Before I knew it, I was laying down on a grassy field. Shrubs scattered around haphazardly, an occasional tree or two as well.

Staring right at me was the girl from before, completely shocked.

Now that I’ve got a good look at her, she actually seems quite young, around my age perhaps. Her hair went down to her back and her eyes were a dazzling blue. She wore a pink dress with a similarly colored pointed hat. If I didn’t know any better, I would almost say that she’s a real-life witch.

Wait a minute…could she be a witch?

Fighting supernatural things, check.

Weird attire, check.

Magical phenomena, check.

However, unlike a witch, she wielded a bow and had a quiver on her back for carrying arrows. Aren’t witches supposed to have a magic staff, crucible, or at least a spellbook?

“Um, excuse me?”

Perhaps feeling awkward from the silence, the girl initiated the conversation.

“Err, hello...?”

She once again called out to me.

“How did I get here?”

I bluntly asked her that question. I’m not here to chit-chat.

“I was about to ask that question, actually…”

It seems that she’s just as confused as I am.

A few moments of silence ensued before the girl spoke again.

“Well, tell me what you do remember.”

After a bit of thinking, I replied once more in a similarly blunt manner.
“...Some blue vortex thing.”

“Wait, you came from Earth?!”

Uh oh, I’ve got a bad premonition about this.

“Hold on, are you implying that this isn’t Earth?”

“I’m afraid not, this is a world called Firah. How did you get caught in the portal? That area was supposed to be abandoned.”

“It was…except for the fact that it wasn’t, as you can plainly see. I was there to wind down and relax.”

“Relax at a rundown area? You’re quite the oddball.”

“Says the one in that weird attire.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know that this is a standardized attire for bow wielders of the Academy for Magical Girls!”

Bow wielders? Academy? Magical girls?

…

…

…

“Okay, I think I’ve had enough for today. Send me back.”

“Um…that would be a problem…”

“And why is that?”

“I don’t have the authority to open up portals. I just carry out assigned missions on Earth from the principal. She’s the one that opens them up.”

“Well, then let’s ask this all-knowing ‘principal.’”

“That would also be a problem.”

“...Why?”

The girl scratched her head while making an expression of uncertainty.

“You see…humans aren’t exactly allowed here. Normally we would send them to the principal and she would deal with them.”

Humans are...not allowed? As if to imply that...there are no humans here? My bad premonition has just upgraded to a disastrous premonition.

“Hold up, aren’t you a human as well?”

“No, I’m a magical girl.”

“Sounds like the same thing.”

“It’s not. Magical girls are an entirely different race. According to the textbooks I’ve read, there are many biological and mental differences between a human and a magical girl.”

“Such as…?”

“Well, for one, there’s no such thing as a ‘male’ for magical girls.”

“Wait, then how do you reprodu...actually, nevermind. I don’t want to know the answer to that.”

We stayed silent for a few moments while I tried to wrack my brains over this entire surreal situation.

If what she says if correct, then I’m in a really bad situation. I’m far from home, far from other ‘humans’, and most importantly, far from Earth. I’m not sure if I can trust this girl. In fact, nothing good ever happened to me back on Earth when I trusted someone. However, it seems I have no other option than to go along with her.

After sorting out my thoughts, I looked back at the girl.

“What’s happens to humans who are caught here?”

“The official rulebook says that humans are to be executed if found, but we've never had one actually make it here. I feel kind of bad for you since this is technically my fault. How about this, I’ll keep you safe and hidden from harm until my next mission for Earth. When I get that mission, I’ll sneak you into the portal as well and you can go back to your home.”

“...I really don’t have a choice, do I?”

“Not really…”

The girl reaches her hand out to me.

“My name’s Angeline, pleased to be here.”

After a bit of hesitation, I grab her hand and shake it.

“I’m Hayashi Itsuki. I’m not that pleased to be here, though.”

As we’re shaking hands, she also takes the opportunity to pull me up and get me onto my feet. While I’m wiping the soil and grass off of my clothing, Angeline starts walking along a dirt path. She motions for me to follow her, so I decide to walk along the trail as well.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe inside the academy until my next mission. I’ll even get some of my friends to help. In fact, one of them is just right up ahead.”

“Wait, I’m going into the academy?!”

I halt dead in my tracks and follow the dirt trail with my eyes to find that it leads to a massive castle-like building.

