Chapter 1: When A Rock Screws You Over

To Jill Adver,

Hey Jill. It's me, Rachel. If you are reading this, then I need help. I know, this is out of the blue. Me and the others haven't contacted you for two years. Well, we have but the mail route or something changed and we never bothered to find it. I'm saying it now but me and the others are still your friends. We weren't fake and didn't forget about you. And I'm not saying all this to butter you up so you can help me. No.

....Now please send me four hundred dollars. JK. Just kidding. You know I'm richer than you'll ever be. Anyway, back to the point. I managed to get someone to travel into the wooded area you now live in and place this letter here. Hopefully, your mom doesn't throw it out. We have been very busy, and I know this that isn't an excuse. But, I want to see you again and, hopefully, I can. Now, the kind of help I need is definitely dangerous so you don't have to actually listen to this letter. But, if you do, follow this map. You'll know what the meeting point is when you see it. With any luck, me or one of us will be there.

With that cheesy love, Rachel Jrew

Jill read the letter for the fourth time, a small frown on her face. After two years, one of her friends finally contacted her...and it was something like this. Jill had no idea how to feel about it. On one side, she was happy that she finally something from her friends. On the other side, she was pissed that it took so long and that only one of her friends contacted her. However, most of her were on the third side. The very concerned side.

The letter did say that her friends did try to contact her but they also admitted that they gave up. Well, Jill also doesn't really blame them either. The place she lives in has no wifi and no reception. It was also isolated and very hard and dangerous to get in and out of, both on foot and by car. Jill had no idea what her parents were thinking when they moved here. Even now she didn't know when they were thinking when they left her about a year ago.

They took her out of school, put her in an isolated and dangerous new town, and then left after a while with no reason why. She lives alone with her grandma and gets visited and taught by her aunt, who remains silent about the reason why her parents left. Jill's hopes and dreams of an adventure by the point her parents left crumpled into dust.

Her friends never contacted her. Her school life was practically ruined since she left without any reason. It made it seem like she dropped out, which definitely wouldn't look good for her. Next, her parents slowly started acting indifferent towards her and the quality of food in the house slowly started dropping. Then, one day, they left without a trace to where they went.

They didn't entirely abandon Jill and her grandma. They still send money over to for the bills and to buy supplies but not as much as they earned normally. To make matters worse, the people living in this town are barely anywhere around Jill's age and all treat her like she might be some kind of criminal. Her only hope had been to go to college. Since she did turn eighteen, she can go to college. However, the word 'had' was used here.

She doesn't have enough money to go to one, can't look up any, can't walk out of this wooded town since the terrain is too dangerous and there are a lot of wild animals, and she can't drive a car nor get someone to drive for her. Her aunt refuses to give her money or support to get out of this town and go to college. She was trapped. Her dreams crushed.

No adventure for her. The only hope of adventure she has is that she may fall in love later on. Maybe, somewhere in this town or in the future she will come across some handsome boy who makes her heart beat wildly, and fall in love with each other. But that won't happen in the future.

While this letter can't help her problems, it can help cure her boredom. The map doesn't show how to leave the town and the woods surrounding it safely but it does lead to somewhere and the path she is suppose to follow is suppose to be safe. Yeah, she might die but the risks and rewards make it worth it. And honestly, she doesn't care if she were to die at the moment. That is how Jill feels right now.

So, after making sure that Aunt Stacy wasn't around, Jill grabbed her greyish blue jacket, put on her black, blue, and white sneakers, and ran out the door, her pocket knife and pepper spray in her jacket pockets and the letter with the map in hand. She left the town, making sure to avoid the very few people walking around. It was easy since she lived on the outskirts of the town and the town also had a lot of patches of trees around.

It was easy to find the start of the trail she was suppose to go on. It was next to a small hill, more of a bump in the terrain that had a bunch of rocks on it and a hole leading to nowhere inside a big rock lodged into the dirt. It blended in but, since Jill has been living here and exploring for the past two years, she was easily able to find it. Once you've been living here for a while, that hill became quite noticeable.

The path was to the left of the hill but, after a bit of going straight, it went right, giving Jill a bit of a climb, and into a forested area right above the small hill. That gave Jill a bit of a pause but, after thinking it over, decided to go anyway.

The path went more and more right, over a bridge, through a stream, under an old bridge, through more woods, and finally into the deep area of the forest. Finally, Jill made her way through the thick forest and into a large lush plain on a small incline.

"Finally made it out of that cartoonish trail. I mean, why make me go on and under two bridges?" Jill complained to no one.

With a sigh, Jill got up and looked around. She saw...

....

....

....nothing. There was nothing here at all. Jill let out a groan, about to crumple up the letter when her eyes spotted something by a bush. She walked over and leaned down. On the ground pinned down by a rock was a pink ribbon. It was fresh too. Excited, Jill picked it up and noticed a label on it.

"Geco. Save fifteen percent more on all insurance..."

Jill threw the ribbon down, realizing that it probably wasn't from her friends and angry that she read one of those annoying ads. She didn't hate the ads really. It's just that they always played when her favorite shows were on. Every single commercial break, there was an ad like that.

"I really hope I didn't waste my time with this-" Jill started but froze, her eyes locked onto something hidden through the bush.

A little bit further in the woods was an old building with a temple gate visible. The building looked to be brown in color with some white design on it.

"Ah. That's where the meeting place is," Jill said out loud, smacking her forehead in disappointment. She had no idea how she missed such a thing.

"Ugh. I better not be trespassing or something," Jill muttered as she made her way to the building.

The building was, no surprise, a temple. What was surprising was that it was a legit Japanese shrine. When the Japanese lost this land, the Chanderlins made sure to destroy any building relating to religion, no matter how old it was.

