I ‘wake up’ to the fifth day after the cute couple’s visit, ready to do more ‘tests’ in order to leave this place faster. I just wanted to explore the city on my own! Was that much to ask? I fumble with the ‘T.V’s controller and managed to turn it on, the ‘channel’ already on the one I wanted to see. What did the patients call it again? ‘Ahnaymey’? The morning shows were about to begin, although I couldn’t watch it for long since it would often give me a headache.

Click.

“Good morning, Miss Elizabeth, did you sleep well?” Rose had her hair a little unkempt and messy, her face paint that hid her age a little badly applied. Fufufu, seems like it’s working as intended.

“Why yes, Rose-san, I slept quite well, how about you?”

She lets out a groan and pulls a nearby metallic stool, she drops her papers on her lap and then massages her face with her hands. “Can’t say the same. I’ve been having nightmares for a while now, and I have the feeling you were in them…”

“Oh my, was I the reason for your nightmares?”

Rose looks at me with a warm, bittersweet smile. “No, Miss Elizabeth, I think it’s just the constant stress building up from work, but nothing you should worry yourself about,” she lets out a sigh and stands up. “Can you stand up? Do you need any help?” I shake my head. “That’s great. Please come with me so that we can test your motor skills.”

Effortlessly standing up, I follow my instructor. With a sweep of a ‘key card’, the door ‘click’s open and we enter the hallway. Being early in the morning, there were not many assistants going to and fro, so our walk was relatively calm and uneventful. I didn’t need to pay attention to my surroundings to know what was going on, seeing as I have explored this place with my Wards multiple times, so there was nothing piquing my interest.

We went down an ‘elevator’ that made me a bit dizzy, and passed through a small courtyard.

“Miss Elizabeth!” I hear a cute, childish voice ring from the desolated flowerbed. The little girl jumps to my legs and hugs them tightly. “Are you going to do some more tests?”

“That is right, Miss Maya,” Rose says to the hairless girl as she squats to her level and rubs her head. “You can chat with her once we finish the testing, okay?”

“Okay!” with our play date set, she returns to play with the butterflies and plants. From all of the subjects in here, she might be the only one worth helping out.

Rose lets out a chuckle as she stands up. “She seems quite attached to you, huh?” The assistant looks at Maya with a complex expression of pity, nostalgia and something more. “She used to be so shy… After you woke up, she became more and more happy. Day by day the lights in her eyes returned and suddenly she became the bright and cheery girl she was meant to be.”

“My, how long ago was she glancing at my legs from the corners of the halls?”

“I believe it was three months ago? You have been awake for quite a while now.”

Indeed, I’ve been trapped here for a while now, but I had no intentions of being kept in a cage any longer. Thankfully there were no witches in this world -or at the very least there were none in this country, so my ‘escape’ will come to fruition in a couple of days. Such rudeness! Keeping me away from such a wonderful world full of mysteries and strange things!

We eventually arrived at yet another elevator and went further down. With a ‘Ping!’ the metallic box opened, showing halls of complete whiteness. Heavy, metallic doors adorning the walls from time to time. Rose stopped at the usual place and I stepped inside alone once again.

So boring… ‘Do this!’, ‘Lift that!’, ‘Do this knot!’, ‘Say these things!’. I swear to the Seven Hells you are trying to bore me to death. You don’t want to see me angry, don’t you? See~? So easy~.

“Good work today as well, Miss Elizabeth,” came from the ‘speaker’ the usual male voice. Come on~, I won’t bite~.

… Much.

Rose kindly guided me back to the courtyard and I found little Maya reading a colorful book full of pictures and cute figures. “I’ll call you when it’s lunch time. Have fun, Miss Elizabeth,” and with that, the assistant left the courtyard.

Naturally there was no one other than me and Maya in this place, so I felt quite liberated when I spent time with the cute creature. Walking up to the bench she was sitting on, I caught a glimpse of what story book she was reading. “Ara, the Sleeping Beauty once again?”

The little girl lets her book down and looks at me with glee. “Miss Elizabeth! I though you weren’t coming! What took you so long?” She, as of custom, hugged my fine legs, rubbing her face on my thighs. “Mm… I want to smell as good as you, Miss Elizabeth! They only give me neutral soap…”

I rub her little head, motioning for her to sit on the bench by my side. “Ara, spoiled as ever, aren’t you? Fufufu, don’t worry, soon you will smell as good as flowers.”

