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The wind howls through a dark street like a swirling storm.
Its freezing grasp grabs hold of a quaint home.
Inside, two girls rest their heads as they await the morning sun's warmth.
A girl born from the stars.
A girl born from the heart.
One of them is afraid to love.
The other is afraid to be loved.
When the portal opened into a new world, it wasn't a gift of escape.
This is the story they had, about the things they left behind to get here, and the things they promised they wouldn't lose.
When they stepped through that portal, they thought it was just a way out.
A shortcut to something easier.
A 'new start.'
But no matter how far you travel,
the past follows you like a shadow under rock.
This is not a story about love.
But… they'll probably fall in love anyway.
*RING RING RING*
*RING RING RING*
*RING RING RING*
A soft, analog tune filled the bedroom, warbling through cracked speakers. The sound of '(Dawn Road) 2 - Dog of Flanders.'
Ahorō's, the star born, alarm blared. And blared. And blared again.
In a tangle of yellow bed sheets, the girl groaned and rolled over, dragging a lavender pillow over her head like it was a shield from destiny. She groaned. Across from her, the black bed with red pillows remained occupied. Side-by-side, separated by a single nightstand, the two girls slept their mornings away.
Until-
AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
The call of the damned.
This was Lacy Mora's, the one born from the heart, that one's ringtone.
While Ahorō was going for a nice ringtone, Lacy knew this wouldn't wake them up, and so, she had set the Call of the Witch as her ringtone.
A horrifying, shrieking blend of wails and witch-screams burst through the air. Both girls shot upright, sweating.
"Ughh. . . . morning Lacy. . ." Ahorō mumbled, groggily.
Ahorō is a stylish girl with a playful and charming look. She wears a beige uniform jacket over a white blouse and blue skirt, complete with a red ribbon tie and matching bows on her socks. Her eyes are bright violet with star-shaped pupils, giving her a dreamy, almost magical expression. She has double bun hair with short bangs and twin side locks framing her face.
With a sigh, she leans over to the nightstand, putting on her golden hoop earrings. Looking over to her companion,
Lacy frowned, hiding back under the covers in a terrible bed-ridden manner. She huffed.
"I possess no desire to rouse myself for the morning classes, dear Ahorō! Instead, I yearn to return to the comforts of my slumber," was faintly heard underneath the muffled blankets.
Ahorō blinked. "Wait. We have school today?"
Uh, Yeah! What kinda story would this be if it was a weekend? (Hint: A BORING ONE)
Lacy tossed the covers off her bed, looking up at her companion. Her scarlet-red hair cascaded from her skull like a dark cherry waterfall, fluffy and enormous. She had a pale face, and her pink eyes were formed by thin crosses around black heart irises. She was thin, but it was hard to tell how thin in her kitty cat pajamas.
"Yeah. It's Monday. You're already in your school uniform, idiot."
"These are my jammies!"
"You set an alarm-!"
"I do that to feed the fish this early," Ahorō said, a sad expression overtaking her face. She pouted her cheeks out, standing up and walking away.
"We don't have fish!" Lacy called after her, but it was too late. She was already downstairs.
The apartment-like building these two lived in was nice, quiet, and rather spacious. They had large, glass windows on most of their walls in the bedroom, and the warm lights made the home feel more gracious.
The actual walls, however, were of the dirt brown variety, as if someone had spent real money rendering the exact color of a wet log.
Lacy huffed once more, and stared out the window, a large crack of lightning sending her sprawling off the bed, upside down.
She sighed. Today would be the start of this pair's new life.
. . .
Ahorō sat with one leg bent on the kitchen chair, half-eaten Red Mushroom Toast in her mouth. Her hair fell in a wide curve. Her eyes were white in the light, full stop, two glowing dots of lavender accompanying them.
"Do you have your class schedule?" Lacy asked.
"Mmmhf."
"Ahorō."
She swallowed. "Mm-mm. I do. I think."
"Class starts at 7 A.M. We should get going," Lacy said, rubbing her cheeks. A yawn escaped her glossy lips.
"It's still dark out," Ahorō whined. ". . and it's thundering. School's probably cancelled."
Lacy placed her hands on her hips, an annoyed expression covering her face.
"I am not taking excuses! Plus, I saw someone walking down the street! We're probably already late."
"Then we're late. . . let's not go."
"No, it's our first day, Ahorō!'
Ahorō checked her phone, which since entering this world, had seemed to work just fine. The issue was, there was no way to contact anyone from their home world, as all communication had disappeared. Lacy was less lucky. When the two of them went through that portal, somehow Lacy had dropped her phone, and was forced to buy a new one upon arriving in Burokku Town.
"It's only 6:15, you worrywart," Ahorō said. "We have so much time!"
"Only. . . 6:15. . ."
Lacy's eyes lit up. "Fine! I'm going to take a bath! THEN we'll leave."
She disappeared into the bathroom.
Ahorō followed.
Lacy spun around, indignant. "NOT WITH YOU! What are you doing!?"
"I need my brush."
