Nope, not dreaming.
Haru sighed, flicking a hand lightly along her breast just to make sure that it was still there. The first thing she noticed with clarity when she opened her eyes was that the car's leather was such a rich brown and smelled of oil and smoke. Outside, the world passing by was so vibrant and bright; it was hard to believe she hadn't noticed before. Fox still rested under her arm, head on the other side of Haru's chest, and Cecil was side-eyeing her, leaning on the window beside him.
"How are you feeling, Haru? Got any inklings of a memory coming back yet?" Cecil asked lightly, raising an eyebrow.
"Mn… no, there's nothing there," She shook her head, looking down at Fox, who snored softly, pushing her cheek into the side of Haru's breast, eyes closed.
"Hm… well, it should come back within a few days," Cecil shrugged, looking back out the window. "We're maybe half an hour from the next stop for us. WE got word that two of our allies have made it to the border, but they didn't get their heroes out. That only leaves one of us unaccounted for."
"Sounds good. Better than it was when I fell asleep, anyway," Haru yawned, slowly sitting up a bit straighter, only to gasp quietly as Fox shoved her back, nuzzling harder into the white-haired girl's chest.
"Hey, are you really sleeping?" There was no answer, though, just the same slow, soft snoring.
"Mn…"
"Sleep well?" Aurelia asked over her shoulder as Haru looked through the window; there were buildings around them, but they all seemed run-down and boxy, like warehouses. "We're close. Once we get through this segment of town and back to the woods, they're going to send a bird to get us."
"Got it. Glad all's going well, but is it really gonna be that easy? I mean, this feels like the part where a missile hits our car and everything goes to shit." Haru huffed out a laugh, stretching, cracking her back and pulling her tail into her lap.
"Yeah, well this isn't a video game," Aurelia laughed quietly, eyes on the road again. "Once we cross the border, CA will keep us safe. If all keeps going well, we've maybe a day left ahead of us. If that."
"CA... Can you tell me a little about them? They're like the military, right?" Haru leaned back, biting her lip as she thought about it.
"It's a relic of the past in some ways," Aurelia replied with a loose shrug, "But as it stands now, yeah, it's a police force that employs angels, demons, and humans altogether and acts more like some sort of military or national guard, as well as a police force on the smaller levels. There's ranks to the organization, but it's complicated…"
"What do you mean when you say it's a relic of the past, though?" Haru spoke up, thinking.
"Long time ago, demons and angels didn't exist on earth. Demons wanted in, though, and found a way through, making pacts with humans. Y'know, it's about what you'd expect: I'll sap your life force and use you as an anchor and in exchange I'll kill whoever you want and make your life easy. They couldn't permanently materialize their own bodies here otherwise, Earth had no magic, and they couldn't pull anything from the world to sustain themselves. So now we've got demons running rampant, killing, basic anarchy."
"So angels did the same to fight back? Pacts with humans, making them servants of the light?"
"Right. There was a hundred year war, or something like that. Well, not really though; it was like forty years or so," Aurelia added, laughing. "The end result, though, was a realization that during this war so much magic had permeated the atmosphere that demons and angels could sustain themselves without a human host and were being born on this planet instead. Well… 'born' isn't quite the right word, but eh."
"I'd ask more, but…" Haru shook her head, understanding well enough. "I get that much. Let's not overdo it."
"What, are you overwhelmed? Not like this is a book and you have to worry about annoyingly exposition dumping on a hidden audience or something," Aurelia snickered, neck twitching lightly to the left. "Anyway, yeah, we're about there."
The vehicle turned a corner and then headed past a few more run down buildings before both their car and the one behind them cut back into the woods.
"We've got to be ready for pickup. We're three hours ahead of schedule, so we'll have to find a spot to hang out. Hope that's fine with you, and if it's not… tough," Aurelia snickered, winking back at Haru.
"It is what it is. Say, though, what's the plan when we get there? You said that you've got no plans of making us fight for you, so…"
"There are housing programs for strays from other worlds. You'd have it hard at first, but you can get into a shelter and work for your keep," Aurelia replied shortly, voice tight.
"Then, the better choice is to join you, got it. I assume you are meaning to manipulate us into choosing that?"
"No. Work for the military can be grueling as well, and it is your choice."
