The journey to claim my place as king is not an easy path one would take.

This land is awash with chaos, the lords of the land all varying for power amidst the succession of the previous king. Even with the holy blade in my hands, uniting the lords would be no easy task.

I know all too well the depths of human depravity.

Merlin, my mentor, ever by my side in the midst of such chaos, using such power that only exists in the dreams and fantasies of man. We fought against the many who wished to claim such power.

Yet there was another.

A man I met purely by chance on a simple bridge, a boy no older than me, yet with skill that far outclassed mine with a blade. With no proof, to show my status, he questioned not my being.

His name was Lancelot.

My friend.

****

The buzz of the alarm clock disrupted Allisa's sleep. The girl stirred, letting out a loud groan as she reached to turn it off.

She had another dream, or rather, one of Arthur's memories. Since the Awakening, they have become less frequent. However, they were becoming more vivid, as though the memories were her own. It was a strange feeling to watch someone through their eyes, only to wake up to find that she's herself.

She was back in her room, in her own world, and today, she would be going back to school. For some reason, it felt strange, waking up to be back in her room, after all the time she spent in Avalon. As she got out of bed and picked up her clothes from the floor, she felt drawn to the two items on her desk, the void ring, and Elizabeth's Charm. She spent some time examining both as she brushed her hair, thinking back to her adventure.

"Allisa! Breakfast!" A familiar voice called to her.

"I'll be down in a sec!" she replied back as she tied her hair in a ponytail. She looked at them for a second longer, thinking about her adventure.

Wonder if I'll see them again? She thought as she got changed, thinking of the people she met. It now seemed like a distant memory.

She often thought about what her life would have been like if she stayed rather than returned. However, she felt she made the right choice in returning; after all, it was her home. That's what was going through her head, as she put on her shoes and picked up her bag. That life was fun, but this was her ordinary life.

Back to School

"Morning," Allisa said as she entered the kitchen.

"Morning." Her mother, Alicia, greeted her as she took her seat at the table. Already there was Luke, her brother. She noticed that there was someone missing. "Where's Dad?" she asked.

"Oh, he's still asleep, he had to work late last night."

"Cause of these serial killers." Her brother joined in.

"Oh, they haven't caught them yet?" Allisa asked.

"Na. I heard the latest victim was some hobo near the mall. Dan said he saw him. His guts were everywhere."

"Luke!" Alicia snapped. "That is not appropriate for the table."

"Sorry." Luke apologized before returning to his breakfast. Allisa didn't know much about this since she was away, but she had heard there had been a series of brutal murders around Little Wood. "Hey, Allisa. What kind of camp did you go to?" Luke asked. Allisa choked on her breakfast by the unexpected question. "You haven't said anything about it."

"U-Um, a normal one." She blurted out, fomenting as many possible excuses she could think of at present.

"Could you be any more vague? What you do."

"Y-you, sports... stuff." She said as she gulped down her juice, trying her best to come up with excuses on the spot.

"But you suck at sports," Luke said bluntly.

"I improve, and you no better than me." Allisa countered.

"Hey, I'm gonna be a famous football player when I grow up."

"You? You can't even make it into the soccer team."

"Footballs different the soccer!"

"Yeah, about ten times more violent." And nowhere near what I went through. Allisa shook as she recalled her experiences in Avalon. One occasion she nearly died after having her heart pierced. It was nothing short of a miracle she was still alive.

"That's enough arguing." Alicia interrupted.

"Well, I'm off," Allisa said, finishing her breakfast.

"Do you need a lift?" Alicia said.

"No, I'm walking with Lucy." She said as she left the room. "See ya."

"Have a good day at school sweaty."

****

It still felt strange. Despite everything that happened to her, everything seemed to have returned to normal. Everything was exactly the same. That's what Allisa felt as she walked down to her school. At the same time, looking around, the differences between the two worlds were very clear. It made Allisa feel as though she didn't belong anymore if she made a mistake and returned to her world.

"Allisa!" Allisa looked behind her to see Lucy running after.

"Lucy! Hey!" This was the first time she had seen her since she had been back, so she was happy to see her again. "When'd you get back?" she asked.

