Ever since the defeat of Malos atop the World Tree and the disappearance of the Cloud Sea, life had gotten far more hectic than Zeke had anticipated. While Rex had achieved his dream of reaching Elysium (in a way), the combined responsibility of being the head of the Garfont Mercenaries and acting as the Driver of the Aegis meant that he was busy running around trying to help the various heads of state settle... Well, everything that had happened since then. Given that Morag went back to her brother's side and that Nia was now acting as a permanent bodyguard alongside him, it was only logical that Zeke himself would go back home to Tantal...

Or so one might think. While he had considered heading home to help his father out after leaving the World Tree, the crown prince was promptly told to 'keep up the good work in building international relationships' or something of that nature, and that his father would handle all of the issues at home. It was for that reason that he and Pandoria were currently resting at an inn in Alba Cavanich.

"Mmm... All right, Pandy, I think that's enough of that for now," Zeke said, double checking their bags and making sure that they were all as they had been the night before. "Today's an off day, right? No jobs called in by Rex or Morag?"

"No, my Prince; I mean, it's seven in the morning, so if anything was happening, I'm pretty sure that they'd send someone," replied his Blade, a smile on her face as she got off the bed opposite his. "Do you want to get some breakfast, then?"

"Well, we got Turters his meal for the morning, so I don't see why not," he replied, rolling his shoulders as he opened the door to leave their room.

Needless to say, the ruins of a city were not the first thing that he expected to see. With a bit of a pause, Zeke blinked a few times before closing the door and sitting back down on the bed.

"Pandy?"

"Yes, my Prince?"

"Did you see that just now?"

"See what?"

With a confused look on his face, Zeke watched as Pandoria handed Turters off to him before walking over and opening the door in his stead, revealing nothing more than the hallway to the inn that he had expected to see.

"Wait, no, what? Hold on, Pandy, give me a second," he said, ushering his Blade back inside and closing the door before opening it back up. This time, the ruins were fully visible to both of those present in the room. What followed, of course, was the comical sight of both Zeke and Pandoria taking turns opening the door before the pair finally decided to sit back down inside the room.

"This is... I'm not sure what to call it, actually," Zeke said, scratching his head as he stared out at the ruins past the doorway. "You think the Architect is pulling a fast one on us? Because that place looks, well... Like it's seen better days."

"I don't think that's the case here, my Prince... But I can already tell where you're going with this. At this rate, you're going to—"

"Explore it? Well, obviously; everyone else is a bit busy with their own problems, and we're really just volunteers right now, so I don't think they'll mind if we go missing for a little while. In any case, let's go and get some breakfast before we start!"

---

One brief meal and shopping run later, and both Zeke and Pandoria were back in their room. With their stomachs full and gear prepared, Zeke turned to Pandoria and nodded before closing and opening the door. The ruined cityscape that replaced the hallway of the inn was a bit familiar to the pair by this point, and without an ounce of hesitation, the two stepped forward past the doorway.

"Ah... Hm. You know, it's actually a lot cleaner than the Land of Morytha... Or that place up on the World Tree, once you get a bit closer," Zeke quipped, walking around the immediate vicinity before turning around to look back at where they had entered from. Rather than see a doorway standing in the middle of a an empty plot of land, though, it seemed that the door was attached to a building that was still standing. Despite all of the derelict structures sitting around, it seemed that the one they had come from—as far as they could tell—the ruin that they had apparently exited from was still mostly intact. The only odd thing here, other than that, was the large sign advertising Alrest on the outside of the building. Though somewhat worn by time, it seemed to have escaped the worst of things.

Not that it made any more sense, of course.

"Huh. Well, that's... Odd. And somewhat disconcerting. At least it'll be easy finding our way back later; c'mon, Pandy, let's go see what else this place has to offer," he said, shrugging his shoulders before walking off to explore more of the ruined cityscape.

@Rune_Alchemist@VitaVitaAR@KoL@RolePlayerRoxas

The meat sizzled in the pan.

It would time for dinner.

The girl currently checking to ensure the meat was well on its way to being properly cooked was quite petite, tiny even, with silvery hair and blue eyes. Her skin was quite pale as well. Over her usual clothing she wore an apron, and behind her drifted a strange, teardrop-shaped translucent cloud.

Konpaku Youmu took a deep breath as she began to move the meat off of the pan with a pair of tongs. She was trying something a little new tonight, hopefully with good results. Given Yuyuko's gluttonous habits, it wasn't exactly difficult to be hopeful. As long as it tasted good, Yuyuko was seemingly quite willing to try anything. It was hardly the first time Youmu had done this, as well. The diminutive silvery-haired girl had cooked for her mistress time and time again

"... Hm," she looked thoughtful for a moment. "Yuyuko-sama might like more of that... right."

