From within the darkness the first thing to come back was my consciousness. From there my sense of feeling, slowly I felt my body rematerialize. First came my head, then my neck, shoulders, arms, torso, until finally my feet. I laid there in the darkness, blindly stumbling until eventually I could feel the intense warmth of sand underneath me as I lay there, making me uncomfortable. In an attempt to get away, I found I could move. Slowly I tried to stand, but it seems my senses had not fully returned, as I immediately fell on shaky knees. I tried to talk, to scream for help, but no voice came out. As I lay there struggling to even breath, on both my hands and knees, my sense of smell returned, and with it a sharp breath of air entered my lungs. Slowly I regained my breathing, regulating it to the best of my ability. Next my hearing, soft winds and my own movements came through clearly, I tried to talk, until eventually my own voice could be heard. There was no echo, indicating I was outside, and nowhere near a cave system. Listening around the faint sound of water could be heard, blindly I moved towards it, desperate as a strong thirst lay in my throat. As soon as my hand touched water, I scooped as much as I could from my hands into my own mouth. With it, more of my strength returned. Quickly I washed my face, wiping the tears and dried mucus that had accumulated from my earlier desperation.

 

Slowly, I finally opened my eyes, blinded by the harsh sunlight that came rushing in. I used my hands to block out as much as I could as my eyes slowly adjusted to my environment. In every direction I looked I could only see an endless expanse of flat plains and sand, a wasteland in every sense of the word. Eventually my eyes came back to the puddle of water that had been my saving grace. Small maggots, worms, and larvae flitted about in the puddle, the sheer knowledge that I had unknowingly swallowed these creatures was enough to make me gag. To make matters worse my sense of taste had returned. The sour bitterness of the aftertaste mixed with traces of mud, dirt, and sand had pushed my gag reflex to its absolute limit. Quickly I looked around and saw my tote bag lying on the ground, the small canteen of water hidden inside it. I stood up and found myself capable of running, rushing to the bag, I hastily retrieved my canteen, opened the lid, and poured it’s contents down my throat. My body’s natural repulsion being quelled, at the cost of a day’s worth of water.

 

Looking at the now half-empty bottle I could only feel slight frustration at myself for wasting it, although truthfully I had no idea my tote bag had even come with me, I must’ve fallen onto it as I fell from the bed. Looking inside I saw only my usual carry-ons, that being cosmetics, my notepad, a single pen, snacks, tissues, and thankfully my phone. I took out a tissue and wiped my face that I had just cleaned with the dirty water, before taking out my phone, no bars as one would expect. I checked the battery and I only had a day’s worth left, combined with my other supplies they at most would last a day if I couldn’t find anything within that time.

 

Slapping my face, I suppressed my rising questions, getting my priorities straight came first, everything else had to wait until later, the first thing I would need to find is a source of drinkable water. The puddle next to me was too small to sustain me for long, even if I was able to get over the taste, sickness and bacteria would most likely get to me first. After that I would need to find some kind of shelter, and finally a food source. Turning on my phone’s compass, I did a quick spin to choose my heading, the compass arrow pointed North-East. I would do a quick perimeter search of the area, going about 1 kilometre in every direction before heading back, I would leave my bag here to set a base camp. There was a strong lack of civilization, or life as the land was mostly sandy wastes, the few puddles sprinkled about suggesting recent rainfall, that was unlikely to happen again. Lastly, I made one preparation. I took out the notepad and pen, and quickly scribbled a message, saying to wait here until I get back if they find the bag. I doubt wherever I was that my bag would be found, nor that the people would even speak the same language, but in the off chance I was wrong, I at least had a way to communicate as I explored. Satisfied with my note, I ripped off the page and quickly tucked into my bag, I set off to find a way to survive, compass phone in hand.

 

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The sky now had an orange hue, as I dragged my feet over a small sandy hill. My short journey to survey the area led to nothing significant. This wasteland was completely barren, save for the small puddles scattered throughout, just like the one I woke up beside. Remembering my experience with it was enough to send chills down my spine. No matter the desperation of the situation, I refuse to drink from those again. As my irrationality was starting to take hold, I could make out a vague distant structure, off in the eastern direction, as pointed out by my phone’s compass. My next plan of action would be to walk towards it, if it weren’t for my aching feet and legs. For now I needed to return to the base camp, marked by the bag I left behind, so I could rest my legs and re-hydrate myself with the half empty canteen that rested there.

