Slowly, the air of the hospital where Garder last came into Aurra returned to his senses. First sound, and then sight. He looked at his hands. They were translucent, barely real. No one could see him, and whenever one of the staff walked through him, his spirit’s particles swayed a bit. He quickly remembered what he was supposed to be doing, and tried stepping forward—only to find that he was floating and had no feet yet.

  “Okay…” he thought. “Guess I need to, um, think like a ghost.”

  He pushed himself forward and found, to little surprise, that he could go through walls with no effort. But every second that passed by, he could feel himself becoming more “real,” gaining weight, with gravity pulling him down. Unsure of just when he would reappear fully, he decided it’d be best if he found the locker rooms and stole a doctor’s uniform.

  He noticed that he couldn’t push himself through the floor or ceiling, or fly—his feet must’ve existed in some manner and were still keeping him pinned him to the ground. He orientated himself and found the stairs to the lower floor. Once there, he noticed a pair of doors from which doctors and nurses were quickly coming and going.

  He looked up at the sign for the floor to learn that this was one of the surrogate and birthing wards. It was full of expectant mothers, some of whom had a partner to keep them company. Some were adopting, while others were picking up newborns for the academies. Only about a third of Aurrians typically ever had parents, and they were usually set aside for the newsouls. Parents played less of a role in Aurra in any case, and Garder rarely dwelled on the ones he once had all that much.

  Still invisible, he passed the large newborn chamber and peeked in. Tiny babies occupied one side in total silence. Nurses carefully handled one at a time, bringing them to a machine that looked like an x-ray and would lock in and awaken their embedded transfers. After the brief process, the babies usually cried as they would on Earth. Accepting one’s spirit caused some discomfort, but the babies wouldn’t remember it just minutes later.

  Garder looked at his hands again. They were beginning to regain their color, and he knew he had to hurry. He flew through one of the locker room doors without checking the sign. Luckily, he had entered the men’s room. As he scouted around for any loose uniforms, he spotted two pairs dangling over separate stalls with running water. Both looked almost identical in size, but he debated for a moment which one to choose.

  “I dunno, man—most of the ladies in this City are pretty good looking,” one of the staffers said to the other across the stalls.

  “I wish you wouldn’t talk about women like that. I mean, you’re a newsoul and you still don’t get how things run in Aurra, right? You’re supposed to treat others with respect. No bigotry, no sexism, no nothing. You could be reborn as one. Get used to how it works.”

  “I still just don’t get it. We live on Earth expecting to be surrounded by all these babes in the afterlife, but then it turns out that we have to keep this whole gentleman thing going?”

  “This isn’t an afterlife. For God sake, grow up.”

  “Anyway, I was about to operate on this one chick, right? Totally fine body, I’m telling you. But then I hear that I had another appointment and someone would take over for me. Course, I instead get this huge lady who needed an ingrown toenail removed. Ugly, too. I’m just saying, this world seems more like hell every day. I must’ve gone to the wrong place.”

  “I’m trying to help you. That talk will get your ass kicked one day.”

  Garder grumbled and sighed. He was a bit of a womanizer, sure, but he knew there was a fine line between that and being a chauvinist pig. He took into brief consideration that the guy was still a newsoul, but even he wasn’t remotely like him the first time he came to Aurra. It was pretty evident who was going to walk out of the shower in embarrassment.

  He tried to reach the uniform, but it only swayed gently when he grasped at it. He scowled at it for a moment before trying again. This time, he managed to get a hold on it. He took the outfit and slipped it on before anyone came around—just in time. As soon as he raised the white cloth mask to his face, he came back into full being. After he felt his weight completely return, he knew that he was visible once more.

  The uniform was a bit larger than he was, but it worked nonetheless. He slipped on the only shoes he could find: a pair of slippers, likely worn by someone on the night watch. Before leaving, he looked at himself in the mirror and sighed. He’d have to get back to his apartment and change, or else he’d get only laughs from his group instead of possible tears of relief and joy… And he didn’t necessarily want those, either.

  “Hello, doctor,” a passing nurse greeted him.

  “Oh, hi.”

  “The patient in room 324 is complaining of pains in his chest. I thought it might be best if you checked in on him.”

  “Um… I’m on break right now, but I’ll get back to you.”

  “But—”

  Garder hurried off and tried to avoid any other conversations from staff or patients on his way out.

