The short boy with the perpetual smile, the deep, sharp eyes, the single pointed tooth that poked out from his mouth, and the scrappy dirty blond hair scrunched down and observed the surroundings of the damaged portal compound. Amid the smell of ozone, the walls had been scorched, the device itself torn apart, and the roof supports were buckling.
"Ouch. Poor little machine…" he said in a plain voice. "Will take at least a month to fix, yeah. And a month is time we do not have, nope."
He stood up, the soldier behind him taking a step back to ensure he wouldn't get cut by the large, forward-facing blade strapped to the boy's back. That sword. It just clung there, like a constant threat. Sitting between three pairs of magnetic bracers. A second spine. The boy's posture and composition made him akin to a caveman with a blunt club. Wild and easy to provoke, almost primal in instinct. But he was dressed well, and he was supposedly one of the best assassins around—even if he were a bit crazed.
"So, what do we do?" the soldier asked.
"Well, my employer wants 'em dead, and hanging around here won't help. You guys are good, right? Top in the Guard?"
"Yes, sir. Straight from City A."
"No 'sirs.' Do this, then. Alchemagist—take two men and go to the Uluru portal. And I'll take you…" he turned to the solider and smiled wider, "and the other alchemagist with me to the Teotihuacan portal. We'll then converge at the Sahara and trap the lot. Sound good with everyone?"
"It might be faster taking the southern wastes—"
"Have you, by any chance, seen the southern wastes? You can try if you want. I won't stop you. It'll be fun crossing dunes a mile in height, rock spires twice that, acidic swamps and ancient pre-Guard minefields. Ever heard of the curse of City C? There's a reason that's a phrase, yeah."
"In any case, they might be tough. They had a powerful alchemagist with them," one of the soldiers reported.
"Obviously. I wonder if I know him…"
The boy knelt down again and swiped his finger across a small puddle of blood. He smelled it first, and then tasted it. Being a tracker, he had access to the entire database of registered Aurrians.
"Well?" a soldier asked.
"Hm… hm… It's rich. Definitely belongs to a powerful alchemagist. However… we don't know who it is, do we? They must not be officially registered. Things will be difficult now."
"An unregistered? He could be even more dangerous than we think."
"I'm an unregistered, you know. Do I look dangerous to you?"
The boy grinned rather maniacally at the soldier. He took a step back in fear, and the boy jokingly laughed.
"Weird…" was the first thing Garder said as his group stood in the center of Stonehenge. "I somehow feel heavier."
"Yeah," Milla replied.
He concentrated briefly, and then relaxed. "Telepathy doesn't work."
"Telepathy is a very weak form of alchemagi… I wonder how actual spells will work, if at all. There isn't much documentation on Earth visits."
"It's not something a queen of that age would be privy to," Jeryn noted. "We better go before security shows up and thinks we're vandals."
The four sped off, leaving the grounds quickly and stopping to rest at the roadside some distance away. The moon was full and bright, providing more than enough light to see in the darkness.
"Ugh…" Jeryn groaned and clenched his arm.
"Oh, that's right. You got hit by one of my vector beams. I know how to heal vector injuries, Jeryn, so no worries," Milla assured.
"It's not going to stop bleeding until you do something."
"Lechi, could you make a needle for me?"
Lechi concentrated as hard as she could, but nothing happened. She couldn't even summon a single iron particle.
"I… I can't…"
"I could try, though it's not my alignment," Garder said.
But just like Lechi, his alchemagi seemed to be inaccessible in this world. Milla sighed, realizing she wouldn't be able to form a needle either, and took out the only real one she had on her along with a piece of thread. Jeryn rolled up his cut sleeve and released his hand from his wound.
"Here, I'll try," he said as Milla lifted the needle.
He summoned a level-two spell and held his hand out. After a few flicks of his finger, a small flame erupted from its tip, which he used to heat the needle. Milla dabbed a bit of antiseptic onto his arm and began working on the injury. Jeryn didn't flinch, but Lechi turned away in childish disgust.
"Should've expected you to be able to pull something off when the rest of us couldn't," Milla said.
"Yes, well—that's a level two fireball. Our alchemagi has certainly been greatly hampered by Earth's physical shift."
"Jeryn, can you see a thing through those goggles in this light?"
