Ryder kept running. He wasn't sure where he was going, but he couldn't afford to stop now. If he stopped, he'd get caught, and getting caught meant death. And right now, Ryder was not ready to die. So, he kept running and running and running. He didn't stop moving until the thunderous footsteps behind him seemed to cease. Realizing that he had outrun his pursuers, he began to slow down, eventually coming to a complete stop in front of a cave. He took a look around him, noticing the woodlands that encased him. He exhaled a sigh of relief as he leaned against a tree. After a few minutes, he reluctantly pushed himself off the tree and headed towards the cavern.

He heard a familiar voice when he entered the cave. "Prince Ryder. I see you've safely escaped."

Ryder looked towards the owner of the voice, seeing an old friend emerge from the darkness of the cave. He smiled at his friend. "Christoph."

Christoph was Ryder's closest friend and most trusted palace guard. Ryder never went anywhere without him. Ryder tightly hugged his companion then let go, looking Christoph up and down as he searched for any sign of injury. Ryder noticed that Christoph's bright crimson hair that normally reached down to the middle of his back was pulled up into a ponytail, and his lime green eyes looked just as tired as Ryder felt after running for two hours straight.

"So, Chris, what's our next plan of action? Father and Mother have been killed and the palace has been taken over. Guards swarm the palace grounds and they've even started going into the Town of Ebolgen. There's no way we can just wander about without being caught."

Christoph leaned his back against the wall of the cave and nodded his head in agreement. "You're absolutely correct, Your Majesty. After your brother, Prince Malaki, took over the castle, there is almost zero chance of us escaping the kingdom unscathed. I believe that the best course of action would probably be to remain here in the cave while we wait for things in the kingdom to die down."

Ryder looked around the cavern and spotted a boulder on the ground. He went over to it and sat down, crossing his legs in a rather princely manner. He hummed at Christoph's proposition, eventually saying, "I think you're right, Chris. I suppose it's the only thing we can do for now. Why don't we get some rest? It's been a very long day."

"I agree, Your Majesty."

With that, Ryder laid down on the boulder and finally let the sweet relief of sleep pull him into a sweet oblivion.

Mira was ready to die. After eighteen long years of being alive in this hellhole, she was ready for it to all come to an end. Mira sat, looking down upon the world from the roof of one of New York City's tallest skyscrapers. She was mere moments away from falling; even the gentlest breeze could send her tumbling down to the cold, hard concrete below. Mira was well aware that she could plummet to her death at any moment, but at this point, nothing scared her anymore. She'd been through way too much to start fearing death now. From atop the skyscraper, she continued to watch the ignorant little people walk along the sidewalks, having no idea that their naive selves would soon take witness to a gruesome scene of death. Despite the situation, Mira smiled to herself as she slowly stood up on the edge of the rooftop.

This was it. It was time.

Mira looked up into the sky as she took in one of her last breaths of the New York City air. She studied the bright stars shining through the dark midnight sky. This would be her last time looking at this beautiful sky, she realized. She smiled once again and closed her eyes, spreading her arms out wide as she slowly turned around so her back faced the rest of the world, the world she'd soon depart from.

"MIRA!" Her scarlet eyes flew open at the familiar voice yelling her name. "Mira, what are you doing?!"

She looked forward at the young man running toward her. Mira was utterly baffled by the look of desperation she saw on this man's face. This blonde-haired, gray-eyed man who had destroyed whatever was left of Mira's heart. When was the last time she had ever seen someone look at her with such an expression? Oh right. Never.

"Rohan," she practically whispered.

"Mira, get down from there! It's dangerous! You could fall!"

For some reason unbeknownst to Mira, Rohan's voice was filled with a violent desperation. She wondered when he had started making that expression when he looked at her. It was pathetic. This man had previously broken Mira's heart so what gave him the right to look like that? She sneered at Rohan as he took a few cautious steps closer to her.

"Rohan, go away," she said, her words filled with a dangerous venom.

