Suddenly and without warning Anna was violently jerked back to reality, her knees were cold and very uncomfortable, something that felt like stone pressed against the skin exposed by her fashionably ripped jeans.

This strange feeling, as well as the sudden and extreme temperature change, stimulated her consciousness and allowed her to wake.

After what seemed like an eternity, though it was probably less than a second, she managed to pry her eyes open.

Instinctively glancing down, she jumped up as she saw that she was kneeling on a stone platform. With just a quick glance around, she could tell that this room wasn't anywhere on Earth, because of the stone bricks which comprised the walls and floor.

Those small signs, and the Magical lights on the ceiling.

Just judging by the size of the room, she could tell that the castle was most likely very large, and guessed that it would belong to a high level noble or royalty.

She could tell this by the intricate detail put into making the stone bricks fit together smoothly, as well as the materials used, the smooth looking marble. The room was also rather large, and there were rich looking tapestries on the wall, along with the bust of someone set into niches in the walls.

The marble which comprised the platform on which she now stood was covered in esoteric, patterns that seemed to be inlaid with a metal similar to gold.

It would take a very experienced artisan many years of work to chisel these patterns into the marble, making them in such a way that it seemed to meld with the stone perfectly.

Which meant that the gold gilded symbols seemed to originate from the stone, the indents looked almost natural and the protrusions looked like they grew from the stone without human interference.

The platform itself was raised six to eight inches from the floor, which was constructed from the same kind of marble, though it had no symbols carved into it, looking like a normal whitish marble-like stone.

Interlocking bricks formed the walls, fitting together perfectly like puzzle pieces.

Anna guessed, from the cement used to keep the bricks firmly attached to each other, and by the shape of the bricks and lack of space between them, that the construction of this castle was similar to the construction methods popular in the late medieval period of Europe.

The room was easily twelve meters in diameter, perfectly square without the slightest, visible, deviation. The ceiling was around three meters above the platform.

Someone quietly clearing their throat interrupted Anna's observation of the room itself, and towards an old man who was standing calmly in front of them.

He was an old man who wore an overly ostentatious purple robe, with a massive crown made from what looked like onyx adorning his brow.

Anna found that his overly proud, arrogant even, expression pissed her off on a subconscious level.

Anna did point out that she thought that the onyx-black crown combined well with his purple robe, which had a golden lining.

He had a very regal bearing, and rich looking clothing.

If purple was the colour of royalty here the way that it had been on Earth, Anna knew that this must be the king.

She knew that first impressions were vital, so she thought fast and addressed the old man as 'Your Majesty' and knelt. As she did this, she gestured for Mike and Shannon to kneel as well.

Though they had just climbed to their feet and not gotten the chance to look around much, they reacted without thinking and followed her gesture, kneeling as well.

She considered them to be really obedient children.

He seemed to be inherently arrogant, his first words were that Arre had answered their prayers, before reiterating Arre's words about how Anna, Shannon, and Mike were summoned to kill the Demon King.

It seemed to her that he and Arre followed if not the same script, then one that was incredibly similar.

The king smiled kindly and then grandly proclaimed that there was no need for them to kneel before him, since they were the Heroes that were summoned so as to 'save the world'.

He even cordially referred to them as 'young friends'.

When he smiled calmly and talked without his arrogant tone, he sounded like a kindly old grandfather.

Once all three of them climbed to their feet, he gestured for them to follow him.

He led them out of the room.

The door through which they had exited was very thick and impressive, made from some deep brown, rich looking wood, reinforced with steel. A lacquer made the surface shiny looking, metallic seams reinforced both edges of the door.

 Anna was shocked at the beauty, and the luxurious surroundings. The lush red carpet under their feet was so soft, so deep, that their footsteps didn't make a sound.

There were paintings hanging on the walls, paintings of fantasy landscapes with towering trees, or massive rivers that couldn't be found on Earth; there were also paintings of people, and of battlegrounds.

While the content of the paintings varied widely, but they were all so well done that they could have been displayed in the Louvre, or sold for millions. The frames were made from precious metals.

Sitting against the walls at regular intervals were rich, dark wooden stands, on which stood vases that could rival those from the Chinese Ming Dynasty.

Mike had relaxed because of the calming atmosphere, and the tone the king used, and so when he asked the king where they were going, he was polite, but not overly so.

Reacting without thinking, Shannon, who was walking next to him, slapped the back of his head.

Mike looked at her, looking slightly aggrieved as he rubbed his hand through his close-cut brown hair.

After glancing at the commotion beside her, Anna snuck a look at the king's face.

The king was watching their antics out of the corner of his eyes, and while he looked amused, a slight grin pulling at his lips, there was the sign of tiny tears in the corner of his eyes.

Shaking his head once, the king answered the question that Mike had asked, with no sign of anger at the disrespect, explaining that he was taking them to their new room.

Apparently it was late at night in this new world, so they needed to sleep before doing anything else.

The king apologized that there would be no feast for dinner, since it was too late, then he said that they would be meeting their combat and Magic instructors in the morning.

They would then be commencing their training, getting them ready for killing the Demon King.

While the king was finishing his explanation, they had arrived at the door to their new quarters, saying the final words of his sentence, he opened the door for them.

Anna was genuinely shocked that the king himself stepped forwards and opened the door for them himself, before calmly gesturing them in. Normally a maid or soldier would open the door for the king, and he would be the first person to enter a room, showing his position of power.

 

Though Anna hadn't seen any maids on the way there, she had seen a few soldiers, both in the original summoning room, and walking along the hallway.

Once the group entered the room, the king nodded to them and then shut the door behind them, he stayed on the outside.

The room was very large, around the size of the kitchen and dining room of Anna's old house, combined. The walls were constructed from the same whitish marble-like stone of the rest of the castle, with a single window.