"What if we want to go home?" Fox spoke up, chipper, and Haru rolled her eyes.
I knew you weren't asleep, pinning me down like that…
"Well, once we figure out what home is for you, maybe there are mages you can pay to take you home. That's over my head, though. Magic of that scale is very, very rare and just as regulated. Starria must have poured years of taxes into the lot of you, and oh how disappointed they are right now, I'm sure," Aurelia added, giggling as she turned off of the main road down a shoddy side road. It was definitely more bumpy here.
"I get that. Honestly I'm not even opposed to joining your fight, but I need time to learn some things first. For example, do we coincidentally speak the same language? How can I understand you?"
"That's from the summoning runes. You're hearing your native tongue, but you're speaking ours. The same is true in reverse for all of us. It's like a translator got injected into your head."
"That's… handy. Does that mean I could communicate with everyone here, in every language?"
"Yes," Aurelia answered shortly, slowing to a stop now. Haru looked out the window and found herself looking at a huge log cabin with a sign out front reading: 'Ranger Station #7'.
"What's this?" Haru asked quietly, as the engine shut off and Fox opened the door to her left, rolling out onto her feet deftly.
"Starrians and Mirians share a love for the forest," Aurelia spoke tiredly, stretching. "Both nations share a web of ranger stations in case of emergencies. That way, if somebody gets hurt in the woods, help can always reach them before they die or come to irreparable harm. It's not a perfect system, but it's pretty good," the ginger pixie explained, stepping out of the vehicle and stretching.
"So good to see you guys again, hah!" Charlotte walked over, miming a polite curtsy with an invisible skirt she wasn't wearing. "Driving is boring, but it's useful. I'd much rather teleport~"
"What?" Alex angled his head, having walked up behind her. "If you can teleport, why did we drive?"
"I can teleport myself. It's a cheshire cat thing," Charlotte spoke with a giggle, covering her mouth. "There was this book a long time ago, and then people discovered that the author was a survivor of it, and it was a whole thing. Let's get inside!" Already, she was headed for the door, and Aurelia followed, but Haru lingered by the car for a moment, inhaling the scents of the forest.
"Just come inside when you're ready," the masked stranger whispered in passing. "I'll let Aurelia know you need a minute."
"Thanks. I really do," Haru sighed, folding her arms and burying her face in them. She leaned against the car window, looking dully through the glass and then closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Everything felt overwhelming. She could smell so many things, and hear- What was that? It was like something shaking under the ground, a faint vibration. Rather than try to make sense of it, Haru sighed and pushed herself off of the car, standing up.
No use standing around, let's just get inside…
"Hey, you doing okay?" As Haru neared the door, Fox, who was sitting on the steps until now, looked up and smiled. "I waited for you."
"Yeah? I just feel overwhelmed," Haru admitted, shaking her head and stretching, looking down at the girl. She looked like she was from the east, with skin somewhere between pale and tanned, messy dark hair, and almond-shaped brown eyes. Her ears and tail, those of a fox, were similarly dark, with a bit of gray fading toward white at the tips. "Lots of scents, sounds, feelings…"
"I'm sure. I feel overwhelmed too, but flashes of my old life are already coming back. The magic seems to have hit you harder than us, for some reason. Maybe it's a coincidence, but I wonder," Fox shrugged, standing up and stepping forward, until there was barely a hair's breadth between herself and Haru. The white-haired girl, aware of the closeness, swallowed, wrinkling her nose and edging backward.
"I just… it's a lot. Sights, sounds, Aurelia, these people, CA, the nations' tensions… I want things to slow down. I guess I don't really have a right to ask for that until we get across the border, though. I just wish I remembered… anything."
"Anything I can do to help you feel better?" Fox asked quietly, angling her head, but her voice carried undertones of something dangerous. No, not dangerous; Haru realized she was being dense and her cheeks darkened considerably.
"Not for now. It's, uh... Thanks, though," Haru stammered awkwardly. "Come on, let's get inside, okay?"
"Okay! Sorry, I just figured it can't hurt to ask. You're hot," Fox snickered, walking up the porch steps in time with Haru now. "I understand, though. When you woke up, weren't you confused, thinking you're a guy? I won't take it personally at all."