 

I halted my slouching pace once I reached the top of the hill. With my bag in sight, I could make out a humanoid figure standing next to it. I froze when I noticed what they were holding in their hand, the blinding metal sheen of my canteen could be seen as the faint sunlight reflected off it. Forgetting my fatigue, I began to sprint towards them. My precious water has been tainted by this stranger who, after noticing my approaching figure in the distance, simply waved in greeting, as though they’re doing nothing wrong by violating my personal belongings. 

 

“What do you think you’re do-blegh!?” As I shouted running at full sprint, my fatigue caught up to me causing my legs to give out, resulting in me eating a face full of dirt and sand.

 

“Mimi… right?” I could hear a familiar voice call out to me in concern. “You alright...?”

 

“Arashi...?” A sense of relief filled my mind, as I recognized the usually deep and monotone voice to the boy I played together with online. “You are Arashi, right?” I flipped myself over onto my back to get a look at his face, too exhausted to prop myself back up. 

 

I stared into his eyes for a moment, their dark blue sheen giving off a look of concern, before then noticing his short silver hair and coal-black facemask. He stared back at me as I lay on the ground, before deeply exhaling and looking to the side, backing up a few paces as he did. This young looking man perfectly matched the description of the Arashi Sasaki I often spoke with in the group chat.

 

“Yeah...” He was rubbing the back of his neck as he rolled his head towards the sky. An annoyed look on his face clearly asking how he even got into this situation.

 

“That’s a relief.” I ignored his clear disdain and propped my hand towards him. “Mind helping me up a bit?”

 

Arashi sighed once more, before shrugging his shoulders as he paced back towards me, offering his hand to help support me back to my feet. As I tried to get back on unsteady legs, I ended up nearly falling over, and was caught in his arms as he supported me.

“Don’t move.” In the short embrace he brushed off the dirt on my back, as I held onto him for support, strength slowly returning to my legs. “I’m done, you good now?”

 

“Yeah, thanks Arashi!” I smiled and gave his shoulder a light slap before pushing my body away. Once standing on my own, I began removing the remaining sand and dust that had stuck to me. As I was busy cleaning off, Arashi returned to my bag, grabbed my water canteen and handed it toward me.

“I read your note, you must be thirsty after a trek like that” I grabbed the bottle out of his hands, and swirled it around lightly to estimate how much water was still inside of it. Compared to last time there seemed to be no difference, but it was difficult to tell.

 

“I hope you didn’t drink any of this.” Opening the lid and lifting my canteen towards my mouth, I took a small sip, enough to satiate myself before screwing the bottle closed. “Did you?”

 

He shook his head in denial and turned his back to me. “I was about to…” He crossed his arms as he let out a sigh. “We have a campsite of sorts. It’s set up about two miles from the direction I came from. There’s a decent source of water near it.” 

 

“We?” I asked in mild surprise. “Who else is he-” I was cut off by an all-too familiar shout of greeting.

 

“Oh god no, not her…” Arashi covered his face with his hand and looked upwards for a second, before lowering his head towards the ground. His right hand’s thumb and index finger were massaging his temple as his free left hand now sat on his hip, his head shaking left and right slowly.

 

“Heeeey Arashi~! I finally caught up with you!” Livie jogged towards Arashi and I, full of energy and an unwavering smile. “I see you found Mimi as well, congrats.” Arashi turned around and stepped away, leaving Livie to me, with her mischievous expression.

 

“Please do hurry up with your cliche pick-up lines. Let’s get it over with so you can fill me in on everything so far.” I lightly patted Livie’s shoulder with a glint of pity in my eyes.

 

Livie pouted. “You’re the biggest killjoy in the universe sometimes… But since you allow me to do it anyway, I’ll forgive you~” She clasped her hands together and tilted her head in glee. “What’s a beauty like you doin’ in a sad lil place like this?”

 

I sighed. I expected it would be exactly like that. “I wish I kn-”

 

“Bzzzzt!! Wrong answer.” She crossed her arms to form an X shape, interjecting before I could finish my reply. “Correct answer is… You must be an angel sent here to save me from this boiling hell of a land. Oh holy being, I beg of thee to guide me through this hellscape” Her hands clenched my shoulders as she leaned towards me with fake tears in her eyes.