"Yesterday. I tried calling you."

"Oh! S-sorry. Its broken, and I haven't got round to replacing it." Allisa's cell phone was broken since she that night she was attacked. She only realized that when she got back.

"Still the scatterbrain I see," Lucy said.

"It's just a phone. I'll get one at some point."

"And your sense of style is no better I see." Lucy teased gesturing at Allisa's clothes. "It wouldn't hurt to be more girly."

"Hey, I just have unique tastes."

"Like..."

"Um... You know, um...." the two then laughed together. "So great to see you. I missed you so much." Allisa said as she hugged her.

"H-Hey.... No need to be all dramatic." Lucy joked as she was released. "But yeah, it's good to see you again.

The two then resumed their walk to school.

"So, how was that archery thing?" Allisa asked.

"It went well. Not Olympics well, but I think I have some talent for it."

"Given that you suck at most other sports."

"You're one to talk? You're just as bad as me."

Allisa and Lucy had been best friends for ages. In fact, She was the one person in this world that Allisa was closest to.

"So, how'd your thing go?" Lucy suddenly asked.

"Huh?"

"You know, that thing you talked to me about before summer vacation started."

"Oh, that, um..." Allisa was completely unprepared to come up with something on the spot. Even though she'd been lying about it since she got back, she wasn't really good at it. ".... It went ok, I guess."

"What was it in the end? You were so vague about it before you left." Lucy continued.

"Oh, um...." It was because they were friends that Allisa felt that she should keep the stuff about Avalon a secret. "It' was, um... a, sports... craft, thing." She couldn't actually think of a proper excuse.

"Sports crafts?"

"Um, something like that."

"Any details?" she pried, pushing up her glasses.

"Um, not really much to say."

"Ok, tell me what you can." Lucy continued to press on while Allisa tried to make some excuse and made up what she could. She wasn't entirely sure if Lucy believed her, but she knew she definitely wouldn't believe the truth. They continued to talk all the way to school.

Nothing really changes. That's what Allisa thought as she laid eyes on her school. It was still the same, no matter how much she looked at it. Just gazing at the boring building was enough to drill that fact in. Though strangely, she was slightly happy. Not happy about going to school again, but happy that it seemed her life was starting to return to normal. Little did she know that in a few short moments, she would realize that her normal life was gone.

****

The bell rang as Allisa and Lucy made it to class, where people were starting to take their seats.

"Made it in time," Lucy announced. They both entered the room heading to there seats. Julie then entered the room, giving Allisa a cold stare as she walked down the desks.

"Hey, Julie." One of the boys said as she passed. "How was summer?"

"None of your business." She replied coldly as she took her seat.

"She's as antisocial as ever," Lucy said quietly to Allisa. "Hard to believe she's one of the popular."

Allisa never really understood Julie. She was very quiet, and kept mostly to herself, rarely talking to anyone, and if she did she would say next to nothing. She had tried to open up to her in the past, but every time, she was rejected outright. Nonetheless, most people in school consider her popular, though it's not clear to the reason why considering how distant she is to everyone. The teacher then entered the room, Mr. Stevens, a bald-headed and very old school man.

"Everyone settle down! Class has begun!" he called out, while everyone took their seats. "Before I begin taking attendance, we have four new students transferring into class."

"Four?" Allisa said quietly to herself. She looked around and saw there were four empty seats. That's a lot for the first day.

"Please come in," he called out.

Wonder what these people will be like? Allisa looked up and instantly froze in horror as she gazed on four, very familiar faces. No way!

"Please introduce yourself to the class." Mr. Stevens instructed.

"Nel Zepher. It's a pleasure to meet all of you." A red-haired, rather mature looking girl said in a cheerful voice.

"Melvin Stride. Nice to meet ya." A small boy said.

"What's up. I'm Max Colt." The next boy said.

"Yuki Akoga." The final one said grumpily.

Allisa immediately shot up from her desk. "Wha-What are you doing here?"

Awkward reunion

The entire class turned their attention to Allisa, who had a look of shock. "Do you know each other?" Mr. Stevens asked.

"Never seen her before in my life," Nel replied, keeping her cheerful voice.

