Iola shifted in her slumber, mind still in that confused state between sleep and consciousness. A hand shook her shoulder slightly and she swatted it away lazily.

“Ugh, give me five more minutes, Mom!”

She’d expected to hear her mother’s quiet berating, but instead there were soft murmuring of a few male voices, which definitely didn’t belong to her father or brothers. Eyes opened up in shock, she quickly sat up and took a look of her surroundings.

She was lying in some kind of sleeping mat next to a burning fire. Twilight has fallen, but there was still enough light for her to look around her surroundings, to see the outline of burned monsters in the distance. Eyes widened in disbelief, it was a few seconds before she took notice of the young man kneeling not far from her and she quickly stumbled back.

“Oh my God, this is not a dream!” She recognized this dimpled man, the one that she first met in this awful place.

A quick glance around told her that the rest of the young men were scattered around her, and Iola had the desperate urge to just bang her head on the nearest tree.

“Oh God, oh God, oh God, it wasn’t a nightmare!” She covered her face with her hands, muttering madly under her breath. “Oh why couldn’t it be a dream? Please, please, please!”

A low chuckle from somewhere made her peeked from between her fingers and she saw the cute, boy-faced man hiding a laugh behind his hand. The small, sharp-jawed young man beside him elbowed him, but didn’t exactly hide his own smile.

She rolled her eyes, momentarily forgetting her own distress. “Oh, what? You think it’s funny that I’m freaking out here?”

The boy-faced man blinked cutely at the finger she pointed at him, before smiling again. He opened his mouth and spoke softly, which again she didn’t understand at all. When he saw her silence he tried again before sighing in frustration when it was obvious she couldn’t understand a word he said.

“Uh, yeah, buddy, now you understand my feeling, huh?” She nodded at his frustrated face.

Suddenly a deep voice spoke up and Iola quickly turned to her left to see the honey blonde man, the one with the permanent frown on. When she didn’t answer he scrunched his eyebrows, making him look even more menacing than he already was, and she recoiled away from him.

A snicker was heard and Iola saw the dimpled man made a motion towards the blonde, something that must’ve been funny since the rest of the young men laughed loudly afterwards, ignoring the blonde’s seemingly deeper frown. She had a feeling that the dimpled man had probably admonished the blonde for, well, for scaring her. The thought of the frowning man being teased out made her snickered lightly, thought she quickly schooled her face into a neutral expression once said man turned that frown at her.        

“So….” She looked around. “I guess nothing’s changed, huh? You still don’t understand what I’m saying.”

To be honest, Iola was freaked out. She still didn’t understand how she ended up here, in this strange place with monsters that shouldn’t even exist outside of nightmares. And not to mention these even stranger young men who all seemed to have super powers, something straight out of comic books. Her chest started to tighten in panic and the persistent hum in her mind just kept getting louder.

Her face must’ve shown her distress, since the dimpled man looked at her in concern. The other man, the sharp-jawed one fished around in the satchel next to him before pulling out a long, white cloth in triumph. He quickly gave it to the dimpled man, who in turn offered it to Iola.

Iola stared at the cloth in confusion, before looking back up at him. He smiled gently, again waving the cloth for her to take it, while patting his tunic.

She blinked, her gaze moving downward before landing on his still somewhat wet tunic, and immediately got what he was trying to say.

“Oh, God. I did that, didn’t I?” She could feel her face heating up at the memory of crying her heart out and practically throwing herself at this stranger. Her brothers would kill her if they know!

“Uh…yeah, I don’t need a handkerchief. Thanks for the offer, though.” She pointed at the wet spots on his tunic. “Uh…sorry about that. Just that….this is all so overwhelming, you know?”

The man seemed confused for a second before understanding dawned on him, and he patted his tunic all the while smiling and shook his head, telling her not to worry about it.

Iola smiled back and somehow the rather awkward pantomime seemed to ease the tense atmosphere above them.

The boy-faced man patted the hard ground besides him, gesturing for her to sit closer. She inched closer warily, still guarded, but he continued to grin like a child. Meanwhile the honey-blonde man continued to stare at her sternly, but the chubby-cheeked man besides him quickly elbowed the blonde, muttering something in rapid succession that made the former frown, before schooling his face to be less stern, if that was even possible.

