The councilor and ambassador of City N looked at the boy and his sword with curious eyes. "What a strange lad," he thought to himself. "But determined, and that's what we need."
He glanced out of his window. The dark, murky purple oceans were beginning to thin; they were almost on the western continent.
"I'll make one thing perfectly clear…" Delqua said in his stately voice. "Rivia's men must be stopped at all costs. Kill them all—and make sure you do it on Earth. I want them completely gone, and not reborn with the knowledge they have now, or else they'll keep causing trouble."
"You found Rivia yet?" the boy asked, his feet on the airship seat, his sword occasionally tearing into the cushion behind him.
"No. We don't know where he is. But never mind him. Leave his fate to be decided by the Guard. We're paying you good money, boy, so I expect you to keep this group from reaching City C."
"What's going on in City C, huh?"
"I'm not at liberty to tell you. Just do what you're supposed to, and everything will work out nicely."
"Yeah? You want me to make 'em disappear, right?"
"Yes, as I've already told you."
"Okay, then. It'll be done. But money—I need it. Only way I can get to Africa in time is by flying. So, the money—where is it?"
"The Aurrian Guard has bank accounts throughout Earth for the times when we must go there. The details are inside." Delqua reached into his black suit's pocket and pulled out a leather-bound book.
"So how much can I spend, huh?"
"As much as you need to. Just get the job done, and try to not get my men coming with you killed."
The boy took the book and tossed it into his bag. Delaqua found his unending smile and general looks disturbing, so he quickly returned his gaze out towards the ocean.
"And whose name are these two deposit boxes under?" the teller asked Milla inside the bank's lobby.
Remembering that it would always be the name of the current Aurrian ruler, she replied, "Ruthers Lontonkon. That's him, by the way," she pointed at Garder, "and we're both going."
"Very well. Can I see your key, please?"
Garder pulled it out of his pocket. "Right here."
"Yes, all right—thank you. Follow me, please."
"We'll be right back," Garder said to the other three of the group.
"Yeah," Jeryn replied and lowered his goggles.
Milla and Garder followed the teller through the bank and into the large safety deposit room, where she showed them the two Aurrian-owned boxes before returning to her station. The twins pulled out the two and opened them on the provided table. Inside was a variety of money—most of the bills being U.S. dollars or British pounds.
"Europe is switching over to something called Euros now," Garder noted as he pocketed some bills. "Someone will need to update this stash."
"I noticed. Let's keep about half this money where it is now, take a little, and deposit the rest so we can access it no matter where we are."
"Hey, there's something else here. Looks like passports."
Milla took out four of the available six and opened each.
"They're blank though," Garder observed.
"No—these are Aurrian technology. Watch this."
Milla pressed her thumb onto a black square on the first page. After a few seconds, the black square faded, and Milla's picture appeared inside the passport alongside all the necessary information.
"And just like that, you're an official Earth citizen."
"Is the picture, like… a generated self-image? Huh. Is this everything we need, then?" Garder asked and pressed his thumb against his passport.
"Should be. The Aurrian Guard make visits to Earth every so often, so they must be prepared for this kind of thing."
After they finished quickly and returned the boxes to their seldom-accessed slots, Jeryn, Garder, Lechi and Xavier waited patiently in the lobby as Milla set up a temporary bank account. Garder was never too well off at money handling, but assumed that his sister knew what she was doing.
Jeryn and the others created their passports and pocketed them before Milla came back. She seemed relieved.
"Everything is okay," she said.
"Really? It all worked out?"
"Yeah. Let's go eat, I'm starved."
"You're sure we got a proper account?"
"Yes, Garder, I am. Stop worrying."
"Okay, okay… I just didn't expect it to be so easy."
The five left the bank and found themselves on a busier street than it was just an hour ago. Garder, his stomach rumbling, noticed the fast food restaurant across the road and pointed it out.
"Hey! There's a classic—and they serve breakfast really quickly. We can be in and out within a few minutes."
"I don't know, Garder…" Lechi replied. "I mean, a McDonald's? Don't you want to eat some place a bit fancier? We're in London."
"We should be trying to conserve time and money. Right, Jeryn?"
"Well, I—"
"C'mon, guys, we gotta eat at one of these at least once while we're here. I'm not waiting for another Earth life to do it again."
"Sounds fine to me," Xavier said.
With no further arguments, the five proceeded across the busy street and into the restaurant.
Their outfits strange, each drew a few stares from customers as they looked over the menu. Garder couldn't remember what he liked during his past Earth life, so he kept it simple by ordering the biggest combo meal.
