An Relatively Disappointing Day

Lydia refused to get up.

She didn't care how loudly her phone's alarm was ringing. She didn't care how much she should get up. If she got up, then the dream would be over. She'd have to go back to her dreary schedule in this crime-infested town. Lydia would have to go outside, walking around all the pollution and morons that lined the streets.

Resigning herself to her fate, Lydia reached out her left hand for her ribbon. When she felt around, however, she somehow couldn't find it. That was strange. She always kept at least one ribbon on her nightstand, if not more. Sitting up, Lydia searched the room.

The first thing she noticed was the chaos. Her phone charger was strewn on the floor next to her family photo. The clothing in her suitcase had been scattered. The light was on, which Lydia never did. The only thing untouched was the television, which still played its white noise. Getting up, Lydia retrieved her ribbon from next to her unused, plain white vanity. Odd that it was there. She hardly even thought about the vanity, let alone placed anything near it.

Had she been robbed? That couldn't be it. How could they have gotten into her room like this without her noticing. Why would they have broken in there? Exiting her room, Lydia went to her front door. Of course, it was still locked. The only way this could work was if someone had already been in her apartment. Except, the only person in there was herself.

Lorelei.

That was it! If the dream wasn't really a dream, it made sense that Lorelei may be inhabiting Lydia's body, just like Lydia had taken hers. If that were the case, Lorelei may have found herself confused, especially in the dark. Given all the lanterns in her room, Lydia guessed that Lorelei wasn't a fan of the dark. For Lorelei, the safe option was probably not to stray too far, especially given how late it would have been when ln she'd arrived. Even so, the ribbon being in the corner still baffled her.

Looking at the mess in her room, Lydia was grateful that she never kept her phone with her overnight. Though it was originally meant to not tempt Lydia into checking it after bedtime, it would have been screwed in this mess. Specifically, if Lorelei had gotten angry, the phone would have been collateral damage. Given how Sara had acted, it was likely that Lorelei had a temper.

Shaking her thoughts away, Lydia went out and turned her alarm off. Smiling, Lydia recovered the outfit she'd chosen before from the wreckage. Pausing, Lydia decided to put her clothes back, given that she was already there. After finishing, she grabbed her phone, plain black backpack, blue ribbon, and her purse. Still smiling, Lydia walked out the door. Nothing could get her down today.

After class, Lydia could be found at the food court. At least once a week, Nico insisted that they meet for something. Last week, Nico had dragged them on a nature trail, claiming he was looking for special creatures. A month prior, Nico had taken Lydia with him to a museum. That day, he claimed that something magical was hidden there. The magic, as it had turned out, was how fast they had gotten kicked out for messing with the exhibits.

After looking around for a bit, Lydia spotted Nico in a corner of the room. As usual, Nico had his attention set on his notebook. As a child, Nico had carried the book everywhere he went. He claimed that he drew only the rarest of creatures, but he refused to show Lydia. As he wrote, his dirty blond hair stood in its messy waves. Given its ruffled state, Lydia figured that he'd been there for a while. Waving to get his attention, Lydia sat down.

Closing his book, Nico regarded Lydia. “You look more animated than normal,” he said. “Did something happen?”

Only the best thing to ever happen to her. “No, not really.” Other than getting isekai'd, her life was pretty standard.

Narrowing his deep blue eyes at her, he placed his book on the table. “Alright,” he said. “Just tell me when you're ready. Especially tell me if it's something cool, okay?”

“Okay,” Lydia agreed. She shifted in her seat, anxious about her next question. “Hey, you remember those isekai stories I keep telling you about?”

“Yeah,” Nico replied. Of course he did. Nico had a scary good memory for what she told him about. “Why do you ask?”

“Do you remember any of the characters having wood carving skills?” Lydia was burning with anticipation. “Like, a family line called, say, Terrtrove?”

“Terrtrove?”

“Yeah,” she said. “For instance, maybe someone named something like Jason Terrtrove?”

Nico's face got serious. His blue eyes pinned her to her seat. “Lydia,” he started. “I'm gonna be honest with you.”

Lydia was at the edge of her seat. Nico paused, then went on. “I've never heard anything close to that before.”

Lydia let out a slightly nervous laugh. If that's what he remembered, then that meant that no Terrtroves had existed in the stories she'd read. An online search earlier had also given her no results, but she felt more confident hearing that, at the very least, she had never read such a story.

After that, she and him bantered like normal, talking about everything from the odd-looking raven Nico had been seeing to the time Lydia had given Nico a makeover in his sleep. To be fair, he'd looked gorgeous when she’d finished. Afterwards, Lydia left to go back to her apartment. It wasn't very far, so it didn't take long for her to be locking the door.

Though it was only mid-afternoon, Lydia walked into the kitchen to cook. Beforehand, she made a list of all the other things she had to do to prepare. Rolling her shoulders back, she got to work. The only difference in this case, however, was that most of this prep wasn't actually for her.

If the isekai happened again, Lydia did not want to wake up to another Hurricane Room. Her plan was simple: give things to occupy the short-tempered rich lady so that the short-fuse noble lady didn't wreck her room. First, Lydia would prepare some food for Lorelei to eat. Next, Lydia planned to leave out the board games she normally played with Lorelei. Finally, she would leave her gel pens and paper out for Lorelei to use.

That night, Lydia put her phone charger and photo in the nightstand drawer. She also dusted off her old vanity. Given that Lorelei had placed the ribbon near there, Lydia figured that the lady was at least a little interested in it. After that, Lorelei set out all the entertainment items on the vanity.

After turning the television up higher than normal in case Lorelei was interested, Lydia got up to turn off her lights. As her hand hovered over the switch, she remembered the lanterns she'd seen. Thinking of Lorelei, she went out of her room to the lamp she kept near the entrance. Taking that in her room, Lydia turned it on, then turned the overhead light off. Laying in bed, Lydia prayed for a repeat of the last night. Even so, she did absently wonder to herself. What is it like when Lorelei wakes up here?