Isekai Shenanigans Part 2: Judithe's Lament (Nightmare Before Christmas)
Isekai Shenanigans Part 2: Judithe's Lament (Nightmare Before Christmas)
By Wanderer D
Judithe had held on to Rozemynes hands tightly as they were both sucked into a whirlwind of books, stars and candles. In the distance she had heard Lady Hannelore and Lady Philine, but—although she was worried about her roommate—her mind was on protecting Rozemyne. As her knight, she would not let her fall into harm. What would Angelica think if she failed?
She shook her head and pumped magic into her arms, reinforcing her physical strength, pulling her lady closer to her to make the most of her ability to protect her on this wild ride.
Or that had been the plan, at least. Unfortunately the moment she had attempted to pull Rozemyne closer, was when they had slammed into a large bookshelf. It wasn't a horrible hit, more disorienting than anything, but they had been startled enough for her to lose her grip on Rozemyne's hands.
"Judithe!"
"Lady Rozemyne!"
The world had lit up around them in a flash, and she had felt as if she were being pulled in different directions before everything had gone dark.
The world came into focus again, and Judithe took a deep breath of relief knowing that, if she was alive and unharmed, chances were that her lady would be okay too. Her deep breath was also rewarded by a soothing, pleasant scent.
She was lying in a field of tall stalks full of tiny light-purple flowers, which were responsible for the calming aroma around her. The sky above was just turning into night, and she could see stars glittering beyond puffy white clouds far above. The air was cool, but not too cold. The ground below her felt soft and inviting, and she was very tempted to take another deep breath, exhale and drift into a smiling dozing state before sleeping for a good few hours.
She sat up, eyes wide. She couldn't do that! She was still supposed to be protecting her lady! Speaking of which… "Lady Rozemyne!" she called out, pushing herself up and doing her best to keep the aromatic flowers out of her face. "Lady Rozemyne! Are you okay? Can you hear me?!"
"Judithe?" the familiar voice of her lady reached her from somewhere in the fields. "I can hear you, but I can't see you with all this lavender around!"
"Lavender," Judithe murmured. "So that's what it's called." She raised her voice. "I can't see you either! I'll cast Rott!(1)"
"Okay," Rozemyne said, although she sounded dubious. "Just… don't be surprised when you see me."
"Surprised?" Judithe asked.
"You'll see. Cast away!"
Shrugging, Judithe summoned her schtappe and raised her hand to the sky. She noticed something odd about her skin, but decided not to worry about it for now until her Lady was back with her.
"Rott!" she called out, and a ray of red light shot into the twilight sky, indicating her exact position. If Lady Hannelore or Philine were around, they would surely see it too."
"I see it!" she heard Rozemyne shout, and soon heard the ruffling of plants as someone approached. She turned in the direction of the noise just in time to see a human-sized shumil appear out of the flowers. "Buh-wha!?" she pointed her schtappe at it reflexively.
"Stop! It's me!"
Judithe took two steps back and studied the shumil. Just like Weiss and Schwartz is was as tall as her and could speak. Like them, it also stood on its hind legs, like a human would, and its paws were human-like enough to resemble hands, capable of picking up objects. This shumil's fur was a familiar midnight-blue, and it was wearing the ochre and black robes of an archduke candidate from Ehrenfest.
Unlike other shumils, this one's eyes were blue and looked human-like.
"L-lady Rozemyne?!"
The shumil smiled and nodded. "I almost didn't recognize you either!"
"What could you possibly mean?" Judithe asked, looking down wide-eyed at herself, half-expecting to be a shumil as well. She thankfully wasn't, not that she didn't want to squeal in delight and hug Lady Rozemyne (who looked so soft!), but she did notice that indeed her hands looked different. She touched them, wide eyed, realizing that they felt firm, yet soft. Her skin was.. not even skin anymore! It felt like cotton… in fact, they were cotton scraps, roughly sewn together with a fluffy type of string!
Now that she was looking down, she saw her ponytail over her shoulder, and it was no longer hair! It was thick, flat strands of orange cloth! She touched her face, surprised and alarmed that she was able to feel anything at all, but glad that she could. Her face was also rough cotton, nothing like what she was used to. She could trace stitches at the edges of her mouth, her neck, and even her face.
"I must stay, Judithe, in your knight gear, you make quite the ragdoll!" Lady Rozemyne said, giggling and looking at her fondly. "I also seem to be a doll of some sort," she added, taking Judithe's hands in her own furry paws and squeezing gently.
Judithe could tell that Rozemyne was indeed also a doll of some sort. She felt her stomach sink. She had failed to protect her Lady! How could she call herself a knight?! She felt tears start pooling on her eyes, and even though she was confused as to how that worked since she was a doll, she struggled to contain herself and maintain a proper look.
