The last thing that Ryūko remembered was coming home from a 'con, carrying an almost-outlandish amount of goods she'd bought in several bags. She'd felt somewhat self-conscious with people staring. If it was just her outfit she wouldn't have minded. But it was the contents of the bags that made her feel nervous: anime, manga, plushies, figures, you name it, it was probably in one of the bags.

But where am I now...? thought Ryūko. She groaned, opening her eyes up. She was in a plain white room, laying down on a cot. The girl blinked to clear her vision, sat up, and saw that she wasn't alone. In cots to her left and right were several more individuals, all boys. Well, maybe; one had a really weird mask covering their face. Ryūko swung her legs out of the cot. Other than the pain in her head she felt fine. A quick look at her legs confirmed something: she was still wearing the cosplay she'd been wearing at the 'con.

"Oh, you're awake!" Ryūko turned and saw a girl sitting at a table, who smiled at her warmly. Despite the friendly gesture she felt nothing but uneasiness. "Are you feeling alright?"



"My head feels like I got hit by a car..." Ryūko murmured.

"I'm very sorry about that," the girl apologized. "Unfortunately that's a side-effect of Witchelny's magic opening up a gate and drawing you here from your world."

"'Witchelny'? 'Gate'? What are you talking about?"

Robert groaned as he got up putting his hand on his head as it felt like he got hit by a truck. He blinked a few times letting his eyes readjust to the light of the purely white room, which was completely the opposite of his old room which was kept dimly lit, because of his edgy teenager phase. When he opened his eyes he slowly sat up from his grey cot which felt like sleeping on a stack of bricks, he'd have to thank the owner for the back pains later. When he looked around the room he saw that only other one person in the room was dressed completely normally in a blue jacket and green cap as for the rest... Well there was a guy in a mask and suit, who immediately went to his possibly a criminal list gives off serial killer vibe, a girl in a steampunk outfit, probably what they call a weeaboo, and a girl sitting a table, with a face like the sun and wearing an outfit he didn't think where practical in anyway what so ever.

"So either I got taken by cult or Japan." He muttered to himself sarcastically he should have been more fearful, but it wasn't in his nature to start panicking, though he had hoped that his parents didn't get a heart attack over this, well they being who they are would probably use every contact they had to search for him. He grinned at the thought of his overprotective parents. The girls didn't seem to have noticed he was awake yet, but he picked up that the red headed girl was having the same splitting migraine that he had. Robert took a deep breath was about to introduce himself when he heard...

"I'm very sorry about that. Unfortunately that's a side-effect of Witchelny's magic opening up a gate and drawing you here from your world."

At the absurdity of that statement Robert's brain could only squeeze out the question.

"What?"

"Oh, it looks like everyone's awake," the girl said cheerfully. "I suppose now would be as good a time as any to explain what's happening." She gestured to the chairs around the table. "Please, take a seat. I'll do my best to fill you in." Ryūko glanced at the others before sitting in a chair.

Once everyone was sitting at the table the girl spoke again. "My name is Norn Mikihara, and I am the guardian of this village," she introduced herself. "Once again, I'd like to apologize for this sudden twist of fate. While Witchelny's magic brought you here, we had no control over who was brought through the portal."

"I'm sorry, but what do you mean by Witchelny?" asked Ryūko.

"Again, my apologies," said Norn. "Witchelny is a world parallel to your own, and while it existed long before your modern technology, it was the sudden explosion of the internet that made it possible for the gates to be opened."

"That explains just about everything, it turns out the internet is magical who knew?" Robert deapanned, which showed off his personality as a sarcastic twit. Robert looked to the others at the table before continuing. "So, Norn why exactly did you bring us here? After all sudden kidnapings are both quite rude and an Inconvenience." Robert shook his head at that, further cementing himself as a sarcastic twit. Robert put his arms on the back of his head and crossed his leg andmade himself comfortable, as he was sure this would take a very long time.

Kiba looked around room, scanning the multiple beds and people his age also waking up. ... Slumber party? was his only thought before laying back down. "Just a few more minutes ..." He mumbled to himself before falling asleep, only to be woken up again by two girls in the room talking.