"Allisa," Lucy gently tugged Allisa's sleeve. Allisa then took her seat realizing the scene she created and feeling both embarrassed and shocked. "Are you ok?" Lucy whispered.

"I-I'm fine," Allisa whispered back, her face very red.

"You sure? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Close to it. What are they doing here? She gazed at the four, her head still regained herself from the shock.

I-It might not be them. Just people who look... a lot like them. She saw that they were all wearing normal clothes, which gave her some hope that it really wasn't them. Then noticed that the one who called himself Yuki had a familiar Katana strapped to his belt. It's them! Why are they here?

As Allisa rattled her heir, Max leaned into Yuki. "Why are we pretend we don't know her again?" Max whispered.

"How am I supposed to know? I'm still wondering why I'm even here." He whispered back.

"Cause the old man's got something on you?"

"Can it, Pyro."

"What are you two discussing?!" Mr. Stevens snapped.

"None of your business badly," Max replied. Muted laughter erupted through the class as Allisa slumped on her desk.

That's definitely Max, that idiot. She thought.

"Terribly sorry sir," Nel said bowing.

"Wh-we're not involved with those idiots." Melvin pleaded.

"Who are you calling an idiot?!" Yuki snapped. "The pyro's the idiot!"

"Say that again Sword bastard!" Max said as the two bashed their heads together.

Nel then pinched both their cheeks hard. "Sorry for the disruption." She said.

A vain on Mr. Stevens' forehead stoke up. "Since it's your first day, I won't send you to detention. But this will be your first warning." He said calmly suppressing his rage. "Now take your seats!"

Nel released their cheeks and pushed past them, going down to the desk directly behind Allisa. As she passed her, she gently slipped a note on her desk, which Allisa noticed. She picked up the small piece of paper.

Explain later

Pretend you don't know us

She immediately crushed the note and resisted the urge to look behind her. You so owe me that explanation!

****

The bell rang for lunch. The entire day had so far been quite eventful for Allisa, who was still wondering what her friends from Avalon were doing in her school, making very little effort to conceal themselves. Nel was putting on a very annoying, good girl act. Melvin was attracting a lot of attention since he was clearly the youngest in her year, and in a negative way. Max and Yuki weren't even trying to act and were still their clueless, obnoxious selves who got into a fight over their seat.

"Don't think there has ever been a class like that," Lucy commented as the two of them walked to the lunch hall. "They're like animals." She was referring to Max and Yuki, who put on quite the show in class.

You don't know how accurate that description is of them. Allisa thought.

"You sure you're alright? You've been acting strange since class."

"I'm fine. See." Allisa said quickly while forcing a smile.

"Yeah, I'm not convinced," Lucy stated, narrowing her eyes, "and what was with that huge reaction at the start of class? Do you know them or something?"

"Oh, that," Allisa went slightly red as she remembered the event in question. "N-Not really, they just... looked like people I knew."

Lucy made a humming sound as she narrowed her gaze even more. "Knew from where?"

"Um... distant, relatives...cousins." Even Allisa knew that she was a terrible liar.

Whether she bought it or not, Lucy backed off. "Still, there's something strange about that Yuki and Nel."

"Strange how?"

"Not sure, but they seem a bit, older than they say."

That's because they're in they're in there 20's. Wait....? Allisa then realized something. "Notice.... anything else?"

"No. Did you notice anything?"

"N-No, cause not," Allisa said quickly, feeling a little relieved. Although she did find it strange that Yuki was carrying a real sword in school, no one seemed to take any notice, as though it didn't exist. Why don't they notice? Even the teachers are oblivious to it.

"Heads up," Lucy warned.

"Hm?"

"12 o'clock."

Allisa looked forwards and saw Francesca walking towards them. "Oh right. I forgot about her." she moaned.

Francesca was perhaps the most popular girl in school and tended to look down on most people, and particularly despise Allisa and Lucy.

"Try to ignore her," Allisa told Lucy.

"I'd rather she didn't exist," Lucy said.

"Well, well," Francesca said as she walked up to the two. "I see you're still the same no matter what year it is, Geek and Tomboy."

"Same can be said of you, Diva." Lucy retorted.