"What's wrong, Judthe?" Rozemyne asked, tilting her head. Her nose twitched with worry, and her ears drooped. She look so much like a shumil that Judithe couldn't help but laugh a little.
"I'm sorry, Lady Rozemyne," she said, wiping her tears. "I-I must apologize, I must look like a disgrace."
"Not at all," Rozemyne said kindly, taking Judithe's hands in her paws again. "It's okay. We will be okay."
She was so brave. Even knowing that Rozemyne was friends with goddesses, it was still such a shock to her to actually see how fearless her Lady was. One could say it was to be expected of an archduke candidate, but she knew even the Aub would have panicked were he to find himself turned into a shumil.
Her Lady's calm demeanor in the face of this adversity finally got through to Judithe, is in addition to remembering that—whatever she was now… a rag doll apparently— she still had her schtappe and her magic. She could still empower herself physically, bring forth her Highbeast, and cast spells. Whatever happened, she was not going out without a fight.
She could still defend her Lady, and if Lady Rozemyne was so calm at the moment, it meant that she had a plan!
"Now we need to figure out what happened, and how to get help," Rozemnyne said. "Come this way, Judithe, I believe I saw some humans in this direction."
"Shouldn't we wait here?" Judithe countered, "surely the local knights saw my Rott spell, or maybe Lady Hannelore and Lady Philine did."
"Hm. If they did, they would have flown here by now in their Highbeasts," Rozemyne said, shaking her head. "It's better to see if we can gain some information. Philine can take care of Lady Hannelore."
Judithe stared for a moment, then started following Rozemyne. "Philine? Are you sure, Milady? She's just a scholar."
Rozemyne laughed. It was that slightly uncomfortable laugh of hers that made all of her retainers brace for the worst. The kind of laugh that said: I know something you don't and you're definitely not going to like hearing it.
"Lady Rozemyne…" she said, sighing.
Rozemyne sighed, her ears drooping adorably. "I guess you would have found out eventually… Philine has been traveling to other realms on her own for several months now. She's an experienced adventurer by now."
Philine. An adventurer. Judithe couldn't believe it. She pressed her lips together and curled her hands into fists.
As if sensing her distress again, Rozemyne stopped and turned around to face her. "Judithe?"
"I-I just can't believe she didn't tell me." She closed her eyes. Normally she would keep this within, but here? She wasn't home. She wasn't even in the Academy. She was gods knew where, away from everything she knew other than Lady Rozemyne. She wasn't even a human anymore.
She was a knight, but she had been made uncomfortably aware of how powerful Rozemyne really was when the young goddess, Lena, had appeared at their dormitory in the Academy. While they were there, or even in Ehrenfest, she felt she could be useful, even if Rozemyne could probably tackle any problem on her own. But, in their world, it didn't matter how much more powerful a noble was; a knight was sworn to protect her lady, and there she had a chance to be useful.
Here? Chances were that she'd only be in the way. And now even Philine, who was a scholar and not supposed to be a fighter, inspired so much confidence in Rozemyne that she was less worried about her scholar than she was of another archduke candidate that had the ability and training to fight.
Judithe was out of her depth, and worse, her friend… her roommate was doing all of this behind her back.
Understanding came to Rozemyne's furry face, and her nose and whiskers trembled adorably. "It's not what you think, Judithe. When we are out here… we are sworn to not bring back home our full power, or to use the skills and magics we learn."
Judithe looked up at her, gulping. "I-I don't understand."
Rosemyne led her out of the flower field, and over a short wooden fence. They were on a dirt road that snaked up to a walled city in the distance. A large rock on the side of the road served their purposes well, so they sat together there, watching people working the lavender fields.
"Imagine we are brewing some rejuvenation potions," Rozemyne said. "As you know, the nature of the ingredients—like what elements they have affinity for—affects the end result."
"Of course," Judithe said, nodding. "There's so many to memorize, that's why we knights hire scholars to do it for us."
"Heh, well, yes. But imagine you're brewing it. And then you add Regisch scales."
"Why would I do that?"
"Let's just say that… um, it makes it stronger. But then you add Grun glands. And then you add trombe branches… and so on and so forth. How long do you think it would take for the potion to explode or turn into something nasty?"
"Not much," Judithe agreed. "Are you saying that's what would happen?"
Rozemyne shrugged, smiling a little. "Each world can take different amounts of external influence. There are worlds where the most minimum amount of magic can break them entirely, opening gates and breaking its walls into reality… possibly even destroy them. There are others where we could fling around hundreds of spells from a multitude of different dimensions and nothing would happen."
Judithe considered this, but Rozemyne wasn't done.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "The problem is we don't know, do we? Our magic doesn't mesh well with certain others, and thus those of us that travel across different places must be aware that what we do has consequences. And so, we made a promise to Sunset that we wouldn't abuse what we are learning, and that we would not mix magics… not just for our sake, but for everyone we care about. This promise also comes with a clause for secrecy… the more people know, the more danger they could face."
