Flames of a thousand colors burned at my face and my soul, wrenching my body from where I had stood in my parents’ laboratory. Consciousness flared, dimming and twisting, leaving me dazed.

Consciousness slowly began to return to me.

Cold. My body was cold and wet. I inhaled and immediately coughed from the combination of water and an acrid, foul stench that filled the air. I startled awake and a face blearily appeared before me.

It was a face I’d never seen before, and was certainly not from anywhere nearby. There was no plague or famine for hundreds of miles, and the face before me was gaunt with hunger. Filthy hair was cut fairly short, and was so thick with sweat and grime that I could barely tell it was dark blond. His face might have been handsome, if it were less bony, and if it were clean. He was also around my age, which would put him at seventeen.

At least his expression was a blend of concerned and kind. I sat up, rubbing my face, and trying to take stock of my situation. I was naked, beneath some sort of crude cloth. My body felt reasonably uninjured - just light bruising and faint burns singeing my hair.

I briefly ignored the foreign language the boy was speaking, and looked around me. The sense of alienness grew stronger.

I was in some open space, full of wooden boxes, many of which were split open and empty. The ground was some strange, flat stone-like substance I’d never seen before. We were next to a river, which might explain the moisture on my skin. The sky was darkening, near dusk, casting an eerie light on the closely packed buildings just outside of this box-filled area. They were of a design I’d never seen before, and like the boy’s face, seemed remarkably filthy.

I couldn’t imagine how there could be a city large enough to have so many several story buildings, so close together, and yet, not have spellcasters or even enchantments to maintain them. I clutched the cloth closer to me, uneasy.

The cloth was a worthless, if large, rag of pathetic craftsmanship, so I thought nothing of improving it for my purposes. As I drew on my magic to shift the shape, color, and texture of the piece, forming it into a simple summer dress, the boy leapt back, his eyes wide with a mix of horror and curiosity.

How strange. It was as if he’d never seen magic before.

He simply stared, open mouthed in shock, as I finished the dress and healed the various minor wounds. Then, of course, I cleaned off the bit of grime that I’d acquired from somewhere. Finally, I quickly checked the area for spellcasters, as a fellow caster would certainly be more useful than this strange boy. I found nothing.

Once I was reasonably presentable, I focused on casting the language spell. It was a difficult bit of mind magic, but my parents had absolutely insisted on this one, and as apathetic as I was to my studies, I wasn’t able to get away with not learning it.

My magic slipped into the boy’s mind, and gently touched the language portion of his brain. I delicately probed it and determined he only knew one language, which simplified things. I made a sort of copy of that portion, holding all of the knowledge it possessed, and brought it back to my own mind. I created a network of connections, letting the natural understanding of my own native language connect its meanings to these new structures, and held it in place.

If badly distracted or startled, my magic might slip, but barring any issues, I now could speak his language, even if I didn’t “know” it.

“My apologies,” I said, my mouth twisting strangely around the new sounds, as was normal for this spell. “I do not know your language, but I’ve borrowed it for the moment. Might you be able to tell me where we are?”

“You… borrowed the language?” he asked, sounding utterly flabbergasted.

“Of course,” I said. “You must have noticed that I’m a…”

My voice trailed off as the spell failed to find a word. I focused, but there was… nothing. There were no words for someone who wields magic. I tried to find something similar, to at least finish my sentence.

“Magic user,” I said, awkwardly, after a second. It didn’t feel quite right, but it was the best I could manage, from his vocabulary.

I found myself concluding that he must be a remarkably ignorant individual.

“Who are you?” he asked, still looking stunned.

“My name is Aera Koryn,” I said patiently. “I don’t know where I am. The last thing I remember was helping out in my parents’ laboratory, on the... magical doorway they’re trying to build. There was an explosion of some kind, and then I was here.”

He simply stared at me, blinking, for a long moment. I waited for him to finish thinking.

“This is Boston,” he said, finally. “And, uh, I’m Slick.”

“Boston,” I said. “I’m not familiar with the city. What country are we in?”

He seemed startled again by the question.

“We’re in the United States of America,” he said, with an odd amount of pride.

“I’m not familiar with the country,” I said, and he looked like I’d slapped him. “Maybe you know of my home? I’m from a tiny town called Trent, which is about a hundred or so miles from Metronome.”

“I ain’t never heard of any of those places,” he said.

