Bedtime Apartments

It's raining. She sits at her desk, staring outside as rain cascades against the windows in thick glassy sheets. It's too dark out to see anything but her reflection, and she studies herself idly, taking in her features with a dull sort of indifference. Occasionally, lightning splits the darkness, and her image vanishes, leaving white flashes that obscure her vision and linger for longer than the actual lightning. Blinding, overwhelming light. It strains the muscles behind her eyes, pulling at the roof of her skull, but she keeps looking through the dark panes of glass, waiting for the moment lightning strikes again.

Forty minutes ago, her apartment building-- or more accurately, the top two floors of it-- had been ripped from the lower floors with her still inside. After the initial jolt, it moved at an even, steady pace. The book on her desk hadn't slid an inch. She stayed in her desk chair. And it had started raining. Or maybe it had been raining all along? She can't remember. There was even the sound of slow, pacing footsteps upstairs; their neighbor doing his usual tread around his room. Had it not been for the ear piercing cacophony of screaming metal and cement crumbling and the violent upwards force that had disrupted her in the first place, she'd be convinced that nothing had happened. She continues to watch the storm. The pacing upstairs stops.

An hour after her apartment had been torn from its lower neighbors, she hears voices in the hall outside, loud and agitated. A knock comes on here front door, but she stays in her room, hidden away from intrusion. Eventually, whoever is out there goes away.

"You should've answered that," a disembodied voice says, right by their ear.

They leap out of their chair, limbs jerking in surprise. As they shoot to their feet, they throw out their arms. One hand slams against their bed frame and the other stretches out to steady their balance, as their chair rolls away from them and their feet slip off of its base. They scramble for footing and gasp with pain. An unnatural host of lights flash around them, appearing out of nowhere, and they recoil and cover their eyes with one hand, fingers grazing the clip keeping their bangs up. They take out the clip so their hair covers their eyes, and clench the clip nervously in their fist, the pain in their other hand throbbing and intense as they curl it into a fist as well. You punch better with something in your grip. 

Someone is here. They just can't see who, or where. These strange, magical lights are too bright, even with their bangs covering their eyes. The lights clutter their vision, flashing so sharply they leave streaks through the air, until all they can see is painful, blinding white.

"My, my. Aren't you an interesting one. You're sparking already."

The lights? Is that what "sparking" means? Is that something they're causing? How? They close their eyes against the light, since they can't see either way, then turn their head from side to side. The voice comes from their left, but somehow they know the stranger is standing to their right. They turn right, adrenaline sending tremors through every single fiber of their body, as the stranger speaks again.

"You sit here so calmly for a good hour, yet you leap into action the moment I arrive. That's a little strange, isn't it."

They keep turning until they know they're facing the invisible stranger. Somehow, they can sense them standing there. A tense, vivid awareness casts shadows of anxiety onto them as their awareness of the entity seems to expand and sharpen; they can tell that the stranger is about their size, standing calmly about a foot away. How do they know that?

"You shouldn't be surprised to see me here. Unless you think I'm an invader," the stranger continues, and they can tell that the stranger takes a couple casual steps to the left. "But that would mean this space doesn't also belong to me."

They pay eight hundred dollars a month to say this space belongs to them, but to be fair it had just gotten torn away from civilization and flung into the air. As far as they know, they haven't crashed to the ground yet, either. So whether the rules of land ownership and rent still apply here, they don't know.

"Since you didn't answer the door, let me guide you," the stranger says. "Go on. Get your things. The things most important to you."

Adrien Adjest's apartment building had just gotten torn into fucking two and sent sailing through the clouds. He'd been on his balcony when it happened, but he still doesn't know what caused it to happen. Now, a blanket of clouds, a good few feet thick, swamps the lower floor that still remains, and the moon shines clear through the sky above. Adjest can't see the moon clearly. At least, not with his glasses on, or through the glass door that leads into his living room. But as soon as he takes off his glasses, while the rest of the world becomes blurry and muddy, the moon comes into sharp focus. He only knows this because his glasses had gotten knocked off his face when the apartment started moving. As he looked outside, everything was blurry except the moon. Was it because of the shock? He might be having hallucinations right now. Does that happen? Who knows. He feels like he's been thrust back into an unpleasant dream; somehow the situation feels hauntingly familiar, like a recurring nightmare.

He can't see through the clouds so he doesn't know where they are. He gets the feeling that he'll never know. They haven't started falling, he knows that for sure, and it seems like they're moving, but he doesn't know how far they've gotten from the city. The lights are still on in his apartment, which should be impossible, and there's no cell service or internet, but the radio at his feet still plays.

He looks at the moon. He can see its craters. He can see its immensity. He can see the light that envelops it and the depths of its shadows. He sees it clearly, as he cleans his glasses on the hem of his shirt. Then he puts them back on, and it becomes the normal moon again. Fuzzy and indistinct, while the rest of the world comes into focus.

His first order of business is to smoke a cigarette and think. What the hell should he be doing right now? Orienting himself to the situation, probably. Who else is here? Is he hallucinating?

He hears the sound of another balcony door sliding open and the shuffle of shoes on concrete, then a voice. "Heeeeeey! Adjest!"

He looks to his left. His neighbor steps out, waving. 

"Hi," he says calmly.

"You're smoking at a time like this?" his neighbor asks, leaning over her balcony railing.

"A time like what, exactly?" he asks back, amused.

"I don't know! You're here smoking like you are every night. Seeing you here... it's like everything is still like it was before. Normal."

Adjest shrugs, conceding her point, but leaves his cigarette resting languidly between two fingers. "Are you and your roommate okay?"

"Sarah isn't in. She's still at work, thank god. Are you okay?"

"Just fine." He exhales slowly, and looks at her over the rim of his glasses, then through them. She's blurry, then clear. Nothing unusual.

Violet Sinclair is Adjest's young, energetic neighbor. He used to resent her and her roommate for being too loud at night, but it doesn't matter anymore. He's just glad she's okay and she confirmed that she's having the same experience. There's comfort in company. He doesn't ask about the moon, though.

"I heard some people moving in the hall. I'm going to join them," she says. "Want to come?"

"Fine." He puts out his cigarette and taps off the ash, but keeps it in his hand. "I'll be there in a second."

His apartment, save for a toppled glass of wine spilling over the counter and onto kitchen tile, is undisturbed. He puts on his coat as if he's going outside, for some reason, and his shoes, then steps out into the hall, which is quickly filling with voices.

He knows his neighbors by face but not all by name. Though it's late at night, close to 10 PM, only three others, and Violet, seem to be on this floor. One neighbor is quite young, even younger than Violet, and carrying a large plastic crate. She has a grave, but dull expression on her face, giving her a look of profound exhaustion that you don't usually see on teenagers. A second neighbor is holding a sword in their right hand and has a long case on their back, probably with more swords in it. They're a sword collector; Adjest has talked to them a few times. He supposes it makes sense that people are taking their precious belongings with them. The building could fall at any moment. At the end of it all, wouldn't you cling onto what you love the most? Or maybe that's wishful thinking.

Aside from the girl and the sword collector is Hart Yang. Adjest knows him well. The guy is a headhunter, a guy who sifts through hundreds of resumes a day and networks his ass off just to be contracted to find job candidates for a company he doesn't care about. Adjest himself is retired, but he occasionally repossesses planes, so every other job seems mundane to him. But surely Hart's job is soul crushing work.

"Hey," he says in greeting. Hart lifts a hand in response. "Any idea what happened?"

"Ha. What do you think? We're going down to look," Hart says, voice smooth and tinged with a familiar accent which Adjest has never been able to identify. The others chat away, off to the side, and Hart addresses Adjest directly. "Can't call for help. But I imagine people noticed. Hopefully."

Hart is not a charming man, making his job even more strange. Adjest couldn't never figure out how he was able to network with people well enough to do his job. He may be different at work but now he speaks in short, gruff sentences, avoids eye contact, and talks too loud, drowning out everyone else in his impatience to get his own thoughts out.

"We can't get down the stairs, either, he says. "Caved in."

"...Then how are you going to look down there?" Adjest asks dubiously.

"We're thinking of making a hole in the floor," the sword collector says, jumping into the conversation. "I'm Kusei, by the way."

"Adjest."

They shake hands. The formality feels a little silly at a time like this.

"And how are you planning to make a hole in the floor?" Adjest asks, withdrawing his hand and sticking it in his pocket. He taps one nail rapidly against the lighter in there. He must be agitated. He doesn't feel it, though.

Kusei jerks one thumb back towards the girl holding the plastic crate. "We're hoping she can."

She must be a teenager- she's wearing a backpack with an ID badge from the local high school clipped to the side. She doesn't say anything; she just seems kind of reluctant as she puts the crate down and opens it.

It's filled to the brim with clear, acrylic card boxes, each one stuffed full of cards. Some sort of TCG cards. Adjest doesn't know that much about trading cards; he only vaguely knows about the existence of Pokémon cards, Buddyfight cards, and Magic the Gathering cards. 

She takes one box out, and draws out a card, then meticulously puts the rest back. Her ears slowly get redder and redder as she extends the card in front of her. She looks at the others, mouth opening, then closing, then she screws her eyes shut.

"I activate the Eighth guild's traveler's portal on the playing field!" she says loudly, and the card glows blue in her hand. Adjest gawks as two more cards float out of her sweater pocket and hover by the one in her hand. "I use up twenty mana and end my turn!"

She opens one eye a little as the cards glow brighter, and the others jump away as a hole slowly begins to open up the ground. It yawns open and stops right by Adjest's toes, and they all stare down into it. It goes straight downstairs.

"A little warning would've been nice," Hart says, but seems remarkably calm all things considered, as the girl hurriedly puts the cards into her pocket. "What just happened?"

"I- I don't kn- know," she says timidly. "I was pl- playing when the building started m- moving... and that happened."

"Is this a joke?" Violet asks, looking around. "Are there cameras?"

"I w- wish," the girl insists, face reddening. "I don't know why this is happening."

"Let's just go," Kusei says, and puts the sword in their hands into a sheath on their hip. They drop down through the hole, hand catching the edge to slow their fall, and they land at the bottom and look up at the others. "Come on. I can see a hole in the ground at the end of the hall."

Hart jumps down, and then Violet. Adjest doesn't know how the card girl is going to make it.

"Are you coming?" he asks her. She nods.

"I'll go down first and you can hand your crate to me and jump down."

She looks at him suspiciously, but nods again.

As they go down the hall, they knock on doors, looking for others.

"Why is no one on this floor??" Violet asks, unnerved. "What's going on??"

