ã€ŠRemains of the Lodestarã€‹


 Shards of Rock

    Amity tripped, falling down the desert hills as the disheveled leader followed, grabbing his side to call upon something¡­

    As Amity sat down at her table for breakfast, Amity sighed. Today was probably the third day since her parents went for their vacation, and there would still be a while longer. She was getting bored of her usual routine spent mostly alone until school, meaning a few hours spent mostly in silence. She stood up and placed her plate in the sink, then headed up to her bedroom. She checked her calendar, seeing if there was anything special. Today was nothing different than typical, a standard September 18th, but she still marked it off. She put on a short skirt, nice red shirt, and a pair of over the knee socks. Grabbing her necklace, a chunk of a blue rock she found on the ground that she sanded down to a nice smooth charm with a star shape and engraved with her initials, she stepped downstairs. Amity grabbed a paper bag from the fridge, a lunch prepared the previous day, and placed it into her pin-lined backpack before heading off to school.

    On Amity¡¯s walk to school, she noticed a red shimmer coming from the grass near the sidewalk. Leaning down to grab the source of it, she noticed it felt very similar to the rock on her necklace, similar size and weight, so she pocketed it, planning to make a red counterpart to what she¡¯s wearing. As she reached the school, all the gates were locked, and she couldn¡¯t get in. Checking the schedule revealed that it was an employee planning day, meaning she didn¡¯t have to go today. She turned back, and as she entered her neighborhood, she inspected the red rock, comparing its size to that of the star hung from her neck, and noticed that if she put the newer rock near the one on her neck, they seemed to pull together, but she assumed they were just magnetic or something.

    As Amity thought that though, she tripped into a puddle and fell nearly directly onto the two rocks she had been holding, chipping both of them. As she got up, she noticed a bit of a glow in the spot she fell. She tried reaching into it, but it gave her arm a bit of a shock, running blue and red light up her arm. Amity grabbed a rock and chipped a bit of one rock into the water. Then the other one. Then both, and the glow happened again. Amity¡¯s mind nearly instantly began to flicker and dart around, coming up with explanations as to what could be happening.

    Amity returned home, and placed the rocks on the counter, before going to change. When she came back, she grabbed a cup and filled it with water, as well as her phone so she could document her results, and an eyedropper so she could use it for the water.

    She turned on her camera, and began her first procedure, chipping away a tiny bit of the blue rock into a prepared space, and doing the same with the red. She mixed the two colored powders in the middle of her workspace, and dropped a tiny drop of the water right onto the powder, which immediately illuminated a bright purple, and the thick purple sludge was able to be spread around and remained a shimmering purple color. She took some of it, and added more of the blue powder, resulting in the glow shifting blue.

    Recalling some of her favorite cartoons, she spread it into a circle. Immediately, a glow appeared in the middle, tracing a design faster than Amity¡¯s eye could follow. She grabbed her phone, slowed the footage down, and began to sketch the design on a piece of paper, intricately following every detail until she had what she saw. Amity chose to run the paper through her parents¡¯ copier so she could have a backup and adjust if something was off. Returning with one of the copies, she pulled out a container with the scraps from when she carved out her necklace, and used them alongside the red rock to make enough magical goop to trace the glyph, which was seemingly divided into 3 segments, only connected by the outline of the circle.

    Finishing the glyph, nothing seemed to happen. Amity tried to tap it, first in one segment, then all three, then the center, and it finally worked. The glyph brightly glowed in three colors. A red segment, a blue section, and a blinding white section. She saw the red section dim itself first, followed by the other two in unison, before a slow pillar of ice ascended, stopping at roughly 3 inches. Amity was first amazed, and then realized what had happened. She had discovered magic!

    Amity tried to connect the dots on how the glyph worked with little success, but she managed to understand a small amount of how to control it. If you add more blue, the result will be a strong ice block, and if you add more red it would be a medium strength fire blast. They only activate if the entire glyph is drawn well, and then it begins when you tap the center.

    Eventually, Amity gave up trying to master her existing glyph, but she did still want to get magic into a practical state, so she got to thinking. Using different amounts of these rocks caused different effects¡­ I¡¯ve seen some other shiny rocks like these¡­ Maybe I can find some more! I¡¯m a bit hungry too, maybe I can go to a fast food place and grab a burger while trying to find some.Amity headed out, and near immediately spotted a new rock. Oh, wow, already. That was quick, this might be a quick walk. She grabbed the rock and pocketed it, a buzzing yellow rock with bright white streaks, and continued on her way. The fast food place was probably only 15 minutes away, so she didn¡¯t see a new rock at all on the way there.

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    Amity¡¯s order was simple, a double cheeseburger with large fries, so she was going to grab it and dip before she was called over by a familiar voice.

    ¡°Hey! Amity!¡±

    She turned to see who it was, and immediately spotted a few of her friends sitting down at a table, with just enough free space for another person, so Amity went over and sat down.

    ¡°Yo, Himiko! What¡¯s up girl! Why didn¡¯t you tell me you were meeting up here?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Oh, shoot, sorry, I thought I told someone to text you to come over¡­¡±, said as Himiko lightly elbowed the person sitting beside her, Raleigh.

    ¡°Hey, relax, I told you I didn¡¯t bring my phone and you said you would do it!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it Ray, I still made it here, seemingly pretty early into your meal too, so it¡¯s fine.¡±

    Amity stood back up at the beckoning of the cashier to grab her food, and as she came back Raleigh was laughing while Himiko was getting frustrated.

    ¡°Yo, what¡¯s up? What joke did I miss?¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t a joke, it was just mean! He was telling me I¡¯ll never be a witch, that magic doesn¡¯t exist.¡±

    Himiko pouted. Amity thought about whether to reveal what she had found just a half hour earlier but she decided against it as it would probably get them kicked out of the restaurant.

    ¡°Raleigh, stop being mean. Himiko, are you guys doing anything after this?¡±

    Himiko responded with ¡°Uh, I don¡¯t think so¡­ Katie? Did you have anything planned?¡±

    Katie looked up from her phone and shook her head,

    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t have anything. Amity, were you gonna ask us to do anything?¡±

    ¡°I was gonna have you guys come over, it¡¯s semi-related to what you guys were saying while I was grabbing my stuff. Is that cool with you all?¡± They all responded with general approval. Probably 20 minutes after Amity grabbed her food, they all finished with their food and went out to make their way to her house. Himiko was the first to talk after they left,

    ¡°So, why are we going to your house? What are we doing?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll see¡­¡± Amity noticed a smooth, deep green rock in the grass on the sidewalk. Picking it up, she continued with ¡°Here¡¯s a hint; this is probably gonna be important.¡±

    They arrived at the doorstep, and the sole key holder unlocked the door to let her friends in, instructing them to wait in the kitchen. Once Amity was inside, she pulled out the two rocks she grabbed, and threw them onto the counter as she went to the cabinet to pull out a shot glass and she filled it halfway with tap water.

    ¡°Yo, Amity, what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Just give me a sec.¡±

    She placed it onto the counter and grabbed the still dirty paring knife dropped on the desk. Amity chipped away a bit of the red rock, and then a bit of the blue. She crushed them, then used her finger to brush the powder onto the knife to pour it into the shot glass. The girl stuck her finger into it, and stirred it, fighting the small shock running up her arm as the group saw the light run up it.

    ¡°Holy crap, what is that? How is it glowing?¡± were just some of the questions running through their minds. Eventually, Amity grabbed one of the sheets of paper stacked on the counter and began to use her finger to trace what was on it. Everyone watched, the distinct design slowly coming to life, then Amity tapped it. She stepped back, and eventually everyone but her freaked out as they saw a pillar of ice, this time probably a foot tall and half that wide, rose up from the paper, sucking all the ink off of it to fuel its progress.

    ¡°Holy Fucking Shit Amity, what WAS that?¡± was heard from Raleigh.

    ¡°Oh, you know what that was? Magic. You know what that means? You were wrong.¡±¡°Amity. What the fuck. When did you find this?¡± Himiko asked.

    ¡°Like an hour ago,¡± Amity chuckled, ¡°I was holding that rock but I tripped into a puddle and it chipped into some water, as well as my necklace.¡±Amity grabbed her necklace, as well as the remains that had cracked off one of the corners, and showed it to them.

    ¡°My necklace cracked, but it¡¯s probably fine, maybe I can fix it and it¡¯ll look even cooler.¡± They all stood there for a second before Raleigh remembered something.

    ¡°Oh, shoot, I just remembered - Himiko, here.¡± Raleigh handed Himiko a $20 bill.

    ¡°Nice, never thought this bet would pay out.¡±

    Amity handed Himiko a few sheets of paper printed with the glyph, then turned back to fill a small sandwich bag with some of the blue chips from the original carving process and then she used the bottom of the paring knife to crack the red rock to drop in there too. She did the same with the yellow and green rocks, then zipped the bag closed and handed it to Himiko,

    ¡°Here you go, have fun with it. You can use a bit more of the red rock to have fire come out too, it¡¯s a bit dangerous though so be careful with it.¡±

    ¡°Wait, for real, you¡¯re giving me some of this stuff? Thanks!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, no problem! I¡¯ve got plenty. Alright, that¡¯s pretty much all I had you all over here for, do you guys want to stay?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I might try to convince them to come over to my house, I got a new game and I want them to play it with me. Wanna come?¡±

    ¡°Eh, I kinda want to get how this whole magic bull-crap works nailed down, maybe if you¡¯re still playing in a bit I may come over, I¡¯m pretty sure I know where your house is."

    Himiko agreed, and they made their way out.

 Entrance

    Amity led them out of the door, and then she got back to work trying out the magic system, this time with the new rocks. First, she chipped a bit of the yellow one and mixed it with some of the green one, but nothing happened. Then, mixed some with the red one, but still nothing. Finally, she mixed a tiny bit with the blue one which resulted in it glowing a bright green, and when she spread it into a circle she saw the same light fly by again.

    Using the same method as before, she traced the glyph, and then saw as a bright yellow-green light shined from the paper, and when she tried to stick her hand into the light there was a small flash and she felt a huge jolt of electricity go through her arm as she yanked it backwards. She realized what she had found, but not before she had a burn all along her arm. She was in a lot of pain from it but Amity decided to try out the green rock first, which when traced and activated, launched a teal light out of the paper and sticking the same arm into the light as she did with the electric light, she felt the burn¡­ disappear?

    ¡°What the shit. I just magically gave myself a burn and an electric shock, then healed it in less than 5 minutes. This is fucking insane. I¡¯m gonna get so popular.¡±

    As Amity tried out these combinations, she was very much thinking of the future ramifications, and that magic may not be entirely good, but she brushed it aside, assuming she would never even be able to use it for anything like that in the first place. Magic was really inconvenient to use, needing some paper and that weird mix, as well as it being super hard to trace the glyphs.

    Amity put away every rock and a copy of each glyph into a cardboard box, and then as she tried to put it onto a shelf into her room, the box nearly fell, and a few rocks fell out, but she didn¡¯t bother to put them all back into the box, so they were left on the nightstand.

    Amity sat up. It was just 6 in the morning. She saw a series of texts on her phone followed by a missed call, being what woke her up in the first place. She called them back, and she heard a similar voice on the end, this time whispering.

    ¡°Hey, Amity. Come over. I know you can get out through your window. We just found something huge. One word- portal.¡±

    Himiko hung up on Amity, and so she did what she was told. Grabbing a small change of clothes, she rushed to get changed before climbing out of her window and jogging to her friends house, carrying the two rocks left out. Upon reaching the house, she hopped the fence and climbed up the wall. It¡¯s not as impressive as it sounds - the fence was maybe 3 feet, and there was a ladder that if Amity jumped to she could grab onto enough to climb up. After getting level with the window, she stepped over and slipped inside. ¡°Yo, what did you find.. what is.. that?¡±

    ¡°Oh, uh, to be honest I¡¯m not actually sure. All that I was able to tell is that I spilled a mix of every rock type onto my closet door and now¡­¡± She glanced at the closet door. ¡°That.¡±

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    Amity looked at it. She noticed that the door-frame, now illuminated a light yellow, was notably wet on the bottom and a bit up the left side, and now had a darker yellow spiral going around it from the bottom corner and circling around to the center.

    ¡°Is this a fucking portal? What did you do?¡± Himiko responded by simply sticking her hand inside. It disappeared, not in a way that would indicate a curtain or a weird sort of screen, just gone. Amity then tried the same, sticking her hand into it and watching as it disappeared. She could still feel it though, and it felt cold. Whatever this thing was, it somehow had a cooling effect.

    ¡°Whoa, that¡¯s cold.¡± Amity immediately wanted to see what this place was, but she wasn¡¯t risking herself for it.¡°I¡¯ll give whoever steps fully in there first and comes back alive 5 bucks. Tell the truth on what you see.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re on magic man.¡± Raleigh responded, ¡°I¡¯ve gotta recoup my loss from when you found this shit in the first place.¡±

    And so, Raleigh stuck his hand in there, feeling the cold firsthand, before deciding he needed a backup plan.

    ¡°Himiko, I¡¯m gonna hold onto this blanket, I need you to keep hold from the other end, pull me back in after maybe 10 seconds at most, I don¡¯t wanna die.¡± Himiko grabbed onto the blanket, and held on tight as Raleigh stepped foot into a new world.Raleigh stepped into the portal. Immediately, he felt his foot digging into loose sand, then he saw some tall sand dunes.

    ¡°What the shit it¡¯s a fucking desert.¡± He couldn¡¯t do much before he got yanked back in, but he grabbed a handful of sand before heading back.

    ¡°Welcome back to the real world Raleigh, how was it? What did you see?¡±

    ¡°It was, uh¡­ It was a desert. Really weird.¡±The group stared at him, no way it was just a desert, right?

    ¡°There were super tall sand dunes, probably three or four times my height? And I didn¡¯t see any animals or anything, it was just sand, not even any signs of a shelter. I don¡¯t think there are any people there¡­ I grabbed some of the sand, here.¡± He showed them all the sand.

    At this point, the group was convinced; they needed to see for themselves. It sounded weird, a cold desert with nothing in it? Amity spoke up.

    ¡°I¡¯m going in there, there¡¯s no way you¡¯re telling the truth. Probably just pocket sand.¡±

    Amity grabbed hold of the blanket and ran in.

    ¡°Oh, shit it was a desert. God damn it. Fuck this.¡±

    Amity returned to the real world, and admitted defeat, handing Raleigh his well earned bet money. ¡°It was a desert. How did you make a fucking portal to the desert Himiko?¡±

    ¡°I told you, I mixed together some of all the rocks you gave me and I spilled it, and it just MADE that.¡±

    ¡°All of you are coming in there with me again, we¡¯re gonna see what that whole place is about. Himiko, do your parents have a printer?¡±

    ¡°Oh, yeah, it¡¯s in the living room by my dad¡¯s desk. What do you need?¡±

    ¡°More glyphs. Also, can I pour myself a bit of water so we can actually make more of the magic goop stuff?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go do that, they don¡¯t know you¡¯re here so its not a good idea to go down there.¡±

    After probably 3 minutes, Himiko returned with a paper condiment cup, tap water in a water bottle, and a few sheets of paper.

    ¡°Here, paper, weird cup thing, and some glyphs. Also, a fire glyph I set up for you while I was down there.¡±

    ¡°Alright, thanks. Are we all ready to check that place out?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess¡­ Katie, we¡¯re going into the thing.¡±

    ¡°Oh, shoot, uh, I¡¯m not ready yet. Give me probably 60 seconds.¡±Katie scrambled to grab her bag and stuffed some stuff into it, notably her sleeping bag and a few water bottles.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Amity stepped into the portal.

 The Approach

    Amity stepped into the portal, shortly followed by Raleigh on his phone, Himiko, and Katie. They all stepped outside, only light beyond a now dim moon from the portal and the flame. The leader stepped forwards, attempting to climb the first sand dune she saw, and it was tall, but Raleigh underestimated just how tall it was, Amity thought it was more like 10 or 15 times her height. At the top, she saw nothing but sand for probably a half mile out. Looking the other way, she saw the portal and her friends scattered about, but again nothing but sand besides those, although this side had a few scattered cacti and¡­ Wait. Is that a tree? In the desert?

    Amity carefully made her way down the sand hill she was on, each step taking seconds to ensure she was in a good spot before proceeding the next one, but once she was down she called over her friends.

    ¡°Yo, there¡¯s a tree over there. I¡¯m going to check it out, if any weird shit starts happening like the door starts closing like some fantasy book shout for me.¡±

    With that note, she began a jog to the tree. It seemed closer than she thought from the top of the hill so she eventually decided to try sprinting. Maybe 10 seconds later, she arrived and nearly fell over as she attempted to cancel her momentum from the run. Inspecting the tree revealed nearly nothing odd about it, it seemed just like the one on her lawn at home, tall and strong.

    At some point though, she heard a creaking, and looking near the bottom of the tree revealed sand shifting underneath the tree as it rotated and rose up, revealing a silver cylinder containing some¡­ humans? They sure looked the part, but they were shorter. Maybe kids? But how would any kids be in this place. Wait, was there some sort of society? Would explain there being kids, especially since they looked maybe 10 at most, elementary school aged still. Amity had all these thoughts before the doors opened and a barrage of children ran at her with various items; a plastic baseball bat, a long stick, one of them had seemingly gotten¡­ his? Her? Amity couldn¡¯t really tell, they were all dressed up very similar and all had mid-length haircuts. Anyway, they had gotten a sort of training dagger, dull and soft but still hurt to get hit with.

    ¡°Get away! Who are you, what are you doing here?!¡± One of them called out.

    ¡°Ow, what the- I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t know this was a house! I just came here!¡±

    ¡°How did you get here?¡±

    ¡°I, uh, shit how do i explain this. I walked. Yeah, I walked.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be smart with us ma¡¯am, there¡¯s no way you walked here. Papa said the closest town was probably a few hours away with his wagon, that¡¯s probably a full cycle on foot!

    What are you, one of those nomads or something? I learned about them at school, they¡¯re-¡±

    ¡°Listen. I don¡¯t know what the odds are that you speak English. I don¡¯t know what the odds are that I happened upon your base here. I don¡¯t know who the nomads are, all I know is that I didn¡¯t know this was a house. I came here through that.¡± Amity pointed to the yellow rectangle in the distance.

    ¡°Wait, what is that? Did you really come here through that thing?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s weird. Please stop attacking me, sorry for intruding on your tree up here.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re only going free because that¡¯s awesome. Come on guys, let¡¯s tell Mom.¡±

    Amity sighed with relief as the group left her alone finally. She got up, brushed herself off and adjusted herself before seeing Raleigh running over to help her.

    ¡°Yo, are you okay? Who were they?¡±

    ¡°I live, those were some local kids apparently, they live under this tree. It¡¯s weird.¡±

    ¡°Wait for real? This place isn¡¯t uninhabited then¡­ Actually, where is this place? This doesn¡¯t look like it¡¯s on earth, that sky is really weird¡­¡±

    ¡°It has to be on earth, those were literally humans. They had a plastic baseball bat, and they were speaking English! I imagine we¡¯re in the Midwest or something, I think they have deserts there.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I can check on my phone. Let¡¯s see¡­ uh. There¡¯s no signal. Maybe there¡¯s an open WiFi somewhere? No¡­ No WiFi networks at all actually. Where the shit are we?¡±

    Raleigh sighed.

    ¡°We should probably head back, see what else we can find.¡±

    Amity agreed, and the pair ran back to the portal. ¡°You go find Katie, I¡¯m gonna get Himiko.¡¯

    Amity ran off to get Himiko, and Raleigh the other way for Katie.

    ¡°Himiko! Where are you? Come here!¡± Amity shouted. After probably 5 minutes looking, she decided to climb the tallest sand dune again.

    After summiting the thing, she noticed someone laid out on the distant sand on the far side of the dune. ¡°Wait¡­ shit is that her? Crap, crap crap is she okay??¡±

    Amity managed to slide down the side of the unstable sand dune and ran to Himiko. ¡°Yo! Himiko! What¡¯s up?? Are you good??¡±

    Himiko didn¡¯t respond immediately, but flashed a thumbs-down at her.

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    Himiko again couldn¡¯t speak, so she pointed a finger at a human-like mass of water, congealed and moving.

    ¡°What the- are they made of water? How is it staying together?¡±

    This time, Amity heard a muffled voice.

    ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re water, but they hit hard. Watch out.¡±

    Amity reached into her purse to pull out some of the purple goop, formulated for fire, and dipped her finger into it. She traced the circle, then the designs inside, then tapped it while running towards the water creature.

    Noticing this, the congealed mass of H2O lost it¡¯s human shape before re-configuring itself into the shape of Amity¡¯s first girlfriend. This didn¡¯t stop her, as she blasted the look-alike into mist with the slip of paper she wielded. Amity crushed the paper as it was still blasting, only to find it reshape itself into a blade from the paper handle. ¡°Aw, sweet! Fire sword!¡±

    Amity began swinging at the again shapeless blob, before it too reshaped into something Amity found sweet. She watched as the blob grew into the shape of one of her best friends, gaining the witches hat, coat, as well as the usual outfit of a gray shirt and a short skirt. ¡°W- what? Himiko, it reshaped itself into¡­ you!¡±

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    Himiko was already looking when it turned into the fighter¡¯s girlfriend, and now it was her?

    ¡°Yeah, I can see that. Why would it turn into your ex and then me? We have almost nothing in common, she sucked!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that, she was fine before she, y¡¯know¡­¡±

    She was distracted, and lost sight of the water creature which was now charging at her from behind.¡°Amity! Be careful! It¡¯s-¡±Amity fell, nearly burning herself on the sword which was extinguished shortly after by the flood of water caused by the water creature. It lifted itself up and reshaped to seemingly the same person as prior but now in a flowing dress which Amity had complimented her on a few months ago at their school dance.

    ¡°It¡¯s you again, but now¡­¡±

    Amity couldn¡¯t think. She was entranced by the fluid¡¯s new form sure, but she also physically couldn¡¯t think. In the prior attack, the water creature had managed to latch onto Amity¡¯s mind and was now affecting her, both by physically inhibiting her and by finding something that can mentally stop her just out of awe.

    ¡°Amity? Amity! Are you there?¡±

    Amity felt a shake on her shoulders as she managed to get back out of what was seemingly a trance staring as the water shaped into her friend danced, and she managed to look away.

    ¡°What¡­ I¡­ what the shit just happened to me? I couldn¡¯t¡­¡±

    ¡°Yo, it¡¯s fine, I think I know what it was doing. We gotta kill this thing though, and I don¡¯t want to kill something that looks just like me, it¡¯d be like killing myself¡­¡±

    Amity reached onto the ground and grabbed a rock, hurling it at the creature. The thing looked away, so was completely blindsided by the rock, which caused it to fall apart into a splash of water. It quickly re-coagulated however, and Himiko looked as it formed into something a little odder, Himiko in a puffy white wedding dress.

    ¡°Wh- is that me? Dang, I would look good in one of those.¡±

    Amity raced in, giving it a solid punch before snatching the rock from earlier and bashing it into the water shape-shifter.

    ¡°You really would.¡± Amity said, unthinkingly. She immediately realized, and got flushed.

    ¡°Thanks!¡± Himiko was luckily taking it as a normal compliment rather than the comment it truly was, and she eventually found a rock to chuck at the beast.

    ¡°Hey Amity, watch out!¡±The rock nailed the beast directly in the back of the head, right before it would¡¯ve shifted into some new form designed to stop Amity in her tracks, and it splashed into unformed water again.

    Amity noticed a blue blob, and she grabbed it to inspect. It looked like a heart almost, but it was considerably bigger than any models she¡¯d seen and also way more wrinkly, as if the brain of it was also the heart.

    ¡°Oh dang, I think I found the center of that thing. What should I do with it?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, just like, kick it away I guess?¡±

    Amity obliged, throwing in the air before giving it a solid kick sending it probably a hundred feet away.

    ¡°We might want to get out of here before that thing reforms. You okay to walk? I don¡¯t know how hard you were hit earlier.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m probably fine, it was enough to pretty much topple me then but the pain is mostly gone now.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I guess we go then. Farewell, weird desert place!¡±

    Amity began her way back, Himiko following shortly behind.

    Once the duo made it back to the portal, they spotted Raleigh and Katie standing near it, as well as one of the kids from earlier.

    ¡°That¡¯s one of the kids that was hitting me earlier! Why is he here now?¡±

    Raleigh spotted the two.

    ¡°Yo morons, where have you been? Amity, you¡¯re drenched, what happened?¡±

    Himiko responded for Amity:

    ¡°There was some weird water monster, it like morphed itself into looking like Amity¡¯s ex, then into me in a fancy dress, then again in a wedding dress, it was really weird. We fought it and won though, so it¡¯s fine.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know why it formed my ex, then into Himiko, honestly they do have almost nothing alike.¡±

    After this line, the kid from earlier came over.

    ¡°Hey. You¡¯re that person that came onto our house earlier. ¡®Sup?¡±

    The kid extended a fist as he adjusted a lollipop in his mouth, and Amity gave the kid a fist bump, assuming they did that here too.

    ¡°Mom wants me to take you on a tour of our place as an apology for what we did earlier. Sorry about that, by the way.¡±

    ¡°No hard feelings, you didn¡¯t know who I was and I figure you don¡¯t get many people here based on the whole desert thing so it¡¯s fair you defended your home.¡±

    ¡°Come on, my mom is probably gonna kill me if I don¡¯t bring you back soon, I¡¯ve already been waiting a while.¡±Amity followed the kid as he used some sort of remote device to pop the elevator back out from underneath the tree, and they both went in.

    The ride down was relatively quick as she only stood for maybe 10 seconds before the elevator stopped at the main floor.

    ¡°Well, this is home. There¡¯s a library over there, a few food spots, it¡¯s not too different to a human neighborhood. Wait, you are human, right?¡±

    ¡°Oh, yeah, I¡¯m a human. Don¡¯t ask why but I thought this would be a little more dystopian somehow, maybe our fiction books were super unrealistic.¡±

    ¡°Dissy-topian? What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Oh, shoot, it¡¯s uh, when a place is dark and gloomy and you have no freedom, its a common theme we have in books at home.¡±

    ¡°Ohh, alright. I don¡¯t think this is a dissy-topia, we can mostly do what we want, I think its similar to what you guys call the United States of America.¡±

    ¡°Maybe that¡¯s how it was, what, 50 years ago? But it¡¯s really not that free anymore.¡±

    ¡°Huh? My teacher says that it¡¯s the most free country on your planet, most people are super happy, right?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I¡¯m not really in the place to be definitive about this but, most people aren¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Aw, that¡¯s sad. Anyways, do you want to go to the library, or we can go to the next floor, the homes, or the one below that, the play areas?¡±

    ¡°Honestly, we should go make sure your mom knows you¡¯re giving me the tour so you don¡¯t get in trouble for not doing it, but then I do have to go home. I don¡¯t think my mom knows I¡¯m not at home.¡±

    ¡°Got it. Let¡¯s go to floor two, then, then we can get you home.¡±

    ¡°God, how long is Amity gonna be down there with that kid. It¡¯s been like 10 minutes, I want to go back home.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s probably coming back soon, I bet she¡¯s more worried about getting home than we are since her parents don¡¯t even know she¡¯s not at home. Just give her a minute.¡±

    ¡°Here we are, this is our dorm section, Three-B! Let¡¯s run inside and tell my mom that I actually did the thing, then lets go back up.¡±

    The two went over to the left side of the section, then to a door labeled ¡°3B8¡±, and hit the doorbell.¡°Yes, who is it¡­ Oh! Hello! You¡¯re the one that my kids wailed on. Sorry about that, we thought you were an intruder, or God forbid one of those nomads.¡±¡°It¡¯s all good, they were just defending their home.¡±¡°Oh thank goodness. Alright, I just needed to know you were okay and not too angry, you can continue the tour.¡±¡°I actually do have to get home, my friends are probably getting impatient.¡±¡°Ah, well, I hope you enjoyed your time here. You¡¯re welcome back here anytime, we don¡¯t get real humans here very often, I think the last time was probably sixty-so years ago, when my mom was in school.¡±¡°Wait, really? Mom, you never told me about that! Once she¡¯s back home, you¡¯ve gotta tell me about it!¡±¡°Yeah, of course, go do that then I can tell you all about it!¡±

    ¡°Okay, it¡¯s been like 15 minutes, we should check on her. I¡¯m getting worried.¡±

    Himiko said.¡°Yeah, my phone says it¡¯s almost 7:30, her parents are probably looking for her. I imagine yours would¡¯ve seen the huge portal, so we¡¯re probably okay on that front. Come on, let¡¯s go.¡±

    The group set off towards the tree in the distance, running up until they made it to the now visible panel encircling it.

    ¡°Wait, how do we open this?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I¡¯m gonna be honest, all I saw when I went to go help Amity earlier was it closing as the kids ran inside. It¡¯s some sort of elevator, but I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a way to get it to open from out here.¡±

    After a few seconds of inspection, Katie pointed something out.

    ¡°Oh, there¡¯s a panel over here. It blends in but it has an open button. Should I hit it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, do it!¡±

    The tree elevated as the elevator rose underneath it. The three went in, and they started by hitting the button for floor three.

    ¡°We¡¯ll work our way up.¡±

    Once their lift stopped, they got off to see that most sections were blocked by some wooden boards.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna say its safe to ignore this floor, there¡¯s like nothing here. I don¡¯t think she could be stuffed into a pool table.¡±

    They all got back into the elevator to ascend to the second floor. Once the door opened they were greeted by the kid, and Amity.

    ¡°Oh, shoot, hey Amity!¡±

    ¡°Yo! How did you get in here?¡±

    ¡°Panel on the tree. Come on, we gotta get home.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I was about to go back up. See ya, dude.¡±

    Amity extended her fist to the kid, and her gesture was returned.

    ¡°See you.¡±

    Amity joined the group and got sent up, but as they exited the elevator and turned to head to the portal, they noticed something was missing.

    ¡°Where¡­ Where¡¯s the portal?¡±

 Libraries

    ¡°Where¡­ Where¡¯s the portal?¡±

    Amity and the group looked around the area it was, between the dune and the tree, but it just wasn¡¯t there. They felt the ground, and noticed that the sand had been dyed a green-ish yellow right where it stood, but aside from that, it was gone.

    ¡°It¡¯s.. Guys, I think we¡¯re stuck here.¡± Himiko said.

    ¡°We can make another one! I have more than enough of the stuff to make it, we can find a door frame and dump some of the stuff onto it. It¡¯ll be fine!¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re sure, lets go find a door frame. Did they have doors in the weird tree place?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I actually don¡¯t think they did. That¡¯s the only place I can think of. Shit. I don¡¯t want to be stuck here.¡±

    Raleigh eventually spoke up;

    ¡°Hey, didn¡¯t they have a library in there? I think we saw it on our way down, maybe they have some way to get home.¡±

    ¡°Oh, actually true. We should go back, there¡¯s probably a magic section.¡±

    The group made their ways back to the tree-topped house, and opened it using the panel. Once they made it to the first floor, they entered the library and searched for the magic section. After Katie found it, she waved over everyone and began searching for some sort of a teleportation book.

    ¡°Hello, are you new here? I don¡¯t recognize you. Would you like some help?¡± A librarian whispered to the group.

    ¡°Oh, yes, please! We need to find a way to get back to Earth, because I¡¯m pretty sure this isn¡¯t Earth.¡±

    ¡°Earth? Really? Look, are you from Earth, or are you from here and trying to get there without a permit?¡±

    ¡°Uh, from Earth, ma¡¯am.¡±

    She sighed. ¡°Alright, come here. I can help you.¡±

    The group followed her into the elevator, and the librarian entered a code before hitting a button to enter the basement.

    ¡°So, what are we going down here for?¡± Amity asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ll explain in a second.¡±

    Once they made it to the basement, they were directed into a smaller room containing a map spread entirely across one wall, a few books on the table, and a small computer contrasting with the rest of the room.

    ¡°This is my office. It used to belong to the person who owned this place probably a hundred years ago, but now he¡¯s dead and it wasn¡¯t being touched so I moved in.¡±

    ¡°Wait, a hundred years ago? Wasn¡¯t there someone from Earth here, back then?¡±

    ¡°Yes, and that¡¯s why I brought you here. He did a bunch of work trying to get back home, but he died before finishing. There¡¯s a lot of stuff here that you can check out, I¡¯m not sure if you have PDAs on Earth but if you brought one you can take a picture of it all. I¡¯m also happy to copy it all onto some paper for you to use.¡±

    ¡°Hey, just out of curiosity, could this guy use magic?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure he could, there are a few trace remnants of magic on all this stuff, way more than background levels. Why?¡±

    ¡°Did he use glyphs?¡±

    ¡°For the first half of his first journal, yeah, but after that he managed to channel it directly like we¡¯re able to.¡±

    ¡°Can we see his journals?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, of course. Have at them.¡±

    The four inspected them, and noted a few new glyphs. They weren¡¯t quite circles though, they were either two circle glyphs somewhat pushed into each-other or three circles placed in an odd pyramid like shape.

    ¡°Guys, come over here. There¡¯s some weird ones.¡± Amity called out.

    The three who weren¡¯t at the notebook came over, and gawked at the seemingly impossible glyphs. Raleigh grabbed his phone and took a picture of the mixes, seemingly only finding one three-mix, being ice plus fire plus lightning, all the harmful ones.

    ¡°You guys are gonna need to come out soon probably, I can¡¯t be here all day.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sorry, we¡¯ll be out in a second, taking a few more pictures.¡±

    Raleigh took a picture of the map, and a very important seeming page, although he didn¡¯t read it immediately. The three others made their way out as he did this, and he followed right behind.

    ¡°Sorry for taking so long, it¡¯s probably better if we have stuff we don¡¯t need than need stuff we don¡¯t have.¡±

    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t worry about it. I do have something you may want to know, though. From what I read in the book, there¡¯s only one place in this region where you can actually make the portal. It¡¯s locked behind like 5 layers of protection, and you would need to find a bunch of stuff.¡±

    ¡°Let me guess, this guy mapped out everywhere that has an important artifact and we have to go on some magical quest now. Am I close?¡±

    ¡°Pretty much. It¡¯s like your human books, I think they call it an ¡®isekai¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a pretty common writing trope. We should go, this feels like it¡¯s getting too meta.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s meta?¡±

    ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t know.¡±

    The group got led out of the library and back onto the elevator, where they headed up to the desert.

    ¡°So, what are we gonna do now?¡± Katie asked.

    ¡°We should sit down and look at what Raleigh got pictures of.¡±

    ¡°Alright, here¡¯s my phone. You know the password.¡±

    They all sat beside the tree, being careful not to sit on the lifting section, and then looked at the photos.