  Outside, the weather was overcast and the streets as busy as always. He took off his mask and looked around to get his bearings. His apartment wasn’t too far from here—he might be able to get there before Shin arrived.

  “You look good,” she suddenly said with a laugh behind him.

  He grunted and turned around. Shin had already changed into her Aurrian outfit: an over-sized baggy top over dark navy pants and buckled boots. A small bow was tied around her waist, and she had even managed to find the time to apply some eyeshadow.

  “How’d you get here so fast?”

  “I’m used to coming here. Once you do it enough, you have better control where you materialize. It isn’t hard for me to appear in my place.”

  “I wanted to change into something before my big reunion.”

  “Fine,” she obliged. “Hurry up. I’ll wait here.”

  She leaned against a pillar, took her sword out, and began practicing some fancy twirls with it to pass the time. Garder looked at her curiously for a moment more before heading off.

  It was a mild walk to his apartment building. He requested the key from the lobby and headed up to find that his home hadn’t changed since they last left it. Garder realized that he had a spare knight’s uniform, but no extra sword, so he hoped Milla had kept his. But he didn’t know where she was or how long it might take to find her. She could still be back in City C, in which case it’d be impossible to get to her for the time being.

  But then he thought about Rivia and his study. The old general seemed to have plenty planned out, but with him missing, finding more answers would be difficult. Deciding it’d be best to stay put in City N until he heard from Milla, he figured he should at least see if he could get back into the City’s military headquarters and check out Rivia’s office for himself.

  Of course, if any Guardsmen were around, he’d have to make a run for it. He couldn’t be sure how many were after him, or if it may have been just the one group that attacked at the portal.

  He shrugged off any worries, grabbed a quick drink from the kitchen, and headed back down to rejoin Shin. He was taken aback slightly when he saw that she had attracted a small crowd during his absence. She was play-acting with her sword and seemed to be telling a story to several gathered and enthusiastic children.

  “Then he asked me, in a timid voice, ‘why are you doing this?’ It was a pathetic sight, I tell you. And I merely reply, ‘Sir, you have stolen land, razed villages, and burned crops. I carry the blood of the samurai within me, and I must take it upon myself to defend my people.”

  “What’d you do then?” one of the children asked.

  “Well, he looked up at me with a frightened expression. He was just a coward. Most of them are. They always expect to get away with their evil deeds. I raise my sword, and after one quick strike,” she slashed into the air, “his head was on the floor, still looking up at me with frightened eyes.”

  “That is so gross…”

  “No way, that’s awesome!”

  “You rule, Shin! You gotta visit more often.”

  “Yeah, well…” She holstered her katana. “That’s just the way things used to be. I’ve got plenty of stories like it, too.”

  “Providing wholesome entertainment, I see,” Garder mumbled.

  “Off you go, kids. I’ve work to do. Another story for another time.”

  They hesitated before scattering off.

  “His head was on the floor, huh? You don’t mess around, do you?”

  “No-o-o,” she said and smiled wryly.

  “Remind me not to get on your bad side.”

  “Where we going, chief?”

  “I was thinking to Rivia’s office, to maybe find out what he was researching… Or even what this grand mission of his is all about.”

  “Hm. Think they’ll let you in?”

  “Not much I can do if they don’t.”

  “If you say so. Let’s get going. Lead the way.”

  “I have a question first.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Who is Escellé, anyway? Where’d she come from?”

  “We only know that she stumbled upon the kingdom at some point, saw that it was empty, and took over. Her family might’ve been dimension-traveling aristocrats with too many demirriage scrolls. She’s doesn’t talk about her life before all that. Ancient history, anyway. Why do you ask?”

  “She seemed like a person in a position of great, but hidden power. And she must’ve built up a lot of connections over the years. Yeah—she must know quite a few people, actually, now that I think about it…”

  “She certainly has her bridges, yes. But all she really wants to do is bring stability to Aurra. Most of the time, though, she can only offer wisdom that would usually be unattainable. I’d guess that Rivia found her some time down the road, maybe in a past life. She’s a perfect vessel for precious information, as she’d never lie. Trust her judgment and direction.”

  “Huh… I really do wonder what Rivia has planned, then. Technically speaking, we already completed his assigned mission—all that entailed was investigating City C. I’m not interested in going on some sacred quest for the glory of all mankind or something, to tell you the truth.”