"I'm very sorry about that," first girl apologized. "Unfortunately that's a side-effect of Witchelny's magic opening up a gate and drawing you here from your world."

Magic? He thought as he finally decided to sit and stand up off the bed.

"Oh, it looks like everyone's awake," the girl said cheerfully. "I suppose now would be as good a time as any to explain what's happening." She gestured to the chairs around the table. "Please, take a seat. I'll do my best to fill you in." Kiba nodded before sitting on the right of a different girl who seemed to be the only girl here (Ryuko). Kiba sat there half listening to the girl who was now named Norn explain where we are, only fully listening when a white haired boy and a boy wearing a mask Chimed in.

"So, Norn why exactly did you bring us here? After all sudden kidnapings are both quite rude and an Inconvenience." The white haired boy asked.

"Give her some time, Kid. Let her talk." The masked boy said in a somewhat irritated tone.

Kiba held his hands in front of him and waved "Neh neh, we're all very confused right now, why don't we listen to the fairy girl first." He said in a calm and relaxed voice with a small smile, hoping the two wouldn't cause a scene. "Miss Fairy, please continue." He said

If it wasn't for his headache and the fact that he didn't remember feeling tired, Danny would be convinced that he was dreaming. After all even with his eyes closed he could tell he wasn't in his room and he could two unknown female voices talking, even stranger was that one of the voices mentioned something about a gate and Witchelny's magic. His curiosity having gotten the better of him he decided to reveal that he was awake. The first thing he noticed was that wherever he was, was white. When he got out of his cot it became clear that aside from and the cute, but strangely dressed, girls there were three other boys.

After realizing everyone was awake the winged girl pointed to some seats and like everyone else Danny sat down. Apparently she was their host or something and was called Norn, a name Danny found somewhat familiair. She explained that they were brought to a different world thanks to the internet. Just as Danny wanted to ask why someone beat him to it. A boy in a strange mask berated the asker for interrupting and slowing the explanation down, while that was a good point Danny couldn't blame anyone for being curious in a situation like that. "Hey, there is no need to be snappy."

Norn gave Robert a glare that could probably kill if she focused hard enough. "Look, the fact of the matter is that we needed help from humans."

"But aren't you human as well, Miss Mikihara?" Ryūko inquired.

"No... and I'm not a fairy, either," she said. "I am a fragment of the host computer-god of this realm, Yggdrasill, assigned to monitor and protect Nyttliv, the villasge you are currently in."

"'Host computer-god'?" the girl repeated. "So you're telling us that we're inside a computer?"

"That is correct. Everything around you is composed of data, and even your very bodies can be broken down into ones and zeroes here. To put it simply, you're in a digital world."

"And how do we know that this isn't some elaborate prank? For all we know, there's cameras hidden everywhere."

"I understand your skepticism," said Norn. She stood from her chair. "Please follow me. I will show you that this isn't some joke, and whast I say is true."

Robert thought to himself. 'Kid? I'm pretty sure we're the same age, judging by your voice. Are you trying to pick a fight you freaking hooligan! I'll have you know I was trained by a twenty year veteran of war in the art of kicking ass!' Robert seemed to not know who the hooligan actually was and surprisingly it wasn't the kid in the DTB cosplay. Though to his credit Robert hid his feelings well. Robert was about to make a snappy comeback when the sleepy looking teen interrupted his attempt at less mature humor. Well, it seemed like the teen at least diffused the bomb for now, but something told him this wouldn't be the first time, the masked kid rubbed him the wrong way. Though the teen in the cap and the last member of the people who looks normal group spoke up and called the masked kid out, which he gave a slight grin to. Which was followed by Norn's cold glare. He had gotten that look many, many times before from all his previous shenanigans and he responded the same way he always had by giving a wry grin. Then started to listen on the discussion on the subject at hand.

'The Digital world, huh?' Surprisingly he didn't really seem to be bothered by the idea and actually believed her for two reasons. The first reason being the last place he was at the real world, though considering that this world feels just as real as the other he wondered if that was the proper statement to use. Well in the real world he was in his families home, which was a luxurious over ten thousand square foot modern home with a full well trained and well funded security detail that was more of a small army and a top of the line security system which thanks to being a electronics company really did mean top of the line, as in better than some government buildings level. He doubted that anyone could just have sneaked their way in there. Though the second reason, was less solid than the first his gut instinct, well rather Robert was good at seeing though lies, as he liked to say it takes liar to know a liar, so he personally believed that the girl or well the computer wasn't lying no matter how insane this sounded. Robert simply nodded his head understandingly.

