Slowly, the colors came back into the darkness, and I wasn’t in the cabin anymore. Now I was standing at the edge of a forest. To one side was a wide field of tall grass. To the other side were many trees sparsely packed together.

In the foliage bloomed many flowers of different shapes and colors. Some trees were covered in dark blue while others in bright pink. The sky had the perfect weather, with the sun shining brightly across the field and a few clouds littering the saturated blue expanse. It must be the spring season here, that is, if there were seasons in this world.

A cool breeze swept through the field, past my face, and into the forest. A rainbow of petals flew from the trees, carried by the breeze. The tall ferns, grass, and flowers of the field made a pleasant sound as they danced in unison. Over the past year of my life, I had come to appreciate nature more and more. I breathed in an earthy aroma blended with the sweet smell of a thousand flowers. The air here smelled similar but slightly different from that of the world I had just come from.

I took a step outside the shade of the trees and into the sunshine of the field. However, just as I did, the sound of cheerful laughter came from the distance to my right. I swiftly turned to the direction the laughter came from and spotted three people leisurely strolling through the field. There must be a path hidden behind the tall grass.

Seeing the unfamiliar travelers, I hastily stepped back behind a tree. They didn’t look like bad people, but I didn’t want to go through the hassle of dealing with others right after arriving here. I could probably find my own way to a town pretty easily enough if I followed the road they were on.

It seemed my efforts of concealing myself were no use, however. Peeking from behind the tree, I saw one of the three travelers—a red-haired girl—turn and look directly in my direction. I quickly put the tree between myself and the group again. My heart started pounding at the thought that they might come to me.

“Hey! You, behind the tree! What are you hiding for?”

The call was from a man, and he sounded closer now than when they were walking in the distance. I guess it would be awkward to stay hiding here now that they knew where I was. They might even mistake me for a bandit, or perhaps something worse.

I stepped out from behind the tree and saw the person approaching in a run. When he stopped directly in front of me, he put his hands on his knees, still panting from the short jog.

The man looked to be only one or two years older than me. Still, he towered at more than a head above my line of sight and had a bulky body that reminded me of my father. He had wavy blond hair and golden eyes. Over his clothes, he wore leather armor pieces, and a shiny metal chest-plate protected his chest. To the side of his right hip was a sheath holding a thin but long blade. Another large, heavy two-handed sword, completely different from the blade he had on his side, was sheathed on his back. Was this boy able to wield both swords at the same time?

“Hey, I’m Ari,” he said after catching his breath, abruptly standing straight to grab my hand and shake it vigorously, “you traveling to the capital too?”

Before I could answer, he turned around. “Hey! You two! Come on, we’re waiting here!”

Further back, the other two travelers—both girls—were walking casually towards us, chatting with each other. When they heard Ari’s calling, they stopped and looked in our direction. The red-haired girl folded her arms and yelled back.

“Why do we have to listen to your orders!? Just let us get there normally! At least we’re still following you!”

The girl’s most striking feature was, of course, her brilliant red-orange hair, which was tied in a long ponytail that came down her back to her hips. Her black apparel was tight around her body, telling me she was definitely built for speed.

The girl beside her was less tall in stature and had short white hair. Contrasting her friend’s dark suit, she wore a light blue robe that fluttered in the breeze. She turned to her companion and spoke a few words that Ari and I couldn’t hear.

“No, I am NOT following that stupid brute’s order!” The red-haired girl yelled at the top of her lungs in reply.

The white-haired girl said something else and turned, jogging towards us.

“Okay, are you serious? I thought you were on my side, Em!” The other girl flipped around and stormed off in the other direction.

“Hey, where are you going!?” Ari called out, “We still need you as our inventory!”

“Inventory!? Seriously!? It’s awfully courageous of you to make a girl your baggage carrier!”

“You little…” Ari started running at the girl just as Em came by.

“S–Sorry about those two…” she said shyly.

“O–Oh… don’t worry about it,” I replied, blushing.