"So you're saying that Philine stayed quiet because of an oath," Judithe sighed. That she could understand.
"Now that you know a bit more, I'm sure she'll be delighted to share her adventures with you," Rozemyne said. She grinned. "And you're going to have to enroll at school with us!"
Okay, that didn't sound great.
"School?"
"Oh, you'll see!" Rozemyne said, then her ears straightened out and she turned to the road, where a woman dressed in… a very long, single piece of clothing that looked more adequate for bed than casual use, was walking in their direction, carrying a large basket full of lavender and other flowers. "But that will have to wait, come on!"
Dream Town was like no place Judithe had ever visited. The locals did not seem to have nobility, they were all commoners apparently, always half-asleep, and talking in riddles or little songs. They all wore sleeping clothes, even up to the hats with little puff balls on the top.
The woman who had helped them hadn't batted an eye at either of them. And, tho Judithe wasn't sure if it was because she was just sleepy or not, she had simply nodded at both of them, listened to their request and used a little song to lead them to the town itself, where she had led them to the possible worst place for them to be right now.
Lullaby Library.
"Lady Rozemyne?" Judithe asked, then sighed. Her lady had stopped in her tracks and was staring at the building in front of them with her shumil paws drawn up to cover her mouth as she stood there and trembled.
Looking like a giant shumil, one would be understandably confused by the reaction to assume she was terrified. But Juidithe knew her Lady better than that. Rozemyne, the Saint of Ehrenfest, Archduke Candidate, Organizer of the Library Committee, friend and advisor to Princes and Princesses, personal acquaintance of the Zent, bonafide legend of the Royal Academy… was helplessly in love with books. So much so, none of her other achievements could matter in the face of a library like this one.
Even Judithe was impressed. Could this be bigger than the Royal Library? It certainly seemed to be much larger than the one at the Academy. Rows, and rows and rows—seemingly endless—stretched beyond sight.
Comfortable chairs, sofas, and large tables piled with books and illuminated by soft candlelight were populated by sleepy-looking, but smiling men and women, all hunched down, writing and writing. It was too much for poor Rozemyne most likely, and Judithe feared her lady would now want to take over this library too!
"Allow me," an old voice said.
Judithe blinked when an elderly man, with a balding head and a long, long beard floated up to them. His proportions were somehow wrong… not in twisted way, exactly but… he was too large. He was an adult, so naturally he was bigger than them, but he seemed bigger than an adult person should be. He was dressed in comfortable-looking white sleeping robes, but he carried a sack of cloth from which tiny particles of what looked like sand occasionally fell from.
The old man waved a hand in front of Rozemyne who started and looked around, still blissfully happy about the books, but no longer frozen.
"Wha-what?!" Rozemyne gasped. "Why did you interrupt me?!"
"You were daydreaming, my dear," the old man said as two more figures approached. "And while Albert here must be delighted to see it in action, I believe the two of you were somehow lost?"
Judithe's eyes were wide. Having only seen humans around, she was very surprised to see both, the recently identified Albert, and the woman next to him were just like her! What had Rozemyne called her? A rag-doll?
"Oh my!" the woman said, smiling warmly at Judithe, then glancing at Rozemyne. "Two more dolls! I hadn't seen a rabbit quite like you my dear, we usually get teddy bears!"
Rabbit?
"There are two more rabbit dolls where I come from," Rozemyne replied, undeterred. "But neither Judithe nor I looked like this originally, miss…"
"Oh, pardon my rudeness!" Albert spoke up. "Please, allow me to make the introductions since my name was offered first. This is my lovely wife, Greta," he motioned with his cloth hand at the woman, who inclined her head politely with a smile. "And this is the Lord of Dream Town…"
"The Sandman!" Rozemyne gasped, taking a good first look at the old man.
The old man chuckled. "It seems my reputation precedes me," he said, nodding slightly.
"You know, him, Lady Rozemyne?"
"Well, not him exactly," Rozemyne responded, "but the legend of the Sandman is of the man that blows sand into people's eyes to make them sleep!"
"Sand? Isn't that a bit rude?" Judithe asked, making the others chuckle, although she didn't see what was so amusing.
"Sometimes," the Sandman admitted. "But other times my special sand helps people rest."
"I see…" Judithe said, although in reality she didn't. Quite frankly she was getting tired of being in a strange world in a strange body.
"So even though you are a ragdoll, and you are a rabbit doll," Greta said, talking first to Judithe and then to Rozemyne, "you are not citizens of Dream Town?"
"Please address my Lady Rozemyne first," Judithe said, raising a hand. "She outranks me by far."
"Oh, Judithe," Rozemyne sighed, shaking her head gently, although her long ears still swayed with the motion, "there is no need for that here. Our ranks do not matter where we are."
