Alexa rode her motorbike along the quiet street slowly, careful to avoid the puddles of water from the light rain before. She's carrying a couple bags of grocery as she made her way towards her boarding house. As she rode, her mind wandered to the time when she received the doctor's news that she won't be able to do anymore Gymnastic as freely as she could before.

After months of therapy and medication, her lung condition had improved and according to the doctor, she shouldn't experience anymore chest pain in another couple of months, give or take. Unfortunately, if whatever caused her allergy reaction hit her again, she would have a relapse of her sickness. Shaking her head to dismiss the negative thoughts, she tried to focus on the positives instead. Which was harder to do than simply saying it.

All of a sudden, a strong wind started to whip around the street. Startled and not wanting to fall from her bike, Alexa immediately stopped her bike and stared in astonishment as the strong wind seem to pick up in intensity. Unnoticed by her, an ominous reddish black hole opened in the sky above her. The wind was getting stronger, and no matter how she tried to hold on to the sidewalk fence, her bike already dragged away by the wind, in the end Alexa was sent hurtling towards the black hole, screaming bloody murder all the way.

Once Alexa disappeared into the black hole, it slowly closed off and disappeared as the wind also died out. Soon, there was nothing to indicate that anything was ever wrong on the street.

"Which part of lavender was so hard to understand? I said lavender, not roses, nor orchids - If he loves me, he could at least get me the flowers I wanted!" Veronika scuffed as she was explaining all that to a group of friends she was strolling with. A group of pretentious girls around her giggled, exchanging a couple of words in her support. She could feel they were faking it and rolling their eyes behind her back, but she enjoyed the attention, enjoyed being able to make them behave how she wanted them to.

It was another one of those evenings. Her fiancé would come over, shower her with gifts, while she would pretend to gracefully accept them in front of her parents only to order maids to trash them the moment her parents turned their back on her. At least the chocolates and flowers, she kept jewellery. It was pretty and she sometimes felt like it was the only valuable thing she’ll ever recieve. As she thought about it, her eyes wandered off to the dazzling diamond ring on her left hand. Engagement ring. Worth a fortune, but not fit for her skinny young hands. Although she could barely feel the ring on her finger, it made her hand heavy, as if the weight of her life was attached to it instead of a polished white diamond.

"...and the latest Chanel show was just so OMG, don't you agree, Veronica? Veronica?!"
One of the sheep following her unpleasantly snapped her out of her daydream.
"No, I think it was horrid." She could see the faces of girls around her fall grim. "Excuse me now, I must call my daddy to get me my limo. I've had enough of walking." She flicked back a strand of hair before sending the girls around her one last downgrading glace, as if they were to blame for her moodiness.

Scared of displeasing the 'princess', the herd of teens scurried on before Veronika even managed to dig her iPhone out of her overpriced purse. She halted for a moment; until she was sure the unpleasant clapping of high heels was nowhere to be heard and swung her finger across the screen, calling daddy in one swift motion. Listening to the buzzing tone, she noticed an odd sound... there was some mighty wind blowing around. Looking up, her eyes widened. She stood frozen in shock and awe at what she saw. The sky ripped and she could see another figure pulled in, before the powerful force sucked her up.

She didn't even manage to scream.
All that was left on the street was a brand new iPhone with 'Calling Daddy' blinking green.

Alexa's scream continued as she was suddenly free from the strong wind tunnel and out into calmer air, only to abruptly cut off when her body hit the ground and rolled on the ground because of the momentum. She stopped rolling when her body hit something hard.
Panting wildly as she tried to collect her breath, Alexa looked around her in panic, trying to see any sign whether she'd be picked up by the strong wind again or not. What she did see though, only confused and frightened her as she instinctively pressed her back to whatever behind her, trying to get away.