I started to get more nervous again. Who in all the world had not heard of the mighty city Metronome, with its grand tower that pulsated magic in regular intervals? It was one of the great trading centres of the world, as the strange magic within the tower attracted spellcasters of every variety. That, in turn, meant that the city was safe from the innumerable threats that plagued most parts of the world.

“Maybe my sister’s heard of it,” he suggested. “She knows all sorts of things.”

“Very good,” I said, abruptly nervous. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do now.

“Look, I’ll take you to her, but you gotta be careful,” he said.

“Careful?”

“If anyone sees what you can do…” he said, trailing off, as his eyes darted around the shadowed “stone” plain.

“I don’t understand,” I said, getting more uneasy.

“That ‘magic’ stuff,” he said. “If anyone sees that, they’ll… people will take advantage of that, you know?”

“Oh, that’s no concern,” I said, smiling.

Understanding that humans hunt power was perhaps the single most fundamental part of my parents’ lessons. It was a rather crucial understanding, considering they were two of the most powerful spellcasters in the world. I’d had extremely thorough - and arguably brutal - training in how to handle that sort of thing.

“But it is,” he said. “They’ll use you. I don’t even want to think about what people would do with you.”

“I don’t think they can,” I said. “I can hide, too, see?”

With that, I cast a quick spell to make me blend in with my surroundings. While I wasn’t invisible - that was a spell too complicated for me to bother learning - it was excellent for hiding from men and monsters alike.

“Don’t do that!” he hissed, and reached for me in a protective way.

I curled my shoulders in, as I banished the blending spell, confused at being chastised.

“I don’t understand,” I said. “I was just trying to show you how I know I’m safe.”

“Look, a pretty thing like you, that’s trouble enough, but with the magic…” he shook his head, “Just don’t do that, all right? Let’s just go to my sister.”

“Um… okay,” I said.

“I was just getting off work anyway. Let me tell my boss I’m out, and we’ll go.”

He led me away, and I nervously followed along. He put a small white cylinder in his mouth, then took out a tiny metal box. He moved something on the metal box, and fire emerged, to my surprise. There was no enchantment on it… how had it made fire?

Apparently, it was for the purpose of making an odorous plume of smoke, that he seemed to be breathing. I had absolutely no idea what to make of that.

It was also strange to be called “pretty.” For a spellcaster - and therefore able to maintain my health - I was decidedly plain. My mother insisted on never changing my features, saying that if I played around with shapeshifting too much, I’d forget what I “really” looked like. I didn’t really see why that would be a loss, but I obeyed her, as usual. But it did make his strange sort of compliment confusing.

As we walked, the world around us grew stranger and stranger. He took me to the edge of the flat stone plain, and we saw what must have been a road, but made out of some sort of dark grey, almost black, stone.

And the things that moved on it! There were these bizarre artifacts that moved down the road, rolling on wheels, spitting out that foul smelling scent in the air from some sort of pipe at the back. Most astonishingly, when I checked to see what sort of enchantment powered it, I found none at all.

“What is that?” I asked, dumbfounded.

“What?” he asked, drawing close again, looking protective and worried.

“Those… rolling things,” I said.

“Those are cars,” he said, sounding as confused as I felt.

The word had meaning to him, from my spell. It was a basic part of his vocabulary, like it was ordinary and common. But a carriage that rolled with neither magic nor animal? I’d never even heard of the like.

“Cars,” I repeated, my anxiety growing. Where in all the world was I?

The cars were just one of the many alien things that greeted my senses. The people were, for the most part, clearly suffering from both malnutrition and poor hygiene. The clothing was odd - in some ways seeming skilfully made, which could surely only have been done with magic, but bound together in strangely mundane ways. The buildings, the windows, everything, was of bizarre construction, with materials the like of which I’d never seen. That odd, flat stone was on the ground everywhere.

And for all the while, as we walked, I caught not even the faintest hint of magic anywhere, as far as my senses could reach.

How was any of this even possible?

By the time we reached his home, I was almost beside myself in nervousness.

“Wait here,” he said, as we reached a pathetic excuse for a dwelling. “I don’t want to have to explain anything to my ma and pa. I’ll be right back with Lou.”

“Lou” was a child, who looked the same age as my brother Yvan, who was fifteen. Her hair was also cut short, and was a bit of a darker blond than Slick’s. She had an intense expression, like she was studying everything she looked at. It was oddly comforting, as my mother often wore expressions like that. Like her brother, she appeared malnourished, but not as badly.

