Beyond the Painting

After Kaesa fell into the past world, her eyes opened. Ahead of her, she saw a forest stretching out. When she looked behind her, there was a great stone wall. Not understanding what was happening, Kaesa got to her feet. In the distance, she spotted what looked like a large fortress and headed in that direction.
Along the way, she noticed something lying on the ground — a sword resting on top of the dirt. Kaesa thought about picking it up, but just as she reached for it, someone grabbed her hand. Startled, Kaesa cried out in fear.
The person looked at her and said, "Quiet."
"Who are you?" Kaesa demanded.
The stranger sat her on a horse and rode off with her. Along the way, they removed the mask covering their face — it was a girl.
Kaesa looked at her. "Hey, who are you? What kind of place even is this?"
"The past world?" the girl asked. "What are you talking about?"
Kaesa quickly gathered her thoughts. "I'm from the future — believe me. I came here to look for my mother. Please, tell me, where is this place?"
The girl said, "What are you rambling about — past, future, whose mother are you looking for?"
"So what's your name, then?" Kaesa asked.
"That doesn't matter. What's your name?" the girl replied.
"Ah — my name is Kaesa," she said.
The girl looked at her. "I need to take you to that place."
"I don't understand — which place?" Kaesa asked.
"To the fortress in the city of Farkaden," the girl said.
"A fortress? Is this place really that undeveloped? We only read about fortresses in history," Kaesa said.
The girl looked at her. "History? Reading? Is it even possible to read during wartime?"
"Wait — is there a war going on here too?" asked.
And so the girl brought Kaesa to the fortress.After reaching the fortress, the girl brought Kaesa inside. Looking around at the interior, Kaesa was amazed. She turned to the girl and said, "This place really looks like what we studied in history — amazing."
Just then, she spotted soldiers up ahead. Kaesa went up to one of the soldiers and said, "Incredible — are those even iron suits of armor? This truly is an underdeveloped era," touching the soldier's armor and reaching for his sword.
The soldier, confused, thought, "Who is this girl, and is she stupid, calling this an underdeveloped era?"
Just then, the soldiers noticed the other girl and all bowed their heads in greeting. Amazed, Kaesa said, "Wow, you seem like some kind of sacred person — but to me you looked like just an ordinary person."
One soldier said, "Ava Tsalis, your squad is waiting for you."
Kaesa laughed. "So your name is Ava, huh?"
The soldier turned to Kaesa. "And who are you?"
Ava spoke to them. "Don't pay attention to this girl — she's my guest," she said, and led Kaesa further away. Kaesa, still in shock, followed.
Kaesa turned to Ava. "Who are you here, exactly?"
"I'm a member of the squad," Ava replied.
"What squad is that?" Kaesa asked.
Ava looked at her. "No need for a lot of words."
Kaesa then nodded as if to say "fine" and stayed quiet.
Ava brought her to a room, then knocked on the door. "Raidol, are you in there?"
"Now who's Raidol?" Kaesa asked.
Ava said nothing. An elderly-looking old man opened the door.
"Ah, come in," he said.
Ava turned to him. "This is Kaesa — she's saying she came from the future world. What do you make of that?"
The old man, confused, said, "The future...? Come inside, let's talk properly."
Kaesa, Ava, and Raidol went inside and sat down.