Francesca simply shook the comment off and faced Allisa. "I hear your class has taken in a group of weirdo's. Must be nice to know you two aren't alone anymore."

"Hey! Don't lump us in with them!" Lucy snapped.

Allisa wasn't entirely sure what to say since the 'weirdo's' in question was technically her friends.

"What eves." Francesca pushed passed them and walked off.

"What's her problem?" Lucy said. When she was out of earshot. She then noticed Allisa was being very quiet. "Something wrong."

"No nothing," Allisa said quickly. Sorry Lucy, but I can't tell you. Allisa fought the urge to tell her the truth, about Avalon and Excalibur. She knew there was no way Lucy would believe such an outrageous story. I don't want to get you involved.

****

"There are so many social conventions I wasn’t aware of," Nel said while reading a book. She sat in the lunch hall with Yuki. "I really must pay attention to my actions."

"What are you reading anyway?" Yuki asked.

"A guide to social interactions in high school," Nel replied.

Yuki took a glance at the title: How to be normal in high school. "I really don't think that will help you a lot. Besides, went you here before?"

"I kept a low profile last time, so I don't really know much about this world."

"So why can't we do that?"

"I'm the only one who can. The rest of you stand out too much." Nel then closed the book. "And besides, I'm actually finding this fun."

"That makes one of us."

"Well, if you excuse me." Nel then got up from the table. "I want to try out one of these 'Vending machines' I've read about." She then left Yuki alone.

"This world is weird," Yuki said to himself as he looked around. "Why did I even agree to this?" He then looked down on his sword. "Guess it really is invisible since no one's noticed."

****

Allisa and Lucy made it to the lunch hall. It was busy as it always was. Allisa looked round to see if she could find Nel, Max, Melvin and Yuki, and get some answers out of them.

"Heads up." Lucy distracted her and gestured to her right. Allisa looked and saw Aston, and immediately blushed. She had had a crush on him for some time and had always been very nervous around him. "I'll leave you to it."

"Huh?"

"You know," Lucy said with a big grin, pointing at Aston.

"Wha, I can't, I-" Allisa tried to protest, but Lucy ignored her.

"Oh come one, he's cute, he's single, and you've had a crush on him for ages."

"B-but-" Allisa glanced a look to him.

"Good luck," Lucy said as she left her.

"Wait don't-" Lucy was already gone. Allisa sighed before looking at Aston again. I can do this. She thought, taking in a deep breath. I've done scarier things. This is nothing. She then started to walk towards him.

****

Max and Melvin, both carrying trays took a seat near Yuki. "Where's Nel?" Melvin asked.

"She went off." Yuki replayed. "Something about wanting to try some machine around here."

"She seems to be enjoying herself."

"A little too much. This is supposed to be a job, right."

"You're taking this too seriously," Max said as he took a big bite of his food. "This world’s so cool, apart from this school thing."

"Speaking of which, what's the point of this?!" Yuki complained. "All we did this morning is sitting at desks learning about useless crap!"

"We have to do this all day." Melvin corrected him.

"Are you kidding?" Yuki slumped in his seat, letting out a large groan. "What the heck did I sign up for?"

"Well, I'm having a blast, just learning about things in this world."

"No kidding. I kinda like those weird vehicles they have out front." Max said.

"Think there called 'cars.'"

"And it's good the foods the same," Max said looking at his burger. "Still, I can't believe they won't let me take all I want. It's so unfair."

"Most normal people don't even eat as much as you do," Melvin commented.

"I wouldn't say that," Yuki said. "There are a few people who are as big as he should be."

"What the hell does that mean?!" Max retorted.

"No fighting! We don't need you two to cause another scene." Melvin pleaded. Max and Yuki looked at Melvin and reluctantly backed off.

"What's taking Nel anyway?" Yuki said, looking in the direction she headed off too.

****

I can do this. I can do this. Thoughts rang through Allisa's head as she approached Aston, her heart going into overdrive. He was on his own at one of the vending machines, which worked for Allisa. "H-Hey Aston." She nervously attracted his attention.

"Oh, hey." He scratched his head quickly. "Allisa, right?"

"Y-yeah." She said nervously. "Are-Are you waiting for someone?"