Thought the words 'Digital World' interested him the most. He had spent months looking into this rumors of another world beyond the screen and he finally found the actual thing. Even he was ready to give it up and just call it a simple story made up by a random troll on the internet, but the fact that original post of the rumor suddenly couldn't be found. Not deleted by the anyone, but just gone. Any traces of the original was gone without a scrap of data left and any digital copies were also gone as well. Which had reignited his interest once again, causing him to spend another month of free time locked in his room rechecking everything from every new angle he could find. Then suddenly bam. If he still believed in Santa he'd think it was Christmas, well except the whole being kidnapped part and the fact all that effort basically went down the drain.

The other part that brought up a red flag for him is the fact of they need help, why did they need help? If this place had magic what is causing such an issue they needed outside help? Especially since Norn called for help, how bad was it for these guys if a god needed help? What kind of disaster are they facing right now? How can we solve this issue? Before he could ask about their problems, Norn got up and went told them to follow her. Robert shrugged.

"Well guess we're having a field trip."

Robert returned to a proper sitting position and stood up from there and squeezed out to the left of the chair, before putting the sole of his foot to the back of the chair and pushing the chair in with his leg. He looked over to the others still sitting and deadpanned, mostly to irritate the masked kid.

"Seeing that I have no real interest in seeing moss grow on the rest of you, let's go."

He gave a wry grin to the masked kid.

When Norn mentioned Yggdrasill Danny remembered why her name sounded so familiair, it was from Norse Mythology. If he had still believed everything to be a dream this would only make the suspicion stronger, as things were it simply made him wonder why a parallel word would use those names. Not wanting to reveal how much he doubted the story given to them by the "fragment of the host computer-god" he stayed quiet.

Eventually after some good question from the other weirdly dressed girl about the whole thing being an elaborate prank Norn said she would show proof that she was telling the truth. Since everyone got up Danny did the same, but making sure that the winged girl was too far away to hear him he muttered something under his breath. _{"I just hope we don't end up regretting this."}

Mikihara led the group through what seemed to be a relatively small castle. The walls were built from white stone, and the floor was a polished white marble as well. It struck Ryūko as odd that there was nobody else around. Maybe if they were in a computer, some kind of subroutine or whatever cleaned things up? She glanced at her companions, feeling just a little bit outnumbered in her subconscious "battle-of-the-sexes" wariness.

Soon Norn had led them to a balcony looking out over the town of Nyttliv. For all it was worth the place looked like a village you'd see in a fantasy film: simple, sturdy huts with thatched roofs, with one or two being made from bricks and mortar. Again, Ryūko couldn't see anyone or anything, except for what appeared to be a large dog loping down the street.

Past the huts and other buildings was a wall, made from tree trunks, giving the area a very pioneer-esque look. Then there was a single road, a thick forest, and--

Ryūko's jaw dropped as she looked up into the sky. The sky itself was normal... except for the giant mountains floating in the air, tethered to the ground below by roots and vines ranging from the width of a man to as thick as a city bus. Norn seemed satisfied ast tBhuttoe girl's reaction. "Is this sufficient evidence of my claims?"

Kiba noticed Ryuko glancing around at the rest of them, if only for a moment, and noticed a tad bit of worry. He moved closer before giving her a gentle nudge. “Don’t look so worried, we’re all in the same boat.” He said with soft eyes (Clearly not knowing the reason for her wariness.) before walking ahead of her.

As they exited into the balcony Kiba looked at the sights in front of him in awe. Magical floating mountains that defied everything he knew before, with beautiful forests that defied ecology. Kiba stepped forward and smiled softly at the beauty that he now knew was the digital world.

He was breathless, only able to muster a single word. “... beautiful.” He said with a small smile.