She saw an... altar(?) from the direction she was thrown, but it was not the altar that caught her attention at the moment. It was the howling, rippling, black hole above the altar. She could see the occasional red tendrils of aura/energy around it, giving it an even ominous feeling. However it doesn't seem to be trying to suck her in again and instead was fading in and out. Before it closed and disappeared all the way, something... no, someone was thrown out from it, much like in the same manner she did, and rolled to a stop by one of the... ruins. Yes, now that she could see better in the low lighting, they're in some sort of ruins, with only the altar seemed intact.

Once the scary looking hole finally disappeared, Alexa tried to stand, but found that her shaking legs disagree to do so. Trying to keep her panic under control, Alexa crawled towards the other one who got thrown out of the hole after her. The low light from the torches nearby was making it hard to see the other person clearly. "H..Hey... Are you okay?" She called, inwardly winced when her voice waver, a testament of how shaken she was by the ordeal.

The vortex mercilessly spit her up, causing Veronika's helpless body to tumble into a pile of rubble and dust like an old ragdoll. She barely managed to catch herself just enough to prevent her head splitting open on one of the sharp rocks. Curled in an odd position, she was in terror, not being able to think or process anything.
Blinking a couple of times, she slowly took in her surroundings. Stone, walls, bricks, dirt... hole in the sky that she just managed to catch a glimpse of before it vanished into thin air, giving the sick impression that there was never really anything there. She felt herself panic. Her breathing was getting more and more rapid as her mind buzzed with questions. Suddenly, someone spoke.

Startled by an unknown voice, she jumped with a yelp, her horrified eyes staring at its source. In the dim light she could make out a few features that looked a bit familiar, but her brain did not feel like digging around the memory for more.

"W-who are you?" She tried saying, but the voice barely coming from her clenched throat sounded more like ghastly whispering. In a panic, she attempted to lift herself up on the crumbled pillar behind her, her movements brisk and disoriented, as if her hands were desperately looking for some sort of support. She tried standing but could only half do so, leaning back against the ruins behind to steady her shivering body. "Where am I? If this is s-some skick- I mean, sick kidnapping technique I-I- I will-!" Her dry voice grew louder, but she couldn’t stop it from shaking and cracking in several places. Tears she was holding down threatened to break free, so she had to stop mid-sentence and instead just glare at the figure with a mix of hostility and fear.

Alexa stopped her approach when she saw that the other person.. the other girl, now that she heard her voice, seemed to feel threatened by her. Lifting her still shaking hands up in universal gesture of unarmed and no harm meant, Alexa tried again, whispering softly as if she was talking to a frightened kitten or puppy.
"Easy... Easy... I have no idea where we are either... I'm.. I got here the same way you did." She explained and took another look around, trying to keep her own panic from rising. "Uh... wherever we are... I don't think... I don't think we're in Britain anymore..." Where in the world did that hole dump them off?

There's nothing familiar to her about the place where they landed. The big red moon, the ruins that hold little similarity to Greece temples pillars, the open plain, the altar that now stayed innocently silent, the body laying several feet away ...

Wait, what??

Alexa felt her fear nearly paralyzed her again when she realized there was someone else there with them. She had no idea if the one laying on the rock was a friend or not. But as she continued to stare, the hooded person on the rock didn't seem to move at all and Alexa felt her panic decreased slightly. "D-do you think... that guy's alive?"

Veronika took a couple of deep breaths, attempting to clam herself down. In the pale light of the moon, she scanned the lady in front of her. She remembered seeing another body sucked into the bizzare vortex before it took her as well. There was little room for other options. Judging by the scenario around them, it was nothing close to the urban streets that the two of them belonged to.

"Ookay... " Veronika moved away from the pillar she was holding on to and took a couple of steps towards the brunette, still keeping a bit of a distance. The dirt on her dress caught her attention, so she fixed herself up a bit, shaking the dust of her attire, before the other girl asked about the hooded man.