"Mmm…" he murmured as he enjoyed a piece of bacon. "You gotta try some of this, it's really good. It tastes so different than Aurrian food."
"It's mass produced and laden with chemicals," Jeryn replied as he sifted through his salad. "Of course it tastes different."
"Well, maybe, but I still like it. Try some, Lechi."
"Are you kidding? I can't eat that! It used to be a pig!"
"You don't eat animals, huh?"
"No! If I told an animal I was going to eat it, it'd beg for its life!"
She quickly stuffed a pancake dipped in maple syrup into her mouth to show her dismissal of Garder's offer.
"You're obviously not a vegan, though."
Lechi shook her head, swallowed, and replied, "Eggs and dairy are okay. I'm fine with eating things actual living animals make."
"Gross. Don't like the way that sounds."
Lechi sighed and continued her meal as a young boy came up to the table, his eyes wide as he looked at Garder's sheathed blade.
"Is that real? Why are you guys dressed so oddly?"
"No. We work at an amusement park. Go away," Garder muttered.
"Don't they feed you breakfast there?"
"It was closed today and no one told us," Milla replied. "Here, why don't you take these? I bought too many."
She handed him the second box of cinnamon buns. He looked over the group for another second before finally turning around and leaving.
"You really should learn how to deal with kids," Lechi told Garder.
"Our need for new clothes aside, will those passports really work?" Xavier asked and took a sip of coffee. "It seems too convenient for Aurra tech to just… translate and work on Earth like that."
"They should work just fine," Milla said after downing a cinnamon bun. "I set up a bank account using just the passport and my identification card. Like I said, Aurra is used to sending people here. We adapt just fine."
"Anyway, I won't mind keeping watch over here. And if you guys need any research done or something, just give me a call."
"Thanks for helping us."
They finished their meals, and then headed off for the Underground to reach the city's shopping district, so that they could change out of their Aurrian getups and not draw further unneeded attention.
Milla's usual self-control quickly left her, and she spent more than she had wanted. It was hard not to do, as Aurra had restrictive shopping. Everyone got the same things for their housing at no cost, and other than a simple bartering system and credit chits, it barely even had an economy.
"Jeryn, try these on," Milla said, her arms full of shopping bags. She handed him a large pair of sunglasses in a similar tint to his glass goggles.
He removed his Aurrian eyeshades and pocketed them. After checking out how he looked in the sunglasses, he decided to keep them. Eventually, everyone had gotten a few sets of clothes and walked out of the store in new outfits—Milla's purse money already down by half.
Garder had chosen a pair of loose, navy blue pants and a plain white shirt. He also picked out, to Milla's contention, a black leather jacket that he just "had to have" because it reminded him of his previous life's biking days. Milla bought a pair of blue jeans, along with a dark gray, long-sleeved shirt, while Jeryn decided to keep his underclothes and simply buy a thick, dark red coat to replace his alchemagist robes. Lechi got khakis that were a size too large for her along with a large blue shirt, and Xavier, no expert on fashion, simply chose a small variety of exceedingly plain clothing.
It was important to keep what they came to Earth wearing, as they'd really stand out in their own world the way they were dressed now—and that kind of attention would be even worse since they were now on the run. With this in mind, everyone also purchased a suitcase, and their old uniforms were the first to go in them along with the twins' swords.
Afterwards, they proceeded to the nearest hotel and got a double and a single room. Until night fell, they would spend their time as a group in the bigger suite and work out just how they'd be proceeding.
As Jeryn studied the maps he had received for the upcoming flight, Lechi quietly talked to the doves outside the window. Milla, having never used a computer, spent her time calling airlines and trying to secure four tickets to Algiers for the next possible flight out. Xavier and Garder had the television on, with the sound up just enough for both of them to hear.
"I give up," Garder sighed. "I don't really understand modern TV… I guess I'm not as hip as I used to be."
"I don't know. I think this show is kind of humorous."
"Xavier, where are you from, anyway?"
"You mean my past Earth life?"
"Of course."
"New York, then."
"And what were you?"
"Uh… a museum curator…"
Garder let out a laugh. "And now you're a bodyguard, huh?"
"Yeah. But, you know, that's how Aurra is. You get what you get."
"I should tell you about my own odd jobs once we're in Aurra again and I can recall. I have a feeling I had some really bad ones."