Nodding to herself, turning away from the sizzling meat, comfortable that it wouldn't burn, Youmu began to head over to the cupboards... but then something caught her eye, stopping her dead in her tracks.

A door. A door that had never been there before. It wasn't as if unusual or surprising things were something uncommon, but Youmu couldn't recall any occasion where a door spontaneously appeared from no-where. Warily, she grasped her sheath katana, Roukanken, from a nearby table...

And then the timer went off.

"Ah!"

Dinner had to be handled first!

But after both Youmu and Yuyuko had eaten...

The small, pale half phantom returned to the door. She'd informed Yuyuko-sama, who had simply told her to go inspect it. Approaching it, Youmu placed one small hand against it. It didn't feel abnormal, or anything of the sort.

After a short pause, and a deep breath, Youmu made her decision.

If this was some sort of threat, she would face it head-on as Saigyouji Yuyuko's retainer.

Hand on Roukanken's hilt, she pulled the door open.

... Beyond was something difficult to understand. A... some sort of... city? But it didn't appear to be any sort of settlement Youmu had ever seen or heard of. No, it was a ruin. Everything was run-down and destroyed. What could it possibly have been? For a few moments, blue eyes narrowed, Youmu peered through the doorway...

At this point, there was only one thing that could be done.

The half-phantom stepped through it.

It was... considerably desolate here. Unlike Gensokyo's landscape, for certain. Proceeding forward, eyes peeled for even the slightest sign of a threat, Youmu paused once more to glance over her shoulder.

She was immediately confused to see she had seemingly exited another worn building, with a huge sign exhibiting an animated version of herself and Yuyuko, standing out in front of Hakugyokurou.

"... I... what?"

---

He and the princess had been riding on horses for some days now, trying to make their way to Kakariko Village, and were only now coming through the entrance. Impa had sent them word a time ago of some still-buried Guardians that had been found near there, their functionality...unknown. If they were ones that hadn't been awoken before Calamity Ganon's arrival, and worked, then perhaps...well, Zelda knew more about these things than he himself did. Regardless they could be useful parts, of nothing else, or fuel for the Master Cycle Zero. But if he had to, well, destroying Guardians was a talent he had been very grateful for not that long ago...

"Link. Link wake up! Something is going on."

Link perked up quickly behind the saddle of the giant black and orange-haired horse he was riding, as Zelda's voice and usual accent reached his ears. Looking ahead to where Zelda was pointing to, from atop her regal white horse with royal armor, it did seem something else was going on than just their arrival. In fact...it was something that seemed to prod a bit at his gut instincts.

Most of Kakariko seemed to be huddled in front of Impa's own home, with the aged Shiekah herself sitting on her pillow at the foot of the steps up to her house. Paya, ever vigilant, seemed nervous as she stood beside her ancestor as well. The two usual Shiekah guards Link had become so accustomed to stood in place as well, though this time facing Impa's house.

"Ah?" the hero felt himself say, a curious note escaping his lips as the duo approached the crowd.

The Hero of the Wild swiftly dismounted as the crowd turned somewhat to look at them, jogging lightly over to where Impa stood as Zelda tried to catch up with him.

"Oh? So you two have finally arrived, i see, though...i truly wonder if it is coincidence that this has appeared with your arrival."

The elderly Sheikah gave a warm smile to the Champion of Hyrule, as well as Zelda as she walked up beside him in turn. However, she swiftly returned to a more somber and sagely attitude as she returned to the matter at hand.

"A strange door has appeared within my home, on the first floor. I awoke to find it there this morning, though since then neither Paya nor those who guard my home have been able to open it.

After my own inspection, however, i was able to come to some form of conclusion thus far. It does not feel like the work of Calamity Ganon from beyond the grave, nor does it seem to be tied to the ancient Sheikah. Its energies are strange and foreign, though i have sent word to Robbie and Purah to come here as well to help investigate.

In case this strange occurrence proves a danger, i have had my home blocked for further visitation in the meantime."

"A...strange doorway?" Zelda said, immediately responding as her brows furrowed in thought, "Might i be able to examine it, Impa? Of course Link shall be by my side, but we cannot overlook a possible danger to Hyrule itself. Or if naught else, a potential resource."

As sincere yet curious as she seemed to always be. If not for the concern about things, Link felt he might have raised an eyebrow at it all.

"Of course," the elder Sheikah said, giving a small nod after some moments of thought, "But do be careful, Princess. If there reveals any danger, then please leave at once and let Link escort you back. I trust your intellect, though...Hyrule has lot much already as it is."

Zelda nodded to her former retainer, before looking to the house and motioning for Link to come along. The Hero of the Wild merely nodded as he followed along, moving with Zelda up the wooden steps and into the house itself.

