“This is really happening, huh?” Max mutters, no visible emotion in his tone. I glance at the blond. Despite his mouth twisting into a smile, the grin was nervous, unsure—not at all like his usual ones. Max has always been someone who wears his heart on his sleeve, but now he seems to be hiding them. Not very successfully though.

“Yup,” I reply, squaring my shoulders. A moment of silence passed. “You know, just yesterday, I was thinking about how boring my life is,” I add, trying to keep the flow of conversation going. Max glances at me, gesturing for me to continue.

“If this new life means that I’ll have to fight more things like those creatures,” I cross my arms and huff, “I’d rather live a boring life.”

Max snorts, shaking his head—but his smile seems more natural now. “Amen to that,” he chuckles, some of the tension seeping out of his body.

“But don’t you think it’s exciting?!?” A loud squeal broke the otherwise heavy silence. We both turn to look at Princesa. She was practically brimming with excitement, the depth of what’s actually happening not fully dawning on her—in fact, she probably sees it as some sort of fantasy adventure; which in hindsight, is technically true.

As soon as the words escaped my lips, the girls all gaped at me—well, except Princess of course. The cloaked women both nodded, satisfied with my reply.

Huh, guess I have some packing to do…

Suddenly, a loud laugh abruptly snapped me out of my thoughts. I spun my head to look at the source; Max. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who was surprised—everyone else was also now staring at him. Max just continued to laugh, his shoulders quaking with the motion.

“Oh God, he’s gone crazy,” Princess muttered. Then a flash of recognition. “Oh wait, he’s always crazy,” the redhead sneered, mostly to herself. But we all heard her.

Her sisters shot her an unamused glare; she just shrugged. Once Max’s laughter died down, he wiped a few tears streaming down his face.

“S-sorry...” he wheezed, trying to control his breathing. Emily gently pat her brother’s back while Emilia handed him the flask from earlier. After taking a gulp of water and a few deep breaths, he stared at me dead-on. “Are you serious, man?” There was no jest in his tone.

“Yes…?” I replied, unsure how to respond. Max raised a brow, not at all comforted by my answer.

“Wow, you sound so determined.” The blond deadpanned. I rolled my eyes and exhaled. To be fair, he was kinda right. I wasn’t exactly oozing with confidence. But still.

“That’s cause I am,” I said finally. I stared straight at the other male, trying to prove my point. Max gazed at me with an unreadable expression, his eyes paying homage to his last name. The usual cheeriness and joviality had disappeared and was replaced with solemnity more often present in Emillia’s eyes.

Then his mask of seriousness cracked and he smirked. “That sounds more like it!” he proclaimed, satisfied. He took another gulp before sighing in relief. He grinned and looked at me.

“Count me in,” he said casually. A beat of silence. Then his two older sisters hit him right on the head.

“What’d ya just say?!?” Emily shouts, pulling Max’s ear.

“You better be f****** jesting,” Emillia rumbled dangerously. The taller blond whined, trying to get away from his sisters. I noticed Princess snickering at the display, unfiltered glee on her face.

“I know what I said...” he mumbled with a pout, finally shaking off the girl with braided hair.

Prince stared at her brother for a moment before happily stating, “Ooh~ I wanna go too!”

The older twins look horrified, their pupils blown wide. Even Max seemed shocked by his sister’s bold declaration.

This family can be a real headache sometimes…

“Oh, hell no.” We all turned in surprise to look at Princess. The youngest had her arms crossed, eyes in a sharp glare. “You can’t go,” she stated simply, matter-of-fact. Before her twin could complain, she continued, “I don’t want you to die. Him—” she pointed to Max, “—I don’t care about; but you’re my sister. I don’t want to see you hurt.”

Ah right, I almost forgot. Princess isn’t that bad of a person; a bit of a brat, sure, but still pretty nice. She just really, really hates Max—borderline despise.

“Well, I’m glad you’re worried about Prince—if nothing else,” Max smiled lightly. Princess glared at him, as if offended by what he said.

“Excuse me? Do you really think I’m so heartless as to not care about my own family?” She practically spat the words, venom lacing her words.

I could practically see the hurt in the blond’s eyes, but as usual he just grinned, shrugging.

“That’s not the problem here!” A voice breaks the atmosphere. Emily had her hands on her hips, and a pissed off expression—just like her twin beside her. “You two gone in the head? You’re gonna get hurt!” Emily barked, fully using her accent. Max and Prince just chuckled, half-shrugging. Emillia exhaled heavily, rubbing her temples.

“If it helps, your family members might not be killed.” A  voice cut in. That’s when we realised it came from the three-eyed woman. The other lady nodded.

“Yes,” she agreed simply.

Ah, right. Completely forgot about those two...

“Not good enough.” The eldest daughter crossed her arms.

Emily pursed her lips before proclaiming, “Promise that they’ll not be harmed.”

