As they were walking, the voices of Persephone and Sophia became more distant, and storm clouds that were previously above us quickly dissipated. I thought back to what those two said to each other. Did these girls hate it here as much as I did? I found that hard to believe. I recalled how they all behaved at the lake—how they swam blissfully in the resting place of an innocent they had just condemned to death. If none of them seemed to be distressed then, why should I be concerned about their worries now?

Before long, they reached the gate. It towered above everyone, with the adjacent walls making it appear even more imposing. But what the party seemed to be looking for was on ground level. At the front of the gate were some horses attached to a carriage, as well as a man leaning against it. As the group approached, this man looked up.

“Oh! Hello Arthur-sama! What brings you here?” he asked.
“We’re going to the Eastern Range,” Arthur answered. “What do we need to give you in return?”

“Don’t worry, it's on the house!” The man responded in a cheerful manner. At the same time, he violently punched the back of the carriage with one hand and clenched his fist with the other, not that any of them seemed to notice.

“Excuse me,” Arthur interjected. “But could we wait for some friends of mine before we go?”

“Sure thing, hero-sama!” The man replied.

“Thank you very much, sir.” Arthur said.

As they began to wait, I saw Kit’s ears passing by.

“Hey! Myrtle-san, carry me!” Kit exclaimed.

“Not interested,” Myrtle responded.

“But you pwomised!”

“When did I promise you anything?

”There was a moment of silence.

"Whaaaahhhh!” Kit began to cry. “Myrtle-san’s being a meanie!”

“What’s wrong, Kit-chan?” Amelia asked.

“Myrtle-san won’t carry me! Whaaah”.

“Well then, up you go, ya little rascal!” Arthur said as he picked up the little catgirl. Despite this, Kit didn’t stop crying—at least not until Sophia and Persephone returned.

“Yay! Sophia-san and Sephie-san!” Kit exclaimed as she ran past me and towards the other two. “Hey! Get off me!” Persephone shouted.

I heard Kit run again, followed by the sound of Amelia giggling.

“Hey girls!” Arthur called out, “Did everything work out?”
“I would say it did!” Sophia spoke in a smug tone.

“Yeah, I’m ready to go.” Persephone sighed.

“So everything's ok, Persephone?” Amelia asked.

“Yeah, I’m feeling better now,” Persephone replied wearily.

“That’s great! Let’s begin a new adventure!” Amelia cheered as they all boarded the carriage.

I could see that, in the end, their arguing was all for nothing—just a superficial conflict to be resolved in an instant and nothing more. After all, a return to the status quo was simply inevitable, and so nothing of value was gained.

The carriage was decently spacious, at least enough so to fit all of them. It had a roof but no windows, aside from a few narrow columns of support. Kit leapt onto Amelia’s lap and closed her eyes. The girl started to pet her, and Kit’s tail wagged in return. After they all seemed to get settled in, the gate began to open, followed by the sound of the horses’ feet clopping on the ground. After crossing the gate, the carriage entered a thick forest. As the town got further and further away, I began to have a feeling that I would be stuck with this group for a long time.

But that was not to be.

After a little while, Amelia turned towards Arthur, who was sitting next to her.

“Hey Arthur-san?” Amelia asked.

“Yes, Amelia?”

“Do you notice anything different about me?”

Arthur paused. “Did you do something with your hair?”

Amelia twitched in shock, and the necklace that I was attached to seemed to bounce along with her.

“So you didn’t notice my new necklace? Oh poo!”

“I’m sorry,” Arthur said. “I was just having so much fun spending time with all of you.”

That wasn’t going to work, was it?

“Awww. I forgive you.” Amelia responded, his words assuaging her far more easily than I thought they would.

“Now, can you tell me what you think of my new necklace?” Amelia asked.

“I think it suits you perfectly!” Arthur said.

“THANK YOU!” Amelia squealed. “Oh, by the way! I got ones for everyone, and—”
“Wait a second,” Sophia interrupted. “Give me that!”

“But Sophia, I-”
“Just do it!” Sophia shouted.

“If you insist,” Amelia began to take the necklace off her neck. My view spun rapidly until I was facing toward Sophia, who seemed to be staring at me angrily. “Here you go,” Amelia said.

“Thank you.” Sophia replied as she grabbed the necklace. While Sophia stared at me, she started to shake it, and everything around me moved violently. I turned back to shield my ‘eyes’, but I suddenly saw the pendant above me. Now separated from the pendant, Sophia stared at me again for a few seconds or so before making an announcement to the rest of the group.

“It's a fake," she declared.

“What!” Persephone exclaimed.

“How do you know?” Amelia asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Sophia stated, “A princess knows her jewelry. Ohohoho!”

“But why would that shopkeeper lie to me?” Amelia asked, sounding like she was about to cry. “He was so nice to me!”

“Amelia, you can be far too trusting sometimes,” Myrtle remarked.

“But I bought ones for everyone, and…wahhhh!” Amelia started to cry.

“Stop being a crybaby, Ami-san,” Kit remarked.

“You’re one to talk, Kit!” Persephone shouted back.

“Hey, ladies,” Arthur said. “Why don’t we head back to town and give that con artist what he deserves?”

“Wait, head back to town?” Myrtle asked.
“Of course, Myrtle-chan,” Arthur replied. “Why do you ask?”

“I have a better idea.”
“What is it?”

Myrtle suddenly leaned towards the row that Arthur, Kit, and Amelia were sitting in.

“Hey Myrtle! What’re you doing?” Arthur asked.

Myrtle picked up the bag from the floor of the carriage and threw it through one of the openings.

“Well, I suppose that works too!” Sophia exclaimed, tossing me out of the opening as well.

Everything moved rapidly around me as the carriage got further and further away. Passing into the woods, I began to fall down, and the world began to spin. This rush of movement was overwhelming, and unlike earlier today, I had nowhere to hide.

Still, I had a guess of what was to come. I was sure whatever place I ended up at wouldn’t be as stunning as the lake, even during its beginnings. The paint that was still obstructing my view certainly wouldn’t help either. But after all the movement, particularly all the constant swirls of green, a little bit of a break would be kind of nice. Besides, someone would probably pick me up again in the distant future, whenever that would be.

But I wasn’t prepared for what would happen next.

As I kept rolling down the slope, I began to see what looked to be solid ground, but before I could reach it, I hit a bump in the middle of my path, redirecting me upwards. I didn't think that would mean much. I would just end up a little deeper into the woods—not a big deal. But while I was spinning, for a split second, I saw what looked to be a young girl. In the next instant, I impacted her arm, and a bright light quickly engulfed me.

After the light dissipated, I saw the girl staring down at me, her face tense in fear. She was holding onto her left arm, which, despite all the green in my view, was glowing a bright purple. Feeling panicked, I flipped backwards and... Wait a minute; I couldn’t do that before. I began to sway a little, left and right, forward and back. I can’t believe it. I can move again! But how is this even possible? I turned towards the girl, who had a look of terror plastered on her face.

What just happened to me?