PORTAL TO ANOTHER WORLD

82.The mist.

You wake up feeling quite sluggish and still a bit tired for some reason but you push those feelings aside and get into a sitting position. You let your eyes adjust first and then start looking around the room you're in.

The first thing you notice is that the whole room is illuminated by a lantern hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room. When you look down from the ceiling, you see that there are two beds on the other side of the room and one more bed next to you, there's also a bit of furniture like a small table to the left of the room with some books stacked on top of it and with some papers sticking out of the drawers. You can also see a few chairs placed near one of the beds that's further away from you and one more chair placed near your bed with your sword leaned against it. When you look to the right side of the room and see a long tunnel lit by a few candles, you realise that you're not in a room but in a cave.

"This must be their hideout then" is the only thought that comes to your mind after realising where you are.

I should get up... but with how comfortable this bed is... do I really need to? Nobody is gonna mind if I take another nap, right? No, my top priority right now is to figure out what's going on around here and only after I've dealt with all the problems, I will hopefully be able to sleep for a bit.

You slap yourself a few times and then push the blanket to the side, and instantly note how warm it is in here even without the blankets covering your body or maybe its just because you're still fully clothed. You get out of the bed and grab your sword, then slowly start walking towards where you hope will be the exit.

At first, you followed the candles which helped you see a little in the dark but there were fewer of those candles the deeper you went. At some point you had to stop because you couldn't see anymore candles ahead of you.

Hopefully this means that the exit is close.

You slowly start walking into an endless darkness with one hand in front of you and another slightly touching the wall next to you. You walk like this for about a minute and just when you were about turn back you saw light at the end of the tunnel. Once you near the exit, you notice a figure at the entrance of the cave blocking your way out.

When you get close enough to be able to make out more of her features, you notice her cat ears and your mind instantly thinks, no, hopes that it's Jane but upon looking at her a bit more closely you realise that's its not Jane at all. The figure in front of you is way taller and has a different feel about her compared to Jane, yet a very familiar one. While focusing on the figure and not looking where you're going, you kick a pebble by accident and draw her attention to you.

???: "I was wondering when you'd wake up."

She turns her head to look at you and you realise why she felt so familiar to you.

Joyce: "Come, you should wash up first."

She walks out of the cave and turns left, you hesitate a little but follow after her.

Joyce: "I'm sure that you've got some questions that you would want me to answer, so go on, ask away."

You don't think twice about what you want to know and ask her instantly.

[Y/n]: "What is going on around here?"

Joyce: "A lot of things are happening but I guess you're more curious about the things that involve you."

She slows down a little and you do the same.

Joyce: "There's no need for you to walk behind me you know, it's not like I'm gonna attack you after saving you, I could've attacked you while you were sleeping...unless..."