Ciara was forced into simple clothing that was of a similar style to the one the young servant boy wore. Her belongings had either been left in the room with the mirror or were taken away when she had to change. Even her sunglasses were missing, and as the sun slowly made its way higher, she had no doubt her unusual eye color would be noticed. She couldn’t even cover it with her hair, as it was twisted up and secured with a headcloth on the top of her head.

She looked like a washwoman from a periodic drama.

The boy from earlier came to get her to lead her to a small room, and guards flanked her from both sides as they made their way through the castle corridors. The wooden planks under her bare feet were cold, and Ciara pondered for a moment the possibility that she was sleeping back in her home and her feet had peeked out from under the blankets.

As she stumbled, a guard caught her arm and steadied her. His grip tightened a fraction before he released her. Pain shot up on Ciara’s arm momentarily, and she was reminded of the two hard slaps she had received not long after arriving here. She was most definitely awake in this twisted world.

She fidgeted as she was ordered to sit down in a small room. The guards had exited and stood outside the sliding door. Everything to the last bit of detail reminded her of how she would imagine old world Japan. The young boy stared at her, and she decided to try to get some information from him. Maybe he’d be more compliant than Kawayuki.

Ciara smiled at him gently.

“Do you live here?”

He didn’t reply.

“My name is Ciara. Yours?”

She thought he wouldn’t reply this time either, but he did.

“Kazu.”

“Kazu,” Ciara repeated, happy to know. “Can you tell me what place this is?”

The boy cocked his head to the side.

“Kawayuki-sama’s castle.”

“Is it in Japan?”

“Nippon? Yes.” Kazu looked as if he wanted to ask something but stayed silent.

“What is it? Tell me,” Ciara urged him with a small smile.

“You are strange.”

She was taken aback for a moment, not sure what to make of this remark. Eventually, she nodded.

“I suppose I am, for your eyes.” A moment passed. “Do you know why I’m here? I only remember falling into a mirror.”

What if she had a concussion and is out cold in a stranger’s house, with no help on the way? Her eyes widened. No, no. She had definitely felt those injuries. She shook away the disturbing thoughts and focused on Kazu’s answer.

“Kawayuki-sama brought you here. He wants something from you. He always wants something from people.” Kazu let out a small sigh as he told her.

“Who is he? This Kawayuki?”

“He is he lord of this castle. One of the daimyōs.”

Daimyō. It triggered a distant memory, Karen preparing for her Japanese history class, murmuring about daimyōs and tiny countries. Ciara felt fear settle heavily in her stomach. She licked her lips, preparing for the inevitable question.

“What year is this?”

“It’s interregnum year-”

“Boy!”

Ciara jumped at Kawayuki’s booming voice. Kazu walked to the door opposite from where they had come in, knelt, and slid it open. A huge meeting room revealed itself. There was a dais on the closer end of the room, where Kawayuki sprawled, overlooking the entire place.

He reminded Ciara of a rooster standing on top of the—

“Now!” He looked Ciara straight in the eye.

Without meaning to, she stood up and walked toward him as if in a trance. Slowly, she made her way to his side even though that was the last thing she wanted. It was as if an invisible force made her walk over to him and sit down next to his legs.

As soon as she sat down, the strange feeling passed away, and she shook her head to clear her mind. What was that? Was this how people felt whenever she accidentally used the Voice? Disturbed, she looked around.

At least a dozen people lined both sides of the room. All of them were dressed in rich, silk clothing and had the ridiculous hairdo Kawayuki sported. Maybe they wanted to imitate him? Each of them had some symbol on their overcoats, and their swords rested next to them, just in reach. Goosebumps ran over Ciara’s arms at the sight.

“You know the first part of our plan. We have his daughter. And this here is the second part.” Kawayuki gestured to Ciara.

She couldn’t help raising her eyebrows in question. This? Really? If there was an Olympic category for being offensive, Kawayuki would have an easy win. There was still time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics—

Ciara’s hands trembled and she gathered them in her lap. The small talk with Kazu indicated she wasn’t in a secret, crazy escape room, but in a different world. Maybe even a different—

“Time,” Kawayuki was saying, “is on our side. Kitayama won’t have enough time to prepare a counterattack so quickly. We must make use of this wench’s skills in the meantime.”

“What skills, my lord?” asked one of his vassals.

What is he talking about? Ciara mused, glancing up at Kawayuki. He smiled with his black teeth at her, and she shuddered at the horrible memory it brought up.

“She will infuse our weapons with magic. They’ll be ten times stronger than average weapons. They will cause more damage than imaginable and prevent healing injuries.”

Ciara’s eyes widened in shock. He was crazy! How did he come up with such a mad plan? The things he had talked about were impossible! Maybe not for Karen, but—

Oh, shit.

