Taylor woke up the next morning. At first, he stirred slowly, but once he realized he didn’t recognize the room, he shot upright. Looking around, he saw he was in the room in the house Kira rented. His panic didn’t lessen—his heart beat too fast. It was all real. He was still here. He put a hand over his heart. His breathing stayed shallow; he was thinking too fast and not at all. Through the panic, he registered the necklace around his neck. He grasped it and squeezed, not enough to break it. Taylor wouldn’t dare do something like that.

After a while, he calmed down, feeling exhausted. His eyes struggled to stay open, though it wasn’t from sleep deprivation. He took a final deep breath, noting distantly that his heart was still beating a little fast but deciding that was fine. With nothing else to do, he decided to check his belongings properly. A lot had happened yesterday, so it had slipped his mind. He realized he only had his clothes, his necklace, and his phone. Wait. He still had his phone! Frowning, he wondered how he could have overlooked that. Had he been that tired?

When he tried to turn it on, it didn’t work. The battery was dead. Dumb useless thing, Taylor thought. There had to be a way to charge it in this world. Though whether it would still work after charging was another question—it wasn’t exactly built to survive world travel. He decided to cross that bridge when he got to it. After putting his phone away, he left the room and found Kira and Mira already awake—and fighting.

“At least I’m not adopted!” Mira said, turning away from Kira.

“Neither of us is adopted!” Kira looked like he might bring the original plot back on track himself.

“Morning,” Taylor said, walking past them and into the kitchen. He made himself some tea, wondering how and when he could repay Kira and Mira for using their money. Perhaps he could leave before either of them realized what kind of burden he was.

“GOOD MORNING!” Taylor wondered how Mira had so much energy so early.

“Good morning. Did you sleep well?” Kira’s tone was nicer, but it was still too early for conversations.

“I slept fine. How about you?”

Kira and Mira looked doubtful, and Taylor couldn’t blame them. Just when Mira looked like she was about to call him out on his lie, Kira slapped a hand over her mouth. Smooth, Taylor thought, sipping his tea.

“We slept well. But are you sure you’re okay?”

“Never been better.”

“Oh! I wanted to ask what you’re planning to do now?”

Suddenly, Taylor had an idea. He put his half-finished tea aside.

“You know, Deep Hollow wasn’t my actual destination.”

“It wasn’t?” The siblings had identical looks of confusion.

“Yes, I was planning on visiting a friend. The journey isn’t too far, but I’m a bit concerned that something could happen again after the attack yesterday. After all, Deep Hollow isn’t far from where I’m going, and who knows where those people are now.” Taylor did his best to look afraid, though he wasn’t sure how convincing he was—he’d never taken acting classes.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Kira and Mira suddenly looked vicious, and Taylor wondered if he’d said something wrong. If he had to guess, Kira now looked more similar to how he was described in the novel than at any other time since Taylor had met him. Taylor shook his head. Once they decided to go after the group, he could leave. The group’s goal was never explored in the novel, which he’d found disappointing at the time; now it was annoying, as it made them more unpredictable. Even though he knew their future actions, things could change. He’d have to make sure to get the story back on track as soon as possible.

Though, now that he thought about it, what if he simply told Kira and Mira about this group? While they wouldn’t go and avenge some random people they’d never met, they probably wouldn’t just sit by and let others get hurt. After all, unlike him, Kira was a hero.

No, dumb plan, Taylor decided in the end. After all, it would be suspicious if he knew so much about them, and he shouldn’t go around revealing information like this. Besides, his knowledge was very limited—he didn’t even remember the entire novel. Sue him for not anticipating that he’d be sucked into it.

“Are you okay?” Kira asked. At some point, he’d moved closer to Taylor without Taylor noticing. Taylor jumped back in shock, his heart pounding. Kira suddenly looked very guilty.

“I’m fine.”

Kira’s frown deepened, though there was a strange understanding in his eyes. What’s he doing? Taylor thought.

“Heeeeeeeeeey,” Mira appeared next to Kira out of nowhere, giving Taylor yet another heart attack.

“What is it?”

“How old are you?”

Taylor wasn’t sure if he should tell her. The less they knew about him, the better.

“Why don’t you tell me how old you are first?”

She didn’t answer at first, only pouting, but then her expression quickly turned happy.

“I am 13 years old,” she declared proudly. Taylor hummed; he already knew this.

“Well, a growing kid like you should eat lots to grow up strong and healthy. Have you had breakfast yet?” She shook her head before registering what he’d said.

“HEY! Didn’t you hear me? I’m 13, so not a kid!” Taylor hummed again but was internally mourning his hearing—he’d go deaf before even turning 20 at this rate.

“Of course. But no matter a person’s age, they should still eat.” He went to the kitchen to prepare food, deciding to make waffles. They had all the ingredients. The siblings began bickering again. If Taylor heard correctly, Mira had accidentally, or so she claimed, thrown a pillow at Kira’s face because “his face was annoying.” Taylor chose to ignore this.

When he finished, he put the food on the table and dragged the others to the kitchen.

“Ohhhh. What’s that?” Mira asked.

Taylor turned to her, surprised. He thought they had waffles in this world—he was pretty sure it was mentioned at some point, but maybe he was misremembering.

“They’re waffles.”

“You know, you’re weird.”

“I am?”

“Don’t be rude, Mira!” Kira immediately scolded her. Since Taylor didn’t seem offended, Kira dropped it for now.

“Yeah, your clothes, hair, and the food you make.”

Taylor could understand why she’d find his clothes weird, but what was strange about his food and hair?

“Waffles aren’t weird, Mira—you’ve just never had any.”

That got her attention.

“That’s because you never made any! My entire life, I had to live off your and Dad’s cooking, and you never made anything like this!”

Kira shrugged instead of answering. Huffing, Mira turned back to Taylor, her whole demeanor becoming friendlier but also curious. Taylor was going to get dizzy if she kept this up.

“Well, your clothes and hair are still weird,” said the girl with fire-red hair.

“I mean, I’ve never seen anything like it before. But they look nice as hell.”

Kira choked on air, and Taylor chuckled. One of the reasons he liked *Hero’s Ascent* was the way the characters spoke like people in the modern world. It was funny to imagine people who looked like they’d call their neighbor a witch for saying “bless you” but talked like a teenager.

“And your hair. It’s a pretty color—even the white strand—but I’ve never seen such pure white hair. Especially just one strand—it looks really natural. Did you dye it?” Taylor took a few seconds to process this before lightly frowning. White? He didn’t have white hair. Was Mira colorblind?

“Thank you. I dyed it a while back. Do you like it?” he lied, having no idea what she was talking about.

“Yes! It looks great.”

“She’s right—it does look pretty,” Kira agreed.

“Thanks. Though, I just remembered something, and I need to go now. I’ll be back soon.” Taylor left without another word.