A hydra, a cobra and a fly walk into a bar

Michael was able to gather herself somewhat together.

'But how!?'

Michael was pinching her cheeks and there it was, pain, real pain. This isn't a dream. Everything was well detailed. Every instinct inside her was shouting that this was happening in real time.

She stood up shaking outrageously. She, he had breasts! With shaking hands like someone with neurological disorder, she went through her body to confirming it was there. It was undeniable - this is woman's body. It was slim athletic young body from top to bottom created by continuous exercise and hard work with breasts that denied her the view of her waist. His head, her head had black hair that reached down to her elbows. Just like his sister's hair.

'Sofia's body? This is without a doubt my sister's body!'

She lightly moved her hands through her face. Slim jaw, small nose and cheeks with small dimples -- this is her! If there was mirror somewhere, what she would see, should be those mesmerizing green topaz-like eyes Sofia had. Michael had brown eyes himself.

Michael used to work two part-time jobs to support their life as well as he could while at the same time practicing for his university entrance exam. Two years ago, his study motivation had erupted but as lacking earlier, his first try to get into university had failed. But his sister was probably going to be a model with these looks if she wanted. She didn't use a lot of make-up but still normally she captured everyone's eyes. Only bad thing about this was that she used to create a lot jealousy around her without actually wanting it thus leading her being lonely. But he was there for her.

'How did this happen? Just a while ago I was on my bed? Those pills, what the fucking hell was in them? Some kind of hallucinogen?'

"I need to remember."

But something inside her head disagreed with this. It was like a small nail would have been hammered on the back of her skull every time she concentrated and tried to remember how she got here. That nail came back stronger and stronger. Maybe she had hit her head and was now laying on the floor while hallucinating. She would still feel pain!

There she was sitting on grass dumbfounded look on her face black hair dancing with the wind. Time just passing by minute by minute.

'Doesn't feel like hallucination.'

She was wearing a long black rope. The sleeves and the hood were decorated with silver runes that shined under the sun. Under the rope she had white silk shirt with long sleeves and black long skirt with beautiful silvery lilies covering the ground parts as if she was standing in field of lilies. Her boots were made of black shining leather. If she had to guess, the best word to describe her looks would be "a witch" not the Grim Reaper like her eyes had told her. She didn't have any items. No rucksack. No food and no water.

What made her to come back to her senses first was the thirst. She felt like all the energy was drained out of her. Simply standing felt exhausting. Her stomach hurt out of hunger. She wasn't sweating, was it dehydration?

'If something happens to me now, I won't know why I am like this. Michael move yourself, damn fat ass! Think it later, think it later... just calm down. Shelter and food. Just basic needs first.'

She close her eyes and breath in and out slowly few times.

There was huge dark forest at her left side and more grass field on her right until it suddenly stopped. There was a cliff there about two hundred meters away and she could hear seawater bashing against the rocks. There were weird blue birds resembling seagull's flying there and the wind was filled with smell of grass and salt. At the horizon sun was slowly descending.

'It's starting to get late.'

Michael had calmed down. It had been nearly twenty minutes since she woke up.

Suddenly she heard rustling. Something was moving in the forest. It looked like a carriage pulled by two horses. There was people there. But if she couldn't talk with them? What if they don't speak English? And were these clothes suitable or suspicious. She looked like a cosplayer and the only place where she would not stand out would be a cosplay. Actually she would stand out there even more, but not because of the clothes.

"Those pervs." She murmured.

'Wait a minute. That is a carriage? Don't people normally use cars? This isn't 21st century? Did she time travel like heroes do in light novels?'

It was a thought that didn't come up to her mind until now. It was such a stupid idea that it made her giggle a bit, but deep down she wanted to throw up. Those bird, she had never seen them.

'This isn't Earth? This is not Finland.'

Old dogs won't learn new tricks, but was she that old? She was only 24... no, wait a minute, this body was 17. She can't protect herself. She is not a man anymore. She was only 165 centimeters tall now. To person who used to be 183 centimeters, the difference was very noticeable.

'If something was going to happen to me, all I have is my legs. If this is not my world and even if this is, would shouting "help" actually have any effect? And what in the fucking Christ's name is this bullshit in my eyes!?'