 

I patted Livie’s head, feeling uplifted by her playfulness. She smiled and looked downwards, fixing her posture after that mediocre performance. “Catch.” I quickly looked towards Arashi and hastily reflexed to catch my tote bag which he just lobbed over to me. “Nice catch.” he nodded.

 

“Nice throw.” Holding my bag in both hands, I dusted the large patch of dirt, dust and sand that gathered on the side it was laying on moments ago, then slung it over my shoulder. “I take it this means we’re heading out?” 

 

“Best to make it back while we still have daylight. Not much in the way of making torches out here, after all.” As Arashi said this, he spread his arms out, pointing out the absolute lack of plant life within our surroundings. The harsh evening sun reflecting off the ground, as he slowly slipped his hands back into his grey hoodie’s front pockets.

 

“Jeez, the edge lord couldn’t let me talk with my angel a little longer?” Livie scoffed, clearly annoyed at the now serious and sarcastic tone of the group.

 

Arashi turned his back to us and started to walk off, so I followed suit, pulling Livie’s hand along with me. “It’s alright, Livie. We can still talk as we move.” She smiled and picked up her pace. “Could you tell me the situation, Arashi? Why are we here?”

 

“I’ll fill you in on everything I know once we get to camp…” He paused for a second, a sigh caught in his throat. “But you won’t be pleased.”

 

“Fair enough.” I shrugged, and continued to drag Livie along as we caught up to Arashi.

 

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The sky, now nearly void of light, with what’s left of the sun gracefully hidden behind the building… no, the structure would be more accurate, as the dilapidated state of it left no traces of what could be considered ‘homely’. We were now approaching it, as the beautiful warm glow of a filtered sunset fell on us through the cracks and holes of the building, the temperature drastically falling as we moved into shade. The structure in question; the remains of a broken down stone building, and the closest thing to shelter in what appeared to be the ruins of a freakishly modern city. A chill ran down my spine as we walked past the bricks scattered across the area, the cool desert air wasn’t helping either. “What happened here?” I muttered to myself. Arashi must have heard, since he clenched his fist soon after. I need him to tell me everything he knows, and quick.

 

Arashi led us around the opposite side of the structure. We stopped in front of an opening, covered by a wooden board from the inside. Tap, Tap, BANG. Arashi knocked a few times before speaking. "It's when I stop, I realize I haven't slept for a while." I chuckled, realizing he took a quote from one of his favorite games as a password. Soon after the board was removed from the wall, followed by another familiar voice shooting out in greeting.

 

“Welcome home, Arashhh-- OH!” The owner of that voice ran straight towards me, before falling to his knees and folding his hands in prayer. “Thank the lord you’re here alive.” He gazed upwards to the sky. Now back on his feet, he forcefully took my hand and gave me a loose shake. “Glad to finally meet you in person, Michi!” he boasted with an excessively large, yet honest smile.

 

“Likewise… Yusha, I presume?” I smiled in response. The average size Japanese man, now standing in front of me joyfully, with his oddly dyed spiky-hair, and all too casual outfit complete with a green-trimmed white t-shirt, tucked into a pair of blue jeans, leading down to his white running shoes. Both his voice and appearance could belong to none other than Yusha Tateno, the man the group and I spent hours dueling against, in various trading card games.

 

“Yup, that’s me!” Yusha bowed, in yet another greeting. “You’ve gotta te-- OUCH” Livie punched his arm before he could finish.

 

“Quiet it down a bit, you dork. I’m heading inside to take a nap, but before that… Mimi, you’ll like this next part~” Livie walked into the opening with glee. “Oi, Ollie!~ Bet you’d never guess your big sister would be here~ Com’on down and see!” Livie’s voice pleasantly echoed out of the structure, as she vanished into the darkness it held.

 

My heart sank as I heard footsteps quickly stomping their way out of the structure. The rest of us are adults, but I couldn’t bare the thought of the young, bright-hearted 14-year-old Ollie Campbell, being stuck in the same unknown barren wasteland as us, where survival already seemed unlikely. Regardless…  I kept my composure as the small figure belonging to my self-proclaimed little brother snuck out from the structure’s opening, that Arashi now sat quietly beside with a pessimistic look in his eyes.

