Life is kind to no one, but we get to choose to live on or not. To thrive, to win. 'We were born to die' is cheesy and all, but after hitting our late twenties our cells actually start dying at a faster rate than our reproduction. Every day we start dying slowly, until we're gone.

Sorry if that started off too emo for your liking. Let me start over: I'm Margaret Harper, and I'm an incoming senior, err, I mean 'third year' at some school in Japan I haven't bothered to learn the name of yet.

Let me explain.

My dad and mom are big shots at some corporation that make medical machinery. They have these long, willowy fingers that can do almost anything and everything. I feel as if they could craft an entire airplane just by their own hands. They go to whatever country that needs new advancements or fixing, and I go along with them with my 2 other sisters, Marcela and Melita.

Yes. We all have 'M' names, which is great. Now, I'm the oldest of the bunch, with Marcela and Melita being twins 5 years younger than me at 12 years old. They had hair as long as mine, so I'd always be forced to wake up extra early to do their hair, only for them to have it taken out when they come back from school. It took some practice to get good at doing hair since I had these stubby sausage fingers.

Even then, I'll never be good enough.

Skilled fingers run in our family. Marcela is a naturally skilled artist, able to paint the most intricate scenes and draw the most beautiful pictures.

Melita played the violin, always composing and playing new things that could send Beethoven into a corner.

And me? I had short, stubby fingers that couldn't do any of that. So, naturally, I turned to an art that didn't require me to have elegant, long fingers.

Languages.

Understanding languages became important to me when we started moving. I soon realized wherever there was a problem or a new thing that was being called for medically, I'd have to move there to understand the language.

I lived in America for 5 years, before moving to France for my parents to develop a vaccine. I learnt the language there, and studied it hard to be as fluent as possible in it. I found out that we'd be hopping over to Germany 3 months before I turned 9, so I started studying that language too.

Studying languages became easier and easier while the time gaps became smaller and smaller. Germany to Italy took 2 years, and I mastered Italian quickly before I turned 13. Italy to Guatemala was easy when I was 14, as Italian has some of the same words as Spanish. When I was 15 I went to Spain, which was easy as the dialects were easy to master and it had the same language as Guatemala. When I was 16 we went to the UK, I had once again noted a difference.

My siblings' artworks could be understood in any language; as well as my parents' medical engineering works.

I once again was different with my understanding of languages, to see the difference from every aspect. I immersed myself in the literacy and in the culture, seeing the differences. I loved the literature and history of each culture and language, as each aspect is different from the rest. And they all connected in the end, like one, giant, beautiful puzzle.

When I was 16 in the UK, I saw online that Japan was looking to develop new medical technology, and I knew where we would be heading next. So, I did what I do best, and I studied the language.

Japanese was different from the other languages with the words, the pronunciations and the culture, and it was by far the hardest language. But nevertheless, a year later when my parents uttered the word 'Japan' at the dinner table, I was prepared.

Now, you may be asking why I'm suddenly giving this narration of my life. This is because of the cultural factor, and why I'm standing at the back of the gym as the balding principal announced the second years moving to third years (which I believe is the equivalent of Junior to Senior year).

My parents had sent me over a week early to start my 'immersion,' AKA go to this ceremony. Today was a Friday, and next Monday I'd be starting as a third year.

Everyone started walking out of the auditorium and I was snapped out of my train of thought. Following the herd of people, I was only spared a passing glance because of my foreign looks, but they always looked away in the end anyway.

I was above the average height in Japan for girls, towering at 166 cm, but I was still shorter than most men here. Nevertheless I pushed through, stumbling out of the way and onto the sidewalk.

With a sigh, I straightened out my clothes as I began walking in the direction of the local gas station, craving some M&M's. Cherry blossoms were fluttering from nearby trees around the pathway I was on, as a single tear rolled down my face.

Arching a brow in confusion, I swiped away at it hastily. I've cried before for no reason, usually tears will just roll down my eyes, so this wasn't strange. Maybe I was crying at how that Japan had so many damn Cherry Blossom trees everywhere, or maybe I was having some weird pollen allergy.