“What is all this about?” Lou asked, scrutinizing me.

“I was down working at the docks,” Slick said, rubbing his hand through his hair, making me cringe at the filth he was adding to his already dirty locks. “Then, outta nowhere, I see this dame floating down the river, naked as the day she was born. Lotta the other guys were already bailed for the day, since it was getting hard to see, so I had to get her myself. I pulled her out, all careful like, but she was just out, and not hurt, so far as I could tell. So I covered her up with a bit of canvas that we use for padding, and tried to wake her up.”

Lou was nodding along with his story, glancing at me whenever he paused.

“And then she did, and then… then…” he cut off, nervous, as I tried to smile at him encouragingly. “She, uh, Lou, you ain’t gonna believe me, but I swear to god, I wasn’t drinking nothing.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said. “What happened?”

“She…” he gulped. Why was this so hard for him to say? “She… did a thing. She… she used magic.”

Lou’s reaction was bizarre. She rolled her eyes disdainfully, and gave me a half amused, half annoyed look.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to pull on my brother,” she said, “But it ain’t gonna work.”

“I’m not trying to pull anything,” I said, so uneasy that my voice was scarcely audible. “I don’t understand how your people seem to not use magic. It is so ordinary…”

“Right,” Lou said sarcastically, as Slick looked mildly frustrated. “And what is it you want?”

“I just want to go home,” I said, my voice trembling. “He said you might know where my home is, and I am lost.”

Her suspicious expression immediately eased, and she looked more curious.

“Well, then?” she said. “Where are you from?”

“Near the city of Metronome, on the largest continent,” I said, feeling hopeless. I didn’t see how she could know where my city was, and also know nothing of magic.

As expected…

“Never heard of it,” she said. “Was that all?”

“Maybe…” I said, “If I could see a map of the world? I could find my home, and be on my way.”

“That’s not so hard,” she said. “This makes no sense. What are you pushing for, that you had to convince my brother that you could do magic?”

“It’s real, Lou,” Slick said. “You’ve gotta see it. It’s like… like nothing else you could imagine.”

“I would happily demonstrate,” I said eagerly, glad to find a way to be useful.

“Not here!” Slick said abruptly, to Lou’s intensified interest. “Let’s go out to the back, where no one can see.”

“Sure,” Lou said cautiously, and I nodded. They led me behind the dwelling, to a tiny crack between their home and their neighbor’s, just large enough for two people to walk abreast.

“Let’s see it, then,” Lou said, the suspicion back in her gaze.

If I was going to show off, I was going to do it properly. Being a child, I wasn’t skilled enough for unaided flight, but as I was skilled at changing the form of living things, I had a way.

I focused, and my magic grew intense at my shoulderblades. Slowly at first, then achingly fast, a pair of burgundy, feathered wings emerged. I smiled shyly at Lou’s staggered expression.

“Are those real?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said. “You may touch them, if you wish.”

She reached forward and gently brushed her hand down the feathered expanse. I pressed the wing against her hand a little, so she could feel the skin, as well as the muscle and bone beneath.

“Fuck,” she said. “That feels real.”

“Told ya,” Slick muttered, as he looked out the alleyway.

“Put those away,” Lou said, glancing down the other entrance. “Fast.”

“Of course,” I said, uneasy again.

That was one of my most powerful spells… and yet, they were still convinced I was in danger?

I reversed the spell, drawing the wings back into my body, and banishing the borrowed material back to the ground from whence I’d taken it.

“This is serious,” Lou said, her voice low.

“I know that,” Slick said. “But she doesn’t seem to have a clue.”

“A clue about what?” I said, confused.

Lou chuckled a little, while Slick just sighed.

“Look, there’s some folks out there who won’t have your best interests at heart,” she said. “What’s your name? I’m Louise Williams, or Lou for short.”

“Aera,” I said. “Aera Koryn. It is good to meet you, Lou. I do know that there are unkind people, but I am not concerned. I can protect myself.”

“Do you know what this is?” she asked, and pulled a device from her clothing. Slick looked displeased.

I didn’t understand what I was looking at enough for the language spell to attach it to any word. It was a silvery color, with a small pipe attached to a strangely shaped round thing, which in turn was attached to what looked like a handle, judging from the way she held it. It had enough intricacy to the design that I wondered how a blacksmith might have forged it, without aid of magic.

“I haven’t any idea,” I said.

“Yeah, I suspected as much,” she said. “This is a gun. A .38 special. It’s one of the most dangerous handguns out there.”