"Not really. Guess I can't blind myself with fire anymore anyway."
Jeryn pulled the goggles away from his face and let them drop to his neck. Milla was briefly taken aback; he was actually quite handsome, but his hardened expression and large, black eyewear had easily hidden that fact.
"We'll have to switch into more regular clothes, you know," Garder pointed out. "How are we going to get to London from here, anyway?"
"We should just walk until morning and see where we are by that point," Jeryn explained.
"Walk? Out in the dark?"
"There could be more of them, so we need to keep on the move."
"But the portal's down."
"True, but they may have been expecting us and sent men through before we arrived."
"No offense or anything, but I don't think so. It looked like the compound hadn't been used in years, remember?"
"Professionals can easily make it seem that way."
"Done," Milla said as she bit the thread off. "In a while, the vector effect will wear off and your cells will begin repairing the wound."
"Yes, thanks. I once got my…" Jeryn stopped.
"What is it?"
"I was going to tell you that I lost an entire arm to a vector's attack once, but… Huh, that's odd."
"What is?" Garder asked.
"I can't recall specifically when or why."
"Really?"
"Wait… Does that mean…" Milla started. She closed her eyes tightly, and after another minute, opened them again. "No… I can't recall anything from my past lives."
"What? No way!" Lechi gasped. She tried to recall something from a past life of her own, but quickly found that she couldn't.
"But you still remembered that you did lose an arm," Garder replied.
"Yes… But that was a traumatic event. If I thought about it enough, it might've been hardwired into this body's biological memories."
"So, you mean that we can only remember a few things from each life?" Garder made an attempt, but quickly gave up himself. "Yeah… looks like we can't recall anymore. That's not exactly a good thing."
"What'd you expect? Earthens very rarely recall past lives, and when they do, they can't differentiate them from a possible dream or false memories. It's because physical beats out mental here."
"Great…" Garder moaned. "We'd better get to City C fast. This is driving me crazy; it's like there's a big block in my head or something."
"I thought that was your head," Lechi commented.
Garder didn't bother making a retort. Jeryn rolled his sleeve back down and looked at his surroundings.
"This way, then, towards the city light," he quietly ordered.
The group began their trek down the road, a car passing by them only occasionally. Along the way, Lechi attracted a moth to her shoulder and whispered to it so quietly that no one else can make out a word.
"Are you actually talking to that bug?" Garder asked skeptically.
"I'm making sure I still can. She said something about her eggs and the recent rain. Insects never have much to say… they're rather simple."
"Can it count?"
"Sort of. I can understand what it'd try to tell me."
"Ask it how many fingers I'm holding up."
She whispered to the moth. It took to the air and flew around Garder's back before landing on her shoulder again.
"Three," Lechi answered.
"Ha. Animalects are pretty amazing. Sorry I doubted you."
"Sorry I called you stupid, ugly monkey, I guess."
"How'd you override suppression and hurt those Guards, anyway?"
"By exploiting the acupuncture exception."
"I never would've thought of that. It doesn't count as injury, huh?"
"Hey, Jeryn…" Milla spoke up. "I just thought of something. If we can't recall past lives now, then does that mean you can't fly anymore?"
Jeryn paused, having made the same realization at nearly the same moment. He closed his eyes and tried to recollect as much as possible.
"Even though it was during my first half-life, I… I can only remember flying several times, but… I don't have all of the knowledge anymore. We may have to hire a pilot."
"But then that means we'll have an Earth person to worry about."
"Probably. But let's not be concerned about that for the moment. Anyone got a flashlight?" Jeryn asked and pulled out a map.
"I-I do," the bodyguard replied and removed the one at his side.
"Oh, thanks. I almost forgot you were there."
Jeryn took the light and studied the flight chart Rivia had given him. The General had told him that it'd be best if he were the one to fly, but now Jeryn was sure that he wouldn't be able to do it safely without recall.
"You got a name?" Garder asked the bodyguard.
"Look—I'm not even supposed to be here, you know?"
"You can't go back now. You're stuck with us. So, your name?"
"Xavier…" he muttered.
"Xavier, huh? I'd expect you to be a prince or something with one like that. Not really a great name for a bodyguard, is it?"
