Isaac was not, in the slightest bit, ready for what he had been suddenly put through by none other than the mother of the child he had been partly taking care of for the last several months or so.
Even more so when that said mother caught him in the act of attempting at breaking out her own daughter from her supposed well-deserved continent room.
The moment she placed her hand on him and took him somewhere else, he instantly witnessed a myriad of colors flying past him all in a single moment.
'I'm getting nauseous...!'
The system's teleportation function wasn't like this! Why did it have to be so rough?!
In contrast to the system's usual gate-like teleportation, Alice's own method seemed more like going through a tunnel full of dazzling lights all bombarding them in every direction with their bright colors.
He thought of immediately getting off and teleporting somewhere else, but he was tightly held by Alice beside her bosom, as if she was just carrying a child.
Except that the child was a full grown man.
Everything was happening so fast that Isaac didn't even know how much time had passed since Alice had taken him and how long they had been traveling through that tunnel.
It simultaneously felt like only a few seconds and minutes all compressed into one, further confusing him and fueling his nausea.
Before it could get any worse, though, the scenery around them suddenly changed.
"Here we are!"
With her unbothered and usual cheery tone of voice, Alice gently dropped Isaac down on the ground.
"Oof!"
Lying there and feeling the grass touching his skin, Isaac took the moment to orient and ground himself down to the current situation.
'Why... Why did she...'
On the verge of throwing up, Isaac's mind was scattered all over the place.
It had to be said that he was already fairly prone to motion sickness, so what he had just experienced was something definitely the stuff of nightmares.
Fortunately, he had been able to hold his insides in for the entire time.
Seeing his vulnerable state, Alice chuckled. "Oh my, was that too sudden for you? I'm sorry if I was too rough. I was sure I've tweaked that method of travel now..."
"No, no..." Gasping for his breath, Isaac slowly stood up as he attempted to regain his composure. "It was fine, really, it's fine. I was just... just surprised, that's all..."
"Haha, your gasping tells a different story, though?" Alice once more chuckled. "Lying to me now won't work, you know?"
"I'm sorry..."
"It's fine, I was just kidding!" With a youthful vigor, Alice teased him. "You're too serious for your age. Come, sit down and wind down for a bit."
"Sit... Sit down...?"
The moment Alice had said that, his eyes drifted over to the table that had been there for a while now.
The table had a white cloth over it, and various utensils atop. On them, varying snacks were present, ranging from muffins to even cakes.
Around said table were other quaint and elegant chairs, as if they were crafted bespoke to the person who will sit upon them.
And on said chairs...
'Wh, what is this...'
For the first time in a long while, Isaac felt deep fear in his bones as he looked at the table not far from him.
Because, on that table, various vague figures of women could be seen taking a sip of their tea.
Some were there physically sitting down, others used dolls as their avatars, while some are just plainly invisible.
But if there was one thing all of them shared, it was that all of them were women drinking tea with a carefree air around them.
To Isaac, however, this spelled another story.
'The... The Hexenzirkel...'
Indeed.
Right in front of him were no ordinary women, but rather, extraordinary individuals who are each legendary in their own right.
A former angel, a diviner who can see unfulfilled fates, a traveler among the cosmos, while the other one...
Isaac shivered.
Although THAT person only appeared with a pair of metallic gloves as her avatar, Isaac vaguely noticed her silhouette and a deep sense of dread overwhelmed him.
Even if she wasn't looking at him directly, he felt like he was being stabbed by her observant gaze at the moment.
'Rhine...'
But at that moment, he felt a light tap on his back, bringing him back to reality.
"What's wrong? Are you still feeling sick? Here, have some tea. You liked chamomile, right?"
With a wave of her hand, Alice conjured a teacup from thin air and handed it to him, complete with even a plate.
"Thank you..."
Trying not to be rude and not offend any of them here, Isaac politely accepted her offer.
He drank the chamomile tea, and sure enough, it was as good as the ones he brewed. Perhaps even better, he admits.
But as he sipped his tea there in place, an odd thought occurred to him.
'Liked?'
How did Alice know that he liked chamomile tea?
Realizing that he still hadn't introduced himself to them, Isaac put down his teacup and looked at Alice beside him.