"Na, just came to get a drink." He replied pointing at the vending machine.

"Oh, right. I-It kinda looked like you were waiting on someone."

"Really? Sorry for the wrong impression." Aston took a sip from his drink. "You're quite talkative today."

"Huh?"

"Well, usually when we talk, you don't talk a lot."

"Oh, really." Allisa thought back to the other times she tried to talk to him. "S-Sorry. I'm not that used to talking to others." She clenched her hands tight to gather while she tried to think of what to say next. "So, I-I was wondering, If you're not doing anything-" she looked right at him, and then instantly froze in place. What the...?

Not far from the two was Nel, who looked like she was studying a vending machine, pushing the buttons and staring intensely at the machine. Allisa also noticed she was getting a few strange stares from others around her.

What is she doing?

"Allisa? Are you ok?" Aston's voice snapped her attention back to him.

"Huh? Y-Yeah, I," she leaned aside to take another look at Nel. "Could you excuse me for a second," Allisa said as she walked past him.

Nel looked in confusion at the snacks in the machine. What she found most striking was that they were wrapped in some strange material. However, she was having trouble trying to take one out due to the machine. "There must be some kind of trick to it." She said to herself, pushing the buttons.

"Ahem!"

Nel looked to her left and saw a, rather annoyed, Allisa standing near her.

"Can I talk to you, privately?" She demanded with a fake smile, her eyebrows twitching.

"Not at the moment. I'm still trying to work out this machine." Nel said. Allisa looked at the machine Nel was staring at.

"You mean after all the time you spent before you met me in my world, you don't know how to work a vending machine?"

"I was keeping a low profile back then, so I don't really know how something like this works."

So why can't you keep a low profile now? Allisa thought as Nel went back to studying the vending machine. "I really need to speak to all of you. NOW." Allisa demanded, still trying not to yell.

Nel looked at her again. "Alright. Guess now's a good time."

"Good. You get the guys and follow me. You're gonna-" As she said that, some kind of commotion then began not too far away. "Don't tell me it's....?"

"I'm afraid so," Nel said looking in the direction of the commotion.

****

"What's taking Nel anyway?" Yuki said, looking in the direction she headed off too.

"Hey." A voice came from behind Melvin and Max. Both looked up and saw a rather tall and beefy boy standing behind them. Another two formed up behind Yuki.

"What's up?" Max said in a friendly voice.

Yuki looked at the two surrounding him carefully, he could tell they weren't exactly here to make friends.

"You're those weirdo's we heard about?" The boy asked.

"Weirdo's?" Max looked around, thinking he might mean someone else.

"I guess he means us," Melvin said to him.

"Names Tristan." The boy introduced himself. "And I wanted to meet you guys."

"Us?" Melvin said.

"That's right, pip-squeak," Tristan said threateningly. "How'd a kid like you get into high school anyway?"

"What the hell do you jerks want?" Max said bluntly, irritation building up.

Tristan looked at Max. "Come with us. We just want to talk, that's all." Tristan said.

"Guess we don't have a choice in this," Yuki said as she got up. Max and Melvin did the same. "Lead the way."

****

Allisa and Nel watched as the boys were being led off by another group. "Tristan," Allisa said.

"Someone you know?" Nel asked.

"He's the captain of the football team. And also one of the biggest jerk in school. Beats up and bully most the grade schooler's and people who he doesn't like."

"I see. So that's a school bully." Nel said, a hint of interest in her voice. "Will they be alright?"

"Given that it's them, it's the other guys I'm worried about," Allisa said with concern.

"Good point. Let's go before they end up killing them." Nel said as she walked away after them. Allisa followed quickly.

Max, Yuki, Don't do anything stupid.

****

Lucy walked through the lunch hall to a table where two girls and two boys were sitting. They were members of the Science club, which Lucy was a member of.

"Hey." She said as she took a seat near them.

The names of the others were Bill, a skinny boy with glasses, Gina, a dark-skinned girl, Easton, a boy with fuzzy hair, and Gabriela, a large girl.

"Oh, Lucy," Gabriela said as she sat down. "Arnt you with Allisa."