“Dangerous,” I said, looking at the device skeptically. It certainly must weigh a bit, but I’d seen far more threatening club designs.

My tone seemed to confirm something for her.

“I’ve got an atlas for school,” she said. “Let me go grab it for you. Stay here for a minute.”

She left and I nervously looked at my feet. A suspicion was growing in my heart and I wasn’t finding myself convinced that the map would solve my problems.

After all, my parents had been trying to build a portal to another world…

But I couldn’t face that thought.

My heart thudded as she brought to me another piece of alien craftsmanship. This book was too masterfully crafted to be mundane, but with bizarre properties if made by magic. She opened the oddly crafted pages, with letters written in perfect uniformity.

She turned to a page with which she seemed quite familiar, and I looked at the page nervously.

“This… this is the whole world?” I asked, as my spell “translated” the meaning of the various markings.

“Yep,” Lou said. “See anything familiar?”

My fingers brushed the image as tears filled my eyes.

“No,” I whispered. “No… this is all wrong.”

I pulled away from the accursed book, from the cruel realization it had forced into my mind.

“This is not my world. This planet is wrong. I need to go back…”

My vision blurred as tears started flowing.

“I… I have two brothers…” I said, my voice choking. “Little brothers. I watch after them. I don’t know if I’ll ever see them again… I… I don’t know what to do. ”

“It’s going to be okay, Aera,” Lou said, her voice gentle. “I’m sure you can find a way back.”

“You don’t understand,” I said, clutching at my dress. “I can’t… my parents are some of the most powerful magic users in the world… I’m nothing. I can’t make anything like that!”

“Calm down, Aera,” Lou said, as Slick looked uncomfortable. “We’ll help you.”

“How?” I asked.

She glanced at Slick.

“I dunno,” Slick said. “But she can’t just wander on her own. And we can’t take her in our place. And I have to get to the club soon.”

“Maybe Domiano will have an idea?” Lou asked.

“I ain’t going to be telling him about this,” Slick said. “He seems an honest enough guy, but…”

“No, we can’t tell him,” Lou agreed. “We can’t tell anyone. But we can just say that you found her, and she needs some help.”

“And what’s she gonna do?” Slick asked. “What kind of job can she get? How’s she gonna get food?”

At last, they’d said something I understood.

I wiped the last of the tears from my eyes and said, “Oh, there’s no worry about food! I can make as much as I require.”

“You can make food?” Lou asked, and both she and Slick had a bit of a hungry look in their eyes.

“Of course,” I said, “I just need the materials. Ah…”

I glanced around. There was a bit of what must be garbage, in a metal bin. I went over to it, holding my breath against the horrific smell. I couldn’t bear to touch such filth with my own hands, so I used a bit of magic to find and lift out a bit of wood. It appeared to be some broken object.

After cleaning it, I moved away from the stench of the bin.

“This is perfect,” I said, holding up the piece.

“That’s a chair leg,” she said, eyebrow raised skeptically.

“Ah,” I said, shrugging. “In any case, it is wood, and it is full of energy. Our bodies, though, cannot handle its structure. All I have to do is trim the structure in the right places, and it will be ready for our bodies to eat!”

They glanced at each other uncertainly, before turning their gazes back to me.

I used my magic, as I had described to them. The long strands of material that served as the strength and structure of wood, which I would eventually learn were called “cellulose,” were essentially very tall stacks of sugar. If I merely separated it into tiny chunks, it made for a sweet treat. If I trimmed it a little less, it made starch instead, which was a bit less tasty, but also less likely to cause a sugar crash. I then purified the wood, as there appeared to be some sort of contaminant staining the surface. Finally, I removed some components of wood that aren’t good for either eating or for turning into food.

I blended the options, for a sweet and starchy result. This blend was a favorite snack for long walks in the forest, as there was always wood around.

“All done,” I said, smiling brightly. They still looked skeptical, so I broke off a small piece of the now brittle chair leg, and bit into it.

The pair gaped again as the sugary flavor filled my mouth. It was a bit like a crunchy and dry fruit.

“You should try it,” I said, handing out the wood.

Wariness competed with hunger, and as expected, hunger won. Slick grabbed it first, and took a tiny nibble of the end. His eyes widened with surprise, and he broke off a piece for himself before giving a chunk to Lou.

It took some persuading for her to be willing to eat it, but he chomped down eagerly enough.

