"She... she's also from another world?" Kiana stared at Seele, her voice laced with disbelief.
"So that's how it is..."
Theresa watched Seele, a look of sudden realization washing over her face. "Ei is gone, but now another person from a different world has appeared... What on earth is going on here?"
"What are you all even talking about?" Seele snapped, her eyes flashing with a spark of temper. "What 'other world'! Listen, I don't care who you people are! Just tell me where the hell I am, right now!"
"Please... just calm down first!" Theresa hurriedly took a few steps forward, her expression earnest and urgent. "Listen to us. We don't mean you any harm! And... this really isn't the world you came from. You've arrived here through some means we don't quite understand yet."
"Bronya, and everyone else, won't hurt you," Bronya added, her gaze fixed intently on Seele as she spoke in a soft, steady voice. "Because... you are Seele."
"..."
Seele, however, only shot her a look of pure disdain. She fell silent for a moment, scanning the group gathered on the beach before looking at her surroundings.
"The ocean... the sand, even these bushes... none of this could possibly exist in Belobog. Cocolia might be a fool who abandoned the Underworld, but even she wouldn't be stupid enough to waste resources building a place like this..."
The others exchanged uneasy glances as they overheard Seele's whispered musings.
"Maybe this really isn't Belobog after all..." Seele finally let go of Bronya, though her expression remained fierce. "Kid, I don't care if you know some other 'Seele' or not, but... go wipe your nose already. You look like a mess. Holding you hostage isn't exactly worth my time anyway."
"How... how did you get here?" Himeko asked, her eyes still narrowed in suspicion.
"I don't know," Seele said impatiently. "I was minding my own business in the Underworld, about to teach some rowdy vagrants a lesson, and then—blink of an eye—I'm here. Now, tell me, how do I get back home?"
She hoisted her scythe onto her shoulder, her gaze turning serious. "Based on what you were just saying, it sounds like I'm not the only one who ended up here from another world?"
"You're certainly not the first," Theresa replied with a shake of her head. She stepped forward slowly.
Though Seele still gripped her scythe, her stance relaxed ever so slightly. "Before you, there was someone named Raiden Ei. She stayed at our dorms for seven days before she vanished... and then, you appeared."
"Vanished?" Seele murmured the word, her brow furrowing. "Did she go back?"
"We... we don't know." Theresa's eyes dimmed with a touch of melancholy. "She might have returned home, but we're going to keep looking for her regardless."
"So, what you're saying is I have to stay here for seven days?" Seele ignored the second half of Theresa's sentence, taking a deep breath as if the idea was hard to swallow. "Oleg... and Natasha, they're going to be worried sick!"
"Seele." Bronya reached out, her fingers catching the hem of Seele's clothes. "Bronya will help you... return to your world."
"Ugh, don't. Just don't." Seele looked at Bronya with that same mix of annoyance and wariness. "I can't believe it... I travel to a whole different world only to run into another Bronya."
"In Seele's world... is the relationship between Bronya and Seele not good?" Bronya asked, her voice trembling slightly with disbelief.
"It's not exactly that." Seele shook her head, her gaze softening into something more complex. "Let's just say we're like oil and water."
"Oil and water? Isn't that even worse than just not getting along?" Theresa found it hard to believe, but after a moment's thought, she turned back to Seele. "Seele, until you can return to your world, why don't you stay at St. Freya Academy? It's safe here."
"No thanks. If I'm going back in seven days anyway, it doesn't matter where I wait." Seele shook her head, her tone indifferent. "Since this was all just a misunderstanding, let's just act like we never saw each other."
"Seele... please don't leave Bronya behind."
"Kid, I don't even know you!" Seele looked at her with exasperation, but Bronya stepped closer, clinging to Seele's sleeve like a literal child.
"I've never seen Bronya make a face like that before..." Kiana whispered, watching the younger girl's desperate expression.
"Bronya..." Raiden Mei looked on, her eyes filled with concern for her friend.
"But you have nowhere else to go, and you don't have any currency for this world. You won't be able to get anywhere," Theresa added, striking while the iron was hot. "Stay with us. We won't restrict your freedom, and we'll provide you with... some financial support."
"..." Seele looked at them, her expression finally flickering with hesitation.
"Oh! And one more thing!" Theresa's eyes lit up as another thought struck her. "You mentioned your world is facing some kind of crisis. If that's the case, St. Freya can provide you with technological and material support before we find a way to send you back!"
"...Fine. Thank you." Hearing that, Seele seemed completely swayed and gave a sharp nod.
"Great!" Theresa beamed, while Bronya continued to clutch Seele's hem. Seele looked down at her, sighing in resignation.
"Alright, kid, I'm staying. Can you let go of my clothes now?"
"...Okay." Bronya slowly released her grip, her movements so cautious it was as if she feared Seele might vanish the moment she let go.
"It really is hard to believe... the 'me' in this world actually knows you. And... it looks like we're friends?" Seele muttered to herself, her heart a tangled mess of emotions.
"Seele... is Bronya's little sister."
"Ha? Sister? No way!" Seele's contrarian streak flared up instantly. "How could a crybaby kid like you be the older sister to another version of me?"
"Bronya also finds it hard to believe that the Seele of another world is... so strong."
"Hmph!"
With the misunderstanding cleared up, Seele followed behind Theresa and the others toward St. Freya. Bronya, however, remained floating right by her side, unwilling to be parted.
"Seele, you mentioned the Underworld earlier," Theresa asked softly as they walked, her curiosity piqued. "What kind of place is that?"
--+--