Crow didn’t know how long he’d spent staring at the island of Bermuda’s city, but apparently it hadn’t been long enough to even diminish the awe he felt at the sight of it. A melting point of culture, it featured architecture he half-recognised from Selsis. Of course for every familiar construction, there were a hundred which bore little or no resemblance- and a handful which seemed outright alien by comparison. There were many edges and straight walls or platforms, buildings were interconnected by arches and I-shaped runs of stone, with the majority being tall enough for five floors at least. Messiah wept! Even the smallest would give Selsis’s town hall a run for its money in size, Crow remembered his mother telling him and his sister not to run too far from home when they were kids. She’d said they might get lost, but looking at the ridiculous scale of the city he now stared at made him realise just how minuscule his hometown was.

One of the buildings nearby stretched so high into the air that it actually reached above cloud height. Crow hadn’t been sure of that at first, he was certain it couldn’t have been possible- and yet after a while he saw a puff of white drift near enough to the great tower that he could directly compare them, sure enough there were ten rows of windows between them in altitude- and it was the building which had the greater height. Crow had considered climbing it, a single moment of maddenned exhilaration. The urge to see just how far the horizon stretched out from up there. In the end, however, he had come to his senses and settled for one of the more middling edifices- a mere three town halls from the pavement. In hindsight, he much preferred his current vantage point anyway.

From here he was close enough to the ground that he could still just make out the bustling streets below, writhing masses of people wearing the golds and cyans of the Xion and Zoric factions- obviously celebrating the festival. Though every now and then he’d see some other colours dotting the crowds, the greens of Singularity, reds of Nocturnal and of course plenty of whites signifying those from Olympus. Though for every person wearing the colours of a different nation, there were five fold as many donning the mark of the factions. Even split into two, the continent of Unix had far more citizens or supporters here than any other nation. Crow supposed that made sense, after all Bermuda, both the island and city, had always fallen under Unix rule.

The smell of sugar wafted up to Crow from the streets. That was something else that had shocked him upon entering Bermuda, the food. Back at his home town sugar was a rarity, the mystics they had used their magic to produce water, warmth and a few other things like stimulating plant growth. Their food was for the most part meat, fruit, bread and vegetables. Something like sugar was a rarity, something to be enjoyed only when peddlers brought it with them- and peddlers would find their way as far out as Selsis once or twice a year at best.

Yet it seemed Bermuda had sugar en masse, sure it was expensive- though everything in the city cost at least half again as much as its counterparts back in the towns and villages Crow had passed travelling there- but the fact that it could be found anywhere for those with the money was still shocking. A great many things were shocking about Bermuda.

It was an enormous place, even from his vantage point fifty metres high Crow could not see an end to the sprawling buildings. He wondered how many people lived there, how many mystics even. Ten times as many at Selsis? Ha, the streets within eyesight alone held as many people as the entire village. Perhaps a hundred? The more Crow thought about it, the more sure he was that the number was measured in the tens of thousands, at least. It had often amazed him that mystics were required for law enforcement, Knights and Heroes were commonplace in the stories he’d heard of the rest of the world but why on earth would magic be required just to keep people from breaking the law? Well looking at the bustling crowds now, he realised just how difficult enforcing anything would be, even with the aid of the supernatural. So many potential criminals, so many potential victims. Staring at them made him feel as though he were the one watching over the streets.

Come to think of it, his hair, blowing as it was in the wind, likely looked quite striking. His emerald eyes may well have been visible even from the streets, they were certainly unique enough to warrant that. Crow could very easily imagine himself as a Knight, now. Even a Hero, an Immortal Hero watching over the city for decades- centuries. Hard, but fair. Not working within the ranks of the Knights, because they’d only get in his way. He was not the Hero Bermuda deserved, but he was the one it n-

"Hey you!, You stupid? get down from there!"

Crow spun towards the voice and his shock only doubled as he saw the red skinned man approaching him. Standing in an otherwise empty alley running between the building Crow stood on and its neighbour, he had two curved horns jutting out of his forehead, a tail that held a yellow candle-like flame at the tip and a hunch; though that last part hardly registered next to the other details. Crow gulped before answering, he hadn’t really spoken to anyone from Bermuda yet.

"Hi, uhm."

"You didn't answer, you stupid?"

His voice was a high pitched one carrying the strange city accent Crow had spent the entirety of his afternoon in Bermuda hearing, though it was distorted slightly by the man shouting in order to make himself heard across the distance. He stepped closer, leaning his weight on his cane each time. Crow considered pretending not to have heard the man for a moment, but decided against drawing the ire of one of the city’s residents on his first day there.

Licking his lips anxiously, he stepped down and plummeted into the alley- the wind rushed by his head as he fell, however he knew from experience that such a fall was of no threat to him provided he didn’t land on his head. Crow channelled magic into his legs, grinning at the familiar sensation of power and exhilaration as the energy reinforced them. He landed some five feet away from the man, knees bent slightly to disperse the impact. Immediately Crow regretted not staying on the roof, now that he was close enough to see the expression of the Yōkai- face scrunched in anger and frustration- he realised he’d definitely have preferred to avoid it.

“Ya didn’t answer, are ya stupid?”

Even without the shout his accent sounded strange, as though each vowel were dragged out longer than normal. Crow spluttered a second before replying, his throat suddenly dried up.

"No?"

"Ya act stupid, scaling up private property, acting like dark and stormy night man."

"You mean ba-"

"What are you doing here?!" He snapped.

Crow flinched. "Looking for my sister."

"Your sister?"

His words were tinged by confusion and frustration. With thin white hairs along his head and chin, he was the embodiment of 'The grumpy old man', though the grumpy old men back at Selsis had not been nearly as red, no matter how angry they grew. Come to think of it, this was the first Yōkai Crow had ever met face to face. He decided that such an occasion would be nicer to think back on if it did not end with his being beaten up in a random alley, so he answered this latest question too.

"Yeah, she's got to be somewhere around here, the competition starts in a few hours and I haven't seen her."

"Competition?" The red man said. "You're here to watch the Sieve?"

"Oh nah. That'd be boring." Crow said, walking passed the man as he seemed a bit more relaxed now, less of a plummet tempting scowl on him. "I'm here to participate in it”. Crow flashed the wide smile he’d spent hours practicing in his mirror, crossing his arms and sticking his chin out. The man arched an eyebrow.

"Ah I see, I see." He looked Crow up and down, as if he were an item on his shopping list. "You should quit."

"Oh." He frowned slightly, confused.

"Child, Sieve is competition for best mystic. A kid who acts like child hero is not the best mystic."

"You're not very nice."

The man let out a long sigh. "And you're still on private property."

Crow frowned.

"This alley i-"

"Out!"

Crow turned on his heel and hurried back out into the street, trying to avoid stumbling as he went.