    ¡°Okay, this map has a way to align ourselves written on it. If we face towards the panel on the back of the tree, we¡¯re going north.¡±

    ¡°Wait, if they have north here, do compasses work?¡±

    ¡°Actually good question, hold on.¡±

    Amity reached into her purse and pulled out a survival tool which included a compass. She turned it a few times, rotating it around her, and she realized something.

    ¡°The answer is no, my compass isn¡¯t working.¡±

    ¡°Shoot, that would¡¯ve been useful.¡±

    Amity turned back to the picture, and swiped a few to the right to pull up the image of a notebook page, and zoomed in. She didn¡¯t find much substance, besides a sentence reading ¡°I¡¯ve found a way to navigate; the wind always blows north.¡±

    Amity repeated this sentence to the group, followed by them cheering, as they now had a semi-reliable way to know where they are.

    ¡°So that way,¡± Raleigh said pointing with the wind, ¡°is north.¡±

    Amity nodded.

    ¡°That way,¡± pointing perpendicular, ¡°is west.¡±

    Amity nodded.

    ¡°Awesome! Now we can actually navigate. We should get going soon maybe, I¡¯d rather get back home in a week than a month.¡±

    ¡°Really? Are we seriously ready? We¡¯ve only been analyzing for like 10 minutes¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a point in waiting, since we¡¯ve looked at everything.¡±

    ¡°Amity, do you want to get going? Himiko?¡±

    They responded affirmatively, and they all got up and started walking.

    After maybe 5 minutes, they spotted their first goal: the library.

    It was a bit run down, and seemingly pretty small, but it was annotated with the words ¡°VERY IMPORTANT.¡±

    ¡°Alright, here it is. We¡¯re looking for the magic section, then a few books on ¡®Human Magic¡¯ according to this journal page. Everyone got it?¡±

    Everybody understood, so Amity directed them to different sections and floors, and they got searching. No more than 15 minutes later, Raleigh gathered everyone and showed them his find; a bookshelf full of non-native magic user tutorials.

    ¡°Whoa, that was way quicker than I was expecting. Let¡¯s see¡­ Maybe this one?¡± Amity pulled out a book labeled Basic Human Chanelling, and as she opened it she noted a page stating that it shouldn¡¯t be used by non-humans, nor should it be used by humans unfamiliar with what it called ¡°traditional magic¡±, very likely referring to glyphs.

    She flipped to the table of contents and searched for the meat of it, finding it at page 23. Amity showed that page to everyone after looking at it for a second, and they all near immediately reeled back in repulsion; it contained a gruesome diagram of a body modification that, once complete, allowed near-native control over magic.

    ¡°What the- Did they really need to draw it like that? It¡¯s disgusting!¡± Himiko exclaimed.

    ¡°I know, right? Unrelated to the¡­ everything there, it says we¡¯d need someone who knows how to cut someone open, not kill them, then put them back together.¡± Raleigh said.

    ¡°Don¡¯t they do stuff like this in Amity¡¯s stupid advanced pre-med thing?¡± Katie mentioned.

    ¡°Oh, I mean, we do, but¡­ I don¡¯t really trust myself with a scalpel on one of you guys, plus we do it on fake skin and stuff, not a real person.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I get it, plus would you even be carrying a scalpel?¡± Raleigh said.

    Amity sighed, and reached into her bag to pull out a first-aid kit, opening it to reveal usual first-aid stuff, with the unusual addition of sterile-packed scalpels and suture.

    ¡°Ah.¡±

    Amity put it back, and then flipped to the next time for a different, less invasive method.

    ¡°This page says there¡¯s a way to channel magic without shoving a chunk of rock in your side.¡±

    ¡°Wait, really? Is it any less dangerous?¡±

    ¡°Not really¡­ I can probably do this one, but I would need to find some sanitizing stuff¡­¡±

    Amity thought for a second.

    ¡°Oh! We could probably make a fire and boil some of the weird goop.¡±

    Raleigh decided to inquire; ¡°What does that¡­ mean?¡±

    ¡°If you boil water, it makes it safe to drink, right? I assume it would be safe to inject, then. If I make the magic goop, we could boil that and then inject it. That¡¯s what this book says.¡±

    Raleigh yanked the book away and skimmed the page, reading aloud an excerpt;

    ¡°All humans used to naturally be able to use magic, but as of the human year 1950 (our cycle 495) the element used to channel it has fallen below critical concentration on their home, planet Earth.¡±

    ¡°Wait, really? There¡¯s no way¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait, there¡¯s more.¡± Raleigh continued:

    ¡°Additionally, the art of magic has been lost to their people since our cycle 60 (their 1515) as the final magic wielders died with no heirs.¡±

    ¡°Whoa, so we did know magic at some point, we just got unlucky with people having kids, and they never taught anyone else.¡±

    ¡°Pretty much, that¡¯s what it says.¡±

    Raleigh closed the book and put it back on the shelf.

    ¡°You said you could boil water so it¡¯s safe to inject? Lets go find something to boil it in.¡±

    Raleigh guided the group back out of the library, using the wind to guide them to a series of ruins that was labeled as ¡°Camp #1 - Likely has many rooms. Kitchen??¡±, and on arrival they saw the fell remains of a castle, with a barely-standing drawbridge being the sole thing connecting it to the land surrounding its moat. They looked down the moat, expecting maybe a small puddle of water, but they saw nothing. Genuinely, there was nothing down there, it just kept going down. Amity walked a few feet away to grab a rock, and she dropped it down.

    1¡­

    2¡­

    3¡­

    4¡­

    5¡­They never heard the rock hit a bottom.

    ¡°Yo, what the fuck? There isn¡¯t a bottom to this thing!¡±

    After a few minutes of deliberation, Katie had an idea.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna go find a huge rock and chuck it at that bridge, it looks like it¡¯s barely not fallen yet, so if I hit it we may have a way in.¡±

    Katie did as she said she would, taking a few minutes to grab a rock about as big as her hand, then using a running start she threw the rock at the bridge. Nearly slipping into the abyss that would¡¯ve awaited her, Katie stepped backwards as she heard the thunk of the rock, followed by a dampened thud of the wide wooden platform landing on loose sand, and then a shattering crash when a pillar fell, apparently previously leaning on the door.

    ¡°Whoa, that worked? My plans never work out like that¡­¡± Katie gestured for them to enter the castle, and they all took a step onto the bridge.

    Once Amity''s foot hit the bridge, they heard a crack.

 First Cast

    The group attempted to walk along the drawbridge, but once they were past the support of the sand, they heard a crack, and Amity felt her left foot give out.

    ¡°Shit-¡±

    Amity fell down, feeling the board scrape and cut her leg, and she barely caught herself, but was unfortunate enough to grab a section she immediately felt give under her hands as the board splintered and snapped, finally giving in.

    She fell maybe 6 inches before she felt a solid tug under her arm, as her bag caught onto the board, somehow managing to catch Amity. The board creaked and groaned, but the section that the bag had grabbed was secure, and Amity hadn¡¯t fallen into the pit. Yet.

    Amity felt her arm lift up, and then the bag¡¯s strap slipped away. She managed to grab onto the strap, just barely, but the board creaked more, and it began to give way again. At this point, Raleigh bent down and grabbed onto the hand that was at that point barely keeping hold of the bag¡¯s strap, and pulled. The first thing to happen was Amity using her other arm to grab the drawbridge, then she began lifting herself up. She made it back up, then retreated to the sand to check her leg.

    ¡°Oh crap, it¡¯s everywhere.¡± Amity said, referring to the blood on her leg. She slid back over onto the bridge to grab her bag, noticing a rip that was forming along the side, and then returned to the sand to patch herself up. Amity grabbed her first-aid kit, grabbing one of a few sterile gauze packs to cover the large wound, then placed a stick atop it, following that up with some roll bandages at the top and bottom to keep it there.

    Amity stood up, albeit slowly and painfully, and carefully inched back along the bridge to reach the other side.

    ¡°Raleigh! Thanks man, I like, almost died there.¡± Amity fist-bumped him. ¡°I think I¡¯m okay to walk, so we should go in and check for a pot to start the solution in.¡±

    Once they stepped in, Amity directed everyone to their own section to search.

    Himiko went to the right, down a long hall of boiler rooms, janitor closets, and other miscellaneous behind-the-scenes areas. Near the end of the hall, there was a door slightly ajar which opened to a warm room with clean floors (compared to the rest of the place), wide counters and a few cabinets with various dishes, most notably being a very small pot that looked like it could barely hold a cup or two of water. She picked it up and made her way back to the main area, where she called out for her friends.

    ¡°Guys! I found a pot!¡±

    While she awaited their return, she set up a pretty basic stand for the pot, a few chunks of rock holding up the pot at it¡¯s edges with enough space under to slide a fire glyph under.

    Katie was first to come back, immediately followed by Amity and then Raleigh, all of them gathered around the pot.

    ¡°Might want to rinse it out, but I think it¡¯s pretty much fully ready to start boiling besides that.¡±

    Amity used a water glyph to fill it about halfway, before swirling the water around, dumping it out, and using the remainder of the water glyph to fill it again, this time to begin the mixture. She grabbed some of the shards of the blue rock and dumped them into the water, stirred it in, then set a fire glyph to start boiling. Amity used the time between starting the glyph and the water boiling to pull out a syringe and a small bandage from her bag.

    A few minutes later, the water was boiling and Amity dropped a rock on the fire glyph to stop it. She uncapped the syringe and brought up 20 milliliters of the neutral magic solution (what the book called it) before preparing to inject it. She pulled up a sleeve and pressed the needle up onto her skin.

    She sunk it in, and shortly after she pressed the last of the solution into her arm, she felt a light buzz run through her arm. The buzz made it down her fingers and then all the way back up into her chest, as she felt something build in her arm, as if something was pressing against it, then it vanished, leaving her right arm feeling lighter than ever. She waved it beside her, and then searched for a large rock, something she wouldn¡¯t normally be able to lift. She bent her knees, braced her back, and it lifted with relative ease. Not easy exactly, but it was easier than it should¡¯ve been. As Amity lifted the rock, something flowed through her, into her muscles and back out through the rock.

    Amity tried to swing, and she managed to throw the rock a fair distance, crashing into the wall behind the pedestal intended for the throne.

    ¡°Whoa, what the-¡± Himiko said.

    ¡°Dude, Amity, you¡¯re so strong!¡± Raleigh said.

    ¡°Oh dang, I don¡¯t even think I could¡¯ve lifted that thing.¡± Katie said.

    Amity grabbed Raleigh¡¯s phone, searching for the book pages he saved. She found them, and then read them to herself.

    ¡°To channel magic after gaining a neutral medium, you must hold a non-neutral medium and think of the result you want.¡±

    She followed the instruction, grabbing the red rock and imagined a raging fire, tearing through everything, dark red and devastating. She felt the warmth of a small flame near her hand, near burning but just far enough away to do no harm. Though it was small, it was powerful. She didn¡¯t have any flammable material in her hand besides the air that surrounds it, but there was still a flame there. Self sustaining as the wielder, it raged on. Amity was able to imagine it growing, getting bigger in accordance with her thoughts, and it happened to the true flame. She dropped the red rock, and the flame abruptly vanished, as if it was never there.

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    Like the flame, she picked the yellow rock for her next test. Amity thought as hard as she could, imagining a shock running through her arm to manifest in a bright source of power in her hands. Once the thought was complete, it happened to her real body. Lightning formed, and she discovered a flick could launch it wherever she chose. Unfortunately, since it was her first attempt at using it, she missed and managed to shock Himiko.

    ¡°Wait, crap, Himiko are you good?¡±

    Himiko had fallen over, and could only respond with a shake of the head, so Amity grabbed the green rock from her bag and ran to Himiko. She rested her hand on the electrical burn and desperately thought about health, healing Himiko, saving her, and-

    ¡°Amity, what is that one?¡±

    Himiko had awoken, and asked about the new rocks that Amity had admittedly not told her about.

    ¡°Oh, yeah, I uh, forgot to tell you guys about these. The yellow one is electricity powers as far as I can tell, and the green one as you see is health powers, it¡¯s getting rid of her burn now¡­¡±

    Himiko didn¡¯t verbally respond, but she nodded to say that she understood.

    ¡°Do any of you want me to give you that shot?¡± Amity asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna refrain for now¡± Himiko said.

    ¡°Yeah, same.¡± Katie said.

    ¡°It seems¡­ dangerous.¡± Raleigh also said.

    ¡°Alright, but I do have more syringes so I can do it anytime.¡±

    Katie reached into her backpack and pulled out a small jar, enough to hold maybe half of the mixture made, but that would still be plenty to inject everyone with it. She offered it to Amity who happily accepted, and sealed the mixture away.

    ¡°I believe that¡¯s actually everything we needed from this place, there wasn¡¯t anything else of value in the kitchen and I don¡¯t know if you guys found anything but I assume not.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, there wasn¡¯t anything else we needed from here. We could probably get going soon, maybe we¡¯ll only be missing people for a week at this rate!¡±

    They all gathered their things and walked outside. Miraculously, they made it over the bridge without breaking it anymore, and bid the castle adieu.

    ¡°Okay, this map says the next spot is a royal town another mile or two north.¡± Amity said.

    ¡°What are we looking for?¡± Himiko asked.¡±

    ¡°Not much, actually. There¡¯s a mine nearby with huge deposits of a new kind of magic rock.¡±

    ¡°Wait, really?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what it says.¡± Amity folded up the map and slid it into her pocket. ¡°Let¡¯s get going.¡±

    The group followed the wind for a few minutes, walking between several cacti and large gems, although none of them were anything notable besides it just being unusual for huge shards of rock to sit sturdy in the middle of a desert. After a while of walking, they spotted a flowing blue monster nimbly passing between and under tight clusters of rocks. The familiar looking enemy turned it¡¯s head towards the group, and upon realizing something about the front and center person, it lunged towards her.

    ¡°Really, again?¡±

    ¡°Huh? What do you mean, ¡®again¡¯?¡±

    ¡°I can explain when we¡¯re done with it.¡±

    Amity reached into a pocket to find the red rock, then managed to force fire out of her hand. The monster didn¡¯t react in time, getting skewered by the flames launching from Amity. She bent down and found a stick long enough to wield as if it were a sword, and placed it into her hand.

    The fire transferred itself to the tip of the stick, extending out in more a narrow path than the prior breadth of flame from her raw hand. The fluid creature launched a stream of water towards Amity, who managed to duck down in time to avoid a hit. She swung her makeshift fire blade at the water-based enemy who avoided the attack by splitting itself in half around the weapon.

    It then retaliated by flinging a solid sheet of water, extinguishing the flame and again managing to soak Amity. There was another smaller launch of water, aimed for her head, that hit and knocked over the fighter. She switched hand and went for a lightning approach, flinging electricity at the creature who managed to call back all water it had sent to Amity. It dodged the glowing attacks, but then it froze in place as it processed some information, then it began it¡¯s first major shift of the battle. It¡¯s statute lowered, but it¡¯s accessories remained taller than Amity as it¡¯s ultimate attack began. The creature began to sculpt itself into the person standing directly behind the main fighter.

    ¡°Is it¡­ turning into Himiko?¡± Raleigh asked.

    ¡°Yeah, it did this last time too. It apparently stops Amity in her tracks, so she might need some backup.¡± Himiko said.

    The creature¡¯s body didn¡¯t just turn into Himiko, it began going slightly further. Growing slightly taller, getting a little stronger, and filling out it¡¯s chest, Amity couldn¡¯t fight. She was entranced, as happened in the prior fight.

    ¡°What is that thing? It¡¯s like, an idealized version of you.¡±

    ¡°Not very nice Raleigh, but you¡¯re kinda right actually. It¡¯s me, but¡­ I¡¯m a little shorter than that. My arms don¡¯t have like, any muscle. And I¡¯m way flatter than that.¡±

    They observed the creature, only reacting when it lunged towards Amity. Raleigh ran in and pulled the barely-aware girl away from the path of attack. She stopped looking at the intentionally unrealistic version of Himiko and managed to get ahold of herself.

    ¡°Guhh¡­ Oh crap, did it-¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It turned into Himiko like last time, you got stuck staring at it.¡±

    ¡°Shit, sorry¡­¡±

    Himiko picked up a rock and while throwing it at the monster she called out ¡°It¡¯s fine, but you have all the magic stuff. Come help!¡±

    Amity obliged, finding the yellow rock again and sending a concentrated bolt of electricity to the creature. She struck it that time, and the easy pickings meant she could, albeit clumsily, switch to the flame power and launch a wide range of fire at it. The monster stood back up and shifted back into a vaguely human shape, not resembling anyone in particular. It nearly managed to hit Amity before it lost it¡¯s cohesion. Himiko ran over the puddle it created and snatched up the heart.

    ¡°Hup!¡±

    Himiko punted it a good distance away, and they made a getaway before it could reform.

    ¡°So, what is that thing?¡±

    ¡°I think it was a Water Mimic. That¡¯s what the book I saw called them. They hook into your mind to find a visual image to trick you.¡± Himiko replied.

    ¡°Ah. Wait, why was it finding you then?¡± Raleigh asked.

    ¡°Clearly because I¡¯m so pretty and awesome. Nah, I actually don¡¯t really know. Maybe¡­ nevermind.¡±

    They spotted a stone mound with an opening and made their way towards it, assuming it to be the mine they were searching for. Once they reached it, they noticed that the traditional stairs you would associate with a mine weren¡¯t there, replaced by an elevator reminiscent of the one from the tree base. Himiko stepped in first, waiting for everyone else to enter before hitting the down button. They descended, and just as the elevator¡¯s still open doors began to close, it stopped moving.

 [NOT AN ACTUAL CHAPTER] Character Bios

    Amity Rune

    14

    5¡¯4

    95lbs

    normal build, thin

    average skin, sunburns somewhat easily

    white

    long thin brown hair, usually in a ponytail

    blue bow, blue/purple streak in hair, olive green eyes, blue star necklace with a crack in it, red shirt, white skirt and fingerless gloves, black socks, and black shoes

    generally healthy physically and mentally fine

    discoverer of magic, first to get natural magic

    carries around all the rocks and a few premade glyphs

    trans, lesbian

    friends with everyone, best friend with Himiko

    Himiko Singe

    13

    5¡¯2

    80lbs

    short build, thin

    thin skin, never sunburns somehow???

    white

    mid thick purple hair

    black witches hat with purple ring, purple eyes, black coat, purple shirt and miniskirt, flipflops no socks

    generally healthy physically in the first half, mentally fine mostly (plot !?)

    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.most excited about magic

    cis, bi

    friends with everyone, best friend with Amity

    Katie Patterson

    14

    5¡¯6

    115lbs

    bulky build, tall muscly

    thick skin, sunburns somewhat hard

    mixed

    short brown hair

    mint green eyes, brown shirt with mint green undershirt, brown shorts with mint green accent, brown shoes and socks with mint green accents (woah she has a theme)

    very healthy and fit physically, mentally fine

    decently excited about magic

    carries a bag with lots of stuff

    nb, ace/aro

    friends with everyone

    Raleigh Aventine

    14

    5¡¯5

    110lbs

    normal build, thin but long arms

    normal skins, doesn¡¯t usually sunburn

    black

    medium length red-orange fade hair

    red eyes, small black scarf, red coat with orange shirt (yellow star), red-ish bracelet, red-ish pants, red/orange shoes (woah he''s got a theme too)

    physically fine, mentally fine

    only a little excited

    you got games on your phone???

    cis, straight

    friends with everyone, more so with Katie

 Windy Mining

    ¡°Excuse me, Lady Chagrin?¡±

    ¡°Yes? What is it?¡±

    ¡°There has been an arrival. Humans. They¡¯re following the path that The Original took a few hundred years ago.¡±

    ¡°Really? So, the plan worked¡­ Wonderful. Thank you for your service, you may take the remainder of the day off, then I will assign you to a new team.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Lady Chagrin.¡±

    ¡°Oh, hold on, one more thing.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Where¡­ are they right now?¡±

    ¡°Oh, we detected them in the wind rock mine. The power cut protocol worked, they¡¯re currently trapped.¡±

    ¡°Excellent. You are dismissed.¡±

    Amity banged on the walls.

    She jumped, trying desperately to get the elevator moving again. The gap still open at the top of the elevator doors was too small for her to leave from. Katie and Raleigh, too. She thought Himiko would maybe fit, but her hat definitely wouldn¡¯t, and there was no way she would agree to losing her hat for even just a few minutes.

    It took a few minutes of thinking surrounded by the fear-powered yelling of her friends to come up with a plan. She pulled out a glyph design from her bag and created the usual magic solution, using barely any red rock to create as strong an ice pillar as possible. She placed the glyph on the edge of the land above, half underneath the edge of the elevator, and pressed the center of it.

    The people around her took note of what she was doing and began to watch with bated breath as she tapped it.

    Nothing.

    Amity pulled down the glyph, checking out the design to ensure there were no errors or mistakes, and it was all correct. She tapped it directly in her hand to ensure she was tapping in the right spot, but nothing came out.

    ¡°Why¡­ why isn¡¯t this working?¡±Just to see what would happen, she used her own magic, and a block of ice was created, no problem. Himiko leaned in and tapped the glyph, and the expected pillar of ice rocketed out.

    ¡°What? Why did it work for you but not me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­ the only thing that¡¯s changed between the last time you used a glyph and now is that you didn¡¯t have natural magic then.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s the shot then? Dang, wish I had known that¡­ I think having natural magic is still better, but it¡¯s not by all too much¡­¡±

    Amity lamented for a second before coming up with an idea. She picked the ice off the paper and wedged it as best she could in the gap, then she put her hand to it and tried to manipulate it. Make it bigger. She felt her magic hook onto the ice and it started moving the ice. It got smaller to get just underneath the elevator door, then got just big enough to stabilize, then pushed up. The ice expanded, lifting the elevator along with it.

    ¡°Shocked I didn¡¯t think of literally just using my own magic first. Or just like, pulling the elevator back up with the weird magic strength.¡±

    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    The elevator wasn¡¯t fully up, but it was enough for Amity to get through and realize the door to the mine had shut. Braced with metal bars, the door couldn¡¯t be more solid. She banged on it for a second, but very quickly realized that even with her relatively new strength, she couldn¡¯t get it out of the way. She pressed one of the buttons that are meant to control the elevator, but it didn¡¯t move at all.

    She idly pressed buttons for a few seconds before lights behind the silicone buttons lit back up

    ¡°Oh shit, power¡¯s not out anymore. Should we still go in?¡±

    ¡°I mean, probably? Get back in the elevator and move the ice away.¡±

    Amity slid down into the elevator and shrunk the ice again, just enough to push it away and begin their descent again. Once they reached the bottom, the elevator doors opened to a spacious hall with mostly flat floors save for the rocks scattered closer to the walls. The four of them stepped out and began looking at the walls, noting various colored rocks embedded in the walls. Raleigh split off from the group at the end of the hall to go down a smaller hall seemingly covered in a white rock, something they didn¡¯t have yet. He ran his hands on the wall as he perused, looking for a separated rock that Amity and the rest of the group could use, until he noticed something.. odd. A few planks of wood had collapsed, revealing a smoothly carved hole in the wall. The walls of it were smooth, and the entrance looked well-worn, to say the least.

    Raleigh passed it for the time being, but he made a mental note to show the group it when he next met up with them. He neared the end of the hall before spotting a small pile of rocks, mostly white but there were a few outlying green and red ones. He picked a new medium sized rock before heading back to the main hall. Amity had already arrived, but Himiko and Katie were still in their respective halls.

    ¡°Hey, Amity, did you find a rock?¡±

    ¡°No luck on my end, did you?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, here it is.¡±

    He handed the rock to Amity and she immediately reached into her bag to begin making a glyph.

    ¡°Oh, Raleigh, can you record this? It¡¯s kinda important for the whole¡­ process.¡±

    He didn¡¯t question it before obliging, using his phone to take a recording as Amity spread the usual circle out. The expected light flung itself from wall to wall, drawing out a precise guide for the magic to follow. She used the recording to trace the lines as she had done many times before, then had Raleigh tap the center. A small gust of wind erupted out of the center before spreading wider and causing a few rocks to get pushed around.

    ¡°Oh shit, it¡¯s wind. That¡¯s like, awesome.¡±

    Amity tried to capture the wind, placing her hand in the breeze before feeling magic flow into it, dispersing in the breeze before returning to the stretched out appendage. She tried to feel it, understand its every movement and influence them, curving the breeze to the side, then speeding it up and slowing it back down.

    Eventually, Amity allowed the breeze to stop, and she disposed of the glyph.

    ¡°Using magic is so tiring. I didn¡¯t really think there''d be that much energy going into it.¡±

    ¡°Where did you think it¡¯d be getting it¡¯s power?¡±

    ¡°True,¡±

    Amity and Raleigh sat on some rocks and waiting, idly making small talk for some minutes until they realized something.

    ¡°Hey, haven¡¯t they been down there for a while? Do you think we should go after them?¡±

    ¡°Actually yeah, they¡¯ve been in their halls for like 10 minutes. Let¡¯s go check on them.¡±

    Raleigh went down the left hall, Amity the middle.

    ¡°Hey! Himiko! Katie! Whichever one of you is in this hall¡­¡±

    There was a slight echo, but no response from either of the missing people. Raleigh traced his fingers on the yellow rock that was embedded in the wall, feeling a slight buzz of static electricity zap his hands every few seconds. Maybe 30 seconds into walking, his hand slipped into a hole in the wall, seemingly related to the one in his own mine but bigger and rougher.

    ¡°What the¡­¡±

    He looked into it, seeing the hole attach to a tube running parallel to the mine. Something blurred by, running around the tubes, before turning back and stopping at the hole. The metallic ball rolled to Raleigh, capturing an image of his face and rolling back before Raleigh could do anything.

    ¡°What¡­ Was that a robot??¡±

    Raleigh had this weigh on his mind as he walked further down the mine before he saw another one. It was similar to the previous one but slightly larger, and colored black. It began rolling towards Raleigh¡¯s feet, but Raleigh stepped to the side. When it made it where Raleigh stood prior, it simply vanished. No trace of anything having occurred remained. Just as he began walking again, the robot reappeared just in-front of him, ramming straight into his ankle and tripping him.

    ¡°Holy crap, that thing teleported!¡±

    He felt a roll on his back, then a sharp prick.

    He couldn¡¯t move to swat whatever was back there away before Raleigh slipped into sleep.

 Windy Mining Pt. 2

    Amity walked out of the mine-shaft, having had no luck in finding either of the missing girls.

    ¡°Raleigh! I didn¡¯t find either of them!¡±

    Raleigh didn¡¯t respond. Amity walked to the hall he was in, only to find that a small section of the floor was missing. It looked maybe 5 and a half feet long, just enough to fit a person through if laid flat. When she looked through the hole, she saw a platform descending. It was seemingly free standing, from Amity¡¯s perspective it was moving downwards itself without any support. She gauged the distance to the platform, a solid few feet. She thought about jumping to it, but before she decided, she noticed a symbol on the platform. It was a circle with a design in it, similar to the glyphs but significantly less complex in design, just a few lines. She decided not to jump onto the platform, just walking by the hole for the time being.

    Amity walked to the end of the hall, only noting a few small trails in the sandy floor that abruptly stopped at the very end of the hall. A slight buzzing sound caught her attention, turning herself backwards to spot a dinged up metallic ball, sandy and scratched. The ball tried to ram itself into Amity, but she stepped over it. It turned back, but she moved away. This repeated for a good few seconds, fruitless efforts made by the robot to trip up Amity, and her simply stepping over or around it. She leaned over and picked it up, but once it made it to about face level, it tried to run into Amity yet again.

    Amity grabbed her nose and dropped the orb, which went back to trying to force Amity over. She managed to step over it, before grabbing into her pocket and removing her hand from her nose. Amity felt a slight draft blow from behind her, and harnessed it into a stronger breeze. Just before the orb ran into her foot, she used the wind to launch it away, directly into the wall. She walked away from the robot, now given up on attacking Amity, and attempted to reach the man hall again. Just as the light from the hall was in sight, though, she felt something unusual with her footing.

    Amity stepped into the hole. She reached to catch her fall, but she simply avoided face planting. Amity managed to barely catch the lip of the wall with her fingertips, but she quickly realized that she wouldn¡¯t be able to get up again. Looking down, she noted the platform had stalled not too far down from where she had seen it earlier. Amity breathed, readied herself, and let herself fall.

    She hit the ground with her toes, bending her knees and using her hands to absorb the impact.

    ¡°Holy crap.¡±

    Amity inspected the platform. The design from earlier was still there (not like it could¡¯ve moved.) She brushed some dust away from it and made out a few words written above the symbol.

    ¡°The Broken Divine? What the¡­¡±

    Before she could finish her sentence, she felt someone hit the platform a few times. She didn¡¯t see anyone around her, but she noticed a small handle with a latch keeping whatever it was for closed. She unlatched it and pulled it open, only to see Himiko laying there, sans hat, with red eyes.

    ¡°Amity! Thank gosh, please help me out of this thing!¡±

    ¡°Himiko? What are you doing in here? Where¡¯s your hat?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but I¡¯d rather be alive without it than dead with it, so please help!¡±

    Amity looked around for a way to unlock the strange thing that confined Himiko, before finally finding a small latch placed beneath a rock, probably meant to hide it. She undid it and stood on the very edge as Himiko got the lid of it up so she could stand.

    ¡°Holy crap, Amity, thank you! I thought I would like, die!¡±

    Amity blushed and hugged her back.

    ¡°How¡­ did you get down here?¡± Himiko said as she looked up, over the walls.

    ¡°I jumped, it¡¯s actually pretty easy to not die when you jump.¡±

    ¡°Oh, dang. Real question is, how do we get up again?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ That¡¯s¡­ an actual issue. I¡¯m not sure.¡±

    Amity thought for a second, then noticed a small screw holding a little panel into whatever this contraption was. She grabbed a multi-tool from her bag, although it had rusted after years of being in a river before Amity picked it up when she had gone fishing just a few months ago. She struggled and strained to pull it open, then pulled out the screwdriver tool. The near ruined multi-tool managed to make it just far enough to allow her to undo the screw manually, before the screwdriver snapped off, taking the rest of the tool with it.

    ¡°Aw man, my thing broke.¡±

    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°Rest in pieces, weird river multi-tool. 1608 probably to 2022.¡± Himiko saluted, pretending to cry.

    They both laughed, put it back into the bag for a proper burial (digging it into the sand) later, then removed the screw. Behind the panel were a few small buttons, an exposed circuit board, and a few small rocks that had seemingly fallen in. Amity read the tiny text beneath each button, finding the one that would go upwards. She pressed the third button, and immediately felt the platform start crawling up again.

    ¡°That was¡­ easier than I thought it would be.¡±

    Amity put the panel back in and waited for the platform to reach the top, then stepped off with Himiko. A familiar orb robot climbed on some bricks stacked along the wall to get just over the taller of the two, then rolled off and dealt a pretty severe blow. Amity fell over, and the robot rolled off before Himiko could do anything.

    ¡°- Amity! Amity, are you okay?¡±

    ¡­

    ¡°Amity!! Oh no, no no no ¡­¡±

    Himiko shook the unconscious girl, but all that served to do was reveal a shining purple liquid dripping from Amity¡¯s head. She stood up and tried to pull her, but it didn¡¯t work. She decided to sit down and look at the injured girl¡¯s head that was still leaking the strange fluid, which she determined to be blood, since it was coming from a pretty bad injury. It was covered in hair, but she could part it and get an okay look. Amity¡¯s head rested in Himiko¡¯s lap as she examined the injury, making sure no dust or debris had gotten into it. She felt a shifting, and heard a voice.

    ¡°¡­ -¡±

    Amity opened her eyes and immediately felt the stinging pain pulse through her head. She tried to sit up, feeling her head, but Himiko forced her to stay laid down.

    ¡°Don¡¯t sit right now. You took a pretty hard blow, something fell on your head.¡±

    She took a second to respond, eventually asking

    ¡°Am I bleeding?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, not too badly but there¡¯s a bit of blood.¡±

    Amity felt her face, getting a bit of the unusual blood on her hand.

    ¡°Wait¡­ What¡¯s this crap?¡±

    ¡°Well, I think it¡¯s your blood¡­¡±

    ¡°I have purple blood now?? That¡¯s like, sick as hell.¡±

    Himiko shifted Amity off her lap, where Amity hadn¡¯t yet realized she was, and stood up.

    ¡°Do you know where Raleigh and Katie are?¡±

    ¡°No, actually. I was looking for them, but I never found them.¡±

    Amity sat herself up and began rifling through her bag for some gauze, fixing her head before standing back up. She nearly immediately lost her balance, tripping and falling directly onto Himiko, who managed to catch her.

    ¡°Shoot- Amity, are you ?¡±

    ¡°Ow¡­ yeah I¡¯m fine¡­ Sorry.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s all good! We should probably walk slowly, though.¡±

    Himiko grabbed Amity¡¯s hand, eliciting a blush, and began to walk out of the mine hallway. They made it just to the exit, when they saw someone new. Seemingly in his  or , the man promptly stood up and walked over to the girls.

    ¡°Hello. I am Cornet. One of you is Amity, yes?¡±

    The man adjusted his suit and straightened his tie while waiting for the response.

    ¡°Um, yes. I¡¯m Amity, she¡¯s Himiko.¡±

    ¡°Ah, Himiko? Weren¡¯t you¡­ never mind. This is probably a question for my team.¡± he grumbled. ¡°Anyway, hello! I have been sent down to retrieve your little posse and bring you to the local castle.¡±

    ¡°The.. castle? We¡¯ve only seen ruins, is there an actual royalty here?¡±

    ¡°Why yes there is! I¡¯ll tell you about them on your way there. For now, let¡¯s get going.¡±

    The man turned away, but Amity and Himiko remained still.

    ¡°Hold on, we¡¯re still looking for our friends! They went down these hallways and pretty much vanished!¡±

    ¡°Vanished¡­? Oh, dear. Did you happen to see a strange symbol? I think it has the letters ¡®¡¯ over it, usually?¡±

    ¡°¡®¡¯? I think so¡­ I¡¯ve seen ¡®The Broken Divine¡¯, but that¡¯s not quite ¡®¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Ah, this is a recent base. Come along, we have to make this quick.¡±

    Cornet went behind the girls, guiding them back to the platform. He wiped away some of the sand covering it and pulled open a small panel. The key-chain in his pocket had a small key, which he used to unlock a small keyhole within the platform.

    A series of buttons above the lock lit up, and he guided the girls onto the platform again.

    ¡°Be careful, hold tight.¡±

    He pressed two buttons together, sending out a beep before nearly instantly propelling the platform down. They stood for maybe 30 seconds at this unusual speed before halting to the sight of a small door.

    ¡°What are your friends names, again?¡±

    ¡°Uh, Raleigh, and Katie.¡±

    ¡°I will have them out shortly. Remain here.¡±

    He went inside, and they heard yelling spread throughout the room as he threw open and closed doors, speeding to a holding room.