“Really!? I can’t wait!”

We played a little, I finished reading her the book, and soon were about to be separated.

“Miss Elizabeth, is it true that you are leaving soon?” Said the hairless girl with clear sadness. “I don’t want to be alone again...”

With a bittersweet smile, I rub her cheeks. “That is indeed true, Maya-chan, I will be leaving in a couple of days,” catching her sad expression, I turned her to face my warmer smile. “But don’t you worry, you will be able to leave this place soon, too.”

“But,” she retorts. “Mama and Papa said I won’t be able to leave the hospital until I feel better…”

To this I kiss her in the forehead. “You will get better, Maya-chan.”

“But the doctors and nurses said I was a lost cause…”

Hurt by their heartless comments, I reassured her. “Maya-chan, don’t you trust me?”

“… Yes, I trust you more than the doctors and nurses.”

“Then trust me on this one,” I cast a simple spell -one even non-witches could cast, and a gentle gust of wind went around us, lifting up the leaves and petals.

“Woah!” the little girl exclaims in surprise. “Just like in the story books! Miss Elizabeth, are you a-“

I cut her off by putting a finger on her lips. “This is a secret between us, okay?” She nods vigorously, sparks of genuine hope finally gleaming in her eyes.

As if in cue, Rose finally finds us again. “Here you were!” Says the assistant as she pouts at us. “I was starting to get worried for you!” Why, didn’t you expect me to hide from you a little bit? Were the bushes too thick for those eyes of yours? Fufufu, I believe this is a little payback, don’t you think? Not like I would say those things out loud, but let us get along until I get out of here, shall we~?

“Rose-san, sorry for the bother,” I apologize as I get up and clear the dirt out of my gown. “Please do lead the way.”

“Bye, Miss Elizabeth!” I wave her goodbye and Rose guides me, but we were not going to the cafeteria nor my room.

We walked out of my wing and into the regular wing. Here the nurses were helping the patients around, sometimes I could see a doctor or variation of them going from room to room. It kept surprising me just how organized this place was. “We are going to give you an ID; we have someone in the lobby waiting for us.” My, such a coy plot this is~, but I guess this can’t be helped.

These rooms were more colorful and busier, as well there being far lesser amounts of patients, I could take a guess that this world’s -or at least country’s, populace was rather healthy. There was no scent of compounds nor ‘cameras’ in every corner.

My~, the men in this world were rather prude, weren’t they? Humu, feast your eyes! This body was designed to captivate you all! “…Disgusting,” came from Rose’s lips. “I even bet she can’t even crouch from the pain…” Ara? Are you jealous? Should I tell you that my back is extra strong to avoid such trivial disturbances? Fufufu… Such a cute child!

“What is that hair?”
“Did you see her tits!? Is she a porn star?”
“What I would do to massage those udders…”
“Her hair is so pretty!”
“Isn’t she the rumored Ghost Lady?”
“What? Ghost Lady?”
“That’s the Ghost Lady!”
“Dear! Stop looking! You have me!”
“Wow! She looks just like that girl from your game, doesn’t she?”
“Yeah, I bet she is a cosplayer.”
“Wanna tag team her?”
“Are you kidding? She is out of our league!”
“Hehe, not if we…”

Mou! Such rude children! Not even back in my world would people stare and fantasize so much! But I guess it can’t be helped, my body is made for such attention, after all. “Fufufu~” Ara? Are you all captivated by my giggle? Please do give me your Spirit, although none of you are worth manually tasting~.

“Over here, Miss,” Rose beacons to an adjacent room. While the previous room -the reception, was very big and spacious, full of chairs and decorations, this room was the opposite; small, papyrus-scented, lit only by one of those things on the roof, and with very little furniture.

“Good evening, Miss Elizabeth,” it was a man, chubby, foul-smelling and perverted. He was wearing regal clothing, almost like the ones nobles would wear when on diplomatic missions. Was I found out? Hmm… Nope! The pig was sitting behind the desk, papers neatly piled in front of him. His features were subpar, as was his Spirit, so let’s ignore them~. “My name is Paul Clark, representative of the Minister of Migration –“ He offered a hand shake I fakely took with courtesy. “-I’m the one in charge of assigning you your identification.

“First, tell me about yourself. What do you remember? Any education? Colleges? Family? Please, take a cup of coffee.”

“I’m afraid I do not drink such beverage -the bitterness is not appealing to me.”