“Why are you leading me straight into the most dangerous spot for me? Can’t I stay somewhere else?”

Angeline makes a sorry expression as she explains the circumstances.

“Well, you see…the monsters here can quite be dangerous for a human, especially at night, so the only place you can be is unfortunately the academy.”

Monsters.

The only safe haven is the lion’s den itself.

My disastrous premonition has upgraded into a sense of certain doom.

“Was that slime thing from before a monster as well?”

“Indeed. I even collected its mana stone. See, look.”

Mana stone, she said? Well, I suppose I’ll just play along.

Angeline retrieved that high-tech looking container and put on the same pair of gloves as before. She then reached inside and pulled out the tiny red orb that’s supposedly a mana stone.

I reach my hand out towards the stone, but just as I’m about to touch it, Angelica pulls it back and cautions me.

“Don’t touch it without proper protection. You might be fine with a mana stone as small as this one, but larger ones are definitely dangerous.”

Oh, so that’s what the special container and gloves are for.

“What’s wrong with them?”

“If you touch a mana stone without proper gear, all of the mana inside it will transfer into your body, completely draining the stone. While it’s fine as a form of crude mana replenishment with the smaller ones, if you take in more mana than you can handle, your body will shut down from the overload.”

So monsters can still be dangerous even after they’re dead. What a frightening world this is.

“Alright then, lead the way.”

We resume our walk along the dirt trail and gradually make our way to the castle that is the academy. Along the way, we encounter some small monsters, mostly slimes. Angeline dealt with them all using her bow.

Each passing minute, the castle seems to loom over me, growing larger and larger. In order to keep my mind off of the eerie sight, I started some side talk with Angeline.

“So why were you on Earth anyways.”

Angeline is silent for a moment before answering hesitantly.

“Well, this is supposed to be a secret, but I think I can trust you.”

“Um, you shouldn’t trust me that easily. We barely met.”

Despite my retort, Angeline continued on.

“Anyways, I went to Earth to obtain…”

She reaches into a badge pinned to her dress, her arm suddenly disappearing as if the tiny badge somehow swallowed it whole.

“…this!”

After some digging around, she pulls out a cellphone, a rather obsolete one by today’s standards. The item she pulled out was comically large in comparison to the size of the badge.

“We’re researching Earth technology and seeing if we can replicate it ourselves. Magic is useful, but having to recharge mana each time can be a pain.”

There’s that word again, mana.
“Uh huh…well, good luck with that.”

“Thanks, Hayashitsuki.”

“It’s Hayashi Itsuki. Family name and first name.”

“Family name? First name? What are those?”

“Oh great…just call me Hayashi.”

“Alright, Hayashi!”

 

By the time we were almost at the castle, the sky was dim and the sun had almost entirely set. Thereupon, Angeline suddenly stops me.

“Stay right behind me until I tell you to come out. Ellie is a bit of a hotheaded one, but she’s kind on the inside.”

I honestly doubt that. Many of the people back at school said the same thing about the bullies persecuting me, and guess what? They’re just as rotten on the inside as they are on the outside.

Angeline points to someone who seems to be guarding the front gates.

She has short, messy, auburn hair, wears a green bandana, and is adorned with a suit of crimson colored garb. She's a bit taller than Angeline, but nonetheless looks around the same age as her. She seems more physically fit and her scarlet eyes have a fierce look, contrasting with Angeline's gentle countenance. Similar to Angeline, she has a badge attached to her uniform.

As we approached, Angeline greeted this person.

“Hello, Ellie! Guard work as usual, I see.”

“Oh, hey Angeline. I’m just about finished with my shift, so I’ll head back to the dorms with you. Finished your task without any of your usual hiccups?”

“Ellie, I’ll have you know that I don’t mess up as often as you think. That being said, we do have something we need to talk…you can come out now, Hayashi.”

I stepped out from behind Angeline, revealing myself to this supposed Ellie.

“Um, hey.”

However, rather than greeting me back, the girl takes out a spear and assumes a rather intimidating pose, as if she’s ready to lunge at me any time. Angeline barely manages to stop her by cutting in between us.

“Wait, Ellie! Stop!”

“What are you doing, Angeline?! That's a human! You know how much harm they can cause. We need to turn him in to the principal right now!”

“Ellie, please! Listen to me first!”

 

After Angeline explained the situation, the short-haired girl nodded her head while closing her eyes.