  “Why not? That sounds like a high honor if there was ever one.”

  “I’m not really the guy for the job.”

  “Maybe you are. Rivia had to have a reason for selecting you to be the one to visit us, didn’t he?”

  Garder sighed, “I was hoping that wasn’t the case…”

  Shin shook her head. “You’re kind of selfish, aren’t you?”

  “I don’t know, maybe. I just don’t like conflict… or problems.”

  “Forget it. Come on, let’s see if we can inside his office.”

  The two set off towards the center of the City. In his mind, things had gotten crazy recently, and Garder hoped that regardless of what Rivia was planning, his part in his schemes was almost over with.

  “Nothing in these,” Lechi said as she placed a stack of recently skimmed through books back on their shelves. “How about you guys?”

  “Nothing,” Jeryn said. “So far, I haven’t even found anything other than an old story or public report.”

  “Nothing about traveling between worlds, or demons, or even City C…” Milla reported from her end.

  The office’s shelves were half empty, their books in large towers on the marble floors below. The two Danes enjoyed the group’s company, but had grown bored and were now napping alongside Tanesh.

  “Keep on looking, everyone. If we don’t find something out soon, we might never find…”

  “Garder!” Lechi shouted jubilantly.

  Jeryn and Milla looked towards the doorway. Standing there, as if nothing had changed, was the one thought lost. He stood in between Linsky and an unfamiliar shorter young lady. Milla couldn’t believe her eyes at first, but she quickly found herself hugging him tightly.

  “I thought…” she murmured. “I would never…”

  “Milla. Everything is fine, really. I may be more surprised to find you here then you are for me. I didn’t think I’d see you guys again so soon.”

  “Mr. Nolland, I’ll leave you alone with your group now,” Linsky said. “I will be available if you need any further assistance with Rivia’s books.”

  “Yes, thank you,” Garder said.

  The small old man closed the doors and headed down the stairs.

  “How did you come back?” Jeryn wondered. “Wait, wait—more importantly, where’d you go?”

  “That’s kind of a long story.”

  “Who’s your friend?” Milla asked, back to her regular cool demeanor.

  “Um… She’s a well—uh, well a ‘Holdian’, I guess you could say.”

  “A Holdian?”

  “Shin Xin.” She extended her hand towards Milla. “One of Queen Escellé’s knights.”

  “Escellé?” Jeryn asked. “Never heard of a queen by that name.”

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Shin looked at Jeryn to confirm that it was actually him. From the looks of it, he didn’t know who she was or what it meant for her to be here.

  “Studying Rivia’s books, huh? We came here to do that ourselves.”

  “Yes—we don’t know exactly what we’re looking for, but… Garder, I don’t understand any of this. How’d you get back to us so quickly?”

  “I’ll tell you… But first, I think I have a direction for you to take on your research.”

  “Hm?”

  Garder lowered his voice and checked the room before replying, “Look for something called the Fragmented City.”

  “Fragmented City?” Jeryn asked. “What is that?”

  “Wait… Who—who are you?” Milla sternly questioned Shin.

  “Shinamayu Xin. Personal knight and member of the Kingdom of Hold, assigned for operations in City N. Cleared for level three alchemagi of the lightning alignment.”

  “Level three—lightning? You never told me…” Garder stuttered.

  “You’re a lightning?” Milla added.

  “How’d you get level three clearance?” Jeryn asked.

  “I’m quite old and have my connections. Most in Hold’s hidden kingdom have level three capabilities.”

  “And Hold’s… kingdom is… what?” Milla looked dumbfounded.

  “I suppose we should just go ahead and explain everything,” Garder said. “Um, I’m sure Shin here can articulate it better than I can.”

  “When you die in the ‘wrong’ world, Hold’s system cannot correctly place you. Instead, you are put in a fail-safe location and retain your current body. We have a small kingdom hidden at this location.

  “Our queen is ancient in age and has kept our sanctuary there for centuries. Garder is merely another among many that she has met, and her role was to pass along secure information given by General Rivia.

  “Verim—he isn’t here yet—was assigned to bring Garder to the kingdom, but why he was chosen, I’m not yet clear on. It may be that Rivia did not want to inflict pain on the lady of the group, or that Jeryn would’ve proven too much a challenge.”

  Garder scowled.

  “So that explains why you look in better shape than before,” Milla said. “Hold perfected you—and then your body got rebuilt.”