As they walked in, the oddly-placed door in question appeared on their left on the wall...a very faint but shimmering light emabating around the cracks of it. Nothing actually was beyond the wall itself naturally, no room or chamber or the like. Just outside. Link himself had been here enough times to know that of a surety.

With the princess to the side and somewhat behind Link, the duo carefully approached the odd door until they came close. Link could not feel anything demonic, or at least a reaction from the master sword on his back, as they did so. After a moment of silent deliberation, though, the golden-haired princess then reached out, grabbed onto the door, and....

"Hmmm?"

Nothing. The strange orb-like handle would not twist, nor would the door itself seem to budge at all with no reactions. Lightly sighing about it all, the duo seemed to relax a bit more, though Zelda seemed to move too the side to try to get a better look.

"There could be cracks along the side, perhaps, or perhaps some markings about if this was placed using magic of some kind..." the princess said quietly under her breath, before pulling out a leather-bound book from her waist and beginning to thumb through the pages.

As Zelda tried to find similar occurrences in her notes, a book of them that had been recorded since she returned and had decided to get back to work for Hyrule's future, Link instead felt...strange. It was like the door had a gravity about it, pulling on him to turn its strange knob and open it. His gut instincts didn't scream out about it being a danger, at least, though he couldn't be fully sure if he were to be honest.

Reaching forward, Link gently grabbed the doorknob...and it gave way to his touch. Lightly it turned to the right, before a gentle "click" emanated into the quiet room. It was enough, however, to snap the royal researcher out of her stupor of thought. The Hero of the Wild then gently pulled on the door, and much like the knob it gave way to his touch...to reveal something that would boggle the mind.

A ruined cityscape seemed to peel out beyond the doorway, with strange shapes he himself not the princess had ever seen. It was as if some other world had just been opened up before their very eyes, long lost to time. In a sense, then, similar to the discovery of an ancient building of some sort.

"What in the world..." Zelda said to herself, curiously looking between Link and the door before walking over. She jutted a hand through the doorway, the feeling of actual physical space beyond the door bringing a look of surprise to her face...and greater curiosity. Then some worry...then another look towards Link himself as the princess pulled her arm back once more, "Hmm...it seems the door only responds to you, much like the shrines dotted about Hyrule still.

I cannot confirm any theories as of yet, nothing working anyways, but for now perhaps you alone should go investigate. I will await word from you of what lies beyond, and keep the door open in the meantime, but...do be safe, Link."

Zelda gently bit her lower lip, a faint look of worry again crossing her features. Link felt a small sigh escape his own lips this time around, though in this case in acceptance of what was to occur. He had seen many a strange thing in Hyrule since his re-awakening, since getting his memories back, and since fighting Calamity Ganon. But this was at least not as...'outright hostile'? That seemed to be the right words.

Drawing the Master Sword out of its sheath inn a fluid motion, and grabbing up his shield in the other hand, Link nodded to the Princess before walking through the doorway itself.

---

...It was only a few feet in, before Link looked behind himself. There was the open doorway, of course, but also what it was attached to on this side of things. An archway with a piece of wall built into it, an entrance of sorts in what looked to be a rather small garden. There was even a large sign on the archway proper, glowing in a strange light, which said "Hyrule (???)" upon it. Link could only stare at what seemed to be a...door into his world, somehow built in a ruined place like this?

The hero looked back to Zelda on the other side of the open door, nodding before he set off to go deeper.

He soon found himself surrounded by buildings that scraped against the sky, streets made with some strange substance, and broken ruins pretty much everywhere he saw right now. It was more than strage, more than alien, it was as if Calamity Ganon had been thorough here with a sledgehammer. And yet, there were no signs of the monstrosity that could be felt by the Master Sword (it seemed) or otherwise.

"...What in Hylia's name is this place?" Link found himself exclaiming aloud, Master Sword and shield still gripped in his hands.

@Rune_Alchemist (and anyone else who wants to be within hearing distance, really)

---

"Ahaha, what kind of lame city is this?" Amidst the ruined looking town, strolled a rather...bouncy girl with fox ears atop her head dressed in traditional Heian Period clothing mixed with a school girl uniform. "It's a total ruin! Tch, how am I supposed to do my nails without a salon?" Despite her seemingly flippant attitude, she had to admit this was super weird. Like, okay, she got summoned yeah? But there was no master here and there was nothing but this totally boring ruin. Didn't even seem to be any humans about either. What was she supposed to do? Wander around until she stumbled on something?

Argh, it was too much for a totally cute and strong high school girl like her to even think about.

Leaping into the air, Suzuka used her three swords as a staircase to the top of one of the nearby ruined buildings. Hmm, there had to be someone around here, right? She couldn't be the only thing here. Some faded signs, billboards...jeez, this place was more of a ghost town than an Otaku's contact list. Huffing lightly in annoyance, the fox was quickly coming to terms with the fact she was gonna have to put some thought into this whether she wanted too or not.