"Do it AFTER I bathe!"
"It takes time, Lace! My hair isn't low-maintenance."
"I'm just taking a quick bath! We have an hour!"
"Oh, so nowwww we have forever, but otherwise it's rush, rush, rush. We'd have been at school an hour early! We'd have looked like losers."
Lacy huffed, shoving Ahorō out of the bathroom. Ahorō tripped and fell on the ground, terribly. The door slammed behind her.
"Fine!" Ahorō yelled back. "I'm watching TV, then."
Lacy hummed softly in the bath. It was relaxing. Perfect.
"What's on the news?" she called out to Ahorō.
"They're covering the murder from last night," Ahorō called.
Lacy froze. "A murder!?"
"Yeah. It's okay though. I left no evidence whatsoever."
"What?"
"I said- don't worry about it. Also, are my headphones in there?"
"IN HERE!?"
"Yeah, I wear them in the bath. They're waterproof. I'm watering them."
"AHORŌ THAT'S NOT HOW HEADPHONES WORK-"
"No, no- it's fine, they're resistant to that sort of thing. I'm watering them, it's necessary."
"What was that about the TV?"
"What- just don't watch TV, Lacy, they really do try and scare you these days."
In but a few moments, Lacy Mora emerged from the bathroom, wearing a brown uniform top with a nice red tie. She seemed to be wrestling with the zipper on her blue skirt with a white stripe. Her dark red twintails were incomprehensibly large, gravitational anomalies orbiting her skull. They shimmered when she moved. Her eyes glittered their cute pink, with pupils like tiny hearts. However, her face was entirely deadpan.
"I'm not wearing this," she said, looking down at the uniform like it was a betrayal of art itself. Ahorō had just noticed the white cat knee socks and the black headphones around her neck with. . . what appeared to be cat ears on them. Dear Lord. Her shoes were brown, and quite cute loafers at that.
"Mfuu Mfafto," said Ahorō, through another slice of breakfast. She swallowed down her bite of toast, a large gulp of bread and mushroom delight. "It's our first day. We're not even registered in this realm yet."
"But it's pixel fabric. You know how I feel about pixel fabric."
Ahorō blinked. "Cry about it?"
They both sat for a moment, listening to the hum of the fridge (which sounded like a zombie groaning.) On the table, a few bottles rested.
Lacy eyed the bottle of sake left from the night before. "Do you think I can-"
"No," Ahorō said.
"It's not even-"
"You're not drinking alcohol before school."
"I wasn't going to-"
And with those words of dispute, Ahorō picked up the bottle, carrying it over to the kitchen.
Unfortunately, she tripped, and dropped the bottle. It flew into the air, and thudded on top of Ahorō's head, bonking her poorly. It then bounced and smashed onto the floor.
Lacy whined.
Ahorō gave out a loud sigh.
The rest of the morning would be spent cleaning. There was no time for anything else.
. . .
"Are you ready?" Lacy asked.
"Yeah! I have my phone. . . my schedule. . . my money, look at all of it!"
Ahorō tossed her money up, making it rain over Lacy.
Lacy then proceeded to scoop up the very few dollars that Ahorō had, and ran outside.
"LACY! HEY!" Ahorō called after her, but it was too late. She would have to chase to catch up with her.
After a long sprint of tripping multiple times, Ahorō eventually caught up to Lacy on the sidewalk, panting.
Lacy snickered. "Here, take it back," she said, handing Ahorō back her cash.
The street was dark today.
Ahorō squinted against the soft light overhead, blocky clouds drifting, and pulled her sleeves down, shoving money into her fanny pack.
"I can't believe I forgot to eat," Lacy groaned, skipping two steps ahead, twintails bouncing like physics were still catching up. Her skirt flared in the wind around her black leggings. "That whole bottle thing totally ruined the rhythm of the morning. I was gonna make mochi pancakes."
Ahorō followed slowly. "You were gonna burn mochi pancakes."
"I was gonna burn them for you! With love-!"
They passed a lamp post labeled "BLOCK 2-A RESIDENTIAL," where a neighborhood cat (literally, a gray tabby) watched them from atop a mailbox. Its name tag read:
'Mr. Nibbles.'
"Where's the shop again?" Ahorō asked.
"Just down the block, across from the bakery. If we hurry, we can grab something to eat and still make it to school before the bell."
Ahorō looked skeptical. "You said that almost forty minutes ago."
"Well this time I mean it! Cacao sandwiches. Cacao. Sandwiches. With melon soda."
"You have melon soda money?"
Lacy went quiet.
Ahorō smirked. Another victory for our dear Ahorō.
They turned the corner, shoes clacking softly on the polished stone road. A few other students in uniform passed them- some talking in groups. They all had different colored tops.
Then, from across the street, a cheerful voice rang out:
"Hey! You two new?"
They turned.