The pig smirked for the briefest of seconds. Of course he would, you naughty boy. “Thankfully my wife also dislikes the bitterness of coffee, and since she didn’t want one today, so I happen to carry some sugar with me. Care for some?”

I, on the other hand, put a gentle smile of my own. “The do please add as much sugar as you can,” the pig hesitated a bit, not expecting me to say such thing, then proceeded to pull out a package from his inner pocket and began to make the ‘coffee’ that I have heard so much about.

“While we wait for the coffee, how about we have a little chat? I heard about the speed of your recovery. What would have taken months and years only took a few days. You seem to be very mature and a bit knowledgeable about some subjects, but not so quite about the world we live in,” as the water in the black thing began to boil, he poured grains and dust into a compartment, soon the water began to darken.

“I’m afraid I do not remember much other than the education my parents gave me, so I must apologize for my naiveness about the ways of normal living.” The thing made a ‘ding!’ and soon he grabbed the transparent container and poured the liquid in two cups, totally ignoring the assistant with us. He emptied the sugar-like dust in one of the cups and began to stir them.

“Don’t worry, Miss, there have been cases where comatose patients forget how to speak altogether, so your case is not that weird. I just hope we can find out where you lived; such a well-bred lady like yourself has to have equally important parents.” The pig finished stirring and presented me the cup he poured the substance in; I gladly took it and took a sip out of it. “Is it of your liking?”

Fufufu~. Of course, it is~, you made sure of it didn’t you? “Why yes,” I answer happily. “The taste is more tolerable now.” The pig seemed a little too content with my response.

“Well then,” the pig began as he sat down on the desk, the assistant offering me a chair for me to use. “Do you remember what kind of work you used to do? Maybe you worked with the government? Perhaps not this one, but perhaps you were sent here on a diplomatic mission that went wrong.” My, my, such eager and to the point! What a naughty, naughty little piggy.

I shake my head. “I’m afraid I don’t remember being part of any government agency or branch, Paul-san, much less the one I belonged to,” Hmm? You didn’t like my answer? I saw you twitch~.

“… Okay, then. Then do you have any recollection of what you were doing before falling in a coma?”

“Hmm… I remember being with a few friends on a trip on a forest.”

He twitched once more. “Forest? But we are in a desert. Are you sure that wasn’t your dream?”

Let’s see, let’s see, what can I say? Hmm… Let’s go with this. “I’m sure I was in a forest when we were suddenly ambushed by ruffians, but that is as far as I can remember. I can’t remember how I even passed out nor what happened to my friends,” ara? You don’t believe me? Too bad~.

“… Can you tell us the name of those friends of yours? Maybe we can help you find them.”

“I’m afraid I also don’t remember their names nor faces, but maybe if I see them, I will remember them.”

Aaaaand~. Done~, the piggy gave up! “Well, it’s getting late for me, Miss Elizabeth, so let’s get this done with so you can have an official identification. You won’t be classified as a proper citizen, but this is the least we can do for you.”

Ah~, more paperwork~. I hoped to have been freed from such mundane tasks, but it seems such things follow me wherever I go. “Are you sure you want that name, Miss?” The piggy asks with reluctance. “The origin of that name is not particularly pleasant, and you might be looked weirdly.”

Of course I want this name! Doesn’t it fit me quite well? “It’s okay, Paul-san, I’m fine with this name.”

“… All right.”

After some more paperwork, they took a ‘picture’ of me and a little card was ‘printed’ out of one of the machines. Ah~, if only I could disarm that machine to know how it worked! Such revolutionary invention! And these pictures were also fascinating! In a mere blink, they captured all my beauty and drew it as if it was the real me! To think such majestic artifacts existed in this world!

“Are you not feeling tired, Miss Elizabeth?” Rose asks as she tries to support my towering frame. Seems like I forgot to act the part. Oopsies!

“As a matter of fact, Rose-san… Yes, I’m feeling quite dizzy and my limbs are a bit tired.”

The pig nods and starts to pack up his things, leaving a few papers behind. “Then that is my cue. I hope you recover properly, Miss Elizabeth. Until next time.” Ara~, you are already making plans for keeping me locked up? Sorry~, but this little bird can’t be caged no more~.

Rose ‘helps’ me get to my ‘room’ and then I ‘sleep’ until the next day. Just a couple more nights and I’ll be pampering that boy all day long! Fufufu! How exciting!