  “Oh, yeah. I hadn’t really considered that up until now.”

  “But I still don’t quite understand.”

  “You will one day,” Shin continued. “It’s likely that she’ll meet with you too at some point, though getting there obviously takes some courage. What’s important is that Rivia passed along knowledge of the Fragmented City. We believe he wanted you to discover this place for yourselves, and that the pairs of dimensional claws you possess can assist in this endeavor.”

  “You speak very matter-of-factly, don’t you?” Garder noticed.

  “I prefer not to make a mess of words or leave questions behind. It proves inefficient in serious conversations and explanations.”

  “Well, Shin, you seem very professional. And I can see that you must be a strong warrior… We’d be glad to have you as part of the team—”

  “Consider me a tagalong. I have no intentions of joining your group, but I will assist it until my queen deems it no longer necessary to do so.”

  “Okay, well, I was about to say that we don’t have much to do other than look through books, I’m afraid.”

  “Oh…” Shin loosened herself and slumped slightly. “Right. Where do you want me to start looking?”

  “If you and Garder could cover the west wall, that’d be great. There’s at least five hundred books on each side, though…”

  “If that’s what the current step in your mission entails, I’ll help.”

  Garder looked away from the daunting bookshelves and asked, “Hey, where’s Simon?”

  “He had to return his plane. We were going to meet him the day after tomorrow in our London hotel’s restaurant.”

  “Oh. We should also check on Xavier. Maybe he’s learned something. Um, one more thing… do you have my sword? I rather like it and don’t want to have another one synthesized.”

  “It’s over behind the desk.” Milla pointed to the cluttered centerpiece of the room. “I wasn’t sure what to do with it, so I…”

  “Good, thanks. It looks like we’re safe here for the time being, so I guess we should get to work.” Garder looked across the room and at the nearly five thousand books that occupied it.

  “Garder…”

  “Yeah?”

  “Welcome home.”

  He smiled for a moment before going over to his wall and grabbing a stack of books. Shin was probably less than thrilled, but her expression had remained unchanged, at least since the moment she identified Jeryn.

  The group spent the next two days painstakingly sifting through Rivia’s massive library, but had yet to find anything mentioning dimensional traveling, much less anything on a Fragmented City. The closest they had gotten thus far was a volume concerning the nature of Aurra’s existence, but it had not even a scribble or footnote written by Rivia.

  Realizing the time after a morning’s effort, the group used a pair of claws in Rivia’s office to bring themselves to a long, Irish farming plain, Tanesh being left behind for the moment with Rivia’s two dogs.

  Shin showed minor surprise when Jeryn took out a demirriage scroll, and the sun was at the right position to use it without risking overexposure. She had heard the stories of Jeryn’s many escapades across his lives, but she still couldn’t quite believe he had his hands on something so dangerous.

  After they entered London using the same alley as before, the carriage faded in the sunlight. The group would have to wait until sunset to travel again, but none of them minded the brief break from Rivia’s study.

  During the two days spent back in City N, Milla and the others had become fully aware of just what Hold’s hidden kingdom was through Shin’s explanations. They were beginning to realize that for Rivia to hide the true nature of the mission and resort to Escellé to keep information, he must have had a far larger plan in the works that likely went beyond their small group. But he was gone now, and no one they had spoken to in City N had the slightest idea where he could be.

  Prior to leaving Aurra, everyone who had Earth clothes changed into them and left their weapons behind. Shin didn’t have anything of her own, but her outfit was only slightly off-Earthen in looks and she didn’t want to impose on the group by borrowing money for a few new clothes.

  Being a bit early to meet Simon, Milla used some of the small amount of money they had left to buy everyone a cheap lunch. Afterwards, they spent the rest of the day traversing the streets of London together.

  “It’s been a long time since I’ve been on Earth,” Shin said. “I’ve been fulfilling assignments in Aurra most of the time now. Being on Earth as an Aurrian makes me miss my Edo era Japan days… The tough part is always getting into a portal to get back to Earth so I can off myself.”

  “That’s the only way of getting back to that part of Hold, right?” Garder asked. “Seems a bit… inconvenient. I wouldn’t go there a second time myself if I didn’t have to.”

  “It is inconvenient, since it means I’ve gone through yet another pair of clothes.”

  Garder suppressed a laugh—Shin could be more of a cynic than he was most days.