"I'll open one of the doors," Kusei says, and uses one elbow and smashes the handle of a nearby apartment door. Adjest had always marked them as a historian rather than an athlete, but seeing them now, they must work out to use the swords they collect. The door swings open slowly.

The floor of the apartment inside is totally gone. In its place is a thick, swirling cloud. Adjest hears the sound of rain and the quiet rumble of thunder and as he watches, lightning snaps down through the cloud.

"Careful!" Violet yanks Kusei back before they can touch anything. "You could get electrocuted."

Kusei rolls their eyes but steps back and closes the door as best as they can without a handle. "Don't act like this is any more dangerous that what's already happened," they grumble, but step back.

"It seems like everyone else on this floor got left below." Hart looks down the hall towards the large hole in the floor, similarly filled with clouds. "I think we should wait for the storm to die down and try to figure out where we are."

"I'm going to the roof," Violet says. "Something must be lifting us up. I couldn't see it from my balcony, and I don't think we'll find anything down here with the storm."

Another roll of thunder rocks the building and they all look at each other uneasily.

"I'll give you a leg up," Adjest tells her, so the two of them split off from the group to go back to the hole in the ceiling.

"What do you think is happening?" Violet asks him quietly, as they walk.

"We'll see," he says plainly. "Eventually we'll have to go down. Whether or not we crash or get set down gently is the question. Let's hope we see something up on the roof."

He lets her step up into his hands and boosts her up through the hole. She scrambles over the edge and then looks back down at him. "I don't know if I can pull you up. But I have my climbing equipment; give me a second."

It's been a while since they've needed anything more than a reusable grocery bag. They dig an old backpack out from their closet and begin putting their things inside. The strange lights had died down and whoever had been here disappeared, but they listen to what the guy had told them and pack up their belongings. Deciding what to bring is stressful; they have no idea what's happening or what they need, but if the apartment is floating, it'll crash eventually, so they take things that are irreplaceable to them.

People walk past their door and they pause to listen. They can only hear a little bit of the conversation. Someone is saying: "...don't know. Eventually we'll have to go back down..."

They put their belongings in their bag and open the door a crack. No one seems to be nearby anymore, but there's a perfectly circular hole in the ceiling leading up to the floor above. A rope hangs down from it, and someone had dragged a coffee table below it to step up onto. They don't know if they can make it up there even with the step, if they're honest. They look around this floor instead. There are huge sections of floor missing, which reveal the clouds beneath, but the rest of the hall seems undisturbed. 

Suddenly, they feel themself thrown to the side as the entire floating apartment comes to a jarring stop, then starts moving again. The air is still for a little, as if the whole world is shocked, and then they hear yelling from upstairs. Those guys sure are loud.

Through the hole in the ceiling, they see five people running. They watch as two drop down through the hole– an older man and a younger woman, then recoil as the man grabs their wrist. The other three leap right over the hole and keep sprinting, yelling in panic.

They look up through the hole again, trying to see what it is the others had been running from, and try to pull their wrist from the man's grip to no avail. 

"What the hell is that thing???" the woman asks, panting.

"Keep running!" The man also grabs her by the arm and pulls them both down the hall at a sprint. Maybe he's friends with the woman, but why he's bothering to help a stranger is a mystery. Not only did they ignore the knocking earlier, they're aware of how odd they looked as they stood watching, bangs totally obscuring their eyes, not moving at all, but the man still yanks them down the hall. "Run!"

The man-- Adjest-- drags them away as a loud roar splits the air, and clouds of steam billow through the hole. There's a scream from upstairs as they run, then come to a skidding halt as they turn a corner and reach a giant hole in the floor. Adjest grabs both his companions, pulls them into his chest, and physically shields both of them as a scalding column of steam rushes over them. He hisses with pain, but he doesn't budge.

"Adjest!" The woman-- Violet-- whimpers, staring up at him. She seems to want to do something, maybe push him out of the way of the steam, but it fills the entire width of the hallway and there's nowhere else to go.

She turns and looks at the stranger that Adjest had grabbed. They're pulling away, one sleeve pressed over their face to protect themself from the steam. With their free hand, they grab Adjest firmly by the collar and drag him to the side with surprising force. Violet, still in Adjest's grasp, goes with them, as the stranger opens a door, pulls them in, and slams the door shut.

"Thanks." Adjest straightens, tugging the stranger off him in the process, and then grimaces slightly, his eyebrows creasing a little closer together and his mouth tugging down imperceptibly at the corners. Adjest, Violet notes, is a man of very little facial expression. His hands and wrists are a bright, painful red and quickly blistering as he inspects them, burning uncomfortably. At least the steam just seems to be normal steam, and doesn't inflict some sort of outlandish wound upon its victim. At this point, though, Violet wouldn't be surprised if it had.

The sensation itself throbs thinly over the surface of Adjest's skin, making it clear that this isn't a dream. As he looks around the apartment, he decides to resign himself to the fact that this is reality. He reads the words on the poster hung on the wall in the living room; some sort of concert tour poster full of bright colors, and recognizes some of the bands listed, and the venue. He hadn't gone to the event; it's not quite his preferred kind of music, but it's good to learn a little about their mysterious, silent stranger. Adjest doesn't quite know the guy, but has seen them taking out trash before. Even then, they wore a hat with a brim that hid a lot of their face, so Adjest has no idea what the top half of their face looks like, or what their voice sounds like, or even their name. He feels strangely at ease around them, though, maybe relieved to find someone who is quiet and down to earth to include in their group.

The stranger disappears into the bathroom and reappears a minute later. They dress his burns quickly and competently, without speaking.

"What's your name?" Violet tries asking, but they don't answer. Adjest can't see their eyes at all and their mouth is set into a neutral line, so it's difficult to tell how they're feeling. Annoyed at being asked the question? Nervous? Shy? The guy has a hair clip stuck on their collar, and Adjest has the overwhelming urge to use it on them, which is weird, because he doesn't usually have the urge to do weird things to strangers. If someone wants to look and act a certain way, who is he to disturb them if they're not hurting anyone?

They finish dressing Adjest's wounds, then seem to look at both of them awkwardly, head lifting and turning to him, then Violet. They even open their mouth to speak, but change their mind.

"I'm Adjest," he says to them encouragingly. "This is Violet."

They open their mouth to speak again, then shy away.

"Hero," they say, clearly embarrassed.

"That's your name?" Violet asks skeptically. "Hero? That's a weird-"

"It's nice to meet you," Adjest cuts in, before she can tease Hero too much. "Is this your apartment? It's the only one left intact on this floor, all the others have the floor missing."

Hero nods.

"Do you know what's happening?"

Hero shakes their head.

"Well... if you could let us hide here until that steam monster outside is gone, we'd be grateful." Adjest sighs. "I don't know what's happening, but we shouldn't panic, and I need to gather my thoughts."

Hero nods. They don't seem to like talking. When they determine that the conversation has ended, they retreat to sit at their kitchen table and avoid looking in Adjest and Violet's direction.

"Are Hart and Kusei and the girl going to be okay?" Violet worries, glancing up towards the ceiling with a frown. 

"I think her name was Ekatera," Adjest hazards. "I'm a little worried, too. The monster followed them for a while, and Ekatera had that huge crate with her."

"Hart lives at the end of that hall. Hopefully they managed to hide together there." Adjest checks his phone, then sighs. "Still no signal. I wish we could all stay in communication somehow."

Violet slides down to the ground, still right by the door, and covers her face with her hands. She had done a pretty good job handling herself earlier, but she already looks like she's at the end of her rope. "What's happening? Monsters... a flying building... Ekatera did magic! With playing cards! Are we in another world? Am I dreaming? Am I dead?"

"I'm wondering the same thing." Adjest reaches down and ruffles her hair. "Let's slowly work out the answers as we go. Hopefully things will clear up. For now, rest."

About an hour later, Hero no longer hears the sound of the monster hissing about outside. From what they observed through the peephole on their front door, it slithered through the hole in the hallway floor and vanished into the clouds. It looked like a huge snake, body made of segments of cloudy steam and blackened metal joints, with no eyes or nose but a large, cavernous mouth lined with sharp metal teeth. The sight of it alone was surreal, but even more jarring had been how unnaturally it moved, body expanding and contracting rapidly in a way that somehow seems physically impossible. Hero also can't even begin to guess why it had come here or what it wanted.

Violet is asleep on the couch and Adjest dozes off sitting on the floor next to her, starting awake every few minutes. He seems stressed out. After a little bit of watching him struggle, though, Hero decides to sleep themself. They keep their bag by their bed and sleep with one hand on it and the bedroom door locked. They don't dislike the others, but they feel better this way. Everything is so confusing and uncertain. For some reason, the mysterious voice's advice from earlier telling them to keep their belongings close feels like the only thing they can trust.

As they doze off, they begin to see lights again, at the edges of their vision. If they move their eyes to look at the lights, they move, so they never enter their main field of view. It's frustrating. Hero somehow knows that the lights are not a visual effect or their eyes playing tricks on them; they're physically in the room with them.

"You can rest," the same disembodied voice says to them, and this time, Hero isn't that surprised to hear it. "But don't let your guard down around the others just yet. Okay?"

Hero vaguely remembers nodding before everything goes dark and they drift off to sleep. They wake up about two hours later to a loud scream. It's Violet. Hero hears Adjest asking what's wrong a second later, so they take their time getting up. He'll probably have it under control. 

When they do finally emerge from their room, they see her sitting on the floor, staring at her hand. Adjest stands nearby, uncertain of what to do, and Hero doesn't actually see what's wrong until they look at the scene a little longer. 

Violet has an extra finger. Now she has six in total on her left hand. Hero doesn't quite remember, but from her reaction, it wasn't like that before.

"Violet, calm down," Adjest says, as she takes a very firm hold of what Hero assumes is the extra finger, and tries to rip it off the side of her hand. How does she know which one is the extra? "Violet, don't hurt yourself!"

"What's happening to me???" she asks desperately, releasing her finger but thrusting her hand violently away, like it's an alien taken ahold of her.

She almost seems angry to Hero. She has a right to be, in their opinion, not that it helps anything. Adjest is being awfully calm, which makes it seem like he doesn't think this is a big deal, either. But the implication of your body changing so drastically and unnaturally overnight is frightening, even to Hero. Will the same thing happen to them?

"Violet." Adjest holds his hands out placatingly. "I understand how you feel. But don't hurt-"

"You fucking- You don't fucking understand how I-!"