Shrugging to myself, I turn the corner into the gas station where I see some a few boys in there with the school's uniform.

Ignoring them, I made my way over to the candy aisle, looking it up and down. No matter where I went, those color-coated goodness drops were there.

"Why is there so many damn KitKats?" I mutter to myself in German, which I bet not a lot of people in Japan speak. German was a fun language to speak in, especially since the words and swears are fun to shout.

If you're a Japanese person who speaks German, kudos to you. The only reason I'm speaking to myself is because I was just finishing reading up a German novel.

Satisfied with finding the brown bag of M&M's, I grab 2 off the shelf, walking over to the cash register, passing them a 1,000¥ bill. They accept it, before promptly giving me the change. Plopping it in my tote bag, I walk out of the store as I feel the eyes of the boys on me. I noticed they had the same uniform as the school that I was going to next Monday.

Shivering slightly, I turn to look at them, giving them a quick wave.

"Are you at the nearby school?" I ask, and they give me a confused look.

"Are you drunk?" One of them asks while the others titter a laugh, and I arch a brow in confusion before I realize I was speaking in German.

Damn it! This happens way too often!

"Do you guys go to the nearby school?" I ask, correcting myself in Japanese. They nod, a tall one with hair parted down the middle giving me a smile.

"Yeah, we'll be third years."

"Oh cool! So will I, my name's Harper Margaret," I state, making sure to switch my last and first name around.

"Cool, we'll see you Monday, Harper. I'm Shi Ai." the leader replies, giving me a slight smile. He was handsome, and I wouldn't mind getting to know him better. I begin walking off, heading back onto the road as I see a purple hair girl and her friends walking with the girl uniform. I guess they'll be at my school, too.

Ignoring them, I start walking down the road to the apartment I was staying at with my family. We usually stayed in houses, but this time we decided to live in the central city where there were more apartments.

"MARGARET HARPER"

Turning around to see who called my name, all I was met with was a gust of wind blowing in my face from the wrong direction.

Japanese weather is so weird.

Turning back around, I kept walking, making my way up the apartment steps as I unlocked the door.

Stepping inside and hopping around the boxes, I set my tote bag on the counter, slipping off my sandals to stretch out my toes. The three room apartment with a kitchen was super nice for a last-minute find, and I get my own room!

But I have to share a bathroom with my sisters. Oh well-

Speaking of my room, there seemed to be a weird glow coming from it. Grabbing my tote bag again and holding it above my head, ready to strike the intruder.

Entering my room full of boxes, I didn't see the glow anymore. Huh.

Cracking my back, I set down the tote bag as I open up a box, pulling out pajamas.

More specifically my favorite pajamas with chili-pepper-patterned pajama pants that were super soft with my t-shirt. It proudly displayed a chili pepper that said 'Smoking Hot!' on it in English with cut out sleeves. Slipping in it and out of my clothes, I kick the others aside, grabbing a hair tie and throwing my long hair in a messy bun. Taking the pajama pant strings, I had to tie them pretty tight so they don't slip off my frame because they were originally 'male's pajamas.' The leggings I had worn made my butt feel super sweaty, but now I feel better. Letting out a sigh of relief, I plug in the fan in the room, putting my face in front of it to get some cool hair.

I was kind of average, body-terms. I had a DD cup, which isn't that big of a deal in some countries. I had a mostly-flat stomach, which is pretty healthy. My legs were muscular from running, yet I had no upper arm strength.

This meaning that doing a pushup was suicide.

Arching my back again as it let out a satisfying crack, I saw a glow coming from another box in my room. Arching a brow, I padded my way over to it, tearing open the cardboard flaps to reveal a glowing...

"I don't remember owning a scythe?" I mutter aloud, looking at the deadly weapon that lay before me, bathing in a blue light. Hesitantly, I reach out towards the handle as a zolt of electricity shocked me. Lightning flashed around me as I jumped back, slinging the totebag around me as if it would somehow protect me.

