Aqua awoke with a loud gasp.
Her memory was... well, it was foggy. Really foggy, in fact. It felt like she'd spent too much time at the tavern last night downing as much booze as she possibly could. Her first instinct wasn't even to open her eyes and survey her surroundings, but rather, it was to bring a hand up to her heavy feeling head. She was so dizzy. Like someone had put her in a swivel chair and spun her around for a good minute or so. Not that Aqua even had the cognitive ability to remember what a swivel chair even was. Really, one could very well say that the Goddess was in a state of cognitive dissonance at the moment.
Slowly, though, her eyes fluttered open, and she allowed herself to take in her surroundings. Part of her was almost scared to do so, but even someone as stubborn as she knew she couldn't get anywhere with her eyes closed all the time. As one of her five main senses was able to take effect, her crystal blue eyes were met with a calming visage. She was surrounded by lush, green trees and relaxing, full lakes. Before she could get too relaxed, however, Aqua felt a chill run down her spine. The air was... awfully thin here!
Wherever... she was... exactly.
"H-hello...?" The Goddess would call out as she shifted up from her back and onto her knees. "Is anyone here??"
No response.
The more Aqua spoke, the more her memories came flooding back. The last place she'd been... was that mansion. The mansion she and her party had gotten after clearing out those demons. Which was a task they couldn't have done without her... because she was a Goddess! Yeah, she was a Goddess, and she had been dragged into that stupid world by Kazuma! Where she had to fight the Devil King so she could get back home, and return to her life of doing nothing! As the not so pleasant memories filled her brain and snapped through her synapses, Aqua's cheeks puffed out and her brows began to furrow for a moment. Of course Kazuma would throw a mean prank like this!
"You know, Kazuma..." Aqua began to speak as she brought herself up to her knees, planting her fists firmly on her hips. She tilted her head upwards to the sky as if she were telling someone off - which in a way, she was. She just didn't realize that the "someone" in question wasn't really here at all. "If your idea of a prank is sending me to a tropical island getaway, then you're even more of a NEET than I thought!" Though, despite her words, still, no response was given. After a bout of piercing silence, Aqua opened one eye and used it to survey the area... and then immediately realized that even still, no one was there. Aqua was anything if not persistent, and as such, she simply closed her eye again and let out another grunt of contempt.
And yet, still nothing.
It was at this point that Aqua's movements began to truly become frantic. The fists that she'd had planted on her hips immediately began to tremble out in front of her, before finding their residence as flat palms on the ground to support her shifting weight.
"O-Okay, Kazuma... you can come out now..." Aqua said, her tone increasingly more desperate for any sign of life. Well, there were signs of life. She could very clearly see small birds flying around in the nearby trees, after all. The sound of a snapping twig in a nearby shrub caused her to squeak a bit, immediately turning around to face the source. Once again, there was no one there. "Seriously Kazuma, this isn't funny!" Aqua complained again, though at this point the realization that no one she knew was here was slowly beginning to overtake her more rational thoughts. "O-okay fine, don't come out, then! But just know that doing this to a Goddess is shameful, a-and as such, you should be ashamed!" Aqua would complain as she brought herself up to her feet and brushed her dress off. At this point, she wasn't even really expecting an answer, so the silence didn't really cause her to bat an eye at all.
As she finally put those legs of her's to good use, Aqua fully realized just where she was. The appearance of floating islands all around her was a bit of a dead giveaway, as was the clear edge of the island she was on, which was only a mere few feet away from where she was standing. Slowly but surely, Aqua stepped over to the edge. How high was she? Could she even see what lied below the floating chunk of land she stood on? Well, as she leaned forward and placed her soft hands on her knees, she found her answers.
Very, and yes.
What lied below her were foggy, murky waters. Waters that she could tell were more than likely brimming with hostile sea creatures. Vines entangled much of what made up the surface's land. Compared to where she was currently standing, that place was like Hell... or at least some form Purgatory.
'Well, at least I'm not down there!' Aqua thought to herself, before shrugging off the thought and happily skipping away. After all, if this was her new home, she'd better find out if someone of worth lived here.