"The tea was delicious, thank you. By the way, I'm Isaac." He said with the most polite and humble voice ehe could possibly muster. "And judging by your candid look... You must be Klee's mother, Alice?"
"Hehe, Klee does look a lot like me, doesn't she?" Alice giggled at his subtle compliment at her youthful appearance. "Well, you're right. I am the one and only mother of the one and only adorable Klee in Teyvat, Alice! A mage, a mother, a wife, and most importantly, an adventurer."
It was quite convenient how she left out the fact that she was also the protector of the world's border, and a nigh omnipotent mage that founded the organization that contained some of the most powerful women in the world.
But he decided not to pry open those cans of worms.
"Y, yeah... Klee told me a lot about you while she and I hung out in my café." He said wryly. He then looked around in worry and asked, "But what I want to know is... Why did you take me here, exactly...?"
"I mean, sure, I was planning to break Klee out of her solitary confinement... But does that really warrant an apprehension?"
He paused, then slowly he added, "...or was it because of what I've been doing recently? Am I being punished for breaking some kind of unspoken law or taboo in Teyvat?"
He had to admit that his actions should have caught up to him sooner than later. Still, he didn't expect that this was the type of rebound he'd receive from goofing around with his system.
After he finished speaking, Isaac noticed that a strange look washed over Alice's face as she listened intently to him.
And it wasn't just her either.
At some point, the other witches who were chatting amongst themselves also fell silent and looked in their direction.
It was at that moment that some of the most powerful beings in Teyvat were currently staring at him in silence, filling him with worry and yet another dread.
He shifted his gaze at Alice again.
"What... What's wrong? Why are you..."
"Pfft... Haha!"
Before he could even finish that question, however, he was interrupted by Alice's entertained chuckle.
Stunned, Isaac didn't say anything and quietly waited for her to finish.
But while he waited, a voice suddenly entered his mind, startling him with how sudden yet gentle it was.
[You have... changed.]
'?!'
Turning his head a bit, he looked at a certain angel that was sitting not far from him, looking at him with a quiet and knowing smile.
The moment their eyes met, Nicole, the angel that only spoke telepathically, looked at him up and down silently before nodding in silence.
And to Isaac, questions just kept piling up.
'What did she mean by that...'
As he pondered that question, his attention was once again caught by Alice who had finished her musings.
Regaining her composure, she looked at him for a moment before smiling and patting him on the back.
"Right, I forgot. How ironic. Do you believe this, Barbie? Me, forgetting and slipping up like this!"
She turned to look at one of the witches that was in the form of a doll on the table as she laughed.
The one she referred to as Barbie sighed as an elderly voice of a woman resounded from her childish doll of an avatar.
"Truly ironic. Out of all of us, you should be the least to forget. Even Nicole vaguely remembers."
Nicole smiled softly.
[Those allegorical stories really helped. I just love listening to stories of heroes, and that story of Don Quixote really strikes me. Especially the main character. If not for that story, then perhaps even I wouldn't have been able to remember the needed details like the windmills being allegorical terms for giants, or how Sancho...]
She continued to yap on, filling the conversation.
All the while, Isaac remained in the dark with whatever they were on about.
But if there was one thing that had caught his attention the most, it was the names Nicole was mentioning.
'Nicole knows Cervantes' Don Quixote de La Mancha...?'
How was that possible?
Feeling something was really off, Isaac's mind was ravaged by various speculations as the witches kept conversing without a care for him at all.
But then their conversation stopped with a clap of Alice's hands.
"Alright, ladies, settle down." She said with a smile. "It's been an awfully long while since all of us gathered here, so let's make use of the time as much as possible, alright?"
She then turned to Isaac. "Come on, pick your seat and get yourself another cup of tea. I made sure to get as much as possible before getting you, you know?"
"...what?"
Isaac took a step back, not understanding what was happening. His heart beat hard against his chest, almost as if wanting to jump out as he listened.
With trembling eyes, he looked at her and asked, "What... What are you on about...?!"
"Why am I being invited to this tea party, and..."
He looked around in pure confusion.
"Why are you all acting so familiar with me...?!"
Silence fell upon the tea party.
Whether it was due to bafflement or another, it was completely unknown.
But to Isaac, only the unknown appeared all around him.
The simple mission he just wanted to do had somehow devolved to something that far eluded him, frightening him so.