Violet falls silent, eyes fixing on something behind him. Adjest turns around to look at what she's staring at, then backs away. Hero stands there, a large kitchen knife in their hand. They'd managed to sneak past behind Adjest without him noticing. Their eyes are still hidden behind their bangs, but their mouth is set in a determined frown. After a second, they take a hold of the flat of the blade and turn the knife around so the handle points towards Violet. A silent invitation, an option made available. She stares down the handle, eyes still wild and frantic with fear. She looks at her hand, then at Hero. Then she grimaces and hides her hand in the front of her hoodie.

"N- No. Thanks." She takes a breath. "You're right, Adjest. I need to calm down."

Hero retracts the knife, then holds it by the handle and heads for the door. They nod to the other two and step outside without saying anything.

"That guy..." Adjest stares after them, eyes narrowed, and grimaces as if thinking about something awful.

"Do you know anything about them?" Violet asks. "I don't remember anything about them."

"They keep to themself." Adjest shakes his head. "But whatever. I'm sure you'll get to know them eventually; they don't seem like a bad guy. I'm more worried about you. Are you okay? It's only midnight. You can go back to sleep, if you can."

"I... don't know." Violet gets up. "I might go back up to my apartment, as long as the monster's gone. You could go back to your apartment, too."

Adjest has his reservations about letting her go alone, but in the end he lets her leave and stays behind to think for a second. There's six of them. Ekatera has a family that lives with her, and Violet has a roommate. The building must have sustained considerable damage when they separated from the ground, and probably caused a stir in the surrounding area. Why hasn't help come already?

Hero is looking around the hallway, kitchen knife still in hand. As Violent walks out of the apartment, she notices that they seem to be specifically looking for something. Maybe they dropped something when they ran away from the monster. They lean down to pull away at a soggy section of carpet and look under it, and Violet leans down and looks at them.

"What are you looking for?" she asks curiously. "Need help?"

She looks at them. They look back at her. They blink. Then they scramble backwards and cover their eyes with their hands, almost stabbing themself in the process, since they're still holding the knife.

"Whoa! Hey! Be careful!" she protests frantically, and uses one hand to direct the blade away from Hero's face. "Your eyes are pretty." Hero blushes and keeps covering their eyes. "Are you... wearing contacts?"

One of Hero's eyes had been a pretty, shiny shade of brown, glowing slightly as it reflected the light from the hall. The other had been an intense, bright gold, shot through with rays of deep purple and speckled as if with stars. Violet had only caught a glimpse of it, but it's strikingly colored and very pretty.

Hero doesn't explain themself and hurries away, entire face flushed. Why someone would wear something so visually interesting and be embarrassed when someone else sees it is a mystery to Violet. She watches them go, amused, and then follows behind them slowly. Before she can get too far, Adjest pokes his head out and follows after her, yawning.

"Decided to come after all?" she teases. 

"Thought I should check on that bastard Hart to make sure he's still alive," he says, but Violet can tell that he'd just been worried about her and Hero walking around on their own. He watches Hero struggle to get upstairs and then walks over and offers them a leg up. "Step into my hands."

Violet isn't super close with Adjest, but he's a cool guy, and they get along. Very polite and chivalrous. Most of their chats happened between balconies, while he smoked and she had dinner. He used to be a pilot, and has a few good stories he likes to tell again and again. The guy gets antsy without a cigarette, but always helps out other people and stays level headed. Sometimes that's irritating, but in times of uncertainty, he's pretty reliable. Watching him help Hero up to the next floor momentarily makes her feel like maybe things will be alright, as long as they help each other out.*

It's hard to imagine that some kid made this hole with three pieces of cardstock, but the more Violet looks at it, the more she has to believe it. It's a perfect, smooth circle. There's no way any of them would be able to make such a thing with what's available to them.

"Hart Yang," Adjest calls quietly, knocking on a door on the upper floor. Violet hadn't noticed him come up, too deep in thought about the cards and Ekatera's strange new power. "You alive?"

Violet is more curious about Hero and honestly doesn't really like Hart all that much, so she follows Hero instead of Adjest. She's heading to the roof, knife still in hand.

"This is where we saw the monster initially," Violet tells her urgently. "Be careful."

Hero hesitates, then continues walking a little slower. She lowers her knife, acknowledging that it wouldn't be that useful against a monster mostly made of water vapor. But she doesn't put it away. Does she think she has a reason to be extra cautious? That would make sense, given the bizarre circumstances. So why doesn't Violet feel afraid, too?

"There's nothing else up there," Violet says, dutifully trying to warn her again. Hero reaches into the side of her bag and pulls out a small set of binoculars, then starts up the stairs, determined to explore.

Adjest had knocked on Hart Yang's door just in time. He can tell Hart had been about to do something crazy; his window is wide open and he'd tied together a bunch of sheets into a long rope. He's alone, too, without anyone to pull him back up if something happens. Drenched in rain with his sleeves rolled up and his eyes flashing with annoyance, Hart reminds Adjest of a sailor caught in a storm, too busy with survival to make time for the likes of Adjest. 

"You crazy bastard, what were you planning on doing?" Adjest crosses his arms disapprovingly as he looks past Hart into the apartment. "There's still a storm going on."

Hart rolls his eyes, an unusually childish gesture for him. "It's just raining. The lightning and thunder stopped."

"We are hundreds of feet off the ground." Adjest is about to say more, but grimaces and refrains from nagging. Hart's a grown man. If he's set on doing something stupid, it's only his own fault. "Where's Kusei?"

"Probably in his room." Hart says shortly. He isn't letting Adjest inside; he stays in the doorway barring entry. He doesn't ever let anyone into his apartment, even now, when such petty boundaries feel inconsequential. Adjest knows that Hart is a man who requires space to himself in order to exist, not just the passage of time. Without a place to be alone and gather his thoughts, Hart often forgets who he is and begins operating on impulse only. Adjest isn't quite sure how he knows this, though, since the two men aren't anything more than friendly acquaintances. But he feels a if he knows Hart's personality with an unshakable certainty. 

"Where's Violet?" Hart asks, more for the sake of saying something than out of concern.

"We found Hero on the lower floor. She went to the roof with Vi." Adjest leans against the doorframe and studies Hart. "Why don't you wait for the rain to stop?"

"We should do something, instead of just waiting for the rain to stop," Hart says, clearly agitated, and Adjest blinks, then frowns. He's hit with a sudden, very strong feeling of deja vu. He's never really disagreed with Hart before, he typically just lets the man make his own decisions, but reprimanding Hart and trying to talk him down from doing something dangerous feels natural. Hart pacing before him with his fists clenched, tucked behind his back, is a very familiar sight, somehow, like a game Adjest has played before, a puzzle with familiar pieces. 

"Look at the situation we're in, Adjest," Hart continues, voice rising. "It's been hours. This situation is ludicrous. If we keep waiting for the rain to stop, keep waiting for the next logical step, nothing is going to happen. I'll just keep dreaming forever. You need to wake up."

"We aren't dreaming," Adjest says firmly. "This is real, and we need to be logical. Come with me, Hart."

He grabs the man by the upper arm and drags him out of his apartment firmly. Hart shakes him off, an irritated growl in the back of his throat, but follows grudgingly, footsteps loud against the carpeted wood floors. 

"Do you have a plan, Adjest?" he asks quietly, the volume of his voice at odds with the sound of his steps. He watches as the older man takes out a cigarette and lighter, takes in his casual steps as he strolls down the hall. "You're very calm. As always."

"Panicking isn't going to help. As always." Adjest waits until they're in his apartment before he lights his cigarette. "Want a smoke?"

"Not right now. I'm not trying to die any faster." Hart waves away the offered cigarette and collapses onto Adjest's couch. "Can I trust you, Adrien?"

Adjest is looking out the balcony doors at the moon pensively, and takes a second before he glances at Hart behind him through the reflection in the glass. "To do what?"

"To get us out of here."

"I don't even know where we are, or where we'll end up." Adjest slides open the door and steps outside, leaning back against the balcony to look in at Hart. The wind tousels his hair gently, specks of rain rolling off of the balcony roof hit the lenses of his glasses, and the moonlight illuminates his silhouette and the cloud of smoke issuing from his lips. He takes off his wet glasses and looks over his shoulder at the moon, thinking of what more to say. "Ekatera and her cards have a better chance at doing anything then we do."

"She's a child to you, Adrien. I know you don't want to put the responsibility on her. And I can already tell she's having a hard time." Hart stares up at the apartment ceiling, not even bothering to look at Adjest. "And god knows Kusei won't step up to do anything, so it's either you or me."

"Let's do it together," Adjest says, and Hart laughs derisively.

"I knew you'd say that. You never change."

"Sleep for now," Adjest tells him, a smile briefly appearing on his face. "I'll wake you up if anything happens."

Adjest wakes up Hart in the morning by tapping his shoulder. He opens his eyes and sits up as if he hadn't just been asleep for six hours, scanning the room quickly to make sure that nothing major had changed. Nothing had. Nothing ever does. Adjest had made breakfast; the smell of butter and bacon fills the apartment and shepherds Hart towards the kitchen.

"One reason this has to be a dream," Hart says, watching Adjest retreat to the kitchen to brew his coffee, "is that we still have electricity."

"Could be magic," Adjest says dryly. He sits down with Hart and pours them both coffee. "Violet said she and Hero went back to the roof when the sun came out and saw a city in the distance."

"The Emerald City?" Hart asks, tapping his fingers against the counter. He glances over his shoulder out the window but can't see anything but blue sky. "Are we going to go see the Wizard of Oz?"

"I don't know. We can go look." Adjest removes his glasses and rubs his eyes, then pinches the bridge of his nose. "They said we're fairly high off the ground, but we might be able to signal for help," he says, but the suggestion seems empty and listless.

"Be real, Adrien. We've been floating all night and no one noticed us. How are we going to signal for help in any way that matters? Let's just ask Kat to summon a dragon to fly us down or something and hope we don't get shot."

"Quiet. Eat."

Hart finishes breakfast a little more relaxed than before. He's not best friends with Adjest or anything, but Hart finds that being around him makes it feel like everything is under control. Not that he would ever admit it. 

They head to the roof a little while after and meet Hero and Violet to decide what their next course of action should be. The two are sitting on the ground by the fence that borders the roof, eating toast. They both look tired. Violet does, at least. Hart can't tell how Hero is feeling with her eyes hidden behind her bangs.

"Hey, Adjest," Violet says, waving. "You should take another look now that we're closer."

Hero comes over and hands her binoculars to Adjest, and Hart takes the opportunity to look at her closely. She has even, greyish blonde hair and her bangs cover her eyes completely, cut only just above the tip of her nose. Hart has only seen her around once before, sitting outside and waiting for someone. Back then, too, she'd hidden her eyes with her hair and a baseball cap. Even if their situation is abnormal, Hero seems to have been strange from the start. Hart notes that she has a hair clip on her, so they must be hiding her eyes on purpose. It's kind of annoying. 