As they spoke, Garder was maneuvering his right hand's fingers passively, trying to force an ice cube to materialize. It was so easy to do in Aurra, but here, he had yet to prove that he could still do alchemagi.
"Hey Lechi, what are the birds talking about?" Garder asked casually.
"What kinds of food they like off the sidewalk," she answered. "They're rather simple creatures, really."
"You said that about the moth. What creatures aren't simple?"
"The smarter they are, the more they have to talk about. Hawks have plenty to say. Dogs are always my favorite to talk to."
"Maybe I already know, but how do you become an animalect?"
"You have to be born with it. You can't become one. And even then, you'll be no good at it if you don't study plenty."
"How do you configure this?" Xavier fumbled with his cell phone. "I don't know where to put the code on this prepaid card thing…"
Lechi scooted over and grabbed the phone. "Lemme try."
"Whew… finally…" Milla grumbled and hung up. "I managed to get us seats for a flight tomorrow afternoon."
"Good job. It sounded tough," Jeryn replied and put away his charts.
"Milla, what's the policy on swords?" Garder wondered. "Do we put them in our suitcases or something?"
"Yeah, they can be checked. Just make sure they're not loose in there. We'll have to wrap them up in boxes or something…" Milla took a deep breath. "So, who's hungry for lunch?"
"Why don't we just eat one of those doves Lechi was talking to?"
She looked up from the phone and scowled.
"This place has a restaurant. But let's save it for dinner. I know—why don't we go to a museum while we're here? Most of them have cafés."
"Lovely idea," Xavier replied. "I was just thinking about all of the museums I could go to while I'm here."
"Art bores me," Garder said with a yawn.
"You're not a very sophisticated person, are you?"
"Guess not."
"How about the natural history one, then? We could use some brushing up on our Earth wits, having lost our recall abilities."
"Sounds fine," Jeryn said and slid his sunglasses back on.
"Yeah, all right…" Garder replied, and then turned to Jeryn. "Why do you guys usually wear something dark over your eyes, anyway?"
"Anyone trained well enough can detect what alchemagists are about to do by reading their eye and mouth movement," he explained. "There's no way to hide it completely, so it's important to disguise any possible disadvantage… Plus, don't you think I look good in these?"
"I guess. It's not like we can pull off much in this world, anyway."
"With time and practice, we may recover more of our powers. Think of it like swimming against a raging river. If we can regain our talents with so much against us, imagine how much stronger we'll be back in Aurra."
"Yeah… I see what you mean. Huh."
Garder tried to make another ice cube. This time, the tips of his fingers turned frigid for a moment. Progress.
The five spent most of the day around London, passing through a couple of museums and getting a handle on current world events. When they walked the streets, Lechi would stop and talk briefly to people's dogs, and Garder and Milla would get in some glances at the newsstands.
After a few hours, they understood why Aurra was in bad shape—the world was almost more frightening than it had been before in recent times. The fear of terrorism, climate change, pandemics, the energy crisis, and overall globalization were all changing the mass human psyche.
And the more everyone feared, or hated, or lied and felt guilt, the worse the environment would be on Aurra. Negative and positive emotions alike filtered their way between the worlds. It wasn't just a matter of life and death; when Earth suffered mentally, Aurra suffered physically. And the opposite was also true. When the physical environment of Aurra was in pain, the Earthen people would shift into a dangerous mentality that would often lead to rash, destructive decisions and worsen the cycle.
The twins both felt that they, with the knowledge they had carried with them to Earth, might have been able to help improve things in each of the worlds. But it would mean exposing the universal cycle—and as that was always seen as a disastrous possibility, it led to severe punishment.
And Earth people were still, in general, happier than Aurrians. It was because of the simple fact that they didn't know what came after death, so while they feared it, most of them spent their time as best they could. They held so many things sacred—family, friends, home—that Aurrians barely ever considered. It was the simple wisdom of what came after that always set Earth and Aurra apart, and utterly changed the worldview of each.
But they also knew that they weren't sent here to change the world. Their mission was simply to investigate City C. The only reason Earth factored into the assignment at all was their need to traverse across it to reach the Aurrian metropolis in the first place. But each wanted to enjoy the time they could spend back on their other birth world, which they could truly appreciate in every aspect, and from a different viewpoint.
"I could really go for a glass of wine…" Milla said while she looked over the drink menu in the Big Ben tavern, their hotel's restaurant. "But I'm too young on Earth to buy it."
"In England, I believe I can buy it for you," Jeryn replied. "You just have to consume it here."
"Oh, really? Thanks for telling me."