"That's the name they gave me."
"Listen, Xavier, has Rivia been acting strange recently?" Milla asked. "I'd like to know just how concerned he was about what he told us."
"Yes… he has. But I don't know any specifics, really. Just gossip around the military council of Rivia losing his touch, that kind of thing."
"The Guard might've found him out. They attacked us in full force."
"He's smart," Jeryn said as he put the chart away. "He'd know what was going on ahead of time and make a run for it."
"There's no going home for us, either," Garder added. "They probably know exactly who we all are now."
Jeryn looked to the ground and said nothing else. Above, the sky was beginning to turn into a lighter blue, and the streets were growing busier.
"We're going to hit the bigger roads sooner or later," Milla said. "Then what are we going to do?"
"I think we're far enough away from the portal to get on a bus without a problem, but we don't have any money yet…" Garder replied. "Still, we can't just walk to London from here. It'd be a waste of time."
"So, what are we going to do?" Xavier asked.
"Don't worry," Jeryn said and put his goggles back on. "Once the sun is up a little more, I've got a way to get us there quickly."
"If you say so," Garder mumbled. "Hey, Lechi, keep up."
"I can't. These stupid legs of mine are wearing out…"
"She's more of a child again," Milla explained. "Without full access to her mental acuity, she's not as effortlessly strong as she was in Aurra."
"Right…" Garder sighed and looked down at Lechi apprehensively. "Um… well… Do you want me to carry you on my shoulders?"
"Hm… 'kay."
"I was hoping you'd say no, honestly." He lifted her up onto his shoulders with some effort and let out a deep breath. "Just don't beat on my head or something."
"That's cute," Milla commented.
"Yeah, yeah…"
The group continued their journey in silence until the sun was just a bit above the horizon. Once Jeryn stopped, Garder lowered Lechi back down and rubbed his sore neck.
"This should be good enough. The highway's just up ahead."
"What are you going to do? Summon a car or something?"
"Close, but not quite. Watch."
"This oughta be interesting."
Jeryn carefully removed a reflective metal scroll from his side pack and spread it out over the roadside grass. Once the sunlight hit it, a faint, glowing carriage began to appear out of thin air above it.
"What the heck is that?"
"It's… a dimensional transport. At least, I think it is," Milla said.
Lechi waved her hand through the solidifying particles. "Woah…"
"You're right, Milla. You and I are probably old enough to remember when these were in use, even if we can't recall them right now."
"I've never heard of such a thing," Garder wondered. "I think."
"It's complicated…" Jeryn began. "First, let me tell you that these devices were much more common a few thousand years ago. The higher-ups in Cities A and B could use them to go in between the two worlds."
"What? Really? Is that even possible without a portal?"
"It used to be. I think they were banned before your first life. Only a few have survived, and their dimensional capabilities have all been lost."
"So, what, exactly, is it?" Xavier asked.
"It's hard to explain, especially right now. It's like developing a very sensitive photograph. They can only be used when there is some light in the sky—dawn or late sunset. Or else, they'll under or overdevelop and won't function. Even then, they last about an hour before burning out. Nothing is permanently damaged; it's just that their use is limited. They're made out of a kind of weak matter that can be projected from this foil scroll here."
"How strange," Garder replied. "What happened to them?"
"People feared abuse by the Aurrian Guard and aristocracy, so they were outlawed. Now they can only travel anywhere within a single world."
"Well, that's still quite amazing. Why don't we just take it directly to the Sahara? It's pretty much a straight shot south of here."
"The problem is, the sun is already too high down there. They work better closer to the poles, where the rises and sets can last longer. If we're inside when it burns out, we'll dissolve along with it. I know it sounds like it's of little use, but they were quite powerful devices back in the day."
"The weak matter is built so it can flow through the tiny threads connecting the worlds?" Milla guessed. "It sounds like that's what it does."
"That's about right. The matter is controlled by the foil scroll, which acts like photosensitive paper. Dimensional weaving, however, can only be done with a perfectly intact scroll. This isn't one. There may only be a few left that function fully. Maybe they're in deep, frozen storage somewhere."
The carriage finished materializing. It was barely visible as sunlight bounced off of it; it barely existed at all. Thin, wicker-like gold lines created the device's shape, just opaque enough to make the door noticeable.