Huh, her country drawl is gone.

The brunette gave a wry smile. “Hah, that is impossible,” she scoffed. “From what I can tell, your brother is reckless; it’s impossible to keep someone like from being completely unharmed,” she continued, briefly glancing at Howard.

After a while, the tall woman adds, “We will try to keep them alive, that is all we can promise you.” It sounded more like an afterthought than anything.

The older twins exchanged a look. Suddenly, a hand is gently placed on their shoulders respectively. Emilia and Emily turn around, only to gaze at Max and Prince smilIng ever so kindly at the two.

“Emillia, Emily.” Max looked at the two, his voice soft and gentle—but there’s still a weight to his words. That was his ‘I understand, but please listen to what I have to say’ tone—it’s always been surprisingly effective. I’m not really sure what accent he’s using though (you decide).

“I understand your concern, but you have to understand; this is something we really want to do.” Max gently nudged Prince. The younger girl looked at him with surprise before turning to the two older sisters. Inhaling deeply, she began her plea,

“Yeah. I love you all; I really do. And I would never do something to make you mad—well, not intentionally at least.” She gives a light chuckle. Emily and Amillia’s burning green eyes softened, a hoarse laugh choked in their throats. Prince and Max shared a look, then stared at their elder siblings head-on, before simultaneously proclaiming with utmost sincerity;

“We’ll always support you, no matter what. So please, just this once—could you please support us?”

And that’s pretty much what happened. The two elder twins had finally let Princess and Max go—with some conditions of course. They had to keep in contact (not sure if that’s possible but, eh), have a balanced diet, maintain their healthy lifestyle, and above all; not get killed.

Not sure which is the harder one though....

“Suppose so!” Max replies brightly, ruffling his sister’s red hair. “These things are freakin’ heavy though,” Max mutters with an annoyed huff, adjusting his cargoes. The large hiking bags shift, sounds of something metallic clashing against another.

“Sheesh, what did she pack in those? A full cooking set?” I mutter, observing the bags. Max—being his ‘gentlemanly self’—of course, offered to carry his sister’s bag. I honestly didn’t bring anything cause I’m pretty certain there’s enough in those bags to last all three of us for a few weeks; if not, then we’ll just ask the mages to magic something up.

I don’t think that’s how it works, but who knows? Maybe, it might work—or maybe it’ll just blow up in my face; preferably, not literally.

“Probably,” Prince chirps gleefully, giggling. “Well, at least we won’t go hungry!” she adds, nudging her brother. The blond huffs, a childish pout on his lips. It’s no secret that Max is a foodie, not a very picky one at that. Heh, that’s probably why the bags are so big; there’s a Max-level week’s worth of food. Pun intended.

“Are you ready?” A sudden voice breaks my train of thought. I look up and notice we’ve stopped walking, the cloaked women staring expectantly at us.

I share a glace with the Stone siblings. The two smile at me, no hint of hesitation on their faces—just mildly subdued glee. Finally, I look back at two ladies. I exhale and put on a small smile.

I shrug, “As ready as anyone can be when they’re about to go to a possibly dangerous world with monsters and magic, I suppose.” Max hides a chuckle with a badly-timed cough.

“Hold onto that sunny attitude of yours—” the masked woman says without any notable emotion, “—dark clouds are about to come.”

Without waiting for us to reply, she flicks her wrist. And suddenly, a gust of strong wind came out of nowhere, accompanied by the dark clouds now looming over us--a bad omen if I ever saw one--obscuring our sight. I could roughly see Max’s broad figure holding Prince close to himself while the two mages simply stood there--unaffected by any of it.

Suddenly, there was light. I shielded my eyes, hissing at the brightness. And then, there was silence; the suspicious kind, like when you enter a haunted house and the ghouls are watching your every step.

Huh, I have no idea if these mages fit that, but I suppose I’m not far off.

I slowly lower my arm and blink open my eyes. There was a portal or maybe some sort of gate? Literally like the fantasy-stuff you see only in movies.

It was encapsulated by two trees—not small ones too, literal big *** trees—the branches wrapping around each other. Small flowers were blooming near the roots. The portal itself was a vibrant mix of purple, blue, and pink. It was honestly an eyesore.

Seriously, when and why did my life become some fantasy anime ****?

“It’s pretty…?” Max mumbles, gazing at the tree. Prince snorts, showing just how much she agreed to the statement. The three-eyed woman narrows her eyes, pursing her lips.

“Come,” the masked woman announced. Without waiting—she’s pretty impatient—the woman enters the portal and disappears. The German-accented mage does the same.

“Here we go!” Princesa cheers, skipping over to the gate.  Max obediently follows after her. The two then disappear with a sparkle of glitter—literally.

'Huh, well, that was something.' I inhale deeply and exhale, before finally taking a step forward. 'Here goes...'

As soon as I entered the portal, all I could see was darkness. 

Nothing.