Her clothes were not dirty or tacky though, maybe if she simply acted kindly and smiled the people in that carriage would help her. Then she saw the driver. Even from hundred and fifty meters away she could see something wiggling on drives head. It looked like a birthday party hat... two of them.

'Ears...'

She froze. It's an alien. A real alien driving the carriage. Maybe they hadn't noticed her yet. She was looking at the real ET.

'I need to hide!'

But she was standing on a flat plain. If someone would turn their eyes here, the black spot on the green grass would stand out like a fly in a soup.

The carriage stopped and the driver turned its face at her. They had seen the fly and called the waiter.

'They saw me.'

'It's only natural that they would, which one would you be looking at? Some boring green forest or the beautiful sea view?' High-pitched mechanic woman's voice answered inside her head. It felt like the voice was coming around her.

"YYYYAAAA!" She jumped up from the grass like a cat seeing a cucumber.

"Where are you? Who in the hell is this?" But there was no one around her. She was cursing at the wind and spinning like a bey-blade.

'Hmmh. I don't have a lot of time so let me speak briefly. I am your scythe. I do not posses a name since master hasn't bestowed one upon me yet, but hear me out once young master. Try to stay alive. As your life is my life. As strong you are, I am. I must apology not being any help for you at the time of the need. But I can't stay awake anymor... enou... munnmumnmmm.'

When she checked the treeline again, someone had gotten out of the carriage and an another person was stepping out too.

'I am becoming crazy? Is this divine intervention?'

Someone at the carriage was waving at her. It looked like an young aristocratic woman. It didn't look like having those party hats on it. Did Michael understand something wrong here and those things on the driver's head were simply decorations and that womanly figure was actually "she" and not "it"? Michael didn't wave back.

'They saw me. This is bad. Do I run? I have to run. Or I am going to become alien's test subject or even worse, a sex-toy. Is it worth taking the risk? This wasn't Michael's body after all. Was she over thinking? NO! Definitely not!'

She thought about all the alien-invasion action and horror movies and then all the porn she had seen on the internet.

When human's body is under survival stress it goes into battle mode. This limits one's field of vision to resemble what a race horse would see. During a near death situation, even highly trained professional's could possibly freeze. It was natural no way around it. But this woman's body didn't do so. The one that was in panic-mode and couldn't make clear decisions was the mind. It demanding the heart to beat like a double-pedal bass drum. The mind wanted to run, so the body started to run without hesitation. A 1st class body combined to a 3rd class mind.

'NO! Not this body. You shits are not going to touch my body... my sister's body!'

Never had she been in panic-mode like this. In the original world, there had never been long high-stress situations like this. Nothing made any sense. Maybe she had an accident and was in borderline coma and that is why she heard some voices. This was all in her mind.

Only place to run at would be the cliff if she needed to do so. The field continued at least few kilometers to both sides and even if she ran, those aliens would just catch her. Next to the two womanly figure, something emerged from nothing like the wizard would have pulled a rabbit out of his hat -- it was a man riding a horse.

After the man started to approach Michael, she noticed something weird on that man's head -- two party hats.

'Those are...'

She had seen enough to know where this dream was going.

She had to make a "kick" and wake up as soon as possible.

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"Dear little sister, I know that you don't like him. But for your father's sake, please meet his son at least this once. If you don't, the consequences from insulting lord Duke's son's honor would be severe to our entire family. Maybe his son has already someone else", woman with silky dark brown hair said. She was wearing a dark blue baroque style dress and had shining dark eyes like they were made out of violet emeralds. She was surrounded with suffocating authoritarian aura like she was a hydra.

Opposite her was sitting another young woman with blue eyes like water. She was wearing a turquoise dress of same style as her big sister. She gave out much lighter, but sharper aura like she was an cobra ready to bite the first hand touching it. Like pupil and her master. From the cobra's face it was obvious, that she wasn't happy.

"But he is not good man. Their whole family is full of brutes!"

"Please hold your tongue. Hmmh. You shouldn't categorize people so hastily little sister. I know that his family is harsh when it comes to some aspects, but they are also understanding and wise people their own way. But for us there is no way around this. We have had this conversation for hundreds of times now. It is exactly why I am here with you and not the butler. You know it is extremely important for our family's future that you marry up the latter. Specially at times like these. Everyone is having hard time now. I do sympathize with you, but if this is not going to work... "

"Duke isn't having hard time", girl murmured.