Frowning, Suzuka considered her options. Going back to the Throne would just be boring, but there didn't seem to be anything else to do here, either. No shopping centers, malls, or at least anything that remotely looked like one was in a state of disrepair nothing was usable.

Ah, wait a minute...was that...?

On the street just below her, a flash of blue, an echoing voice, among the drab city scape caught her attention. Huh, was that a human? Or...was it not? Something seemed off, but it was the only thing in this ruin that seemed remotely interesting, and a JK had to always keep up with the latest trends, right? Not to mention he was carrying that sword and shield with pretty good confidence, too. Well, might as well go say hi!~

"Hup!~" The Golden sword Daitsuuren began to shimmer, its blade transforming into a mass of water. She wound up her throw, tossing the blast of water towards the odd looking male. Suzuka followed shortly after, leaping off the building Kenmyouren in hand, the blade of Shoutouren impaled itself in the ground as she landed atop it, following it up by swinging Kenmyouren towards Link in a horizontal arc.

---

As Link looked around the ruins from where he stood, the disbelief somewhat starting to settle as he pondered what had happened here. Yet when the Master Sword suddenly glowed brighter than normal, the sure sign of something demonic or monsters in the area, the Hylian Hero's instincts kicked in instantly. Without thinking he readied his shield, his eyes quickly looking around for threats...until the lobbed water attack came flying at him.

Link rolled to the side and back onto his feet, narrowly dodging the out-of-the-blue attack as his eyes moved up to look into the air. A foe, not that he had time to really look at them at the moment, seemed to to be plummeting down right at him with a blade shortly after this initial attack. The Hero of the Wild barely had time to leap back in the nick of time, as the foe's blade impaled the ground with the foe standing on top, though a familiar feeling came over the hero as time seemed to briefly slow down before his eyes. He could return a counterattack...or at least try to with a flurry rush, but even he could see that the enemy was already following up once more by swinging a blade at him in a horizontal arc.

At least in these moments he could get a better look of this...girl, fox, demon, monster...whatever she was? She was clearly female, as far as he could tell, and for all he knew she was from this world right now. Not much time was there to ponder, however, as the hero was forced to barely duck under the swung blade (a few hairs being cut off the very top of his head in the process) as the seemingly slowed time came to an end for him.

Link then followed up his enemy's attack, launching a swift with a horizontal slice of his own with the master sword. He aimed up at the torso of his new foe, rather than the more obvious legs a newbie to the blade might aim for. Whoever this was, they had some skill, kind of like fighting a Lynel if he had to be honest.

...and that fact made this all the more dangerous.

@Rune_Alchemist

"Are you sure that you want to investigate this incident alone, Nanoha? We can call in Fate, or ask Hayate to send Vita if you want reinforcements," Chrono said. The current director of Earth's division of the TSAB called Nanoha after they found themselves with a new unexpected mystery in their hands.

Out of nowhere a seemingly harmless door manifested itself in their Tokyo HQ. That phenomenon by itself would already be enough to warrant suspicion but the fact that, on further analysis, it was revealed that the door was a dimensional portal with coordinates to an unadministered, and unknown world. These circumstances asked for them to send a scout to see how things were in the other side but the only available one was Nanoha since everyone else was either deployed in missions of their own, or undergoing training.

One thing led to another and now, here was she, standing ready to step into the unknown.

"Don't worry Chrono, I'll call for reinforcements if things get too dangerous. For the time being, I could use a little walk," Nanoha said as she pulled the door open and took a step inside.

A moment later, she would see herself in an alien landscape, barren and ruined. "This reminds me of Eltria..." she reminisced for a moment as her mind turned to her friends who, even now, were giving their best to restore their formerly dying world. "Anyway, Captain Takamachi and Raising Heart will begin the reconnaissance mission right now!" she announced back to mission control back on Earth, before taking to the skies of this strange world to try and find anything worthy of note.

"Oh, look at that. How unexpected."

The nonchalant statement left the lips of a young woman, whose manner of dress was reminiscent of a jester. Though perhaps even a cort clown would have better dress-sense than one that adorned their waist with several tomes. Regardless, the oddly-dressed woman crossed her arms, head tilted slightly as she regarded the odd sight before her.

The door of the small cabin she had borrowed for the night was supposed to lead outside, as doors tended to do. While that remained true, the location was not a tranquil clearing surrounded by trees and the chirping of nature, but a desolate, barring hellhole. As jarring and alarming as it was, Magilou didn't seem too perturbed. she could leave that up to her little Normin companion.

"BIIIIEEEENNNN?!" cried the tophatted creature, his round eyes wide with alarm, "wh-where are me, Miss Magilou?! Did you transport us somewhere strange?!"

"Of course not," Magilou responded with a small shrug, "In fact, I didn't detect any Artes being used at all."