Veronika's head shot up, strands of her creamy hair following her motion. "What? There's someone else here?!" She turned her gaze to the direction of the motionless body. The brunette was right to ask that - the man didn't move an inch. Cautiously, Veronika took a couple of steps towards him, until she was close enough to lightly pull the hood off of his face with two fingers, before quickly pulling back, as if she was afraid something might jump at her. Even in the dim light, she could make out his pale, sickly face twisted in a grotesque grimace.
"I-I don't think so... And I'm not going any closer to him to check!" She covered her mouth, taking a few steps back. The man reeked of dead bodies and sweat with a hint of something sharper like herbs and there was no way Veronika would touch THAT any more than she had to.

Alexa followed the other girl and approached the motionless body together. When the other girl pulled the hood lightly, Alexa gasped and her hand flew to cover her nose and mouth while staring at the man's face in horror. There's no mistaking that the man was dead with his blank glazed eyes seemingly peered at them both. She was not surprised when the other girl took several steps backwards, hell, she was pretty sure that she'd be having more or less the same reaction had she was the one who pulled the hood. And the smell... dear Lord.... 'Smells like days old rat corpse!' She thought with a grimace.

Just as Alexa gathered her courage to get closer, the body suddenly moved, causing her to let out a small scream.
However, he didn't get up, his body simply slid off the rock and fell to the ground, throwing the hood off his head completely. He definitely was not human, not with his long pointed ear, big dark eyes and sharp long face. He looked almost like one of those elves from Lord of the Ring Movie.
The smell only worsened after the man's hood was knocked off. Alexa started to scoot back and stood beside the other girl, trying to get her mind off the dead body and think about what to do next. There's no way they're going anywhere else for the moment, not with such limited lights, not to mention they won't even know where to go.

When the night wind blew across them, Alexa shivered and her mind latched onto the new problem. It's freaking COLD! And neither of them were dressed warm enough to last the night. Looking around, the only source of light they had were the candles on the altar, which miraculously not blown off by the wind that threw them before. It also the closest source of warmth they could get for the moment, as there's no way for them to collect any woods.

Tentatively, Alexa put her hand on the other girl's shoulder gently as not to surprise her. "I... I don't think we can go anywhere for now... L-Let's just try to stay warm near that... that altar. Shall we?" She said softly. The wall around the altar would offer some protection from the wind at the very least. "I'm Alexa, by the way. What's your name?" She queried the other girl while turning both of them away from the sight of the corpse and made their way towards the altar.

Veronica let out a small scream when the body moved. She stared in awe as the absence of hood revealed unusual facial features. "This is... an elf...?" She murmured under her breath in total disbelief. With mouth slightly open she stood there just examining the man's head, before a hand on her shoulder snapped her back to reality.

Alexa... She repeated the name in her mead a couple of times, as to not forget it, before offering a proper handshake. "I am Veronika, Veronika Maja Orlov, the elder daughter of the royal Orlov family." She chirped in a rehearsed tone, slightly bowing her head. As if trying to ruin her flawless performance, cold wind rushed over hills, scattering strands of her hair all over hair, causing her to fight them, trying to keep the long curls from blowing all over her face. Only now she noticed how cold it really was and her thin coat and white designer dress were just not doing a very good job at keeping her warm.

Thinking, she took Alexa's suggestion to keep warm around the altar into consideration. "Um... you don't actually plan to stay outside all night, do you?" She asked in slight disbelief. "I mean, it's cold and dark out here - isn't there a hotel where we could stay anywhere near?" Having said that, Veronika optimistically took a good look around. To her disappointment, she saw nothing but hills and plains far and wide. Nothing. Not even any light in the distance, indicating that there might be some human settlements nearby. Where the hell were they? In the middle of nowhere? She thought about calling her daddy for a moment, but after a fanatic search around her pockets remembered that her phone fell out of her hand as she was sucked into the vortex that brought her here.
She turned back to the brunette with a frown that indicated the lack of chances they had to find a suitable place to stay for the night and also the lack of fondness Veronika had towards the idea of camping on an altar.