Rohan jolted in what could've been either fright or shock. "Mira," he began, voice once again oozing with pathetic distress. "Mira, please. Don't do this. Are you doing this because of Hana? Look, it's not her fault. She didn't know about you; I didn't tell her. It's my fault. I'm sorry. Please come down and come back to me."

Mira scrunched her face in disgust. "Yes, you're right..."

Rohan's mouth grew into a wide smile. "Then-"

"But that's exactly why I must do this."

Rohan's face erupted with outrage. "M-Mira, what do you mean? Why must you do this? You're just jealous of Hana, right?! Get over it! You don't have to do this!"

Mira shook her head as her heart shattered little by little. "You'll never understand, Rohan. I've been through so much. So, so, so much." She smiled sadly. "I've had enough."

"Wha-"

She couldn't hear the rest of what Rohan was saying. She was already falling backwards by the time his voice registered in her mind. As she plunged further down the building, her waist-long white hair flew all around her and she could've sworn she heard her name being called for the last time from somewhere far above her. Finally, she had jumped. Her time in this worthless world was about to come to an end. Memories from her life came and went in her mind. People she never wanted to meet again and events she never wanted to relive. She watched as the revolting memories passed by. As they started coming to a finish and she got closer and closer to the ground beneath her, for the first time in her life, she prayed.

"God, I've never believed in you, but if you really do exist, please, please..." She closed her eyes, preparing herself for her moment of death. "...Please let me fall in love with a decent man."

With a ear-piercing crack, Mira had died.

...Or so she thought as she opened her scarlet eyes to complete darkness. No matter how much she strained her eyes to look around, she could see only darkness. Sighing in defeat, she went on to trying to move her body. She tried to move her toes and fingers which, thankfully, wiggled like they should, but when she tried to raise her arms, she couldn't seem to get them off the ground. Speaking of which, the floor beneath her was cold and rocky, she noticed. It was almost like a cave, she thought as she resigned herself to just staring at what should be the ceiling.

"Is this Hell..?" she whispered to herself.

"No, this is Eraythiel Kingdom."

Mira's body lurched in shock, but because of her current immobility, she could only frantically move her eyes around, looking for the owner of the voice. From what she could tell, it was obviously a man's and he sounded to be about the same age as Mira.

"Calm down," the voice said. "Your body was heavily injured. So much so, I don't know how you could've survived. You're real tough, bunny."

"Um..." Mira was so confused by this situation she couldn't even think of things to say.

"I think you need to calm down. You're obviously frightening her," a new voice said, this one sounding way gentler than the other man's.

"Oh, shut it, Chris. I was just being honest."

The owner of the gentle voice--Chris?--came into Mira's view before the other man. Mira took note of his long crimson hair and vibrant green eyes. He looked quite violent, but his sweet voice betrayed his appearance. In Mira's opinion, he looked rather handsome.

"Chris," the other man said as he walked into Mira's field of vision.

Albeit Chris had been handsome, this man made Mira's heart stop. She loved everything about the way he looked. His short raven hair was cut perfectly as it framed his face. It looked so soft and silky, Mira couldn't help wondering how it would feel between her fingers. But what really stood out to her were this man's light blue eyes, almost the color of ice. It was like little ice crystals were embedded into his face. She couldn't take her eyes off of him.

"Ryder, I think something might be wrong with the girl."

"Hmm, you might be right."

Having said that, the beautiful man--Ryder?--leaned in closer to Mira as she lay on the ground. She couldn't help but faintly blush at their close proximity.

"Hey, bunny, are you alright? You should be fully healed by now; it has been five days since we found you."

This piece of information completely woke Mira from her ogling. Her eyes widened and she noticed that she could now move her body. She slowly and cautiously rose to a sitting position. She looked up at the two men above her through her snow white bangs.

"Um, excuse me...?"

The gentler man, Chris, looked at her. "Yes?"

"M-may I ask who you two may be?" She looked between the two men.

"Ah, yes! I'm Prin-!" The handsome man, Ryder, was rudely interrupted when Chris quickly covered his mouth with his hand.