"Na, she's with Aston at the moment," Lucy said.

"Aston?" Gina said. "You mean, you know,"

"Only time will tell," Lucy replied with a grin on her face.

"S-S-so, Sh-she really l-likes him?" Bill stuttered.

"Give up dude," Easton said to Bill. "You're probably the last person Allisa would fall for."

"D-Don't say th-that."

"Sorry Dude," Lucy said. "Unfortunately she sucks at love so I always need to give her a push."

"Hey look," Gabriela said as she pointed towards the center of the lunch hall, where she saw Tristan. "They're the new guys in your class?"

"Yeah that's them," Lucy said. "Looks like they met the welcoming committee." She then saw the red-haired girl following them, with Allisa.

"Woah," Easton gasped. "Ain't that Allisa?"

"Yeah..." Lucy said, puzzled. "Where's she going?"

****

Tristan and the other two lead Max, Yuki and Melvin to a part to a quiet part of the school, near the dumpsters. Three other boys were already there and were obviously with Tristan.

"Ok. So what exactly do you want?" Yuki said, cutting straight to the chase.

"Well," Tristan looked around at the other boys, who were surrounding their pray like a pack of wolves. "Think of use as the welcoming committee." He said. "Basically, there are a lot of people who need my services to keep them safe from others, in exchange for a favor every now and then."

"What kind of favor?" Melvin asked.

"You know, Do my homework, school projects, and if I'm low on cash, a little donation."

"Right. What a kind 'service' you provide," Yuki said with a hint of sarcasm. "Ok, let's pretend that you're 'keeping them safe,' but what happens when they refuse?"

Tristan smiled and raised his fist. "They don't refuse. It's only natural for the strength to push down those that are simply beneath them."

"And who made you king!" Max snapped. "You think you’re strong. All you're doing is exploiting the weak! What the Hell gives you the right!"

"M-Max, Calm down." Melvin pleaded.

"This asshole's not worth it," Yuki said.

"You got a big mouth," Tristan said as she walked towards Max. "I'm the strongest, therefore I have the right to take what I need from the weak cause I can." He said in a threatening voice, obviously annoyed of being talked back to.

"And what about the things you take from others? How do you think they feel when all you’re doing is trampling on them with no regard or thought to what they feel!" Max blurted out, growing more and more irritated.

Tristan then punched Max in the face. "Like I said, you got a big mouth," Tristan said, shaking his fist about trying to mask the pain from hitting Max, surprised by the unexpected resistance.

He then noticed that Max wasn't fazed by the punch, or even seemed hurt by that matter. Max then fixed him with a face full of barely contained rage.

"Oh boy," Melvin said to himself. "No stopping him now I guess."

Max took a step towards Tristan and punched hard in the chest, sending him flying back into the dumpster behind him, hitting it hard enough to bend the metal inwards. The rest of the boys looked in terror as their leader was defeated with one hit, and ran away as fast as they could. Tristan pried himself from the dumpster. He collapsed to the ground in pain.

"Wha-Wha-" before he could mouth a word, Max hoisted him to his feet, fixing him with burning eyes. What the hell is he?

"I'll ask again, what the hell gives you the-" Before he could finish, someone punched him in the back, causing him to drop the injured Tristan. He looked back and saw Nel, smiling at him with eyes closed.

"What are you doing?" Nel said in a threatening voice.

"That jerk started it!" Max protested.

"What are you doing here?" Melvin asked. Nel pointed to Allisa In the distance, who had a pretty annoyed look on her face. "Oh, right," Melvin said, realizing what it was.

"Hold on, I'm not done with-" As Max protested Nel punched him in the gut, causing him to collapse to the ground.

"You at least deserved that. Now come one." Nel then grabbed Max's hair and tugged him towards Allisa. "Coming?" She said to Yuki and Melvin as she passed them.

"Coming." Both said, a little scared. They left the humiliated Tristan, squirming on the ground in pain.

Grueling questions

"WHY ARE YOU ALL HERE?!!" Allisa yelled at the top of her lungs when they reached the pond in the woods.

