was a good-looking woman and more so because there was a long, fish-like creature flying around her.
She seemed to match Quinn's tilted head as she strode towards him. He wasn't certain whether to run away or to simply ignore the woman. There was nothing odd about her other than the shark, but then was just it—he could see the shark, spiralling around the air as if it were a bird.
"You can see it?"
The creature flew forward as she approached, swimming through the air towards Quinn's feet, where it casually began flying around him, popping up between his legs and around his face occasionally. It was off putting, but seeing it up close was the final nail in the coffin as its owner finally approached, a smile on her face.
"Huh," he muttered to himself. "Suppose that settles it…"
Yuki crossed her arms. "Debating beauty?"
"Not quite," he said, eyeing her again. She was a beautiful woman, though Quinn was less interested in that and more so in why she was standing in front of him. "What year is it?"
"Hmm," she seemed to ponder for a moment. Her cursed-spirit thing swam back through the air towards her, apparently done with doing whatever it had been doing to Quinn. "It's twenty-seventeen."
I have no idea when the series actually takes place…
"You're not a student here," Yuki mumbled to herself, fingers tapping her chin, "and you don't look like some assistant-manager or one of the teachers. How'd you get in?"
Quinn nodded, looking around.. "That's a very good question."
"You mean you don't know how you got here?"
"Something like that."
Yuki smiled. "Do you have amnesia?"
"I…might?"
That was an interesting train of thought. Did he? Quinn thought a little about the prospect and, while he could remember most things from his time on earth—which had only really been an hour or so prior—a lot of it was a little shaky. He still remembered his family, friends, and himself, though most of what was currently going on seemed to be weighing down on such notions. Not to mention the fact that he was currently conversing with a fictional character; how would he go about explaining his circumstances?
"With all these barriers they have set up," Yuki mumbled to herself, matching Quinn's line of sight as she spun around on her heels. "There's a good chance they've already sent someone after you, you know?"
Quinn frowned. "Is that not what you're doing now?"
"Nah, I just happened to be walking out when I saw you."
That means I'll probably get killed, right? They're not going to like some stranger roaming the complex…
"You're not a civilian," Yuki mused, walking up to Quinn, "though you don't seem to be a sorcerer, either. Who are you?"
A thought crossed his mind. Perhaps not a smart one, though considering the circumstances it might as well have been a one in a million opportunity. The sort of miracle you came across once in your life. If it worked then he might end up remaining alive, and if not…well, he'd have to wait and see.
"I know my name is Quinn," he said, carefully watching Yuki as she circled him. "But other than that, I don't know why I'm here or what happened before this. I…think someone took my memories."
She furrowed her brows. "Took them? By force?"
"I'm not a sorcerer, so I'm not exactly sturdy when it comes to defending my memories!"
"That might not be true," she sighed. "Since you can see Garduda and already have some knowledge regarding jujutsu, I wouldn't say you're completely hopeless. Though, that might all depend on one thing…" Yuki, feet planted firmly to the ground in front of me, arched her back and leant forward, a smile plastered across her face. "What kind of women do you like?"
"I like attractive women," Quinn said confidently. He didn't know if it was the correct answer or not, though he wasn't overly concerned about that. As far as he was aware, he wouldn't get beaten within an inch of his life for answering this particular question wrong.
Yuki didn't necessarily frown, though she didn't seem to smile either. Apparently indifferent, she crossed her arms again and leant forward, squinting. "You have very strange cursed energy, Quinn. Where are you from?"
"England," he replied—in Japanese. He hadn't noticed up until now, but he'd been speaking the language as though it were a normal thing for him. He was, somehow, fluent; it was uncomfortable upon realising it, though he didn't let that notion distract him for too long. Making mistakes with such an individual could likely impede the rest of his time here.
That…spaceman said we had a month, right?
If this was the get-out-of-jail card he thought it was, then upsetting Tsukumo Yuki in any regard would be a grave mistake. Humouring the spaceman and his antics seemed to be the only possible thing he could think of doing; unless he wanted to die a second time. There was a cubic-metre of salt to be taken while considering the absurdity of it all—gathering strength in some random fictional story was insane in and of itself, but then what if he didn't and his doubts were true? What if he really was taken to some tournament and pitted against someone who'd had this same chance to become strong and actually taken it?
"Ah~ You're English! Nice, nice. Then, why are you in Japan? What brings you all the way here?"
Quinn shrugged. "Amnesia's pretty funny like that, eh?"
Yuki glanced behind her, eying the central building she'd not long walked out of. "You've run out of time, from the looks of it." As if rehearsed, a number of people strode out of the building, most garbed in suits, with one or two students wearing that familiar uniform.
Strangely, before Quinn could make a move, Garudo began swimming towards the approaching sorcerers, blocking the path between them and Yuki. She spun on her heels a moment later, glanced back over her shoulder and winked. "I'll look after you myself!"