Across the road, leaning lazily against a fencepost, was a tall girl in a white blouse and scarlet tie, with wild yellow hair that flicked upward like fire. Her eyes glowed faintly, and a spatter of freckles danced under each one. Around her, rods of golden fire spun, glittering in the moonlight. Her waist was covered with her brown jacket, and smoke spiraled around her back. In her hands, she tossed a golden, glimmering apple, taking a nice crunchy bite, the juices evaporating in the night air. That outfit can't be adhering to dress code. . .
She gave a wink and a two-finger salute. Jangling along her bag, similar to a set of keys, a large softball mitt blew in the gentle breeze.
"Name's Blasa. You're the new girls, right?"
Ahorō tilted her head. "Yeah! Yippee! Classmate, that's us!"
Lacy placed a hand on her hip. "Did we do something wrong already?"
Blasa laughed. "No, no. Just heard the principal's been talking about two new transfer students with 'unregistered parentage.' Sounds super mysterious. I like it."
Ahorō and Lacy glanced at each other.
Blasa pointed with her thumb down the street. "If you're heading to the shop, better go fast. The Ender twins usually buy out the breakfast rice balls before seven."
"Thank you!!" Ahorō said way too loudly, and yanked Lacy along by the sleeve.
. . .
The corner store was a compact little square, crammed with shelves of pixel-labeled goods: "Golden Apple Rings," "Enchanted Jam," and "EXPresso Shots (for level 30+ only)."
Behind the counter stood a tall, rail-thin, eyes cyan and glowing faintly behind blue bangs figure. He didn't look up as they entered, but the air got noticeably colder.
Lacy whispered. "Who's that?"
Ahorō stared.
"A shopkeeper? You haven't seen a shopkeeper before."
"He's so tall though."
"Compared to us, they're all tall."
"I mean too tall even for a Mob."
They both made their way to the sandwich shelf, where- thankfully- two sad little cacao salad triangles remained. They did not touch the rice balls that Blasa mentioned. There was no time for trying new things.
So, they bought their sandwiches and melon soda, thankfully, Lacy had just enough to spot them both. The currency here was different from back home, and so, it was Lacy's father that had given her plenty of money. Of course, Ahorō's father had given her money too, but this was secret money. Money that would be spent on various other useless things.
Lacy sighed with relief. "Breakfast."
Ahorō picked hers up slowly. "Do you think Blasa was flirting with us?"
"What?" Lacy asked, biting her sandwich. "What gives you that impression?"
"She was posing hella hot for us."
"So? Who cares? Let me eat my Cacao."
The little corner shop door gave a cheery ding! as Lacy and Ahorō stepped out, plastic-wrapped sandwiches in hand and melon sodas chilling their fingers. The moon was trying its best to shine, struggling through the overcast block-clouds like a shy glowstone in fog.
From around the bend came a swarm of students, spilling onto the sidewalks in messy clusters, each one distinct, stylized, and loudly themselves. It was like someone pressed play on a cutscene just for them.
Ahorō practically squealed. "LOOK at all these uniforms! It's like a skin contest!"
Lacy raised her sandwich, blocking out the annoying lights of the store. The sun hadn't yet come up. Only the moon shone down upon our duo of girls. "They're irritatingly eye-catching."
A slime girl bounced past them, her translucent body wobbling inside her blazer. Her outfit was formed of dark purples, dark greens, and pink-ish reds. Her voice had a slight wobble to it. "Omg-! They actually stocked Magma Mocha again today!" she chirped to no one, probably talking into a phone. Neither Ahorō nor Lacy turned to confirm this theory however. . .
Next to her, a boy walked by with a hunched posture and bright green hair streaked with darker squares, grabbing a magazine of some kind off the shelf. His outfit was formed of heavier clothing, a lot of silvers and reds. Next to him, a boy with cool gray-green skin and bags under his eyes, trudged over to the hunched-over boy, grumbling, "Mmmrrgh. Philosophy first period. I should've transferred tracks…"
Behind them, a boy levitating just slightly off the ground with long hair that trailed like smoke, sobbed gently while writing something in his floating journal. This boy had reds in his outfit too, but stuck to white.
Ahorō, grinning wide, whispered: "This is the best day of my life."
From the front of the sidewalk, a familiar face greeted them.
Blasa: "Yo! Fourthies! You want me to walk you to class?"
Blasa grinned, placing her hands on her sides with the charm of a forest campfire.
Lacy crossed her arms, unsure about this offer.
"I think we can find our homeroom ou-"
"Yes!" Ahorō squealed, placing her hand down on Lacy's hair. "That'd be amazing!"
Blasa clicked her tongue.
"Alright then, all aboard the Blasa train, newbies!"
Lacy huffed, fixing her pigtails and sticking her tongue out in a very bleh-manner, but followed nonetheless, albeit slightly behind.
The Academy's front gates came into view at the end of the path- tall iron bars laced with vines, each one decorated with little banner flags. The school crest (a shield split between a sword and a book) hung above the entrance.
From here, you could hear the school bell beginning to chime.
Ahorō popped open her melon soda, chatting away with Blasa.
Those royal gates opened, bringing our girls to a brand new, romantic life.
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