“This is really weird,” Lou said, after a few bites. “It’s not that it tastes bad or anything, but it’s like… I know I’m eating the leg of a chair. I can’t get over that.”

“We need to eat, Lou,” Slick said. “I don’t like it more than you, but it’s food.”

“We have enough for now,” Lou said. “I mean, if we get desperate, we can eat chairs later, I guess.”

“Yeah,” Slick said. “And maybe some crates, from down at the docks.”

Lou chuckled at that.

“Well, I guess we should get you to Domiano,” she said, looking back at me.

“He’s a friend of yours?” I guessed.

“Nah,” Slick said. “He’s the guy who runs the club I sing at. I’ll be meeting my band down there, and we can try to figure things out. But I kind of gotta rush, at this point.”

I nodded and timidly followed them. Slick quickly went into the house and came out much cleaner, with slicked back hair, and less comfortable looking clothing. They led me back towards the denser part of the city. They were too nervous to talk much, so I was left alone with my thoughts.

The walk to the club was uneventful. When we arrived, I saw the words “Cocoanut Grove” highlighted in a fancy sort of way over the door, and we entered in.

I immediately suppressed the urge to cough. The air was thick with a haze of dust, as well as a stench that matched the smoke from the cylinder that Slick had ignited. He was on his third or fourth at this point. I surreptitiously made a tiny barrier in front of my mouth and nose to filter out the filth. Immediately I breathed a sigh of relief, as the sweet, clean air touched my lungs.

More interesting was the lighting. Non magical, of course, but also neither fire, nor bioluminescence. I couldn’t imagine how they worked - and with such a steady glow, no less.

We went to a table and sat down, while Slick hastily went behind a stage at the back. Lou suggested that we quietly observe till he was done, and then discuss afterwards.

While we sat, an older man, looking distinguished and a trifle overweight, came to our table. His eyes seemed to examine me with an almost hungry glint of appraisal.

“Lou, sweet child,” he said, in a new accent I’d not heard - Italian, as I later learned. “I’m delighted to see you again, as well as the angel you’ve brought with you. My dear, might I be so charmed as to make your acquaintance?”

He reached out a hand to me, and I awkwardly reached forward, unsure what he was doing. He took my hand, raised it to his lips, and kissed my fingers gently. I blushed and looked away, having never had a kiss from anyone but family before - due to my shyness more than anything else. This seemed like a greeting rather than anything more, but still, my voice choked up and I couldn’t speak.

“Domiano,” Lou said, her voice taking a formal edge. “This is Aera, and we’re wanting to help her out. I was hoping to talk with you and Slick, after his performance?”

“But of course,” he said, his eyes trying to catch mine, but I was still too caught up in my flush of embarrassment to meet his gaze. “Please, lovely Aera, enjoy the club and the performance. You are welcome here whenever you wish.”

With that, he flitted away, with remarkable grace and poise. I watched him go with some curiosity. It was interesting that he was significantly cleaner, his clothes of higher quality, and most importantly, over nourished by comparison to Lou and Slick. I knew that some nations had inequalities for reasons other than magic, but I couldn’t recall any details. Magic, naturally, was the biggest inequality in my world.

Moments later, a young woman came to our table, wearing identical apparel to other women walking around with drinks and food. A serving girl, then.

“Domiano sends his greetings,” the young lady said, smiling warmly at Lou, then a trifle coldly at me. “He says you both may have a drink on the house.”

“Uh huh,” Lou said, giving me a bemused glance, as if this were somehow my doing. “Tell him I said thanks. Aera, this is Alice. She works here. Alice and Slick are, ah, close.”

Alice’s smile grew tighter, as though she wasn’t pleased with this introduction. I nodded mutely at her.

“Alice, this is Aera,” Lou said next, gesturing at me. “She’s a… a refugee who’s washed up. Slick found her and thought that she could use some help.”

“Did he, now?” Alice said, her suspicious look getting sharper. “What kind of help?”

“Well, she needs a place to stay, and a job,” Lou said.

“Doesn’t everyone?” Alice said, then looked at me again. “What can you do?”

“Not much,” Lou said, giving me a sharp look. I suppressed a sigh.

“There are plenty of things I can do,” I said.

I was certain that there were plenty of things that they could do, but I could simply do better with magic - such things would surely not be suspicious. I thought of the things I’d seen so far, and immediately had two ideas.