"That doesn't look like a city from our world," Adjest says, looking through the binoculars.

"It doesn't look like anything," Violet says, getting up. "It's surrounded by empty fields. What city in the country looks like that? There's a single road going in and out of it. The city is green."

Hart takes the binoculars when offered. Violet is right. Many buildings are painted a washed out green, the flags flying are green, the streets are paved in a dark green stone, and the fields surrounding the city are flooded with long gold grass, making the green of the city stand out even more.

"It's like the Wizard of Oz," Adjest says lightly. "Just like Hart said."

"Where the hell are we??" Hart asks at the same time, frustrated. "I hate not knowing where we are! How did we get here??"

The city rising out of the morning fog is centered around a circular castle, with a brilliant green glass dome that glimmers faintly in the sun. Every road is a concentric circle or a radial line with respect to the castle, so that the castle somehow looks like a sun, with the roads as the rays. A dense city grows out of the pale yellowed grass fields, audibly buzzing with life even from this distance. There are many large stone statues positioned around the outer ring, depicting figures in various positions that indicate that they're guarding the area, their heavy stillness in stark contrast to the parts of the city that are alive with motion. Hart can vaguely make out swarms of vehicles and people walking out into the fields. The city he had been in last night was in a dense urban area, surrounded by equally dense suburbs all the way out to the eastern shore. There's no such thing as a solitary city surrounded by fields as far as the eye can see. Worst of all, no one seems to have noticed them yet, and if they float right past the city, there aren't any more cities in sight. If they don't get down here, they could be floating forever.

The door to the roof opens and Hart lowers the binoculars to see who it is. Kusei, the sword collector, emerges into the sunlight, one hand raised to shield his eyes from the sun. Like Violet and Hero, he still carries his belongings close with him. Hart doesn't have much, so he doesn't bother, in stark contrast to Ekatera and her huge plastic tub of cards and Kusei and his sword case. Kusei's swords are expensive and most of them are rare pieces of history. Though not particularly interesting to Hart or the rest of the world, it makes sense that he's guarding them so closely. It also makes Hart better knowing they have weapons on hand that have been meticulously cared for.

"What's going on?" Kusei asks calmly, almost sounding bored. Hart gives him the binoculars to look at the city and he barely bothers looking for more than a second.

"I think if we get close, we can drop down onto the taller buildings," Violet says, as Kusei gives the binoculars back. "People in the city haven't given a sign that they noticed us, so I'm not banking on them helping."

Kusei sighs, eyebrows contracting and nose wrinkling in irritation. He has the kind of face that is usually very still, but springs to life with expression the moment he feels a negative emotion. "Do we have to? I'm really not that fond of heights."

"I'm going to get ready to do it," Violet says. "Come if you want."

"Let's crash ourselves into a field," Kusei suggests. He leans against the fence, trying to see beneath the apartment. "Ask Kat to handle it for us, like before."

Hart notices Violet's eyes narrow, but she stays quiet. Hart doesn't know her that well; they've never bothered to get close. But he remembers that Kusei and Violet seemed to want to argue the first time they met, too.

"Those are both fair ideas," Adjest says, and Hart looks at him, relieved that someone else is resolving the conflict. "Hart wanted to use a rope to slide out of here, too."

"I'd actually rather land outside the city," Hart interjects. "I'll go with Kusei and Kat and try to land the apartment in a field."

Adjust shrugs, acquiescing. "You three can work on that, but be careful. I'll help Violet out." He looks at Hero, and Hart can immediately tell that the man is trying to get her to leave so the rest of them can talk. He's an easy book to read, once you've known him for so long. "Hero... do you mind checking on Ekatera? She lives in 405, and we haven't seen her since we ran away from the monster last night."

Hero goes to apartment 405 and knocks after a moment, nervous. She doesn't know who Ekatera is, and the situation is already confusing and scary as it is. After a moment, she hears footsteps from the other side of the door and a girl answers, looking equally nervous as she peers up at Hero. She wears a school uniform, bizarrely enough, white shirt and navy pants underneath a windbreaker that seems a little too big for her. Her hair is dark and tied into two low tails, and she wears square glasses that rest near the tip of her nose. She doesn't look through them, she looks over the top of them as she looks up at Hero. She obviously doesn't live here alone-- there are many different sized shoes on the floor by the door, but it seems like the rest of her apartment's inhabitants had been left behind.

"Hi," she says, a note of surprise in her voice. "C- Can I help you?"

Hero gathers the energy to respond, resisting the nervous urge to not speak at all. "I live downstairs," she says, stumbling over the words a little.

"Oh. Did you meet with the o- others? You must be... confused." Ekatera falls silent and neither of them talk for a moment. "I am, too. Honestly. I d- didn't expect to see y- you. I thought Hart or Adjest would come check on me."

Hero is used to getting many strange reactions to her presence, mostly to her appearance, so she doubts that's the only explanation. What was it that Adjest asked her to do? Might as well get it over with and leave.

"After the monster attacked," Hero says, trailing off to think about how to finish the sentence. "Did you do okay?"

She nods. "I'm okay. I used one of my cards to escape."

Hero doesn't know what this means, but she nods and turns to go.

"Uh- Hey." Ekatera leans further out of the door before she can leave. "I'm... sorry."

Hero turns back to her, puzzled. She looks pained just saying it. Sorry for what? Why isn't she explaining?

"Why?" Hero asks, after a second.

"Oh. I just... I- I'm not good at m- meeting new people. I don't mean to make y- you awkward." She waves her hands frantically. "My name is Ekatera. You?"

"...Hero."

"Hero. It's nice to meet you. D- Do you know where the others are right now?"

Hero shrugs. Then she turns to go. These people are strange. Adjest seems normal, but Violet is weird like Ekatera, too. When they talked earlier on the roof, she made it sound like they were never getting home. Or maybe that they were going to die. That's not the most unlikely conclusion to draw, but she was also supremely confident in her plans to safely climb down into the city via a rope. So which is it?*

"You talked to her?" Adjest asks, as Hero returns to the roof. He and Violet are tying cords together and testing their strength by pulling on either end as hard as they can.

Hero nods. She looks again towards the city. The glittery green castle looks like something from a fairytale. 

"Was she okay?" Adjest asks patiently. 

Hero nods again, absently. She stands by the fence to look as the city draws ever closer. The big giant statues on the edge of the city are cool, too. Like they could come to life at any second. 

"What do you think?" Adjest asks. "Seems like we're in a pretty crazy situation. Recognize the city at all?"

Hero shakes her head. "But it's pretty," she says, more enthusiastically than intended.

"It looks familiar to me, somehow," Adjest comments, and Violet looks at him sharply. "Like something from a movie."

"Help me," she complains. "If you have time to talk. We're getting pretty close."

They're tying all sorts of things together. Sheets, clothes, curtains and actual rope, and so on. Hero keeps watching the city as they finish their long rope down. She has no opinion about what happened or what they should do. She doesn't even really feel that bad about being whisked away from home. She doesn't mind climbing down into the city or crashing into the fields. She has her most important belongings with her. She also plans on sticking with Adjest and Violet as long as they're in an uncertain situation. 

Violet's extra finger doesn't even really bother Hero. It's strange, impossible, but you do what you can with the body you have. She seems to have adapted to it well enough; she's tying knots with ease. Hero thinks she would hate it if it happened to her, so she's impressed.

"That tall grey tower will be a good place to land," Violet says, joining her at the fence. "The others won't make it in time with their plan; it's coming too fast. They'll have to land in the fields behind the city, rather than in front."

"We have to get moving." Adjest calls, and begins to attach the rope to the end of the fence, via a couple carabiner clips. "I already know Ekatera won't want to come either; there's no way to bring her cards like this."

Hero hadn't noticed this before, but Adjest now wears one of those leather briefcases with a shoulder strap that middle aged men like to wear. He's ready to go. He and Violet both test the rope as they begin to get alarmingly close to the city.

They've drifted just shy of the center of the castle, heading for where their target tower is. The building isn't huge; it had been squeezed in with two other large buildings and is the tallest one in that cluster. Just as the edge of the apartment reaches the edge of the castle, Violet drops the rope over the edge. The building they're aiming for is very tall, and on the other side of the city, but at the rate they're going, they should get going. 

Hero tears her gaze from the castle as Violet slides down over the edge of the roof, hands and legs firmly wrapped around their homemade rope.

"You go next," Adjest says to Hero. "Hold on with your hands, and try to also keep your knees together so the rope is between your legs. Violet will wait at the bottom and help you let go when you need to."

Hero looks at the rope nervously. It's riddled with knots; can she really slide down it?

"Move your hands one under the other." Adjest demonstrates. "And if you can't hold on, just hug the rope and slide. It might hurt and you might crash into Violet, but that's okay. We just need to get down safely and in time."

Hero isn't scared of heights. As she awkwardly turns over the edge and hangs onto the rope for dear life, though, she feels like she's about to pass out. She just hangs there for a second, mind racing, totally uncoordinated. Her grip is right above the second knot, and her legs dangle beneath her precariously.

"Bend your legs," Adjest says. "Bend them up."

Hero does. She feels the strain on the muscles of her torso and thighs; her incredibly sedentary lifestyle has left her super weak.

"Knees together!" Adjest commands, and she obeys, eyes squeezed shut. "Look at your hands!"

Hero looks. Her knuckles are white with tension, and it almost seems like her tendons are so tense they're about to snap.

"Start letting yourself down. One hand at a time," Adjest says, as Violet yells at them to hurry up.

Hero's arms already hurt. As she lets go with one hand and starts sliding down, they hurt more with the effort of keeping herself from falling. She puts her hand down lower and clenches it just above the next knot, then lets go of her upper hand.

Her weight makes her fall and she fails to hold on tight enough, multiple knots sliding between her legs. Her one arm still holding onto the rope jerks painfully upwards and tears fill her eyes as the pain throbs through her elbow and shoulder. Her legs lose their grip and she grabs on so hard with her hands and she dangles there again, horrified.

Since Violet is at the bottom weighing it down, the rope is taught enough for her to curl her legs up around it again. For a moment, she tries to catch her breath, but her entire body is taut with anxiety and she can only take air in in shallow bursts.

Almost directly across from her is a row of balconies, one of which hosts Ekatera, sitting and watching. Hero barely has the focus to look at her closely, but notices that she takes something out of her pocket, small, about the size of a phone.

