X774, The Kingdom of Fiore.
"-And we know nothing about a place called 'Japan' or 'America' as you call it. Are you sure you are alright, lad?"
The old man who was the leader of this nameless village spoke out in concern as the teenager (barely) in front of him gave a clearly fake smile that barely concealed his inner turmoil.
"It's alright. I am fine. Can you point me to a place where I can trade my stuff for some money, and an inn or something of the sort I can stay in?"
The old man laughed heartily at those words before slapping the back of the boy.
"None of that now. I can see that you are clearly lost and are in dire straits. It would reflect badly on my folk if we took what little you have in exchange for something as basic as food and shelter. Come, I'll show you to one of our unused houses."
The boy with blond hair and blue eyes, wearing strange clothes and armor, stared seriously at the old man.
"I cannot do that. How about this? I will earn my keep-"
"Bah! Enough of that! Come with!"
The old man simply dragged the child with annoyance, showing great strength that surprised the boy, given the thin and short frame of the older man. The boy could not utter any more words before he was dragged towards the edge of the small fishing village.
Normally, the old man would never do something like that.
As a small village on the frontiers, barely within the borders of the Kingdom, he and his kin were naturally wary of strangers who stumbled upon their small home.
Most of the time, such strangers were either Mages that only stayed a night or two before going their merry way, or scouts of a Dark Guild, or maybe even bandits, looking to scope out the place.
As such, it made sense that they were not a very welcoming people.
However, this young man was different from such people.
When the old man had first seen the teenager, he was stumbling on the beach, his eyes wide in pure shock and his body trembling due to some kind of traumatic experience.
He looked nothing like a mage, and his clothing, armor, and sword looked far too good to be a bandit or Dark Guild member. When he got closer, the old man felt clear signs of magic from the boy's clothing and armor, nothing too strange, just regular size adjustment magic, but magic nonetheless, which meant they must be expensive.
It also meant that he was no bandit or Dark Mage, but a lost child of a good background who somehow stumbled onto them.
While their village was cautious of strangers, how could they turn their backs on someone who was clearly in need? A child at that?
That was why the old man had invited the boy to his village in hopes of finding out who he was.
And sure enough, his earlier guess was right.
This teenager was lost, not just in terms of location, but his mental faculties. At least, that is what the old man felt.
While pulling answers from him was like pulling teeth, the old man did manage to paint a picture in his head based on what he had heard so far.
His words carried a strange accent, one that he did not recognize. His clothing was somewhat foreign, and so was his crest, but the style reminded him of those people in the Western continents and maybe even Alvarez. He spoke of cities and nations that the old man had never even heard of, which was a feat of its own since he had served in the Second Trade War as a young man and travelled the continent from top to bottom.
Finally, he spoke of an 'accident' which was the last thing he remembered before waking up on the beach.
While he did not say what this supposed accident was, the old man was experienced enough to put two and two together.
The salt deposit on his clothing and body, the wrinkling of his skin, which showed that he had been in water for a long time, and how he was found on the beach, clearly showed that he was in some kind of a shipwreck.
Although the old man did find it weird that the boy was the only thing that washed up on their shores. Aside from him, not even a single piece of debris was found, which either meant that the boy had drifted too far from the wreckage and somehow wound up with them, or the destruction of their ship was so total that not even debris was left of it.
Truthfully, the old man did not know which scenario was scarier.
Soon, the two arrived at a few empty houses that were clearly abandoned but did not look too old near the edges of the village.
"These houses were supposed to house any newcomers to the village when we discovered a vein of Raw Lacrima a few months ago. However, the vein turned out to be regular Quartz and quickly lost the interest of the Kingdom, so these houses went unused. You can use any of them for tonight. Meanwhile, I'll contact the nearest town and arrange transportation for you so that you can get checked out at a proper hospital."
"….Thank you. Truly."
The old man laughed and patted the teenager on the shoulder gently.
"Don't worry about it. It doesn't cost us anything to show kindness to you. Rest well, we will talk again tomorrow."
The old man left before the teenager could say anything else.
The teenager slowly walked into the nearest house and collapsed onto the bed as his emotions finally found an outlet.
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I held the pillow to my face and screamed myself hoarse as the gravity of my situation finally caught up to me.
It was supposed to be a simple vacation with the boys.
We travelled to Shinjuku for a convention, intending on spending our vacation indulging in our shared hobby of cosplaying while also enjoying the culture of Japan.
We wanted to forget the backbreaking work that we had endured in the past few years, thanks to the inflation and all that nonsense.
Everything was going well. We had smoothly landed in Japan. There were no problems with our hotel reservations, and our guide showed up on time and was quite professional and knowledgeable.
We even managed to dress up as our favorite characters from various anime and shows, blending in with countless nerds from across the country and the world that had gathered there.
Trevor dressed up as Alucard from the Helsing series, while John dressed up as Gilgamesh of all things.
We were having such a blast at the convention.
Then, something went wrong.
I still don't know what happened. One moment, we were shaking hands with some manga artist and posing for a photo, the next moment, there was screaming as the roof collapsed on us.
The last thing I remember is Trevor and John's screams, telling me to move.
The next thing I knew, I woke up on the beach, soaked in sea water and sand flooding my clothing and my body, far shorter but strangely stronger than I remember.
Clothing that had suddenly transformed from cheap cotton to sturdy combat fabric of unknown make. Armor that was supposed to be made of tin now felt heavy, not in an uncomfortable way but in a strangely reassuring way.
The blond wig was nowhere to be seen, and neither was my black hair. In its place, there were long blond locks that were reflected on the water's surface, just like black eyes that were now a startling blue, even without contacts, which were also missing.
Most importantly, the toy sword and scabbard on my hip felt heavier, as if they were real. A hypothesis that I was not willing to test right now, since I don't want to lose what little remains of my mental control.
Somehow, someway, my cosplay of Jaune Arc from the RWBY franchise had turned real.
Worse yet, I am nowhere near Shinjuku, or Japan for that matter, given that the old man did not recognize those names despite speaking some variation of Japanese.
A language that I never knew, but somehow still understood and spoke somewhat fluently without issue. Another anomaly, alongside the fact that I am now a child again instead of the adult that I was previously.
"Fuck! What the hell is happening here!?"
Once again, I cursed into the pillow and screamed out my grievances into the helpless object.
Truly, just what happened? And where am I?
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