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Description
Weiss, Anemonae, and Manfred woke up the next morning, ate a small breakfast of fruit Anemonae had brought with her, and then went towards the forest. On their way, Anemonae explained her position. The Scythe of Life, an incredibly important weapon that was entrusted to her, had been stolen from her. She had traced the person who had taken it down to a museum that was supposedly in this forest. “If it comes to fighting,” she said, “please, let me take care of it. You two don’t seem to be very experienced…”
“Well, it wouldn’t hurt to learn.” Weiss took the rusty sword off of his belt and swung it through the air, a bit ungracefully.
“Hey!” Manfred just barely dodged the sword. “You could put someone’s eye out with that thing!”
“Do be careful, Weiss. I may be a healer, but my powers are somewhat limited without the Scythe…” Anemonae sighed. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“You live a fairly normal life, correct?”
“I guess so. I never really had anything exciting happen to me before now.”
“Then tell me, why are you so calm? When I was your age, I would have been terrified to be thrown into the Dark Realm by myself!”
Weiss considered the question for a moment. “I don’t know, really… To tell you the truth, when I got here, I thought I was dreaming. It wasn’t until I got to the town that I realized I wasn’t… and then I drank that water, which did something funny to my head… and then you came along. I guess the reason I’m not scared much is… well, you make me feel safe, Anemonae. There’s something about you that I can trust, I think.”
Anemonae’s face turned red, and she laughed. “Thank you, Weiss. I’m…” she giggled. “I’m flattered. Really! A word of advice, though: don’t depend on-“
She was interrupted by a high pitched scream. The trio had entered the forest, which was dark and overgrown. Most of the trees were dead, and the ones that weren’t had blood-red leaves and shriveled fruits. The scream had come from deep inside the forest.
“What in the world was that?” Manfred was crouched in a defensive position, looking everywhere for the source of the scream.
“Ravens,” Anemonae replied, calm but wary. “They lure you in by imitating people in trouble, and strike from the air as you’re looking for them on the ground. Don’t be fooled, Weiss, these are much stronger, smarter, and more aggressive than your Neutral Realm ravens. Keep an eye out.”
As they moved through the forest, they noticed a gigantic dark shape looming out in the distance. It was a building of some sort, what looked like a fortress. Something about it attracted the three of them, so they moved a bit quicker towards it. As they were hurrying, Weiss stepped on a branch, which broke with a crack that echoed throughout the entire forest. Afterwards, there seemed to be a rustling in the trees.
“Weiss!” Manfred pointed behind him. “Duck!”
Weiss threw himself to the ground just as a raven flew overhead, missing him by inches.  He scrambled to his feet and surveyed his surroundings. There were three ravens: the one that had just missed him, and two flanking him from behind. They were perched in the trees, each one staring him down.
Anemonae faced a palm at one of the ravens, launching a burst of light from it and taking it down.  “Weiss!” She pointed to the one to the right of him. “Get that one! I’ve got the other one!” The raven she had pointed to flew at Weiss, and he swung the sword at it, just clipping its wing. It was thrown off balance, so it crashed into a tree and fell to the ground. It got itself up and into the air quickly, though, and prepared to strike again. Weiss tried to hit it with the sword again, and this time he hit it square in the chest. It fell again, and didn’t recover. Anemonae, meanwhile, easily took the other raven down with another blast of light.
Weiss sat down, resting, but Anemonae picked him up by the hand. “Come on,” she said with a bit of urgency in her voice. “We’ve got to get away from here. Others will be here soon.” She ran, and Weiss followed her. Manfred had hidden in a tree, and he jumped out and ran after them.

                                                             …

After a few minutes of running, they came to the edge of the forest where the fortress lay. “We should be safe here,” Anemonae said. “Weiss, that was…”
“Great?” He was winded and scratched up, but he was grinning, ear-to-ear.
“Um… no. I was going to say, that was too close. Look, Weiss, I don’t think it’s the best idea for you to stay with me. You should go home.”
“No way! This is the most fun I’ve had in a long time!”
Anemonae glared at him. “Look, Weiss. You have to take this seriously. You nearly got hurt back there, and I could never forgive myself if you did. Besides, those ravens are one of the smallest creatures in the forest. There’s a lot more-“
Weiss didn’t let her finish. His smiled had disappeared, replaced by an expression of concentration. “Hey, Anemonae. Do you hear that?”