  “Shin, what exactly do these missions of yours involve?” Milla asked.

  “Mostly spying on Guard activities, in many capacities. Escellé finds it necessary to keep an eye on them.”

  “Why?” Garder replied. “We already know they’re corrupt.”

  “We want to know how much. Primarily, she has to make sure that they haven’t discovered an easier way to travel through the dimensions.”

  “But she doesn’t have a problem with us doing it.” Garder patted his side bag that held a pair of the demon’s claws inside.

  “She fears what the Guard would do with such a power.”

  “They already do anything they want.”

  “Perhaps, but they’re more powerful than any military on Earth. It’s a wild idea, but what if they tried to extend their reach out of Aurra?”

  “You mean control Earth?” Jeryn replied. “Do you think they’d really try something like that? It seems insane.”

  “Yes, especially given that they know of Hold’s kingdom and have been unable to correct the problem of its existence. Escellé could hold any fallen Guard as long as she wanted to, making their ability to come back after death next to impossible. The Guard now largely only sees Earth as an inconvenience. They have no authority here. People do what they want on their own accord. There are about ten times as many deaths a day on Earth than on Aurra. If they could control Earth, they may try to ‘fix’ it and make the connections and transitions between it and Aurra much smoother.”

  “But they’d break the cycle,” Lechi said. “People here would be promised life after death. Even given proof of it. That’d effectively erase desire. I mean, Earthens live more fulfilling lives because they usually believe it is the only chance they have to do so. That simple truth is what makes Earth, and the relationship between both worlds, beautiful.”

  “Quite correct, Lechi,” Shin replied. “But the Guard only wants efficiency. They don’t care how people feel.”

  “I didn’t know the Guard was that demented…” Garder said angrily.

  “Anyway, let’s focus on our current goal. And I’ve been meaning to ask, just who is that we’re meeting?”

  “A young man named Simon,” Milla replied. “He helped us before.”

  “Who is he with? What City is he from?”

  “Actually… he’s from Earth,” Garder answered.

  Shin stopped in her tracks and turned. “What?”

  “Yeah. We needed a flight out to the Saharan portal, and he was the only way to get out there.”

  “S-so he knows about Aurra?”

  “Well, yes.”

  Shin looked at the group, in shock.

  “Forget about him. Tell him it was all a lie,” she said sternly.

  “Look, Shin…” Milla sighed. “He’s already been to Aurra.”

  “What? Here we are talking about what the Guard might be trying to do, and it turns out that you went and showed an Earthen everything!”

  Garder responded, “There’s no need to get so defensive—”

  “Don’t you understand the implications of what you’ve done? He’s going to live an entire Earth life knowing about Aurra!”

  “And?”

  “Are you blind to what that means? Simon has total freedom. He could murder people, commit terrible crimes, do whatever he wanted—all without any fear at all.”

  “Not our Simon. He’s a pacifist if there ever was one.”

  “Oh, yeah, right. Not anymore. Just watch.”

  “Yeah, I am right. He wanted to join the Peace Corp and help people. Why do you assume he’d suddenly start doing things like that?”

  “What’d be the point of helping others now? All those people suffering, they’d just go to a better place if left alone, right? He wouldn’t see a need to make their lives better.”

  “Shin…” Milla said calmly. “I don’t believe this is that big a deal. We wouldn’t have brought him along if we didn’t trust him. He fully accepted Aurra, and I doubt it’s going to change him.”

  “You act like human nature tells us to do as many things as we want if there were no consequences,” Garder added. “That’s not true. Morality always exists. Besides, he already knows about judgment. He wouldn’t want to end up in a low-tier City after all the good work he’s already done.”

  “… Okay,” Shin relented. “Maybe I was a little hasty. Perhaps I should meet him in person and then decide on what I think.”

  “He wants to help us. And he’s a solar. We could use that power on our side if things are just going to get more dangerous.”

  “A solar?” Shin said curiously. “I’ve only ever seen one once…”

  “I don’t know how we’re going to get him trained, though. We can’t just plop him into an alchemagi school and say, ‘here, train this Earth kid.’”

  “True. We have several alchemagi scholars in Hold, but getting him there would be difficult since we’d have to, you know, do that deed in Aurra under the influence of the suppression devices.”

  “One step at a time. I think we’d better ask him how he feels about being killed before we do anything like that. I swear, you guys need to find a better way to get to your kingdom.”