    ¡°Hello. Are you two Raleigh and Katie?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ who¡¯s asking?¡±

    ¡°I am Cornet. Your friends are here to get you. Come with me.¡±

    He unlocked the door to the room they had been seated in, and brought them out.

    ¡°Do you know, like, what the entire deal is with this?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll explain in a second. We have to get out of here first.¡± He tried to make it clear this was somewhat urgent.

    They acknowledged the man¡¯s urgency and stayed in silence as they made their way to the platform. He adjusted his suit before opening the door and getting everyone on. With the same demeanor, he got the platform to go up, just before a large object hit the bottom.

    ¡°Close shave.¡±

    They all made it out to the hall, covered the platform in rocks and sand, and walked out.

    Cornet began as they reached the elevator; ¡°Those people are part of something called The Broken Divine. They believe that a Human is destined to come every hundred years, and it is their duty to capture and¡­ ¡°release¡± it.¡±

    There was a pause, then he continued.

    ¡°Release doesn¡¯t mean setting you free. It means setting your soul and body free. The last time they managed to release someone was a few hundred cycles ago, near the end of the Human Age.¡±

    ¡°What was the Human Age?¡±

    ¡°Basically,¡± he stepped out of the elevator, ¡°It was a period where humans came to and from this land often. I believe it was what you call the ? Anyway, near the end of the decade, they used the blood of a human to seal off all gateways. There was only one left uncovered, which was because it was broken.¡±

    He pointed to the spot where they entered, sand still stained a vibrant yellow.

    ¡°It used to be there. You hooked onto it, which as far as we knew was impossible. So, the royal family has invited you to a dinner! We have a gift for you, too.¡±

    They all nodded, and spent the rest of their walk trying to guess what it could be.

 Formal Introduction

    The bridge creaked down, the moat having a visible floor this time. The castle doors opened, and the princess walked out.

    ¡°Hello. I hear you brought the humans?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Lady Chagrin. These are the humans, as per your request.¡±

    ¡°Wonderful.¡± She extended her hand to the group. ¡°Hello, Amity. I¡¯m the princess of this kingdom. You may call me Silva.¡±

    Amity took her and and shook it. ¡°Hi, Silva.¡± She let go. ¡°Why did you call us over here?¡±

    ¡°You lot are humans, correct?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we recently arrived from earth.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Please, follow me.¡±

    She obliged, gesturing for the rest of the group to follow. They stood inside the castle, the princess guiding them to a hall just next to the main hall. She opened a small chest placed against the wall, revealing a small slip of paper.

    ¡°At your school, did you happen to know a girl named ?¡±

    ¡°Kaiya¡­ I think she was in my 3rd period, but she switched out a few months ago.¡±

    ¡°Yes, well, she arrived here in your month of April.¡± She handed the paper over. ¡°Kaiya has been in my quarters for this time. Right now, she is out doing work, but before she gets home, I have a request.¡± Silva put a hand near her shoulder.

    ¡°Sure, what is it?¡±

    Silva gripped something, pulling her arm away to reveal a long blade.

    ¡°Hand over everything. You¡¯ve gone far enough.¡±

    Amity pulled up a wind shield, saying ¡°What? Why would I hand anything over to you?¡±

    Silva pierced through the shield with ease, allowing the tip to rest on Amity¡¯s neck. ¡°Why would you? Hmm, maybe it¡¯s because I have servants lined up across the entire island! They¡¯d stop you the instant you leave the castle! Maybe it¡¯s the fact I could kill you right now! Maybe it¡¯s because I¡¯m a part of T-¡±

    Amity sprayed the girl with fire, then booked it out of the castle. Everyone followed, and she used more wind to lift the drawbridge, blocking Silva in. Their relief was short lived, though, as not only was there a small sandstorm building in front of them, but when they turned around, a puff of wind and sand blew out from behind them. The flame-ridden girl summoned ice to surround them in all but the front, and used the raging fire already smothering her to provide her blade with a hot finish.

    The only natural magic user in the ice panicked, launching up ice in front of them. She quickly remedied this, melting a hole in it, but she was met with the tip of a blade nearly hitting her face already.

    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°Amity Rune. Would you rather die like this? Or would you rather go out peacefully in an¡­ accident in a few days?¡±

    ¡°Neither, because I¡¯m not dying.¡±

    She extinguished the fires on the blade, replacing them with dull ice. Silva pulled the blade away to remove what was effectively a scabbard, making it so no cutting could be done, but this was an error. A flame appeared just outside the back ice wall, quickly melting a hole large enough for everyone to sneak through.

    ¡°Hey, Bronza!¡±

    ¡°What did you just call me?¡±

    Amity didn¡¯t need to respond, as a small beam of lightning struck Silva. She fell over, just barely tripping directly into the pit, while still clutching a sword that had just had it¡¯s tip cleared. The one who was still standing ducked under the hole she had made, attempting a hasty getaway. Unfortunately for her, the rest of her group had vanished, and there was still someone she was forgetting.

    Kaiya.

    She ran back to the castle, already feeling immensely drained, and used some ice to make footholds so she could reach the quarters of the (now likely ex-) princess.

    ¡°Kaiya! Kaiya, are you-¡± The door to the quarters opened, and a small girl in a jean jacket entered.

    ¡°¡­ Do I know you from somewhere?¡± The soft spoken girl asked.

    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m Amity, from school. Are you Kaiya?¡±

    She nodded.

    ¡°Good. Listen, there was a fiasco, the princess tried to kill me for something I didn¡¯t quite understand, and she fell into the moat around the castle, so I think she¡¯s¡­ yeah.¡±

    Kaiya put her right hand on her left arm, looking down.

    ¡°Sorry¡­ Anyway, we may need to go. Please, pick up whatever you have here, we need to run.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine¡­ I don¡¯t really have much stuff, so I¡¯ll be back in maybe 10 seconds.¡±

    She walked into the closet to her right, only grabbing a small bag with some basic supplies and one change of clothes.

    ¡°Oh, you really didn¡¯t have much¡­¡± Amity sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    She used ice to create a small ramp down to the sand, leading Kaiya down. They ran for a minute or two, getting out of visible range of the castle.

    ¡°¡­ Do you have a way to get home?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but we need to find my friends first. They have a lot of my stuff, including what we need to get home.¡±

    Kaiya silently nodded, leading Amity forward to a small piece of rock in the ground. She stepped onto the flat surface and muttered some short words and phrases in a language Amity had never heard before.

    ¡°What are their names?¡± She asked quietly.

    ¡°Uh, Himiko, Raleigh, and Katie.¡±

    She returned to speaking in the foreign language, saying slightly altered versions of their names that sounded more like how a baby would say them, but tighter and more powerful almost.

    A small glow emanated from the sandstorm, and Kaiya stepped off the platform.

    ¡°That¡¯s them.¡±

    Amity created a small wind bubble around them to keep sand away as they walked through the storm, closer to the group. The very short girl made a few more unfamiliar utterances in the language Amity still couldn¡¯t put a name on, and the glow increased in brightness. They penetrated the edge of the storm and made it to a calm area, and Amity near immediately collapsed. ¡°Kaiya, can you give me a second? Magic is really draining.¡±

    ¡°Sure. Actually, how do you have magic in the first place? I don¡¯t think you were born with it?¡±

    Amity explained everything from how they got here to just before they found Kaiya, and she listened with intent. She helped Amity back up, and they continued forwards. The glow gradually dimmed, until they saw a familiar hat laying on the ground.

    ¡°Oh crap.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°This is Himiko¡¯s hat. If she lost it¡­ Something bad happened.¡±

    ¡°Uh oh.¡±

    ¡°Can you do the  thing again?¡±

    Kaiya walked around to find a large enough rock, then stood on it and repeated the process, seeing the only glow come from the hat.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not good.¡±

 Copper, Silva, and Gold

    Amity picked the hat up, the only glow coming from the hat, missing it¡¯s wearer. She tried to move it away from Kaiya, hoping to redirect her search to the rest of them rather than the article of clothing.

    ¡°It¡¯s not¡­ Kaiya, can you try to ignore the hat?¡±

    She obliged, slightly turned away, and shifted the utterances to try avoiding the hat in the search. A slight glow came from the distance, but it quickly vanished before she could fully lock on. Kaiya stepped down from the rock.

    ¡°Over there.¡± She began walking to where the glow had emanated from. Amity silently followed, walking just behind her so she would be able to create the wind cover again. They walked together for a few minutes, narrowly avoiding a cactus they barely saw amidst the storm. Just as they saw the end of the storm, a gust of wind flew though the existing barrier surrounding them, sweeping it along with it and leaving the two girls exposed to the elements. Amity tried to form another shield, but as soon as the wind left her hand it ran off towards the breeze.

    ¡°Run out!¡± They sprinted through the remainder of the storm, covering their faces to avoid getting any of the sand in their eyes. A breeze rushed around them, surrounding the two and kicking up more sand. Amity again attempted to use wind, ripping away the unusual effect surrounding them, but she just couldn¡¯t. She wasn¡¯t able to hook onto it, and she certainly couldn¡¯t create anything more. The breeze began to flow faster and smoother, separating from Amity and surrounding only Kaiya, before exiting the spiral it was in and stopping in front of the girls. It gathered sand and began to build a human-like figure.

    It built a spinning form out of sand, forming clothes very similar to what Silva had worn. The body didn¡¯t look exactly like her, being ever so slightly shorter, but it was close enough that they could both tell what was happening.

    ¡°Hey, you guys!¡±

    They both stared at it, unsure what exactly to do, before Kaiya spoke up.

    ¡°Um, who are you?¡±

    The wind blew around, morphing the limbs in a way that was very close to, but not exactly, how Silva moved.

    ¡°Oh, right, I need a name¡­ Will the name Copper work?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s fine, but like, what are you?¡±

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m a wind illusion! Technically, my name isn¡¯t Copper, but it¡¯s fine to call me that when I¡¯m projecting myself like this.¡±

    Amity reached out to shake the illusion¡¯s hand, but the hand simply phased through her, only contacting loose sand particles.

    ¡°Oh, yeah, I can¡¯t really hold stuff like this¡­¡± Copper contemplated for a second, eventually diving itself into the sand, gathering more of it and leaving a small dip in the ground where she entered. It reached it¡¯s hand out again, this time significantly more solid, and Amity happily shook it.

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    ¡°There we go!¡±

    The excess sand fell from Copper¡¯s body, leaving it lighter and less solid, when Amity finally asked the question.

    ¡°So, you¡¯re a wind illusion, you¡¯re named Copper, but not really, and you¡¯re coming to us for what exactly?¡±

    Copper thought, eventually deciding to shift it¡¯s form a tiny bit to help answer the question. It was now the exact form of Raleigh, and she used more wind to help illustrate what was happening.

    ¡°First, do you know of The Broken Divine?¡± It formed their symbol, the simplistic lines in a circle.

    ¡°Yes, they tried to capture all my friends earlier¡­¡±

    ¡°They have your friends, again it seems. They know about Silva, presumably because of the man who rescued your friends earlier witnessing it go down, so they¡¯ve gone all out on their trap.¡± It formed a pedestal with a large rock on it.

    ¡°This is the most powerful rock, according to their handbooks. It has powers unlike your entire arsenal.¡± A simplified scene of fallen soldiers played out.

    ¡°They intended for the man from earlier to show you it, not predicting the princess¡¯s actions.¡± The graphic image of Silva collapsing into the pit, falling for several seconds before the thud rang out played.

    ¡°So, where are they?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re here.¡± The wind creature dug into the sand to pull out a map, crushed and desecrated after seemingly years.

    <figure></figure>

    It pointed towards the smaller lake on the top left island.

    ¡°You¡¯re about here, I believe.¡±It pointed to the southernmost point of the same island.

    ¡°They¡¯re all the way over here.¡±It then pointed to the bottom island, the small outstretched bit underneath the part connecting the smaller islands that make it up.

    ¡°I¡¯m about here.¡±

    Amity studied the map, commiting it to memory as best she could.

    ¡°I need you to get your friends, then come get me. I¡¯m currently trapped inside one of The Broken Divine¡¯s holding rooms, a pretty secure one.¡±

    She nodded, accepting the deal.

    ¡°I can¡¯t hold the illusion forever, so I have to go now. I¡¯ll try to come back as soon as I can. See ya, Amity.¡±

    ¡°Bye, Copper. We¡¯ll come to get you soon!¡±

    The sand collapsed into it¡¯s usual lifeless form as the wind forming Copper melded itself back into the usual north heading breeze, although it was ever so slightly stronger now. Amity and Kaiya began to think together, realizing that the mountainous landscapes that sat between the two of them and the rest of their group. Kaiya was the first to come up with an actual thought.

    ¡°How did they get those three to the south bit of the island so fast? It¡¯s only been twenty-ish minutes, and that looked like probably three or four miles.¡±

    Amity thought about it, coming to the same, or at least a very similar conclusion.

    ¡°They have to have cars, you can¡¯t carry three kids almost four miles away in twenty minutes.¡±

    Kaiya looked roughly in the direction of the base that supposedly held the kids, noticing something odd. There was a relatively short sand dune in the distance, but it didn¡¯t look quite right. She thought it was the distance. Maybe the exhaustion of using her searching power in a human body causing her eyes to play tricks on her. Nonetheless, she walked to examine it (dragging along Amity) and found something¡­ strange, to say the least.

    There was indeed something that looked just like a sand dune there, but it didn¡¯t look 100% correct. She put her hand on it, expecting it to dig a tiny bit in, but it stopped entirely. The cold surface of the sand dune had many scratches near its bottom, and the blue-ish gray paint designed to keep it looking the same as the surrounding sand was worn away roughly in the shape of a hand near the top. Amity was the first to notice this, placing her hand in the groove left by possibly hundreds of others before her.

    It slightly glowed, the dome splitting apart to reveal a staircase.

    They both stepped onto the first step.

    They heard a sound ring from the bottom.

 The Tubes

    The clatter of things hitting the metal floor and chairs rolling away mixed with the solid footsteps of two men, running to the stairs. They both heard the dome open, and didn¡¯t expect anyone to be coming down the only official travel method for their group, so they were understandably nervous.

    It could either have been royalty, shutting them down.

    Or it could have been Amity.

    Either way, the fake sand dune being uncovered was bad news.

    Amity stepped back from the stairs, startled by the immediate ruckus at first, then by the employees armed with a simple weapon each. One held what looked like a sci-fi blaster, the other had a small rock in his hand. She subtly grabbed the red and white rocks from her pocket, before throwing her hands in the air, surrendering.

    ¡°Stay right there, miss!¡±

    Amity obliged, gesturing for Kaiya to raise her hands too.

    The two men bolted up the stairs, making it almost all the way to the top before they hit a wall made of wind, solid enough to block the two coming from the front but easy enough to disperse on the command of Amity. She kept them down with wind as she dragged them out of the stairwell, before diving back down into the mysterious underbelly of the operation.

    ¡°Amity, what was that?¡±

    ¡°Which part?¡±

    ¡°The bit where you lifted two grown men and carried them out of the way! That was insane!¡±

    Amity chuckled. ¡°Oh, yeah. I got that strength when I got my magic¡­ Speaking of, do you have magic?¡±

    ¡°I mean, I can do that searching spell, but that¡¯s about it. I don¡¯t think I can do any fancy magic like you did, though.¡±

    ¡°Did Silva¡­ Did Lady Chagrin inject you with anything at all?¡±

    ¡°Not as far as I know¡­ She barely even acknowledged me, beyond the invitation to stay with her.¡±

    Amity reached the bottom of the stairs, and pressed another hand scanner to open a door. It opened slowly, revealing a wide, empty hall. It was a blue-ish gray, and very sparsely filled, only containing sparse counts of people and significantly more heavy machinery, some disassembled and some working flawlessly. A series of tubes ran around the area, the majority of them all connecting at some point to a single central tube located in the middle of the room. It was clear, similar metal as to what made up the floor ran up it on four points, supporting it up to the first bend. Amity put up a temporary wind barrier to avoid anyone coming in and interrupting them, just as Kaiya saw something pretty notable.

    They heard a running motor as a translucent red cylinder slid at a decent speed, probably 8 miles per hour, down the many horizontal tubes running along the ceiling. It made a gradual, although fast, deceleration, just before hitting the bend. The tube was big enough for the payload to easily make a soft landing at the bottom of it. The doors opened, revealing a person who stepped out, unfazed that they just traveled incredibly fast in a cramped environment.

    He walked away, and Amity and Kaiya ran up to it. The vehicle sank into the base of the structure, and it seemed to vanish. The floor looked solid, but there was notably a small button near the edge. Amity pressed it, and another cylinder began rising, but didn¡¯t make it all the way out before stopping. An alert beeped on the a small screen on the door, reading ¡°Please step inside.¡±

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    Kaiya was the first to do so, the cylinder raising around her and closing off just above her head. A red light displayed near her eyes, gesturing her to tap her nose to where she wanted to go. The dot for ¡°midwest holding cells¡± was beeping, so she tapped it. Immediately, she felt the thing she was riding in begin to lift itself, going up through the same path as the prior rider did. Amity saw what Kaiya was doing and did the same, following her friend relatively closely.

    They rode for maybe a minute before they saw something besides the insides of rock, that being a smaller area with a central checkpoint. They rode past it, but they had both noticed the light on the map beeping faster as they made it closer to their destination. Another red cylinder flew past them, running in a parallel tube in the opposite direction, but they shrugged it off until they saw more. Two more, this time green ones. They were shorter, around the size of the ones Amity and Kaiya were in, but they didn¡¯t pay them any real mind either.

    The beeping slowed down, as did they, as the final turn approached. They were set down in a similar tube as they entered through, but they noticed a stark difference. The room they were set in was bustling, and blindingly white. They ducked behind an empty desk and began to think.

    ¡°Whoa, this place is packed! How are we going to get through without getting noticed?¡± Amity whispered.Kaiya was silent, wrapping her arms around her legs and putting her head down on her knees. She began to whisper the short phrases as she had done before, causing the glow to emanate, this time from behind them. Amity saw it through the wooden desk, but she also saw something worrying. There was the glow of two humanoid figures, but there was also a glow from atop the desk, and another immediately next to the figures.

    She stood up, looking for the glow, and found it. A small vial of blood, sat on a stand with a paper under it, reading ¡°Subject FIFTEEN-X.¡± She immediately went back under the desk, and reported the information, to which Kaiya responded with a gentle sigh.

    ¡°They are glowing, so they¡¯re probably still okay. We still need to move quickly, though.¡±

    They both looked on the desk for anything potentially useful, which they quickly found in a sheet of paper with a map printed on it. It wasn¡¯t entirely there, a few errors blotched out some of the most crucial areas, but they carefully inspected it nonetheless, drawing up a plan.

    ¡°Right there, it says FIFTEEN-X. That¡¯s probably where they¡¯re being held.¡±

    Kaiya picked up the paper, finding a short path that went into seemingly niche areas.

    ¡°I have an idea. We weave through the darkroom. People don¡¯t usually stay in there for long, so its probably empty.¡±

    Amity approved.

    ¡°Then, we can probably run on the storage areas behind the labs here. Again, not likely for people to be there.¡±

    Amity then asked; ¡°Then, we run in, pick up Raleigh, Himiko, and Katie, and then just do that in reverse?¡±

    ¡°Pretty much. Let¡¯s go, now.¡±

    They stepped out from under the desk, darting under the eyes of anyone looking. The darkroom was only covered by a curtain, so they could get in easily and quietly.

    As you would expect, the darkroom was pretty dark, as the red light you associate with them is only on when someone steps in and turns it on. They fumbled around, trying their hardest not to disturb anything when Kaiya found the curtain that covered the exit.

    Amity took a few seconds to reach her, but they quickly dove into their second area, the lab. The first lab, blindingly white in comparison, had a small door near the corner that led to the narrow, although long, supply rooms. The two stepped in, but the moment they closed the door they were immediately shocked by the clinking of glass on glass, someone picking up test tubes. The noise stopped, and they heard footsteps getting closer as they stood perfectly still. Eventually, some softer noises emanated from a shelf just a row away from them, which seemed to be sample bottles.

    They decided to walk as if they were another scientist, and this was clearly the best move, because someone pulled open the doors to it just as they squeezed into an aisle. It took a second to close, but eventually they decided that the person had gone back inside and they kept going. The exit door opened not to the third lab, but rather to a small white chamber. A piece of glass mounted on a wall, just above a small panel with several buttons.

    Amity ran up to it, looking into the adjacent room, to see¡­

    Himiko. Surrounded by blood, dark red and devastating. On the ground next to her, an old paring knife.

 Dark Red and Devastating

    The room she was in was an old room, clearly. It wasn¡¯t maintained at all, the walls having turned a disgusting yellow and the chains holding her in place having rusted. Amity knocked on the glass, but Himiko didn¡¯t even bat an eye. She did it again, to which she glared. A third knock finally got a response.

    ¡°What?!¡±

    Amity was taken aback, surprised at her friend¡¯s outburst.

    ¡°Himiko! It¡¯s me, Amity!¡±

    Immediately, she looked away.

    ¡°No it¡¯s not! You said she could never find this place!¡±

    Amity looked at the panel in front of her, not finding anything useful until finally spotting it. There was a slider, currently resting at the far left side of its path. She slid it to the right, and a small opening began to widen as she pushed it further and further.

    ¡°This is possibly the worst mechanism to open a door I¡¯ve ever seen.¡±

    Nonetheless, she walked over to the newly opened passageway, where Himiko was glaring still, although she wasn¡¯t able to see very much of it due to the restraint keeping her facing more or less straight forward. Amity went through, and got in front of Himiko, who immediately had her eyes widen.

    ¡°A- Amity? It really was you?!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it was! I can¡¯t exactly let you die in some random facility. Speaking of, we need to get you and the rest of them out of here.¡±

    Amity tried her hardest to avoid staining the bottom of her shoes in the blood laying on the floor, not cleaned. The paring knife sat directly under an arm that had been hooked to¡­ something. It was pulling out Himiko¡¯s blood, but it didn¡¯t look like anything she had seen before. She pulled it out, as carefully as possible, while pulling out a series of bandages and one sheet of gauze to cover the wound.

    ¡°How long have you been here? In this room, getting your blood taken, I mean.¡±

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    ¡°Not very long, maybe 10 minutes? I don¡¯t think they¡¯ve even- SHIT- turned on the blood pulling thing yet.¡±

    ¡°Are you good? These tight bandages do hurt.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­ Thanks.¡±

    Amity slipped off the restraints holding Himiko in the corner, before helping her up and leading her out.

    ¡°Okay, we need to get Raleigh and Katie. Do you know where they went?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I think so. I kept hearing the phrase ¡®fourteen-x¡¯, and-¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right next to here! Lets duck back over here.¡±

    Amity led Himiko and Kaiya to a hall behind the two buildings and they walked behind the two.

    ¡°Uh, Amity, who is she?¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Kaiya. Amity rescued me from the castle of the princess, right before you got captured.¡±

    ¡°Wait¡­ Kaiya? Weren¡¯t you¡­ the first half of the year, we¡­¡±

    ¡°We had 3rd period together, I believe. Nice to meet you outside of school, Himiko.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you too..¡±

    They reached the door to the next chamber, and Amity quickly opened it and found yet another window. Although, in the room they found Himiko, she learned this wasn¡¯t entirely a window, but rather a one-way mirror. She could see the ¡®subjects¡¯, her friends, but they couldn¡¯t see back through it.

    She knocked again, yelling the same thing as last time, but this time they were a lot more receptive to the idea that Amity was saving them.

    ¡°Amity, is it really you?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! I have Himiko, too!¡±

    Amity pushed the slide to the side, opening the door and allowing her to get through. There wasn¡¯t any blood on the ground, but this room was still decrepit and the floor slightly wet. The shackles on each person¡¯s arms and legs stood steady, their hands were too big for Amity to coerce them out of the tightly locked cuffs. She reached into her bag, grabbing two metal <mark>lockpicks</mark> and slipping them into the <mark>keyway</mark>. She applied tension and began pressing at each individual pin, but there was no sound or any change in the tension to indicate it was working.

    After maybe two minutes, the <mark>lockpicks</mark> were removed and hastily stuffed back into the shoulder-bound bag resting on her side.

    ¡°Amity, did it work?¡±

    ¡°It didn¡¯t¡­ Hold on.¡±

    She slipped over to the wall with the mirror, grabbing a rock and holding it tight as she ran back over to the trapped girl. She heard footsteps creaking into the room, just as she made it back to the girl. Amity was plainly in view if you were even a step into the area, but she continued her plan.

    She felt power course through her, the thoughts of who the people who almost certainly see her now are.

    What they would do if they caught her.

    The thought of Katie and Raleigh, trapped still.

    The thought of Kaiya, stuck in this world after months, and how she wanted to free her.

    The thought of Himiko¡­

    She brought down her hand and...

    *CLANG*

 Search and Rescue

    *CLANG*

    The impact sent a wave through Amity as chunks of metal flew out, throwing Amity back a bit. She braced herself, rolling on the ground as she came to a stop.

    ¡°Ow- Shit!¡±

    Her back rubbed against the floor as her head crashed into the wall, stopping her from going any further. The site where she stood had been blasted clean, the wall no longer having any attachments¡­

    Or Katie.

    Immediately, Amity got up and ran over to the wall, where she could see someone slumped in the corner. She slid down and hastily grabbed the body¡¯s arm, placing two fingers on the wrist as she desperately hoped for a pulse.

    The floor near the girl was a dirty, dingy yellow showing that it hadn¡¯t been cleaned, if ever, and it began to soak up a dark red liquid, staining Amity¡¯s clothes.

    She felt something warm touch her skirt, but she didn¡¯t care. The potential danger her friend was in was more powerful than that.

    She felt a tiny bit of movement as she honed in on the blood vessel, the pulse becoming clear, although weak, as she breathed a sigh of relief. Amity gripped the hand, holding the green rock in her other, as she forced a green wave of power through her hand into the other girl¡¯s.

    Katie remained unconscious while Amity stood up, pulling away and heading towards Raleigh.

    Just as she reached his shackles, though, she realized something important.

    The footsteps stopped.

    She picked up another rock from the floor, slamming it against the window, then one of Raleigh¡¯s shackles. Amity ripped the other hand¡¯s shackle out of the wall as she directed him to Katie.

    ¡°Keep her safe.¡±

    She handed him a few papers and some chunks of rock, as well as her water bottle.

    Amity leaped through the empty window frame, dodging the broken glass to land on the other side unharmed. She looked to her side, seeing the door half open with clear dents on it. The door slammed into the wall as she ran outside, quickly diving through the groups of people to consult a map mounted on the outside wall of the room she was in, finding a wall to duck behind as she studied it.

    This one was a bit different - it lacked the label for the cells that Amity had found her friends in, replacing the text with ¡°SECURITY LEVEL 4 ONLY¡±She ignored that difference, focusing on a room that she noticed didn¡¯t exist on the original map, the paper had been torn just where the room was situated.

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    The desk was situated roughly near the center of the facility, the holding chambers for Amity¡¯s friends on the far north side, and this¡­ secret room, needing level 5 clearance, was on the far south side, nestled in a corner that probably didn¡¯t get much traffic.

    She tried her hardest in the maybe 20 seconds she had to stare at the map to commit it to memory, before ducking into a hallway to her left.

    Footsteps echoed as she entered the enclosed area, a stretch of sandy floor in front of her and nothing behind her.

    The door clicked shut, the sound feeling like a bomb in the otherwise silent hall. Once she started taking steps, the sound the sand made with each step rubbing against her ears and each breath filling the entire stretch of land, she began a plan.

    ¡°At the end of this hallway, there should be my friends, in a cell. I can probably bust in, and just run out with them.¡± She thought. ¡°Actually, how would I get them out of the facility in the first place¡­¡±Just as she had an idea, she reached the end of the hall, the rusty door adorned with a sign, saying ¡°SECURITY LEVEL 5¡± and creaking under the slightest touch.

    As her hand met the cold, rough metal, she took a deep breath. She needed to move fast, grabbing Kaiya and Himiko and running them back into the hallway near immediately.

    The handle stuck, her hand pouring force into it until it finally budged, chips of paint and rusted metal falling into the sand as the door creaked open, the hinges not having been turned in years.

    Amity found herself in a dimly lit white room, pristine save for a bed in the corner and toilet in the adjacent, as well as a door that was slightly ajar with a draft.

    She pulled it open, peeking through the slightly widened crack to check for any security or other officials, before slinking through to yet another control panel mounted on the wall opposite to the one she came from. It was smaller than the other ones, only having a few buttons, as well as¡­ A turntable?She pressed the button allowing her to see into the cell, finding an identical room to hers. The turntable rotated the room as she turned it, and she quickly got a grasp on it, before placing it back how it was and bailing.

    After a few seconds of walking through a hall, she heard a faint yelp as she slipped behind a unit. The voice was soft, but powerful, as another one hit her ears.

    Amity decided to help this girl, starting by getting into the unit and stopping whatever was hurting her. She turned her head around each corner before going around, needing to reach the front of the unit for it¡¯s door, but she was stopped at the sight of another person. The girl, mostly adorned in purple with her signature witches hat, opened the door and led a sky-blue eyed girl wearing a denim jacket out of the room, shoving a collapsed man in a black jacket out of the way to make room.

    ¡°Hey.. Hey! Himiko!¡±

    The girl with the hat turned around, a bandage on her face immediately apparent.

    ¡°Huh¡­? Who.. Amity!¡± Himiko ran up to her, enveloping her in a hug for a few seconds before pulling back.

    ¡°We need to get out of here, now. Where¡¯s the rest of them?¡±

    ¡°Oh, uh¡­ Katie was unconscious last time I saw her, and Raleigh was helping her. I¡¯ll bring you guys back to them.¡±

    Amity led them back through the empty hallway, pulling open the door and slinking out and into the cell where they were previously.

    ¡°Raleigh!¡±

    Amity led the group into the chamber, where Katie had awoken.

    ¡°Hey! Katie¡¯s awake, she seems okay.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good, is she able to stand and stuff? ¡®Cause we need to go, now.¡±

    Katie tapped Amity¡¯s shoulder, answering that question.

    ¡°I¡¯m taking that as a yes, so we all need to get out, now.¡±

    Amity led them behind the cell, revealing a tube stuck into the ground, still as pristine as the one in the middle of the area.

    ¡°This was here on a map I saw on a board by that weird hallway.¡±

    Kaiya showed them how to get into the tube and activate it, as well as where to go (an option labeled ¡°Surface.¡±

    The cylinders they were inside of flew down through the tubes, heading straight upwards.

    The sounds of motors were quickly followed by that of running as someone ran across the floor, back up towards the tubes they had all just escaped from.

 Refitting

    As their feet finally hit the cool, sandy ground, they all breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, they were out of the hands of that strange organization, for now at least.

    Amity collapsed onto her back, breathing heavily for just a few seconds before sitting back up.

    ¡°So, are you all okay?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Well,¡± Himiko responded. ¡°I¡¯m missing a lot of my blood. Katie almost died, Raleigh had to help her after you left. Kaiya has marks on her arms from those shackles and scratches and bruises across her entire body. All of our clothes are torn and stained, and I think we all need to go to sleep.¡±

    They all sat around for a few beats, until Kaiya spoke up.

    ¡°I, uh. I know somewhere we could rest, and get clothes too.¡±

    They all looked at her.

    ¡°There¡¯s an inn, somewhere on this island¡­ Problem is, I have no idea where we are.¡± She continued. ¡°Actually, I do. Wasn¡¯t there a map in your guys¡¯ capsules?¡±

    They all responded affirmatively.

    ¡°We¡¯re near the southwest corner, right?¡±

    Everyone nodded.

    ¡°Right, so a bit to the east, there was a plaza with an inn and some stores. Silva used to give me a bit of money every day to get myself anything I needed, but I always saved it.¡±

    Amity interjected. ¡°Wait, what is the money here called?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s actually just the normal dollar, in essence. 100 cents in a dollar. I would get 50 dollars each day, so I think I have a few thousand saved up?¡±

    Himiko expressed amazement at that, but Raleigh didn¡¯t believe her.

    ¡°Show us proof. No way you have thousands saved.¡±

    Kaiya reached into her pocket and pulled out a small piece of plastic, which she unfolded and pulled a few yellow bills out of.

    ¡°Here, that¡¯s proof.¡±

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    In her hand were a few 50 dollar bills, covered in yellow with Silva¡¯s face on them. On the back, there was small text along the top that read ¡°5000 cents.¡±

    Raleigh leaned back.

    ¡°Dang, that¡¯s impressive. Better money skills than they teach us in school.¡±

    ¡°I had a finance class 5th hour.¡±

    ¡°Ah.¡±

    They made a bit of idle talk for a minute or two, before Katie said something.

    ¡°Hey, shouldn¡¯t we get going? Near the entirety of my outfit is red, and most of you all¡¯s is too.¡±

    ¡°Oh, actually, yeah. Lets go, it¡¯s that way¡± Kaiya pointed to the east, based off the wind direction.

    They didn¡¯t have to walk for 10 minutes before spotting it, a large area made mostly of stone with several stores and a large inn in the back corner.

    ¡°So, I assume we¡¯re doing clothes first, then getting some sleep?¡¯

    ¡°Yeah, probably. We can¡¯t exactly sleep in these trashed clothes.¡±

    Amity led them inside to a shop, named ¡°The Queen¡¯s Fashion and Accessories!¡± with a sign labeling it as ¡°Going out of business! 50% sale!¡±

    She remarked, ¡°Ironic, if it was truly the Queen¡¯s store, surely she¡¯d have enough money to keep it afloat.¡±

    They all laughed, before stepping into the cool store.

    Immediately, they were greeted by a life-size cut out of the queen, with a sign to direct you to the right section, a ¡°Boys and Men¡±, ¡°Girls and Women¡±, and ¡°Human Unisex¡± text near its corresponding arrow.

    Raleigh shuffled into the boys section, Kaiya and Katie into the unisex, and Amity and Himiko to the right, the girls area.

    They each shuffled around the shelves, finding a new outfit for everyone.

    Amity got a black dress with white frills around its base, as well as a new pair of white knee-high socks, and replaced the pin in her hair with a pentagram pin.

    Himiko also completely revamped her style, picking a pair of jeans, a new crop top, and a new pair of slides.

    In the boys section, Raleigh found a pretty similar outfit to his old one, only notable differences being that he dropped the scarf and grabbed a new blue-adjacent shirt, although all his red clothes were just a little off in terms of shade.

    Kaiya picked up an outfit bag, a bag with a pre-made outfit, the same one she grabbed when she was here ages ago to get her prior outfit.

    Katie ended up switching her look almost entirely, with a new, darker brown tank top and blue sweatpants. Some new gloves, too, black gloves with no fingers.