That was probably the most puzzling aspect. As a self-proclaimed Witch, Magilou had an ear for Artes, especially something as powerful as what appeared to be complete transportation of an entire cabin with its' occupants. And yet, when the witch glanced towards a window, she could see the clear sky and the treeline that should have been there. It was only the front door that appeared to be affected.

If she were still with the old group, she had no doubt they'd walk right on through that door, sure that it was a trap set by the Abbey. And then just plow right on through it. Velvet would do it simply to see her desires met. It brought a small, nostalgic smile to Magilou's lips, before she finally uncrossed her arms. It had been a dull week anyway. No harm in checking this out a little bit, right?

"Oh well, mind doing a little scouting work?" Magilou asking in a worryingly-sweet voice, kneeling down to grab Bienfu before he could react. As he squirmed and voiced his protestations, Magilou casually chucked him through the door, to the strange, ruined landscape outside, "is it safe out there, my brave little friend~?"

Without waiting for an answer, Magilou stepped through herself.

--------------

"You're awful..." Bienfu lamented, clinging to Magilou's shoulder as she walked through the strange, barren city, "wh-what if daemons were roaming around..."

"You're a tough guy, I'm sure you'd be fine," Magilou replied in a carefree manner, scanning everything she could see. Ruined buildings, empty roads... the architecture wasn't anything like most of the locale she knew. Was this even anywhere in Desolation? Evidently, they were taken much further than she had expected. Still, there didn't seem to be any daemons running around. The witch kept her Guardian close at hand regardless. You never knew when an ambush would occur.

"Should have brought a Geo-board..." Magilou sighed. There was a LOT of ground to cover, it looked like.

Despite the state of the city being essentially no more than ruins, Zeke and Pandoria found themselves walking with an ever-wary gaze, almost as if expecting some massively oversized enemy to fly out of nowhere and pound their faces into the dirt. It wasn't the first time that sort of thing had happened, after all, and if there was anything that could have done this to the city, it would be something like that.

Or, well, a few millennia of abandonment, but there was always the possibility that both could have been responsible.

After rounding a few blocks, though, Zeke let out a sigh and crossed his arms, glancing at the buildings that hadn't been reduced to rubble. A few of them had signs that looked similar to the one that he had seen exiting the building, of course, but beyond that... Well, there were a few that, while clearly long since abandoned, were indicators of more normal things; storefronts, inns, and even living quarters. It didn't look like these had been destroyed, per se; no, the idea that the place had been left to rot was now far more reasonable.

"You know, if there's one good thing I can say about this place, it's that it's not all that dusty. I'd hate to be coughing and hacking trying to look through this old place," he said, leaning against the wall of a nearby building. "It is pretty barren, though; you'd think that there might be some more remnants of the Architect's civilization if this was just another part of Morytha, right?"

"Last time you said something like that, we had monsters swarming us for the next half an hour. Don't jinx us like that, please," responded Pandoria, to which Zeke could only respond with a smile as he pushed himself off the wall.

"Yeah, well, it's not like running isn't an option, right?" he asked back, a cheeky smile on his face as he turned to begin walking again. The immediate sight of some brighter colors caused him to pause for a moment, though, and after glancing between that and Pandoria a few times, the Driver simply shrugged and began to walk closer.

Once he got close enough to ascertain that the source of color was not, in fact, some sort of psychedelic mirage created by the world and instead what appeared to be some sort of female figure, Zeke took a few steps closer, taking quiet note of how odd the outfit was the closer he got.

"Hey, Pandy... You think that's another Blade over there?" he asked, glancing over the outlandish outfit that was present thus. "Like... Big, fancy hat, weird outfit with a skirt made out of books... Like, do you see any normal people wearing that sort of stuff?"

"You're one to talk. But if you want my honest opinion? Look at that thing with her! That'd totally be the Blade, right? It's not a Nopon, but what else can you think of that'd be smaller than that?"

"Well, yeah, now that you mention it..."

It was fairly obvious by now that the two had dipped into their own pseudo-comedy routine, having decided that debating with each other over the identity of whoever the woman and her little friend were was more worthwhile than walking closer and actually asking the person in question.

@RolePlayerRoxas

---

Suzuka leaped backwards, the Master Sword barely missing its target. Normally it'd be impossible for a mundane weapon held by a human to hurt a Heroic Spirit such as herself, but something about that sword and this pointy-eared pretty boy made it seem like a bad idea to get hit with it. She flipped, landing on the ground gracefully, an aggressive smirk forming on her lips as Shoutouren dislodged itself from the ground, returning to her side.

"Aha, not bad!" Suzuka laughed. "You're not half bad are ya?" She flourished Kenmyouren, tapping the blade against her open palm. "Hey hey, you wouldn't happen to know why I was summoned here, would ya?" Not giving Link much time to rest, the fox thrust her two blades forwards, albeit in a rather careless manner. This guy didn't seem like a magus, but there was definitely something off about him. Or perhaps that is to say, this entire place was odd, but she didn't have the desire to think more deeply than getting answers or not from this guy.