She looked away from me at the scene Ari and the other girl were causing as they continued to fight. However, I found myself gazing at her features. Em, was it? Her eyes were a sky blue color, but they still stood out on her pale skin. But what caught my attention was a staff even taller than herself she was clinging to. On the tip of Em’s staff was a large, almost glowing, blue crystal. Hold on, did this new world have magic? And was this girl a mage?

“Ah, I see you two are getting quite close.” I turned my head away from the mesmerizing crystal to see Ari walking over. He was gripping the red-haired girl’s arm firmly while she tried to pull away.

Now that she was closer, I could see her features much better. Complementing her hair were two bright red eyes that practically glowed like fire in the sunlight. Her dark outfit, though, was covered in mesmerizing curving blue lines. Her sleeves and skirt stopped short, revealing her slightly tanned skin.

“Okay, how ’bout we continue with the introductions?” Ari stepped in with his suggestion. He struck his hand on his chest, making his metal armor clang. “I’m Ari. I come from Ashen, the infamous world of wars, where I trained with blood and sweat to become the best swordsman in the entire omniverse!”

Then he motioned to Em, who blushed and looked down. “This is Em, a super-duper powerful mage, healer, witch, whatever title you like. She hails from Aquina, a place with magic! You hear that? Magic! Those timelines are super rare, you know.”

Finally, he motioned to the red-haired girl. “And this annoying, rebellious, immature child is Abby!” He said in a cheerful voice, “and fun fact! If you switch the first two letters of her name around, you get—”

Abby quickly swerved her head at that comment, her eyes glaring Ari down. Wait, did her eyes just turn blue, or were they always that color?

“Don’t you dare get familiar with me! It’s Abrielle! A. B. R. I. E. L. L. E! And this is Emilia, okay? Only us two are allowed to call each other by our nicknames! And let go of me!” She struggled in Ari’s tight hold on her wrists.

“Okay, okay. Just calm down. And I still get to call you Abby if I let you go, okay?” Without waiting for a reply, he finally let go of Abby, who blew a raspberry at him.

“Oh, and let me give you a proper introduction by myself, without that brute’s help,” Abby said, turning to me, her annoyance now replaced with friendliness. “Call me Abby. I come from Cytos, the timeline with actual technology far better than those flimsy swords. I’m the sniper of the team. Also I can store anything you’d like in my inventory. It’s got infinite storage!”

She held out her hand, and an odd aura faded in. From all the experience I had, I knew it was some sort of ripple in time, but this was somewhat different. Before Abby finished whatever she was doing, however, Ari quickly stepped in interrupted. “Okay, so now that that’s done, there’s no need to say anything more, right, Abby?”

The aura around Abby’s hand vanished. “You…” She turned away from Ari, clearly annoyed.

“W-well, uh, now that we’re done introducing ourselves…” Em started.

“Now that we’re done, what’s your name?” Abby cut in, finishing Em’s sentence.

I looked at them, still trying to process what had happened.

“Umm… I’m Damien—”

“Day, huh? Well, welcome to the team, Day!”

“Wait, but—”

Abby stepped up, holding her index finger close to my lips. I put a foot back in surprise, but it was more out of embarrassment and fear of touching her finger.

“It’s Day, okay? That’s your nickname, and in our team, your nickname is your name.” She put her hand down, letting me breathe out again.

Team? When did I become part of their “team?” Are they going to force me to travel with them now? I looked up to Ari. He had an approving expression on his face. I looked down at Em. She had a large smile enough to win over anyone. I finally looked forward at Abby. She crossed her arms and had a smug look. So I guess these are the people I would be traveling with for now. It didn’t look like I had any way to smoothly escape this situation. I nodded slowly, quietly accepting their invite.

Ari’s hand landed hard on my back, almost knocking my breath out. “And I second Abby’s welcome, Day! It’ll be nice to have another boy around.”

Em nodded with a smile. “I… welcome you as well.”

“So, we gonna leave or not?” Abby said as she turned around and started walking through the field.

The rest of us followed her out of the forest and into the bright sunlight again. Colorful flower petals danced through the air, marking the spring, a new beginning.