As the girl introduced herself, Alexa had one hand behind her, gently nudging the girl to walk towards the strange altar. 'Veronika Maja Orlov... oh man... she's THAT snobby noble girl everyone talked about.' she thought with a mental cry of despair. Why, oh why, of all people she could be stranded with, it's with her?
Alexa didn't really have any problem with Veronika before because she made it a point to avoid the noble and her 'entourages' as much as possible. She didn't want any trouble and for her, keeping away from 'nobles' and the likes are one way to keep away from disaster.

Sighing, Alexa had to restrain from rolling her eyes when the wind ruffled Veronika's otherwise fine hair, her own short hair didn't have that problem although it also offered little protection to her neck from the wind. She's unable to keep the grimace from her face however when Veronika expressed her disbelief to Alexa's suggestion. Alexa's eye twitched slightly when Veronika asked about a hotel.
Seriously?
She was about to reply with heavy sarcasm when she saw Veronika seemed to take a look around and realized their situation. She watched as the noble frantically searching something in her pockets before looking back with a frown that spoke a lot of her misgivings about the situation.
At least the noble is not a crybaby. She wouldn't know how to deal with one.

"Look..." Alexa began slowly. "I'm not exactly thrilled to spent the night outside like this either, but I don't think we really have any choice, Veronika. Given the choice between stumbling around in cold darkness and staying here where there's at least some warmth till dawn, I know which one I'll be picking. I still don'... " Alexa stopped abruptly when the wind brought a vague sound that caused chills to run down her spine and blood drained from her face.

Howling. Wolves or maybe wild dogs.

Fortunately, it sounds like the howls came from quite a distance, no where near them for sure. But it's still a frightening thought that there were those predators out there while they had little to no protection. The only thing remotely resembled weapon is her swiss knife army in her pants pocket. For a few moments, she just stood there, frozen by fear again while listening to the howls, trying to determine whether it was getting closer to them or not. Shortly after, the howls stopped and only the sound of wind rustling the grass was heard.

Alexa worked her jaw wordlessly several times before she found her voice again. "...And do you REALLY want to go wandering with THAT out there..?" Her voice was an octave higher than before and wavering with suppressed hysteric.

It could be heavily debated what the scariest thing around there was - the howling or Veronika's face when she heard it. The later was pale as chalk, completely drained of colour with large silver eyes, widened in terror. When she spoke, it made Alexa's already wavering voice sound clam.
"Where t-those w-wolves?! D-dogs? W-werewolves?!" She hissed in high pitch, grabbing Alexa's upper arms in her momentum of fear, as if begging the other girl to tell her otherwise. "What if die out here?... Ha ha..." Noticing how improperly she's been acting Veronika retreated a little, muttering a small 'sorry' before staring blankly ahead for a couple of minutes. Of all possible animals, creatures... there had to be wolves. Veronika couldn't even stand being around her mother's Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, she was that repeled by dogs and anything alike, now she was out here in wide grassy plains with some other random girl and possibly large, drooling wolves in the distance. And so she, the great heiress of the Orlov is not only left here, away from all civilization, but will also possibly be killed by wolves. Impossible, truly impossible!

Her blood-drained lips twisted in a small smile as she let out a small chuckle. She went ahead and took a couple more steps that separated them from the altar, wiped the dust and dirt off its top and with a light spring sat on top of its surface. "It's all right!" She beamed, while it was painfully obvious that she didn't believe any of the nonsense she spat. "This. Is my dream. Yep. I don't know why I'm dreaming of a peasant such as you, but it's a dream." She stated, in denial that the whole situation is real. Carelessly, she flipped her locks behind her back (her annoying repetitive gesture), crossed her legs in a lady-like fashion and looked at Alexa with a slightly tilted head as if saying 'What now'.