    They all met back up, commented on each-other¡¯s clothing choices, then went to purchase them. All in all, the entire trip only ended up costing around 150 dollars, barely a dent in Kaiya''s savings.

    As they walked out of the store, new clothes already being worn, Amity got Kaiya''s attention.

    ¡°Hey, Kaiya. Thanks for buying us new clothes and stuff, feels good to not have crusty blood on my back.¡±

    ¡°No problem! I needed new clothes too, I¡¯ve been wearing the exact same clothing for 4 month¡­¡± Kaiya replied. ¡°We should go rest for a bit, then work out how to get back home.¡±

    They all stepped into the inn, paid for enough beds to fit them all, and fell asleep. Before Raleigh was able to sleep though, he checked his phone, and realized that it was still showing as 6 AM. On the 20th.

    They got here on the 18th.

    He decided to put it down for now. It was running low on battery anyway.

 Filling Everyone In

    There was a knock at the door, followed by the sound of it opening.

    Someone flicks on the light, and shakes Amity.

    ¡°It¡¯s time!¡± They said in a sing-song manner.

    Amity felt her head pounding, rolled over, rubbed her eyes, and sat up.

    ¡°Oh shoot, thanks!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome! You might want to wake up your friends, I have a small line at the front, so I¡¯m gonna go handle them.¡±

    Amity said she would, so the lady left the room, shutting the door.

    Amity put her feet on the solid floor next to her, hand on her head, near the bump and scab from the mines. She had fallen asleep in her new dress, they hadn¡¯t exactly gotten pajamas. She drowsily walked towards the other side of the room, putting her hand on each person¡¯s shoulder to shake them awake, allowing them some time to sit up before dragging them out of the room.

    ¡°Come on, we should probably get something to eat. It¡¯s been like, 12 hours since I last had anything.¡±

    Raleigh grabbed his phone, looking at the time. It was indeed 2 o¡¯clock, and it was still the 21st, showing that his eyes didn¡¯t deceive him the previous night. He lamented, deciding not to tell Amity, as well as the rest of the group, that it had been a bit longer.

    He stood up, leading everyone who hadn¡¯t already, and went for the door.

    They all stepped out, still a little tired, and made their way to the cafe immediately next to the inn. Himiko commented on the area, saying ¡°I didn¡¯t exactly expect this place to have cafes and stuff, this is kinda cool,¡± just as they walked in.

    A waiter directed them to a booth, and they all shuffled in and began discussing their plan to get back to home.

    ¡°Okay, from what I know, we have to get to this island right here to get home.¡± Amity pulled a pamphlet off the wall with maps, seemingly from the Human Age, and pointed at an island between the two upper landmasses.

    ¡°There should be a way to get out of here from there, but we need to get a few things from around the other islands.¡±

    She had Raleigh pull up the images of the artifacts, and used a crayon from the center, probably meant for any kids, to sketch out exactly where everything was.

    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    A waiter approached while she was doing this, and began to take everyone¡¯s orders.

    Himiko got a classic, eggs and bacon. Katie picked the deal of the day, a relatively fancy looking sample plate of every breakfast food on the menu. Raleigh had a food he hasn¡¯t ever thought of, which showed up decently cheap here, the sirloin steak omelet. Amity barely looked at the menu, immediately going with a hefty sandwich with eggs, sausage, and bacon, as well as a few more things. It looked similar enough to what she always got at her diner at home, <mark>Venny¡¯s</mark>, so she didn¡¯t think much of the pick.

    The waiter left, going to deliver the order to the chef.

    ¡°Here¡¯s my proposal; we should go to the bottom island, grab the artifact - this one is a new rock we might need - from the far left, then swing by and pick up Copper from her holding cell. Then-¡±

    Himiko interrupted. ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡±

    Amity tried to formulate a response, before Kaiya responds for her.

    ¡°It¡¯s a girl we met on our way to the Broken Divine facility you were at. She used a wind illusion to find us, and we have to rescue her.¡±

    Himiko accepts this answer, and Amity continues.

    ¡°We should get into this Broken Divine base here, on the right side of the same island. It has a key to the temple that the door is in. Then, another castle on this island on the right. I¡¯m hoping to get their materials diplomatically.¡±

    Amity stops to take a breath.

    ¡°We could always fight, if need be. Then, it¡¯s a straight shot home, pretty much.¡±

    Amity felt her head rage as she spoke so much, and the end of the final sentence made it flare up just so much harder.

    She pressed her head into her hand, the pressure momentarily relieving her before it flooded back.

    ¡°Shit- Kaiya, do they have like, earth-style hotels here?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I think so. There might be one in this very plaza, actually.¡±

    ¡°Can I please get you to book us a room there? My head is freaking pounding, I think because of something that happened yesterday. It¡¯s why I had blood running down my face when you met me.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t have blood down your¡­ That purple stuff, was that your blood?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s weird, I know, just please get me a room, I probably just need to sleep this off.¡±

    Kaiya still didn¡¯t fully understand, but she handed Amity a bit of money to book a big enough room for them all to be in, and sent her on her way.

    Amity stepped out of the diner, looking around for a hotel, eventually finding a place that looked exactly like a hotel at home. It was called ¡°Earth-Style Hotel¡±, and she stepped inside, thinking how there were so many better names. The door rang and the desk clerk greeted her.

    ¡°Welcome!¡±

    Amity walked up to the desk.

    ¡°Hey, can I get a room for 5 people? The rest of my group isn¡¯t here yet.¡±

    ¡°Of course. That¡¯s 75 dollars for today.¡±

    Amity handed 100 dollars to the clerk, and she handed her back 25 along with a key.

    ¡°You have room 918, we don¡¯t actually have that many rooms though, so it¡¯s only 2 floors up. Elevator is over there.¡± She pointed to a door, which Amity thanked her before walking to. The door opened and a smartly dressed man walked out along with a man in a classic lab coat, but she didn¡¯t pay attention to them as she hit the button for floor 3. The door slid closed and the elevator began rising, Amity feeling her head somehow get even more pained as she rose.

    The elevator opened, and she walked past a good 10 rooms before spotting hers, near the end of the hall. She used her key to open the door, before solidly collapsing onto the first of a few beds lined up against the wall.

    She sighed, her head still pounding as she fell asleep.

 The Start of This Chapter is a Dream Sequence

    Amity sat up, feeling lighter than ever. Her wounds had healed, no scars whatsoever, and her head was okay. She stepped off the bed, her legs gracefully moving as she went to the hotel room¡¯s bathroom. She felt something odd as she walked into the room, a new feeling on her chest.The weird weight bent her back, making her uncomfortable as she closed the door behind her, acutely aware of every odd feeling on her body.

    Amity turned her back to the door, facing the restroom, only to feel a sense of dread run through her, sending a shiver down her spine as her vision dulled, blurring and smearing before gradually returning to normal, finding that the room had completely changed.

    She sat up, confused as to how she got onto a bed again.

    ¡°How..¡±

    Her eyes blinked and the now entirely gray room became clear again, for a short time. The outlines of everything around her were clear, until they blurred into the surroundings. Everything around her was the same monotonous monochrome.

    Amity reached for the nightstand to the side of the bed, but it was seemingly floating away. She stood up on the bed, feeling it shift under her and the newfound imbalance sent her tumbling off of it.

    The void encroached, stealing her from the fall and stashing her within it¡¯s infinite enclosure.

    ¡°Room service!¡±A voice called out from the door.

    The groggy Amity replies,

    ¡°No thanks!¡±

    She stands up off the bed. The floor is there. The nightstand isn¡¯t floating away.

    The pressure on her chest is gone.

    ¡°The one thing I wanted to keep from that¡­ dream¡­¡±

    She felt her head pound again, pressing into her skull. The force pushed harder, as if it was trying to crack her skull.

    Amity remembers something - her bag. She grabbed it from the bed, where she had forgotten to take it off, and rummaged around until finding the small container she keeps medicine in.

    She downs an ibuprofen, hoping it would stop the headache and¡­

    It works.

    She feels her head, the pounding stopping, though the scab - and likely soon a scar - remains. Amity immediately collapses onto the bed, tired and relieved.

    Then she gets to thinking.

    ¡°What the hell was that dream?¡±

    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    Amity realized something. She had seen that gray room before, somewhere she never expected to have to return. She knew exactly where her dream had taken her.

    Although, it was odd. Why, a year after the event, did she suddenly remember that day, and why did her subconscious force that memory into her dream?

    Why did he do what he did? It was certainly more trouble than she was worth, and more expensive than she valued herself. And, it led to that day¡­

    ¡°Hey! Amity!¡±

    The familiar voice coincided with a banging on the door, and she went up to it. Looking through the peephole, Himiko was there, along with the rest of the people who went to eat at the diner. Kaiya held a foam box, likely Amity¡¯s breakfast. She turned the doorknob, opening the door and allowing them to come in.

    ¡°Hey!¡±

    They sat down on a bed, Amity eating the food that Kaiya had bought (and thanking her immensely), and again going over their plan. Except this time, Raleigh added something.

    ¡°Hey, do you all think we could, uh, take a break for today? I think we¡¯re all still super beat up, even after the inn, and we could probably use some time off.¡±

    They all agreed, and Amity had an idea.

    ¡°Oh! I could heal you guys. I do still have the green rock, somewhere.¡±

    Amity pulled it out of her pocket, wielding it and shining a beam of the healing magic towards a scrape on Himiko¡¯s arm. The scrape immediately vanished, her arm feeling better than ever.

    ¡°Oh, yeah actually. I kinda forgot you had that¡­¡± Himiko chuckled.

    Amity used it again, this time on the cut on her other arm. The scab vanished, and her arm felt like it had never been cut!

    ¡°That works wonders, Amity! Thanks.¡±

    ¡°No problem. Who¡¯s next?¡±

    She went around the group, healing everyone around her and exerting herself until she collapsed back onto the bed immediately after the final person.

    ¡°Hey, are you gonna heal yourself?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I, uh¡­ I¡¯m not sure it works on myself. I know the glyph worked, but if I do it with natural magic, I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll actually heal anything. I¡¯m exhausted, so what it heals will just be taken away by me having to use magic in the first place. Magic takes a toll on you.¡±

    They all sat, waiting a second, before Kaiya sat up.

    ¡°How.. did you get natural magic?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I had to inject myself with the magic stuff. It¡¯s really not particularly safe, and I only did it because I¡¯m in the nurse training thing.¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re okay with it, is there a way that you can¡­ give me natural magic?¡±

    This came as a shock to Amity, who hadn¡¯t expected this level of courage.

    ¡°I, uh, okay! Give me a second.¡±

    She rummaged in her bag, pulling out the small container of the solution as well as a syringe.

    Amity brushed Kaiya''s shoulder off, pressing the needle directly to the skin after sucking up some of the solution.

    She pressed it in, gradually pulling the syringe out as the magic solution entered Kaiya''s blood.

    She felt something flow through her arm, rising from her wrist to the shoulder, flowing into her torso and filling it up, as the same feeling that Amity had felt when she first got her magic built inside of Kaiya.

    ¡°Okay, do you think you¡¯re ready to try magic?¡±

    ¡°I.. think so.¡±

    ¡°Great, uh, here¡¯s this rock. You have to imagine what you want to come out of your hand. This rock can make fire, ice, or water.¡±

    Kaiya stood back from the group, red rock in hand, and focused. She closed her eyes, breathed steadily, imagining a small ice cube, like you would put in a drink.

    She felt something run through her arm, down the length and out the tips of her fingers, coalescing in a cold mass that rested in her palm.

    ¡°Wha- Did it, work? That easily?¡±The ice fell from her hand, opened in surprise, hitting the floor and shattering.

    She focused, again. Breathing in and out, another ice cube. This time, bigger. As big as her hand, then bigger. She felt a small mass of cold less than an inch away from her hand, growing steadily with her command. It expanded, mostly evenly in every direction, and she opened her eyes to see a block of ice about as big as her hand. It nearly fell, Kaiya accidentally dropping the hold, but Amity managed to catch it, and shrank it back to nothing.

    ¡°That was really impressive! For your first time with magic, at least. In a little bit, do you want to practice some other stuff?¡±

    Kaiya agreed, for later that day.

    There wouldn¡¯t be time for that, though.

    A knock at the door rang through the room.

 Job Offer

    There was a knock at the door.

    Amity sighed. ¡°Oh my god, leave us alone!¡±

    She opened the door, greeted by a man in a suit. He looked oddly familiar, but Amity couldn¡¯t place it. Maybe he was there at the castle, when they fought the princess?

    ¡°Hello, Amity. I¡¯m Cornet.¡±

    She stepped back, shocked.

    ¡°Relax. I¡¯m not here to hurt you.¡±

    ¡°Huh..?¡±

    He let himself in, closing the door.

    ¡°I believe we¡¯ve met, everyone. I am Cornet, and I have a proposal for you.¡±

    Amity, intrigued, asked ¡°And what would this proposal be?¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± Cornet continued, ¡°It would be a little job. I have suitable compensation for your work.¡± He pulled a small rock out of his jacket pocket. It was black, with small streaks of color near a tip.

    ¡°That rock¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, this would be the prize for your efforts. To claim it, I need you to assist me in¡­ eliminating someone.¡±

    He unfolded a small sheet of paper, handing it to Amity.

    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ¡°Her name is Winter Frostburn. Really, I¡¯m not sure who would pick that name, but she sure lives up to it. Backstabbing, conniving, and cold. Manipulative, too. She¡¯s lured many a traveler into helping her out of the confinement cell she is trapped within, and killing them in cold blood.¡±

    Amity stared at the picture. She didn¡¯t recognize her immediately, but she felt like she¡¯d seen this person before, vaguely.

    Cornet continued speaking; ¡°I will give you this medium in exchange for your work ridding this world of her. Flip your paper over.¡±

    Amity obliged. On the opposite side, was a map of the islands, with a highlighted mark near the bottom island, the small outstretched bit underneath the part connecting the smaller islands that make it up. She realized this was an opportunity to take Copper back from the cells, too, and so accepted.

    ¡°I accept your offer.¡±

    Amity turned around, asking her friends ¡°Are you all okay with this?¡±

    They all murmured agreement, and she turned back around.

    ¡°We accept the offer.¡±

    Cornet¡¯s cold, outstretched hand was met by Amity¡¯s warm one as they partnered up, even if just for one job.

    ¡°I will be on my way. Farewell, Amity.¡±

    Cornet stepped out of the door, leaving it open. When Amity stepped out, seeing if she could spot him, she saw a vacant hallway. The floors perfectly clean on one side, a solid mass of sand on the other.

    ¡°Huh, weird¡­¡±

    She stepped back inside, to consult with her friends.

    ¡°So, we have to go to the same facility Copper is trapped in, to kill this Winter person, in exchange for a supposedly powerful magic medium.¡±

    Amity took a breath in.¡°How on earth are we actually going to do this?! She¡¯s killed probably a baker¡¯s dozen of people just by luring them to her, if we go near her we¡¯re probably cooked!¡±

    Himiko sighed. ¡°We, don¡¯t have time to sit here and think. We can walk and talk, but we need to get going. We have an ocean to cross and another few miles of walking, we can think of something on the way.¡±

    Raleigh responded, ¡°I agree, let¡¯s get going.¡±

    Amity opened the door, and they all stepped out of the room.

 Can We Draw Back, For a Second?

    Himiko¡¯s feet touched the sand, cool in the dim light of whatever this planet orbited, the deep blue reminiscent of a particularly bright night, although they could still see the path ahead. They had all been deliberating on their walk to the shoreline - although they accepted the deal with a casual demeanor, they weren¡¯t certain on their plan. They really weren¡¯t certain about anything.

    ¡°Hey, Amity..?¡± Himiko put her hand on Amity¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°Yeah? What¡¯s up?¡±

    "Uhm, can we draw back for a second? I want to speak out of earshot of the rest of the group¡­¡± Himiko whispered.

    Amity slowed her pace, already somewhat behind the group, until they were a fair bit away. Still following the leader with the map, Himiko sighed.

    ¡°Can I please confide something in you?¡±

    Amity gestured for her to speak, and she did.

    ¡°Amity, are you scared? About all of this, I mean. We¡¯re going to go fight someone who we have no idea about besides the fact they¡¯re a renowned killer. We could die and be forgotten by time, vanished within a mysterious green portal that I made. That I made.¡±

    She wiped the tears beginning to flow down her cheeks away with her arm.

    ¡°Amity, I¡¯m scared. I got us stuck in some place in the middle of nowhere we have no idea how to leave. I don¡¯t know how we could even begin to leave, and that makes it worse because I can barely help. You know what to do, almost all of the time.¡± Himiko felt the tears escape her, and she didn¡¯t try to fight them. ¡°I¡¯m the witch - I¡¯m the one who pretends to be a witch. I don¡¯t deserve this hat. I don¡¯t deserve what I make myself out to be, I¡¯m scared of everything that magic entails. It got us trapped in this stupid place and we might never leave.¡±

    She felt her legs betray her as she fell to her knees, sitting down with them to her chest against a nearby rock.

    ¡°Amity, you hate me, don¡¯t you? The reason the water things brought out my image is because you hate me for what I did to you - to everyone. It brought out your ex, and you hate her. Everyone hates me. I¡¯m so sorry, Amity.¡±

    Amity knelt down, beside the sobbing girl.

    ¡°Himiko, I-¡±¡°Save it.¡±

    She continued despite the interruption.

    ¡°Himiko, I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t hate you. None of us hate you. This place sucks, but we¡¯re not here because of you. We¡¯re not here because of one of us, we¡¯re here because of all of us - we all decided to go in, and we all decided to go away from the portal, and we all ended up stranded, together. You may have made the pencil, but it¡¯s not your responsibility what we wrote. I¡¯m sorry, if I did something to make you feel like I hate you. I really don¡¯t.¡±

    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    The embrace of the girl consoling Himiko made her blush a bit as she sobbed, slowly slowing the rate of tears down.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know why the water things decided to pick you of all people, but I can say with certainty that it¡¯s not because I hate you. I don¡¯t even hate her, actually. You know the story, what she did to herself.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±¡°It wasn¡¯t quite her fault, and I don¡¯t blame her for choosing the route she did. Everything compounded, and¡­¡±

    Amity felt herself tearing up a bit, and she decided to end that train of conversation.

    ¡°Yeah¡­ I find similar qualities in you though, so maybe that¡¯s why it pulled you out. You remind me of her in the best ways.¡±

    ¡°Thanks¡­¡°

    Himiko sniffed, rubbing her teary face over the shoulder of Amity¡¯s dress to dry it off.

    ¡°Thank you, Amity. You¡¯re wonderful.¡±

    The words made Amity¡¯s eyes water a bit more as Himiko pulled away, and she felt a few tears run down her cheeks at the remembrance of that phrase.

    Nonetheless, she stood up, and they both quickly made it back to the main group.

    ¡°Hey guys, we¡¯re back. Sorry about that.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s all good, don¡¯t worry. We still have a few minutes before we hit the shore, so maybe Amity should get warmed up a bit with the ice stuff.¡±

    ¡°Ah, right.¡± Amity stepped back, ready to practice her ice.

    Himiko stepped up where Amity was, and asked Raleigh something.

    ¡°So, what exactly is the plan for getting across the ocean?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s less an ocean to cross, closer to a big river. The plan is for Amity to lead us, walking slowly as she freezes the water to ice in front of us.¡±

    Himiko tilted her head a bit, ¡°Is she up to this? I mean, she didn¡¯t look good earlier today, are we sure she¡¯ll be able to make a stable ice bridge for that long?¡±

    Raleigh sighed. ¡°She¡¯s saying she¡¯s fine, and I trust her.¡±

    They walked mostly in silence, Amity trailing behind, practicing keeping an ice block stable for the entire rest of the way to shore.

    Eventually, they reached the edge of the land, and Himiko looked out upon the dark blue area that spanned beyond her vision, blocked by a thin layer of fog that carpeted the entire ocean, although it stopped a few feet out from shore.

    ¡°Amity, you ready?¡±

    She nodded, and determined, stepped up to the water. Her toes dipped in, and she turned around to the group, repeating something.

    ¡°So, to reiterate, we¡¯re all going to walk carefully since it¡¯s going to be slippery, and me and Kaiya will switch out if either of us get tired. We¡¯ll make it across the water, and once we¡¯re in the other area, we can take a breather before continuing.¡±

    She turned back around, and placed the ice block she had been stabilizing in her hands for the past few minutes into the cool water, carefully retaining the intangible grasp on it as she forced it to expand, wide enough that they could walk on it, then proceeded to make it longer, gesturing for everyone to step on as she pushed it forwards in-front of her.

    ¡°And, off we are.¡±

    As she walked, she felt the ice shrinking a small bit, melting in the back as she forced the front to grow, expanding itself with the water surrounding it, making the job of expanding it as she needed to significantly easier, as only half the effort was needed - rather than needing to create water and then freeze it using solely her ties to magic, she could pull just the cold and use that.

    She doesn¡¯t think of doing this, it happens automatically. Everything wants to exert the least effort for the most gain, and magic isn¡¯t an exception.

    They walked along the ice bridge, suspended in the water as the melting end pulled away from the sandy shore and the girl heading the group continued to grow it in the opposite direction.

 Friendly Chat

    ¡°Hey, Kaiya?¡± Amity asked.

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    She didn¡¯t look away from the ice to ask this. ¡°How¡­ exactly.. did you get here?¡±

    Kaiya was silent.

    ¡°I mean, like, how did you get to this world? We got here through a portal that Himiko made on accident, but you¡¯ve been here for a few months. What¡¯s the deal?¡±

    She took a breath in.

    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know.¡±

    Amity turned her head away from the ice, although still focused on pushing it along.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°I just, don¡¯t know how I got here. I was walking to school, after I transferred away from you guys¡¯ school, and when I went into the door to first period¡­¡±

    She exhaled.

    ¡°I ended up here. A stone frame, the sand around me dyed green. The princess found me at some point, and it was a few months until you guys found me, then¡­ you know.¡±

    Amity turned back to the ice.

    ¡°The portal spontaneously appeared? In a door frame?¡±

    ¡°I mean, yeah¡­ Sorry, I know it¡¯s ridiculous¡­¡±

    Amity was silent, for a few seconds.

    ¡°It actually makes a bit of sense, to me. ¡®Rest of you, remember the librarian girl?¡±

    Raleigh piped up.

    ¡°Oh, yeah, actually. She had every detail about some dude who¡¯d been trying to get home, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the thing. She knew precisely how to activate a portal. Maybe¡­¡±

    She paused.

    ¡°Kaiya. Did you happen to see anyone near you, when you left the portal?¡±

    Kaiya had to take a second to think, eventually remembering, ¡°Yeah, actually. She was a red-head, short, and she had a little vial in her hands. She was already running away when I actually managed to realize what was happening, though.¡±

    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    Amity pondered, putting a bit more effort into her thinking than she was to the ice.

    ¡°Did she¡­ Do you guys think that was the librarian? She had vials on her desk, and I did wonder why she didn¡¯t put any of that old dude¡¯s stuff away. Also matches the description.¡±

    They all gained a look of realization, and then all realized precisely where she was going with it.

    ¡°I think that he didn¡¯t exist!¡±

    ¡°But then, who would¡¯ve had all those books..?¡±

    ¡°Personally, I think it was the librarian herself! She probably made everything herself, and was just about to go on her own lap around the area, to get to Earth.¡±

    Raleigh didn¡¯t entirely follow. ¡°Why would she do that, though?¡±

    ¡°The librarian,¡± Amity postulated, ¡°was a human!¡±

    They didn¡¯t immediately agree, though.

    ¡°That makes, uhm, exactly no sense?¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s quite clear. Remember a few years ago, when there was an uptick in missing teens? She looks like someone I remember¡­¡±

    ¡°Where are you going with this..?¡±

    Amity continued. ¡°On the fridge, in my house, my mom always kept a picture of one particular case. Ramona Simmons. She was 17, red-head, and short. The librarian looked, what, 21?¡±Everyone made a noise that pretty well conveyed that Amity was on a good track.

    ¡°About the right age to be her. Maybe the royalty here was trying to reconstruct gateways, and accidentally swept her up.¡±

    ¡°How would she have found the library then? Did the princess save her, too?¡±

    ¡°Dude, stop interrupting me, I¡¯m getting to the point.¡± Amity snapped. ¡°I think, she entered with the same rocks we did, mixing blue, red, yellow, and green.¡±

    ¡°Okay I¡¯m really sorry, but that kinda sounds stupid. Why the hell would it be those same four, why not like, just the primary colors?¡± Himiko butted in, for the first time.

    ¡°That¡¯s.. actually kinda interesting. I mean¡­ maybe the quaternary one controls the destination?¡±

    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± Himiko began to speculate in her head.

    ¡°Back to the point, maybe the same portal we entered through was already fixed enough to enter through, when she accidentally dropped the mix into a door.¡±

    ¡°I, uhm. That¡¯s honestly really convincing. Maybe you should take up becoming a prosecutor instead of a doctor,¡± Raleigh joked.

    Amity kept powering through creating the ice bridge, still shocked that it worked, although she wondered what her parents were doing. Hopefully they weren¡¯t home from vacation yet.

    She felt her head buzz and her hands got the pin and needle feeling. Her chest cried out in pain as she struggled to not fall over in the moment, exhausted.

    ¡°Amity, you okay?¡± Kaiya asked.

    ¡°I- Can you take over for me? It¡¯s kinda hard to use magic like that for hours at a time¡­¡± She groaned.

    ¡°Yeah, no problem!¡±

    Kaiya stood near the malformed edge, pressing her hand into it and using all her might to hook onto the ice block. She managed to get her magic to attach to it, and she began expanding it. Slowly at first but steadily getting faster, until she was going at more or less the same pace as Amity, who was already back on her feet and walking along with the ice.

    She had to be careful, flip-flops weren¡¯t very solid on the slippery ice, but she was still walking. Just a few moments later though, she felt the chunk of ice she stood on crack, and separate from the main chunk. Amity reacted, stepping back onto the main chunk, but the sudden shift made her lose footing and she slipped backwards into the depths of the sea.

 Were Back!

    ¡°Oh, Amity! We¡¯re home!¡±

    A key slid into the doorway as Ella opened the door.

    ¡°Maybe she¡¯s asleep,¡± Gunther said.

    ¡°Nonsense, dear. It¡¯s 2 pm, and it¡¯s a Sunday. She wouldn¡¯t be asleep at this time. Amity, honey!¡±

    Gunther stepped past her, heading to the stairs, and Elizabeth to the kitchen. He stepped up to Amity¡¯s room, and knocked on the door.

    No response. The door had an easily defeated lock, and while he knew about it, nobody else did, and he never took advantage of it until now. Pulling the knob up, he twisted away from the intended direction, then slammed it the other way. The lock gave, and it opened to reveal an empty room.

    The window was crooked, and half open still.

    ¡°Amity..?¡±

    He took a look around. The bed was unmade, and the immediate area wasn¡¯t very tidy. Clothes on the ground, and a few pieces of blue rock.

    ¡°Uh, Ella?¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡± Elizabeth called out from the bottom of the stairs.

    ¡°Come to Amity¡¯s room. Now,¡± he urged. Maybe 30 seconds later, she arrived, and immediately blew up when she saw the room.

    ¡°What the hell is this? Where is she? The window¡¯s open, the room is a mess, right near her bed, which is unmade might I add¡­ Wait¡­ It¡¯s only messy near her bed, and the window doesn¡¯t look like it was put back down¡­ did someone kidnap her??¡±

    Gunther sighed.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, baby. Maybe she tried to sneak out, even though we weren¡¯t home? I¡¯ll call her¡­¡±

    The phone rang once¡­

    A muffled song tried its best to get attention from under the pile of clothes.The phone rang again¡­

    The song still continued.The phone was hung up.

    The song stopped, half a second later.

    ¡°Was that¡­ her phone?¡±

    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    Ella picked it up, and it indeed was Amity¡¯s.

    ¡°Gunther, come on. We¡¯re making a missing person report. Now.¡±

    He agreed, and they stepped into the car to head to the police station.

    The sirens blared in the couple¡¯s ears as they stepped into the cool lobby of the station, greeted by a receptionist with a lengthy line as she finished another man¡¯s business.

    ¡°Oh, this is going to take ages! Who knows what could happen to her in the time we can¡¯t report it?!¡± Ella whisper-screamed.

    The receptionist heard the distressed mother¡¯s call, and beckoned her over.

    ¡°Hey, if you¡¯re trying to file a missing persons report, you can head inside. First door on the left, he can sort you out.¡±

    Ella thanked the desk girl, and went inside.

    She immediately spotted the door, with a metal board attached to it that had the name ¡°Mr. Brunswick, Head of MPI.¡±

    Knocking on the door, she heard the gruff voice summon her inside, and she opened the door, allowing Gunther to step in first before her.

    ¡°Hello, Mr. Brunswick.¡±

    ¡°Hello! Please, take a seat.¡± He gestured to the open chairs in front of his desk.

    The goateed man stepped forward and slid into a chair, his wife following beside him.

    ¡°So, what seems to be the matter?¡±

    ¡°Well, we have a missing person report to file. Our daughter, Amity.¡±

    ¡°Amity, huh? Last name?¡± He asked, while pulling up a computer.

    ¡°Rune. Amity Rune. We think she got taken from our house while we were on vacation. She wanted to stay home.¡± Ella wiped her eyes with her arm.

    ¡°How old is she?¡±

    ¡°Fourteen.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s nobody by that name under 18 in my system. Did you just move to the country?¡±

    ¡°No, no, we¡¯ve been here our whole lives. Never moved outside the USA either.¡±

    ¡°This is very odd¡­¡±

    Gunther piped up, finally.

    ¡°Uh, it might be under the name Seth¡­¡±

    ¡°Why would it be under a different name?¡±

    "It''s a long story... Just run the name."

    "Hmm.. I do have a Seth here, same age as her. Is this what she looks like?"

    An old picture from a few years ago, showing her with a shorter haircut and a miserable expression.

    "Yeah, that''s her... but that picture''s old. Gunther?"

    ¡°Oh, I think¡­ Here, a school picture. It got taken just a few days ago, so I still had it on me.¡±

    He took it, and placed it in a scanner. It pulled up on the display and he moved it to the registry.

    ¡°Amity is in the missing children¡¯s registry, and we will handle spreading the word and investigating. If you don¡¯t mind, tell me when you last saw her?¡±

    Ella answered. ¡°She was in the house when we left for vacation, on the 14th. We were out for a week.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, alright. Do you know who would¡¯ve last seen her?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­ She doesn¡¯t really talk to anyone but her closest friends.¡±

    ¡°Who are they?¡±

    ¡°Their names were¡­ uh¡­ Himiko, Raleigh, and Katie.¡±

    ¡°Really? Himiko Singe, Raleigh Aventine, and Katie Patterson?¡±

    ¡°I think so, yeah.¡±

    ¡°Those kids¡­ have all been reported missing as well. Himiko and Katie¡¯s parents both mentioned Amity¡­¡±

    ¡°What..?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, they¡¯ve been missing since the 18th, so I suspect your daughter went missing on that same day.¡±

    ¡°So¡­¡±

    ¡°So we have a bit of a better lead. Does your house have security cameras? They could catch her going in or out.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, actually. We have a video doorbell, and some cameras mounted to watch the backyard.¡±

    ¡°Can you release the footage for those?¡±

    ¡°I can see the camera on the app, so if you want, I can send it to you somehow.¡±

    ¡°Please save the videos as an MP4, then let me attach it to the computer. What plug does your phone use?¡± The officer reached into a bin beneath his desk as Ella opened the camera app.

    ¡°Type-C.¡±

    ¡°Alright, here. Plug it in when you¡¯re ready.¡±

    Ella transferred the video files to the computer, and shortly after were sent on their way.

 Landfall

    Amity slipped backwards into the depths of the deep blue sea.

    ¡°Amity!¡± Katie tried to catch her, but she was too late.

    She flailed her arms around, before coming into a calm state. She focused, attempting to create an air bubble around her¡­

    But it didn¡¯t work. Her hands couldn¡¯t pull anything forth, her chest couldn¡¯t push. Her mind was weakened, and she panicked.

    Luckily, refraining from gasping any water in, she began to swim, blind to the surface and unable to open her eyes. She swam up, feeling the wind hit her hands as she ascended, and just as she began to feel the safety of the dry air, she felt her head bash against the cold ice above her, cracking it and breaking the chunk off.

    It floated above her, as she slipped between it and the main block, picking herself up with the ledge and managing to lift herself onto it.

    ¡°Shoot, Amity, are you okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­ I¡¯m soaked though¡­¡±

    ¡°We can get your clothes dry soon, we¡¯re almost at the shore.¡±Kaiya began walking the ice forward, and they all helped keep Amity from falling again as they reached the dry sand.

    ¡°God, finally! We¡¯ve been on the ice for like four hours.¡± Katie said, exasperated.

    She stepped backwards, falling deliberately backwards to lay down, exhausted after walking for as long as she did. The remainder of the group followed, taking a short break as they all stepped onto the coarse land of the second island.

    The group stayed on the ground for probably 15 minutes, before deciding to start walking again.

    ¡°Hand me the map,¡± Raleigh requested. ¡°Okay, so. We¡¯re like, here I think.¡± He pointed towards the top of the left side of the island. ¡°The nearest point of interest is¡­¡±

    Raleigh grabbed his phone, referencing the saved images.

    ¡°Right there, a bit next to us. We should grab whatever it has, and then go to Winter.¡±

    They all mostly agreed with this plan, and they began following the coastline to reach the ruins laid against the beachline, well to the west of them.

    ¡°Hey, Raleigh?¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°Uh, what time is it? I know we¡¯ve been here for a day or two, but like, what time exactly..?¡±

    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    Raleigh looked nervous, before pulling out his phone.

    ¡°It¡¯s, uh¡­¡±

    He stopped walking.

    ¡°It¡¯s the 24th.¡±

    Amity stopped, hearing this.

    ¡°What¡­ do you mean, the 24th? It¡¯s only been like, two days since we left!¡±

    Raleigh turned his phone towards her.

    ¡°See, right there! It says it¡¯s the¡­

    Oh.¡±

    They all looked towards the phone, shocked.

    ¡°It¡¯s been almost a week??¡±

    ¡°We left on the 19th! How has it been 5 days?!¡±

    Himiko was the last to see it, not quite believing it. She moved towards the phone, checking it. She picked up the phone, and looked closely. She zoomed in on the time. She verified.

    It was the 24th.

    Himiko dropped the phone. The sand shifted under it, keeping it from shattering as tears welled up in her eyes.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ the 24th¡­ I-¡±

    Himiko¡¯s legs worked faster than her brain, sending her running off, beyond the horizon and towards the ruins they were already on their way towards.