Her memory was... well, it was foggy. Really foggy, in fact. It felt like she'd spent too much time at the tavern last night downing as much booze as she possibly could. Her first instinct wasn't even to open her eyes and survey her surroundings, but rather, it was to bring a hand up to her heavy feeling head. She was so dizzy. Like someone had put her in a swivel chair and spun her around for a good minute or so. Not that Aqua even had the cognitive ability to remember what a swivel chair even was. Really, one could very well say that the Goddess was in a state of cognitive dissonance at the moment.
Slowly, though, her eyes fluttered open, and she allowed herself to take in her surroundings. Part of her was almost scared to do so, but even someone as stubborn as she knew she couldn't get anywhere with her eyes closed all the time. As one of her five main senses was able to take effect, her crystal blue eyes were met with a calming visage. She was surrounded by lush, green trees and relaxing, full lakes. Before she could get too relaxed, however, Aqua felt a chill run down her spine. The air was... awfully thin here!
Wherever... she was... exactly.
"H-hello...?" The Goddess would call out as she shifted up from her back and onto her knees. "Is anyone here??"
No response.
The more Aqua spoke, the more her memories came flooding back. The last place she'd been... was that mansion. The mansion she and her party had gotten after clearing out those demons. Which was a task they couldn't have done without her... because she was a Goddess! Yeah, she was a Goddess, and she had been dragged into that stupid world by Kazuma! Where she had to fight the Devil King so she could get back home, and return to her life of doing nothing! As the not so pleasant memories filled her brain and snapped through her synapses, Aqua's cheeks puffed out and her brows began to furrow for a moment. Of course Kazuma would throw a mean prank like this!
"You know, Kazuma..." Aqua began to speak as she brought herself up to her knees, planting her fists firmly on her hips. She tilted her head upwards to the sky as if she were telling someone off - which in a way, she was. She just didn't realize that the "someone" in question wasn't really here at all. "If your idea of a prank is sending me to a tropical island getaway, then you're even more of a NEET than I thought!" Though, despite her words, still, no response was given. After a bout of piercing silence, Aqua opened one eye and used it to survey the area... and then immediately realized that even still, no one was there. Aqua was anything if not persistent, and as such, she simply closed her eye again and let out another grunt of contempt.
And yet, still nothing.
It was at this point that Aqua's movements began to truly become frantic. The fists that she'd had planted on her hips immediately began to tremble out in front of her, before finding their residence as flat palms on the ground to support her shifting weight.
"O-Okay, Kazuma... you can come out now..." Aqua said, her tone increasingly more desperate for any sign of life. Well, there were signs of life. She could very clearly see small birds flying around in the nearby trees, after all. The sound of a snapping twig in a nearby shrub caused her to squeak a bit, immediately turning around to face the source. Once again, there was no one there. "Seriously Kazuma, this isn't funny!" Aqua complained again, though at this point the realization that no one she knew was here was slowly beginning to overtake her more rational thoughts. "O-okay fine, don't come out, then! But just know that doing this to a Goddess is shameful, a-and as such, you should be ashamed!" Aqua would complain as she brought herself up to her feet and brushed her dress off. At this point, she wasn't even really expecting an answer, so the silence didn't really cause her to bat an eye at all.
As she finally put those legs of her's to good use, Aqua fully realized just where she was. The appearance of floating islands all around her was a bit of a dead giveaway, as was the clear edge of the island she was on, which was only a mere few feet away from where she was standing. Slowly but surely, Aqua stepped over to the edge. How high was she? Could she even see what lied below the floating chunk of land she stood on? Well, as she leaned forward and placed her soft hands on her knees, she found her answers.
Very, and yes.
What lied below her were foggy, murky waters. Waters that she could tell were more than likely brimming with hostile sea creatures. Vines entangled much of what made up the surface's land. Compared to where she was currently standing, that place was like Hell... or at least some form Purgatory.
'Well, at least I'm not down there!' Aqua thought to herself, before shrugging off the thought and happily skipping away. After all, if this was her new home, she'd better find out if someone of worth lived here.