"How can the neighbors not hear this?!" I wonder aloud, as the scythe starts floating up from the box. Taking a step back in fear of it starting to fly around the room, it glowed an even brighter blue, before flashing a bright white and enveloping the world around me. Shielding my eyes with my arms, a gust of wind sent my hair flying about as the ponytail slipped out. Peeking between my arms, a bolt of electricity seemed to come straight towards me, and I was immobile as it striked me, hurtling me towards unconsciousness.

"Ugh, Melita I swear if you're trying to tickle me again with a feather to get me to pee myself it won't work," I grumble sleepily, feeling something touching my nose. Opening my eyes and crossing them slightly, a pure white bunny with a white and red roped collar sat before me on my chest.

Sitting up in shock as I clutched the rabbit to my chest, I look around me. I was on a yellow sun-tiled cool floor with floral life around me and open windows. Plants in those little hanging pots hung from the ceiling, as birds of beautiful arrays of colors chirped outside the open windows.

Picking up the rabbit, who looked up at me with yellow eyes, I start stroking it. "Toto, I don't think we're in Japan anymore...let's go find your owner and hope they can get us out of here." I grumble, flipping open my totebag that had landed a few feet from me, placing the newly named Toto in my bag.

Looking to where I had been laying previously, I see the weird scythe that got me here.

"Screw you," I mumble, squatting down and pointing at the scythe accusingly. "You got me here, and I have to be back at school before Monday or my parents will kill me."

Looking closer at the scythe, it was a dark teal color with weird engravings around the curved blade. And the handle wasn't wooden, it was made of the same material with a winding gold coil around it.

Almost as if it heard me insult it, it started floating, warping shape as it shrank. Glaring at it, partially due to it being so damn bright, it flew towards my ear, curving around it like an ear wrap.

"How adorable, a scythe taped to my ear," I mutter, trying to tear it off. It didn't budge, feeling as if someone gorilla glued it there. Sighing, I roll my eyes.

"You're a little asshole for an inanimate object, y'know. As long as you didn't whisper death chants in my ear while we sleep, I won't pull a Van-Gogh you and chop you off completely," I threaten, standing up and stroking the rabbit on my bag.

"Where are we off to first, huh buddy?" I ask, as I begin walking down the hallway, tiles cool on my feet. Whoever brought me here should have done it before I changed into my pajamas, but at least I'll have some pajamas here with me.

Wait, isn't my phone in here too? Smiling like an idiot, I reach into my bag's side pouch, pulling out my phone with a quick "Hurrah!'\"

No service.

"Ugh," I complain, walking down the hallway. "First I'm dragged to a place in my pajamas without shoes, second a death scythe is glued to my ear, and now I don't have any service?!"

"Another one? I pity you both, in fact, I pity you all," a melancholy voice states from behind me, and my eyes widen.

"Don't touch me!" I yelp, fearing for my life as I whirled around with a roundhouse kick, knocking my assaulter in the face with my bare foot. With an "OOF!" they fall to the floor, as I turn to look at the emo person.

They had pale, ivory skin with blackish-grey hair and blood red eyes with pointy ears. I don't care what body mods this dude has, but if he's rich enough to get body mods like that he probably owns a large company. And if he owns a large company that means he has connections and a large probability of bribing our way out of here.

"I-I wasn't planning on, as it would bring you misfortune," he mutters, rubbing his forehead. "And I am in the same boat as you; for I do not know where we are as well."

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" I mutter, repeating it in over and over in Japanese."Are you okay?" I ask, holding out my hand as he ignores it, standing up by himself as he brushes off himself.

"I brought this misfortune upon myself," he mutters, completely ignoring me. Placing my hands on my hips, I take a step closer, grabbing his face with my hand.

"What are you doing?!" He hisses, trying to pull himself back as I look at the area I kicked him. I press on it lightly with my thumb, and he hisses a bit in pain.

"Yeesh, it will definitely swell, but probably not bruise. Put some ice on it," I note, reaching into my tote bag and pulling out a packet of M&M's. "Here, you can have my favorite candy as an apology."