    ¡°Himiko!¡± Amity darted in the same direction, flying past the group as the sand slid beneath her sandals, hampering her progress towards Himiko.

    The three remaining tried to keep up, but they weren¡¯t easily able to, especially since they were still worn out from walking for so long.

    Amity pushed ice beneath her feet, the water sopping from her clothes allowing her to glide forwards atop it as she gained on Himiko. She felt the cold, turning back to see Amity nearly reaching her already, and she tried to pick up the pace.

    A wall stopped her progress as she crashed into a piece of rubble, surrounding another bottomless moat.

    ¡°Himiko, are you okay?¡±Amity reached out to grab her, swiftly pulling her onto the ice bridge and continuing to slide to reach the other side of the moat.

    ¡°It¡¯s the 24th¡­¡± was all she could say.

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s the 24th, but¡­ We still have a while before they can report us presumed dead. I think it¡¯s like, a month or two minimum, and we can definitely get out before then.¡±

    ¡°I know, but it¡¯s not that¡­¡±

    ¡°What is it then?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ her¡­¡±

    ¡°Hm..?¡± Amity slowed down as they hit the edge of the ice, stepping onto the sand.

    ¡°My friend¡­ Cynthia.¡±

    ¡°Kay- Her? What about her?¡±

    ¡°She¡­ I didn¡¯t tell you about it but¡­ the night before you showed us glyph magic¡­ she tried to¡­ she¡­¡± The tears stifled her speech as she slid down the side of the ruins, scraping her back as the rough rubble guided her to the coarse floor.

    ¡°She¡­ Oh, jeez¡­ Did she¡­ y¡¯know¡­?¡± Amity knelt down next to her.

    ¡°No, but¡­ right before she did it, she¡­ she said she loved me.¡±Water built back up in Amity¡¯s eyes, although she knew it wasn¡¯t her time to cry.

    Himiko continued.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t feel the same way, and she¡­ did it. I found out, and went to the hospital, and she¡­ said if I left her¡­ she would-¡± She hiccuped, the tears overwhelming her once more as she buckled into her own knees, clutching herself tightly.

    ¡°She would¡­ try again¡­ right?¡±

    Himiko could only nod.

    ¡°I¡­ Himiko, I¡¯m sorry.¡± She leaned in to embrace Himiko, as best she could. ¡°You think that since you¡¯re not there¡­ she might have succeeded this time¡­ yeah?¡±

    ¡°Y- Yes¡­¡±The two stayed in each other¡¯s arms for a few minutes, allowing Himiko to breathe and calm down before Amity realized they needed to find the rest of the group.

    ¡°Himiko, I¡¯m so sorry that this all happened to you. Is it okay if we try to find the group, and we can have an honest talk at the next spot we¡¯re meant to be?¡±

    She pulled away from Amity.

    ¡°Yeah, sure. Where are we, actually..?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I think we¡¯re¡­ at the ruins we¡¯re meant to be, actually!¡±

    ¡°Wait, really?¡± Himiko rubbed standing tears off her face.

    ¡°Yeah, these are the only ruins in this area.¡±Amity conjured another ice bridge, the two being halfway across it before Katie spotted them.

    ¡°Hey, is that¡­! Amity! Guys, there they are!¡±

    ¡°Finally, we¡¯ve been following the wet sand for ages!¡±Amity sped up, running past Himiko in a rush to meet up with the rest of the group.

    In this rush, she forgot to keep strengthening the bridge, and a snap sent a shock through her body. Ice fell out from underneath her, shattering as a foot went down.

    ¡°Shit-!¡±The cold air surrounding her made the wet fingers that failed to grasp the sides of the bridge all the more uncomfortable.

    ¡°Guys!¡±

    ¡°Amity!¡±

 Landfall, Again

    The sand flung around, her hands slipping on the rough wall as she tried her hardest to stop. Her fingers dug into the sand, but it didn¡¯t do anything.

    She tried to use her magic, pulling the air around her to slow the fall, but nothing changed. Exhaustion quickly overcame her, and she felt the rough sand ripping around her fingers, giving way for gravity to sweep her into the endless void.

    This is¡­ fucked up¡­

    I¡¯m gonna die either by hitting the bottom of this, or starvation if I believe this thing doesn¡¯t have a bottom. Honestly, not that far-fetched, at this point. I just slipped off a magical ice bridge after consoling my crush about someone else possibly killing herself.

    This way to go kinda sucks¡­ if I really had to die at this age, was it really necessary for me to do it here? Nobody¡¯s gonna find my body, my friends are gonna work through it and move on, and probably forget about me when they leave.

    I never confessed. I think that¡¯s what I¡¯m most annoyed about. Maybe I was hoping to, when we got out. Maybe before then. Probably not, actually. I really would¡¯ve liked to have a chance at it, though.

    She fell for probably 2 or 3 minutes, absorbing her own thoughts about the situation, before a burst of noise rang through the pit, echoing bottom up.

    Hey¡­ It¡¯s kinda been ages since I fell, and that came from even further down¡­ Is it really bottomless? This has taken longer than it would even take for a skydiver to hit the ground with no parachute.

    Amity used her magic again, attempting to light up the surroundings with a flame, but it extinguished immediately.

    Right, the whole falling at like 140 miles an hour thing.

    Water this time. It formed, but it didn¡¯t carry the inertia from her fall.

    Note to self: If I don¡¯t die, magic doesn¡¯t carry my momentum.

    Maybe a healing power would up her magic strength?

    Nope, doesn¡¯t work on myself. Hard to remember when I could die at any time.

    She finally tried wind again.

    It¡¯s not exactly slowing me down, but¡­ I can still the air around me. A shield, or something.

    Using a shield of wind, so she can actually open her eyes properly, she pressed a fire out.

    The surroundings weren¡¯t quite sand anymore. There was a hollow network of pipes and wires around the sides, and a bit further into it, a few catwalks. They were mostly inactive, and hard to focus on because, y¡¯know, she¡¯s falling at hundreds of mph.

    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    A second bang, similar to the first but noticeably closer, forced upwards through the rising air, slowing her somewhat.

    A third followed, shortly after the second one.

    A fourth.

    They sped up, becoming quicker and lighter as she fell further and further.

    ¡°What the¡­ fuck?¡±Yet another bang, and something extended out beneath her. Quite far down, but she could still see it.

    Great, an escape, of a kind.

    She accepted it, not trying to move away from the lightly colored platform awaiting her.

    The soft bangs of shoes hitting metal echoed in the tight space.

    She managed to open her eyes.

    What¡­ the fuck? I don¡¯t think¡­ I died..?

    A hand touched the cold metal of the railings. Soft footsteps. A door creaked open.

    ¡°God damn it¡­ More trash... Fuckin¡¯ royals, using our labs as trash cans¡­ Why is this my job¡­ I gotta-¡±

    A man in a lab coat stepped out from the door, just as Amity got her footing again.

    ¡°Uh, hello! Who are you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Amity. What about you?¡± She brushed herself off, sand having gotten all over her through the fall.

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m Dr. Morton. Are you okay? How did you get here?¡± He tentatively tracked towards the teen.

    ¡°Better than I thought I would be, falling for like 6 minutes¡­¡±

    ¡°YOU FELL FROM THE SURFACE?¡± His clipboard fell from the shaking hands.

    ¡°Uh, yes, I did. Do you know how I¡¯m not uhh, dead, by the way?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not quite¡­ Do you wanna come inside and sit down? I¡¯m working alone on this level.¡± He picked up the clipboard, opening the door to allow her in.

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    A cold cushion molded itself beneath her as she sipped on a cup of tea.

    ¡°So, what exactly happened?¡± Morton loaded his clipboard with a new sheet of paper.

    ¡°I slipped from a bridge on the surface, and I just fell. I couldn¡¯t really use magic to sto-¡±

    ¡°You have magic? You look human¡­ No offense.¡±

    ¡°None taken, I am. We found an old book that advised injecting a solution of neutral medium and water, and now, when I hold any other medium, I can use magic.¡±

    ¡°Interesting¡­ I¡¯d never heard of this. We don¡¯t get humans every day here.¡± Pencil on paper scratched unending through their ears.

    ¡°Anyway, I fell for probably 6 minutes, but it¡¯s hard to keep track of time when you could die at any second.¡±

    ¡°Understandable¡± He continued scrawling notes on the paper.

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t slow myself with wind, and it wasn¡¯t really feasible to slam myself into an ice wall to stop, so¡­¡±

    ¡°So¡­?¡±

    ¡°I mean, I kinda just thought it was the end, y¡¯know? Stupid slip because of a root cause consisting entirely of myself.¡±

    ¡°Hey, are you¡­ okay? Most people aren¡¯t like, indifferent to realizing they¡¯re about to die.¡± He took the paper off the clipboard and slotted a new one in place of it.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, it just had time to settle in, and it became a little unreal to me, I guess.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s still concerning¡­ You¡¯re the human that dealt with The Broken Divine a while ago, right? Breaking out a few others?¡±

    ¡°Y- Yes, actually¡­ Is my name well known?¡± The last few drops of tea slipped from the mug to her mouth.

    ¡°Not well known outside of the facility, but this place is technically a part of that group, so you¡¯re probably the most well known person here.¡±

    ¡°That¡­ is quite disconcerting!¡±

    Amity placed the now empty mug on the table beside her, and stood from the chair.

    ¡°Is there a way for me to get up, to the surface?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ think there is. I¡¯m going to hand you a few papers, and I need you to look at them when you¡¯re back on the surface. For now, step on the landing outside.¡±

    Morton turned away from her, and reached into a drawer. He pulled out a few sheets of paper, some with decoration and color print, others a stark black on white. Between them, a small index card with hastily written text from the same pencil he was logging Amity¡¯s thoughts with.

    The door creaked open, and Amity sat patiently, back towards the railing keeping her from falling down again.

    ¡°Here you go. Please, look at all of them when you reach the top again.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    A bang echoed from below her, shaking the landing.

    A second bang, and her hair floated in the still air this far down.

    A third, lifting the cold hand from the equally cold railing and sending her slowly up.

    Amity corrected her angle almost automatically, her feet pointing towards the new bottom, gravity switched from her usual perspective.

 Landfall, Again, Again

    Wind flew through her hair as the unfamiliar wind rushed past her, the dim light beneath her growing marginally brighter as the speedy fall - or rise, technically - brought her past everything she¡¯d seen. The flipped catwalks and pipes gave way to the sand that she¡¯d failed to catch earlier.

    She tried to use wind to hold a flame up, but nothing would come out. Not like the flame was snuffed out immediately, but she couldn¡¯t tug on her magic like this.

    It didn¡¯t feel like it was gone, but it felt like it was active, even though she wasn¡¯t using it.

    The papers she¡¯d been holding onto rubbed against the red rock in her hand, which she put back into her pocket and kept closed to avoid it flying out, below her and into the pit.

    Amity stopped feeling her magic¡¯s use, it slowing down and eventually cutting out completely as she felt the unusual gravity subside. She immediately used this to push a beam of ice out below her, anchoring it into the walls and keeping it big enough to land on if she fell.

    The breeze slowed down again, and the papers stopped rustling, as her head reached a crescendo, just below the surface. Another beam erected below her, and she carefully allowed herself to fall on it, before making it big enough to not risk a fall. She used a few pieces of ice built into the wall as a makeshift staircase, as she had done seemingly ages ago, to pull herself barely up and over the edge, towards the sand.

    ¡°Guys! I¡¯m-¡±

    Nobody looked shocked, nobody looked sad or afraid. Nobody looked¡­ At all. Nobody was there anymore, seemingly vanished.

    ¡°Shit- Guys! Himiko! Raleigh! I¡¯m-¡±

    She turned, trying to spot them, but something - or rather, the lack thereof - much more apparent was shown.

    The castle built around the hollow moat was missing.

    ¡°Shi- Where t-the fuck did it- Where the fuck did I-¡±

    A rock behind her caught her heel, tripping her backwards and sending the papers in her hand flying around. The index card, made of a thicker stock, fell down first, directly onto her chest. Picking it up, the small card had frantic writing in dark pencil, smudged and hard to properly make out, but scrawled upon its surface; a warning.

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    ¡°KEEP YOUR EYES OUT¡±

    The other papers drifted down and surrounded her, scattered haphazardly amongst the sand. She didn¡¯t immediately grab them though, shocked at the message he¡¯d left her. Picking herself up, still staring at the note.

    ¡°Why the hell did he¡­¡±

    Amity looked back at the empty land sitting in front of her. The ruins that were there were simply gone, the shattered bridge no longer left the trace of packed sand where it was planted, and the footprints of them running up to the edge had loosened.

    The coast looked the same, and the empty landscape near identical as well.

    She picked up the papers, which on further inspection were blank lined sheets, and threw them into the pit again.

    ¡°Why the hell did he launch me here? This can¡¯t be the same place¡­¡±

    A small squirrel chirped, running around her legs and jumping up around her.

    ¡°Oh, hey little guy!¡± She reached down to try to reach it, but it dodged her hand and switched quickly to her other side. Sand flew around her, and the squirrel sprinted towards the growing mass of sand, taking the rough shape of an open hand, which it jumped into. The hand closed, forming a fist, and flew towards her.

    She realized this, dodging to her side, and used her wind to try destabilizing the hand, to no avail. It charged for another attack, and Amity had to think of something, fast.

    The fist charged again, catching one of her hands in the sand, and she couldn¡¯t pull it out. It tried to catch her other hand, but she kept it just out of reach, covering her head and preparing for something big.

    Using water, she sprayed the sand that made up the hand. It was made too heavy for the wind to properly keep it up, and the squirrel slipped out of the collapsing structure and skittered around, kicking up more wind and trying to get enough sand back up to get the wind illusion to the same strength, but Amity started her attack next. Using some wind, she pulled up just enough sand to scoop the squirrel up, lifting it away from the formed hand and soliciting it to either try to reach the squirrel and take it back, or pick up the slack on the attack, both of which she was prepared for.

    It chose the latter, the creature controlling it ignoring it¡¯s own predicament and instead focusing on it¡¯s prey. The hand flung sand, peppering Amity and nearly getting in her eyes, but she kept an arm over them and moved out of it¡¯s path, albeit barely. It quickly changed paths, using her distraction to charge upwards and grab the squirrel. She caught on, sending it flying into the distance with a quick flick of the platform it rested upon.

    The hand wrenched away from its path, barely retaining shape as it flung itself in the direction of the controlling entity.

    ¡°God¡­ damn it¡­¡±

    She took deep breaths, not expecting to have to fight something then. The sand she had used to keep the squirrel in the air finally fell down beside her, forming a mound of it in the otherwise mostly barren landscape, the horizon empty entirely besides¡­

    A set of ruins, well in the distance, smoke billowing out from around it, and the voice of a teenage girl screaming.

    Amity didn¡¯t run, she understood it couldn¡¯t possibly be her friend, and the fact she could barely hear her suggested it was probably nearly half a mile away. She simply walked, not focusing on anything in particular but her own thoughts, and what thoughts they were.

    I¡­ wish I regretted more, honestly¡­ Why did I only regret¡­ her? She¡¯s just a friend, I know she couldn¡¯t like me¡­ Could my potentially last thoughts not have been about¡­ my family? Or something?

    If I like her enough¡­ to think about her in my last moments¡­ I should tell her.

    She heard the distant screaming taper off, and prepared to tell Himiko everything the moment they find each other again.

 She Wont Be Following

    The screaming in the distance fully settled down, and Amity finally calmed her mind, resolute in her plans for what she wanted to tell her friend. For now, though, she had to actually find her.

    That plan started now, though, as she finally reached the edge of the moat, and finally saw the girl who had screamed.

    As Amity barely saw the short girl, she began to cough uncontrollably, eyes watering from the burning building. The girl was wearing nearly nothing save for shorts, a sports bra, and an over-sized jacket that kept her covered, and she noticed Amity.

    ¡°Hey! Are you okay? Were you¡­ in there?¡±

    Amity blinked, still barely breathing, before managing to cough out a few words.

    ¡°I- I didn¡¯t come out of that building. I came from back over there.¡± She pointed towards where the other moat was. ¡°Did you come from¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I barely got out before the bulk of it collapsed¡­¡±

    The girl began to tear up.

    ¡°Hey¡­ I¡¯m¡­ sorry. I don¡¯t quite¡­ know what to say¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine¡­ It wasn¡¯t your fault.¡±

    Amity let the girl sit down, and cry for a few minutes.

    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ I¡¯m Amity.¡± She turned to face the girl. ¡°What¡¯s yours?¡±

    ¡°Mariss.¡±

    Mariss stood up. She walked to the crumbled bridge that once allowed access to her house.

    ¡°It¡­ wasn¡¯t much. This place was ruins when I moved in, but I didn¡¯t quite have anywhere else to go¡­¡±

    ¡°Did your family¡­¡± Amity followed her, standing next to a post that originally held the bridge up.

    ¡°Not dead, technically. They¡­ It¡¯s a lot, I don¡¯t want to burden you¡­¡± She adjusted the large jacket.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to talk about it, that¡¯s fine. Do you want to try to look for any of your stuff in here?¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t get in¡­ You see the bridge.¡±

    Amity whipped her hand around, showing her the red rock, and intentionally flashily showed her the process of magic, by creating an ice bridge.

    ¡°We can¡¯t get across, right?¡±

    She felt her magic tug as if removing a product from the hooks at a store, before allowing it to flow as if dropping it onto the floor. The cool mass freely formed near her hand, and it settled on the sand, much to the amazement of Mariss.

    ¡°Whoa, is that ice magic!? That¡¯s really strong, too! My magic is kinda weak¡­¡±

    ¡°You have magic too? Hey, show me!¡± Amity nagged her as the ice bridge grew, settling on the other side of the moat where the original bridge once stood.

    ¡°I mean¡­ Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, show me some of your magic! Make an ice cube or something!¡±

    ¡°Oh, I can¡¯t make ice, I only have lightning¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡­ only have lightning..?¡±

    ¡°I can¡­ only use lightning magic? You only have ice magic, it¡¯s no different.¡±

    Amity pulled away from the bridge. ¡°What do you mean? I have¡­ I think, all of them!¡±

    ¡°How do you have all of them..?¡±

    ¡°I just, do? Watch this,¡± Amity revealed the yellow rock, and used it to shock the air, sending zaps of electricity every which way, surrounding but not touching either of them.

    ¡°W- Watch out!¡±

    ¡°Relax, it wont hurt you¡­ did it?¡±

    ¡°Uh, it didn¡¯t but¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I thought. Here,¡± She switched back to the red one, flaming the edge of the newly built bridge and melting it slightly.

    ¡°Amity-¡±

    ¡°Right, sorry, that just happened. Watch this one..?¡±

    The wind kicked up, pulling away from its usual northbound procession and following Amity¡¯s direction, which was to spiral around Mariss, lifting her brown hair up and around her.

    ¡°Dude, Amity, again, how do you have this many?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t- Actually, I do. I¡­ You¡¯re not a human, right?¡±

    ¡°N¡­ no?¡±

    ¡°Right, well, I am, and maybe my magic works differently because when I got it literally a week ago I got everything.¡±

    ¡°You only got magic¡­ a week ago? I¡¯m not nearly that good at mine, and I¡¯ve had it for my¡­ whole life, actually.¡±

    ¡°I mean, let¡¯s see it!¡±

    Mariss picked up a piece of rubble from the ground near her, throwing it into the ground and snapping it in half using a short beam of precise lightning.

    ¡°Dude, that was awesome! What do you mean you¡¯re bad at it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve seen people way better¡­ Like you! You¡¯ve barely had it and you can do way more than I can!¡±

    ¡°People being better than you doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯re not good!¡±

    She stepped past Amity, walking away from the ruins.

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    ¡°Hey, where are you going?¡±

    ¡°Nothing of mine survived the fire. I¡¯m gonna go, find a new place to live, or something.¡±

    Amity ran, catching up to her, just to ask,

    ¡°If you¡¯re leaving¡­ Do you know where we are?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly¡­ I can point where we are out on a map, if you have one.¡±

    She patted her pockets, finding nothing.

    ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ Can you at least tell me, what island we¡¯re on?¡±

    ¡°sigh, I think we¡¯re somewhere on the¡­ east? Yeah, east side of the south island.¡±

    Amity nodded, ¡°Thanks,¡± before saying goodbyes and parting ways with the girl.

    She fell to her knees.

    ¡°God¡­ damn it¡­ Where is she?¡±

    Her hat fell off, and the man keeping her from moving picked it up, placing it back on her head.

    ¡°Waiting for Amity to come bail you out? Tough luck¡­ She¡¯s dead, isn¡¯t she? We saw her fall.¡±

    Himiko struggled in her restraints.

    ¡°You can¡¯t get out of those, especially without her magic. There¡¯s nothing you can do.¡±

    Raleigh screamed in a distant room, begging for help. On Himiko¡¯s other side, Katie sat, unwilling to move. Her face was drained, paler than the moon.

    ¡°Himiko¡­ Don¡¯t fight it.¡±

    Kaiya slid down the wall in her chamber, separate from the rest of the group.

    ¡°Right, you¡¯re¡­ Kaiya Glitz, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but-¡±

    She wiggled in the chains, but quickly stopped, realizing the futility.

    ¡°Right, so, we have reason to suspect you¡¯re in possession of magic?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not speaking.¡±

    ¡°If you won¡¯t speak, we can always check ourselves, and let me tell you, it hurts.¡±

    She sighed.

    ¡°Fine, alright. I have magic, yes, but I can¡¯t use it right now.¡±

    The woman flipped a page in her clipboard, raising an eyebrow.

    ¡°Explain.¡±

    She explained how she got her magic, and why she couldn¡¯t use it.

    ¡°Hmm, alright. You¡¯re useless to us, and there are no sources we know of for, what you call, ¡®active mediums¡¯.¡± She penciled in a final line on the clipboard, before setting it down. ¡°We will escort you out of this facility.¡±

    Kaiya stuttered. ¡°Wh- What? You¡¯re¡­ I can¡­ go?¡±

    ¡°Yes. We will bring an agent in, who will take you to a local inn.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ Thank you.¡±

    The lady stepped out of the room, and while the door was open, flung a key into the room.

    ¡°You may unlock yourself, but do not leave.¡±

    The door clicked closed, and Kaiya barely caught the key. She unlocked the simple cuffs on each arm and leg, and placed the key into her pocket.

    Although the door in front of her remained closed, a panel behind her slid open as a man stepped through, leaving it open as he didn¡¯t notice Kaiya on his way through the front door.

    She peeked through the panel, noticing two young girls, both looking incredibly familiar.

    Wait, ¡°Himiko!?¡±

    She slipped through, sliding it back closed behind her.

    ¡°Kaiya! How did you get out?¡±

    ¡°They let me out, I¡¯m useless to them apparently.¡±

    ¡°Do you have the key?¡±

    ¡°Oh, yeah!¡±

    She unlocked both girls who stood up and immediately ran in to hug them.

    ¡°Thank you!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ welcome. Himiko.¡±

    They both pulled away, and Himiko replied.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Do you have any of the magic rock things?¡±

    ¡°Right, yeah, here. I have a few Amity gave me a while ago.¡±

    She handed them over, before hearing the door from the other room open.

    ¡°Shit, we gotta run. This way!¡±

    Kaiya quickly opened the door beside her, running through them, bringing Himiko and Katie with her. The solid floor didn¡¯t betray them, as it seemingly silenced their steps as they ran into a dusty back hallway.

    ¡°Where do we go?¡± Himiko whispered.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­ I think we were taken across the entire facility to get to our holding rooms, right?¡± Kaiya leaned against the wall.

    ¡°Yeah, we were, I remember.¡± Katie brushed against it too, peeking around a corner.

    ¡°Did anyone see Raleigh?¡±

    They all froze. None of them had seen him.

    ¡°Uh¡­ I didn¡¯t see him¡­¡±

    ¡°Me neither.¡±

    ¡°Right, that¡¯s annoying. Here¡¯s my plan.¡±

    Kaiya pointed at the wall. ¡°Somewhere, on another big wall like this one, there¡¯s probably a map. There were a few one on our last visit to a facility. We need to figure out where the hell one is here, so we can start searching for him.¡±

    They all nodded, understanding the plan.

    Himiko led the group, slinking through the unused hallway to try finding their most important item at the moment.

    The search was short lived, as at the first turn of this backstreet was a small map, only labeled with general use, but one entry caught their collective eyes.

    Science #3 OR: General Holding Cell #3

    They all pounced, knowing exactly where their friend was.

    ¡°Okay, turn back and it¡¯s the second room right in front of us.¡±

    ¡°Are we sure? That seems like a really easy way to get caught, that route.¡± Katie pointed out an alternate route. ¡°These rooms open into each-other, and with humans on the loose I doubt anyone¡¯s doing any science now. We should slip through those and pick him up through the science rooms, then just sprint to the exit.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ see your point actually. That might be a good route. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    They collectively walked down the rest of the hall, ending up at the turn that could end with them getting seen. They psyched themselves up, getting ready to try to run across.

    Himiko peeked the corner, confirming that nobody was looking, sending the signal to run. They all did, and barely made it across before the noise of a chair scraping tile floor pierced their ears, showing that they would¡¯ve absolutely been seen if they had gone just a split second earlier.

    ¡°Shit, that was close.¡±

    The propped-open door to the first science room didn¡¯t ring any alarm bells, so they stepped in, just before seeing the remains of an abandoned experiment. The charred black powder in the beaker left the distinct impression it was failed, and the vials of red liquid resting in holders mounted on the back wall proved it was in their best interest to keep moving.

    Stepping into the second room, the collective storage, clinking could be heard a bit down, likely people grabbing more beakers, maybe preparing a distillation setup, or a vacuum chamber. Whatever they were getting, it wasn¡¯t a great idea to stick around.

    ¡°Just go to the next room.¡± Just who whispered wasn¡¯t clear, but the advice was sound, so they did. Luckily, the shelving was packed, and there were many solid colored materials anyway, so there was no chance for anyone to be able to see them. Hearing them was an issue though, so they opened the final door as slowly as they could, after checking through a crack in the side of it for anyone inside.

    ¡°Raleigh?¡±

    Himiko turned the door open, not even becoming visible before Raleigh could answer.

    ¡°Wh- Who are you now?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Himiko!¡± The door fully opened, and the three girls stepped fully in, softly shutting the door behind them.

    ¡°Oh my god, you guys! How did you get out?¡±

    ¡°Apparently they just let Kaiya out, since she has magic. She brought her key, so we¡¯re gonna get you out then bail.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please let me out, they just left a second ago to grab some stuff for what they called a release.¡± Raleigh visibly tensed up while saying it.

    ¡°Sounds creepy.¡±

    Kaiya slipped off the shackles holding Raleigh, allowing him to move freely.

    ¡°Thanks so much, genuinely. Pretty sure I was gonna die there.¡±¡°No problem, but we need to get going now.¡±

    Right on cue, the door to the storage room slowly opened. Kaiya pushed open the other door, leading to the main grounds of the facility, and got everyone through.

    ¡°Shit- Get away!¡±

    Right as the last person left the front door, the scientist realized what had happened, and charged for Kaiya. She responded by grabbing the yellow rock, barely hitting the person¡¯s foot, before tripping as she left the room.

    ¡°Get off of me!¡± They had grabbed her foot, trying to pull Kaiya back into the room, but she managed to pull away from them and startle them with another strike to the other foot, allowing her to get out of their grasp.

    She stood up, stumbling before settling into a simple run as she met up with the rest of the group, who were being closed in on by a few workers.

    ¡°Guys! Get in!¡± She swept the floor with a bolt of lightning, sending most of them tumbling to the floor besides one, who used his crutches to keep standing.

    The rest of the group started into the tubes, deciding collectively to go to the far side of the island, leaving Kaiya behind.

    He - the man on the crutches, who looked to be a higher ranking person, wearing a suit and tie as opposed to the lab coats that most of them wore - kept stepping forward, towards Kaiya.

    He pressed a button in the chest pocket on his outfit, which sent the lights above them into a frenzy and forcefully shut the tubes entrance, solid metal slamming down.

    Kaiya tried to use the lightning again, but the man was unaffected. She switched to fire, but he didn¡¯t flinch.

    ¡°Look, kid. You may think you¡¯re above us, but you have no business being here.¡± He inched closer, emphasizing words with the taps of the crutches against floor. ¡°There¡¯s a reason the travel portals were closed. There¡¯s a reason that we don¡¯t get humans. You were never supposed to be here, you rat, and he should never have been here either.¡±He didn¡¯t touch Kaiya, tapping his crutch on a distinctly out of place tile on the floor. Kaiya instead stepped backwards, shaking.

    ¡°You may try to kill me. But this is not the end. You may tell the gods that you lost, and they will scorn you, ignorant fool.¡±

    A pillar arose from the tile he touched, a small button revealed atop it.

    ¡°Death is only the end if you believe the story is about you, and it isn¡¯t. Farewell, coward.¡±

    The button sunk into the panel it was in, and a chunk of the ceiling separated, falling swiftly and noticeably, leaving cracks in the tile where its impact wasn¡¯t softened by the body of a preteen girl, purple blood shining across the tile.

 Shes Following, In A Way

    Kaiya sat up.

    The gray bed she sat on seemingly merged into the surrounding bare walls, simple nightstand and nearly empty room. Across from her in the room sat an old computer, the gray, bulky tower and table helped distinguish the perfectly black, modern monitor.

    Wh- Shit, am I¡­ No, I can¡¯t be¡­ I¡­

    There¡¯s no way I¡¯m seriously dead, I¡¯ve been fighting for so long¡­ They couldn¡¯t have gotten me¡­ They¡­

    I¡¯m¡­

    They got me.

    She stood off the bed, but the floor didn¡¯t catch her.

    Something else did. It very much wasn¡¯t the floor, but she walked on the sheer air.

    The chair didn¡¯t scrape against the floor as she moved it, because there wasn¡¯t a floor. Out of curiosity, before she sat in the chair, she walked past the desk, in hopes of finding a wall. She expected to bump into something immediately, but nothing came. She probably walked for a full minute, before deciding to turn back.

    This computer¡­

    It booted quickly, but she didn¡¯t recognize the operating system. Probably, because there wasn¡¯t really a desktop. All it showed was a black terminal, blinking cursor. Kaiya typed in the classic ¡®help¡¯ command, which showed unusual commands.

    First was ¡®give¡¯, with no description. Next, ¡®look¡¯, again with no description. She typed ¡®help give¡¯, which only displayed syntax.

    Although her context was limited, she tried using ¡®give¡¯ on a small item - an apple.

    ¡®give apple¡¯

    An apple fell onto the bed behind her, which she picked up. It felt real, and she took a proper bite.

    Kaiya understood the command, so she decided to try the other one.

    Look.

    She typed it in.

    ¡®look Himiko Singe ¡ªview Free¡¯

    A window opened in seemingly mid-air, and she peeked through it.

    She saw the girl sitting on a hill alongside Katie and Raleigh, entirely across the island. There was a menu that allowed her to quickly change person, just by typing their name. She did that for each other person there, before deciding to try someone else.

    Hey, if I try¡­ her¡­ would it show the same place as here?

    Kaiya tried it, typing Amity Rune into the window. She managed to get a view of her, but it wasn¡¯t quite what she expected.

    The view was a sandy area, Amity walking perpendicular to the wind. She kept walking, but there wasn¡¯t anything particularly notable near her. She hovered around her for a minute, in awe.

    How¡­ did she survive? This shouldn¡¯t¡­ There¡¯s gotta be a way out of here, if she¡¯s not dead. Now¡¯s not the time to try it, though.

    She tried the original command again on the computer, and it opened another window, around Himiko.

    Hmm¡­ shocked it let me open two.

    She decided to give herself a drink, but when she stepped back to move the windows, she tripped. Her water spilled onto a window, where it splashed back and hit the ground, leaving it slightly wet. She just cleaned it off, and went back to watching, though this was a bit of a wake-up call. This place is physical.

    Honestly, I kinda like this place, but I kinda wish it wasn¡¯t gray like this¡­

    She gave herself a few posters which she couldn¡¯t put up on account of the lack of walls, a record player and some of her favorite music, and new bed sheets, recreating her home bedroom as well as possible.

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    Music playing in the background, she stepped back to a window, and kept watching.

    Amity kept walking, but in the horizon, Kaiya could see a building now. It was tall, but clearly a decent bit away.

    Himiko sat higher up the hill, against a sobbing Katie and Raleigh.

    She wondered if Himiko knew what happened.

    ¡­

    As Kaiya sat, staring at the windows which she had moved nearer to the bed, she pondered.

    ¡°I¡­ Can there¡­ Am I really here¡­ forever?¡±

    She propped a window in her hand.

    ¡°This afterlife¡­ sucks.¡±

    There was a distinct smashing as she felt the glass of the window give way under the quick impact she made upon it.

    ***Himiko sat down on the hill, rest of the group following her. They found a flat spot on this surprisingly tall dune to rest on, just as they escaped the Broken Divine base.

    ¡°God, my arms hurt. Those cuff things were so tight!¡± Himiko shook her hands, the red spots on her arm from where they had been showing obviously.

    ¡°That¡¯s what you¡¯re complaining about?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is, because I was lucky enough that that¡¯s the worst thing that¡¯s happened to me there.¡±

    They sat for a good few minutes, catching their breath, before they realized something.

    ¡°Hey, Kaiya¡¯s still not out,¡± Katie said.

    ¡°We told her where to go¡­ Is she still in there?¡± Raleigh looked with concern at Katie.

    ¡°I hope not, she should be out by now¡­ At least in the tubes by now.¡±

    They waited a few more minutes, before Himiko decided to check something.

    At the top of the hill, a short platform stood. It held the entrance to the tubes, as well as a map, which helpfully showed recent travel, as well as what tubes were currently in use.

    ¡ª¡ª 9 / 24 ¡ª

    Recent Travel

    9:35 PM: 1 ride from Southwest Facility to Southeast Hill Entrance

    9:35 PM: 1 ride from Southwest Facility to Southeast Hill Entrance

    9:36 PM: 1 ride from Southwest Facility to Southeast Hill Entrance

    There were only 3 rides.

    Kaiya was supposed to be the 4th.

    ¡°Hey, guys! Kaiya, ah¡­ Kaiya hasn¡¯t even touched the tubes yet.¡±

    ¡°What the- What happened to her?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know! The¡­ hey¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Katie stood up, walking up the hill.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ sorry, I think something¡­ happened to Kaiya¡­¡±

    ¡°What- What do you mean??¡±

    Himiko showed them a menu, advertising the tubes for a certain facility being on lockdown for ¡®unforeseen cleaning and maintenance of the facility¡¯. They all knew what that meant.

    ¡°Shit¡­ Kaiya- Kaiya¡­¡± Katie looked at the screen, realizing. All color drained from her moon-pale skin as she leaned against the side of the tube entrance, sobbing.