For a considerable amount of time, Youmu wandered without seeing much of anything. There were buildings, some with unusual advertisements on them in the same vein as the one displaying Yuyuko-sama, herself, and Hakugyokurou. She didn't recognize any of them(though one looked strangely familiar, not that Youmu could place it off the top of her head). Thus far, her bid to discover just what was happening was going poorly. Why exactly was there some strange ruined city suddenly linked to the kitchen?

The diminutive silver-haired girl sighed heavily, her shoulders sagging. This had to be some sort of incident, but she didn't know of any youkai with an ability like this. There was a youkai who could make doors, that evil hermit who could create holes... but linking it to some place like this? That was nothing she had ever heard of before. It was unusual. No... it was completely ridiculous! Why was this happening!? It was total nonsense!

"Aaah, this doesn't make any sense!" complained Youmu, placing one hand to her head as she did. Regardless of all of this, there was one move that made sense above anything else.

She could send her phantom into the air as a scout, while she explored the ground. Surely, the samurai gardener could find something like that, right?!

Just as she was about to do so, however, she caught sight of a figure in the air. There was pink light drifting off of her heels, and she appeared to be holding some kind of staff... Almost immediately, Youmu lifted into the air herself!

She ascended with great speed, clearing the distance between herself and the figure almost immediately. When she arrived, it was clear that the figure appeared to be a child. Youmu had seen plenty of people who appeared to be children but were far older. To put it simply, appearance hardly indicated age.

"Hello?" she began, "My name is Konpaku Youmu, do you perhaps live in this... strange place?"

@KoL

Nanoha continued to soar the skies of the unknown world, recording everything she came across.

The wind hitting her face was cool and gentle—peaceful, even. But, the ruined state of the land made it seem more like the kind of peaceful feeling you'd have while visiting a graveyard, than that which you'd have by spending a night in the mountains. They were not unrelated feelings, but one had a solemnity that the other lacked.

The red-haired mage couldn't help but feel that she was threading into sacred ground as she continued her mission.

Nanoha wasn't aware of how much time had passed until she finally came across something that was neither ruins nor grassland. In fact, it looked like another human—a girl?—was standing in the distance right as she flew over another hill.

"A local?" Nanoha thought, wondering whether or not she should conceal her magic before approaching.

Her doubts, however, didn't last long. Both of which being dispelled the moment the girl zoomed towards her, flying at a speed that caught Nanoha off-guard for a moment before introducing herself, and asking whether or not Nanoha was a resident of this world.

"Mmm, mmm..." Nanoha brought a hand to her chest and shook her head. "I'm sorry but I'm not. My name's Takamachi Nanoha, a mage from another world named Earth. And this is my friend, Raising Heart. We are here as representatives of the Time and Space Administration Bureau's Tokyo Branch, investigating a strange anomaly, in the shape of a door, that appeared in our world," she followed through, introducing herself with a courteous bow, and stating her situation in the most concise way possible.

"Based on your question a moment ago, can I take it that you are not a native of this world as well, Miss Konpaku? If that's the case, would you mind answering how is it that you got yourself in this situation and what's your purpose here?" Nanoha asked. As she waited for an answer, she couldn't help but analyse the other girl with her eyes, trying to understand what kind of magic she used. Could it have anything to do with that fluffy, cloud-like thing floating around her?

For a few moments, Youmu was a little mind-boggled by the information she had received. She'd never heard of anything called the Time and Space Administration Bureau. It certainly sounded impressive, but beyond that the half-phantom samurai gardener hadn't the faintest clue just what it actually could be. Well, it sounded like it was some kind of official organization related to law enforcement, but time and space? That sounded like the domain of a certain antagonistic maid more than anything. Still, it gave Youmu the information she needed to know. Not only was Takamachi Nanoha not native here, but she certainly didn't seem to be a native of Gensokyo either. Had she come from the outside world? Did such things as the 'Time and Space Administration Bureau' exist there?

For the moment, Nanoha was the only person she had met so far in this desolate landscape, so there was no reason not to answer her questions. She seemed like a polite and friendly girl, and so Youmu was going to answer in kind.

"It's strange, really, Takamachi-san," she began, "A new door just appeared in the kitchen, out of no-where. I couldn't figure out if it was the doing of a youkai or a mage or anything like that, so I told my Mistress that I was going to investigate it. After I went through the door, I was here. The door back to Hakugyokurou still exists, too..."

Youmu paused for a moment. Presumably, there was nothing preventing her from returning to Hakugyokurou, and to Yuyuko's side, but...