Alexa watched Veronika worriedly, in a manner that all but saying 'She's lost it.', as the other girl seemed to be desperately convinced herself that she was in a dream. A brief annoyance broke through her panic for a moment when Veronika called her a 'peasant' and her eye twitched again. Her hand was itching to smack some sense, and maybe as a little payback for that 'peasant' comment, to Veronika, but she managed to restrain it. For now at least.

Sighing softly, the short haired girl approached Veronika and placed her hands on her shoulders before gripping them gently. "Veronika." She started slowly as she looked at her in the eyes. "Unfortunately... This is not a dream... Believe me, I wish that this is a dream, but it's not. And I think we need to stay quiet as much as we could so that we don't attract the... the howling creatures... or others... I don't know." Alexa shook her head and tried to calm herself, her hands had started shaking again as she talked.

"Come on." She tugged the sitting girl gently. "It's too windy to sit on the altar. Let's sit between this altar and the wall, at least we'll get some shelter from the wind that way." Alexa prayed that she got it through Veronica that they're not in a dream. If she made too much noise while believing they're in a dream, who knows what kind of creatures who might be attracted to prey on them. She thought on how to conserve their body heat and the obvious answer would be to cuddle with each other, but.... Considering who she's with at the moment, that idea might not be a welcome one.

It took Veronika a couple of moments to process what Alexa told her. Her subconscious mind was trying to talk to her. Or that's what she wanted to believe. It all felt too real, the cold altar under her hands, the howling wing, the landscape, the howling in the distance and the soft grip of Alexa's hands. It all seemed too real.

"O-okay... let's" She whispered. For now she kept the panic away. There was still a slim chance that she will soon awake back in her nice fluffy bed, among silky sheets and her grumpy Persian cat. But then again, she couldn't recall going to sleep, so... No! This was not the time for moments like this. The cold air bit her fragile frame and although it was a lot colder where she grew up, her attire was anything but suitable. What bothered her more were still the dreadful beasts.

She stood up silently, taking one of the candles in the middle of altar and placing it on its end before squeezing herself in the space between the altar and the wall. It was awfully narrow, but just enough for the two girls. She didn't like the thought of being so damn close to this total Stranger, but she made room for her, indicating that it's ok for Alexa to sit by. She averted her gaze, not making any eye contact combined with a small pout on her lips. Invasion of personal space was anything but pleasant, but freezing to death was even more so. Still, she had to make a point that snuggling this close with someone like Alexa was not something she wished for.

The night grew colder, Veronika could feel it. In an attempt to keep her body heat within, she pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her hands around them. She remained silent however, sulking a little due to the entire situation.

Alexa secretly sighed in relief when Veronika scooted over to make room for her. Apparently she understand that they'll conserve heat better if they stay together instead of alone at the separate end of the altar, although her manner indicated that she's not too thrilled to do so. 'Oh well...' Alexa thought as she squeezed in between Veronika and the wall. 'Beggar can't be chooser.'

For a few moments it seemed that the plan worked and they were sheltered from the wind. Although as time passed, the temperature seemed to drop lower and lower. 'Th-This is.. not working well....' Alexa thought with chattering teeth while rubbing her arms, trying to warm them better. 'It's not enough...not enough heat...' As she glanced at Veronika, it clicked in her mind that as cold as she currently is, it must be worse for the other girl. At least Alexa had a jean jacket which was thicker than whatever it was that Veronika had. Alexa debated her options in her mind and finally concluded. 'Damned if I do, damned if I don't. Let's just hope she won't throw a fit.'

Moving as fast as she could with the cold and small space they had, Alexa shrugged off her jacket and plopped her jacket over Veronika's arms that wrapped around her knees. Before the noble could protest, the former gymnast pulled Veronika onto her lap and rested her own back on the wall, fixing her jacket so that it covered both Veronika's arms and her own as she wrapped her arms around Veronika.