She listened carefully. There was a quiet sobbing coming from the direction of the building. “Weiss… I think somebody’s out there. Careful, though, you don’t know…” She sighed as Weiss ran off towards the sound. She and Manfred followed him. They found the source of the sound in the middle of a huge field surrounding the fortress. It was a girl, asleep on the ground. Weiss was kneeling in front of her, gently nudging her. “Weiss?” Anemonae asked warily. “Do you… know this person?”
“Yeah,” he replied, shocked. “This… this is May.”
“May?” Anemonae carefully approached Weiss and the girl, and examined her. She was asleep, but fresh tears were on her cheeks. She had a very slight build, with short unruly hair. She too looked out of place in this realm. From the new concern on Weiss’s face, and the gentle way he shook her, trying to wake her up, Anemonae could tell that the girl was very important to him. “It’s alright,” she said. “She’s not hurt.”
“But… she’s not waking up.” Weiss spoke softly now, clearly very worried. “Why won’t she wake up?”
“She’s from the Neutral Realm too, right?” He nodded. “That’s probably why. The Dark Realm is very different, and a body not accustomed to it will be in shock for a while. That may be why she was crying earlier. You probably had the same problem when you first arrived.”
“Oh yeah,” Manfred chimed in. “You were out for hours.”
“Well, we’re not going anywhere without May, right?”
“Oh, I don’t see why we have to drag her around with us. She looks like she’d be a burden.”
Weiss got to his feet, snarling at Manfred. “That’s my friend you’re talking about, you know! We can’t just leave her here!”
Manfred sneered at him. “Your girlfriend?”
Anemonae stepped between them. “Stop it! Both of you! You can’t fight like this. You might just have to depend on each other to survive one day.”
Weiss sat back down. “That’s what I’m afraid of,” he grumbled.
“Well,” Manfred said, “I just want to check that building out.” He paused. “What the heck is that thing, anyway?”
“I think that’s what we’re looking for, actually.” Anemonae looked up at the towering castle in front of them. “That’s the Museum.”
Weiss gaped at her. “Seriously? Who puts a museum in something that huge?”
“Shh… Weiss… I’m trying to sleep.”
“May! You’re awake!”
The girl sat up, propping herself against a rock. “Well, I am now, thanks to… you…” She trailed off as she looked around. “Oh my God… Weiss… where are we?” The look of irritation at her rude awakening had turned into one of terror.
Weiss took her in his arms and tried to comfort her. “It’s okay. We’re very far away from home, but we’re alright. We’ll go home in just a little while, okay?” He looked over at Anemonae. “Can you send us home now? I… I don’t want her here, and I wouldn’t want her worrying about me.”
She smiled. “Oh, of course. I understand.” She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She put her hands together, and drew them apart. Nothing happened. “Um… That’s… not good.” She tried it again, with the same result.
“Anemonae? What’s wrong?”
“Weiss… It looks like I can’t open a portal right now…”
“What!?”
“The Scythe… I’ve just been using it to travel between Realms, and… I can’t do it by hand any more. I’m sorry. We’ll just have to get the scythe back…”
Manfred giggled. “Well, won’t that be fun, Weiss? A little field trip with your girlfriend!”
Weiss groaned, then looked at May sternly. “May.”
“Yeah?” She replied weakly.
“This place might be dangerous. If we get in trouble, I want you to get out as fast as you can, okay? Don’t hesitate to go without me, alright?”
“Okay… We’ll be alright, though, won’t we? That’s just a precaution, right?”
Weiss looked away. “Yeah. We’ll make it. We’ll be in and out like that.” He snapped his fingers.
Anemonae looked up at the sky. “We’d better get going. The sun is going to go down soon, and we don’t want to be outside when that happens. It should be safer in this museum than out here. Ready to go?”
“Ready,” Manfred sang.
“I suppose so,” Weiss said. “May?”
She looked at him, and the two strangers. “Yeah.” She got up along with Weiss. “Let’s go. I want to get out of this place.”
“Alright then, let’s go. By the way, it’s nice to meet you, May. I’m Anemonae.” She smiled at the newcomer. “I’ll make sure you and Weiss get home safely.” She started to go towards the Museum, and the three others followed.

