I charged forth and with a great leap soared over the boundary into the enemy's territory. Mighty eyebrows shining under the moonlight as a beacon for all to follow. For a moment, my eyes gazed up into the night's sky. The Goddess was watching me in this, my first battle in this brand new world.

I landed on my feet and with a glorious roar I raised my sword and looked back at my companions who... were not following me? There was no charge. There was only me, me and the lights of their glowing devices as they illuminated me. It wasn't the strangeness of this world's magic that gave me pause, but their decision to stand still.

"My friends, the moment to fight has come!" I raised my sword and searched their faces for the resolve I had seen earlier, trying to quell the doubt rising within me. There were only whispers spoken in low voices.

"Holy shit, did you see that jump? How did she... Wait, is she actually trying to get in?" said a man.

Another fellow looked at his magical artifact while speaking to the man next to him. "That was so shitty and fake. You can see the cables shining if you look at the video, look."

None of their words eased my growing confusion. "Why have you stopped? The Starfolk are suffering just over there!" I yelled at them.

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"Geez, calm down, aliens aren't real. Now come back here and stop attention whoring," said a soldier, not even lifting his gaze to look at me, simply shoveling food into his mouth. My world shaken as I processed the words he said.

"... Starfolk aren't real? What? Are you saying? No, I was explicitly told..." My mind was clouded with confusion and doubt. How could this be? I remembered them telling me that here were the Starfolk. They told me that the clapping of cheeks was tonight, yet they were saying it was not so?

My eyes opened wide as a realization struck my mind. "D-Deception?" I took a step back. Humans did not deceive like this. Demons, there were demons, but where? Goddess, protect me with your divine grace, for I fear that several of those I encountered today were demons in disguise. My eyes darted across the faces in the crowd, the faces that had looked candid and full of camaraderie earlier in the day now seemed increasingly distant.

"Hey, do the jump again!" a man in the crowd yelled, his voice bringing me back to the reality of the situation, a reality I had a difficult time facing. Was he a demon too? I... I had to stop concerning myself with such thoughts. Every second I wasted wondering was another second the Starfolk remained suffering, tortured. They were waiting for me, waiting for their cheeks to be clapped. I had to push all other thoughts down.

"I will save them." My voice filled with determination as I glared at the crowd that had seemed so warm earlier before I turned my back and ran into the depths of Aeria Fifti-Wun. There was no time to waste.