    ¡°K- Kaiya¡­ She couldn¡¯t have¡­ She had magic¡­¡± Raleigh followed, sitting on the ground.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I don¡¯t think she¡¯s gonna come back¡­ She had magic, but they have more. Their magic is stronger too, way stronger.¡± Himiko stayed standing, but her legs tried to take her down.

    ¡°We never¡­ never should¡¯ve left her behind¡­¡± Katie continued crying into her legs.

    ¡°We couldn¡¯t have saved her¡­ We would¡¯ve just gone too¡­¡± Raleigh consoled her, saying it was less bad than what could¡¯ve happened.

    The two on the ground cried together as Himiko walked around, the calmest one here also on the verge of it.

    ¡°I¡­ shit, I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Himiko decided to sit down on the opposite side from the two of them. ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­ where we go from here¡­¡±

    Himiko decided to recount their adventure, in desperation a solution would reveal itself.

    ¡°We¡­ We needed them. We needed some magic, at least, but they had¡­ everything, really. Amity knew where to go, did all the fighting, but¡­ She¡¯s gone, and we barely escaped one encounter. Not even all of us¡­¡±

    Himiko pushed herself up, leaning against the entrance.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure where we¡¯re meant to go. I¡¯m not sure if we can beat Winter, and we can¡¯t use what we¡¯d get anyway.¡±

    She walked around the back.

    ¡°Hey, guys.¡±

    Katie had stopped sobbing by now, but she still didn¡¯t look great.

    ¡°Himiko¡­¡±

    ¡°Look, I¡¯m not sure where to go¡­ Let¡¯s take a bit, down in those ruins. I don¡¯t think we should stay up here¡­ I imagine they can track the tubes too.¡±

    Himiko extended a hand helping them up, and with her red eyes, Katie stood alongside Raleigh, who still cried a bit.

    ¡°Alright¡­¡±

    Himiko picked her hat off her head, holding it near her chest while somberly looking into the ground, and didn¡¯t put it back on as she began walking.

    ¡°Himiko¡­ Are you okay?¡±

    Raleigh stepped to walk beside her. ¡°You¡¯re¡­ you weren¡¯t¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Himiko used her hat to hide her face for a second. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ handling it. We need someone strong here¡­¡±

    Raleigh felt she didn¡¯t want to be pressed.

    ***

    The sand continued its coarse grinding against Amity¡¯s feet as she stepped towards a big sand dune. It had a tall, degraded tower built beside it, beams extended from the dune towards it, but the tower was noticeably less than maintained.

    ¡°Alright¡­ Shelter. Just enough for now.¡±

    She didn¡¯t bother knocking on the door, just hopping a particularly short piece of the broken wall. The insides of the tower were shockingly barren, a crumbled pile of wood in the corner being all that laid inside.

    A set of stairs embedded in the wall nearly spoke to her, but she pushed on one and it shifted. If it moved that much under her hand, they wouldn¡¯t hold her weight. Instead, she just slipped an ice pillar beneath her feet and lifted herself to the second floor.

    ¡°That power¡¯s proving¡­ useful.¡±She picked herself up and looked at what was here. A crushed dresser with nothing but empty, damaged coat-hangers both inside and scattered outside, and the desk next to it also adorned with a few, next to old clothes that look like they¡¯d been untouched for years.

    The mirror above the desk had been shattered, and a melted candle next to some shards of glass had tipped.

    ¡°Not¡­ friendly.¡±

    She looked up, and there were still a few more floors.

    The floor right above her was entirely collapsed, not viable in any way, but she kept on going.

    Past the third, fourth, and fifth floors, lied a disheveled, cracked roof, and a wasteland of a floor.

    The glass windows around the room were all shattered, and the pillar keeping the room up cracked, but it still stood.

    She decided this was good enough, swept some of the glass off the floor, and laid down on the thin bed that sat atop the rickety tower.

 The Trek, and Nomads

    Amity¡¯s muscles whined to her brain as she stood up, immediately as she woke.

    ¡°Alright¡­ let¡¯s¡­¡±

    She felt her stomach growl, along with the ache of the rest of her body, and she realized something was missing.

    Food. Not having eaten in a few days and surviving off magic water probably wasn¡¯t the best choice, she thought. Especially since the magic still took a bit of a toll.

    Maybe I should¡¯ve asked that Mariss girl if she knew where any food places were.

    Albeit slowly, she made her way back down the tower, and quickly started conjuring a plan, as well as a bit more water, ignoring the fatigue. A cactus stood in the distance, which was notably not there earlier. She looked away to stretch a bit, but when she looked back, hoping to spot a juicy fruit, the cactus had moved.

    Amity looked around somewhat confused, and found the same cactus on her opposite side. Luckily, there were a good few fruits on it, but that didn¡¯t particularly help when she started walking towards it. One blink, and the tall cactus had once again vanished. Another look around, and wouldn¡¯t you know it, its atop the sand dune.

    ¡°Great¡­¡±

    She decided to make one final normal walk to it, just to avoid needing magic, but the plant wasn¡¯t quite having it.

    Again, when it was out of view for even a moment, there was a distinct emptiness where it once was. She looked behind her, barely catching the cactus turning to have the tempting spiked red fruits clearly visible to the girl who simply couldn¡¯t care anymore.

    One swift reach into her pocket as she grabbed the buzzing yellow rock and the extension of her hand was all it took for the once vibrant green cactus to be rendered charred around the impact, and a mangled mix of light and dark greens everywhere else. The remains collapsed, and the untouched fruits rolled away, gathering in the dip formed by the shock wave.

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    The flames carried on by Amity¡¯s magic and some planks taken from the already decrepit tower kept her warm as the chill of the air stung her nose as she breathed. Roasted voltfruit from the cactus smelt amazing in the otherwise bland landscape that she was finally realizing the scope of as she sat at the fire¡­

    ¡°I walked for pretty much a full day¡­ I¡¯ve gotta be nearly to them by now¡­¡±

    She took another bite of the fruit, cranking the makeshift spit roast stick to keep the second one even. Juice got on her torn black dress, and she decided to trim it a bit.

    The second voltfruit¡¯s outer leaves made a crisp crunch on the plank she¡¯d designated for holding the two delicious fruit, as she reached into her bag.

    Scissors, small fabric ones at least, produced from a small inner pocket. They cut through the rip acquired from tripping on a rock as she approached the tower the prior day. The rough edges were comparatively smoother now, and the gash in her dress made for a welcome new look, diagonally slicing through the dress¡¯ stomach area.

    Amity stood up, throwing the fabric scraps into the fire and leaving the makeshift spit there to be used if someone were to come across it.

    ¡°There¡¯s one!¡±

    A woman yelled, two men with primitive rifles held near their chests following closely behind in her desperate sprint. Amity turned just in time to avoid being rammed into directly, the woman instead tripping beside the fire.

    ¡°Crap- You okay?¡±

    ¡°Shut up, you filthy- Get her! Nomad!¡±

    The men silently pointed the weapons towards her, but the girl reacted with a solid layer of ice. A bullet shattered half of it, but he had to tamp more gunpowder before another shot could fire, so she simply used lightning to shock the tamping iron, forcing the man to drop it, and himself, to the sand. The other man began to reach around to the other side of the ice, but she shocked the gun directly out of his hands.

    Quickly after standing up, the woman snarled and lunged, only stopped by her foot still catching on the spit, burning in the flames. Amity made a run for it, once she¡¯d gotten the ladies foot out of the flames, and admittedly grabbing the voltfruit before booking it out of the area. Both men were incapacitated but not injured, and the woman had some pretty bad burns to her foot but otherwise was unharmed.

    By the time another set of ruins was visible, she¡¯d already stopped running, having caught her breath.

    ¡°Those¡­They called me¡­ a nomad? That sounds¡­ familiar.¡±

    She shelved the thought, just opting to continue her walk towards the ruins, and the hill immediately beside it.

    Closer to the hill, she saw some movement.

    Something Amity didn¡¯t expect, was two figures who looked to be crossing the bridge to the ruins, awaited by a third with a pointy hat.

 Abyss

    Kaiya¡¯s elbow impacted the sturdy glass, which gave out beneath the speed and force of her attack.

    She quickly realized something was wrong, when instead of falling back, she ended up rolling into something familiarly unfamiliar.

    The dark surroundings where she floated only had light from sparse windows, and she was able to turn and look into them, all glowing into her familiar void. The exact contents of each void weren¡¯t quite what she¡¯d put in her own, but it was clear they were lived in. By who or what though, wasn¡¯t.

    As she managed to control her own drift, pushing against the windows, she noticed something quickly coming up, in her path. The wall had arrived without warning, but when Kaiya nearly crashed into it, she noticed a ladder. It was rusty and seemingly unused, but she only stopped her head bashing into it by an inch.

    A light shone from below her, the sole thing she could see, as the last window was a decent bit back. She decided to push herself down on the ladder, seeing what was up with it. Surely some inherent liminal place like this didn¡¯t have workers, right?

    Kaiya¡¯s foot tapped down on a dark floor, gravity only seeming to take effect as she stood. The area here was pitch black, a ceiling a bit above blocking whatever slivers of light would¡¯ve reached her.

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    Heat from an ember shone maybe a foot around her as she used whatever force she could to keep it afloat, clearly pushing hard to get even that tiny bit of fire. She stepped forward, but was interrupted by her own foot giving out on her, crushing the flame as Kaiya collapsed back against the wall.

    Her vision blurred, as she made a sharp exhale into the void, trying her hardest to start a new flame. She couldn¡¯t find the strength in her to do it, but when she finally relaxed her magic, she was able to barely stand again.

    The blinding darkness inhibited her movement, but she was still able to somewhat walk towards the out-of-sight end of the hall. Kaiya had stepped maybe halfway there, though, when a weight seemingly dropped from her shoulders. She was able to keep walking, smoother and faster, and she could even start a new, tiny ember, which she threw forwards and let hit the floor. Instead of vanishing into nothing, though, the small light source barely kept glowing, illuminating the surroundings just enough to see..

    The Broken Divine.

    Of course. Of course it was them, this isn¡¯t a real afterlife. She wasn¡¯t dead!

    But she was. She had to have been. Kaiya had felt herself die. None of the pain, but all of the feelings, for the split second before the block traveled from her head to the floor.

    The somewhat clean logos on the wall, showing the all-too familiar emblem surrounded by the name, and the quotes from a¡­ ¡°Cornet¡±¡­ the last name was scratched out entirely. For all of them, actually. Something didn¡¯t want this name to be known.

    She didn¡¯t immediately mind this. Kaiya shockingly to even herself, didn¡¯t freak out knowing that even after her death, she was still under their lock and key. From months ago, those days after days in the princesses room, meeting man in suit after man in tie.

    Even after that. After they helped her recover, they didn¡¯t hesitate.

 Reunited..?

    Something Amity didn¡¯t expect, was two figures who looked to be crossing the bridge to the ruins, awaited by a third with a pointy hat.

    ¡°Hey¡­ HEY!¡±

    Amity¡¯s feet hit the sand, harder and faster than before. She dropped some ice, gliding down it with grace, yet speed. The figures didn¡¯t notice her yet, but they were in for a shock. Himiko especially, when she could find a way to get the witch alone. Amity did hope that her shock would be positive, though.

    Even with her speed and skill, when she felt a sharp pain in her back run through the rest of her body, it ended up sending her flying down the abruptly ended path and into the sand, staining it red.

    ¡°You filthy nomad!¡± The voice was sharp against the wound in her back, weapon removed.

    ¡°Go-¡± Amity¡¯s attempt at shooing the woman immediately ended in failure, as she brought down the rock-tipped spear directly to the right of Amity, barely missing the girl as she dodged. Lightning was quick, straight at the lady¡¯s chest.

    Collapsing on the sand, the spear jammed itself into the already scorched foot from earlier, making her wince and yell for help.

    Unfortunately, Amity didn¡¯t want to leave someone with a hole in their foot, so the girl who was still wounded walked up to the grown woman, now frantically trying to get away, but there was no stopping it. The spear, removed. The hole, not fully healed but as best as she could do, along with most of the burns. She did this quickly to give time to make a full run for it. The woman did try to catch up, but her foot gave out on her after just a few steps.

    ¡°Himiko! Katie! Raleigh! Kaiya!¡±

    Himiko turned her head, Amity having made significant progress towards the ruins. Immediately, the sight of Amity made Himiko collapse, but rather than run towards the girl, she darted inside the ruins, stumbling as she stood back up mid run.

    ¡°Himiko! Please¡­¡±

    She quickly crossed the moat, spotting Raleigh and Katie sitting just inside the castle. Amity noticed the tears still in their eyes.

    ¡°Oh my god, are you guys okay?¡±

    ¡°..? WAIT OH MY GOD AMITY!!¡±

    Katie jumped from the spot in the corner she had sat in, enveloping Amity in a hug.

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    ¡°Amity! What happened?¡± Raleigh stood up too, beside the hugging girls.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, I-¡± Amity looked forward. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, can this wait? I want Himiko in here to hear the story, and Kaiya, too!¡±

    Katie and Raleigh looked down.

    ¡°Is¡­ she here?¡±

    Raleigh shook his head, and she understood. Before it really set in though, and before she could walk even a few steps, her leg slipped from under her and she barely caught the impact with her hands, before falling unconscious.

    ***

    ¡°Shoot- She¡¯s up!¡±

    Katie ran over, looking worried. Raleigh had been sat at the end of the¡­ probably a couch, that she had been laid on while she slept.

    ¡°Amity! Are you okay?¡± She didn¡¯t talk, reaching to the wound on her back. Somehow, in reuniting with her friends, the pain of her injury took a backseat.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ fine? What did you do?¡±

    Himiko stepped from behind the couch, hands messy with the colored mixture of a green rock, blue rock, and water. ¡°Amity¡­¡±

    ¡°Himiko!¡± Although she knew it would probably hurt, she stood up and leapt towards her. ¡°Hey!¡±

    ¡°Shoot, Amity! What happened? How are you.. here?¡±

    Amity had them sit down on the various chairs, and she laid back down on the couch, and recounted the events¡­

    ¡°Ah, where do I start¡­ When I fell into that hole, I couldn¡¯t exactly stop myself. My magic¡­ didn¡¯t seem to work all that well. I could hold a small flame, but it wouldn¡¯t stay for very long. When I neared the bottom - where it ended up being for me, anyway - I¡­ didn¡¯t hit the ground hard. I don¡¯t fully understand what or how but I slowed down before I landed.¡±

    Nobody asked any questions, and Amity shifted in her seat.

    ¡°Someone down there¡­ helped me get back up, but I didn¡¯t come out in the same place. The pit I left was literally the entire island away, but I think we¡¯re like right in the center of it now.¡±

    Raleigh blinked.

    ¡°Honestly, I thought the story would be more exciting,¡± he stood from the chair.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s just what happened.¡±

    Tense silence filled the room, broken by Himiko asking Amity something.

    ¡°Amity, could you come here?¡±

    She gestured for Katie and Raleigh to stay down on the first floor as her and Amity walked the steps to the second. She took deep breaths, opening the door to a small room with a bed and a seat, Amity taking the latter. ¡°So, what did you want?¡±

    ¡°I wanted to say, how happy I am that you¡¯re back. We weren¡¯t prepared to do.. this without you, so¡­¡± Himiko scratched the back of her neck.

    ¡°I¡¯m happy to have found you guys, I honestly didn¡¯t think I¡¯d find you guys this quickly.¡±

    Amity took a breath. ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡± Himiko¡¯s neck turned back towards her.

    ¡°I¡­ do you wanna go complete that ¡®job offer¡¯ and take out Winter?¡± Shit, why did I chicken out¡­

    ¡°Lets ask the others, but we should probably take a break and deal with her tomorrow¡­ we all need a rest after these past few days, I think.¡±

    Amity agreed, and they all walked back down to the bottom floor, greeted by Katie and Raleigh sitting where they were, mostly doing nothing.

    ¡°So, tomorrow, do you guys wanna go deal with Winter?¡±

    Katie sat up from her slouch, and sharply yelled; ¡°Are you insane?! We just got out of a low level facility, and barely even did that! Going to Winter in a high level facility like that means death when every single employee knows our¡±

    She leaned a bit back, shocked at her own outburst. ¡°Sorry, I, uh¡­¡±

    ¡°No, I get it, sorry. We can probably put it off, for now.

    They all sat around for a bit, but Amity quickly realized something¡­

    ¡°Hey, when¡¯s the last time you guys ate?¡±

    Stunned silence gave her the answer, and she stood up, stepping out to search for something, anything. Unfortunately, the place was pretty barren, and it was looking like her voltfruit find was the luckiest thing to happen to her the whole time she was here.

 Emergency: Memento Mori

    Even after that. After they helped her recover, they didn¡¯t hesitate.

    Kaiya stepped past the walls. Not the time to think about them. The ground beneath her was cracked, but she pressed on. The ember on the floor extinguished under her foot, and she replaced it with another one in her hand, which was brighter. Powered by what, though, was unclear.

    The walls kept going, keeping Kaiya boxed in. She could turn, but she didn¡¯t dare to go back. Not to that¡­ awful cell. If she was here, outside of her afterlife¡­ maybe there was hope for her.

    Hope that, admittedly, wasn¡¯t too close. The floor began showing more wear as she walked. A few cracks sprawling along it, as Kaiya spotted something. Rather, the absence of that something.

    Rather than a wall, or more black shadow in front of her, she stepped onto the edge of the shattered floor to spot the endless void again, mocking her with its endless finality.

    Its unforgivably kind velour, yet the true nature seeped through.

    The mere sight of it almost sent Kaiya into a panic, but she looked away and remained calm. The first thing to do was to see¡­ if this was the end.

    She grabbed a loose chunk of rock from the wall, aiming it and throwing dead center in front of her. A few seconds¡­

    Thud, the rock echoed across the gap to Kaiya.

    There was most certainly something there, and she would need to get to it. She decided first, to throw a flame across. This light served useful, as it showed the mangled hallway ahead. It also showed the jarring emptiness surrounding the free-floating pathway.

    Like there was nothing to it, Kaiya stepped on the edge of her own hall, took a deep breath, and pushed forward.

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    ¡°¡­¡±

    The lack of gravity was less jarring than she expected, but it still managed to trip her up when she ended up overshooting the hallway by just a bit.

    Ice quickly flung up from the hallway roof, and provided a wall for Kaiya to stop. Handholds molded into it, and she managed to get a deep breath in. When she prepared to launch, just before she pushed herself down in hopes of walking along the roof, a sharp snap occurred. The block of ice shifted, and Kaiya pushed down preemptively, which sent her back down, but the ice upwards.

    Looking down, a pile of sand rested where the ice was anchored prior. It had a footprint embedded in its top as Kaiya gently landed back down, before setting foot beyond the ice¡­

    It wasn¡¯t too long until she found an issue, being a sharp incline in the hallway, forcing Kaiya to stop. The sheer wall kept her from reasonable climbing, the risk of falling into¡­ nothing¡­ stopped her from trying an ice pillar, but there was no way she could walk back, go inside the hall, then walk back again. The less time I can spend out here, the better, she thought.

    The problem quickly solved itself, though, as while she was trying to make some handrails around the pillar, the ice snapped and broke a hole in the ceiling. Whatever works.

    Swiftly sliding down the hole, she found a ladder in the hall, extending up through the vertical shaft.

    It was shockingly stable, so Kaiya just climbed. Luckily for her, being dead seemed to have gotten rid of whatever exhaustion could have crept up on her by this point.

    ***

    She stepped up. One rung, then another. Kaiya couldn¡¯t see what she was climbing anymore, the already dim lights having burned out completely, pretty far below her.

    A piece of paper hit her in the face.

    ¡°Gah-¡±

    Another. ¡°What the¡­¡± Before her phrase finished, she noticed a light above her. Dim, but it was there. The clean white light reminded her of a lab.

    A lab¡­ like theirs.

    The ladder creaked as she climbed with increased vigor. She found another paper on a rung, and it had some names listed. At the very end of the list, her own. This didn¡¯t quite stop her, as she kept a steady pace, dropping the paper below her.

    As the light got brighter above her, she heard frantic chattering. The only word she made out in all of it was a simple ¡°MISSING-¡°. She could guess who the voice referred to. It felt like ages still, but she eventually reached the topmost rungs. She peered into the room, but all she saw was a blank room. It was littered with paper, most of which filled with clean handwriting, fresh ink on the bottom, bearing the 10 character name.

    Kaiya Glitz stepped up again, but as her hand hit the floor, she just heard an announcement from the speakers.

    ¡°ATTENTION: Emergency - Memento mori, report to facility sect 13.¡±

    The loudspeaker beeped, her now on the floor, and she spared a glance to the door.

    A rusted metal label on the door said only, ¡°Sect 13.¡±

 Emergency: Pro Tempore

    The door creaked, and Kaiya panicked. She noticed a desk in the corner, one nobody would likely go to, and barely slipped behind it before two men walked in. They were tall, bulky, and could probably kill Kaiya¡­ again.

    Hang on, how¡­ the hell? I¡¯m back in one of their facilities. But, I¡¯m dead.

    The question wouldn¡¯t get an answer, but luckily, she noticed the men both climbing into the hole. She managed to wait for them to make it a bit down, far enough that they wouldn¡¯t be able to reach her before she made her break.

    That happened quickly, when she bolted to the door. Quickly peeking around, nobody was there. She ran to the side, and slipped into another hall. These places are really weirdly designed, she thought.

    A quick check at the convenient map (why do they keep putting these maps up on halls nobody uses?) and she knew where to go. Her hall was beside sect 13, and she noticed a skull inside the room depicted on the map. Made sense to her, given that she escaped her own death through it¡­ somehow. The nearest way out was a staircase just a room over. There was also a tube entrance, but it was in a large mess hall, the odds of which nobody being inside were too low for her to risk it.

    She decided to use the quicker exit, and so the stairs in sect 12 were what she chose. Kaiya¡¯s peek at the hall made it a safe pass to the door, but she heard a noise to her left.

    Huh???

    There was nothing there. She thought, maybe she was just hearing things. I should go for it, this is just making me too nervous.

    Kaiya gripped the doorknob, running in and shutting the door right behind her.

    The stunned look of the three suited men gathered around a table at the young girl with untamed hair, and a torn shirt.

    ¡°Shit- Call another code!¡± A man yelled across the table, prompting another to run across the room, toying with an intercom microphone. The third pulled a switch on the wall, slamming a metal door closed over the stairway. The first man ran over to Kaiya, and began throwing ice around, trying to trap her. She melted the ice at the bottom, sliding through under his legs. The ice expanded over her, trying to stop her, but she kept the flame alive.

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    The man who pulled the switch intervened at this point, blowing Kaiya¡¯s hair in front of her face to slow the escape, the act of which gave the first man time to send a shock towards the girl.

    She quickly grabbed a chunk of ice which had collapsed behind her, having lost support from the melted ice beneath, and blocked it, but the ice shattered in her hands. The man didn¡¯t send another shock immediately, so Kaiya reached to her side, knocking over the second man, while reaching with her other hand towards the other rocks in her pocket. One quick yellow rock use, and the first man doubled over. Couldn¡¯t handle his own magic, huh?

    Another shock to the other two quickly incapacitated them, and she flipped the lever, raising the barricade. The experience didn¡¯t feel over to her though.

    Walking up the stairs, she got lost in thought. So, now what? Everyone thinks I¡¯m dead now, Amity is still missing as far as I know as well, and I don¡¯t even know if Himiko, Katie, and Raleigh are still where they were last time I was able to check up on them.

    She quickly decided to ignore most of these worries, and focused on her plans.

    I need to¡­ figure out where I am. Then, I can figure out where the rest of them are. And then I figure out how to get to them. I can work on the assumption they¡¯re still where they were, which is by a tube entrance, on a hill, next to some ruins. It can¡¯t be that far from where I¡­

    ¡°Where I died.¡±

    Right. She¡­ had died. Kaiya was dead, or at least meant to be. What was the deal with that place, anyway?

    I died in¡­ one of their facilities. I can¡¯t believe they didn¡¯t pass a second glance, after what I¡¯ve done. If I died¡­ in their facility, did I end up in¡­ their afterlife?

    The hall behind her felt to disappear, as she continued up the barren stairs.

    Barren to a point, at least. The walls ahead of Kaiya began to be scrawled in the same messages. Boasting about the facility, from the same, familiar name. Although, she couldn¡¯t recall how she knew it.

    Was it.. when she was with that princess? No, Kaiya hadn¡¯t met anyone truly important, most of that was handed off to the princess who relayed it back to Kaiya.

    Could it be¡­ I¡¯m not sure.

    I don¡¯t know how I know him.

    That wouldn¡¯t matter for long, though, because as the messages on the wall became clearer, not faded or scratched out, a light began to shine. The light reflected off the walls, onto Kaiya, and helped her realize what was her priority.

    Knowing how she survived isn¡¯t important, it¡¯s what she can make with the opportunity.

 Lets Try It

    Kaiya stepped a foot onto the cold sand, and breathed a sigh of relief. The sand was just as coarse as she thought, the sky was the deep, dim blue as usual, and the ocean surrounding her looked stunning. Turns out existing in a monochrome void for a while really makes you long for even the mundane.

    She stepped forward, taking the, compared to the still air she¡¯d breathed for the past while, crisp air in and out. A fire formed on her hand, and she expanded it, taking full advantage of being alone to exercise her magic.

    The thought crept up on her, though.

    ¡°Could I¡­ use my¡­¡±

    She tried it.

    Kaiya quickly formed a piece of ice, bringing it up to a shape she could stand on, and stepped up, reforming the ice around her feet and legs.

    She was a solid foot off the ground, and looked into the distance, before trying.

    ¡°ale. jan en soweli. alasa.¡±

    She looked behind her back as best she could with stuck feet, to see nothing. She spoke again, and added to the phrase.

    ¡°ale. jan en soweli, li len. sewi Amiti. alasa.¡±

    A piece of fabric in the distance lit up, and she melted down the leg guards. The light was pretty small, but she decided it was a start.

    Immediately as she laid foot on the sand, a little thought grew in her head.

    ¡°Why is it¡­ so small? It¡¯s not that far away.¡± The fabric was just a strip, and even just through the limited glow she could create, it was clearly severed from something¡­

    ***

    The bridge creaked behind Amity as she stepped out of the castle in search of food.

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    ¡°Alright¡­ more of those cacti would be nice¡­¡±

    Her steps were brisk but careful as she lapped the castle, before noticing the distant horizon. The dim equivalent to the sun shone along the intersection between land and sky, making the surrounding light a beautiful mosaic gradient of warm reds to yellows. The time she spent looking at it took away from the time she could spend foraging, which was limited. Sooner or later, the group would need to find Winter, or at least start heading to the next important place.

    She quickly pulled her mind away from that line of thought, though, as Amity saw a distinctly familiar glow not too far away. It was by the decrepit tower she had camped in that night, and¡­

    The glow. I know that glow.

    I¡¯ve seen it. It¡­

    Amity felt a tear form in her eye, as she gasped, before feeling her breath hitch. She looked into the distance and didn¡¯t immediately spot anyone, but it was certain in her mind, just who made that glow. The brilliant glow of the horizon was lost in her vision, which clouded as she ran back over the bridge and into the castle ruins.

    ¡°Guys,¡± she struggled to say. ¡°Guys, she- I saw Kaiya¡¯s glowi-¡±

    ¡°Kaiya?!¡± Everyone was shocked, saying this in almost unison.

    ¡°I saw the, the glowing thing she does-¡±

    The group nearly bolted out of their seats, darting to the door, and seeing the glow as well.

    Sand flung in the air as the group of four started to sprint towards the light. They admired the rays of the sun and how they shined on the land, but focused on the mission. Finding Kaiya.

    ***

    Kaiya¡¯s leg screamed at her. She ignored it, and walked forwards. There was little going through her mind, besides get to that fabric.

    She was so tunnel-visioned to her goal that she didn¡¯t notice when it started moving. Lifted, then dangled. Then, dropped back where it sat. The glow remained steady, and so did she. The hope grew in her heart, maybe she could find everyone, and they could go back to their normal. Their ¡°normal¡±.

    The radiance of the horizon caught her eye. Kaiya¡¯s vision, focused solely on the brighter than ever light not too far away from her, had hid the glow in the sky from her.

    Warm yellows, reds and even some pinks shone through, scattering on the dim, deep blue sky. She felt a warmth in her pounding heart, as if it would all be okay.

    That okay wasn¡¯t quite here yet in her mind, as the fabric she was still walking towards moved again. This time, it was lifted, swayed, and eventually torn at an edge.

    Shit- She couldn¡¯t finish the thought, interrupted by a commotion. Everyone was yelling. The voices that clouded her thoughts though.

    They were familiar.

    ***

    ¡°Does this mean¡­¡± Amity slid down the edge of the tower.

    ¡°Kaiya¡¯s alive.¡± Himiko replied.

    ¡°This¡­ she died.¡± Katie said.

    ¡°Himiko, you were the most certain about her death.¡± Raleigh tensely stated. ¡°You said she had to have been dead.¡±

    ¡°She had to have been! There was no way she was alive for that long, alone, in the facility!¡±

    ¡°It was very possible! She clearly did it, because she¡¯s finding us!¡±

    ¡°Guys,¡± Amity called. ¡°Everyone needs to chill. If that is Kaiya, we don¡¯t want her to find us yelling at each-other.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The group collectively stared at the young girl who walked a final step, before collapsing onto the sand.

 Maybe I Will

    The girl, in a daze, face planted into the coarse sand.

    ¡°K- Kaiya!¡± Amity darted towards the girl.

    ¡°Oh my g¡­ my god¡­¡± barely sputtered out of Himiko, before she just slipped around the wall.

    Amity quickly swept Kaiya from the ground with the intent to help, swiftly stepping into the distance, towards the ruins.

    ¡°Himiko, are you¡­ good?¡± Katie looked at the girl, clearly crying into her arms, huddled against the wall.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ sorry.¡±

    ¡°..?¡± Katie¡¯s silence was deafening, and led Himiko to continue.

    ¡°Sorry¡­ I made you- hic- scared about her. I assumed, and I made you- hic- cry.¡±

    Himiko barely got the words out, sputtering through choked sobs.

    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault.¡±

    Himiko didn¡¯t look up, so to get a better look at her, Katie removed the witches hat.

    ¡°That was a normal thing to think! I don¡¯t know how she did it, but nobody else thought she¡¯d make it out either. And you were ready to take the helm after two of them were gone!¡±

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    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t do anything bad, is what I¡¯m saying.¡±

    ¡°I- hic- thanks.¡± Himiko spared a glance at the girl, who sat right beside her.

    ¡°Come back to the ruins when you¡¯re ready to say hi.¡±

    Katie took her leave, walking back around and seeing Raleigh gone with the two other girls. She took the opportunity to look back to the horizon. The vibrant hues had faded, but there was a clear trace of something. The light that had faded didn¡¯t go away entirely.

    Somehow, it would be fine.

    Her eyes glanced down, then turned her head backwards. She saw Himiko standing behind her.

    ¡°Hey.¡± Katie looked at her, re-adorned in the hat.

    ¡°Katie, can you¡­ I don¡¯t want to make this about me, never mind.¡± Himiko looked away.

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, forget it.¡±

    ¡°Seriously, tell me. If you have something on your mind, you can just tell me. Besides, we probably shouldn¡¯t go to the ruins, I don¡¯t want to distract Amity.¡±

    Himiko sighed, and sat back down.

    ¡°That¡¯s the issue¡­¡±

    ¡°..?¡±

    ¡°Amity, she¡¯s¡­ sit down.¡±

    Kaiya did so, and Himiko continued.

    ¡°Amity is¡­ god this is weird to say. Amity is perfect. She¡¯s so sweet and kind, and helpful, and I¡­ have a crush on her, but I can¡¯t even say it.¡± Himiko buried her head into her arms again.

    ¡°What¡¯s stopping you..?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s so amazing and I don¡¯t do anything compared to her¡­ she probably thinks I¡¯m her worst friend.¡±

    ¡°She d-¡± Katie tried to start the usual reassurance.

    ¡°Cram it, of course she does. I¡¯ve¡­ seriously done nothing. Nothing besides get everyone trapped here.¡±

    ¡°Himiko, she doesn¡¯t think you¡¯re terrible. Y¡¯know, when you brought that up to her, she consoled you and made it clear you were fine.¡±

    The witch kept quietly crying.

    ¡°I know everything¡¯s built up, so now might not be the best time to tell her about your feelings¡­ but you could tomorrow. Once Kaiya¡¯s back up and we figure out what happened.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ might. It¡¯s hard to keep this in,¡± she stood. ¡°Do you think we could go back to the ruins yet?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we could probably start walking over there now.¡±

    The two started their travel, cracking jokes and lightening the mood, collectively ignoring the small slip of paper left on the floor, scrawled with the familiar name.

    Cornet.

 Maybe I Have

    Amity carried the girl over the rickety bridge, and laid her on the couch where her other friends had sat less than half an hour earlier.

    The green rock fumbled in her hands, resting it on Kaiya¡¯s chest as she grabbed an arm. Still warm, and blood still pumped through. Her green crystal rose and fell to the rhythm of her breath, and a quick insanity check of the back of her hand beneath Kaiya¡¯s nose confirmed that the function still worked.

    Basic life out of the way, she took note of the rest of her body. Kaiya¡¯s face was, albeit barely, bloodied, and her hands too. Amity got to work, and with a swift blast of healing magic, some of the wounds instantly seemed to vanish. Blood remained stagnant on her face, but the openings from which it leaked quickly scabbed over, and those too eventually blended back into her skin.

    The same was repeated on her hands, and Amity decided to let her stay as she was, after cleaning Kaiya¡¯s face.

    ¡°Hey, Amity!¡±

    Raleigh walked into the door, followed by Katie and Himiko, who still had red eyes.

    ¡°Hey,¡± she replied, ¡°come over here!¡±

    Amity let them sit down on chairs, while she sat herself on the floor in front of the couch.

    ¡°Are you all okay? Why didn¡¯t you come with me?¡±

    Katie stuttered, but eventually just told her a near-truth.

    ¡°We didn¡¯t want to get in your way, fixing her up.¡±

    ¡°You would¡¯ve been fine, it was quick.¡±

    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡°Still,¡± Katie trailed off.

    ¡°Hang on, Himiko, are you okay..?¡±

    Amity looked at the girl, who was obviously crying not long prior.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± she glanced away.

    ¡°You sure..?¡±

    ¡°¡­ can we talk about this later? I want to know how Kaiya¡¯s doing!¡± Himiko changed the subject, forming a slight blush.

    Amity decided to play along with Himiko¡¯s request, turning towards Kaiya.

    ¡°She¡¯s¡­ fine, I think.¡±

    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Raleigh piped up.