"Let's.. j-just stay... like this f-for now.." She whispered to the younger girl, teeth still chattering from the cold. "We need t-to keep the he-heat... as much... as possible... You can.. try to kill me... tomorrow...."

Cuddling her knees, Veronika felt the sharp cold crawl up to her mostly bare legs. Her frilly white dress and thin coat were very poor protection from the icy air that made her shiver viciously. But she remained unmoved, not showing any signs of distress on her face, only clenching her shoulders more and more. This reminded her of a memory, one of her earliest ones... She would cry to her mama about her shoes. Those heavy, rigid shoes, not fit for a toddler to wear. but mama told her she must, she told her to be a printcessa, a princess, to endure the pain and walk with her chin up and a smile on her lips. Same went for everything. Were her clothes too tight? Endure. Was her jewellery too heavy and uncomfortable? Endure. Was that position difficult to sit in? Endure.
So she did the same with the cold, blocking it out to the best of her abilities.

What Alexa did absolutely shocked her. Veronika didn't even have the time to react, to object or protest. Had the short-haired girl asked her about it, she would have probably stuck up her nose and say that the cold is nothing - moreover, she would probably tell her to mind her own business and not even as much as dare to touch her.

But the noble had to admit... it was warm like this, warmer than before. Maybe like this, this way... they could survive the night. Of course she wouldn't admit, not in a million years, that she liked the position she was in. Alexa was too far below her for that, not to mention a girl, but... For now she was going to let it be.
"Da... Tomorrow."
It was the last thing she remembered before falling sleep. Why she could was beyond her. Maybe it was the relief of not being entirely alone, maybe the shock from before.
Or maybe she just hoped so strongly that upon sleeping she will wake up in her home world.

Alexa didn't remember when she finally nodded off to sleep. All she knew was that her second plan to keep warm worked better than the first one and the shared warmth increased comfortingly, it also had the effect of making her eyelids heavier and made her fall asleep not long after Veronika did.

When dawn broke and the temperature rose again slowly, Alexa started to stir from her sleep and wondered, with her eyes still closed, if she had fallen asleep while watching her favorite TV Show on the couch. Strange. She didn't remember her couch being so hard and rough.. and did she got a new teddy bear or something? She could feel her arms embraced something big... soft and... warm? Confused, she blinked her eyes open sleepily only to find a bunch of cream colored silky hair in front of her face which made her wide awake in surprise, and also caused her to realize that the rough texture of the wall was digging in her back.

Looking around the place again in the better light of the dawn, it seemed to reinforce her suspicion that they're no longer at home. The male elf body was still sprawled undisturbed where it slid off the rock the night before.
Sighing, Alexa leaned back and lightly hit her head to the wall behind her. "Damn... it wasn't a dream...." She muttered softly and wondered what should they do next.

"Mama... spat'..." Veronika lazily stretched, snuggling up to her warm- Wait a moment, this isn't bed. This. is not-
With a small yelp, the spoiled lass awoke, flinching away, only to hit the back of her head against the altar. "Aa- Ooowww" She groaned, grabbing the back of her head. Memories of where she was washed over her like a waterfall. The vortex, the corpse, the howling and the... peculiar position she has been in the entire night.

The later made her face flush a little, but she hid the blush by letting her long hair fall over her face and hide it like a curtain. "Not a word about this." She muttered, facing away from Alexa. Before waiting for a response, she looked around, keen to find something to distract herself with. In the morning light, the entire scenario could now be clearly seen. There were linen wraps, some flowers, some weird red and blue flasks and candle on the altar, along with bizarre black tools that looked similar the the ones commonly used ancients cultures to embalmer bodies. Veronika noticed this must have been the first time in her life that those lessons on ancient art and cultures came handy.