 

“Sis!” Ollie ran up and hugged me. The short boy wearing a blue branded T-shirt covered by a dark unzipped-jacket, and sports goggles hanging off his neck. “Aren’t I glad to see you.” He squeezed a little harder before letting go, staring at me with deep-blue eyes rekindled with hope. His greeting put my mind at ease, filling me with more determination to find a way back home. I gently petted his messy dark hair, and gave him a hug of my own. “Now we can adventure together, just like in minecr--.” 

 

“Ollie, get back inside and get some rest... Now.” Arashi broke his silence. “I need to speak with Mimi, alone.” He pointed into the opening, ordering Ollie inside.

 

“Can’t I have a fe--” Arashi glared at Ollie, stopping him before he could finish begging for more time with me. Ollie let out a meek “Alright...”, before lowering his head as he dragged his feet back, deeper within the structure.

 

Arashi beckoned towards me with his hand, asking me to follow him to the other side of the building. “I said alone… Yusha.” he turned his gaze, stopping Yusha in his attempt at tip-toeing along with us.

 

“You’ve gotta let me in on thi--” Yusha stopped speaking. Arashi giving him the same stare he just used on Ollie.

 

“No.” Arashi scowled coldly, then continued walking after Yusha frustratedly marched into the opening. He sat down against the wall of the structure, and gestured for me to do the same. We both gazed eastward at dazzling stars that littered the dark sky with their beauty, twinkling brighter than I have ever seen before. After a moment of silence, Arashi sighed and tilted his head downwards in disappointment, as if he just realized the sequel of his favorite game didn’t feature the same playable main character as the previous game.

 

“Well, that confirms it…” He slowly stood back up, then offered his hand to aid me in my rise. “We’re fucked.” He closed his eyes and rubbed his temple in annoyance, just like before.

 

“And what do you mean by that?” I raised my brow. The Arashi I know would only make such a remark if it was truly impossible to avoid a horrible situation. I patiently waited for him to explain himself, although the worry in my eyes may have slipped through to him.

 

“The stars…” he opened his arms towards the night sky, having me take another look at its charm. My eyes widened in disbelief. It took no more than a moment, now that I was looking for something. I can’t believe I didn’t notice it before, not only was this sky impossibly dazzling, but there were absolutely no recognizable constellations among it, not even the north star. How could this be possible? The Ursa constellations should always be visible in the northern hemisphere, so I assumed we were in the south, yet Centaurus and Crux are nowhere to be seen.

 

Arashi stuffed his hands back into the pockets of his hoodie. “Welcome, Mimi… To a whole other world. One that seems to have already ended, at that.” He clicked his tongue, and looked back to the ground after his attempt at a bad game-introduction impression. “I wanted to confirm it with you, before telling you what I found while wondering this place.”

 

I whipped my forehead with the sleeve of my hoodie. If what he just said… no. I know what he said is in fact the truth of our situation, which means… “Arashi…”

 

“I don’t know how we got here either, sorry.” He looked back and soaked in the view of the new night sky, as the light from it shone within his eyes and face. “I doubt there’s a way back too. We should assume we’re stuck here for good.”

 

A wave of despair brushed over me. There must be a way back. There absolutely has to be, otherwise… “We should still do our utmost best to find a way, regardless of how impossible that may be.” I ordered, clenching my fists tightly by my sides. “There must be a way…” I repeated under my breath.

 

“I agree.” Arashi boldly looked into my eyes. “That’s the way you do things, and I’ll help you out as much as I humanly can with forging ahead.” His words washed away the brief wave of despair that covered my heart. We magically ended up here like any other isekai group in Japanese media, so naturally we should be able to magically find a way back. I can’t afford being here for long, not when my purpose for being needs me to take care of him in his endless slumber back home.

 

I took a deep breath, then reached out my hand. “Now tell me what you found.” I know Arashi is the type who works well alone. I trust he was able to get his bearings on the landscape far more easily than I was able, given he had more time to do so. I eagerly awaited his report, while desperation licked the back of my mind.

 

Arashi firmly shook my hand, then sat back down. “I’ll work under the assumption that Kaori’s mysterious link is the cause of all this.” He laid down in the sand, looking back up at the alluring glitter across the night. “I spawned right here.” Patting the space beside him. “I quickly surveyed the southern direction, and was lucky to find what’s left of a lake, mostly safe for drinking, about a mile away.” His look of disgust didn’t make me highly optimistic about a source of clean water. “It must have been about two hours after I spawned, when I saw a bright pillar of light nearby. When I checked it out, I found Yusha by himself, unconscious directly where the pillar shone.”

