rakuen | New Arrivals (All new characters)

You're falling, and you can't remember why. It's a sickening feeling that makes your insides lurch; the darkness and the vertigo combine, and all you can think of is a story you heard once, somewhere.

Ah, I remember now. It's... a simple story that everyone knows. A legend of a Princess, the Demon Lord who kidnapped her, and the Knight who fought to save her. The Demon Lord had kidnapped the Princess countless times, but every time the Knight bested his challenges and rescued the Princess. No matter what tricks and ploys the Demon Lord used, the Knight would always triumph in the end. This was because--

The world tilts on its axis one last time, and the dream slips from your mind as easily as it arrived. A new voice intrudes on your sleep. Mechanical, monotonous.

"Next stop: Rakuen City. This train terminates here. The next stop is Rakuen. All change." The train rocks steadily. Fog envelopes the windows, obstructing your view and reminding you of an unsettling dream simultaneously. The air is humid inside the carriages, a vent beside your feet heating the air and making the seats almost uncomfortably warm. A puff of steam from the train winds its way lazily past the windows, a slightly different shade and consistency as the grey fog.

It's strangely difficult to shake off the sleep; the rhythm of the train seems to lull you back into slumber and the air is warm and heavy, making it hard to keep hold of a thought. Finally, though, the nausea settles, the last of the dream fades and you can take in your surroundings. And, perhaps more importantly, those around you in a similar state. The train judders to a stop, the shape of buildings and people only now barely visible as shadows beyond the windows.

"We have arrived at Rakuen City. All passengers must leave the train. This train is terminating here. This is Rakuen."

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Koizumi drifted gradually out of the dream. He hadn't heard his alarm clock or cell phone, so there wasn't any rush, and he was rather enjoying it. Despite (or perhaps because of) their cliches and simplicity, he had always liked fairy tales. A neat little predictable world where everything turned out well in the end. Unless of course you read the real faerie tales, but those had an appeal of their own. In any case, he wasn't really worried until it occurred to him that he was moving. He'd gone to sleep in his own bed last night. Last he checked, his bed wasn't especially mobile. He opened his eyes.

...Oh dear.

He surveyed his surroundings. On an old-fashioned train in an unfamiliar landscape, pulling into a station whose name he didn't recognize. A lot of strangers in bizarre costumes. A grey-skinned woman with horns. A bird with a slate.

Oh dear.

He pulled out his cell phone, fingers already finding the speel-dial for Mori, but all it did was beep and inform him that he was not in the network area. Then the low battery chime sounded and it promptly shut off.

Oh dear. But that was all right, wasn't it? He had Mori's number memorized. He looked up at the strange assembly before him and offered a smile that was only slightly strained.

"I don't suppose I could borrow someone's cell phone?"

Prussia looked behind her at the person she didn't know. Oh, maybe her cell phone would tell her something about where she was.

She dug around in the pocket of her jeans until she pulled out the pink flip phone with little bird charm on it. "Lets see," she looked at it and noted that there was no missed calls or text messages. She then looked at the signal and battery symbols! "EH?!" she must have been out longer than she thought. She remembered it was fully charged last time she checked and now the battery was blinking like she spent all day on the web.

She turned off the phone and pocketed, maybe she could find a charger and then see about trying to get signal...there was probably some high trees or something she could climb up to the top of.

She shrugged at the man, "Would, but no signal and no battery."

"Yours as well?" He sighed and spread his palms. "Quite an unfortunate coincidence."

He didn't think it was a coincidence at all, of course. He couldn't say about the others, but he wasn;t here of his own free will, and it stood to reason that his kidnapper would try to cut him off from the outside world. But until he knew who these people were-- not to mention what they were, for a few of them-- he wasn't about to go sharing his ideas. Best to get a clearer picture first.

"Have you been to Rakuen City before?"

She shook her head, she didn't believe it was a coincidence, either. But nothing came of dwelling on something without facts.

She shook her head, "Nein, never even heard of it before." She had thought of answering sarcastically, but she was still too tired to think of sarcasm.

German, was it? Granted, a foreigner was hardly the most surprising thing here.

"Then I take it that this wasn't in your travel plans either. It must be a very kind stranger who provided us with a complementary vacation, but I do wish that they'd informed us beforehand."

He turned his gaze to the window, studying the landscape. It looked horribly ordinary, considering the mess of oddities that were on the train with him.

"Hmmm... If that was the case, why knock us out?" she asked. She was obviously in thought, "Did you drink anything strange before you went to sleep? I don't think I did."

"A mandatory vacation. It sounds so much nicer than a kidnapping, wouldn't you say?" He asked, flashing her a bright smile.

"I'm certain that I didn't." He had been in his apartment. The only thing he'd had was a cup of tea, and it would be quite a feat for anyone to drug the water from his tap.

She isn't sure about nicer or not. "Well, they could have chosen a better place than somewhere enveloped in fog!"

She just nods to that, so they didn't pass out from some sort of drug.

"Quite the contrary, I think it was a very good choice! Consider that our benevolent kidnapper has taken such care to keep us from knowing anything about this incident. We don't know how we got on the train, where we're going, or who took us here. It only makes sense that they would also keep us from getting a good visual on where we are."

Koizumi seemed awfully pleased for someone who had just been kidnapped. Truth be told, he was impressed. He would have to get home, of course-- he had too many things to do, too many people depending on him-- but he could still admire the genius and handiwork of this abduction.

"Of course there could be something sinister hiding in the fog, but I doubt it. If they wanted to hurt us, they would have done so while we slept. I imagine the fog only serves to continue the pattern of mystery and obscurity."

"It also doesn't make the place very inviting. If they want us to stay so badly, they should have forced us to a tropical island in the middle of an ocean...probably be harder to take a train there, though," she said.

She paused for a moment, though at the rest of his statement.

"How do you know that they haven't? We may not feel the effects for awhile," she said. She had experienced plagues, so she knew that they could have been infected with disease and may not get sick for weeks.

But she also realized something else, "I don't think we've introduced ourselves. I'm the awesome Prussia, but you can call me Maria."

The smile froze on Koizumi's face. Ever so slowly, he turned away from the window.

"I'm sorry," he said, treating each word as if rough handling might shatter it. "Did you say that you're Prussia?"

"Ja, that's my name. What about you? What's yours?" she asked.

Her name. Oh. He let out a sigh of relief, feeling rather silly for ever thinking... it was impossible, of course. The wording had thrown him, that was all.

"Terribly sorry," he said, extending a hand. "Itsuki Koizumi. It's a pleasure to meet you, despite the circumstances."

Strangely he was right on in his thoughts. That is, if he was thinking she was a country.

"Ja, pretty awesome, anyways!" she gave him a smile and shook his hand rather more vigorously than many women would.

New Arrivals (All new characters)

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