    ¡°Her face was bloody, and her hands had some cuts too, but I healed them as best as I could.¡±

    Himiko asked, ¡°Do you know when she¡¯ll wake up?¡±

    ¡°¡­ No, actually. I don¡¯t know if she¡¯s dehydrated, or anything like that, so I might wake her soon and get some stuff in her. We can figure out what happened after that.¡±

    They collectively agreed to this, and decided to disperse to the upper floor to rest.

    All besides Himiko and Amity, who needed to talk.

    ¡°So¡­¡± Himiko inhaled.

    ¡°What¡¯s up¡­?¡±

    ¡°I, ah, wanted to ask something.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    Himiko sat down on a seat, and Amity did the same, right next to her while the witch took another deep breath.

    ¡°Do you¡­ wanna be my girlfriend!?¡±

    The words came out quickly, and almost startled the other girl. Himiko pulled her knees to her chest in the seat and the hat over her face.

    ¡°I¡­ do you mean that?¡±

    Even through her knees, Himiko could tell that Amity had started blushing. ¡°It¡¯s-¡±

    ¡°Do you¡­ actually like me?¡±

    Himiko looked up. The other girl¡¯s face was red, but the look on her face was genuine.

    ¡°¡­ yeah.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m.. not sure what to say.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I get it. Sorry.¡± Himiko¡¯s tone was clipped, but before she stood up to leave, Amity interrupted her.

    ¡°No, you¡¯re fine¡­ I actually feel the same, about you.¡±

    "Rea-"

    Amity stood up from her seat, still blushing and now grinning like a madman, before grabbing Himiko under her knees and back, sweeping her into the air.

    ¡°Amity, I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d say yes! This.. is yes, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    Himiko got a little daring, and while wearing the same grin and blush as Amity, reached her arms around the carrier¡¯s neck, pulling her face downwards and finally kissing her, and of course, she reciprocated.

    They pulled away from each other after a second, and Himiko pulled herself out of Amity¡¯s arms, placing her feet on the cold floor, but leaned forward, back into her warm arms.

    As much as they collectively wanted the hug to last forever, the door creaked open, and Katie called out,

    ¡°You two, Kaiya¡¯s up- dang, looks like it went well.¡±

    Amity pulled back, and started blushing for a different reason, apologizing to Katie before running forward and past her.

    ¡°It¡­ went well. I¡¯m gonna go follow Amity, so I can say hi to Kaiya.¡±

    ¡°Sure¡­¡±

    The girl had sat up on the couch by this point, and was lifting herself off of it.

 The Journey Begins Again

    ¡°Kaiya! Are you okay?¡±

    Amity jumped onto the couch, and Himiko stood behind her.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, but-¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡± Himiko questioned.

    ¡°I¡­¡±

    ¡°How did you-¡±

    ¡°Himiko, don¡¯t stress her out.¡± Amity put her hand behind her, a gesture letting Himiko know to stop.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, sorry.¡±

    Kaiya sat back down, and gazed forwards. She looked at her hands, confirming she was truly here, before looking back to the girls beside her, as well as the two on the chairs.

    ¡°Ah, I¡­ died, in the facility.¡± She held her breath, and everyone predictably exploded with questions.

    ¡°What do you mean?!¡± ¡°You died?!¡± ¡°How are you here!?¡±

    All that could come out of her mouth in the chaos, was ¡°Sorry.¡±

    ¡°EVERYONE! Shut up!¡±

    The clear voice penetrated the tense air, and let Kaiya keep talking.

    ¡°I died, in that facility. Some huge old dude on crutches hit a button, and something crushed me.¡±

    ¡°Did it¡­ hurt?¡±

    ¡°¡­ no. Not physically, but¡­ but I felt grief. Grief for myself, even though I never lost myself.¡±

    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

    ¡­

    Kaiya laid on the couch, keeping some room for Amity to stay sat where she was, but letting herself get more comfortable. ¡°It¡¯s fine¡­ but I don¡¯t know how to describe where I went,¡± she pondered. ¡°It was¡­ not heaven. But it wasn¡¯t hell. The place was like, super gray, and it basically looked infinite.¡±

    Himiko took her hat off, resting it on Amity¡¯s head, and slid down the side of the couch.

    ¡°Some¡­ purgatory?¡± She asked.

    ¡°I think so,¡± was the reply. ¡°I could see all of you guys, through some windows, and that¡¯s how I escaped.¡±

    They all sat idly, waiting for the rest of the story.

    ¡°Pretty much, I just broke a window, and fell into one of their facilities.¡± Kaiya knew she was telling a condensed truth, but it was less difficulty than having to recite the whole path out. ¡°There was a little skirmish to get out of the place, but I made it fine. Then, you saw the glow thing, which is how I found you guys again.¡±

    Nobody said anything for a few seconds, before Katie piped back up.

    ¡°Honestly, that¡¯s kinda cool. You Fuckin¡¯ Died, and said screw that.¡±

    Everyone gave that a chuckle, but Kaiya kept speaking.

    ¡°Ah, Amity. When are we going to fight that¡­ what¡¯s her name?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Winter?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, her! When¡¯s the fight?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna be honest, we¡¯re probably not fighting her, at least not yet. You guys barely made it out of that place. You didn¡¯t even make it out!¡±

    Kaiya sighed. ¡°You¡¯re¡­ right. Wait- How did you survive? Didn¡¯t you fall down that pit?¡±

    She sighed, ¡°It¡¯s a long story, but basically there was some machine down there that slowed my fall so I didn¡¯t hit the ground hard, and it also sent me back up?¡±

    Kaiya looked at her a bit skeptically, but she was too tired to meaningfully question it.

    ¡°I don¡¯t quite understand what happened either, it was weird.¡±

    The girl who asked stretched in her seat, cracking her back before standing up.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine.. Listen, I know we just got out of that situation, but can we please start on our way to Winter?¡±

    Everyone just stared at her, glaring.

    ¡°We need to leave this place soon.¡± ¡­¡°Why?

    ***

    Kaiya reiterated what¡¯s happened up to this point. ¡°We have a target on our backs! Even if Amity and I don¡¯t have what they want, we¡¯re still at risk along with all of you because we¡¯ve helped you escape them multiple times!¡±

    They all sighed.

    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ right. We need to run, not walk, out of this.¡± Raleigh stood. ¡°Kaiya, do you know where we¡¯re going?¡±

    ¡°South, against the wind. I¡¯m pretty sure we¡¯re in the dead center of the island, so Winter¡¯s cell is just a bit away.¡±

    Amity helped Himiko up after getting up herself, and Katie stood too, following Kaiya out of the door.

 Another One

    The bridge creaked, but the travelers made it over. Minding their minds, and trying their heart, preparing their soul for the show to come.

    The sand is coarse, but that¡¯s par for it.

    The wind is in my eyes, but that¡¯s how it¡¯s always been.

    The past may have been certain, but the time to come is nearly anything but.

    ***

    ¡°Kaiya,¡± Amity walked up to the girl, stepping past the rest of them. ¡°Have you had anything to drink since you died?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Thinking about it, no, I haven¡¯t.¡±

    Amity formed a bit of water, which she made into a water bottle simulacrum. ¡°Want some?¡±

    She chuckled, and grabbed the water, using her magic to keep it shapely as her hand hovered beneath it. Something was off about this. Something¡­ missing.

    ¡°Wait, how are you holding the water..?¡± Amity looked beside the girl, but her other hand was empty.

    ¡°My¡­ magic?¡±

    Kaiya missed the point of the question entirely, so Amity elaborated. ¡°You¡¯re not holding a medium, in your-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m holding one! Here,¡± she pulled her hand up, and presented the palm. ¡°Right there!¡±

    Silence, as they kept walking, but it only took a few seconds for her to realize the flaw in her argument.

    ¡°How¡­ am I holding this?¡±

    Kaiya used the mysteriously still extant magic to help her chug the water, then patted her pockets, but found nothing. She had lost her mediums somewhere, but her magic remained. Ideas brewed in their heads, but the one who had initially questioned the other figured it out.

    ¡°Hear me out,¡± Amity said. ¡°What if your death caused this?¡±

    The dots in Kaiya¡¯s brain stretched to connect, but didn¡¯t quite reach.

    ¡°You died, then were¡­ I¡¯ll put this as, ¡°reborn¡± in limbo. What if, because it was in an area more apt to magic, your rebirth had you absorb more magic, and you don¡¯t need external mediums?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ really smart, actually. You might be right.¡±

    Albeit a sudden realization, it helped the two¡¯s minds settle.

    ***

    The gray building stood low on the ground, somewhat buried in the surrounding sand dunes. It bore a simple, familiar glyph, and even from the distance, the two guards standing outside the entrance, under a shaded canopy, were very clear.

    ¡°So, how are we going about this?¡± Amity stood, staring at the building. All in all, the trip here was fine, but the rest of the journey to come wasn¡¯t quite the same.

    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ¡°Should we just rush them?¡±

    Kaiya looked towards the building.

    ¡°Nah, we¡¯re not ready.¡±

    Raleigh sat down on the rough floor.

    ¡°There might be a back door, beneath the sand.¡±

    Himiko walked up to Amity, standing next to her.

    ¡°Maybe we can ambush, from above?¡±

    Katie¡¯s legs stretched with her, bending her joints and getting ready for whatever they decided.

    As a group, they sat there for a few minutes, spit-balling ideas, until something hit them. Quite literally, as a piece of stone flung into the sand beneath them, and spat up some into their faces.

    ¡°Gah-¡± Lightning hit the air surrounding them, clearly from a distance, and just narrowly missed Amity, who fell back, prompting the others to do the same to help avoid the shot.

    The building had quite a crowd awaiting at the base. From the distance, the most that could reasonably be made out was two bulky men standing at the corner of the building, focused intently on nothing in the distance.

    Once they all confirmed what the sight was, and what had just occurred, Himiko asked Amity for something.

    ¡°Hey, we should get back for a second - they can see us all too well from there. And¡­ can you please give me magic?¡±

    She winced, but Amity was fine with it.

    ¡°Sure, if you¡¯re sure yourself,¡± Amity directed to the girl who had looked down, but was obviously now nervous. ¡°Let¡¯s head down here for the time being, it should be enough to stay out of their sight.¡±

    Kaiya was first to start the trek, although the rest followed quickly. Amity opted to surprise Himiko, heading down behind her, and catching her legs to sweep back to her arms.

    ¡°So, are you really sure you want magic like that?¡±

    ¡°I mean, yeah! I¡¯ve kinda been doing nothing for the entire time we¡¯ve been here, and I actually want to help.¡± Himiko adjusted the hat that was nearly falling off from the abrupt lift. ¡°Plus, it¡¯s probably the best thing we can really do now. We need to have as much power as we can.¡±

    Amity bent as best she could to peck Himiko on the forehead, before setting her down as they approached the rest of the group. The thought crossed her mind that they would need to know about the two girls, but that could wait for now.

    ¡°Alright, Himiko, just sit down for a second, I¡¯ll get everything ready.¡±

    This time, Amity had a lot more ingenuity, creating the needed mixture in water she held in the air, and using fire on the spot to boil mid-air. Then, the syringe was filled, air bubbles removed, and Himiko came over.

    ¡°Raise your sleeve,¡± Amity instructed, before sinking it into her arm. Slowly, the plunger was depressed, and the needle lifted. ¡°There.¡±

    She knew what had happened the first time Amity used her magic, the seemingly temporary strength had knocked Himiko down and out. Even though this was her first time using the magic, though, it felt intuitive. Fire lent itself nicely to coursing through the similarly resilient girl¡¯s body to exit her hands, and lightning made her arm tingle as it leapt out.

    Although she wished the nearly unbridled power could flow as fast as it wanted, the fact remained that there were many people who could see them at any point.

    ¡°We¡¯ve gotta start getting in somehow.¡±

    They threw around a few more ideas, but the notion of approaching from above won out.

    ***

    Running past the building on the left, they saw the majority of the people retreat back inside. Maybe they think we¡¯re gone, the only explanation Amity could come up with. She didn¡¯t stop to wonder further, continuing with the group, until they stood atop the large gray brick of a building.

    ¡°Himiko,¡± Amity whispered. ¡°You take out the guard on that side, I¡¯ve got this side.¡±

    Himiko nodded, a determined look on her face, and stepped to the sandy building¡¯s corner.

    ¡°And, can you get the doorman, Kaiya?¡± She replied with another nod, and took her place in the center.

    The ringleader, standing at the corner, counted down, whisper-screaming.

    ¡°Three! Two! One!¡±

    Lightning charred the sand beneath the edge of the building, and three distinct sounds of hefty guards falling forward into the sand.

    Peeking over, nobody looked even close to getting up - the man in the middle was entirely motionless, and the rest just breathed.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s get down¡­ there¡¯s some sand here we can probably just slide down.¡±

    Amity was the first to take her own path, and although she made it to the floor perfectly safely, and most of the others did too (Raleigh had chosen to sit, and ended up catching his feet in the ground to tip him forward,) Himiko was nervous.

    ¡°C¡¯mon! We need to start going in!¡±

    She opted not to go down the normal way, instead preferring the riskier strategy of creating a shallow ice bridge with uneven, inexperienced ice to get down. Luckily, nothing happened to her, but Amity did have a word for her.

    ¡°That was kinda dangerous, as a first-time magic user, just so you know. Your ice is kinda jagged, and you could easily have slipped off or just broken it!¡±

    ¡°I really didn¡¯t want to do the sand thing though, my balance isn¡¯t that good.¡±

    Amity sighed. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ fine. We need to go in.¡±

    Opaque glass doors turned open, as Amity peered inside. This facility was clearly different - rather than the blinding white from the other ones, the rusty metal and black material across the walls highlighted at least one deep red stain following every cell, which lined the walls.

 Its Fine

    The people inside took no notice to the door, but the five outside did. They chattered about, restlessly figuring out what to do. Many new ideas were thrown about, but the simplest yet again prevailed.

    Just walk through.

    Ahead of them, sitting in a large cell surrounded by smaller ones, was a young girl. She was labeled with the name, Winter, and her clothes certainly looked like she¡¯d been named that. Despite the grim environment, a lot of the people in the cells that had been passed through were wearing bright colors. Maybe the people running it hadn¡¯t been concerned with escapees - or they just wanted to allow the people they captured that little bit of freedom, to quell an escape in the first place.

    Turning around, the girl dressed in light blue spotted the group.

    ¡°Hey! You actually made it here, can you please help me out?¡±

    Himiko turned to Amity confused, and so did Kaiya.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this Winter? We¡¯re here to¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it is.¡± She stopped Kaiya¡¯s words, and directed her next ones at the prisoner. ¡°Aren¡¯t you Winter? You¡¯re not the one we came here to help, we-¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am! I¡¯m also Copper!¡±

    The group was stunned, but Amity did manage to cohere her thoughts enough to ask another question.

    ¡°We¡¯ve been told about your murders - is that true?¡±

    ¡°My¡­ murders? As in¡­?¡±

    She pinched her nose. ¡°The ones you committed.¡±

    ¡°Oh! I never killed anyone, please believe me. They lied about that to lock me up.¡±

    ¡°¡­ fine. I¡¯ll¡­ believe you. That¡¯s not that unbelievable.¡±

    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    Winter grabbed all of the loose sand around her cell, forming the familiar shape they had greeted her with those weeks ago, just solidly enough to give Amity a fist-bump, who after returning it, walked up to the cell bars. Inspecting them, they seemed to be a near-traditional lifting gate, although the handle had been snapped off seemingly ages ago. Luckily, a thin slip of ice could wedge underneath the main section of bars, and with all of her might, Amity stretched the ice up.

    The outer sections lifted up with the center, and the ice managed to withstand the weight of the solid metal, managing to get it almost all of the way up for Winter to walk under, before the growth ceased.

    ¡°Shoot- sorry, just crouch under it.¡± Amity panted. ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t¡­ that¡¯s heavy¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±

    Winter made her way under it, getting solidly out from under it before she stretched her arms and legs, finally free.

    ¡°Thank you¡­ so much. Really.¡±

    She took a few steps forward, leaning into Amity, and her arms extended in a hug. Amity leaned against her too, reciprocating the clearly grateful girl¡¯s embrace.

    ¡°Hey, would you mind doing us a tiny favor?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡± She pulled back.

    ¡°We need you to¡­ pretend to be dead. Just lay low for a day or two. There was some stuff, and we had a bounty on your head, so we¡¯re gonna say you¡¯re dead and claim it. Is that alright?¡±

    She thought, but decided. ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll stay out of the way for the next little while. Least I can do.¡±

    A light blue staff appeared in her hand, growing from seemingly sheer nothing, and so did a pair of wings behind her back made of water. Winter gave a little run, taking off into the air outside of the door. Just then, the wind flew into Amity¡¯s face, and her hair swooped around her head. The four people beside her, grown closer by the bonds of death and solitude, stared into the air with which Winter had left.

    It feels symbolic, doesn¡¯t it? The ¡®cold¡¯ winter leaving.

    ¡°We should find Cornet.¡±

    They all murmured a vague agreement, beginning to walk out of the facility. People trapped in cells began to yell, making enough noise to get a glance from Amity, or the others, but ultimately not to be freed.

    Never to be freed, most likely.

    By this point, the doors closed, and it was made sure that the people formerly guarding them were still incapacitated, but turned upright so the two that still breathed didn¡¯t have to breathe sand.

    ***

    ¡°So, what¡­ what¡¯s next?¡±

    Himiko stepped in sync with Amity. Katie, Raleigh, and Kaiya walked behind them, in earshot.

    ¡°We need¡­ to find Cornet. So we can claim the bounty.¡± Amity intentionally omitted the fact she was lying, because there could be anyone listening at this point. ¡°Then, the next thing we need is¡­ to take a break. We¡¯ve had a lot, but we need to pause. None of us have had¡­ time to process anything.¡±

    There was a pause.

    ¡°We collectively need to have like, a group therapy session.¡±Raleigh was the first to agree. ¡°Yeah, we can¡¯t do anything if we¡¯re all fucked up.¡±

    ¡°Fucked up indeed,¡± replied Katie.

 Off Our Chest

    As they sat on the stones that Amity and Kaiya had helped to bring into a circle, the discussion had already begun.

    ¡°We¡¯re gonna go in a circle, and unload whatever is wrong right now. Katie, you¡¯re first.¡±

    She thought. Nothing had¡­ actually happened to her. Besides getting stuck here with her friends, nothing really worried her. So she said as such. ¡°I can¡¯t really think of anything¡­ too bad. I really miss my family, but that¡¯s not quite unique to me.¡±

    Amity commented, ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    She remembered a few instances of her getting massively injured, the scar of one of which still run along her side. But it didn¡¯t really hurt her anymore. It was an injury, but only really physically, ¡°yes.¡±

    The girl who sat at the head of the circle designated Raleigh to go next.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t really know what¡­¡±Memories of helping the wounded mess that was Katie on their first time in a Broken Divine facility, and watching Amity plummet to what was surely her death but keeping it inside him, and even though it wasn¡¯t it still hurt, and when Kaiya did die and he sobbed for her, and-¡±

    ¡°Raleigh, are you alright?¡±

    ¡°Shit- yeah, sorry. I¡¯m trying to¡­ trying to formulate my words. I still, I remember when Katie got slammed into the wall when we were in that first facility, and the blood on her shirt and mine, and the floor. And the fact she had to stand after getting nearly ripped in half.¡±

    A tear started to roll down his face. ¡°And you guys all keep dying, Amity nearly did, and Kaiya, you DIED. I¡¯m sorry, this is selfish, but I¡¯m not over that.¡±

    ¡°Sorry¡­¡± escaped Kaiya¡¯s mouth, herself curling away from the interaction.

    ¡°We¡­ I¡¯m not sure how to help. Sorry for putting you through that. I know I could¡¯ve stayed somehow and not had to have you deal with her, and I could¡¯ve been more careful. Maybe if I was there when Kaiya died, she wouldn¡¯t have had to.¡±

    There was an awkward silence, before Kaiya started speaking.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t¡­ mean to die. That¡¯s really fucked up, but I didn¡¯t mean to die in that facility, man.¡±

    ¡°Not blaming you, I-¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡±

    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    ¡°Kaiya, would you like to say anything?¡±

    She pondered, like the two before her.

    ¡°I¡­ already said everything I need to before. My only real struggle, is that I died. It shouldn¡¯t really hurt anymore, though, because I¡¯m alive!¡±

    A weak smile scrawled itself across her face, and she tried to keep it up, but couldn¡¯t for too long. The reason wasn¡¯t quite her emotional state, though, but rather the shock of what she felt tap her shoulder.

    The rough skin that reached through the rip in the fabric covering her shoulder didn¡¯t make it immediately obvious who it was, but when everyone got a look of recognition on their face, it was clear as day.

    ¡°Hello, Cornet.¡±

    Kaiya couldn¡¯t recall where the name was from earlier, along the stairway that brought her back to the planet, but she knew now.

    ¡°Hello, young girl. I¡¯ve gotten word of the success you¡¯ve had in ridding us of that Winter girl¡­ Might I say, a clean job! You left no traces, beyond the ice you used to get into her cell in the first place. Mighty fine.¡±Everyone tried to hide their grimace towards him.

    ¡°As promised, here is your reward, a brand new active medium.¡± The shard of black rock he handed towards Amity felt heavier and a lot colder than any other medium she¡¯d had.

    ¡°What does this one do..?¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯ll have to see yourself. I really must be going now, au revoir!¡±

    The man simply vanished, leaving yet another pile of sand in his place, although hard to notice with the fact it was left the vast desert. Everyone looked at each-other, nervously.

    ¡°This¡­ can¡¯t be good.¡± The girl with the rock in her hand glanced around again.

    ¡°No shit. We should finish what we were doing before this, then we can figure it out.¡± Raleigh sighed.

    Himiko went next.

    ¡°Well, I haven¡¯t gone through much¡­ I¡¯ve felt kinda guilty about all this,¡± she gestured at all of her friends, ¡°and it¡¯s been so long since we came here. I¡¯m the one who made the portal.¡±

    ¡°Himiko, we¡¯ve been over this, this isn¡¯t your fault. We went in fully recklessly, and should¡¯ve been a lot more careful.¡± Amity put her hand on her shoulder.

    ¡°I get that consciously, but its hard to like, internalize.¡±

    ¡°Y¡¯know what, I get it. Have we gone over everyone?¡±

    Amity pointed at each person and made sure they got to speak, before standing up.

    ¡°Alright, let me see the rock. I know how to figure out what it does.¡±

    The nearly entirely black rock was placed in her hand, and she grabbed a piece of loose-leaf from her pocket. Water formed in the air, the red rock being held with her neck like a phone, and a bit of the blue rock chipped into it along with the black. The water reduced until it was a sludge. Since Amity was getting a lot better with her magic, the sludge was still able to remain airborne under her passive control. She traced the circle, and the same blinding light that had been brought forth weeks prior spun around the circle. This time, she didn¡¯t have a way to record it, but something else was different too. This time, the light left a bare trail across the paper, just enough to draw with the remainder of the sludge.

    She did just that, and managed to finish it somewhat quickly, handing it off to Katie to tap.

    ¡°I can¡¯t activate this because I already have magic - you¡¯ll need to do it. Unless Raleigh wants to?¡±

    ¡°Nah, she can do it.¡±

    Katie simply shrugged, acknowledging her duty. She placed it on the sand in-front of her, tapping the very center of the shockingly simple design, before darting away. Everyone else was already at a reasonable distance, so they just stared as the paper lifted itself from the ground, forming a sickly aurora of light, the surroundings seeming to darken around them as the bright, disorienting beacon focused their attention. The spare squirrel or two in the far distance glared at it, entrancing themselves in its magnificence.

    A writhing mass seemed to form from it, crawling its way up from the paper, snapping its oozing limbs into the air, but bringing them into shape.

    A familiar one, too.

    It was a door frame.

 Were... Home...

    The sand creaked with the new weight of the door-frame, although it didn¡¯t give enough for it to topple. Amity dropped the rocks and stared into the frame. It seemed to open directly into Himiko¡¯s room, where the portal was placed originally.

    ¡°Is that¡­ just¡­ home?¡±

    The words echoed in all 5 minds, but nobody was able to speak. It took so long before anyone started stepping forwards. Katie, taking shaky, slow first steps, reaching her hand inside. It felt just the same. Just the same as their last taste of Earth.

    She put her foot inside, and so too did the rest of them. Amity was the last to enter. The rocks needed to be picked up first.

    On her knee, facing away from the portal and solemnly gazing into the sand, she uttered a thanks to the world for what it had done, and in spirit to Cornet, for as much as he seemed evil, it ended up being his assistance that saved them.

    She stepped into the portal, and finally met up with the rest of the group as the portal shut near immediately behind her. ¡°Oh my god¡­ this is¡­¡±

    Amity fell onto Himiko¡¯s bed, taking it all in. The familiar scents, the quiet bustle of the late-night drivers, and the everlasting longing into the witch¡¯s eyes really sealed the deal.¡°This is home.¡±

    Everyone else sat on the bed, giving a pause before bursting out with their own exclamations. All of them were the same gist though. They¡¯re back.

    The mood did shift a tiny bit, as Raleigh plugged his phone back into a charger, eager to see what was going on since it died in their first week there. Unfortunately, they noticed something that would devastate them. All huddled around his phone, they watched as the screen turned on, showing logo after logo before finally, the time on the lock screen showed.

    It was 4:45 AM. On the 18th, of September.

    Nearly exactly one month later.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ September?¡±

    ¡°What- Oh, my god. It is.¡±

    Himiko, with her hat set on the bedpost, started to cry. Not her first tears related to the incidents that led to this point. Amity sat beside her, reeled back from the screen.

    ¡°How did we spend a whole month there?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know! It really felt like less.¡±

    ¡°This is-¡± Amity sighed. ¡°This isn¡¯t the the time to bicker like this. We need to get to our families. They all surely think we¡¯re dead by now.¡±

    Himiko, Katie, and Raleigh agreed, but Kaiya had an objection.

    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know if I can do that.¡±

    Raleigh questioned, when he was reminded of her origin. ¡°I¡¯d been there for months by the time you guys came, and another atop that. My family probably isn¡¯t even here anymore; we were only here for the school.¡±

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    ¡°If I¡¯m dead in their minds, why would they still be here?¡±

    Everyone was shocked, the realization being pretty clear in their mind, but only one person stepped up to help. ¡°Wanna stay with me, Kaiya?¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    Wiping tears from her eyes, and donning the hat again, Himiko offered for her to stay in her room for the time being. Until they can find Kaiya¡¯s parents, and reunite them.

    ¡°I¡­ seriously don¡¯t know what to say. Thanks, really.¡±

    ***

    A lighthearted chat and 15 minutes later, a bit after 5 in the morning, everyone besides Himiko and the newly-reintroduced-to-Earth girl hopped out of the window, making their way back home.

    On the sidewalk directly outside the house, everyone made a solemn farewell, even if more-than-likely it was just for the night.

    The window to Amity¡¯s room still remained open, never having shut it when she leapt from it that one night. Even though it was a second-floor room, the wooden lattice she¡¯d insisted on having under the guise of style (really, it was to help her sneak in and out) managed to come in clutch yet again to guide her back in.

    Having never really seen the front of the house, Amity didn¡¯t yet realize that her parents had made it home, but luckily, when she opened the door and made her way to the kitchen, the ever-morning-woman she knew as Mom didn¡¯t begin to freak out, as she expected.

    ¡°Oh, hello Amity! Nice to see you back.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Hi, Mom.¡±

    A cup of coffee reached its end in her mouth, and she exhaled.

    ¡°So, where have you been?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ uh..¡± She took a seat at the table. ¡°I¡¯m going to need you to believe me, alright?¡±

    ¡°Of course, sweetie.¡±

    ¡°I found¡­¡± Amity took a deep breath, rummaging through her pocket to find one of the active mediums. ¡°I discovered magic. See?¡±

    The quick example she put on, holding the rock in one hand and spitting fire from the other, was enough to make that believable (especially since there was a lack of any ways for her to fake it) but that didn¡¯t quite answer the question.

    ¡°That¡¯s amazing Amity,¡± she proclaimed, ¡°but that doesn¡¯t tell me where you were.¡±

    ¡°Sorry. I showed my friends, since you were on vacation still when I found it, and they managed to make some¡­ magical portal.¡±

    ¡°I see. How did you get back?¡±

    ¡°We had to make it across basically an ocean on our own, but we found someone who gave us a portal to get back home, and we went through.¡±

    There was a short pause. ¡°That was nice of them. Are you alright from that whole trip?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ think so.¡±

    She didn¡¯t tell her mom about the time she nearly died.

    ¡°Are all of your friends alright?¡±

    ¡°¡­ mostly.¡±

    She didn¡¯t tell her mom about one of them dying. Or the injuries they had all sustained.

    ¡°Mostly?¡±

    ¡°We got a couple bumps and bruises, but we survived.¡±

    Half truth.

    ¡°Well, I think you should take a nap in your room. You don¡¯t look like you¡¯ve slept in ages.¡±

    Amity obliged, still thinking about some stuff.

    Walking towards the stairs.

    Why did she not freak out? I¡¯ve been gone for a month, and she didn¡¯t even blink when I showed up.

    Are they okay at their homes?

    Taking the first steps up.

    I hope Himiko gets the chance to talk to Cynthia¡­

    I hope she didn¡¯t do it.

    On the second floor.

    Is Kaiya alright with Himiko? They seemed to at least be fine with each-other. Hopefully they¡¯re fine.

    Raleigh¡­ He really seemed the least perturbed by the whole situation. He¡¯s the only one I never saw cry.

    The door creaks open, slowly.

    Why does my room look so¡­ off? Is it because I haven¡¯t been here in a month? Maybe it got rummaged through as a part of the investigation.

    No¡­ the pile of laundry hasn¡¯t been moved¡­ but it looks weird to me. My computer is still set where it always was, guts half spilled out. I need to order that new card for it, so it can stop collecting dust.

    Glancing around.

    The toy I was printing with my 3D printer finished ages ago, but it looks like it came out well.

    But it looks¡­ somehow, the least manufactured.

    Laid down.

    My bed is soft, but unnervingly firm. It¡¯s cold, I haven¡¯t been here to warm it, but it somehow doesn¡¯t feel like it ever missed a day of my touch.

    Didn¡¯t we paint these walls a bit lighter than that gray?

    It doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m tired.

    Eyes falling.

    I¡¯ll fall asleep.

 This Isnt Quite Home

    The slumber brought no relief to her, waking up in a panic.

    A monochromatic, gray room surrounded her, in the dream. Everything melded together.

    That¡­ again. Why..?

    I should get ready.

    Despite her disappearance, she wanted to go back to school already. Amity did want to see everyone again, and make sure her grades hadn¡¯t slipped too much.

    Hopefully she would be excused - a month of assignments would be hard to make up. Plus, she was legally missing.

    That should count for something.

    Amity slid down to the kitchen.

    ***

    The clatter of a metal spoon dinging around in a ceramic bowl rang through the room as she placed it in the sink. Her dirty, bloodstained and torn-up clothes hit the floor, more-than-likely to hit the trash later, as she changed into a more casual outfit.

    Flared-leg jeans, with a graphic crop-top over a red T-shirt, and a pair of sneakers. She reached for her necklace from the drawer it was always in-

    Right. It¡¯s¡­ shattered.

    The remains of it still in her old clothes¡¯ pockets, she pulled it out along with the other mediums. Amity tried to grab the small purse she kept her syringes in, intended for use with the ballistic-gel training dummy she had been provided by the school, but she remembered it was stained too.

    Oh well, they can probably fit in my backpack.

    It being the one thing that wasn¡¯t ruined that she would¡¯ve taken to school with her, the pin-adorned backpack she had carefully modified with design after design, nerdy TV-show pin after pin representing one of her hobbies after pride pin. Amity dropped the rocks into the outer pocket.

    (RING! RING!)

    Right, my phone!

    Darting upstairs, the little brick of what once connected her to the world was near-exploding with notifications.

    Text messages from friends-of-friends, and friends of them. Games, reminding her to grab the daily log-in rewards. Phone calls from her parents, and a few from Himiko, which was the ringing now.

    ¡°Hey, Himiko!¡±

    ¡°Hi, Amity.¡± The partly-solemn, partly-panicked voice made Amity worried.

    ¡°Are you good?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ fine. You need to come to my house, now.¡±

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    Immediately agreeing, she abandoned her plans to reunite at school. Amity grabbed the rocks from her bag again, and darted across the neighborhood, meeting up directly with Himiko in her room. Greeted by everyone, all in their school outfits (besides Kaiya, who technically wasn¡¯t even enrolled anymore,) she took a position leaning on a wall.

    ¡°Listen. Something¡¯s¡­ fishy. Amity, did your parents freak out when you got home?¡±

    That was¡­ specific.

    ¡°I¡­ no, they didn¡¯t. I thought it was weird, but I chalked it up to them being relieved I was back.¡±

    ¡°None of our parents were either.¡±

    ¡°Huh..?¡±

    Amity stared in confusion. Why the hell was everyone so calm about this?

    ¡°My parents brushed it off, and didn¡¯t care that Kaiya was staying here. Raleigh said the same,¡± he nodded, ¡°and so did Katie¡¯s.¡±

    ¡°Why are they all so¡­ nonchalant about this? I saw the date on my phone too, we¡¯ve been gone for a full calendar month.¡± She pulled it out, presenting the info.

    ¡°Yeah, I know! Anyway, I had to have you come over because we were speculating with Kaiya, and she had something to say that she refused to mention until we were all together.¡±

    Standing up, Kaiya looked over to Amity, then glanced around the room.

    ¡°Shut that window.¡±

    Done, immediately. She sat on the foot of Himiko¡¯s bed, while the rest of them either leaned on a wall or sat on the floor.

    ¡°So, about my story.¡±

    ¡°On the planet, the sand planet¡­ ah, to hell with it. Its name is Samdaz.¡±

    They all glanced at each-other, wondering how she would know that.

    ¡°On Samdaz, when I got swept up there and the Princess saved me, she introduced me to some of the highest ranking people there. One of which, was Cornet.¡±

    Gears turned in their heads, trying to predict where it was going.

    ¡°Cornet¡­ is the leader of The Broken Divine.¡±

    Collectively, everyone blinked.

    ¡°What do you mean? He¡¯s the one who saved us from that Broken Divine base, the very first one! Why would he throw away his chance at capturing a human to¡­ ¡®release¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Really, I don¡¯t know, but also¡­ I don¡¯t think he did. Back in those few months I was with the Princess, before I really understood his motivation, we worked together on harnessing magic to travel more effectively.¡±

    She took a small slip of paper out of her pocket, with sharp, precise text on it, around a glyph symbol, and a sketch of the rock.

    ¡°This is the prototype to what we made. I suspect he handed it off to you - let me see it.¡±

    As instructed, Amity passed it along to Kaiya, and she confirmed the suspicions. That rock was a prototype.