  Milla looked over at a large clock on the side of a bank to see that noon was approaching. The group ended their conversation and turned back to head towards the meeting place.

  Simon, waiting in the corner of the nearly empty hotel restaurant, stood up with a smile upon seeing his new friends walk in. From the looks of it, he had been waiting for several hours. It also looked like he had cleaned himself up a bit recently.

  “I didn’t actually expect to see you guys again,” he greeted them. “And Garder—I thought you… died…”

  “Got better,” he replied. “Sorry. That was lame, I know.”

  Milla smiled back. “Hi, Simon. It turns out that we could use your help right away. Good with books? We have a lot to sort through.”

  “Don’t be disappointed that it’s not exciting,” Garder said. “We’re all stuck doing it for the time being.”

  “Hey, sure. You know, I’m just glad to be here, with you.”

  “Did you get here okay?”

  “Yeah. No problem. My plane’s at Heathrow if you need a ride anywhere. Um, Milla… ah, here…”

  Simon took out his wallet, stuffed with bills. He removed several hundreds worth and handed it to her.

  “W-what’s this for?”

  “It’s some of what you gave me. I realized I can’t really accept it if I’m part of the team. Even if I just turn out to be an ‘Earth associate.’”

  “But Simon, this money was for you…”

  “Seriously—keep it. You might need it. Hey, can I buy you lunch?”

  “Oh… If I had known, we wouldn’t have eaten already.”

  “Ah, well, maybe just some drinks, then.”

  “Sure. We’re stuck here until sunset, anyway.”

  They took their seats in the extended booth in the corner. He looked over at Shin, who was sitting next to Lechi and had yet to say a word.

  “Um… new group member?” he wondered.

  “Shin Xin,” she said. “Assisting the group for the moment.”

  “Oh. I guess you’re from Aurra too, then?”

  “Simon, aren’t you going to ask?” Garder spoke up.

  “Huh? Ask about what?”

  “How I came back?”

  “How you came… Oh! Yeah, that’s right. I guess I was too excited just to see Milla come back for me to wonder about that.”

  “Gee… thanks. Well, remember the place I told you about between the worlds? Hold?”

  “What about it?”

  “That’s where I was, but I got out of it with Shin’s help.”

  “Garder, isn’t that Xavier?” Milla nudged him.

  He looked across at the entrance. He could barely recognize him, but indeed it was Rivia’s bodyguard. He had gotten more Earth clothes during his stay in London—and even a pair of sunglasses, which he had folded over his shirt pocket.

  “That guy was here earlier at the bottom of a bottle,” Simon replied.

  “You’re kidding…” Milla sighed.

  “Hey! Xavier, you drunk, over here!” Garder waved.

  He turned, squinted his eyes, then recognized his group and headed over to the table.

  “You’re all back already?”

  “Sure are.”

  “Did you finish everything? I hope not, you guys didn’t even give me a call. I feel like I haven’t done anything to help.”

  “We completed part of it,” Garder explained. “What have you been doing all this time aside from drinking?”

  “Checking out the sights… I’m almost out of money, though. I was just leaving the hotel to find a cheaper one. I see the team has grown.”

  “Yeah… A lot of crazy things have been happening.”

  “And who is this one?” Shin asked.

  “Xavier, works for Rivia. He kind of got dragged along with us from Aurra. We were going to use him as a contact, but we never needed to.”

  “No matter.” Shin turned to him and asked bluntly, “Xavier, we’re looking through Rivia’s research and trying to find anything about dimensional traveling or a place called the Fragmented City. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about either, would you?”

  “A Fragmented City? Never heard of it…”

  “That’s what I figured.”

  “But dimensional traveling—I’ve heard him mention it a few times.”

  “What’d he say?”

  “Hm… I don’t know really. I’ve just heard him discuss traveling between the dimensions in meetings with someone… some guy from a while back… But, well, is such a thing possible without portals?”

  “Yes,” Garder replied. “We’ve been able to do it freely.”

  “R-really?”

  “Did Rivia have any favorite book?” Milla questioned. “One that he’d be reading often, or leave open on his desk?”

  “A few actually… But… Hm, I remember this one book. Something about mysterious places on Earth. Looked pretty worn. Have you guys been searching through them or something?”

  “Yes,” Garder sighed. “But we don’t really have any direction to take, and we’ve been at it for two days so far.”