"For Yuyuko-sama's sake, I have to figure out just what's going on here!"

As she spoke, her phantom half drifted about behind her, becoming more animated in reflection of the silver-haired girl's determined declaration.

@KoL

"Miss Magilou! Look!" Bienfu pointed towards the two approaching figures with relief, evidently happy that he wasn't stuck in this place with just the wicked witch. Based on appearances alone, they surely had to be less terrifying than his partner! Magilou, however, simply watched them silently as she approached, carefully studying them. From the few words she could overhear, it was obvious these two weren't a threat, or at the very least, hostile. Not that she could really make sense of the overheard keywords either.

"Hey, we're gonna talk to them, right?" asked the small Normin quietly, the young woman walking closer and closer. Magilou gave an impish smile, passing by the arguing couple, and replied in a carefree tone.

"Nah they seem far too odd and outlandish~ They're probably as clueless as you are, so it wouldn't exactly help!"

Seemingly snubbing the eyepatched man and his bespectacled companion, Magilou continued onward, despite Bienfu's confused protestation. Not that she expected to go too far - if these people were in the same situation, she had a feeling they would want to stop her and suggest grouping up. And since Magilou didn't feel like initiating that suggestion, she could just let those two go ahead and make it official.

Though it would be awkward if they just moved on and left her there. Oh well, she could work around that!

@PKMNB0Y

From Hibiki's perspective, the day was exactly the same as any other until she decided to go outside. Because even by the standards of her life, where things could stop being normal quite abruptly (though it had to be noted that due to SONG, she often had some sort of advanced notice), this was fairly unusual. The door to her and Miku's apartment no longer opened up to the outside of the apartment, but instead to a street-level view of a dilapidated city; one that half reminded her of Val Verde but more strongly of the aftermath of the Château de Tiffauges.

This didn't make much sense for a fairly big reason, and the girl doubled back to check on the apartment balcony just in case.

"Eeeeeeh?" Everything on the other side appeared to be quite normal... for one, the balcony was indeed high up in the high-rise, even level with some of the neighbouring buildings' rooftops. It was definitely not at ground level. But she had to get out some way... she couldn't just jump without damaging the road outside and possibly landing on someone or their car, which would be really hard to explain...

So she went through the strange door. If it was just sitting there, then whoever was behind it probably didn't mean any harm... though Hibiki did wonder a bit about how they knew where she lived. The other side matched exactly what she'd seen from the doorway, though why was there an advert for Lydian beside it? There was something worrying about a possible unknown enemy knowing where she lived and where she went to school at the same time.

A few minutes later, and Hibiki had not only determined that the door worked in two directions--having gone back to get a water bottle before setting out to explore a seemingly abandoned and dusty city that didn't feel like the middle of winter--but that it was still there, blocking any normal exit to the apartment. Hopefully, Miku would have no trouble getting in from the other side...

As far as she could see, the city was completely abandoned, but not in the hasty way that implied it had been half destroyed. It was just like everyone had... gone, which was almost eerily similar to the aftermath of a Noise attack assuming there had also been a strong wind. But it couldn't have been the Noise, and even if she wasn't the smartest she didn't know about any completely abandoned cities in the world...

Rounding a corner revealed at least one relief, though: she wasn't the only person here! One of the girls she could see reminded her of Carol, with the large hat, but there wasn't anything familiar about the eyepatch-wearing guy. Maybe they knew where they were?

"Hey! Can you tell me where this is?" ... at least she was exuberant as she ran up, waving.

---

Link leapt swiftly to the right as two blades were thrust towards him, more simply dodging the rather careless attack tossed at him. The aggressiveness of this foe was notable, as was the playfulness, and beyond that using three blades was already a strange feat in and of itself. Yet...their words also somewhat interesting.

A small, lightly playful smile then briefly came over Link's face. He could work with this banter!

"I walked through some random door in my world to get here, don't even know where 'here' is," the Hylian champion said, giving a light flourish of the master sword in his hand, "Though while I wouldn't know who summoned you here, it must have been for those 'demonically' good looks."

Seemingly out of the blue, a cold chill then suddenly went down the backs of the Shiekah ladies back in Kakariko...and Zelda as well. They knew not the reason, but the sensation was clear. It was as if another of Link's terrible pick-up lines had just been uttered aloud to some poor soul out there.

...oh dear.

@Rune_Alchemist

It took a few moments after the other woman had casually ignored their existence before Zeke and Pandoria paused their conversation, turning to look at her for a few moments before the former scrambled to walk in her way again. This time, of course, he was giving the woman and her companion his full attention, with his right hand raised as if to ask them to stop without saying it outright.

"Oi, oi, hold on, you're just going to walk by like that? Look, I get that I'm probably not in a spot to talk, but I was thinking you'd at least... I don't know, call us out on that whole routine? Easier way to break the ice than what I'm doing now, at least..." he began to say, glancing at the weird thing in a top hat with the woman before sighing. "So? Now that I'm in this position, I might as well be the first to ask; you find your way here by accident, too?"