“I am good at cleaning and fixing things,” I said, which seemed to ease Lou’s anxiety. Then, because I couldn’t resist mentioning my actual specialty, “I’m also excellent at gardening.”

“Cleaning and fixing things?” Alice said, and she looked speculative. “My apartment is tidy enough, but it’d be nice to not have to do chores for a bit. And I do have a couch.”

“That’d be great, Alice,” Lou said, beaming.

“I haven’t offered yet,” Alice said. “I mean, you did just meet her.”

“She’s on the level, Alice,” Lou said, her voice suddenly serious in a way that seemed strange for a girl her age.

Alice frowned. “Something going on, Lou?”

Lou hesitated. “Aera seems like a sweet girl who’s kind of clueless and needs our help. So, uh...”

“Spit it out,” Alice said, crossing her arms.

“Maybe Slick’ll want to talk to you about it,” Lou suggested with a disarming grin.

“As if I could get him to talk about anything other than his music,” Alice said, a tinge of heat in her voice.

“Well, he’s in the back getting ready right now. You could try talking to him.” Lou said. “And seriously, Alice, it’d be a real big favor if you’d take her in for a bit.”

“How long?” Alice asked.

“A night, at least?” Lou said. “It’d give us some time to think of something more permanent.”

Alice frowned. “One night, because you asked, and not because of Slick. You’re a good girl, Lou, and I’m happy to do you a favor.”

“Thanks, Alice, I owe you one,” Lou said, with another disarming grin.

I maintained a pleasant smile, but I couldn’t help but observe that Lou was almost dangerously charming. She was sharp in a way that I admired.

Slick came onto the stage a bit later, with two other young men, though both were older than him. One had a set of drums that looked remarkably complex, and the other, some sort of strange brass device. Lou told me it was something called a “saxophone.”

The performance was astounding. Some sort of metal stick in front of Slick - a microphone - was apparently responsible for conveying and amplifying the sound, such that they could be clearly heard throughout the entire room. His voice was a bit gravely, but strikingly lovely nonetheless. The melody was charming, very upbeat, and stirred in me an impulse to dance - not that I ever would, of course, where anyone could see me.

After long enough that all three of them were clearly getting fatigued, though they hid it well, Slick returned to our table.

“What’d’cha think?” Slick said, with a bright grin. It seemed disarmingly charming grins ran in the family.

“It was lovely,” I said. “I’ve never heard music quite like that before. It seems your people have some advantages over ours.”

When making allies, my father would say, always ensure that they feel important, and that their strengths have value.

In other words, my mother would add, unless you intend to rule by fire, play nice with your toys.

Fortunately, I did actually enjoy his music.

As expected, he was delighted at my appraisal.

“Oh, and Lou,” Slick said. “Did you set Alice on me? She was all up on my case about Aera, and how I shouldn’t be picking up beautiful strays.”

That claim, again.

I was growing to suspect that the reason they kept calling me “beautiful” was because I was perfectly clean and healthy. Every face had some sort of blemish here - faint scars, perhaps from acne, or skin that seemed stained from the omnipresent grime in the air and on nearly every surface. Most women had paint on their faces, which mostly served to try to make it mimic the pale smoothness that my skin possessed, and most teeth on all parties were partially crooked, off-white or even yellow in hue. Their hair, too, seemed arranged in a wide variety of artful styles, perhaps to cover up the poor health of the hair. My long, black tresses, currently bound in a simple braid, were lustrous, glistening faintly even in the dim light of this place.

Every face also seemed to show some sign of strain or stress, leaving a nearly imperceptible blight on their features, whereas mine likely looked like the pure and innocent face of an angel, by comparison.

I frowned at the realisation that, as unhealthy as these people were, by and large, they might predominantly view health as beautiful, which would make me extraordinary. In fact, even with my awkward features, I might even be the most beautiful woman in the world, to these impoverished and strained people.

That was a thought that would take some getting used to. I wanted to hide from my sudden awareness of the covert gazes from everyone in the room.

I wasn’t ready for any of this. I just wanted to go home…

Afterwards, Lou and Slick had an entirely ordinary conversation, with Alice bringing us a few drinks. I was too nervous to request anything other than water. Once Alice’s shift was over, we headed to Domiano’s office.

“Domiano, sir,” Slick said, his back incredibly straight. “We were hoping to ask you for something.”

Domiano’s posture changed subtly. He had an almost threatening edge to his face and tone.

