After ten minutes plunged in absolute darkness, Takahashi felt his stomach churn, and a cold sweat break out across his skin. His head spun with nausea as strange visions flickered behind his closed eyelids: swirling purple and green clouds, shadowy figures looming just out of reach, the sound of distant, echoing whispers that made his ears ring. Cold, damp air clung to his face, and the silence was so thick it pressed against his temples. Just as his pulse thudded in his ears and his heart pounded from anxiety, a piercing point of light cut through the gloom, and everything snapped into focus.
"THERE I GO!" He felt more excited than ever. His eyes touched the bright light for a moment, then everything went dark again. "What the hell happened here?"
He opened his eyes...
He was lying extremely close to a high mountain cliff. Though high, the mountain had greenery instead of snow. It wasn't connected to the other side by any means. He was still wearing his scientist clothes, which were covered in soil.
Takahashi gathered strength in his arms and got up on his shaky legs, trying his best not to trip and fall down. A few meters away, Slips-A-Lot was eating big, red apples that were situated on a giant tree.
Slips-A-Lot glanced towards him, "Oh, so you're here." He finished the core of the apple, "Never thought you'd look that handsome as a teen.
"Takahashi blinked, "Am I a teen right now?"
"Yes."
"But what am I supposed to do right now?"
"Explore, obviously." And Slips-A-Lot flew towards another tree.
"That floating guy betrayed me," Takahashi muttered. "Whatever. I didn't really need that piece of trash."
Takahashi started walking in the direction opposite to the cliff.
Two hours later, he spotted a wooden cottage with a buffalo roaming around.
The Sun was about to set, and it was getting cold.
Takahashi knocked on the cottage door. That's when it clicked, 'Wait, what if a demon responds to me? No, that won't probably happen. Why do demons need to reside in a cottage?'
Takahashi knocked several times and shouted with all his energy, "IS ANYONE HOME!?"After knocking approximately five times, an old man opened the door. He was holding an orange and a wooden torch in his other hand. "Who are you?"
"I am Takahashi, from the Ear-" The old man's backed off. The orange nearly dropped from his hand. "Don't say it, no."
"What's wrong with you?" Takahashi asked, confused as hell.
"Come in quickly," he said, holding Takahashi's wrist and forcefully pulling him in, then slamming the door shut.
"What happened to you?"
The old man whispered, "Don't you ever reveal your identity to the people of this kingdom. Remember, or die."
"But first of all, who even are you?"
"I'm Teku. I own a farm near the town and go farming there every day." he paused, then started again, "To remind you, this is the Bette kingdom and the king here doesn't accept foreigners, nor lets someone go outside of the kingdom."
Takahashi gave a weird look towards Teku, "Why so?"
"Well, up to this day, nobody knows. There are patrollers roaming around all day and night, identifying any foreigners or spies. So you shouldn't stroll freely in front of one, or you'll get in jail, or worse, be executed." Teku got up and went towards another room. He stopped midway and looked back, "That's all I have to say. If you want, you can escape. But I would be of no use to you in that task," he went back inside.
Takahashi was wordless. His reaction was nothing but biting his own fingers. Teku's words kept roaming around his mind.
A few minutes later, Teku came back with two bowls of ramen, "Eat this and go to sleep," he ordered. Takahashi looked towards him for a moment, then started eating his bowl.
"I'm going to sleep. Come whenever you want," Teku said as he left.
Thoughts crossed over Takahashi's mind as he looked towards the moon surrounded by twinkling stars, 'Was it worth it to come here? I am a teen now, but I'm not free. Well, who knows. Maybe it's just the starting of a great adventure...'