Description
Weiss, Anemonae, and Manfred woke up the next morning, ate a small breakfast of fruit Anemonae had brought with her, and then went towards the forest. On their way, Anemonae explained her position. The Scythe of Life, an incredibly important weapon that was entrusted to her, had been stolen from her. She had traced the person who had taken it down to a museum that was supposedly in this forest. “If it comes to fighting,” she said, “please, let me take care of it. You two don’t seem to be very experienced…”
“Well, it wouldn’t hurt to learn.” Weiss took the rusty sword off of his belt and swung it through the air, a bit ungracefully.
“Hey!” Manfred just barely dodged the sword. “You could put someone’s eye out with that thing!”
“Do be careful, Weiss. I may be a healer, but my powers are somewhat limited without the Scythe…” Anemonae sighed. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“You live a fairly normal life, correct?”
“I guess so. I never really had anything exciting happen to me before now.”
“Then tell me, why are you so calm? When I was your age, I would have been terrified to be thrown into the Dark Realm by myself!”
Weiss considered the question for a moment. “I don’t know, really… To tell you the truth, when I got here, I thought I was dreaming. It wasn’t until I got to the town that I realized I wasn’t… and then I drank that water, which did something funny to my head… and then you came along. I guess the reason I’m not scared much is… well, you make me feel safe, Anemonae. There’s something about you that I can trust, I think.”
Anemonae’s face turned red, and she laughed. “Thank you, Weiss. I’m…” she giggled. “I’m flattered. Really! A word of advice, though: don’t depend on-“
She was interrupted by a high pitched scream. The trio had entered the forest, which was dark and overgrown. Most of the trees were dead, and the ones that weren’t had blood-red leaves and shriveled fruits. The scream had come from deep inside the forest.
“What in the world was that?” Manfred was crouched in a defensive position, looking everywhere for the source of the scream.
“Ravens,” Anemonae replied, calm but wary. “They lure you in by imitating people in trouble, and strike from the air as you’re looking for them on the ground. Don’t be fooled, Weiss, these are much stronger, smarter, and more aggressive than your Neutral Realm ravens. Keep an eye out.”
As they moved through the forest, they noticed a gigantic dark shape looming out in the distance. It was a building of some sort, what looked like a fortress. Something about it attracted the three of them, so they moved a bit quicker towards it. As they were hurrying, Weiss stepped on a branch, which broke with a crack that echoed throughout the entire forest. Afterwards, there seemed to be a rustling in the trees.
“Weiss!” Manfred pointed behind him. “Duck!”
Weiss threw himself to the ground just as a raven flew overhead, missing him by inches.  He scrambled to his feet and surveyed his surroundings. There were three ravens: the one that had just missed him, and two flanking him from behind. They were perched in the trees, each one staring him down.
Anemonae faced a palm at one of the ravens, launching a burst of light from it and taking it down.  “Weiss!” She pointed to the one to the right of him. “Get that one! I’ve got the other one!” The raven she had pointed to flew at Weiss, and he swung the sword at it, just clipping its wing. It was thrown off balance, so it crashed into a tree and fell to the ground. It got itself up and into the air quickly, though, and prepared to strike again. Weiss tried to hit it with the sword again, and this time he hit it square in the chest. It fell again, and didn’t recover. Anemonae, meanwhile, easily took the other raven down with another blast of light.
Weiss sat down, resting, but Anemonae picked him up by the hand. “Come on,” she said with a bit of urgency in her voice. “We’ve got to get away from here. Others will be here soon.” She ran, and Weiss followed her. Manfred had hidden in a tree, and he jumped out and ran after them.

                                                             …

After a few minutes of running, they came to the edge of the forest where the fortress lay. “We should be safe here,” Anemonae said. “Weiss, that was…”
“Great?” He was winded and scratched up, but he was grinning, ear-to-ear.
“Um… no. I was going to say, that was too close. Look, Weiss, I don’t think it’s the best idea for you to stay with me. You should go home.”
“No way! This is the most fun I’ve had in a long time!”
Anemonae glared at him. “Look, Weiss. You have to take this seriously. You nearly got hurt back there, and I could never forgive myself if you did. Besides, those ravens are one of the smallest creatures in the forest. There’s a lot more-“
Weiss didn’t let her finish. His smiled had disappeared, replaced by an expression of concentration. “Hey, Anemonae. Do you hear that?”