"My turn!" Ekatera says, and somehow Hero can hear her as if they were standing right next to each other. "I summon the Clear Wing Griffin in Attack position! I then activate a Magic card!"

"What in the world are you talking about????" Is what Hero wants to say. "Aghhhhh!" Is what she says instead, as Ekatera calls out something else and a huge griffin appears out of nowhere, soaring through the air on a pair of silvery translucent wings. It comes straight towards her and one large talon plucks her delicately off the rope and soars down towards the rooftops.

Hero hangs there awkwardly  in its grip, bewildered. One talon curls under each of her arms, and after her shoulders still hurt from catching herself, but she ignores the pain and stares up at the creature. Her breath comes in short bursts that she struggles to keep even, and it feels like every single fiber of her being is trembling. The griffin seems all too real

Adjest comes down after her. Hero is almost three quarters of the way down when Violet gives her a warning call.

"Faster, Hero. We're almost there!"

Hero tries to go faster. When she reaches the rooftop they're aiming for and Violet jumps off, the end of the rope begins to swing wildly, making her entire body freeze up with fear.

"Let go!" Violet yells. "I'll catch you!"

Hero looks down. She's closer to the top of the tower than she thought, maybe seven feet. She lets go and Violet catches her easily, taking a couple steps back to give Adjest space to land.

"There we go," she says, satisfied, as Adjest slides down rapidly and lands neatly on the ground. She deposits Hero beside him. Hero's knees are also too shaky to keep standing, and she sits quickly before she collapses.

"Nice work," Adjest says. He's holding onto some sort of string, and when he pulls, a good half of the rope comes loose. As he rolls it up, Hero watches the apartment float away, dazed.

They'd been floating on a cloud. The bottom of the apartment is wreathed in white, fluffy clouds, the remnants of their escape rope trailing behind it in the wind like the tail of a kite. It looks magical from down here, and not like a regular, overpriced apartment complex from the heart of Icipan City. The clouds hide almost all of the building; it makes sense why no one noticed it from below.

"There it goes." Violet watches it drift away, unconcerned. "With Ekatera, the others will crash and get back here eventually."

Hero still has no idea what Ekatera can do; she hadn't seen her use her cards earlier. As Violet sticks the rope into her bag, she watches the flying apartment curiously. It's crazy. Crazier than an extra finger. 

Hero passes out. Adjest could tell that the climbing has been a lot, and seeing the apartments sailing away had been so bizarre that in her weakened state she just fainted. Hero is not the toughest guy in the world. She's pretty frail and weak, physically and mentally. Adjest doesn't hold it against her. He just makes sure she doesn't hit her head, catching her by the shoulders and letting her down gently to the ground.

"She's really... a big baby," Violet says. "I know climbing isn't for everyone, but it's not that bad."

"It's probably shock." Adjest sighs. "Let's just try and get out of here with no more brushes with death."

Hero revives seconds later. Her hair has fallen out of their face, and when she opens her eyes, the gold and purple of her right eye is immediately visible. Adjest isn't looking; he's surveying the city a yard away. Violet is staring at her, though. Hero sits up quickly, hiding her eyes with one hand. As she moves, lights flash around their vision; they must have gotten up too fast.

"Whoa." Violet looks at them. "You just sparkled. Adjest, Hero just sparkled."

Adjest turns. "You're alr- Are you alright, Hero?"

Hero turns between the two of them, bemused. Then she nods.

"Are we going to ignore the fact that lights just appeared around Hero's head?" Violet insists. 

"If you're feeling better," Adjest says, ignoring her and helping Hero up, "let's start exploring. We should look for help. Or a phone."

"And a map," Violet adds. There's a hatch in the ground and she inspects it and then pulls the latch up and opens it up. "I don't know where in the world we are. Let's just get off this roof."

There's a ladder bolted to the stone wall that leads down into an attic. They seem to be in an art gallery of sorts. Which is odd, because the tower is very skinny, over twelve floors tall, definitely not built to accommodate a lot of people moving through. Maybe that's why no one is here.

Violet has been sliding down the banisters and looking around as she waits for the others to catch up. Hero also wants to look, but she's already winded a quarter of the way down.

"They're dusty," Violet says, as Adjest and Hero meet her on the ninth floor and Hero leans against a wall, wheezing. "All the paintings."

"Seems like no one's been here for a while." Adjest glances at Hero and then moves to inspect a painting, giving her time to catch her breath. "It's some sort of embroidery on canvas. That's gorgeous."

Hero wants to see, too. She looks at the closest one. The stitching is minuscule; each thread seems not much thicker than a few strands of hair, and some of the colors are varied by little more than a few slight shades. It depicts a scene of a woman fighting a giant snake. The texture of her hair and the shiny scales of the snake look incredibly real, and the patchy grey gradient of the stormy skies behind them uses careful stitches of lighter colors to create the image of billowing clouds, their translucent vapor just barely allowing the sun to peek through in watery rays of light. The glass protecting the piece is coated with dust, and Hero uses one finger to clear some of it, trying to inspect it closer.

"Your nose is going to touch the glass if you look at it any harder," Adjest teases, looking over their shoulder. "It's pretty impressive, huh? I wonder how long it took to make it."

"Come on," Violet says impatiently, before Hero can answer. "If this is a museum, there's probably a brochure or something that'll tell us where we are on the first floor."

"If you're in such a rush, you can go ahead," Adjest says, and she rolls her eyes and goes sliding down the next banister. "She's got the right idea," Adjest says to Hero. "I think we'd feel better if we at least knew where we were."

They head down the stairs at a much slower pace. Adjest seems to be walking slowly just so Hero isn't left behind. When they make it down to the bottom, Hero is exhausted.

Violet waits at the front desk, holding a pamphlet. It's not in any language Hero can recognize. Had they somehow been whisked away into some tiny neighboring country? What country could that even be? Each pamphlet has its own print of one of the pieces in the museum on the front, and as the others talk, Hero picks a couple that she likes the best and puts them in her backpack.

"We should get to a phone," Adjest decides. "Even if we don't know the language, we can at least call home."

He sounds a little more unconvinced than before. Hero also is seeing less and less of a way to get back home. She would personally be looking for a police station and bumbling through trying to make herself understood there; she feels like that's what other people would do as well. But if the others want to find a phone, then fine.

Violet reaches behind the front desk and produces a set of keys. How did she know they were back there? She sticks them in her pocket and gestures for them to follow her outside.

The city has no cars. That's the first thing Hero notices. Instead, there are these floating wooden pallets that hover about a foot off the ground. Fancier ones are painted and have a roof, and they come in all shapes and sizes, but the most common ones are only big enough for one person to sit on at a time, and most sit with their legs dangling off the edge or crossed beneath them. Hero stares at them, then at Adjest and Violet. Why do they look so calm?

"This is..." Adjest puts a hand on Hero's shoulder. "A little odd."

A little? Hero watches a couple children cross the street together, holding hands. Where their feet touch the ground, the street glows, and two walls of light protect them from any rogue floating pallets. There's magic everywhere. What if they use magic to communicate and there's no phones?

"I can't read anything," Violet says, irritated, trying to make sense of the signs all over the city, marking out streets and buildings. She seems to pick a random building and marches towards it, the others in tow.

"Is this real?" Hero asks suddenly, seconds after a second lane of traffic appears, not beside the first, but above it. Adjest, walking alongside her, just shrugs.

"I don't know what your dreams are like, but I know mine don't feel like this," he says. "And even if it isn't real, it doesn't hurt to keep acting within reason."

It feels like a dream to Hero. The world has suddenly taken on the nostalgic air of a recurring dream. It doesn't feel real, but all at once it feels familiar and barely logical. The detached calm that prevents odd occurrences from unnerving you in dreams keeps Hero from getting worked up over what seems to be magic. The fact that Adjest clings to logic makes it feel even more dreamlike. Hero often has dreams where people confidently say one thing when they're utterly wrong.

They enter a building painted in white and blue and black. On the inside, the lights are soft and warm and the wooden walls and ceiling are made of dark wood. A dusty pink wallpaper is laid down between dark wood supports and are occasionally studded with iron lanterns blazing with low fire. It seems to be a bar-- there's a stage and a drinks counter, and many tables where people eat or drink. Some are dressed normally, but a large majority are dressed in loose swaths of fabric of solid colors. Everyone has widely differing hairstyles-- Hero even sees someone with long hair only parted by the tip of their nose, someone with hair bound with gold cord into swooping curves and tassels, someone with everything but the hair at the nape of their neck shaved down to bare skin, and so on. Some carry swords, others shields and spears, some wear plate armor or jewelry with paper slips painted with symbols, some wear silver coins threaded on blue twine as belts. It's like they'd just stepped into a fantasy convention. Hero looks around, bewildered, struck by the menagerie of sights and sounds, until Adjest gently prods her forward and she starts walking again.

Violet is trying to talk to the bartender. As they join her, the bartender draws her a map of part of the city, about a quarter of the circle, and draws an X over a certain spot. Violet takes it without trying to ask for more detail. Hero hadn't been able to recognize the language the bartender spoke, so she doesn't try, either. Adjest also just nods politely.

"I think they're sending us here because they don't understand us," Violet tells them both, and points to a drawing of a cluster of three towers in the upper left of the map. "This looks like the tower we landed in, so the spot they marked isn't that far away."

Hero takes one last look around as they leave. Someone happens to be leaving at the same time as Hero, and they smile at her.

"I heard you three speaking Kestarin," they say, to Hero's great surprise. "I know some."

So they are still in the known world?? Kestari exists here?? Hero is so thrown off by this for some reason that she doesn't respond.

"That's great," Adjest says, relieved. "We need help."

This new figure seems to be some sort of mechanic. They have what Hero assumes is a tool belt around their waist and have their hair kept out of their face by a colorful strip of green cloth, patterned with yellow stars and braided into their hair at the ends. They have an expressive, open face which makes them appear friendly, and though their Kestarin is heavily accented, it's competent enough to make Hero feel a little comforted.

"What happened?" the stranger asks, as they move from the doorway to talk on the sidewalk. Violet seems a little skeptical of the guy, which Hero is also glad about. She's quick and smart; Hero isn't worried about being scammed or tricked with her around.

"We came here without warning, and now we can't get home," Adjest says. "Actually... we flew here on a cloud. We don't even know where we are."

Adjest watches Hero. He pretended he hadn't, but he's already seen her eyes. They're pretty. She has a charming way of becoming enchanted with their surroundings, and she seems to be very observant, despite the hair in her face. The stranger they'd met who speaks Kestarin also seems to be especially interested in Hero.