The others sat down as Allisa took in a deep breath. "I'm supposed to get back to my normal life! Making it through high school then whatever comes after. So the last thing I was expecting was a pyromaniac, a little perv, a jerk of a swordsman, and an annoying Assassin being in the same class as me!"

"My, what an awfully cruel thing to say," Nel said in a sweet voice, gesturing as though she was wiping a tear from her eye.

"And enough with the good girl act! It's annoying!"

"I think it's pretty good given I picked it up overnight," Nel said in her normal voice.

"And we should be the ones who should be mad at you," Melvin said, taking out Allisa's letter. "You could have said good-bye in person you know."

Allisa was taken a little off guard by Melvin's comment. "Hey, I-I wanted to but... Wait don't change the subject! What are all of you doing here?" She said, getting back to the topic.

"The Arch Sage wanted us to come and make sure nothing happened to you," Nel said.

"Wh-What? What do you mean?" Allisa protested, still refusing to accept this turn of events. "This is my world, and there is no one coming after me. I'm completely safe here."

"You don't honestly believe that," Nel said back. "Do you remember when we first met, you were being attacked by assassins from Avalon."

Allisa fell silent as she remembered that incident.

"And I told you back then, that the one's who sent those assassins will send someone stronger, possibly stronger the Garlahad. This is the reality of your situation, and it's not something that you can run away from." Allisa felt like someone said something similar before. "So, simply put, we're here to keep you safe."

Allisa took in a deep breath. "Ok, I get why you're here." She then pointed at the boys. "But why are they here?"

"I wanted to check out your world," Max replied cheerfully.

"Same here," Melvin said. "No way I'd pass up this opportunity.

"I'm actually wondering that myself," Yuki said, grumpily.

"He was against going," Nel told her. "But Rowin said something and he changed his mind."

"Won't tell us what he said though," Melvin commented. "Says it's none of our business as usual."

Yuk's face cringed. "When I get back, I'm giving that old coot a piece of my mind," he said under his breath.

"All right, next big question:" Allisa said. "How did you even get in my school? I mean, you're a toddler," She pointed at Melvin. "And you two are in your twenties!" Then pointed at Yuki and Nel.

"It appears I can pass off as a teenager though," Nel replied.

"Shut up! How'd you get into this school, anyway? You need documents and birth certificates, and in his case," She pointed at Melvin. "Some kind of geniuses kid's scholarship or something."

"Oh, I forged all the necessary documents," Nel said.

"Forged?"

"Yeah. I stole the documents to fill out and copied the other stuff from existing ones. Documents in your world are really complex."

Allisa took a seat, realizing that her ranting was getting her more riled up.

"You're not happy to see us?" Max asked.

"... No, I'm really happy to see you guys again. Just a bit shocked that you showed up out of nowhere and without warning." She said.

"We probably should have come to see you first," Nel said.

"It was your idea," Melvin said to her.

Allisa then looked at Yuki. "How could you bring a real sword into school anyway?" She asked him.

"Wait, You can see it?" Yuki said, puzzled.

"Couse I can. It's right there at your hip like always."

"What the hell," Yuki turned to Melvin. "You said you'd make it invisible."

"I didn't say 'invisible,'" Melvin said. "I said no one will take note of it. It won't work on Allisa cause she knows it exists."

"Um, What are you talking about?" Allisa asked.

"Well, since he refused to part with that stupid sword of his," Yuki cringed at Melvin's comment. "I put a special tag on the scabbard so he can carry it around without people noticing."

"Tag?" Allisa looked at Yuki's scabbard and saw a small tag with a strange symbol on it. "You mean that thing?"

"Yep. It basically prevents people from noticing it exists. We can see it because we've seen it before. But people who haven't seen it won't be able to unless he actually draws his sword." The others looked very confused by Melvin's explanation.

"Um?" Max scratched his head in confusion. "So, It's invisible to people who haven't seen it?"

"Yeah, let's leave it at that," Melvin said with exhaustion.

"Allisa." Nel attracted Allisa's attention and took our something from her backpack. "Catch." She then chucked over something wrapped in thin paper. Allisa undid the wrapping and saw what it was.

"A crystal?" She studied the red crystal for a bit. Its edges were very rough, as though it had been picked from the ground.