"I must insist," Judithe said, then lowered her voice to just above a whisper. "Please. I-I need something to remain normal."
Lady Rozemyne exchanged glances with the others, then cleared her throat. "I see, well, um allow me to introduce us now, then. I am Lady Rozemyne, Archduke Candidate of Ehrenfest, and this is Judithe, one of my retainers, and a knight."
"A knight?" Albert sounded impressed. "And at such a young age?"
Judithe felt herself flush, despite being made of cloth. "I am an apprentice knight."
"And she is amazing at long distance attacks!" Lady Rozemyne spoke up, puffing up her chest like she always did when bragging about her friends, retainers, and craftspeople. She truly was proud of them.
"Well, we should hope that there is no need for fighting, of course!" the Sandman said. "But please, follow us. We have arranged dinner for you, and of course will do our very best to aid you. If you truly are lost travelers, it might be best for us to take you to Halloween Town after dinner."
"Oh! Halloween Town?" Rozemyne asked, eyes wide, a smile spreading on her shumil-face. "Do you mean Jack and Sally Skellington's town?"
"Why, yes!" Greta said, as they all started walking. "Have you been there before? Have you met our daughter, Sally?"
Rozemyne gasped once more, and if her smile could grow further, Judithe would have been afraid of her lady's head splitting in half. "Your daughter! How delightful! I had no idea! I haven't met them, but where I'm originally from you would be hard-pressed to not have heard—" she stopped and turned guiltily to look at Judithe. "I-I mean, I have heard of them, although I'm afraid most of my current contemporaries wouldn't have."
Judithe frowned. What had Rozemyne meant? It was then that she spotted the food laid out for them and her stomach grumbled. Maybe she was thinking too much about it. It might be common knowledge from the Temple. That would explain why her 'current' contemporaries wouldn't have heard of it... nobles hadn't started going to the temple until recently, although it could be a commoner knowledge that Lady Rozemyne was aware of that many nobles wouldn't be.
Either way, she was sure she'd learn more whether she wanted to or not. But for now… "Is that pie?"
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haha! Anazing update! I love these shenanigans! chapters!
Oh dear
Maybe?
The magic put them in the safest realm tog et used to the local enviroment, instead of dropping them in one of the more frenetic regions?
At least they dont have to worry about Ladybugs?
Given St. Patrick's Day Town, I could only think of the relevant bit of Brennan Lee Mulligan improv.
Also, the resilience of a universe is indeed very important to bear in mind. There are only so many shenanigans a given world can take, and it's not exactly the easiest thing to test.
That said, looking forward to further shenaniganery.
Having not seen the series, would her gods know where? Rozemyne existing suggests they'd notice her absence, but tracing it?
11735521
And most of the time the shenanigans of the mc of that universe is almost enough.
11735359 It's always nice to see the multiverse get a bit more out of hand.
11735373 I considered having Judithe blindfold Rozemyne, but I think the scent of ink and paper would've still been enough to stop her in her tracks.
11735460 I'm sticking only with the known regions, at least as of the Pumpkin Queen.
11735521 at least a certain Sunset has had to deal with unintended influx of magic. Amiright?
11735566 I'm sure Mestionara knows that Rozemyne's all over the place, but the gods themselves wouldn't know where exactly. Don't tell Judithe, tho! She's traumatized enough as it is!
The shenanigans are as delightful as ever!!! I love Philine and Judithe, and wish they got a bit more screentime (page time?)... Point is, I really love your choices for who to include (it's nice to see Judithe not getting left out for once!)
I'm really looking forward to the upcoming shenanigans! :D
11735743 I think Philine, Judithe, and Hannelore are some of my favorite characters, so naturally they'd end up caught in interdimensional shenaniganry.
11735769
I'd like to actually see some of Philine's adventures!
11735803 I might do that, but if it's just Philine's and Khisanth's adventures, then those might end up in AO3 :P
11735807
if you decide to do it please drop me a linky! Hehe seeing Philine grow into a badass Adventuerer, Pilot, etc would be FUN FUN FUN!
11735807
Do you have an AO3 account that people could follow in case that actually happens?
Why I was not surprised that Rozemyne would become a Grand Shumil? Hmmm... it would be amusing to see others' reaction if she return the Library in this form.
Is this a requirement to enroll into Sunset's class?
11736051 Mostly for the kids, given the additional knowledge and possible powers. It's less likely they'll hurt someone if they have a place to learn.
11735815 Yes, you can find me here! Sorry, I somehow missed replying earlier.
Rozemyne is like "Eh. I've been weirder things."
Well, I guess it's less about how powerful they are, and more about them being mentally prepared to see some really weird shit
All fiction, I imagine. Of the "Alice in Wonderland" type.
I think I still prefer the Neil Gaiman version
Ah whoops. That might have been too much information. Not too many people know that bit.