Placing it in his hand, he looked at me as if I was crazy. "M&M's? What are these weird, big-eyed circles?"

What is this guy, Patrick Star? Does he live under a rock? Maybe this strange place where I've been kidnapped to doesn't have M&M's?

"They're the best chocolate candy ever, and that's just the packaging. Inside is little colored candy droplets. I'll see you around, at least, I hope I do. Maybe we can become friends then, if you completely forget I roundhouse kicked you... But for now, I've got to find a way out of here, and I'll come back for you!" I rant out a promise, looking into his red eyes as his cheeks darken for a moment, and he looks away.

"Don't bother, I'll ruin the escape anyway." He begins to walk away, but I grab his hand, pulling him back to face me.

"No man left behind," I promised, "that includes you. I, Margo Harper, solemnly swear to that!" Margo was a common nick name I used, or else I sounded like a formal old woman.

I let go, turning from him and running away to find solutions so we can both run away from this place. Besides, if there's two witnesses the police might believe us more!

Running out to the garden and to the center, I see a large, beautiful golden gazebo and a big smile is placed onto my face. Perfect!

"Alright Toto, I'm going to leave my bag here. I don't really want you to run, because I don't want to be alone. But in the case you do run away, make sure to find other survivors and help them, alright?" I ask, looking Toto in his yellow eyes as I set my tote bag down.

Who am I kidding? The rabbit probably doesn't understand me.

Giving the rabbit a quick stroke from his head to his back, I back away from the bag and start climbing to the top of the gazebo.

Birds begin chirping and fluttering around the gazebo, as I sit on top of it, looking around the garden of yellow and white flowers, petals in full spread towards the sun. Inhaling the sweet scents, I roll up the hems of my chili-pepper-patterned pajama pants so they're shorts.

Beginning to feel a throbbing from my left foot, I prop it up to look at it to see a pebble had been stuck and dented itself in the callouses of my feet. Chuckling, I pick at it and flick it away from me.

Wherever I lived, there was always some form of beach or a lake. My feet became calloused as I scraped myself on the rockier beaches as I swam in the ocean waves. Heck, I was on swim team for a while until school work got too hard when I switched schools and curriculums. Then I started running on my own time, which was fun as well.

Standing up on top of the gazebo, I look around to see if I could spot an exit, but I wasn't high enough. But there's a tower nearby, so I can always find a way to get to its top-

"What are you doing up there?" A smooth voice calls out, and I whirl my head in shock, feet slipping out from under me as I begin falling off the gazebo.

"AHHH-oompf!" I land with a large OOMPH! on top of the owner of the voice, knocking them down into the field of flowers as I pinned them to the ground. Their blue eyes stared at me in wonder as my cheeks tinted pink, my black hair creating an inky curtain between our faces and the rest of the world.

"I'm so sorry! This is the second time I've injured someone today!" I apologize, rolling off the blonde man as I sink into the flowers next to him.

"Second time?" He laughs, a twinkle in his sky blue eyes.

"Yes, second time! I roundhouse kicked a guy with black hair earlier when I thought he was going to attack me, and then I landed on top of you!" I rant, standing up as I plucked the flower petals from my hair.

"Don't worry," he says smoothly, giving me a charming smile that probably gets ALL the girls wherever he's from, "I'd probably fall to the ground, regardless of you landing on top of me or not. I'm pretty clumsy."

Oof, he sounds a bit like a fuck boy. Oh well, as long as he's nice to me and stays in his own lane, we won't have issues.

"Alright, I'm sorry for that," I say, choosing on being nice to him as a polite factor.

"Stay still for a moment," I requested, leaning forward and his face goes blank. "What are you-?"

"There!" I finished, plucking a yellow petal from his hair, holding it in front of him. "This was in your hair. It would've bothered my all day if I left it in there."

He smiled again, taking it from my hands. "Thank you," he says, giving me a smile as I turned from him, completely ignoring him now.