Robert went wide eyed for a moment. Certainly he didn't expect the giant physics breaking mountain to be there. Note to self he thought to himself expect everything even the impossible. Though he had to wonder if that was made by the people using magic or it's a natural part of this world, he had hoped it was the former, simply because it was more exciting for magic to be able to do that, but then again he could see more structures such as that if they popped out from the ground like mushrooms.

Though on the second viewing he saw that the way the village was built wasn't a how a normal village would be built. It was surrounded by heavy forest on one side and physics screwing mountains on the other making natural walls that would make things difficult to be invaded by a hostile army, but what really set that fact for him was that there was only one road, for a forest town one road would be inconvenient to get around and trade with others especially if the town was a hunting town, as they would need to trade for other supplies that they can't get. This wasn't a village, it was more of a fortress in all but name. Robert stopped for a moment and thought to himself well turns out that history lesson are actually helpful, Robert thought back to his younger years when he said that history was rather useless. Which marks the first time today where he secretly made fun of himself.

Robert decided that this would be a great time to ask as any and well he'd rather speed things up. There be more time to go sightseeing with mouth gazed open like idiots, included.

"So I'm going to ask the million dollar question here."

Robert gave a small pause to get the others to finish up and listen up, because this one was probably the most important question that will come up.

"Why exactly do you need our help?"

The view Norn showed them from the balcony was enough to disperse Danny's doubts of the whole thing being a prank though he still didn't fully trust her. Just in case he made sure to examine any escape routes as well as the strange scenery, the fact that there was a single road of town made things both easier and harder. It was harder because any pursuers would have a good idea which way he would go if he had to escape but on the other hand predicting where the direction said pursuers would look in first was a breeze.

He turned around to ask Norn why this world needed the help from a bunch of kids when the white haired boy beat him to it, not waning to let the chance go by he decided to elaborate a little. "I can't speak for the others, though in any other situation I would bet they were in the same boat as me, but I'm not some uber powerful wizard or fighter, so I would like to know the same thing."

"We don't need fighters or wizards," said Norn. "However, you are still a necessary part of the equation. Please, follow me." Mikihara led the way down the hall. "While there are no humans here in Witchelny, there are inhabitants other than myself. Are any of you familiar with the concept of digital lifeforms?"

"I remember reading a book involving it," said Ryūko. "Computer programmers create and use software that mimics real world behaviors in animals; they give it the ability to seek out and consume resources in a given environment."

"Among other things." Norn led them to another room. Like the rest of the castle it was pure white, save for what appeared to be a metal altar. "Witchelny is populated by digital lifeforms known as Digimon. However, unlike software used by your world's people, Digimon are able to think and behave freely, as well as reproduce."

Ryūko flushed bright red at the thought. "You mean they…?" she squeaked. She made a motion with her hands. Ironically enough, a lot of the dōjins she'd bought at the 'con had been rather mature, courtesy of a fake ID.

Norn giggled. "I have seen what human reproduction involves, but Digimon reproduction is different. You see, when Digimon reproduce they copy a part of their data, and combine it to form a DigiEgg. Depending on the number of Digimon involved in the creation of the DigiEgg, the child Digimon can be quite different from any of the parents. For example, they can grow up and take on Beast or Knight attributes, even if they look like a reptile or amphibian."

Danny had no idea what Norn meant by Digital lifeforms but the clarification of the other girl's reminded him of AIs."A magical world filled with living computer programs? This is getting stranger and stranger." he thought to himself not for one second believing he was the only one finding the situation ludicrous.

Having gotten curious he listened to the two girls talk and before long they hit on the subject of reproduction, the human girl blushing as she standard motions was pretty cute but Norn once again surprised by apparently knowing about sex. The only thing keeping him from jokingly asking if either or both of the girls wanted to share their knowledge with him in private was that he had no idea how they would react.

Kiba tried to silence himself but failed to hold his laugh back at Ryukos innocent but embarrassing statement about Reproduction. ”Ne ne, get your mind out of the gutter.” Kiba joked with a failing straight face. ”Though I think it's more like this.” he said mimicking her hand motions except with two fingers instead of one, laughing even more now.

”But joking aside I have heard of this concept before. I think there was a book on it and everything but … does that mean we’re IN a computer?” He asked Norn with his hand grabbing his chin in thought.