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Keiko had run off. She listened to Sucellus for a bit, then decided he wasn't talking to her and left to explore the 'pretty forest'. It was all I could do to keep up with her, but when Ulla called for us to leave, it felt like I had just started chasing after her, and I didn't feel like I spent any stamina doing so.
As I was thinking that, I finally caught up to her. Keiko was giggling like a madwoman - apparently, she thought I was chasing her. "Come on, it's time to go home."
"But we just got here, silly!" Keiko laughed. It seemed as though the time-dampening effects of the Fairy Realm were affecting her more than me, if not the others as well.
"Ulla's got her mission, she's already done what we set out to do," I explained. Keiko sounded downhearted at this news, but she looked as happy as could be. When I turned to walk toward the exit, she hopped on my back asking for a piggyback ride in between giggling fits. She didn't feel that heavy, so I ignored it and made my way for the exit. Keiko waved goodbye when I did, and then we followed Ulla out.
The second we returned to our world, my legs gave in and I crashed onto the floor in a way that made it look like I tripped. My entire body ached, like I'd gone through some kind of strenuous exercise, and my head hurt like crazy, almost like a migrane. I tried to just lay there and rest, but there was a lot of dead weight on my back, making it hard for me to breathe.
"Get... OFF!!!" I roared a lot louder than I meant to, twisting my body with what little strength I had. I was somehow successful in getting Keiko off, and that push gave me a bit of vitality back, allowing me to get up to my feet. My head hurt too much to think about how different my body felt now compared to the way it did in that place.
I started to try to help Keiko stand, but it was like pulling an anvil. She didn't move at all on her own. "Just kill me," Keiko moaned, not having any stamina left whatsoever. I knew she was exaggerating, but she certainly sounded serious.
"Sorry about this," I said to Ulla and Leon, letting Rala out of her ball. She could sense our suffering beforehand, thankfully, and teleported us back to our room the second she was out.
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