Lost In Translation

Chapter 5 - Attempt 2: Guys, Er, Go to Hell

Gianna has had worse days.

"A-A-Achoo!"

She's also had better days. Much better days.

Getting dragged into a lake and wrestling a siren (not exactly a monstrous fish like she initially thought, but the sentiment was somewhere in this circumstance) was not on her list of what to expect on her impromptu trip around the area with Cirno, but now it seems like anything was on the table. What's next, werewolves mistaking her for a chew toy? Zombies? God forbid any vampires show up to haggle them after the sun sets. Funny enough, though, Gianna didn't feel much anxiety from these thoughts, just annoyance from potential inconvenience. She had more important things to simmer over.

I'm wet, I'm cold, my arms hurt, and I'm starting to wonder when lunchtime will come, she groaned in her head, and after fairies, whatever "youkai" are, and lake sirens, it's more impressive that a fairy tale land like this even exists in the first place. Wait a minute . . . A thought pinged in her head. Is this literally Alice's Wonderland?

Alice's Wonderland, from what Gianna remembered about the story, was a dream of hysteria for Alice from beginning to end, which she eventually woke up from. This being a dream meant that sooner or later, she would have to wake up and face whatever consequences she'll see when she'd open her eyes.

Once again, Gianna pinched her arm, with more oomph this time. The pain was sharp and distracted her momentarily from the cold, but that pain relieved her. No. Somehow, I'm still not dreaming. I never was.

Even if she was, she was too afraid to wake up.

"Gianna!" Ah, Cirno was saying something to her. Eager to step away from those thoughts in her head, Gianna gave her attention once again to the little ice fairy.

During this trek to who knows where (hopefully a clothes store), Cirno was congratulating Gianna on her little scramble with the siren, which she soon learned was "ningyo" in Cirno's language. It sounded somewhat French, especially with how the "gyo" stumbled out of Gianna's mouth with the confidence of a worn out tongue twister, but there would be time to practice saying it correctly later at the tree house. Besides the new words Gianna learned today, Cirno's energetic charades painted a vivid enough picture of how much she enjoyed the showdown at the lake.

Cirno would exclaim things with childish admiration. "Sugoi! Anta wa kaibutsu no youdesu!!" Whatever that meant.

Gianna would try to be modest. "Arigatou, Cirno! But, ah, it's not the best thing I've done." Truly, in painful retrospect, wrangling and kicking a siren is probably bad luck somewhere in the world, and the shocked look on the fish lady's face after getting pushed into the water was enough for Gianna to regret the decision. One day, I should go back to the lake and apologize to her. Once I learn how to say "I'm sorry," of course.

Daiyousei would shyly tap Gianna on the shoulder over and over, asking "Dou yatta no?" Over and over again. Gianna did not know what that meant, but she just gave the classic thumbs up and "daijoubu" as a means to talk things over when her feet weren't on fire from walking several kilometers.

Rumia was Rumia. She floated above the group and giggled as she let the air lazily carry her forward. Gianna knew now that all these girls could fly. She didn't want to think about it, but the word of the day today was starting to look like "whatever." All in all, she let Rumia be. You have fun there, kid.

Wriggle . . . didn't say anything for the whole walk. Not a peep out of her aside from the occasional grumble. Gianna noticed that Mystia, the one who Wriggle talked to the most, hadn't caught up with the group yet, probably because of her feathers getting wet.