The black-robed body still lied as motionlessly as before. The elf was dead, there was no doubt about it, the extra stench coming from his way made the point even clearer. However, underneath that coat, Veronika could see something shimmer. It couldn't have been seen before, but now, in the daylight, a silver shine came into view. "Do you see that... under the body...?" She asked the brunette, stepping towards it.
"To hell with respect for the dead..." She murmured as she kicked the lifeless thing over quite violently. With a thud he rolled to his stomach, exposing the dagger, strapped to the back of his robes with a rope that was seemingly used as a belt. Grimacing from the horrid odour, she faced Alexa. "Do you think it's safe to touch this? Like... can I catch any disease or something?"

At first surprised by the sudden jerk from Veronika's movement, Alexa had to bit her lower lip not to laugh out loud when the noble clutched the back of her head where it hit the altar. She mimed zipping her lips in response to Veronika's 'request' to say nothing, although a giggle nearly escaped when she did that.

While Veronika looked around, Alexa took the time to do the same again, this time taking in the details that she previously overlooked. The altar looked... old.. ancient, and now that she could see better what was on it, she almost wished that she didn't. The exotic looking tools, which she thought should belong to a museum, on the altar almost seemed to be coming from a horror movie, with mummies and the likes. Alexa shuddered and looked away, trying to dislodge a frightening sudden thought.
Was the man-elf planning to use those tools on her and Veronika had something not killed him?

Looking up when Veronika pointed that she saw something beneath the elf's body, Alexa caught her jean jacket before it could fall to the ground as the noble stood up. 'You're welcome, your highness.' She grumbled inwardly while standing up and donned the jacket before stretching her body, groaning as she felt her stiff muscles 'popped'. Even though sun had started shining and the air not as cold as before, it's still quite chilly.

Her eyes did widen almost comically when she looked up again and saw Veronika kicked the corpse over, only to then stare at Veronika in a deadpan way as she asked whether it's safe to touch the body. 'You asked me that AFTER you kicked it?' Alexa wondered if the noble was bipolar, she certainly seemed to switch mood in a blink of an eye.
Shaking her head lightly, the short haired girl made her way towards the corpse and crouched down while trying not to gag from the smell. "I'm not sure... Let's just not touch him too much, okay?" She tugged the dagger, but it won't come loose from the rope belt. When Alexa glanced at the elf's head, she regretted that decision immediately. The back of the elf's head was a mess, apparently he hit his head to the rock hard enough to crack his skull open.

Fighting down a bout of nausea, Alexa grabbed the rope belt and tugged it so that the elf was laying on his side, giving her access to the belt's knot and with benefit of not having to watch his cracked head. She worked the knot loose as fast as she could with stiff fingers and the moment the knot unraveled, Alexa all but yanked the rope belt along with the dagger away from the body before taking several steps backwards. Dropping the rope and dagger to the ground, Alexa turned around and braced herself on a wall with her face facing towards the ground. She took several deep breaths, trying not to throw up, she could feel her right side chest tightening slightly but it was still bearable.

"Ew. I can't belive you actually touched that with your HANDS." Verkonika grimaced in disgust. She noticed the mess on the back of his head with bits of skull scattered about and brain smuged all over. Curiously, she tilted her head while observing Alexa's struggle with the rope belt from safe distance where smell couldn't reach her... at least not enough to make her nauseous.
Veronika paid no attention to Alexa leaning against the wall, even tho it was obvious that getting her hands on that dagger nearly made her throw up. The noble quite selfishly refused to acknowledge that at all. What interested her more was the corpse.

Like a little kid, she picked up a stick and proceeded to poke the lifeless body with it, all from a moderate distance. "Do you think there are any other useful items on this guy?" She chirped. "Not that I would fancy handling him, but... YOU seem to be an expert in that!"

Just then, she remembered that there was a handkerchief in her purse. In fact, the young noble almost completly forgot about the posh purse she had on her. It was medium sized, made from once pure white leather that was now smuged with dirt - a fact that highly displeased the young lass. Veronika fiddled with it a little, digging atound to pull out a shoulder strap that allowed her to carry the purse over her shoulder instead of carrying it in her hands and an embroided handkerchief. She pressed the soft fabric of the handkerchief over her mouth and nose, trying to block out the stench. With the tip of her shoe, she felt around the body, trying to see if there's anything more worth finding.