"Alright, now where's my bag?" I mumble in German, taking the tote and noticing that Toto was gone.

Oh darn it! Now I'm all alone with Goldilocks!

"Is there something you're looking for?" he asks, and I look up with a sigh.

"I found a cute white rabbit here, and named them Toto. I believe they're off searching for others now, but I hope I can find them later," I explain, slinging the tote around my shoulders again.

"What's your name?" He asks, and I flash him a smile. "Margaret Harper, but call me Margo. I'll see you around, Goldilocks!" I smile, bounding away from the strange blonde man before he can say anything.

Making my way to the tower, I climb up the winding stone staircases that lead to the top, revealing scenery only found in fantasy lands. Fertile green fields, crystalline oceans, floating islands...

We're definitely not in Japan anymore.

Looking at a vase of flowers on the patio with a ribbon tied around it, I quickly unlace the ribbon and tie it around my hair in a low ponytail. Good, now it'll stay out of my face. It seems like the only logical way out of this island would be on boat, but if there's floating islands around us that means we're on a floating island...

So there's no escape unless you have an airplane, which I can't pull out from my tote bag. So I'm stuck.

Hmph.

This place is obviously magical, but I have no idea why I'm here. The idea of magic doesn't really bother me, since I've been to places where they believed magic healed instead of medicine (in some cases their methods actually worked).

And this means if I was brought here by magic, they must've exuded some form of effort to get me here; thus meaning they won't let me slip out so easily.

A smirk on my face, I get on the ledge of the building. "Alright, Mr. Magic Man who brought me here, show me what you've got!" I yell out as wind begins to try to push me back from the ledge, and my smirk grows wider.

"Now I know you're listening!" I laugh, pushing against the wind as I jump off the ledge. The ground rapidly approaches as my grin widens, and I find myself giggling when a white light envelops me and I stand in a large room, a throne before me with a grumpy man on it. His hawk like eyes pierce through me, and he taps his foot impatiently.

"You're smart, for a human. You figured out something wasn't normal about this place," he states, and I throw my arms up. "Oh gee, it's not like there's obvious floating islands to point that out to me!"

"And you figured that I wouldn't let you finish with your... leap of faith," he states, and I roll my eyes. "There was only a 25/75 chance I'd die! The 25 being I was high and imagining this."

"Well, you're not high. I am Zeus, Greek god of-"

"Freaking Zeus?!" I gasp, stumbling back in shock. "This is so cool! You got those little zappy-zaps-"

"You mean thunderbolts."

"-and the shapey thing-"

"You mean shape shifting?" He asks, morphing to a little kid. He was clearly enjoying that I know about him.

"And you cheated on your wife like a hella lot of times, even as an animal-"

"Silence mortal! I get it! You know about me!" Zeus cut me off with his booming voice, and I quickly shut my mouth.

"Listen," Zeus says, running his fingers through his hair as he switched back to his older form, "you're lucky I haven't turned you into a pig and thrown you off a mountain."

"Sorry," I mutter, not really meaning to offend the god of the heavens.

"Alright, I summoned you here to play a part in my master plan. Since the beginning of all time, humans have looked up to their gods and deities, worshiping, loving, and fearing them. Gods in return must love humanity, and this is their connection. However, the connection is wearing thin between the Heavens and the human realm. If this continues to spiral out of control at the same rate, a terrible future will be upon the gods AND humanity."

"What is that?" I ask quietly, as Zeus looks at me with his hawk eyes. "There is no future," he states, and my eyes widen.

"So the fate of all humanity and deities rests upon my shoulders?!" I ask. I mean, this is pretty overwhelming for a high school student!

"Not just you, you see I have brought the gods with the weakest connection to humanity here to educate them."

"Educate? This is a freaking school?!" I groan, and he nods, crossing his legs in the chair.

"An academy, as you will be staying here for a year to complete this task. You have met two of them already," Zeus says, as his staff glows golden as an image hangs over it.

"The Norse god Balder," Zeus says as Goldilocks appears on the screen, and I nearly roll my eyes. The 'Prince Charming' of Fuckboys is a god.