“Hmm…I see.”

She reopens them and looks straight at me.

“Alright, I’ll trust you just because Angeline seems to, but I won’t hesitate to slice you into pieces if I see the slightest bit of mischief from you.”

“Yeah sure, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Well, it seems I don’t have her trust, but I’m not in line to get a taste of her spear, at least for now.

“I’m Ellie.”

No handshake this time? I’m appalled…not really. I prefer minimal contact anyways.

“Hayashi Itsu…just Hayashi.”

“I see. Anyways, follow us. The gate is right up ahead.”

As I follow both Angeline and Ellie towards the front gate, I notice that there isn’t a lock, keypad, RFID reader, or anything of that sort. The gates are shut tight and there aren’t any visible cues on it that indicate how to open them. The only thing around other than the gates is a panel on the floor with a pentagram engraved on it.

As I ponder about how to open them, Angeline begins talking to Ellie.

“I’ll open the gates, Ellie.”

Angeline turns towards the panel and is about to walk towards it, but Ellie grabs her arm and stops her.

“Wait, how about we test the new guy’s mana?”

If the concept of mana is this important, I suppose I should ask at this point.

“Hey, what’s mana anyways?”

Ellie turned towards me with a look of discontent, as if wondering why I asked such a stupid question, while Angeline seemed to be a bit more understanding.

“All beings have at least some level of mana. Us magical girls usually have a much higher amount, though.”

Angeline explained as such.

Well, that clears some things up, but that’s not much to work with.

“What do you use mana for?”

Ellie jumps into the conversation.

“Do we really have to explain it all to you? Mana is energy that can be converted into a multitude of elemental forces. This conversion of mana into elements is called magic, and is dependant on the user’s attribute. There are different kinds of attributes out there, but each individual can only have one.”

“I have the light attribute and Ellie has the earth attribute. The attribute you have determines which element your magic holds. Since I have the light attribute, my magic attacks have the light element in them.”

“I see…so does that mean I have an attribute as well?”

Angeline and Ellie stare at each other for a brief moment with a look of confusion before Angeline turns back to me and responds.

“We’re not sure, actually.”

Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try it out.

“Alright then, I’ll give mana a shot. What should I do?”

Ellie points at the panel on the ground.

“Just stand there and chant the proper incantation. These panels open by a direct transfer of mana into them, so you chant ‘Mana Release’.”

I walk over to the pentagram panel, and stand on top of it.

“Mana Release…”

And…nothing happens.

“Huh, that’s odd. Let me try.”

I step off the panel as Angeline steps on and chants the same incantation.

“Mana Release.”

The panel immediately lights up and the gates begin to open up. Or rather, a small section of them disappear entirely, leaving the front gates looking like a piece is missing.

Angeline stares down at the panel while seeming to ponder about something.

“This is very odd, the panel didn’t respond to you. I wonder why.”

Ellie walks ahead past the open gap in the front gates and motions for us to follow.

“C’mon, we can ask Illia later. She knows about this kind of stuff.”

I follow both Angeline and Ellie as we take detours towards their dorm room in order to avoid getting seen.

Though they decided on asking this Illia person, I’ve got a fairly good idea about what just happened and why.

 

The castle is quite massive up close, and upon closer inspection, it seems to be in pristine condition despite it looking archaic and being made of stone bricks. Perhaps this is something possible due to magic?

However, the castle doesn’t seem to be where we’re heading. Instead, we’re making our way towards a section of the campus that holds significantly smaller buildings separate from the castle. They’re all made of wood, not stone, and resemble log cabins.

By the time we make it there, the sun had completely set and in its place was a round, crescent glow. The dark sky was also full of countless shimmering specks. I suppose this world had a moon and some stars as well.

We all walked towards one of the log cabins in the area. Angelica then stands on top of a panel that looks similar to the one from last time, but with a slightly different pentagram.

“Mana Release.”

The door to the log cabin opens up, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it slides open.

“Alright, Illia should be in here.”

Angeline and Ellie enter inside.

Just as I’m about to enter as well, I sense a certain aura from behind me in the distance. I quickly turn around, but only see the empty pathways within the academy’s campus.

Perhaps it’s just my imagination, but I swear I could have spotted a smudge of something green. Maybe I just mistook it for a falling leaf.

I turn back towards the entrance and walk through into the dorm.