"Mm. I don't know," Haru huffed, shaking her head and pushing the door open. "Too many people here…"
Inside, there was another man she didn't recognize, this one with dark brown hair and a hearty beard. At Haru's staring, he waved and spoke up.
"Don't worry, I won't be coming with you. This is my post; I have to be here. You alright? The cat said you weren't feeling well."
"I'm the best and most honest cat ever," Charlotte smiled, crossing her arms where she stood with Aurelia against a wall. The cabin itself was relatively small, but not cramped, and everybody sat around somewhere relaxing.
"Hungry?" Aurelia was the one to ask, holding up a pack of crackers and a water bottle- only then did Haru notice that yes, indeed, she felt weak and starved.
"Yeah. Hadn't realized it, somehow- feel off. But yeah, please," she replied quietly, raising her hands and catching the snacks tossed to her. "How long are we going to be waiting?"
"Only a couple of hours. It's packed in here, but try to relax," Aurelia sighed, sitting down slowly against a wall, looking up tiredly. "I might try to catch a few winks of sleep. I need them."
Before Haru or anybody else could speak again, there was a faint buzz of radio static, and a radio at the ranger's hip went off. A second later, the voice of a man began to come through.
"Ranger Seven. Report."
The cabin stiffened, all of the people inside holding their breath as the brunette stranger slowly took up his radio, swallowing.
"Ranger Seven. Reporting," the man activated his radio and replied.
"Have you seen anything abnormal in your area, Ranger? There are fugitives fleeing toward your stretch of the woods."
"Ah. Shit, that's no good- I'll make sure to keep an eye out. I haven't seen anything so far, except for a bear that was roaming a bit too close to town. I scared it off with-"
"Ranger Seven, the trail cameras saw them. Stand by and do not interfere; crew inbound. You'll be brought in for-"
"Trail cams?!" Charlotte raised an eyebrow, striding forward and suddenly grabbing the man's throat and slamming him back against the wall. "You're betraying us?!"
She was there in a flash, crushing the radio to pieces before whoever sat on the other side could finish his threat.
"N-No, they must be hidden! I don't know what they're talking about! I lied to them, so I'm just as screwed as the lot of you, alright?!"
"We need to go," Cecil snapped, backing up and shoving the door open. "Come on, we've still got the cars- Haru, if you were relaying a prophecy with the whole missiles hitting our cars thing, I might kill you."
The white-haired girl in question swallowed and pushed past him outside. Fox positioned herself once again under her arm, but she heard Cecil behind her snap out, "Come on, what are you guys waiting for?! You heard the radio!!"
"Let's go, let's go," Lottie yelled, and Haru's head snapped around.
Charlotte was behind one of the wheels again, turning the ignition over. "We need to go, get in!"
Haru nodded and yanked open the back door, climbing in. No sooner had she closed it than the car was peeling away, Cecil and the Ranger climbing Into the other side's seats.
=
"Listen, is the operation going to be successful or not? Should I step in myself?" A man who might have been twenty-five or thirty spoke gently, gesturing for the woman standing with him to wait a moment. "I've got my hands full here, but I'll go there myself if it means getting them out safely."
"No, we'll be fine. We've got a bird inbound with backup behind it; even if it becomes a small battle, we're prepared to cover things up with the media." A woman on the other side spoke, and he, the young man nodded as if the person on the other end could see.
"Good. Let me know if that changes, and have a good day."
Click. He hung up and stretched slowly, rolling his shoulders, his muscles uncoiling and popping.
"Alright, so- hey!" Raising his arms, he blocked a kick to the head and lunged sideways, stooping under the guard of the woman before him and grabbing her wrist when she leveled another punch, twisting her arm around behind her back and slamming her up against the balcony railing.
"Ugh!! I can't even fight you when you're distracted by a phone call-!!"
"You need to stop measuring your worth by whether you can beat me up, okay? You're strong, very strong!"
"Yeah… just not on your level, huh?" she sighed, and threw her head back, aiming to break his nose, but Aerendyl jerked his head to the left too quickly.
"Listen, it's not fair to compare us. We're a different class of demon-"
"Yeah, yeah, and you don't judge or look down on others for it," the brunette he held sneered, pushing him off gently and walking away, leaving the young man to cross his arms and sigh, unsure what to do with himself.