Karen. It was Karen’s inherited power, not hers. But if they knew they had grabbed the wrong person, then she’d probably be killed and Karen would be kidnapped. The only way out seemed to lead them on until she could escape. But how would she trick them into believing she had these skills? As soon as Kawayuki ordered a demonstration of power, she was dead. And Karen would be in danger. She didn’t like either option.

“No need to be shy.” Kawayuki grinned at her, seeing her face pale. “I know all about your special powers, purple-eyed witch.”

Ciara bit her lip and made a fist of her trembling hands. She needed to come up with an escape plan, ASAP. If she couldn’t get back to the mirror, then she had to get as far away from Kawayuki as possible.

***

The new room she had been led to was full of weapons of all sorts, long and short swords, bows and arrows, daggers, spears of every imaginable shape, and Ciara even spotted some throwing stars!

“Get to work,” Kawayuki said as he pushed her inside. Ciara stumbled and twirled around.

“All this?”

“But of course. Did you think you were here on a leisure trip? Don’t let my kiss fool you, wench.”

Ciara involuntarily shuddered, trying to forget all that had to do with that incident. It didn’t help that she was reminded of it every time he grinned.

Kawayuki slid the door shut, and darkness surrounded her in the windowless room.

“Damnit. Where’s the light?” Ciara was touching the wall near the doorframe, then remembered her suspicion about the timeline. “Right, no switch.” She set about to find a candle or something that would help her see but shortly realized that even if she did find a torch, she had no way of igniting a flame.

Her foot slipped on something smooth and round, making her stumble into a pile of… spears? Ciara prayed she didn’t injure something vital. Thankfully, she only collected some new bruises. She managed to crawl to her knees and hands when the door slid open. Ciara hissed at the sudden brightness and put a hand over her eyes.

“What in hells are you doing?” She heard Kawayuki’s voice. Great, he was back. “Never mind that. You’re coming with me. Up!”

He didn’t have the patience to wait for her to get up properly but grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the room and through the corridor. Kazu joined them soon with a little girl and a guard. Ciara didn’t have time to assess the situation as she was dragged to a window which overlooked the courtyard.

Kawayuki grabbed the back of her head and pushed her face to the window opening. Thankfully, there was no glass. For some curious reason, Ciara didn’t expect there to be any.

Soldiers in black ran in the direction of the gates, trying to push back the enemy, who had crimson uniforms.

“See that? You’re already too late, you lazy wench.” Ciara tried not to gag as Kawayuki’s putrid breath hit her face. “Now get to work!”

He hit her head on the window frame, which cracked under the pressure. Ciara hoped her head fared better. She touched her forehead and felt a bump already forming. Thankfully, there was no blood on her hand when she checked it. She grimaced, thinking her face was probably already deformed by the slaps and hits she had to endure since she had gotten here.

“Here, enhance this,” Kawayuki pointed to his sword.

“I can’t do it like this,” Ciara said, and he lunged for her. She took a step back and raised her hands. “I need to hold the item to do that!”

Kawayuki raised his eyebrows.

“Nice try,” he admitted. “But I don’t believe you.”

Damn, there goes that plan. Ciara forced a blank expression on her face.

“I can read you like an open book,” Kawayuki said, but Ciara ignored him, hoping against hope he was bluffing just as much as she was.

“Boy!”

Ciara snapped her gaze to Kazu who had grabbed the little girl and drew her to him. A dagger flashed in his hand as he pointed the blade to the girl’s neck. Ciara’s eyes widened in shock. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“Kazu!” Shock made her voice tremble.

“If you don’t enhance my katana, without any ulterior motives, he will kill her,” Kawayuki warned her. Ciara’s hands shook as she thought over her choices.

She didn’t know the little girl, but she didn’t want anybody to die because of her ever again. Maybe she could atone for her sin if she were to save this girl. The blade pressed into the girl’s tender neck.

“STOP!” Without meaning to, Ciara used the Voice on all of them. As soon as she realized everybody but her had frozen, she freed the little girl and ran away with her.

“After them! Do not let them escape!” Kawayuki roared in anger a heartbeat later when the effect was gone. Ciara picked up the pace, and surprisingly, the girl matched it. They arrived at a turn, and Ciara went for the right corridor.

“Not that way!” The girl yanked her arm toward the left. “This leads outside.”

Ciara didn’t stop to argue. They were being chased by armed men, and clearly, the girl felt more at home in a castle than she’d ever be. She followed her, and they soon ended up at the long staircase in the middle of the castle.

“Come!” The girl let go of her hand and ran downstairs. Ciara followed with urgency.

“What’s your name?”

“Ayaka. Were you kidnapped, too?”

“Yes,” Ciara huffed as they reached the ground floor. She took a deep breath.

Ayaka was already at the end of the corridor.

“Hurry!” she screamed at Ciara, who immediately continued running. Thankfully, her lungs were doing all right, but her legs felt weak. Ayaka was so fast compared to how small she was. Ciara briefly wondered how she did it as she sprinted after her. She could already hear pounding footsteps approaching from behind.