"What did you say?"

"I said that I know!"

"I see."

The sea view was beautiful.

The women were silent from this point on, until ten minutes had passed.

"Sis..."

"What is it Eleina?"

"There is someone over there."

"Huh? Where exactly?" The big sister leaned towards the window, "I don't see anyone."

"There, look! Mira, could you ask driver to halt? Please, sister?"

Mira searched the field with her eyes for a while and then she also saw the black fly that had caught the cobra's eyes.

"Hmmh, fine. Those are definitely not commoners clothes. Let's still be wary though."

'Or maybe exactly that's why.'

Mira knitted her brows and knocked driver's window two times.

"Stop the carriage please!"

Eleina had her face clued on the window. "Who is that? I am getting out."

The carriage stopped.

"Eleina, wait. You just can't... ", her little sister had already stepped out,"...do that."

After taking a long breath Mira started to descend from the carriage. Indeed there was a woman on the field. She did not have the slightest part of her resembling a commoner.

'Who would wear full black clothes on sunny day? Is she an idiot? Hah. Mira have you ever seen someone like that? Is she someone from the church?'

Girl on the field jumped up and was spinning fiercely.

'Is that woman insane?'

"No, the church employees don't wear such clothes. I am not aware of any organisation wearing those colors. Isn't that silver shining on her clothes? If I have to guess, she has either lost her mind or has something to do with magic, maybe both. Sir Alphonse! You see that poor soul over there?" Mira asked while pointing her right index finger at the fly.

Behind the carriage came two figures. They twisted sun light making them blend into their background. From this distance it was not hard to see their shapes, but where that strange woman was, it should have been impossible. The figures were two knights following the ladies on horseback. Since this was only a single day escort mission on safe ground they did not wear full plate armors and simply relied on their cloaks, bows and swords.

The hydra and the cobra had spent their last night at near village to where their family butler and few mercenaries had escorted them. From there on soon started lord duke's personal land and the butler wasn't invited as Eleina had permission to have one escort with her. Mira had taken on the duty after her father wished so.

The knights' horses had huge green cloaks on them to make them blend in to the forest. The cloaks the knights had on themselves were a pair of extremely expensive magical tools -- invisibility cloaks. The cloaks had tier five white magic spell "absorb" sewed inside the fabric. The cloak would turn its wearer completely invisible if the cloak didn't move at all. Naturally this made the cloak useless inside windy areas. While the knights were moving, someone who was not searching exactly them, would have hard time to perceive anything else than a lonely wagon. As long as the watcher was more than 10 spears away (1 spear was approximately 2,5 meters) the cloak's weakened effect had a decent effect. Of course the horses could be noticed easily, the horses aren't chameleons after all, which was exactly why the knights stayed quite a far away. If something happened, they still had fast horses and bows, but that was very unlikely on duke's personal land.

There was no way a single commoner could take on a knight. Knights were soldiers of noble birth who went through years of anguishing training normally reaching very-high levels at their peek performance years. Sometimes retiring knight's were close to or even over three digits. In comparison a farmer who never needed to touch weapons unless he was conscripted would barely reach level 20 during their entire life.

One knight could take on a whole village of farmers. Requiring an insanely high amount of money to train and upkeep a single fighter, the knights were not high in numbers and were more of an icon and a flag-bearer of the family they served.

"Umu. Yes lady Mira, I can see her. Umu! This is lord Duke's property. Brother Tulian?"

"Yes, we should go and identify her. Those clothes are way too eye-catching for her to be someone common."

"I go."

"Brother Alphonse be careful. She is emitting strange aura, we should go together."

"I can feel it too, don't worry, just stay and secure the ladies' safety. The aura isn't strong, but no-doubt it is strange."

Sir Alphonse turned his cloak inside out. The other side of the cloak wasn't light-absorbing. It would have been extremely impolite after all to approach a beautiful young lady without showing his figure. He didn't feel that this woman was enough dangerous to lose his dignity as a knight. He wasn't some smooth criminal.

To Alphonse's surprise, the moment he did this and became completely visible, the woman on the field started to run away like she was afraid of getting eaten.

'Is she committing suicide by jumping off the cliff? I must make haste!'

But little did the knight know that it was actually his ears that made the woman lose it.

"Hjaa! Hjaa!"

Alphonse encouraged his horse to gallop.