A March of Storms (Spirited away to a strange world full of sorcerous warfare!)

Chapter 3: Fel y dymunwch (Part 1)

When he got anxious, Conway softly tapped a nearby surface with his lively fingers.

Not mimicking a piano, he never took lessons as a kid and glad he didn't, but as if he was mindlessly wandering through a video game, pressing the movement keys. He knew it was an often-disruptive nervous tick of his, but felt off not hearing from her. Especially when it was now her birthday where she lived and especially when she was a bloody vampire with how she slept a lot during the day and lingered through the night. Although that did help them when they wanted to spend time together for hours on end when she was being her usual insomniac self.

Catching himself again he stopped and tried to get his mind off of the too-serene silence, checking the news for the various video games he enjoyed or worldly affairs. Looking around he saw his new usual surroundings for Tuesday, that of a two-story modestly-sized office building now filled to the gills with posters and statues related to mostly-Japanese media. The studio for the podcast he helped host for over a year now was lit by a professional studio light or perhaps better described as a miniature sun. Their high-quality cameras thankfully were off and not recording him; the podcast's proper tech crew hurriedly changed out the digital film, checked wires, and so on before the man and his friends did the next episode.

Above him he could spot the notable mix of pink and brown hair of his and his friends' manager, on the phone making sure their next guest and much-needed dinners were not both fashionably late. A sign set proudly in the middle of the bookcases behind him and his friends consisted of a dingy-bronze medal wrapped around a microphone, the bottom reading "Last Place" with the corresponding kanji. Above it hanging between the knick-knack-filled bookcases was a pink banner saying "Happy Birthday Hibis-cat!" Conway smiled mischievously as he had come up with the idea to honor Hibi, his best friend in the world, by having the banner in the background of Last Place's weekly videos for the next month. Although he would never admit earnestly that she was his best friend, despite those around him being easily able to tell with how much his face lit up when texting her each recording day.

Like clockwork, he soon looked at his latest messages, seeing nothing new and just the now hours-old "Fel y dymunwch, fy mrenhines. Happy Birthday, Hibi, I hope you are doing well!" He felt that knot in his guts grow larger. He checked with her friends, he checked with her group moderators, he even checked the special entertainer chat for the V-Tuber company Hibis-cat was signed to, V-Otome.

Absolutely, positively, still bloody nothing.

Reassuring himself she was just somehow asleep so early into the night for her, he clicked off the cellphone and he saw his reflection in his mirror. A young Welsh man with some Scottish and Irish in him stared back; his fairer brown hair kept short and greenish-brown eyes kept sharp. Sitting across from him were his two best friends in Japan, Jamie, and Grant, notably taller than him and stockier than him as well. Jamie had long dark hair with cool brown irises, hidden away by the boxy glasses he wore, keeping his hands warm in his hoodie. In contrast, Grant had shorter black hair with warm brown irises, rubbing his own hands together.

Both sets of their eyes were staring at him.

"I know what both of you are going to say. You don't have to remind me...again." He said with a notably Welsh accent.

"And by all means Conway what are we going to say," Grant said with a proper, queen-given English accent that fit well with his sass.

"Yes, share with the class anyways." Jamie followed up, his Australian one fitting his more relaxed nature.

"God save the queen and her corgis?" Conway jested, his voice going higher-pitched, trying to avoid saying what he knew for sure they would anyways.

"STOP OBSESSING SHE IS PROBABLY FINE!" His two co-hosts and friends shouted, both peeved with their friend worrying himself to death.