Great.

"And the Greek god Hades." Zeus' image changes to the emo boy, icepack over his cheek as he munches on M&M's, eyes widening at their delicious taste before pouring the bag into his mouth; giving him chipmunk cheeks. I wince slightly, remembering inflicting damage upon the poor emo.

But hey, at least he's enjoying those M&M's.

The image flickers to nonexistence, as Zeus looks at me. "There is another human here who is unknowingly going to teach them of human emotion, such as love, faith and compassion. You will be teaching them of establishing connections."

"Connections?" I question, and Zeus nods. "You are the best human possible for this role. You've learned languages for the reason of seeing different aspects and making connections. You are always ready to think outside the box."

"No, I like staying inside the box. Heck, just send me home now, I can't think outside the box for my life-" I start, and Zeus arches a brow.

"You literally jumped off a building ledge to see where it gets you," Zeus states, and I shrug. "So?"

"You climbed on top of a gazebo to see if you could find a way out."

"That was an idiotic move on my part, especially when there was a tower I completely missed," I mumble, and Zeus rolls his eyes.

"Regardless, this is your duty. And you cannot return home until it is completed," he states, and I cross my arms.

"So I save humanity, and then I go home?"

"Yes."

"Alright," I let out a sigh, as I turn from Zeus and begin walking away, sliding past the door and down the staircase, into a man with purple hair walking next to a blue haired boy, who donned a particularly piss-sour face expression.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" I state, backing up from the purple haired boy, who looked at me dully with golden eyes. In his hands was-

"Toto!" I squeal, as the white rabbit looks in my direction and jumps into my arms. What can I say? I've always had a way with animals.

Which was another difference my family and I had. Birds always pooped on my family while they sang to me instead, bit them while nuzzling me, etc.

Of course, raccoons are a different story...I'll never forget what Henry the Raccoon did to me in the summer of 2005...

"Toto?" Growled the blue haired boy, and I looked at him. "Well, I found him and I didn't know his name so I called him Toto-"

"His name is Usamaro, and he's not yours, so don't ever try to steal him again!" The blue haired boy shouts, and I hand him over to the purple haired guy. "Gee, I'm sorry that you couldn't control your rabbit, blueberry."

"What did you say, uh, what's your name?" He angrily questions, and I roll my eyes.

"Find out for yourself, blue-ber-ry!" I sound out, and he angrily groans. Turning to the purple haired guy, I give a short bow.

"Sorry for having To- I mean, Usamaro jump towards me," I correct, "I hope we can be friends."

"Alright," he says blatantly, and I nod with a smile. He's pretty quiet, but seems nice anyway, unlike the blueberry person next to him.

Turning to the blueberry boy, I glare at him. "And if you accuse me of thievery, I'm going to cut two large circles on all of your clothing on the chest area, and turn those circles into placemats!"

I'm really bad at threats, and he arched a brow in confusion. "Huh?"

"You heard me!" I state, turning from them and walking away.

Muttering swears in German, I walked into the courtyard outside, leaning back on the stone fountain and trailing my hand back and forth in the water.

Who else is on this floating island? I met an emo, goldilocks, a womanizer, a quiet purple haired dude and an angry blueberry. Who else will be here?

"Hello~" A man with spiky red hair at the top with hair hanging below it and emerald green eyes.

Good god, was that a mullet?!

"Do you have any wine on you?"

I pale as I shake my head no.

Add 'drunkard' to the list.

"I don't really have much on me," I state, sitting up and shuffling through my bag. "Pencils, pens, a notebook, a pack of candy, my useless phone, and a few hairbands..."

"Alright, thanks anyway, cutie," He adds with a wink at the end, walking away smoothly. Rolling my eyes at the flirt, I stand back up. Great, another fuck boy, except this one seemed as if he was stoned and high.

"Well, there's goes my relaxation. I'm going to see if I can find a place to camp out in until Mr. Bruce Almighty calls me back in," I grumble, beginning to walk back into the building and in through the double doors.