"You can't take the bottle up into your room and scarf it down, huh?" Garder said with a small laugh.
"You must have finer tastes, Milla," Jeryn said.
"Well, the older you are, the more you can appreciate food, right?"
"That may be even truer in Aurra."
"Hm… I don't know what to get, though. Everything sounds so good, and we probably won't be treated to such a fine meal tomorrow."
"I'm thinking I'll get the veal cutlet," Garder said.
"You're going to eat a baby cow?" Lechi sat up in her seat in protest. "What the heck's wrong with you? You're a sicko!"
"Fine, fine—geez, Lechi… I'll get the sirloin instead. Or if that's not good enough for you, I'll ask and make sure that it's from some other wrinkled up old ungulate minutes from coughing its lungs out."
"Garder…" Milla laughed. "You know, I really love being back on Earth. Everything feels so… real, alive again. I wonder why that is? Is it just because we can't recall anymore, or is it something else?"
"It's probably the lack of any suppression devices," Xavier answered.
"Are you saying having the ability to hurt others is the reason?"
"What? No. It's just, they say they only prevent suicide and murder and keep the cycle flowing properly, but who knows what else they can program them to do? And I'm sure recall also has something to do with it. Those who are universally younger are usually happier and livelier."
"Do you really think we'll disappear if we die here?" Lechi asked.
"No idea. It may very well be just a lie the Guard maintains. Personally though, I don't want to take the risk."
"But not existing might be a nice feeling," Garder said. "When you imagine those who are really old—I'm talking fifty-lifers and up, most of them would probably give anything for a permanent release. There's only so long you can live without getting tired of it."
"Still, there are some who don't mind essentially living forever, and devote entire lifetimes to studying something," Jeryn replied. "I've heard about some ancient scholars in City A who have lived for so long, that they have the answer to almost any question."
"Like the old man at the top of the mountain?"
"In a way, yes. These are people who have gone through every religion, every culture, every major personality. There aren't many of them, but some call them enlightened. I'd like to meet one of them some day. I could get an entirely new view on the universe, I'd expect."
The waitress came over, the group ordered, and Jeryn continued.
"I actually wonder about City A all the time. It's more of a legend than an actual city, really. Milla's the only one of us to have been there, and I doubt she has many memories of it right now."
"Not many…" she replied. "But I do remember that it's quite small, and its beauty goes beyond words. No, not many people live there—mostly just the council, the ancients, and the highest aristocrats who must've earned their place or been saintly on Earth. It's treated like the center of the universe. Some even called it a true heaven, because you had to live as close to a perfect life as you could on Earth to even enter it, and you can easily be demoted from its ranks, like I was—and I was a queen once."
"I'd never want to live there," Garder replied. "Anywhere as self-righteous as that isn't worth being earned just to enter. Sounds like the kind of City where people talk about why they're better than everyone else."
"Yes… it does. But if you think about it, they control everything from there—Aurra, law, maybe even Hold and the cycles themselves at this point. It really is like the mightiest kingdom in either of the worlds."
"City C is pretty high up there, too. It used to be the place where the average guy who lived a moral, unselfish life as much as humanly possible would end up. If they really aren't taking in any new transfers, it'd mean that a lot of deserving people aren't getting what they… ah, deserve."
"That's exactly right," Jeryn said. "Something to keep in mind as we go about this mission. It's very important that we find out what's going on there—and if we can, fix it."
"But unlike the soldiers the Guard is sending out, we know the implications of this problem," Milla said. "People skipping their Aurrian lives… It's not natural."
The food arrived a few minutes after the conversation quieted down. Steak for Garder, two fancy garlic and cream pasta dishes for Jeryn and Milla, lobster for Xavier and caesar salad for Lechi. Milla paid in a copious wad of cash, and everyone split off into the two different rooms.
Garder found himself moving to his room's couch, as Xavier fell asleep after only a minute or so and promptly began to snore. Jeryn stayed up late in his bed, reading his large book using only a fingertip-flame that he maintained by expelling minimal amounts of energy.
He still had a hard time sleeping, though—his mind was quite active, going over the recent events and how it felt being back in the noisy, busy world. He tried a few times to communicate with Milla between the walls of the rooms, but he couldn't even hear the echo of his own telepathic words.
As he waited for sleep to find him, he continued his attempts to make ice with his fingers and waved them about from the side of the couch until he eventually dozed off. With the full power of the mind diminished, his dreams were simpler and had less clarity than they ever had on Aurra.