Chris smiled awkwardly at Mira as he struggled to keep Ryder from escaping. "This is Ryder. Just Ryder," he said as he sent a glare sideways towards Ryder. "And I'm Christoph, but please, call me Chris. And what might your name be, miss?"

She watched as Chris removed his hand from Ryder's mouth and the two glared at each other. Mira couldn't help but suppress a small smile at the antics of these two men.

"Oh, um, my name's Mira."

Chris nodded and Ryder smiled as the two of them sat down on the floor across from Mira.

Ryder spoke first this time. "Well, bunny, where did you come from?"

Mira didn't know how to answer him. Where did she come from? Even she didn't know. Just a few days ago, which felt like mere moments to her, she had committed suicide in New York. But now she was in some unknown world with rather strange men and she had no idea how she got here or if there was anyway to go home.

Mira suddenly realized something. "You've been calling me bunny for quite a while now. What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, that's because you're a bunny, right?" Ryder answered, sounding confused.

"What do you mean?" Mira curiously tilted her head.

"You've got the floppy ears and cottontail and everything. There's no way you're not a bunny."

Mira's eyes widened in surprise. "W-what? Wait a second. Do either of you have a mirror or something?"

Chris looked just as confused as Ryder, but he held out a small handheld mirror and Mira hastily snatched it from him. She quickly brought it to her face to study her reflection and to her horror, Ryder had been right. Nothing about her face or hair had changed since last she saw them in New York, but in addition to her normal appearance, two white and floppy rabbit ears hung from the top of her head and her normal human ears had ceased to exist.

"Whaaaaat the ****?!"

Both men looked completely taken aback by Mira's sudden outburst.

"Whoa, Mira, what the hell?" Ryder exclaimed.

Mira started to panic, beginning to mutter to herself. "Okay, okay, okay...I'm a rabbit. I'm an animal. Alright. Calm down, Mira."

She heard Ryder whisper something to Chris. "Chris, is she alright?"

"I don't know, Your Ma--Ryder." Chris shook his head.

Mira took a deep breath, willing herself to calm down. She resolved to forget about her animal parts for now so she could focus on the more pressing matters at hand. Like, where exactly she was right now and why she wasn't dead. She composed herself and ran her hands down her face, exhaling a sigh of slight frustration. She suddenly brought her head up to look at the two men sitting in front of her.

"So, let me get this straight. Your name is Christoph-" She motioned to Chris.

"Chris, please, Miss Mira."

"-Yes, yes. Chris. And you're Ryder," Mira continued as she pointed to Ryder. Then she waved her hands every which way with a dramatic look on her face. "And this is some cave in the middle of Ereywhatever Kingdom-"

"Eraythiel," Ryder interjected.

She looked at Ryder. "Eraythiel Kingdom. Sorry. Anyway, this is a cave in Eraythiel Kingdom and for some reason, I have rabbit ears, BUT NONE OF THAT IS IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW!" She slammed her hands down on the rocky floor, making Chris and Ryder flinch.

Chris spoke first. "Then what is important, Miss Mira?"

"How in the hell did I get here?!"

Ryder and Chris looked at each other, both donning puzzled expressions. They spoke in unison. "We don't know."

Mira sighed in frustration and looked towards the ceiling. "What's going to happen to me now?"

Mira sat against the wall of the cave, occasionally letting out a sigh of frustration or defeat. A few hours had passed since she woke up and Chris had left the cave to do who knows what, leaving her alone with Ryder. Thankfully, Ryder had decided to leave Mira to her lonesome, allowing her plenty of time to ponder her situation. She did her best not to think about the white, heavy appendages that hung from her head and the little fluffy ball of fur that stuck out from the bottom of her back. She tried to keep her focus on the main problem she was experiencing; how did she get here? She snuck a glance at Ryder, who was peacefully throwing a rock up and down in his hand. Maybe he could help her, she thought. She decided to forget her uncertainty and just go for it.

"Um, Ryder?"

He perked up, hearing her voice. "What is it, bunny?"