"You don't know where you are?" they ask, speaking directly to Hero. "Your magic is already well developed."

Magic. Adjest looks at Hero. He can't see any magic in her. Yet. He's sure he'll be able to see it more, the longer he stays here. "We just want to get back home in one piece." He pats Hero's shoulder. "Do you know if there's a police station around here?"

He already knows it's hopeless. He can feel it. But he asks anyway. Violet said Hero both mentioned wanting to go straight to the authorities for help.

"Hmm. No police that could help you," the stranger says, and Adjest feels Hero's shoulders droop. "To go home... well. It's possible if you do something difficult."

"Difficult?" Violet crosses her arms, eyes narrowed. "Just say what it is. We can handle it." She pauses, then adds, "Unless it's money."

"Not money. Money means little. Magic. They'll ask for your magic. If you can grow and refine it until it shines, they'll want it. And they'll buy it from you. They'll give you a life in your home in exchange. You can go back."

"And there's no other way?" Violet demands.

"None. It's a powerful magic, to leave this place. You said you floated in on a cloud? I believe it. Pieces of the world get drawn here one way or another."

Hero turns away suddenly and a weary sigh escapes them.

"This map," the stranger says, looking at Violet's map, "takes you somewhere to learn the language of this place. Then ask about the Altar."

Adjest is still watching Hero. She's looking at the warped glass panes of the bar window, which are colored to match the walls. Does she care about what the stranger is saying? Is the glass more important? What's important to her? Why? What does she know and what doesn't she know? He wishes he could read her mind.

Violet leads the way again. She's determined to get home. Her originally cheery demeanor had quickly disappeared, replaced with a drive to get out of here as quickly as possible.

"This is going to take forever," she mutters under her breath as they walk. "How many things do we have to do? Fuck, can't I just book a plane ticket and fly home?? Is the only way to travel around here on a fucking cloud?"

The streets had been filled with cars but the traffic dies down a little as they walk. There don't seem to be a huge number of pedestrians either. Adjest figures it's the morning of a workday, so most people are at work. The bar had been pretty full though.

There's a noticeable lack of animals here, also. Compared to his home city of Icipan, there are no pigeons or crows or squirrels. Not even flies or ants. Does magic keep them out? He's not an expert, but it also seems like the buildings were made during dramatically different places and times, too. The materials they're made of differ, as do their shape and style. But all their signage, whether painted on windows or printed on signs, is all in the same language.

"I don't like it here," Violet says, summarizing his thoughts aloud. "It feels fake."

Hero doesn't react to her words at all. Even when Adjest agrees, she doesn't say anything. It's okay to be shy, but she doesn't really talk at all. He still doesn't know why. Apparently she'd spoken to Violet last night, so why not now, too?

He finally sees the lights Violet had been talking about on the roof earlier, after watching Hero for fifteen minutes. Lights twinkle around her, shining like little stars. They mostly hover by her head, especially her eyes, but some also appear around the rest of her body. It's the sparkling Violet had mentioned. Magic. He's sure of it. Adjest is about to bring it up when Violet announces that they're at their destination.

It's a short building set a little farther back than the others, with an orange and white awning overhanging the front and a little garden on the windowsill. A blue rocking chair sits empty by the door with part of a cross-stitching project left on it. Seems like stitching is the predominant art form here. When they open the door, a little bell rings, announcing their entrance.

The building is a store. On the shelves there are glass jars, small satchels tied with string, bouquets of herbs, and paper packets marked with plastic labels. The very center of the room is host to one large rug and a long table at which three women work to make items similar to what's on the shelves. Only one looks at them when they enter.

"You need translation spells," she says, after a moment of study, and stands up. The orange cloud of her hair seems to float behind her as she walks to a shelf, and the air seems to waver around her like she's giving off an immense amount of heat. When she comes close, though, and hands them each a glass bottle, there's no especially noticeable heat coming from her.

"How much is it?" Adjest asks, before he accepts his. The woman studies the three of them again.

"Two days of work," she says, and points at Hero. "This one."

Hero opens their mouth to speak, but falls silent. She nods, then uncaps her bottle and drinks its green contents without a second thought.

"Good! Good!" The woman claps her on the shoulder and pulls her in farther. "You have good magic. I can tell you're good with your hands."

"I'll help, too," Adjest offers. "What kind of work is it?"

"No, you won't do," she insists. "Come back to get your friend at sundown."

"But-"

"Go."

Adjest looks at Hero. "Are you okay with this?" he asks, and she nods. Isn't she nervous or scared anymore? "We'll be nearby. We'll check out the Altar like that guy said."

And then they're gone. Hero doesn't watch them go, she just follows the woman in. She doesn't seem to want to even let Violet or Adjest hang around and watch, but Hero doesn't really feel like she's in danger. She just sits at her table and lets the woman teach them what to do. Earlier, as they'd stepped into the store, Hero had heard the disembodied voice again, telling her that she needed to stay here and learn more about magic. Though still a little dubious over its intent, Hero somehow feels okay trusting it.

"Your magic," the woman begins, speaking in another language, and somehow Hero understands her. "It's young for now. Perhaps you've noticed that it appears without you intending it to?"

Hero has no idea what she's talking about, but nods anyway.

"We are apothecaries," she says. "We deal in dispensable magic. You need to learn to parcel your magic into our products. I'll show you my method for doing such a thing. If it doesn't work, one of the others will show you their method."

Hart Yang, previously a job headhunter, has just cut off someone's head. The blade in his hands doesn't waver as he stands there, staring down at the body coldly. He seems to be perfectly accustomed to killing, so used to doing it, in fact, that he has a bored disdain for it. Beside him, Ekatera crouches by the decapitated head, two blood spattered cards held loosely between the fingers of her left hand.

"Hart," Ekatera says, "I wonder what they did to deserve this."

"Does it matter?" Hart snaps his blade out to the side with one flick of his wrist and most of the blood splatters off the metal and onto the tall grass. His movements are practiced a familiar, as if he's done it a million times before. 

Ekatera sighs and gets up. Hart's boredom and her lukewarm reactions seem equally weary. She pulls a nearby upended wagon onto its wheels again and puts her crate of cards onto it, now barely sparing a glance towards the bodies or pools of blood on the ground.

"I just don't want to regret anything when we get home," she says mildly, but says nothing more. 

They start walking again, Kusei way ahead of them. He hadn't watched any of the fighting, had just kept walking slowly towards the city with his case of swords on his back.

"It's too late for regrets," Hart says to Kat, scoffing. "Don't act dumb."

They start heading into the city, towards the glittering green castle rising into the sky. Hart watches it get larger and larger as they get nearer, eyes narrowed bitterly against the light.

"Kusei," he says, and the sword collector looks over his shoulder at him. "Are you going to draw a blade this round?"

Kusei looks forward again, face hidden. He shakes his head after a second, and Hart's expression morphs into one of rage.

Hart lunges forward, blade pointed sharply up towards the back of Kusei's chest. His movements are a little jerky and awkward, but fast, forceful, and intended to kill. 

Before the top of his blade plunges into Kusei's back, there's a loud clang and Ekatera appears by them, a card in hand. It's grown to ten times its original size, and she had forced it between Hart's blade and Kusei's back a split second before any damage could be done. On the card is the image and description of a shield.

"It's my turn," Ekatera says, a little smug. "Kusei's turn is first. My turn is second, yours is third. I activate the millennium shield and block any heavy attacks. This is a Yugioh card so I don't expend any mana. And I end my turn."

Hart ignores her cheeky grin and continues to stare at Kusei, even though he feels the power of his attack leave his blade immediately upon contact with her card. Ekatera has the ability to impose the rules of turn-based card games on any combat situation, meaning she can force everyone to act according to turn order. Because they had just engaged in combat, they still have their established turn order. Her actions take effect before Hart's, since it's her turn. He's used to her by now, though, maybe even depended on her intervention to prevent him from killing a comrade just to vent his anger. But he'd never admit it. 

"You insist on being so difficult," Hart spits out, still mad at Kusei. Kusei doesn't respond. The man stares stoically off to the side, narrow eyes expressionless and dark.

"Do we have to fight amongst ourselves?" Ekatera says, irritated. "You're so impulsive. Let's just trade Kusei for Vi and get going."

"I'm not making a team with two children." Hart puts his sword away and they start walking again. Kusei gave the sword to him as soon as they'd landed, but refused to draw a sword himself to fight. It's annoying. It's like he thinks he's better than Hart, for not fighting.

"I don't want to team up with Hero," Ekatera says uneasily. 

Hart knows why she feels that way, but tries to persuade her otherwise. "Come on, Kat. Vi isn't so bad. Her power is much stronger, anyway."

"Adjest seemed pretty set on her the last I checked," Ekatera insists.

"Ha. That man is always getting in the way." Hart smiles bitterly. "He wants to be some sort of hero himself."

"You like him," Ekatera objects, as they get onto a footpath that leads into the outer ring of the city.

Hart looks at her, amused, as she pulls her wagon behind her. "Don't be naive. I don't like any of you. I don't want to be here with you. I just need you to get out of here."

Ekatera laughs. "Needing and wanting are the same thing here, Hart. You know that. And once we get out of here, you and I will still probably want each other's company."

The sun rises higher up into the sky as they reach the outer ring. There are no animals here, so the only thing to kill is time and other people. Hart actually doesn't mind Ekatera, it's Kusei that gets on his nerves. Too bad he can't kill the guy.

He puts his sword into a belt loop. It'll get sliced when he takes it out next, but he can find something better soon. The possibilities of his next move stretch out before him as they trudge through the open fields. They can either go in a little farther towards the city's borders, or stay out here for a little longer. Since he wants to meet up with the other group and find better equipment, they decide to push in. Hart at least has the wherewithal to not go on a murder spree just to raise his magic level in the middle of a crowded city. 

They go to the Altar first. Adjest had most likely gone there as soon as he could as well. It's one of the biggest buildings in the city, right by the castle; a collection of three sandy single story buildings that curve in front of a taller, circular building lined with columns and friezes carved from the same sandy stone. Unlike the other buildings, including the castle, the altar is pristine, free of wear and tear. 

"You know," Kat mentions, as they observe the long line to the middle of the three shorter buildings,  "I asked around once and apparently the Altar is the only building in the city that's native to the city; all the other buildings came here the way we did."

"I heard the Altar is the true center of the city, not the castle," Hart says. "Other than that, I don't know anything else."

The Altar grounds themselves are usually totally empty, but the training arenas around it are packed and built after the Altar to accommodate many people. Like Hart, many can only grow their magic through conflict with another. Others have to study and explore and practice their magic, which they can do in other parts of the city, but the combat only really happens at the Altar training grounds, or outside city limits, two places where anything goes, even murder.