“We have a good working relationship, son, but that doesn’t make us friends,” Domiano said. “I didn’t get to where I’m at by being generous.”

Interesting. Then, his offer of a free drink to Lou and I was a calculated move to acquire some sort of power. I relaxed a little. This was more in line with my training… though I’d never actually dealt with power games myself. And I wasn’t sure what kind of power was even in play.

“Y-yes, sir,” Slick said, the intimidation ploy clearly effective. “I was just hoping you might have a job for miss Aera, here.”

“A job?” he said, giving me a piercing look, before turning his attention back to Slick. “Why would you be trying to get her a job?”

“She’s a refugee, sir,” Slick said. “She’s kind of in trouble, and just needs something for a little while.”

“I don’t want no trouble here,” Domiano said, “And there’s enough refugees coming off the boats. They all get jobs on their own.”

“Right, sir,” Slick said, looking crestfallen. “I’m sorry for bothering you, sir. I was just hoping to do a good thing.”

Domiano sighed, and his expression softened marginally.

“A moment, Slick,” Domiano said, then looked at me with an inscrutable gaze. “You might be worthwhile, out front. Have you any waitressing experience?”

“Er… as a serving girl?” I asked uneasily. “Um, no sir, nothing of the sort.”

He shook his head. “Slick, the Cocoanut Grove is a nice establishment. We’re not set up to train someone who’s got no experience at all, especially since we’re already full on wait staff. I’m not heartless, but there’s nothing here for her.”

“Thanks for considering it, sir,” Slick said, and after Domiano nodded, he guided us out.

“What now?” Slick asked.

“Tonight, Aera can stay at Alice’s,” Lou said. “After that, I don’t know. We’ll think of something tomorrow.”

“I know the way,” Slick said, to which Lou rolled her eyes.

“Obviously,” she said. “I’ll head home. I’ve got school in the morning. Good luck, Aera.”

“Thank you,” I said, shuffling my feet.

“Come on, then,” Slick said, starting to walk at a fast pace. “It’s not too far.”

It was a full half hour’s walk. I passingly wondered why we didn’t use one of those cars he’d mentioned. They seemed much faster.

We made our way to a taller building that was in dramatically better straits than Slick’s own home. As we approached one of the many doors, Slick abruptly stopped.

“I just realized,” he said. “What with Alice being upset at me lately… I ought to have brought her something. Damn it.”

He was patting at his clothes as if hoping something would randomly appear.

“Does she like flowers?” I asked, hopefully.

“Don’t all gals?” he said.

I grinned. I didn’t want to be a burden on these people, and my talents finally had use.

I reached for a little weed growing in the concrete - a dandelion. Shaping flowers was my hobby, the only thing I was actually good at. I whispered magic into the delicate petals, and it shifted in my hands into an elaborate pattern. I didn’t want it too obviously magical, so I made the petals a series of delicate, shifting shades of blue. Once I was satisfied with the result - elegant, beautiful, but subdued enough that it could have been mundane - I handed it to Slick.

“Wow,” he said. “I’m not a dame, and even I think that’s something else.”

I wasn’t entirely sure why being female mattered for flower appreciation, but I simply smiled in response.

He knocked on the door after fussing with his appearance for a moment - he even let me clean his hair and face, to my eyes’ relief. She answered the door, and he eagerly presented the flower.

“Sli… oh, my heavens,” Alice said, her eyes widening at the sight of the flower. “That is gorgeous… wherever did you get such a thing?”

“I... just got it on the way,” he said. “It’s a pretty piece, but plain compared to you.”

She gave him a bemused look. “Your presentation could use some work, but… oh, very well, come inside.”

We walked inside her house, and I immediately noticed the ways in which I could assist her. Yes, it was certainly tidy, but the walls were stained, the area rug was thick with dust, and the floors, too, had signs of stain.

It seemed this place only had three rooms - a bedroom, a kitchen, and a tiny sitting room, which Alice guided us to as we entered. She put the flower into a glass vase with water. I hid a grimace, and while her back was turned, I quickly adjusted the water to improve the flower’s longevity.

We chatted idly for a few minutes, before Alice and Slick went to her bedroom to talk privately for a while. Their voices were just barely muffled enough for me to not pick up the details of their conversation. I settled in on the couch with the pillow and blankets she’d set up. This was the part of the day I was really not looking forward to. As long as I had something to do, I was fine, but…

I was alone. Alone, with my thoughts, which held terrible realizations that I could not bear to face. And I had nothing but time.