"Pour a bit of mana into it."

Allisa did as instructed. Suddenly, her clothes shone brightly, then her clothes started to change under the light. When it dissipated, Allisa found herself wearing her Avalon clothes. "Whoa! What the hell!" She was startled by what had happened.

"A gift from the Arch Sage. It's a crystal that allows you to change into your clothes from Avalon. He told me to give it to you when we meet." Nel explained.

"How do I change back?" Allisa asked, still a little startled. "I can't go around like this!"

"Do the same as before." Allisa did, and her clothes then shone again and reverted back to her regular clothes.

"What the hell is this?" Allisa asked, staring at the crystal.

"Master made those for us," Melvin said. "He called them garment crystals. They can store one pair of clothing and it allows you to change into it in an instant."

"You can change when you're in trouble," Nel said. "After all, I doubt your current outfits meant for the fights you've gone through."

"You make it sound like I'll be attacked tomorrow," Allisa said. "So, I'm guessing you all have one too."

"Yep." Nel nodded. "Except Yuki, since he can't use mana."

"So those clothes you're wearing came from these crystals?" Allisa asked.

"Na, someone left them for us," Max said. "Melvin did something to put them in the crystal."

"Oh. Wait? What do you mean someone left them for you?" Allisa said puzzled.

"Exactly that," Nel said. "When we arrived here, someone left these clothes, the bags and some money from this world for us." Nel seemed a little skeptical of it.

"Wh-What does that mean?"

"It means there is someone in this town who knows exactly who we are," Nel said suspiciously. "And it's a safe bet that this someone knows about you as well." Allisa felt a little concerned with Nel's words.

"You... think this person is after me?" She asked enviously.

"I doubt it since they left stuff for use. That said, I would advise you to keep our identities, and yours, in particular, secret."

"That's what I've been doing."

"Good. Then keep it up." Nel said.

Allisa wasn't sure if it was a joke or not. "Ok, Since we're all together, mind if I set some ground rules for you."

"What for?" Yuki said.

"You're in my world, and you're trying to fit in," Allisa said with a hint of sarcasm in that last sentence. "So I'm gonna tell you what you shouldn't do." She then pointed at Nel. "First, drop that good girl act. It's irritating."

"Got it." Nel nodded.

"Second, don't examine things like vending machines. People will just think you're crazy." Nel nodded again. Allisa then pointed at Melvin. "Don't do anything perverted. You won't get away with it here." Allisa moved on to Max and Yuki before Melvin could protest. "Don't start any fights. And stay away from Tristan. He's dangerous."

"What, You mean that jerk?" Max said.

"Yes, that jerk." Allisa had a very concerned look on her face. "Seriously, he's bad news. And the last thing you want is to start a huge fight with him if you're trying to keep your identities secret."

"Is he really that dangerous?" Yuki asked.

"Just promise me you won't start anything, ok," Allisa repeated.

"Ok, got it." Yuki agreed.

Max was a little reluctant to agree.

"Max." Allisa pressed. "Promise me you won't start anything."

"... Fine." Max said eventually.

"I'll make sure he doesn't," Melvin said.

"Great." Allisa got up to her feet. "No one but me comes to this place, so well use this to meet up if something comes up. Until then, pretend you don't know me." She then started to walk away and then stopped. "Just wondering, you guys do have a place to stay while you're here, right?"

"Don't worry. We have found somewhere to stay." Nel reassured her.

"Good." Allisa then walked off.

Melvin then turned to Max. "Remember what Master said. We can't interfere too much in this world." He told him. "And picking a fight with that guy is something we shouldn't do."

"Don't worry, I got it," Max said. "That guy just pisses me off."

"I feel the same way you do," Yuki said to him. "But the kid's has a point. If you did fight, even holding back you'd probably kill him with brute strength alone."

"I said I got it!" Max said. "I promised Allisa I won't, so I won't."

Yuki then turned to Nel. "By the way, where are we staying?" he asked.

"It's not out here like last time?" Max asked.

Nel remained quiet at the question.

"Allisa's not gonna like this, right?" Melvin asked, a little worried.

"It's probably best I don't say anything yet," Nel said.

"I'll take that as a yes."