"Climb in," Jeryn said as he put away the scroll. "Trust me, it's safe. I've used it before."
"How did you acquire this thing?" Xavier questioned.
"I'll just say that… I came across it on one of my travels."
"Jeryn, I can't believe that you're from City N," Milla said, almost sternly. "Where do you really come from?"
"You're quite perceptive. I'll tell you sometime. Maybe when this assignment is over. Now, go ahead and get in the demirriage."
Everyone but Jeryn hesitated before climbing into the airy transport. Inside was no different than out; no one could even see the cushions they were on, and it was as if they floated a few feet above ground. Before another early morning car came by, Jeryn tapped an invisible pedestal in front of him with a single finger, and the demirriage instantly vanished.
A split second later, it came back into existence within the confines of an old, long alleyway. The group disembarked quickly, fearing that their lives had been put at risk by using the mysterious carriage. Jeryn merely shrugged at the brief looks he received.
"Do we just leave it here?" Garder asked.
"Yes. It will fade in a few minutes, and no one should be able to spot it out way back here."
"How'd you know where to bring it, anyway?"
"I cleared my mind, pictured a place I had been to before, and let the carriage do the rest. So, I couldn't really bring it to the Sahara anyway, since it's a desert with few distinguishable features. We'd be lost. But, this old, ageless alleyway… I knew it would stand out in my memory."
"But we're actually in London, right?"
"I was mugged in this alley the first time I came to the city in the other half of this life by a cockney fellow. Hard to forget that."
"Do these things function the same way in Aurra?"
"For the most part. Except there, the lighting is optimal for a much longer period of time, giving the travelers a lot more freedom."
"Could you use one of these to bring yourself directly into City A?" Xavier asked as the carriage began to fade.
"Indeed. It's one of the many reasons they were seen as dangerous."
"Anyway…" Milla stretched. "I suppose we should get the money before anything else. I'll move some of it into an account, seeing as how we could be on Earth for a while. We can get some breakfast and a couple hotel rooms, and I'll buy us tickets for the next flight to Algiers."
"Sounds good, Milla."
"What about me?" Xavier asked. "When do I get off this ride?"
"What do you mean? You're sticking with us for now."
"But this isn't his assignment," Garder replied. "He wasn't prepared for it, and he doesn't have much of a place on our team, truth be told."
"Yeah—yeah, that's right," Xavier agreed. "I'll just stay in London, and then wait until the portal is fixed."
"Hm," Milla thought. "But you could be of some use to us. If you're going to stay here, maybe you could be a contact. Watch over our money, maybe. Of course, trying to stay in touch could pose a problem…"
"They have something called cell phones now," Lechi said.
"Huh?" Garder wondered. "Is that a recent invention?"
"Not really. You probably just came to Aurra before they took off. We'll get some of those and use them to keep in contact."
"Yeah, let's do that," Xavier said. "I'll stay here, and you guys go."
"Hey… are you nervous about something?" Garder asked.
"No—no, not really."
"You've been like this the entire time. Are you hiding something?"
"No! Not at all, really! I'm just a bit scared about being on Earth. I don't want to disappear forever. It's a scary thought…"
"If you say so…"
"Let's get a move on," Jeryn said. "I'd rather not stay in this alley."
The group made their way to the main street, now packed with commuters going to their work places. The sidewalks were so busy, that no one turned or gave a glance at the five people in the strange clothes.
"Wow." Milla looked around. "I haven't been in London since… I think, the 19th century. From what little I can remember of it… Well, I don't recognize it. I'm pretty sure it smells better, though."
"It's so noisy," Jeryn noticed. "This is far busier than almost any Aurrian City's roads."
"Hm… London…" Lechi smiled. "No haze, no big bubbles. Happy people, so many smiles. So much life," she sang lightly.
"We should, um, probably focus on getting new clothes as soon as we get cash," Garder said as he took in the current fashion styles.
"Yeah…" Lechi added. "They're going to think we're here for, like, a weirdo convention or something."
"The bank should be open soon," Jeryn noted after checking his watch. "But I'm thinking the very first thing we'll need is a map."
With that, the five merged with the rest of the crowds, and for a moment, forgot that they were Aurrians at all.