--It should hurt.  The fall should have hurt a lot.

But it didn't.  There was some kind of floor underneath her; it felt like cool marble, but parts of it, strips perhaps, were surprisingly warm.

It was dark.

"It worked!" squealed an excited female voice. "I knew that I could do it!  We've found our champion!"

"Well done, Ella," said another voice-- male, if a bit high.

And another female voice:  "I'm impressed, but what is she?"

Another voice, female, but husky, rough."I have no idea.  Sight or smell, I've never seen her kind-- nor clothes like that."

"Hello? Where am I? Am I dead?" Megumi asked.

"I really don't think so," said the enthusiastic girl-- Ella?-- with a laugh.  "With the help of the others, I called you here.  I, um.  Think that your life was very nearly gone?  But that's all right, now.  We pulled you away from that Fate and onto a new path, where you can start again, and do great deeds."

There was a pause.

"Do you, um, need a hand up?  It looked like you kind of fell when you came in here."

"That's okay, I can get up by myself," Megumi said, standing up.

"Well, all right," said Ella.  "...your eyes should be clearing up now."

Indeed, they were.  She was in a vast chamber that appeared to be something like the inside of a great, probably European, historical building-- great stone pillars and arches, marble floors, rich wall hangings.  She stood in what appeared to be some kind of mystic circle that was inlaid in the ground in some kind of precious metal; nearby, a crystal the size of a human head glowed in shimmering colors, on a pedestal and surrounded by a similar crystal.

There were several other people present, standing outside the circle-- and they were obviously creatures of fantasy.  One was clearly an elf, a young man, perhaps, wearing glasses, a text of some kind in his hand. He eyed Megumi uncertainly, but with, perhaps, a look of hope. One was some kind of... beast-girl?  Perhaps a wolf...?  But her fur was more yellowish, with spots.  She wore clothes that had various painted designs and strange carved bones hanging from it; her feet were bare, ending in clawed paws.  She was confused by Megumi, clearly, and looked her over cautiously and repeatedly.  One was short and slender, with grey skin with odd piebald patches of black.  She had short, wiry black hair shaved at the sides of her skull, fangs, and extremely large pointed ears, and appeared to be wearing some kind of thick coveralls with tools hanging from loops; the look she was giving Megumi was highly skeptical.  Perhaps she was expecting someone taller.  Hovering near her in the air was a tiny figure, no more than a foot tall, glowing with light, hovering on wings like a butterfly, but too small to see clearly.

And Ella, who had crossed over into the circle to offer Megumi a hand up, was very close.  She wore jewels-- necklaces, a diadem, bracelets-- all of the same green stone, and was wrapped in fine, patterned silks.  She looked at Megumi with something akin to adoration, and she...

...had slit-pupiled eyes, and light scales, more visible on her arms, and on her tail.  Her long, strong tail that she had in place of legs.  No mistaking the lamia at all.

Megumi felt her eyes bug out as she looked at the snake woman. She fell back, landing hard on her butt and quickly peeled away into a corner.

"Nooo! Nooooo! Snaaaaaake!: Megumi wailed as she covered her face with her hands and twitched in the corner.

There was an awkward pause.  Megumi could hear some whispering, and what distinctly sounded like a girl crying.

After a moment, someone put a hand on her shoulder.

"...Are you all right?" said the elf.

"I've got a phobia of snakes," Megumi said."This kind of prank isn't funny!"

"I'm sorry," said the elf.  "...it's not a prank.  Ella is a Lamia; that's what she looks like.  And I'm also sorry that we dragged you here, but our need is great.  And... from what Ella said, you were at the end of your life in your homeworld."

"You mean this is real and you're not a bunch of cosplayers?" Megumi asked.

"I don't know what a 'cosplayer' is, but no, this is real," said the elf.  "I'm Samran Goldleaf, lord of this castle.  Welcome."

Megumi popped up to feet and gave the elf's pointy ears a couple gentle tugs.

Samran blushed; his ears stayed resolutely attached, and felt... real.  Warm.  Skin.

"...Why did you do that?" he asked, clearly confused.  Not offended, but confused.

"They're real!" Megumi said. "Oh no, that means this must be really happening!"

"...Yes," said Samran.  "Yes, it is.  We brought you here in our hour of great need.  And, well, as I said, it was well-timed for you, as well.  You were about to die."

"Oh, wow, this is a lot to take in," Megumi said.

"I'm sorry about that," said Samran.  "...I should also tell you that you'll probably need to work closely with all of us who are in this room, in one way or another."

"Maybe you could explain things to me. I'm really out of my depth here. MY world only had humans," Megumi said.

"You are the only human I have seen," said Samran.  "Or talked to.  I'm an elf; Ella, who summoned you, is a princes of the Lamia, and they have great magic.  Their land borders ours near here.  Onyx is a goblin, and as fine a crafter as has ever been born, as you'll see soon enough.  Raka is a gnoll, one of the beast-folk of the plains, who has consented to bless our enterprise with the spirits she speaks with.  And Snapdragon is a knight of the Fae, as valiant a warrior as you could ask for, despite, ah, having less reach than most."

Megumi bowed.

"I'm sorry for my behavior."

"That's fine," said Samran.  "I know this must be very confusing for you.  But, um, you really should apologize to Ella..."

"Right," Megumi said before taking a deep breath and turning to the lamia. "I'm sorry, I know it's not your fault and you aren't really just a snake. I just have a fear of snakes and over reacted."

Ella stopped crying, perhaps with an effort.

"I'm sorry," she said.  "I didn't mean to scare you... This must seem very strange to you, if you haven't seen any of the peoples of our world before.  Um, but... we have great need of your strength."

"My strength?" Megumi asked.

"We worked together to forge the Knight Of All Colors to defend our world," Ella explained.  "Because we each have but a single color to our magic, we can't use it.  You, who are outside our world, may channel that power without restriction."

"Magic? I don't have any magic. Magic's real?" Megumi asked.

"It is real, yes," said Ella, and she was smiling again.  "How else did I bring you here?  And it doesn't matter if you can't use magic actively.  The Knight will awaken that power as it flows through you."

"Okay, so who is this knight?" Megumi asked.

"You," said Ella.  "Or you will be, once you become the Heart of the Knight."

"You've lost me," Megumi said.

"Knights are giant warriors, crafted out of special materials," the goblin explained.  "They have great power, but need a Heart-- a warrior aligned with their magic.  It's a rare talent; few have it.  Many have been lost..."

"But we made a new one," Ella cut in, excited.  "Made of all the magics of our world!  It wouldn't work for any of us, but I'd read of a key prophecy of a hero who would come to us in our hour of need, and I worked out a spell to call that hero to us!"

"Wait, like a Gundam? That sounds amazing! Can you show me?" Megumi asked.

"...I have no idea what a 'Gundam' is," said the Goblin.  "But I suppose you're allowed to be eccentric in your metaphors.  Follow me."

The others were walking with the Onyx through a vast doorway; it looked like it lead outdoors.

Megumi followed, looking around everywhere as she went.