 

I took a seat beside him. “So that’s how you got the group together, I assume?”

 

“Correct. That light appeared each time one of you showed up.” He continued. “After Ollie spawned in the north, I told him to stick with Yusha and find a way to board up this building to be our base camp.” Putting his hands behind his head, and letting out a sigh. “I was off on my own, surveying the west, when I saw two things of note. First: Some kind of town, another 3 miles off North-West.”

 

“That’s perfect. Some hope of life, after all.” I interrupted calmly. If things go well, we just might not be stuck out here on our own. We can only pray the possible residents are friendly, and have food to spare. “Oh, my apologies… What’s the second point?” I laid on the ground, placing my bag to my left, awaiting him to finish.

 

“Second: Undead.” Arashi spoke in a serious tone, without cracking a smile. “Sorry, that’s a joke… or rather, I don’t actually know.” His tone turned from serious to sarcastic in a moment. “I saw a humanoid figure about half the distance from the town, in the straight Western direction.”

 

“You said you’re unsure if this figure is undead or not. What gives you that impression?” I looked over to him, grabbing his shoulder.

 

He took a deep breath, then explained. “It was limping… There was no way it could have noticed me, but after a very short while, it turned towards me and started walking my direction, without as much as a wave.” He shrugged my hand off his shoulder, making me lose my grip, and avoiding my gaze. “I didn’t want to take any chances, so I backed away and headed back to base.”

 

“I see…” I paused for a brief moment, before continuing. “I’m not a fan of horror, but I’m also not frightened by the genre, as I know none of it could ever be real. What does fill me with fright, however…” I shuddered, and began to sit back up, wrapping my arms around myself while bringing my legs back. Curling myself into a ball, I began to rest my head on my arms, as they sat on my knees. “Is that anything could be possible in this world. This world we know so little about. I’m not too thrilled about finding out just how many horrors we can find here in this new reality.”

 

“Side note, although I’m unsure how important this detail is. Each point of our individual spawn locations forms a five-pointed star, if we were to lay it out on a map. The diameter is an estimated just less than 2 miles. Interesting, right?” Arashi let out a light chuckle, before shrugging.

 

“A… The shape of a star, with the diameter of pi?” That seems more like a joke, than an important point. I couldn’t help but bring my left palm up towards my face and let out a deep sigh. Intentionally or not, it did help me relax, and bring me down from my growing state of anxiety.

 

“That’s how it is.” I could hear Arashi grin. A bad joke like that is sure to remind him of Kaori's antics. “That concludes my report. I didn’t want the others to hear this yet, especially the second thing I saw. I’ll leave it to you on how and when to inform them all about this.” Arashi forced himself up onto one knee, and brushed himself off before standing up straight, then circled around the structure to head inside.

 

I laid there a few moments longer, taking in one last look at the glistening night sky above this whole new world. This truly is a disastrous situation, being lost in a completely different universe. I can hardly bear the thought of leaving Hikari all alone in that hospital bed. He’ll die without me there to look after him, to hold his hand… My thoughts drifted to my mother, whom I rarely had the privilege of seeing everyday, yet she would always prepare me a homemade lunch everyday. A tear ran down my cheek as I thought back to those days. I suppose this is what they mean by taking things for granted. Thankfully I was alone currently, so no one had to see me in this state. No matter what, I MUST find a way back home. I’m glad to have ended up with people… No, my friends that will help with that goal. I need to stay strong for them, or at least give off that appearance. I’ll be the guiding light to them, like Hikari is to me.

 

I propped myself up, shaking the dirt and sand off me, before picking up my bag and rubbing the dirt off its side once more, and slinging it back over my shoulder. Reaching out my hand I ran it along the wall, to guide me back around to the opening of our base camp. Once inside, I reached into my bag to find my phone. It was pitch black in here, so I opted to use the dim light from my phone screen. The flashlight feature would likely wake up anyone who is sleeping, and would consume too much battery. Committing to the thought of telling everyone about our goal in the morning, I found myself a flat area to lay myself on top of. I turned off my phone, then placed it back into my bag. Closing my eyes, I heard a gentle, “Sleep wonderfully, my angel.” I smiled at Livie’s parting words, and drifted off to sleep, the light laughter of Livie’s musings as my lullaby.