"Whatever you say." Freya shrugged. "I'm not really interested in that anyway…"
Xavier stared at her for a moment before he finally sighed, "If you say so... Anyway, with that out of the way, there is one thing I'm curious about. How did you get here?"
The question had been gnawing at the back of his mind for some time now. He couldn't quite figure out how a female with a guide ability had landed up in the hands of Wanderers.
Had she been sent on a mission with escorts and somehow gotten separated? Perhaps the Wanderers had used monsters to split them. But then who sent her on a mission.
This was Central City's territory by all accounts and the two nearest cities, Devon City and Starlit City, were close allies who respected the territory lines.
They knew better than to go after Central City's resources and break the alliance. Besides, they could easily get permission from Central City's rulers without needing to go behind their backs. And Xavier would've known about it too.
Then was it one of their enemies? No, that wasn't right. Not even Terri City, their greatest foe, would pull such a move.
High ranking guides were rare, even for them, and Xavier doubted they'd risk one of their guides as well as their strongest fighters in enemy territory. Not unless the rulers lost their minds.
A Wanderer born then? Xavier mused to himself. It's highly unlikely, but not impossible… After all, Devon City found one near their borders a few years back.
From what he remembered from the report, the female had heard stories from others about the cities. Thinking her life would be easy, she easily fled and was eventually found by a group of hunters on a mission.
They killed the Wanderers hunting her down and she was taken to the city. After checking her through the databases, the city registered her as one of their own. The female didn't have any guide ability though.
Could this be a similar case?
"Honestly, I'm not sure myself…" Freya murmured, bringing Xavier out of his thoughts. "I…"
She suddenly paused, finding herself unable to speak. It felt like someone was gripping her throat and Freya began gasping for air, hands clawing at neck.
Xavier, noticing her sudden panic, figured he must've triggered something bad by his question and yelled, "It's alright. You don't have to say it."
He grabbed her hands to stop her from hurting herself only to watch as her eyes rolled to the back of her head. A second later, Freya collapsed in her arms.
***
When Freya awoke, she found herself standing in front of a giant tree. A gentle breeze blew past her and the air smelled sweet. She turned around, trying to figure out where she was.
"So, you're finally awake." A voice suddenly murmured. "That's good. We need to talk."
Freya scanned for the newcomer, eyes finally falling onto a small, white cat sitting on a tree branch. Its tail flickered back and forth as its golden eyes stared intensely at Freya.
"W-what…" Freya fell back landing on her butt.
She couldn't believe what she was seeing right now. Just a moment ago, she was talking to Xavier, wanting to tell him she was from another world.
It was a risky move, but she figured he wasn't a bad guy. Perhaps he could even help her find a way back to Earth. Yet the second she opened her mouth to ask, she lost her ability to speak.
And now she was watching as this cat leapt down from the tree and shifted into a human being. They looked androgynous and Freya couldn't tell whether they were male or female.
"You look like you have many questions, but we have little time for me to answer them all." The being said, standing before Freya. "Bringing you here has consumed a lot of my power already, so I'll make things clear now. I'm the one that brought you to this world."
Freya opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish. Finally, she found her voice and yelled, "Y-you?!"
She couldn't believe what was happening right now. This had to be a dream. But the pain from her constantly pinching herself was not going away. This was real.
"Yes, me." The being nodded their head. "I'm the Creator of this world, mostly known to mortals of this world as the Beast God… Anyway, there was an accident while I was visiting your world and well, I'm giving you a second chance to live. I've even given you great power and allowed you to keep your memories.
"However, I have a condition to this. You may never speak about your former life to another of this world. If you do so, I'll have to remove your soul from this world. So, enjoy your new life quietly like you did on Earth and don't cause me anymore trouble. Alright."
The being smiled at that last part and Freya couldn't help but shiver at how terrifying that grin was. Her mind was reeling from this new information, trying to process it.
"Can I ever go back home?" Freya cried out, desperately with tears streaming down her face.
If there was even a sliver of hope that she could return back home, Freya would take it. She wanted to see her parents again, hear their voices as they encouraged her to dream big.
She wanted to smell the fresh bread baking in the ovens as she stood in the tiny kitchen of her bakery, working hard to delight everyone who came in with food. Her dream was so close to happening.
But as quickly as all those memories had come bringing back her hope, they were destroyed with a few simple words.
"No. Your existence on Earth has already faded from memory. You can never return." The being stated bluntly. They then looked up and added, "Seems our time here is up. Farewell Freya. Live a good life."
The being snapped their fingers and everything instantly went black.