"I was wondering if you could answer some of my questions."

He smiled sincerely at her. "Of course. Ask away."

"Well, I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about your world," she asked, nervously fiddling with her fingers.

"Oh, sure. Is there anything you want to know in particular?"

"I don't know, maybe just the history of this world. But I would like to know if there is any sort of magic that resides here."

"I can tell you all about that. I don't know about the other kingdoms, but at least here in Eraythiel, the people study magic as one of their main subjects," Ryder said as a sudden spurt of orange flame flew out from his open palm. Mira started, wide-eyed with awe.

"That's amazing!" she exclaimed, face full of childish excitement.

He smiled proudly. "I suppose it is."

"But you don't know if other kingdoms have magic?"

"No, I don't, but if you asked Chris, he might be able to tell you. He's much more informed about the world of Iralan than I am."

Mira looked confused. "Iralan?"

"Oh, sorry. Iralan is what we call this world."

"So, there is Iralan, which is what you call the world, and then there's Eraythiel, which is a kingdom in this world."

Ryder nodded. "Correct. But Eraythiel isn't the only kingdom in Iralan. There are four major kingdoms, Eraythiel, Freicyla, Gleacia, and Vogan. Each hold their own species of people, ruled by their own king or queen."

"Eraythiel, Freicyla, Gleacia, and Vogan..." Mira muttered to herself, committing the kingdoms' names to memory.

"The elves rule over Freicyla, werewolves have Vogan, sorcerers control Eraythiel, and Gleacia is dominated by dragons," he spoke. "Heed my warning, don't go near the werewolves. Ferocious things, they are. You'd think the dragons to be the most vicious, but no, werewolves are absolute beasts."

Mira chuckled nervously. "I'll keep that in mind. Is there anything more you can tell me? Like, who are the rulers of the kingdoms? Are the kingdoms allied?"

"Sure thing. Freicyla is ruled by King Erlan and Queen Zentha. They're around sixty years of age and pretty laid back from what I've seen of them, which is pretty rare to find among their people. Most of them are pretty strict and follow the rules to a T," Ryder made a dramatic expression of disgust as he continued. "Now onto the werewolves. Their ruler is an old widower, King Faolan. His late wife, Queen Opaline, died a few years ago after giving birth to the crown prince, Ulfang."

Mira felt pity for the old king. "How sad."

Ryder shook his head. "Don't feel bad for that tyrant. His rule has brought death to thousands of his subjects. As I said before, the werewolves are the ones to be wary of. Anyway, now we move onto the dragons. The king of the dragons is the youngest to take the throne in all its years of existence. There's a lot of speculation about how this nineteen year old boy took over the throne after his parents, former King Muruzo and late Queen Melsa, suddenly died."

Mira tilted her head. "So people think the new king killed his parents to take the throne?"

"Yes, that is what most people believe," he nodded. "But we have no proof of the murder so the current king, King Kirsha, has been able to keep the throne."

Mira nodded in understanding. "So, what about Eraythiel? Who rules the sorcerers?"

Ryder's expressions suddenly darkened. "Well...several days ago, a new ruler took over the throne after killing the former rulers, King Traveus and Queen Minerva."

"Then who rules the kingdom?"

"After chasing his brother from the castle, Prince-no, King Malaki took over as the new king," Ryder paused for a second, closing his eyes. After a moment, he opened them, revealing his stunning azure orbs. "As for alliances, the elves are allied with the werewolves, and the sorcerers joined together with the dragons. It is beyond me as to why the graceful and refined elves would ally themselves with the barbaric and crude werewolves."

Mira put a finger to her lips as she processed all of this new information. So yes, there was magic in this world of Iralan. Could this magic be what brought her to this world? If so, why? Why was she brought here? Whatever the reasons were, she hadn't a clue, but she did know that she was given a second chance at life and she was going to make the most of it. She wasn't going to allow herself to lead a miserable life like the one she had back on Earth. With determination in her eyes, she prepared herself to ask Ryder one final question when suddenly, a severely injured Chris came barreling into the cave.