Two of the three shorter buildings are hostels where Hart figures they'll end up staying. The third seems to be an administrative building, where people are lining up to register to participate in this round of events at the Altar. Adjest is there in line and gives them a curt nod, but Violet and Hero aren't with him. Hart, too, tells Kusei to register for all three of them and then leaves him there.

"You're looking for Hero?" Ekatera calls, following after Hart as he strides away.

"I'm more interested in getting a translation spell and figuring out where Violet went," Hart says. "Do you want to be the one to look for her, or do you want to stay behind and pay for the translation spell at the apothecary?"

"I know you don't want to pay for it," Ekatera says distastefully. 

Hart laughs and ruffles her hair. "You have the most magic out of all of us right now, else I wouldn't make you do it. We should get fighting as soon as possible."

They arrive at the apothecary and find Hero there. Ekatera is surprised; she hadn't expected to see the older girl working steadily away. The apothecaries take magic as payment, and Hero should still be struggling with her magic. Hart shoots Ekatera a significant look,  making sure she takes note of this, before he drinks his translation spell and leaves her there to pay for it.

"You're a fast learner," she says, as she works beside Hero. "It's really hard..."

Hero glances at her work and shrugs. She can even work without looking at what she's doing. Magic flows freely from her fingertips, sparkling gently through the air. Ekatera can use her own magic quite easily, but only to activate her cards. When it comes to channeling it for a different use, it's like using a very weak muscle. She can do it, but she's clumsy and gets tired quickly. The applications of magic that are similar to hers-- activating paper sigils and combining two different kinds of magic-- are easier, and doing things like bottling spells and tying charms are much harder. Hero seems to have the ability to manipulate light, but is doing each job with an equal amount of ease. The apothecaries like Hero a great deal, too.

"So what's the deal with Hero?" Hart asks, meeting up with Ekatera as she finally leaves the store towards the end of the day. "Useful? Dangerous?"

"We were right about her last time," Ekatera says. "What did you go and do?"

"Violet was getting a flying litter. She got herself a board and a regular sized one for Hero and Adjest. I got us one as well."

Litters are any flat, flying vehicle approved for street use. When traffic gets bad, it can stack up to seven vertical lanes, so having one is handy to get around with and doesn't cost much. Hart got one big enough for two people, meaning he doesn't want Kusei hanging around with them.

"Also got you food. Adjest fed me this morning." He hands her a wrap folded into wax paper. "Look, Kat. I know you don't want to team up with Hero this time, and I get why. But your magic is pretty powerful, the strongest out of all of us. You don't want to get held back by Kusei."

Ekatera ignores him and starts eating, using one foot to roll her wagon with her crate against the wall she leans on.

"Violet said she's willing to switch teams with you," Hart says, after a second, and Ekatera pauses mid-chew and stares at him.

Every three months, the monolithic entity known as the Altar hosts a competition. Those who manage to come out victorious in all six levels of the competition are granted a single wish. For example, a winning team could request wealth, and all members would become wealthy. A team could request power or health or an extended life, and it would be granted. A team could request to be sent back to their world, even. The only thing you can't ask for is magic. Upon having your wish granted, your magic is taken away from you, as payment.

The Altar allows people to sign up for contests in teams of at most three, but they can form an alliance with one other team, if they think it'll be mutually beneficial. Points earned are distributed equally between the two teams, meaning that in the final level, an alliance can often force a stalemate, where both teams succeed with exactly the same number of points, thus allowing all six members to all be granted the same single wish. This means that the group from the apartments had to split into two teams, but they could become allies and compose their teams in a way that maximizes the points they earn each level. 

Ekatera could swap places with Violet and work with Adjest and Hero, who have especially good power and control over their magic. Ekatera has mainly combat based abilities, so the magic and combat balance out. But that would make the resulting other team, with Hart, Violet, and Kusei, pretty lame. Hart and Violet are both damage deals and Kusei doesn't engage in fighting. It would be a super unbalanced team. She has no idea why Violet would want to switch with her or why Hart would even entertain the idea. She herself had never even considered splitting up with Hart. They've always stuck together.

"She suggested it, not me. Adjest doesn't want to let Hero go, she said." Hart shrugs. "It's up to you."

Hero had already gone, leaving the store with Adjest long before Ekatera had finished paying back the cost of the translation spell. Ekatera tried talking to her, but she also hadn't seemed to want to part with Violet and Adjest.

"If it doesn't work out this time, I'll think about it," Ekatera says finally. "So far, there's nothing wrong with our team. You and Kusei have good team synergy, even if you don't like each other. You need me. Violet wouldn't stop you two from killing each other."

"Hey. I could take care of myself." Hart is leaning against their flying litter, but he flips it horizontal and puts her crate and wagon on it. "Hop on. Kusei booked us a room."

Hero's magic is still forming. Adjest had suspected as much. It seems like early on, her surroundings and experiences shape how her power develops. Unlike the rest of them. At this point, there's no point in pretending otherwise-- Adjest has been in this situation before; memories of it had returned to him as he watched the city come into view from the roof of their flying apartments. He knows leaving Hero with the apothecaries was a good choice. Now she can create little glimmers of light and make a few simple spells.

Violet got them a ride and they've taken up residence in the museum they landed on this morning; Violet is skating around on her flying board behind the tower and Adjest and Hero are setting up a space to sleep in. They each claimed a floor; the tower is so small that one floor is about the size of a single room. Violet took the lobby, which has a couch. She found some old cloth in the basement covering a couple retired exhibits and tossed it over the couch and called it a day.

Hero, mysteriously, had chosen to claim the ninth floor, even though she can hardly climb all those stairs. She's never done that before. Adjest picked the first floor, and is currently outside looking for something to use as a bed. Hero stays on her floor and looks at all the exhibits.

Hero's magic. Adjest keeps mulling over it. Apparently the best magic is the simple kind. The simpler, the better. The power to be invisible is way better than the power to be invisible only when you know someone is looking at you. What is Hero's magic? What could it be? Is there still time to change it, so they have a better chance of pleasing the people at the Altar and going home? Adjest has begun to feel his own magic grow, since he came to the city. The moon isn't usually out during the day, but he can see it right now. More than that; he can hear it. It's telling him things. Is that a result of the translation spell he took? He can't tell. But it tells him where to go to find the things he needs.

"Hero," he calls, as he returns from a trip into the city. "I got two sleeping mats."

Like the Altar, most people and establishments take magic tasks as payment for a wide variety of things. A little piece of someone, made liquid and electric, left behind in the hands of another. He hadn't been able to do that, and instead told the saleswoman what he'd heard, what the moon whispered, in answer to three questions she had. And he got two bedrolls. Dirt cheap.

He leaves one bedroll on his floor and walks up to the ninth floor. It's not exactly an easy trek. Hero is standing in front of a piece displaying the image of a woman standing at a window, pen and notepad in her hand. Her darkened room is full of instruments to measure light and magic and sound, and the scene through the window depicts the end of the world, cast in a watery blue. Thread is opaque; it's incredible how the artist had shown translucency in the fog outside and the thin cloth of the woman's tunic. That seems to be the theme of this exhibit; transparency and technique.

"Hero," Adjest says gently, and she flinches, a constellation of lights springing up around her temples. Her magic has always been whimsical and associated with vision and light. Usually it's illusion-related. "Didn't mean to scare you. I found something for you to sleep on."

Hero smiles. She accepts the bedroll and opens it up in a corner. There's a foam layer, a small mattress pad to go over it, and a sleeping bag. Hero sets it up carefully, as Adjest looks around at the exhibit.

"Textile arts seem to be popular here," he says. "I saw multiple people stitching outside on the way here."

Hero tests out the bed and then just lies there, letting out a sigh. Adjest smiles slightly.

"Feels like a lot, huh." He sits down nearby against a wall. "Almost feels like we might as well just stay here. In this city. I don't have much to go back to."

Hero turns her head towards him and her hair falls to the side, revealing her eyes. The purple and gold one is so striking, unblinking as sun from the window beams straight down onto it.

"That's a prosthetic, right? A glass eye?" Adjest asks, and Hero nods. "I thought so. Can I see?"

Hero sits up and clips her bangs back. Even when they'd first met, Adjest had made her feel at ease. She never minds showing him her eyes. 

"I made it," she says.

"Really?" Adjest leans forward on one hand to look.

"The front. It comes off."

"So you can change it." Adjest looks at the rays through the iris, each one painstakingly drawn in. "That's amazing."

Hero grins, proud, and pale blue lights blink slowly in a circle around get head. "Thanks."

Adjest likes Hero and her innocent delight and wonder. There's no way he'll let her fall into Hart's team. He'll get her home.

"Your magic is pretty, too," he says, reaching out to pass a couple fingers through her lights. "These lights that appear. I think you have a really good chance at getting home."

"How about you?" Hero unclips her hair and lets it fall back down.

"I'm slowly getting it," he says. "It has something to do with the moon."

"Cool!"

Adjest laughs slightly. "Is it? Hopefully I get the hang of it."

"Adjeeeest!" Violet's voice floats up the stairwell, and she comes flying up on her board. "Hart and the others are here."

Adjest grimaces. Hart is always annoying to deal with when they're all together. "Okay. Hero, this is a little sudden, but the Altar only lets you group up in at most threes," he says. "We've formed a group: you, me, and Violet. Is that okay? We can still swap you with one of the others."

"It's okay," Hero says forcefully. "I like you two."

Violet smiles thinly, impatient. "Touching. Come on."

Hart has already killed. Adjest can tell. Hart's magic doesn't appear until he's killed someone, and it wafts behind him now in a red haze, like a trail of blood. It hides in his hair and his clothes, but as Adjest steps outside to meet him, the moon whispers about it to him.

"Adrien, have you settled in?" Hart asks.

"Pretty much. You?"

"We're staying at the Altar's hostel. We'll start training soon. We were wondering if you'd trade a member, though." Hart jabs an elbow into Kusei, who grits his teeth and hisses in pain but doesn't say anything else. "Kusei for any one of you."

"We're pretty happy the way we are now," Adjest says. "Don't you work well with Kusei in combat? Why don't you want him anymore?"

"I'll do it." Violet puts a hand on Adjest's shoulder. "I can trade my place."

Adjest's mind flies through the possibilities. A berserker like Hart is giving up the person who can supply him with weapons that feed into his power. Why? And why is Violet going along with it? She doesn't even like Hart. She thinks he's slimy.

"Kusei, what do you want to do?" Adjest asks.