The window was only an empty arch shape, there was no glass, or even wooden shutters protecting the room in the case of wind or rain. Though strange shapes and patterns lined the stone around the opening.

An open door was built into one of the walls, it led into a modern looking bathroom.

In the room was a large bathtub with bronze taps and claw feet below it, holding it up. There was also a toilet with a flush chain, but the toilet was constructed purely from metal.

Anna shuddered as she imagined sitting on the freezing metal late on a cold night.

All of the modern looking features were surrounded by the strange symbols. The symbols lined the toilet seat and ran up the length of the chain, they also coated the bronze taps which capped the pipes leading into the tub.

This could all be seen from the open door, there may have been even more things in the room, but Anna never entered it.

A large portion of the room in which they stood was filled by two massive, canopied beds, which looked incredibly expensive. Even the sheets were made from a pure white linen-like material, which had an obviously high thread count.

The mattresses were thick and fluffy looking, giving off a siren's call in Anna's mind.

Anna blushed slightly as she looked away, obviously embarrassed, as she admitted that she couldn't help herself from answering the call, running over to one of the beds and jumping onto it, she had to know if they were as nice and soft as they looked.

They were.

The sheets were silky smooth and the mattress was incredibly soft and conformed perfectly to her body.

She managed to look back at me.

Her gazed stayed on my face for some reason, almost never leaving it the whole time that she had been telling her story.

She had an embarrassed look as she spoke haltingly about indulging in her urge to play on that really soft bed.

I told her that everyone would have felt that urge, and most of us would indulge in it.

It was then that I admitted that I had done the same thing when I had first been summoned.

Anna laughed, this time in genuine amusement, and continued her story.

After she had indulged herself enough on the soft bed, she got up and walked over to the window, looking out.

Anna gasped at the view.

Below her room was a large city which glowed a soft orange, the light of torches lit up buildings and streets, providing a beautiful backdrop. Tearing her gaze away, she looked up and saw the stars shining brightly, lighting up the clear sky.

Even with the combined lighting of the stars and torches, the night was still much darker than Anna was used to.

They were in a large tower, and the massive stone wall of the castle blocked out a lot of the nearby view of the nearby streets--but the city was so enormous that it didn't hide much at all of the beautiful surroundings, and Anna could barely see the outer walls.

 

With a soft sigh, Anna stepped back from the window and decided to get some sleep, and when she moved away, Shannon and Mike walked forwards to look out the window.

Anna was exhausted, it had been a long day.

She knew that she had to be awake and alert the next day, so as to absorb as much information as she could.

After standing by the window and talking quietly for a while, Mike and Shannon walked over to the other bed.

They closed the curtain.

Anna explained that she had honestly tried to sleep at that time, but her eyes kept opening and her mind churned. No matter how tired she felt, she couldn't shake the feeling of wrongness that was gnawing at her.

After spending an unknown amount of time, that felt like an eternity, trying to figure out what could be causing the sensation, she gave up and tried to convince herself that is was just that this wasn't her bed, her room, or even her world.

She knew that she was very excited, because she was looking forward to going on a fun adventure and saving lots of innocent people from an evil Demon King, like in the stories that she loved.

While she was in the middle of musing, she began to hear noises coming from the other bed.

It seems that Mike and Shannon could go at it anywhere.

Anna admitted that she felt more than a slight twinge of envy, and of loneliness. She couldn't help it, but Brian appeared in her mind.

She had truly believed that they were in love, and she knew that she was deeply in love with him at that time, and she could never completely remove those feelings, even after he had cheated on her and then left her, breaking her heart into tiny pieces.

Anna was still looking at my face, so I could see that she was crying again, remembering.

She buried her head in my chest and began to sob uncontrollably.

I could understand even better now why Master seemed careful around me for the first few weeks, now that I was around someone who was mentally unstable.

I didn't try to talk to her, to say anything to make her feel better, I stayed silent and stroked her hair.

For once I did something correctly, after a few minutes she moved on her own, moving her hair head back, her lower lip quivered slightly. She seemed so weak, I felt an unexplained urge to comfort her.

She shut her eyes for a second before continuing her story, I was careful not to push or rush her.

With an embarrassed look at me, she admitted that she couldn't ignore the noises coming from Mike and Shannon's bed.

She listened to them for a short time before she couldn't hold herself back and slowly sat up, taking off her shirt, then reaching over to close the curtains.

Apparently, the mixture of loneliness and arousal had overwritten the logical part of her mind.

She needed release...

 

With a slight twitch, Anna quickly drew herself out of the haze she had fallen into as she described the situation, which shall be emitted, since it wasn't technically something that should be shared with strangers.

She was blushing a brilliant crimson, her breathing slightly disordered.

As she raised her head, I saw that there was embarrassment--and something else--was warring in her eyes as they met mine. Her hands had been twitching slightly as she spoke, losing herself in the memories. She quickly stopped her movement, joining her hands together and resting them against her stomach.

In my opinion, she had just gotten to the best bit before she remembered who she was speaking to. As she spoke, I was imagining Soea instead... It was probably for the best that she chose to stop when she did.

"Sorry..." She apologized softly, taking a second to compose herself, and then she looked away and at the roof below us, "We don't need to dwell on that."

Her muttering was quiet, directed to herself more than to me.

 

Apparently, even after she finished, she was still having trouble sleeping. Even with all of the Dopamine and Serotonin flooding her brain and nervous system.

She admitted in an embarrassed whisper that she often did this when she had insomnia, before the summoning.

It seemed that she was only saying this to herself for some reason, or at least that's what I thought, so I chose to say nothing.

After this, her mind cleared, she felt the normal self-loathing and guilt. She had been imagining Brian, and she knew that she had to forget him, but he seemed to pop into her mind at the most inopportune times.