Before he could get a response, though, the sound of some other girl—definitely younger—calling to them caused Zeke to turn his head towards the source. Though she had a far more "normal" outfit than either of them did, well... She didn't seem hostile, either.

"Sorry, missy, but I'm as clueless as you are," he shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest. "I had expected a few monsters by now, but a desolate cityscape like this isn't exactly much better, y'know?"

@RolePlayerRoxas@Raineh Daze

@Crusader Lord

---

Kenmyouren and Shoutouren harmlessly hit air as the swordsman deftly avoided her strike. Light on his feet, was he?

"Ah...?" Shoutouren returned to her side as Link attempted to flirt. Well, Suzuka knew two things. She was a totally cute school girl, and a totally strong school girl. So to see someone infatuated with here was not that strange, obviously. In fact, she might have even been flattered, if it weren't for one glaring flaw in his flirting. "Aahaha, what's with that totally lame pickup line?" Suzuka began laughing, pointing a finger towards Link. All the previous tension from fighting, if there had been any, was completely gone as the fox broke out into derisive laughter. "Did you just spend all day practicing on yourself? That's like so totally lame I can't even...!"

But...he didn't know what was going on either. His answer didn't help answer anything at all. Door? His world? Tsk, too troublesome to consider anything.

"Mhm," Soon, her laughter died down, smile fading as she glanced towards the ground. Link might consider interrupting, but by the time he would she'd quickly have her usual toothy grin plastered over her face. "Okayyy! I've decided! This high school girl will travel with ya, cuz you look like ya could use it!"

"Youkai? Like tsukumogami, tengu, and ghosts?" Nanoha asked in a surprised voice. Could it be that there was a dimension out there where these kinds of legends were true? "It's been a while ever since I heard about anything so curious. If I could, I would like to see it with my own eyes someday," she said, making her amazement known.

"Anyway, if your mission is to investigate this place, would you like to team up, Miss Youmu? Together we might be able to find... something?" Nanoha said before turning Raising Heart back into its Standby Form—which sprouted a pair of light wings and began to float around her—before extending her left hand to Youmu.

She'd never seen such things? If it hadn't been for everything else, it would have been clear Nanoha was from the outside world from that. But she wanted to see them? Youmu considered this for a moment.

But the most important matter was that of teaming up. This seemed like a large and unusual place, one that could hold any sort of unknown dangers. And Nanoha herself seemed friendly, polite, and helpful. There was no reason not to consent to an alliance in order to investigate this strange, ruined city. Without hesitation, the petite half-phantom reached out and took Nanoha's hand in her own, shaking it.

"This city is completely unfamiliar," she began, "It only makes sense to make an alliance in order to figure out what's going on."

She paused for a few moments after releasing the other girl's hand.

"Er... and if you're curious about youkai, and... and gh-ghosts..." Youmu stumbled a bit. Having a ghost for her Mistress and meeting random ghosts were two different things! But regardless... her phantom half drifted forward.

"I'm a half phantom, myself," she explained, gesturing to the drifting, misty cloud that composed part of her being.

@KoL

With a satisfied smirk, Magilou finally came to a stop when the comedy duo took notice of her passing. So all those theatrics were just a ploy to strike up conversation? Whoever would resort to such silly tactics? Bienfu couldn't help but give Magilou a suspicious glance, almost as if he could feel the hypocrisy, though he returned his attention to the one-eyed guy that seemed to look directly at him. Had that been his imagination? Sure, Malakhim in general were no longer visible to the general populace, but it wasn't like there was no one ever that couldn't perceive his kind...

At that moment, a young blonde girl called out to them. The witch regarded her silently, surmising she was unlikely to be from Desolation, or at least somewhere remote enough for her knowledge to be lacking. The duo... slightly more likely, but Magilou couldn't quite place why that felt unlikely to her, too. Oh well, she'd probably find out in a few moments.

"So, I guess we were all led here by a mysterious Arte, huh?" Magilou wondered aloud, pacing slowly, "naturally, it's no mere accident that brought the magnificent Magilou to this place, but a sense of duty! Of curiosity! And just a hint of boredom!"

With a flick of her lock of hair, she turned to the group with a carefree smile, "so, where did you two wander in from? Midgand? Southgand?" she glanced towards the man with the eye-patch, "...Titania?"

"That's harsh, Magilou..." Bienfu muttered, shaking his head, "Did you learn to spot criminals by sight during your sta... ah."

Magilou had only flicked her eyes towards her shoulder, but that was enough to shut the Normin up. Leaving him to shrink away from sight, Magilous returned to smiling pleasantly at the other three, as if she hadn't been interrupted.