'Guess they didn't find this one. Though, now that I think about it, I'm kinda ashamed that I didn't discover this sooner.' Jill thought, staring at the shrine in wonder. This is her first time seeing a shrine. Well, she saw a small shrine before but not a building dedicated to being one.

The shrine was most definitely old, the brown now a clear faded red color, and the white floor which looks like it was made from marble cracked. A few chunks were even missing. Still, it was surprisingly in good shape. As Jill made her way into the temple, she saw many faded artwork. One of them, in particular, caught her eyes. It was a faded painting of sixteen black shapes. Under them were white and peach-colored flowers.

'Wait. All the artwork from before looked like it had those flowers. Was this place dedicated to some flower god?' Jill wondered, running her hand on the painting on the wall.

"Or maybe that is the flower god?" Jill said, turning and seeing a large painting depicting a woman in a white robe and brown hair kneeling down holding one of those flowers in what looks to be an endless field of them. Sticking out of the ground besides her was a rather long sword that looked very similar to a katana, though the blade was arguable more straight and definitely longer. Well, then again it could have been that the sword was made to look bigger since this is a painting. Unfortunately, there were no words or anything that resembles a written language around the temple that Jill could see. There also was no sign of where Jill's friend was.

'Where is she?'

Jill looked around some more until there was only one place left. The backyard. It probably was a courtyard or something but its name isn't important right now. The doorway leading into the backyard was large and rectangular...and also lacking a door. Jill went through it and was once again taken back by the scenery. Stone statues of the sixteen figures and patterns made with rocks were all over the place.

Jill made her way down, hearing the sound of rushing water and taking in the scenery. She kept on walking, amazed, before realizing that her foot was raised over empty air. Jill looked down, taking a step back, and realized that she had almost stepped into a large rectangular pool of water, or pond, in the ground.

"Wow. That pond looks...quite clear. Is this a pool or something? Why is the water light blue in color?"

Royally confused, Jill crouched down and reached forward, about to touch the surface of the pond, when she stopped. Her hand felt warm which was strange. It was more than a bit nippy outside.

After a bit of testing, Jill confirmed it.

"Yep. That "pond" is hot," Jill noted, standing up, "And that pond is also probably a portal."

How did Jill come to this conclusion? Well, think about it. What kind of old abandoned shrine would have a jacuzzi out back? None. What kind of old abandoned shrine would have chlorine run through its pond daily? None. So, either Jill is trippin or she stumbled upon a portal.

Now, you might be thinking hooray! Finally, I have a chance to change my boring life. I have a chance of adventure. This is an otaku's dream! Jill, however, was more logical. She took a long look at the portal and-

"Yep! That's enough for today. I'm not even going to risk dealing with that. See ya!"

With that, Jill did a heel turn around and took a step forward away from the portal...

....

....

....

....and, if you read the title of this chapter, you know what happens next.

Jill's foot slips on a slippery rock by the pond and, with that comedic effect seen in cartoons, Jill promptly does a backflip and falls headfirst into the pond before she could even yell out the long "FUCK" she had planned.

. . . .

Jill woke up, feeling extremely lightheaded. Her vision was blurry and her body felt weird in two ways. One was a very strange warm tingling running through her. The next was a very strange feeling of her blood rushing to her head. It took Jill a couple of seconds, especially when her vision cleared somewhat, to realize what the second feeling was.

'Ah! I'm hanging upside down, aren't I?'

Jill chalked up the second feeling to her body acting up after her being upside down for who knows how long. Jill looked around to see what she got caught on. Her vision was still blurry but she could make out a small rocky hill. If she had to guess, her foot was probably caught on a rock. Jill was glad that her body was numb. If not, she bet her foot would be in a world of pain. Jill hopes it wasn't broken.

'Ugh. Where am I anyway?' Jill wondered, taking her attention off of her stuck foot and at her surroundings. Immediately she took a deep breath in shock. Although her vision was blurry, she could still make out an enchanting garden very similar to the one depicted in the painting from before. Those flowers were everyone and white particles like snow were falling from the sky. The garden itself seemed to go on endlessly, with nothing but a black void as the sky. The entire scene seemed like it belonged in heaven. It all felt so surreal to Jill.

That was when Jill noticed her. Standing next to a smaller version of the pond-portal Jill fell in before, this time the portal was an actual pond, was the woman from the painting...only, she wasn't really a woman. She didn't look to be much older than Jill. She had a mature look on her face and was wearing the same exact outfit from before, though now Jill could tell that there was a royal purple stripe on the waist of her kimono and a smaller bright red stripe on her right shoulder. The sword was also there but in a black sheath. Right away Jill could tell that the weapon was not a katana. The sword she had was much longer.

She was facing Jill, a slight look of surprise on her face, but said nothing. This silence went on for a while, neither one saying a word until the girl seemed to do a bow.

'Huh? Why is she bowing?' Jill wondered. She got her answer rather quickly as, the very next second, the girl-

"HAHAHAHAH! H-HOW!? J-J-JUST WHA-!?"

Burst out laughing, the mature look on her face gone as well as the otherworldly appearance she had. Her voice did not sound mature at all and had a slight southern accent to it.

"Th-The por-portal was m-made so that you'll l-land safely. How did you manage to land Upside-Down!?" The girl asked, still wheezing and recovering from her fit of laughter.

"Wait...Don't tell me you tripped and fell backwards?"

Jill's silence and flushed cheeks said it all and the girl burst out laughing again.

"BAKA! We have a complete and total clumsy Baka here."

Jill was debating if being mauled by an animal would have been better than this.