  “Wait, what kind of mysterious places on Earth?” Lechi asked.

  “Oh, you know. Like the Bermuda Triangle. Or the areas where a portion of the population hears a low-pitch hum. Towns with an unusual number of reported hauntings. You know—paranormal stuff.”

  Garder and Jeryn traded looks.

  “Look, if you think we’re going to check every last strange spot on Earth for a way into this Fragmented City… Forget it,” Garder said flatly.

  “Bermuda Triangle?” Jeryn wondered. “That’s interesting…”

  “Oh, come on. How many stories and movies have been made to try and explain the weird things that happen there? It’s probably just methane.”

  “W-wait a minute…” Shin spoke up. “Xavier, any other books? Any that he spent time writing in himself?”

  “Well, let me think… There was this one book he seemed to be writing, yeah. But I think it was a novel. It must’ve been.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “I dunno, it just sounded like the title of a story. I’ve seen it a few times, but his handwriting kept me from really looking at it.”

  “He’s not typing this supposed novel of his?” Milla wondered.

  “No. It’s on simple notepaper—I’ve seen that much. He also made some illustrations for it.”

  “Have you read any of it? Do you at least know what it’s about?”

  “I looked at the first few pages. Seemed to be something about a Japanese sailor. It was a narrative, too. It read a bit like a journal.”

  “You’re missing the point,” Garder spoke up. “What was the title of this book? What was it called?”

  “Hm… ‘The Devil’s Sea’. Kind of interesting, right?”

  “Devil’s Sea? Huh…” Garder scratched his head. “That doesn’t sound like much to go on.”

  “It’s probably nothing. I mean, Rivia’s written a few books in his time. All fiction. I didn’t really want to go through a rough draft of something he might get published.”

  “Are you all thick?” Shin snapped impatiently.

  “What?” Garder replied.

  “Shin, what is it?” Milla added.

  “The Devil’s Sea—that’s an area of ocean outside of Japan.”

  “… Yeah?”

  “And Xavier, you said it read like a journal?”

  “Well, yes… but so do a lot of books, right?”

  “It probably was a journal.”

  “Why do you say that?” Garder asked.

  “The Devil’s Sea is also known as the Dragon’s Triangle.”

  Garder and Xavier exchanged confused glances.

  Shin sighed in disappointment and continued, “Triangle. Just like the Bermuda Triangle, and the one up in Alaska. You know? Places where there have been unexplained disappearances. You wrote them off as trivial, but Rivia was writing a journal about one of these places. It might’ve been from a past life. Do you get it yet? This is likely a clue we’ve been looking for.”

  “Of course,” Simon said. “He’s been studying these triangles and writing about them. Or one of them, at least. They must mean something. Maybe there’s an opening in one of them to the Fragmented City.”

  “I get it,” Milla replied. “Xavier, where does he keep this journal?”

  “He locks it up in his desk drawer,” he said.

  “Then that’s where we’re supposed to be looking,” Shin surmised. “As soon as we get back, we’re searching through his desk. That’s where we should’ve been looking the entire time—in his notes.”

  “Okay,” Garder affirmed. “We’ll do that once the sun sets. Jeryn, you got a good memory of that farm plain we arrived in, right? I want to make sure you can get us back without a problem.”

  “There was an ancient stone tower there, so that should provide enough of a mental image for me. Thanks for the help, Xavier. You should return with us when we leave.”

  “If it’s all the same to you, I’d prefer staying a bit longer. I’m rather enjoying this little vacation.”

  “Aren’t you running out of money?” Milla asked.

  “I’ve got enough to get by a little longer. And Garder, I’m not buying that much alcohol.”

  “The triangles, huh…” Simon murmured. “One of them must be central to what Rivia is trying to do.”

  “You really think so?” Garder said. “It’d be nice if he planned this a little better, though. We could be looking the completely wrong way here.”

  “We’ll make a decision after we see this writing of his, then,” Milla assured everyone.

  “Good luck, guys. I’ll be around if you need me,” Xavier said as he got up from the seat.

  He gave a small wave before heading back to his room.

  Garder yawned. “Huh. He might just turn out to be useful after all.”

  They remained at the table anxiously, counting down the hours until the sun was at the proper height to use the demirriage again. Whatever next clue Rivia had left might be just ahead, but the danger that it may have held would be something none of them were prepared to face.