The chubby-cheeked man then shuffled closer to Iola before nudging her gently, talking in a soft voice and put a strange ball-like thing on her hand. It was as big as a coconut, covered in soft, bluish fur. He looked at her expectantly with an encouraging smile, but Iola still didn’t get what he wants her to do with it.

A low chuckle was heard before the dimpled man moved to her slowly, palms up in a non-threatening manner like before until he sat down beside her. With a small smile he took the blue coconut thing from her hand and turned it around slowly, fingers skimming the furry surface until he found a small indented groove that she hasn’t noticed before. He cracked the thing easily, revealing the soft, off-white inside and giving it back to her.

Iola looked at the thing –by this time she figured it must’ve been some kind of fruit- in suspicion before turning back to the guy. He just smiled calmly, making a hand motion encouraging her to take a bite.

“Psh, yeah, right!” she snorted. “How do I know this isn’t poisoned or drugged or something like that, huh? I do watch the news, you know, and this looks exactly like how all those kidnappings and cases started!”

The man blinked and tilted his head, before chuckling again. Turning to his friends, he quickly said something before reaching for the fruit in her hand. Without any hesitation he brought the fruit to his mouth and took a large bite, making a show of chewing and swallowing loudly. Iola’s eyes widened in surprise when she saw that the rest of the men had also done the same thing.

The dimpled man nodded in satisfaction before turning back to her, eyebrows raised in silent question. She still stared for a few seconds, before nodding her head hesitantly. The tall young man with panda eye bags who has been sitting silently to the side all this time moved closer and gave the dimpled man another fruit, which he quickly opened before handing it to her.

Iola hesitated. Sure, her stomach was already grumbling with hunger, but to eat this strange fruit at this strange place?

“Oh well,” she muttered. “Here goes nothing.” She closed her eyes as she bit off a small chunk, before opening them in surprise. “Oh my God, this is really good!”

The fruit had a soft, moist texture like a peach, but tasted more like a banana. And even though it was obviously some kind of fruit, it was as fulfilling as a loaf of bread. Whatever it was, it was so good and she ignored the dimpled man’s chuckles as she continued to bite down on the fruit.

Before long the fruit was finished and she accepted the second one the chubby-cheeked man offered. Catching the hint of amusement in his eyes, she rolled her own eyes, mumbling about how when you have two brothers who love to eat like she does, then you’d have a big appetite too.

She finished her food much earlier than the men, not hindered by the low conversation that they were having. Putting the empty fruit shell aside, she leaned back in satisfaction. Now with her stomach full, she felt that her mind was much clearer to tackle the problem she had.

Taking a deep breath, she began to take stocks in her current situation.       

Okay, first problem was of course the obvious one; she was stuck in a bizarre land where she doesn’t know how things work, or even the language spoken and judging by the monsters she encountered earlier, she might not even survive in this world for long. Taking a look at the dark forest around them, she wondered if she could get out of this place by her own, though the chance of surviving throught it was slim to none if there are more monsters like the ones before.

Then there was also the noise in her mind. It had grown louder before, but now she realized that it had decreased back to the gentle, steady hum it previously was, so quiet that she almost forgets its existence. Seeing that it wasn’t bothering her too much at the moment, she put it at the back of her mind and focused on the more important matter at hand.

Her train of thought went back to these young men that had saved her. She doesn’t know who they are, but they did help her. At this thought the hum grew just a little bit louder, but as quick as it appeared the sound disappeared again back to the gentle humming she’d began to accustomed to. She might not trust them fully, but they were her best bet on getting out of this place. After she gets out of this forest, then she would figure out a way to get back to her home.

Turning every other possible solution in her head, she sighed when she realized that she has no other option. Bottom line was, she was still stuck in a place and situation she was not familiar with, and the best way right now was to follow these men and hopefully she could return home soon.

The thought of her family worrying about her sent an ache in her chest and she swallowed down the lump suddenly forming in . She wished she could be home with them right now. Her father would have good, solid advice for her every problem while her mother would pat her cheek in that affectionate manner she has, assuring Iola that everything will be alr