She listened carefully. There was a quiet sobbing coming from the direction of the building. “Weiss… I think somebody’s out there. Careful, though, you don’t know…” She sighed as Weiss ran off towards the sound. She and Manfred followed him. They found the source of the sound in the middle of a huge field surrounding the fortress. It was a girl, asleep on the ground. Weiss was kneeling in front of her, gently nudging her. “Weiss?” Anemonae asked warily. “Do you… know this person?”
“Yeah,” he replied, shocked. “This… this is May.”
“May?” Anemonae carefully approached Weiss and the girl, and examined her. She was asleep, but fresh tears were on her cheeks. She had a very slight build, with short unruly hair. She too looked out of place in this realm. From the new concern on Weiss’s face, and the gentle way he shook her, trying to wake her up, Anemonae could tell that the girl was very important to him. “It’s alright,” she said. “She’s not hurt.”
“But… she’s not waking up.” Weiss spoke softly now, clearly very worried. “Why won’t she wake up?”
“She’s from the Neutral Realm too, right?” He nodded. “That’s probably why. The Dark Realm is very different, and a body not accustomed to it will be in shock for a while. That may be why she was crying earlier. You probably had the same problem when you first arrived.”
“Oh yeah,” Manfred chimed in. “You were out for hours.”
“Well, we’re not going anywhere without May, right?”
“Oh, I don’t see why we have to drag her around with us. She looks like she’d be a burden.”
Weiss got to his feet, snarling at Manfred. “That’s my friend you’re talking about, you know! We can’t just leave her here!”
Manfred sneered at him. “Your girlfriend?”
Anemonae stepped between them. “Stop it! Both of you! You can’t fight like this. You might just have to depend on each other to survive one day.”
Weiss sat back down. “That’s what I’m afraid of,” he grumbled.
“Well,” Manfred said, “I just want to check that building out.” He paused. “What the heck is that thing, anyway?”
“I think that’s what we’re looking for, actually.” Anemonae looked up at the towering castle in front of them. “That’s the Museum.”
Weiss gaped at her. “Seriously? Who puts a museum in something that huge?”
“Shh… Weiss… I’m trying to sleep.”
“May! You’re awake!”
The girl sat up, propping herself against a rock. “Well, I am now, thanks to… you…” She trailed off as she looked around. “Oh my God… Weiss… where are we?” The look of irritation at her rude awakening had turned into one of terror.
Weiss took her in his arms and tried to comfort her. “It’s okay. We’re very far away from home, but we’re alright. We’ll go home in just a little while, okay?” He looked over at Anemonae. “Can you send us home now? I… I don’t want her here, and I wouldn’t want her worrying about me.”
She smiled. “Oh, of course. I understand.” She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She put her hands together, and drew them apart. Nothing happened. “Um… That’s… not good.” She tried it again, with the same result.
“Anemonae? What’s wrong?”
“Weiss… It looks like I can’t open a portal right now…”
“What!?”
“The Scythe… I’ve just been using it to travel between Realms, and… I can’t do it by hand any more. I’m sorry. We’ll just have to get the scythe back…”
Manfred giggled. “Well, won’t that be fun, Weiss? A little field trip with your girlfriend!”
Weiss groaned, then looked at May sternly. “May.”
“Yeah?” She replied weakly.
“This place might be dangerous. If we get in trouble, I want you to get out as fast as you can, okay? Don’t hesitate to go without me, alright?”
“Okay… We’ll be alright, though, won’t we? That’s just a precaution, right?”
Weiss looked away. “Yeah. We’ll make it. We’ll be in and out like that.” He snapped his fingers.
Anemonae looked up at the sky. “We’d better get going. The sun is going to go down soon, and we don’t want to be outside when that happens. It should be safer in this museum than out here. Ready to go?”
“Ready,” Manfred sang.
“I suppose so,” Weiss said. “May?”
She looked at him, and the two strangers. “Yeah.” She got up along with Weiss. “Let’s go. I want to get out of this place.”
“Alright then, let’s go. By the way, it’s nice to meet you, May. I’m Anemonae.” She smiled at the newcomer. “I’ll make sure you and Weiss get home safely.” She started to go towards the Museum, and the three others followed.