[67.2] Navigating a New Land

We arrived back where he unloaded the deer to the happy cheers of the group. They quickly went to work cleaning and preparing it. Before any villagers got to eat, I was handed the first plate of freshly cooked meat. I took it in confusion, staring back at all the villagers who were staring at me with bright grins.

I slowly took a bite and swallowed.

They continued to stare as if waiting for something.

I smiled helplessly, "It's good?"

"Hazzzah!"

They quickly went to work passing out the rest of the food and enjoying it themselves. I felt strange having been served first when I hadn't starved as long as them, but no matter how hard I tried to pass the portion off to others, they pushed it back. 

I had no choice but to finish my portion.

After we finished eating, an elderly woman stood in front of the fire and started recounting a story in a grandiose manner.

"Thousands of years ago, only humans walked the land… Then, there was a single star that fell from the sky… It landed on the earth, taking the form of a human. With it, it brought gifts. The God said to the humans: 'I shall enrich your land and make your people whole. Only then, will I, finally fulfill the purpose I was meant to.' The God gave humans the gift of fire, the gift of imagination… But then… Other stars started to fall. At first, they too wanted to help the humans that were first there… But, eventually… They grew selfish."

The children and adults gasped, entranced by the story.

The woman continued, "Those gods would say to each other: 'Why should we serve them?! Haven't we suffered already for one lifetime? We deserve to be pampered in this second life!' Without the power of the Gods, the humans had no choice but to serve them. Eventually, more stars fell and the Earth was filled with more Gods than humans… But not all Gods were friends."

I glanced at the children whose eyes were sparkling.

Ugh.

I turned back to the woman who continued after her dramatic pause, "They soon were split down the middle… One side of Chaos, the other of Order. The two both demanded they should own the land the humans had been born to. One side found the other to be reckless vagrants while the other side found them to be prudish elites. Their discord grew so fierce, the Great War broke out between them."

I felt my stomach turn to acid and my expression pale as I recounted the hellish scene I saw before passing out and waking up in this land.

"The Great War was relentless, leaving no survivors. Neither side would stop until the other was eradicated… From their corpses, some turned to fairies with their blinding white light and lack of body. Other god's weren't as lucky and nourished the land with their endless mana… After hundreds of years, humans slowly started to come back from extinction… But the trials of humans were not over. Demons walked across the land, competing with the humans for resources."

"Booo! Demons!"

I flinched, surprised by the sudden screams from the children and adults.

The woman nodded seriously, "Yes. Once again, humans are under threat of extinction. That's why we must be very careful. Only humans can be trusted."

A child grabbed onto my torn dress and stared at me with wide eyes, "Miss… Are you a fairy?"

I frowned slightly as I refrained from pushing his grubby hands off, "Why does everyone keep calling me a fairy?"

"Because you're just like the fairy from the story."

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"Miss Fairy doesn't have a face."

I… Don't?!

I quickly created a pillar of ice and stared at my reflection.

What…

Why do I…

Why do I not have a face?!?

It looks like it's being blurred out by something!

Even my hair looks like it is alternating between my old body's hair and my current one's.

What…

What is this?

The woman who had told the story appeared behind me, "Don't worry, Miss Fairy. You saved us from death… We could never think of you like the Gods who tried to make us go extinct."

I turned back to her in surprise, "Okay, firstly. I'm not a Fairy. Secondly, Gods, fairies, demons, humans, it doesn't matter! Anyone can be bad!"

"Uh-"

I grabbed her desperately, "Trust me! I've met bad demons, but I've also met super nice demons! Likewise, humans can be just as bad! In fact, humans can be worse!!!"

They all stared at me wide-eyed when one villager spoke up, "Miss Fairy does have a point… That other group ambushed us, killed half our people, and took all of our supplies. They were humans, not demons."

"See? What you are doesn't matter, it's who you are!" I let out a sigh, "Once again, I'm not a Fairy."

"Miss Fairy does have a point… But…"

"NOT A FAIRY!" My shout startled them, but I let out a sigh, "I have a name."

"Oh… I'm sorry Miss Fairy. What is your name?"

I turned to them with a smile, "It's #####."

Their eyes glazed over as I spoke, then returned to normal after I finished, "Sorry… What was it?"

"#####."

"...... Once more?"

"#####."

"...."

Wait… Am I even saying anything?

I tried repeating my own name but found something off.

Can I… Not say my name?

I feel like I am, but I actually can't understand my own name.

It's almost as if I'm being censored.

How is that possible?

"Miss Fairy?"

The villager startled me out of my thoughts, "Whatever. Call me what you want."

"Miss Fairy!!!"

Ugh… I guess being called a Fairy isn't the worst thing in the world.

I changed the topic, "By the way, where are we?"

They stared at me in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Where are we on a map? Which land?

"We are in the dry land."

I shook my head, "No, I mean which Kingdom are we in?"

"King-dom?"

They looked bewildered as if they had never heard of a Kingdom before.

I had a terrible sinking feeling, "I'm from the Odalis Kingdom… Where can I find it?"

"O-da-lis?" They all shook their heads, "Never heard of it."

I slumped over, a sinking feeling of dread taking root in my chest.

Did I land in a faraway place?

How do I even start looking?

Another tried to cheer me up, "Maybe it's on the other side of the mountain? We've never traveled past the dry land or the mountain. I have heard of a settlement, but they don't really like outsiders so we try to keep our distance."

I lit up once more, "So do you know of any kingdoms?"

They shook their heads, "We don't know this word."

Am I so far away I'm in a land without kingdoms? Or perhaps…

My face darkened, "What year is it?"

"What do you mean?"

Right. This world doesn't keep time the same as my previous world did. They only have relative time based on wars and other important events.

I thought back to my history lessons, "The Arriver War…. Great war… Whatever you called it. How long ago was that?"

"Oh. That was a very long time ago."

"How far?"

"Before my grandparents, and their grandparents, and their grandparents."

My eyes twitched, "That many generations!?"

They nodded.

So I'm at least not that far back… But how can I figure out how close I am to the era with Cyrus?

My face suddenly lit up, "Alora! Do you know Alora?!"

They shook their heads.

It seems the continent hasn't been "liberated" yet then.

"Okay, what about the Holy light? Have you ever heard of that?"

They shook their heads.

My face went blank.

So I'm more than a thousand years back in time…

I took a step away and mustered a pitiful smile, "I… I need to be alone for a bit."