    ¡°Read the paper.¡±

    This time, the paper went to Katie, who grabbed it and spoke aloud the clear words.

    ¡°Prototype, Transport Medium. This is the first prototype of the Transport medium, the very first manufactured magical medium. Our found flaw, is that it does not transport you to the true version of your destination, but rather, a sort of simulation of it.¡±

    Katie took a breath, flipping the paper.

    ¡°These simulations are found to have weaker emotion and slower movement in all observed species. If used on Earth, there is a very high chance of instability.¡±

    The paper was handed right back to Kaiya.

    ¡°So, does that make it clear? This isn¡¯t Earth. And if the instability is true, we could end up dying here at any moment.¡± Even though she had had the longest to think about it, Kaiya was still shaking with fear.

    ¡°Does anyone have anything they may want to bring with them? I suggest you retrieve it now. We¡¯ll leave ASAP, when everyone returns.¡±

    Knowing that they were on an illegitimate Earth, Himiko simply sat on her bed, while Katie and Kaiya scattered down the window. Amity remained in the room, sitting next to Himiko.

    When Amity offered a hug to the girl, she accepted, removing the witch hat before leaning over her shoulder, sobbing.

    ¡°Amity, I *hic* I¡¯m scared. I don¡¯t want to do that all again.¡±

    ¡°We know exactly what we¡¯re doing now. It will be okay. I promise.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ what if Cornet finds out we¡¯re b- *hic* back?¡±

    ¡°Then we¡¯ll fight him, and we¡¯ll win.¡±

    They embraced each-other for a few more minutes, before Himiko pulled back, put on her hat, and leaned back over to Amity.

    She put her arms behind the other girl¡¯s neck, and avoiding bonking her with the hat upon her head, managed to give Amity a kiss. ¡°Thanks.¡±

    ***

    ¡°So, are we ready?¡± Kaiya stood at the closet door-frame.

    ¡°I have everything.¡± Amity called.

    ¡°Me too,¡± said everyone else.

    ¡°Alright, so¡­¡±

    Holding a small container filled with crushed rocks and water mixed into a paste, Kaiya poured it around the bottom of the door frame, getting up some of the corners. A small glow formed around the material, rising up the edges before creating a solid square once it hit the top of the frame. Slowly, as if it were spilled water, the glow spread inwards. A small square remained open in the middle as everything else closed, before it finally fell victim to the creeping nature of the portal.

    Once the full portal became visible, although they couldn¡¯t see to the other side, it was somehow clear where it led. With 100% certainty, this was a portal to Samdaz.

    Who would take the brave first step in?

 Rough Re-entry

    This time, Raleigh stepped first. He walked into the portal, feeling the cold, always north-bound breeze past his face.

    Katie went in next, glancing around and confirming it was where they had started.

    Amity and Himiko, holding hands, went in together. The tree in the distance and the hill behind them were just as they were.

    Kaiya finally fell in, seeing the same deep sky she¡¯d slept under for so many months.

    ¡°So, do y¡¯all wanna do the quick route?¡±

    Amity gathered everyone¡¯s attention, making sure they know what was to happen.

    ¡°I figured out, if we do an ice bridge to the east of the island, we can make it to the portal that takes us¡­ truly home¡­ immediately.¡±

    She gazed past the horizon.

    ¡°Over there, we can finally get home.¡±

    Everyone looked somberly towards Amity¡¯s sight, and prepared to walk, before Himiko realized something.

    ¡°You guys know we need to stay under the radar. If anyone knows we made it back, they¡¯ll definitely try to find us.¡± She sighed. ¡°I have to destroy this portal.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s open, Cornet will find us.¡±

    Amity chucked the yellow rock towards her, and she near immediately zapped the frame. Rocks flew a little ways backwards, and it left dust in the air. The rock got chucked back to the other girl, who pocketed it again.

    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve done that¡­ we have to go.¡±

    Everyone was determined to reach home, and so they didn¡¯t make much small talk while on the sand. A few familiar enemies showed up, but now that they had a lot more firepower, as well as more magic in general, the only ones that tried to fight them were easily dealt with.

    Besides yet again, the water mimic.

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    A light blue being of fluid lurched over. It was seemingly attempting to lure a squirrel before it spotted what seemed to definitely be better prey.

    Back from its pseudo-furry form, it grew into what it presumed humans were attracted to. A woman, with accented ¡®features.¡¯ Luckily, that didn¡¯t immediately grab anyone¡¯s attention, instead giving Amity enough time to zap the heart. Unluckily, however, the time next to it gave it the ammunition it needed.

    Once again, like every other time, the striking image of Himiko was formed, except this time, it didn¡¯t affect Amity. She closed her eyes, and struck the heart again, feeling water splash around her, although most of it didn¡¯t actually hit her. The heart flung past everyone, sent well past the distance, and what water remained in the form managed to follow it.

    ¡°That one was¡­ needlessly violent.¡±

    ¡°I just wanna get out of here man, that was the quickest way.¡±

    ***

    The water was cool. The northern side of the island definitely had cooler air than the southern island, and so they presumed that it was just colder up here in general. No matter why, though, because it meant that making the ice bridge was a lot easier.

    Easier didn¡¯t directly mean faster, though, and they had to walk significantly slower on the ice as opposed to the sand. Once they realized this, their minds lightened up a bit. No point wasting energy on trying to go as fast as possible when the movements is already inherently limited.

    ¡°So, where exactly are we even heading?¡± Himiko spoke up.

    ¡°The entire time, we¡¯ve been trying to make it to this island with a portal, but we were taking the long route. Now, we¡¯re at the source, and we can go right to it.¡±

    ¡°Is that¡­ really just, it?¡±

    ¡°As far as we know, yeah.¡±

    ***

    ¡°Hey, Amity?¡± Himiko tapped on Amity¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°One of my mediums, the lightning one, it¡¯s getting worse.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± She glanced backwards at the yellow rock that Himiko was holding, and noticed that it seemed to be fading into gray, with a little under a quarter of it actually retaining the original yellow color. ¡°Ah.¡±¡°Is it going to like, work enough to get us home?¡±

    ¡°I hope so.¡± She sighed.

    ***

    The group, consisting of Amity in the front line, flanked by Himiko and Kaiya, and followed by Raleigh and Katie, chatted about their goals, and their plans for when they reached the island, right up until they reached the shore. Only half an hour after they left one, they arrived at the next, and stepped back onto the sand.

    It was coarse, and cold, but they pressed on.

    Their goal was tangible now. On the final major island, they could finally reasonably make it home. Checking the newly-charged phone of Raleigh¡¯s, they saw the portal frame was to the north. There were a few more smaller islands, but it was a cakewalk compared to anything else they¡¯d done.

    Stepping with a renewed vigor, Amity led the group along the shore and with the wind, making it almost entirely to the northern shore before something far worse than they could¡¯ve expected popped up in their vision.

    On one of the closest of the tiny islands they would need to use to reach the portal, was a small building. It seemed to sport the same familiar logo that they¡¯d seen so many times, but it wasn¡¯t nearly as large or crowded as the other ones seemed to be. The most that they assumed could reasonably fit in it was a small team, or¡­

    This was the perfect size for one, very important, crucial man.

 All Anyone Wants is to Go Home

    Letting out a small gasp, they collectively began to huddle.

    ¡°Shit- what do we do? That¡¯s gotta be Cornet¡¯s base!¡± Katie was whisper screaming.

    ¡°It makes sense he¡¯s guarding the portal, maybe he could tell we were coming back.¡± Raleigh, quietly.

    ¡°We can¡­ maybe we can just pass by? If we¡¯re careful, I don¡¯t think he¡¯d be just¡­ waiting there, so we just make a bridge like normal and go by to that island there.¡± Amity pointed to the final island in the chain.

    That idea, although it garnered some suspicious pauses as people considered it, ended up being the best idea presented that moment, so it was what they did.

    Standing with her feet barely out of the water, the foundation of ice dug into the sand, and the surface began to freeze. One step, then another, while the bridge formed. Amity saw the island approach, but a quick bang beside her, and water splashing, stopped progress as she froze.

    ¡°So, you¡¯re back. He won¡¯t be pleased with this¡­ unless I can handle you myself.¡±

    A figure leaped into the air from the top of the shack, jumping well over them as manipulating the wind beneath kept them afloat. It landed, crouched, on the next nearest island. Working together, two of the magic wielders expanded the ice platform while Amity guided a few lightning shots towards the attacker. Sand flew up, dusting their eyes and eventually allowing one of the many shots to connect.

    The figure managed to dart behind a hill of sand on an island, and send another crack of lightning over it, shattering the ice that they¡¯d been standing on. Amity jumped to the part of the path closest to the portal, growing it out and making more room for those still on the shattered chunks to stand, which everyone managed to make it to.

    Three of them stood on the island, while the two without magic slipped back behind an ice wall formed by Himiko. Once again, the figure sent a lightning bolt, striking Amity in her leg, but she remained steady. Sending another one out, this time hitting a cleverly thrown smoke bomb, obscuring everyone¡¯s vision. The group closed their eyes, coughing as it entered their lungs.

    The smoke cleared quickly, thanks mostly to the consistent wind, and Amity managed to get a shot off to the spot the figure stood.

    Where they used to stand, at least.

    Amity felt something pierce her side, going an inch or two deep before rending itself free, allowing her blood to gush. It flowed down her side as Amity fumbled around, sending the most powerful kick she could backwards while finding the rock that was meant to heal her. All she could think was I have a way out of this, if I can just-

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    The green aura flooded her side as it sealed back up, sewing back together, before shearing apart again.

    Right. The healing magic. I can¡¯t actually use it on myself.

    The small period where it had managed to seal vastly helped the blood stop flowing just by nature of her body being able to repair, but the wound still gaped. The last thing she could think of while her mind remained clear was using ice, which managed to seal onto her skin and help close the wound. The energy from using so many varied forms of magic in so many intensive ways drained her, and the knees that solely supported her up to that point finally let her fall, hitting the ground hard.

    Shots from the lightning echoed around her as she faded out of consciousness, for the time being.

    ***

    The jolt of electricity striking her foot, followed by the grinding against sand and cold ice against her back as she was propped up on the wall, woke Amity up. She held her head, then immediately shifted to clenching her side, before Katie pushed her arm away.

    ¡°Don¡¯t do that, you¡¯ll make it harder.¡±

    ¡­?

    ¡°I¡¯m using a glyph to heal you, because Kaiya and Himiko are still fighting. You¡¯ve only actually been out for a minute or two, so when this is done, you should be able to get back out there.¡± Katie glanced at the wound, seeing how close it was to closing back up.

    ¡°How did they¡­ get behind me like that?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but I know that their knife is busted. The blade was on the floor right next to you, so they only have magic attacks now.¡±

    Amity felt Katie poke at the wound, and when she didn¡¯t even wince, she cleared her to start fighting again.

    This time, there was a much better plan.

    She blew a gust of wind, strong enough to launch the assailant backwards and make them miss the next shot attempted. The sand was still disturbed, but nobody was affected. A sphere of water sent to surround made them nearly entirely immobile, and they were frozen in place before being brought back towards the group.

    Mysterious shadows that seemingly followed them had faded away, aura of mystery vanished. Amity lifted the hood that had already been charred and split in a few places to reveal¡­

    It collapsed. The hood, supported by seemingly nothing although it was writhing about just a moment ago, collapsed inwards. Although there should¡¯ve been a person there, nothing of the such remained.

    ¡°What¡­ the fuck?¡± Amity recoiled at the unexpected behavior.

    ¡°Are we going insane? There was totally someone attacking us, in that hood.¡± Katie looked inside, confirming the absence of any life.

    ¡°If nobody¡¯s inside, we- we can probably just go away. We can quit wasting time.¡±

    Himiko kicked over the mass of ice, with the cloak and hood still fell inside, and let it float away. She led the party forwards, over the next gap and skipping an island to make it to the obvious shrine waiting at the end of the path.

    The sun was setting again. This is only the second time. Yet, nights never seemed to last for that long. A painting in the air above them, fading from the purple-shifted red at the edge of the horizon to the warm yellows that too went into the cool blue sky.

    It was getting warmer. Not the colors. But Himiko felt a lot warmer inside. Cozy, despite the situation.

    Home was just within reach, they could see it.

    The portal that would take them finally home. Really, this time. It¡¯s not going to be another falsehood, another make-believe or misdirection.

    She would get home. All of her friends. Amity. They would be truly together.

    They were together, but it wasn¡¯t enough.

    All anyone in that group wanted was just to get home.

    Just to get back to living their normal life. Going to school felt desirable at this point.

    All they wanted was to open the door that, at this point, they were standing in-front of.

    It hadn¡¯t quite occurred to her just how close they were to it when a cough echoed behind them.

    The cough was rough. It was cold, and tense. They couldn¡¯t tell how they could tell that. But it was clear who they were hearing.

 And You Almost Didnt Let Her

    They froze.

    ¡°Hello, children. I see you¡¯ve made it back here. You¡¯re clever, y¡¯know, but you should have stayed where you were.¡±

    He chuckled like a sicko.¡°The instabilities really weren¡¯t that bad, and if you knew what was good for you, it would¡¯ve been tolerable.¡±

    He reached behind his back, allowing his energy to flow betwixt his fingers and into the weapon he grasped.

    ¡°Instead,¡± he sighed, ¡°you had to crawl back here, and try to take out one of my best guards. I¡¯m sorely sorry about.. I¡¯m not. You deserve this one, since you just couldn¡¯t keep away.¡±

    With a slicing sound through the air, the swift movement of the sword as it skimmed Amity¡¯s sleeve and stabbed the sand instead stung to Cornet, but he kept it hidden. It lifted out, swung sideways and again, barely missed the two on that side.

    Raleigh darted behind him, but his kick was like that of a horse, sending him doubled over on the ground. Kaiya also happened to be able to run around him, attempting to take him by surprise as he swung, the sharp, electrified blade managing to finally strike Himiko, tumbling her over.

    The leg he had hit was bleeding, and although she knew it would be a terrible idea, Katie tried to pull her over, to heal.

    Himiko stared into Katie¡¯s eyes as Cornet forced the blade through her left arm, entirely severing it, and rending the flesh from the bone just to keep certain it would never be returned.

    Knowing they were near death, he walked away, forming into the sand before their eyes to traverse faster towards the others.

    Himiko dragged herself to be free from beneath Katie, as well as to grab the arm that had split from her.

    She had her bend as best as she could to meet the arm where it once was, before grabbing the rock from her pocket. Himiko healed the wound, hoping they would reattach, but¡­

    When Himiko moved her hand, seeing if the arm was attached to Katie, nothing had happened. The wound was sealed, on both ends, but the arm was split.

    ¡°Shit¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, I can mourn my arm later. Come back over here.¡±

    Katie sat up on the chunk of rock behind her, and dug out a blood-stained slip of paper. She grabbed the green rock unintentionally kept with her, chipping it by slamming it on the rock behind, and prepared a glyph. It functioned just enough to stop the pretty major bleeding from Himiko¡¯s end, and seal it enough to let her stand.

    On the other side of the island, Amity was barely fending him off. Cornet had gotten a good stab in on Raleigh, and Kaiya was healing him while she fought. The ice that Amity had formed into a shield kept splintering, but it near immediately rejoined as she put all of her energy into it. Lightning from Himiko sprawled across the land, giving Amity just enough hope to try a daring split, diving to the side and having ice lock his wrists together and embed in the sand as he bent backwards, surprised at the electricity coursing through his veins.

    Cornet shook around, trying to writhe free from the ice as Himiko darted to the rest of them, Katie following.

    ¡°Jesus- did he tear your arm off?¡±

    Before she could reply to Amity, the sand that Cornet abandoned when he, in a last-ditch attempt to exit the ice sunk into the sand and fled for the moment, covered Katie and got into her eyes. She forced a cough and rubbed her eyes. Before Cornet, appearing behind her, was able to plunge the blade into her neck, Amity was able to skim another bolt of lightning into him, forcing him to step back and nearly stumble on a rock.

    The other girl, standing vaguely near Katie, jumped up and bashed into him with another lightning bolt, which managed to just barely put him off balance. At least, just off-balanced enough to make him drop the sword, lodging in the sand.

    The added sting of the sword in the sand managed to finally knock Cornet down, and everyone essentially dog-piled him. The blade was ripped from the sand as everyone launched specifically damaging magic towards him.

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    Katie, overrun with adrenaline still, ran to grab her arm while the rest of them did their dirty work, and returned holding one hand in the other. She used it not as a weapon, but as a way to get everyone¡¯s attention.

    ¡°Guys!¡±

    Nobody really spoke. They kept inflicting shock after burn after strike.

    ¡°Everyone!¡± Waving her arm in-front of Amity¡¯s face.

    Her voice did stop them this time.

    ¡°Can we stop, please? He¡¯s incapacitated. We can just go.¡±

    Everyone retracted their weapons, magical or otherwise, and started away from him. With their one threat more-or-less eliminated, they just had a short walk to finally make it home.

    The portal frame, constructed from rocks seemingly stood there for centuries and worn on this planet for even longer, appeared radiant to the group as they finally took their first steps onto the solid base.

    While Katie and Raleigh were staring into the distance to keep watch on Cornet, making sure he wasn¡¯t standing, Amity bolted through the process of putting together a solution to activate the portal. She formed some water in the air, and put the powdered medium into it. The familiar glow had her excited, and she splashed it onto the corner of the rocky rectangle.

    Nobody noticed that the portal had again activated, because they saw something else ready itself for activity.

    Cornet traveled along the grain of the sand, sending himself directly into Amity.

    He fired unreasonable quantities of lightning bolts towards her, which for being nearly point-blank shots, Amity set up an ice shield to block them fairly well.

    ¡°You¡¯re not getting out of here!¡±

    Cornet switched his strategy up, going for melting her shield rather than firing in vain into it. The burn against his skin as a result of the close ranged fire didn¡¯t bother him immediately, but it did force Amity to put as much energy as she could into repairing the quickly waning shield.

    The rest of the group, as a result of turning away from the swiftly launched sand from his mad dash over here, spotted the portal.

    Katie and Raleigh, being definitively the weakest of the few, were instructed to go back home while the two people who could actually use magic went to back up the primary fighter.

    Grabbing the rocks from her pocket, it took effort to figure out which one was which. Even though it didn¡¯t feel like a big deal then, the magic they provided felt weaker now. She noticed this majorly when, on her sole attempt to actually use any of them, the magic seemed to sputter, coming to a halt and refusing to flow.

    Nothing could be done, as far as she knew. When Kaiya tried what she could do, it stopped too. Despite her seemingly native natural magic - ever since her death, she hadn¡¯t needed to use any external mediums - the flow around her simply halted.

    Against her better judgement, she took tentative steps into the portal with Himiko. While they got to enjoy those free moments of familiarity, the one person who couldn¡¯t quite yet was fighting the sole thing stopping it.

    She felt a few jabs prod the thinning shield, which she reasonably keep up being repaired.

    Shit¡­ They all went. And, he¡¯s gonna bust through soon enough.

    There was no real solution in her mind - no dodges seemed possible, all of her energy was going into holding the heavy chunk of ice and keeping it from getting destroyed, and her sole way out of death if something happened just made it back home - but that¡¯s better than the rest of them getting killed with her. One is less bad than five.

    With a crack, the ice broke. Her shield made it so long, but it finally let out.

    As per usual, the sword ran through the air and towards a target, and this time it struck gold.

    Even though it might have been something she thought she¡¯d be used to by this point, that terrible sound of flesh splitting from flesh and bone ripping itself apart never sat right. It was such a moist sound, every time sealing the deal that someone¡¯s life was forever changed, or worse.

    She fell to her knees clutching her gut, and hit her side as she curled up.

    Blood dripped from the blade, carrying that sickly sweet feeling in Cornet¡¯s mind that he had finally triumphed over the biggest threat of that group of humans, so he may someday finally actually fulfill his divine purpose, and the feeling of pain coursing through that of Amity.

    He wiped the pale gray blood from the otherwise red-stained blade with a quick spray of water, and vanished into the distance.

    ***

    ¡°Is she okay out there?¡±

    Sitting on Himiko¡¯s bed, while Kaiya tried to use magic to reattach Katie¡¯s arm, they worried about their friend. Nothing seemed to be working for her arm, but the pain and shock you¡¯d expect from that severe of an injury wasn¡¯t quite there. Maybe the healing power had helped wean the body off of the adrenaline rush, or maybe it just hadn¡¯t ended yet. Both options were prevalent in the healer¡¯s mind, but she didn¡¯t let any doubts out about why the expectant symptoms weren¡¯t there.

    ¡°Are you feeling decent enough with your¡­ lack of an arm, to go back out there and check on her?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, whatever, we just need to go and make sure she¡¯s not dead.¡±

    It was a pretty important decision, but there was no dawdling, her running out there, back through the portal. The rest of the group followed, stumbling over boxes and blankets as they chased her down.

    Entering back into the ever sandy place, they noticed the body of their friend just sitting there. And, they saw Cornet, smug, not even turning back for the ruckus behind him.

    Readying her magic, Kaiya went over to inspect the damage, while Himiko ran towards Cornet, preparing to fight and clearly not ready to stop.

    It was worse than anything she could¡¯ve imagined.

    She healed it as best she could, but it left her unsettled. Beyond just being her friend, and leading them finally home, ripped apart and left to die, the wound itself felt¡­ unnatural.

    Nothing about how it split was like how a normal weapon would split flesh. She had seen the blade too - it wasn¡¯t barbed or spiraled, it was a normal smooth blade - which just made the fact it produced that rough gash even less understandable. The sheer atoms looked like they were themselves ripped apart.

    Kaiya¡¯s train of thought she went on distracted her from looking at the actual wound, and when she came back to paying attention, it looked a lot better. Not nearly fully healed - that would take a bit - but good enough for the girl to not die.

    Now, him.

    The portal behind her was still going strong, so she figured she would have just enough time to take action.

    Hopefully, she would be able to properly avenge what he did to Amity.

 Severed?

    Cornet finally turned around, drawing his blade once more to block the incoming attack from Himiko. She tried to strike him with lightning but the sword seemed to absorb it wholly. The visible beam of electricity wrapped itself around the sword, and it seemed to be almost elastic, before drafting itself into a shell around it.

    When Kaiya ground to a halt behind him, and tried to affix his legs to the ground with ice, she felt something graze her cheek, barely too far to get a good strike in but on a clear path to her neck. Another zap of lightning came from Himiko, serving to divert him just enough for his legs to become encapsulated in the ice. Up to his thighs, the solid ice kept him from moving, and yet again, they tried running away.

    When Cornet realized there was no way for him to get out beyond simply shattering the ice, he did just that. The sword strapped with lightning struck the crystalline structure surrounding him, and made it essentially vanish as he fell back down into the sand.

    Raleigh made it barely to Amity first, sweeping her up from the ground while taking care not to exacerbate her wound. Along with the rest of everyone, besides Kaiya, they ran right back into the portal, which they saw fading.

    Just on the rocky step to the portal, Kaiya felt something grab the back of her shirt, choking her.

    ¡°You¡¯re not getting away.¡±

    She coughed, but nothing got through the grasp of the shirt on her neck. The sword that had been used to maim and kill so many was placed against her gut, nearly already getting stabbed by the flailing of her legs.

    Staring at the top of her head, Cornet pressed the sword into her. Not quite impaling, but uncomfortable. Her legs finally stopped, to delay her fate, but she knew it was just that.

    A delay. Rather than anything to stop it.

    Wishing her a final goodbye, he squeezed the sword inwards, pressing down and feeling the skin break.

    Just as the skin barely tore, his arm flung out and his legs slipped out.

    Her back slammed down into him, blowing up some sand as they fell down.

    The sword, with the fresh blood, and the dried remains of the blood from all before, chopped through the air as it fell into the sand.

    The one who saved Kaiya from the brink of death?

    Opening her eyes after the impact, she saw Amity facing to the portal.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Amity, true to her name, extended her hand for her to take. Reaching up, she hoisted herself off the dazed man. The portal was still open, but nonetheless, they hurried to it. The wound on Kaiya¡¯s stomach was bleeding and sent waves of searing pain through her body with every step, rattling her around, but it wasn¡¯t going to stop her. Finally, after it all, they stood on the precipice of the end, and¡­

    For the first time in a long time. They were all in the real world. The real world.

    It was their real world. Even though they wished it was sooner, it was finally the end.

    The portal is still open.

    Cornet¡¯s scream could be heard through that glowing link between worlds. In a final hope, he wielded his sword for one last swing, and kicked sand up behind him in a calculated effort to muster as much power and speed as possible. Fading away, the opaque entryway was slowly letting more and more light through from behind. By the time he reached the portal, it had nearly completely settled into a state of non-existence. But, he couldn¡¯t tell.

    The dust surrounded him, and in an unnatural amount of time, he lunged forward and into the portal.

    Nearly completely horizontally, his torso cleanly intersected the portal as the group squealed and screeched in fear at the sight.

    Despite what had been assumed, though, he didn¡¯t seem to be severed from his waist down.

    He didn¡¯t seem to be¡­ anywhere?

    It took a few moments to settle in. He¡­ didn¡¯t seem to be here.

    Was he on the other world still?

    It didn¡¯t matter.

    ¡°We¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re home.¡±

    Finally seeing the portal shut from the comfort of Himiko¡¯s bedroom, everyone besides Amity laughed. It was a chuckle of nervousness, then from glee. Finally, after it all, the fight was done.

    Still a little worried, Amity had Kaiya lay down on the bed, the gash seeming to get a little bit worse with each shake from the girl¡¯s gleeful chuckling. She leaned into the power rushing through her, sending it faster and faster, allowing the edges of it to stick themselves back together quickly.

    Once it was done, and Amity made sure everyone was patched up, she finally let herself relax.

    She leaned against the door to the hallway, sliding down it and finally letting the tension out of her shoulders. Katie and Raleigh stood against the opposite corner of the room idly chatting, Kaiya still sat on the bed, and Himiko followed towards Amity. She picked up her hat, and placed it on her lap as she sat next to her.

    ¡°Hey, Amity.¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡± Amity grabbed the hat and held it, still just an inch above her lap.

    ¡°I¡­ wanted to thank you.¡± The witch looked into the distance, facing the floor. ¡°You helped us so much, and¡­¡±

    A hand turned Himiko, who started to blush, to face her. Staring into each-other¡¯s eyes, they both went in for a kiss, finally sealing it. The embrace only lasted for a second before Amity pulled away, and turned the encounter back to what Himiko was saying.

    ¡°And..?¡±

    ¡°We¡­ really wouldn¡¯t have been able to do this without you.¡±

    ¡°Of course, what else was I going to do? But, you really should thank the rest of them. I didn¡¯t do everything, you know.¡± She gestured to the rest of the room.

    ¡°Right. I¡­ I¡¯ll go do that.¡±

    Standing up, she adjusted the hat on her head, and went around the room delivering thanks.

    I¡¯m really glad we actually made it out. I don¡¯t know what I would¡¯ve done if we had stayed there, she thought. And, I¡¯m glad that I at least had her.

    Finally circling back around, Himiko had gathered everyone behind her.

    ¡°Amity, wanna go downstairs?¡±

    ¡°Are we¡­ ready to deal with your parents?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we know what we should do.¡±

    ¡°That is¡­?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll just tell the truth.¡± Himiko let out a little flair of fire, and let Amity settle for a second. ¡°If we show this, I think they¡¯ll believe it. Ideally, we leave out the parts where we got attacked, but we can just show them the magic, and it goes down peacefully.¡±

    She paused, absorbing the plan, then stood up.

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Opening the doorknob, they descended the staircase, and walked straight into the empty living room.

 Inexorable

    Sitting on the couch, Amity let the rest of them crawl around the house for any sign of the adults. When she leaned over to the nightstand and grabbed the TV remote, the news was first to come up.

    But, the stories weren¡¯t quite what she expected.

    First, a panel about the various technological advancements. The recent requirement for Apple devices to switch away from Lightning cables.

    Then, they covered a few of the earthquakes around the coasts of California and Japan that¡­ seemed to be occurring right now. Odd, but nothing was particularly amiss.

    Around Hawaii, a lot of the boats around it were now seeing the most severe sea conditions in ages, as well as a new landmass that wasn¡¯t at all recognized.

    She grabbed the remote, switching to another news channel.

    This time, they were talking over the recent cases closed or halted by the police.

    One murder case, a few comparatively smaller criminal cases, and the headline cases, a string of related missing persons cases.

    ¡°And, on a somber ending note, the police have opted to stop investigating these missing children. They went missing on the same day, and all have not been seen since. If you have any knowledge on their whereabouts, call the number on the screen, but the police have opted to no longer proactively investigate.¡±

    On the screen, a banner across the top of the screen with a short phone number, and 4 familiar faces in a grid at the bottom.

    Amity quickly turned off the TV, before anyone else saw that they¡¯d given up on them.

    Walking back into the room, Himiko shook her head, ¡°No dice.¡±

    ¡°Do you want to ah¡­ come tell the rest of our parents?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Sure. If my parents aren¡¯t here, we could be doing more important things.¡±

    They rounded up the rest of the group, and began the walk to Amity¡¯s house.

    ***

    The door opened to the house seeming empty, and untouched from the last time they were here. They crept forwards, and shut the door behind.

    When they were already all up the stairs - all but Amity - they heard a voice cough behind them.

    ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Turning around, Amity saw her mom¡¯s face turn from shock at a possible intruder, to shock at the fact that her kid was back.

    She ran onto the stairs, each step sending shock-waves through the house. At the top, she dove for her, squeezing her tightly with no intent to let her go. But she did, to ask what had happened?

    ¡°I¡­ we, we discovered magic.¡±

    ¡°What-?¡±

    To prove it, just as she planned, a tiny burst of flame rose from her hand.

    ¡°We found magic while you were on vacation, and while we were experimenting, a portal formed¡­¡±This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    She presented all of the rocks, and Himiko was in the background demonstrating more proof of magic.

    ¡°When it opened, we went in, and before we knew it, (or could get back,) it had already closed.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°We got back by finding somewhere where we could actually make a portal again, because where the first one was, was destroyed. It was a long trek, and time went by a lot faster than I thought, so that¡¯s why it took so long for us to get back.¡±

    Amity¡¯s mom pulled away, and looked at her.

    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t want to believe that. My daughter, finding magic and going missing for a month, seems too¡­ fictional, for lack of a better word. But how would your friend back there be making ice appear out of thin air? Or be blowing around your hair with her mouth closed?¡±

    She stepped back, leaning on the wall, and Amity went backwards towards Himiko, too.

    ¡°Psst, hey, wanna help me do something? To really prove to her it¡¯s magic?¡±

    ¡°What are you thinking?¡±

    The plan was exchanged, and they stepped forward. ¡°Mom, watch this.¡±

    They both held their own section of red rock, while holding each other¡¯s hands. A small line on the floor was lined with ice, which began to grow, forming a solid block. Himiko separated, going to the far right of the block, the other to the left, and began etching the map of Samdaz into the ice with their own respective link on the block.

    After a solid minute, they pulled back from the ice, and showed it off.

    ¡°This is where we started,¡± Amity showed around where they were.

    ¡°And this is where we ended up,¡± Himiko traced the path around all three islands to show their final portal entrance. ¡°So you can see why we couldn¡¯t get back very quickly.¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just go across the area up top?¡±

    ¡°There was no way across when we first got there,¡± a half truth. They hadn¡¯t thought about using the water bridge technique yet, but it was an option. ¡°so we were forced to take the long way around.¡± She opted, for the sake of permanence, to engrave their path around in the ice.

    Amity¡¯s mom sat down on the floor, and took it in. After a few moments, she finally spoke again.

    ¡°Are you all¡­ okay? After all that, did any of you get hurt?¡±

    It was a quick choice to not say anything about the fatality, more for lack of will to explain it than fear of any reaction, but they did show a few of their wounds.

    The one on Kaiya¡¯s gut, scarred over. The many miscellaneous slices and scrapes, and finally, they had Katie go over to her, the bottom two thirds of her arm torn off.

    ¡°Oh my god! Are you okay? How did you get this healed so well..?¡± She grabbed the nub, expressing shock.

    ¡°We have some magic that helped with that, and also, it only happened like half an hour ago.¡±

    ¡°Half an hour?! Katie, do you have your arm? That¡¯s a really weird question, but like, do you still have it anywhere?¡±

    ¡°We¡­ left it in Himiko¡¯s room. It was pretty ravaged when it happened though, and we couldn¡¯t reattach it.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Come on, we¡¯re going to her house, then yours to grab your parents, and go to the hospital.¡±

    She ran down to grab her keys, and the rest of the group went to the car, besides Amity. The ice wall had to be removed so the melting water didn¡¯t ruin anything, and she also ran to her room and grabbed her phone. The door quickly shut as she ran back down the stairs, and met up with the group at the car.

    ¡°Do you think they¡¯ll actually be able to reattach my arm?¡± Katie talked with Himiko.

    ¡°It was really nasty, and literal magic couldn¡¯t do anything about it.¡±

    She responded, ¡°If they even manage to put it back on, would you be able to use it?¡±

    Amity overheard their discussion, and butted in.

    ¡°Your arm was cut off really high up, so even if they fix it, your hand and most of the forearm would be entirely numb.¡±

    ¡°So, there¡¯s basically no hope for it.¡± Opening the door after Amity¡¯s mom used the key fob to unlock it from the living room, she sat down dejectedly.

    ¡°How are all of you going to get in there?¡±

    She looked at the car, seeing the seating, and knowing there would be even more people piling in shortly, had to figure out a solution. Raleigh thought of one sooner though.

    ¡°We don¡¯t all need to go. Most of our wounds are healed, or we can mend them ourselves.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Katie, are you okay with some of your friends staying here?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. Can Raleigh still come with, though?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we have the room for him, just not three more¡­ Three? Hang on, who are you?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m Kaiya,¡± she introduced herself. ¡°I was classmates with a few of them, and ended up swept into that place a few months ago, so when they found me, I tagged along.¡±

    She didn¡¯t reply, just nodding in blind acceptance, and getting into the car. Through the passenger window, Himiko remembered something, and tossed her house keys to the parent who would surely be needing them.

    Checking that everyone was ready to go, she peeled out of the driveway like a racer and sped onto the road.

    Now, just the magic users at home, they headed back into the house and sat back on the couch, flipping through TV channels as Amity finally turned back on her phone.

    The notifications that had built up clogged the system like plaque in an artery, and had her waiting for minutes as she waited for the ¡®clear all¡¯ option to even show up, so she began pondering the flickering video feeds Kaiya was looking at.

    One was a cartoon channel, the next a Spanish rom-com. After that, the news again.

    She skipped the news. Had she stayed on it, something would¡¯ve revealed itself, but it didn¡¯t matter to them right now.

    The only thing that mattered was that he wasn¡¯t here.