"Aleeexa! Alexa!" She happily beamed. Just then she finally noticed how pale the other girl really appeared to be. "Alexa... are you ok? Come, check this out, there's something hard and sqare tucked inder his robes!"

Alexa wasn't paying attention to Veronika's chatter as she was busy trying to settle her stomach. A small part of her couldn't help but admire how the other girl didn't seem to be disturbed by the corpse or its state, only the smell. This was the first time Alexa ever saw a corpse and she'd never thought to be ever handling one before all of this.
Taking another deep breath, ignoring the slight pain in her chest it caused, Alexa finally straightened herself and picked the dagger that she 'liberated' from the corpse. Despite its plainness, the dagger certainly look sharp and sturdy, Alexa observed and shrugged. It's better than not having anything to protect themselves with. She doubt her small army swiss knife that still tucked safely in her back pocket could offer any protection while in the wild.

Sighing softly, she wrapped the rope belt around her waist, securing the dagger to her side. A part of her recoiled at the fact that she was wearing something that was taken from a corpse, but another part of her grimly noted that they don't really have much choice. Her attention was drawn to Veronika again when she heard her name being called. She gave the noble a small smile and nodded as she approached the other girl. "I'm alright, Veronika, thanks. Just a little ... unsettled stomach." She coughed lightly and raised her eyebrow at the information Veronika gave her. Something beneath the robes? And...?

For a few moments, Alexa only stared at Veronika, wondering why she bothered to inform her about the item inside the guy's robe instead of taking it herself. Finally, it dawned to her that Veronika wanted HER to be the one who checked what was inside the robe. Closing her eyes to hide her annoyed twitch, Alexa sighed again. She would play along, for now, but if the little 'princess' expected Alexa to be on her beck and call, she got another thing coming soon. Crouching beside the body, Alexa resolutely not looking anywhere near the head. She unsheathed the dagger and used it to poke the corpse lightly until she found what Veronika told her about. Now curious as well, Alexa used the dagger to cut the robe carefully, freeing the object from its hiding place.

"A.. book?" She wondered and picked the book by its corner. It was a thick book with a hard leather cover, the sign on its cover was not something that Alexa ever saw before.

"How curious! He had a book on him - good thing I spotted it!" Veronika grinned, thinking its only natural she takes all the credit for finding it. "Let me have a look..." She used her handkerchief to take the book out of Alexa's hands. Upon wiping it a little, it turned out that the book was a dim, dark violet colour, with an odd mark on the cover. "What is this? It looks like a vase with whirls, like a fireplace made in a round... elipse-ish shape!”
She contemplated over the cover, running her finger across the rough leather. "Ugh, it looks valuable, but... seriously even this thing caught on the stench from the body. I can't believe we didn't take it yesterday... that would have been sooo much better!" As she spoke, Veroni proceeded to open the book in a manner that allowed Alexa to see its inside as well. The first page was crowned with deep dark letter spelling 'Summon Familiar' in writing that indicated it to be the title of the book. Underneath someone scribbles with messy handwriting;

The mechanism is the same,
but you must open a different plane.

Signature was as messy as possible, obviously belonging to a scholar, too tired of writing all his days to even write his name properly.
"Well!" Veronika began, shutting the book. "I'd love to read it, but I need my morning cold-pressed mocha coffee to be able to think! Why don’t we find a cafe... or a restaurant or something and order some drinks and food? I mean, as ancient as this place looks, it must have a place where people eat and drink... somewhere." She was about to put the book away, before miraculously remembering that she wasn't alone (for once) and looked up to Alexa, offering the book to her. "Here, you can read if you want to, I need to preform my morning routine first."