"Does it matter?" Hart snaps. "We don't want him."

Adjest senses Hero listening in behind him. The moon loves Hero, loves any light it can reflect. Hero is feeling bad for Kusei, says the moon.

"I want to stay on Hart's team," Kusei says firmly.

"You're trying to sabotage us!" Hart says, exasperated. Adjest can tell he's riled up for a fight. He loves fighting here. What will he be like once they get home?

"Kusei doesn't want to be traded," Adjest says. "Leave it, Hart. Things don't need to be any harder than they already are."

Adjest turns his attention to Ekatera, standing behind Hart and Kusei. She's always quiet in conflict, but ends up siding with Hart one way or another. Kusei is going to have it hard on this team, like he always does.

"I was going to go look for a trainer," Adjest says, and Hart scoffs. "Come with me, Hart."

He manages to get Hart away from the others and drives them to the next inside ring of the city via floating litter.

"Why are you trying to change your team?" Adjest asks. "Did Kusei do something?"

"He won't fight," Hart says, aggrieved. "He refused, as soon as we landed."

"You know he will, when he has to. He's always like this."

"It's getting annoying, Adrien. Plus, Hero might develop her power differently if she's on a new team. Combat leaning skills develop faster. We could get her on that path."

"Hero wants to fight even less than Kusei. I'm certain that hasn't changed." Adjest slows in front of a certain, small office, located beside many other businesses, in a classroom on the first floor of an old school building. "You know that, too."

"Then Violet. I know she'll fight with everything she's got. And she didn't mind the trade. Trade her for Kusei."

Adjusts tsks irritably, the first indication that the stress is getting at him. "Hart Yang. Why are you being so impatient this time? If it's for a good reason, I'll trade Violet for Kusei."

Adjest hops off the litter and so does Hart, and they approach the office at a slow stroll, escaping the midday sun into the linoleum lined halls of a high school. 

"Adrien. Our options are endless combinations of options, which are endless combinations of other options. Why are we doing the same thing over and over and over again??" Hart's voice rises in volume as frustration threatens to overwhelm him, echoing down the corridors.

"We know this team setup works," Adjest snaps. "It worked last time, didn't it?"

"Then why are we here????" Hart cries out, frustration palpable. He grabs Adjest by the arms. "If it worked, why are we here again??? Tell me, Adjest! I want to go home! I want to visit my parents for my birthday! I want to go to my sister's wedding, whether I have to kill hundreds or trade one of my teammates."

Adjest takes a deep breath and seems to regain calm almost instantly. "Why did we have to start over, Hart? Think about it. What happened last time that made us scrap everything and restart?"

"I know it was me! I know! I won't do it again, so let me do it my way!!"

Adjest looks down at him, then scowls. "Everyone else is thinking the same thing, Hart. We all have our own ideas. We're sticking to the plan because we know it got us close last time, even though it was unpleasant and difficult. That's why Kusei doesn't want to switch teams."

"I'm going to go insane if I have to live through this exact same thing again," Hart pleads. "I might have already gone insane!"

"It won't be exactly the same; that's the point, Hart." Adjest crosses their arms. "If you hate Kusei so much, I'll trade Violet for you. But if we fail this time, it will be your fault again."

"It's always my fault. It's always me with blood on his hands at the end of the story. I don't care. I need it to be different this time."

"Fine," Adjest says. "Let's do the trade."

Violet was a very normal college student. She liked rock climbing and lived with her girlfriend, Sarah, until this all started. Violet's magic is unpleasant, unsightly. Her extra finger is only the start of it. She quickly loses herself in her magic, becomes something else. There's no stopping this slow slipping away of her body. Though she becomes accustomed to it each time, the growing pains are harsh and difficult, even dangerous at times.

She looks at her extra finger. She's always fuzzy at the beginning; it's always hard for her to start what had happened at the beginning of a cycle, and the others never dare to speak about it aloud when they're all together, for Hero's sake. But she remembers now.

A lot of people have extra digits. But they don't just appear suddenly in your twenties. This isn't real. Magic isn't real, anyway. Nothing about this feels real. The only thing that does feel real is Adjest. He manages to walk the line between the two worlds perfectly, manages to look over his shoulder and reach out to her every single time. She doesn't really want to leave the team and leave Adjest. But that man won't let Hero out of his grasp, insisting on living a life according to some unknown code of morality. But she wants to go home. She just wants to go home. What if a new team composition is what they need? She'll swap, if that means going home. Adjest is a good leader but he himself cares less and less about going home with each cycle.

"How do you think Adjest will calm Hart down?" Ekatera asks her. They're both just hanging around the back alley waiting for the two men to return. "He's really tired of Kusei being so reluctant."

"Kusei honestly doesn't seem that reluctant to me," Violet says. "He's gone farther than I have in trying to get to the top."

She looks at the red brick of the wall before her, which Ekatera sits on. It doesn't match the grey stone tower at all. This world is nothing but random things drawn together and forced to get along.

"Kusei won't kill outside the arenas. That's what I mean." Ekatera is sorting idly through her cards. Violet knows she's much, much older than the high schooler she appears to be, but it's still bizarre to hear her talk about death so disaffectedly. She doesn't care about death. It's Violet's fault.

She looks through the back door at where Kusei sits in the lobby by the front doors, cleaning off a sword. She doesn't really get Kusei. Unlike the others, he's never talked about his own life, and though she totally understands why he wants to go home-- they all do-- she doesn't know what makes him tick.

"Kat, you don't have to kill outside of arenas to win. You just have to kill everyone in them."

"It's easier to do that if you practice."

"In an arena."

"But no one wants to r-"

Adjest and Hart are back. Adjest walks straight to Violet; he must've agreed to the trade.

"Sorry," he says to her. "This is new."

"New?"

"I'm trading you for Hart," he says, and Ekatera springs to her feet in protest. "He's agreed already."

"For Hart?????" Ekatera asks, enraged. She and Hart have always been on the same team. "But-!"

"Adjest will take care of him, Kat," Violet says lightly. She taps the back of her knuckles against Adjest's chest as she walks for the door. "Let's win together."

Hart has always been the leader of the second team. He and Adjest have naturally controlling personalities, working better together rather than one over the other. Adjest knows this. With Hart gone from the other group, it's a toss up over who will become the new leader there. Probably Violet.

"Let's start training on our own right away," Hart says to Adjest. "The trainer doesn't come until later."

"If you're going to an arena, you'll have to go alone. Hero and I don't have any magic that'll be useful in combat yet." Adjest glances towards the stairs. "And the sooner we begin cutting down opponents, the better, which you do better alone."

"I never thought I'd hear you say that," Hart says, grinning. "As much as I'd like to agree, I know better than you that the faster you get serious, the faster targets will be on your back. If you and Hero aren't ready, we don't stand a chance."

"Hero and I aren't ready to kill," Adjest says. "Doesn't mean we can't defend ourselves."

The only way to lead with Hart on your team is to make decisions that agree with him. He gets reluctant and bitter quickly.

"So that's the plan? Move quick? You aren't trying to scrap this run, are you?" Hart draws his sword and rests his wrists on the hilt, already antsy.

"The plan is to put all of us in a position that forces us to develop our magic quickly," Adjest says, and adjusts his glasses. Then he takes them off and hangs them on his collar. "Before the bracket begins."

"That's in three days," Hart says, a flush of delight coloring his face. "You want me at full power by then?"

"I don't want to know what you do to get to full power," Adjest says, a look of distaste crossing his face. "Just do it. Hero and I will be ready by then."

"Not having to bother with leading really frees up time," Hart crows, already half out the door. "You two better be ready."

Hero's light magic usually evolves into the ability to form illusions, but that doesn't seem to be the case this time. Her lights just appear when she feels emotions, taking on no specific form.

"What is her magic?" Adjest wonders, while outside behind the tower clearing a space to train.

Blinding illumination, the moon tells him. A light more sinister than any other.

"Sinister..." He doesn't know what it means. A blinding light. What had been different this time that made Hero's power change?

The previous times the apartment had been torn from the normal world, there had been no storm. Just a dark cloud. The steam monster came much sooner. Ekatera hadn't gotten her powers so immediately. Did those things affect Hero's magic?

Hero comes down to see what he's doing. As usual, she hid her bag away in her room and now only carries a sling bag over her shoulder. She should be saying she's hungry right now.

"Hey," Adjest says, as he drags an old box off to the side to clear space in the yard. "I was just going to ask if you wanted to get lunch."

Hero nods.

"Give me a second and I'll be ready to go."

Hero walks closer and tries to look over the wall, but it's a little too tall. She tiptoes, then hops up a few times, and light collects beneath her feet and seems to lift her up higher. Adjest stares as she floats there, arms over the edge. Hero's lights had been real, sure, but they've never been able to physically affect the world before. He even leans down and waves a hand through the light and a short, electric shock runs through his hand. He pulls away, hissing in pain, and Hero looks back over at him and slides back down.

"Are you okay?" she asks, concerned, looking at his hands carefully. "The burns from the steam monster are still bad. You shouldn't push yourself. I can move the boxes."

"It's alright. I was going to take a break anyway." Adjest smiles. "A lot of the food here is totally different from what I know, but it smelled good."

Hero adjusts the strap of her bag, still looking at his hands. They're still wrapped up, and Hero wants to reapply burn cream and change the bandages. She carries both with her.

"Come on. I'm starving," Adjest says, interrupting Hero's thoughts.

"What about Hart?" Hero asks, surprising him.

"He's already training," Adjest says. "He has a lot to get to. It seems like he has a power that gets stronger when he fights. You and I might have to get stronger another way."

Hero follows him out to the street. Will she be helpful in combat? Is fighting the only way to win? How can they refine her magic until it's better than everyone else's? What even is her magic?

"What other way?" Hero asks.

"I think it's like exercising. You study what your magic is, find its weaknesses and strengths, and develop it through using it. Some people in the line to register were talking about getting trainers to help them." Adjest takes off his coat and hangs it over one arm, catching a glimpse of the whispering moon, in sharp focus, in the distance. Normally he would wear his glasses to get rid of the whispers, but he'll have to force himself to tolerate it faster. "Hart and I found one that isn't too expensive."

"How much?"

"People here pay in magic favors. Like you and the apothecaries. It's only a few per session, from me."

"You?"

Adjest nods. "My magic... it has something to do with the moon and what it sees. It's good for information gathering."

"I can... help," Hero says, hesitant.

"We'll see. Do you have a better idea of what your magic is?" Adjest peers down the road and takes them down an intersection.

"No."

"That's okay. You'll get it."

"How do you know?" Hero sounds suspicious.