The world came too as Millie found herself falling. A moment later she hit the ground, her legs giving out immediately as she fell hard onto her knees. Her teeth clattered from the impact, and she held onto her stomach tightly before falling onto her side.

It hurt, and she couldn’t stop the tears from spilling out. They quickly turned into racking sobs, as the image of her father’s limp form felt burnt into her retinas. The dull ringing in her ears continued as well, leaving her deafened to the world around her. She felt isolated. Disconnected. Alone, save for the child inside her.

But he was alive. She was alive. That would have to be enough.

Breathe, she told herself. Just...just focus on breathing. She coughed, struggling to draw in a full breath. In frustration, she screamed, but her ears hadn’t recovered and she felt more than she heard the muffled noise of her anguish. Laying there, shaking on the ground for several minutes, she tried to come to terms with her situation before, suddenly, the world came alive in a rush. The ringing in her ears gave out abruptly on one side with a rush of air. Noise bombarded her, like someone had turned the world back on.

“What’s going on!?”

“Where am I?”

“Julien! Has anyone seen Julien!?”

People were shouting. Others were screaming. Even more were crying as she had been. Strangers? Others taken as she’d been? The crowd nearby was nearly as deafening as the ringing had been.

I need to find out where I am, she thought. Opening her bleary eyes, she blinked several times to clear them. Looking around, she first set her sight on the back of her shaking hand. The mark was gone. Looking up, around her were hundreds of people. They were all clearly as lost as she was. Several sported cuts. Some, unidentified bloodstains. Others looked to be barely conscious, staring off with glassy eyes. As though disbelieving the reality they had found themselves in.

Around them all, however, was a giant arena. Like the Roman Colosseum of old, but made of dull metals. Only, there was something missing.

Surrounding the large, circular pit where the survivors were grouped were hundreds of thousands of seats. But they were each and every one empty. It made Millie’s skin crawl, like something should have been there to greet them but instead...there was nothing. A somber sight that felt more at home in a mausoleum than an arena, especially given the dark, featureless ceiling above. Like a starless night sky.

Sucking in a sharp breath, Millie pushed with her elbows against the hard, foam-like floor, to get off her back. Unfortunately, she struggled more than she expected, before collapsing backward with a small gasp of pain as her arms gave out. And I thought the rocking chair was hard, she thought. She cursed before trying again, only to hear someone shout behind her.

“Oh my God, are you okay?” A woman’s voice.

Millie craned her neck to see the source. And then, she had to crane her neck even further to take in the person inadvertently looming over her. The very tall woman standing behind Millie was incredibly skinny with straight, light brown hair tied in a bun and a large, sharp nose that gave her a distinctive Eastern European visage. She wore classy, if slightly cheap-looking, woman’s business attire.

“I’m fine. I think,” Millie said. The woman quickly circled Millie before leaning down to offer a hand. Millie hesitated for a moment, before begrudgingly accepting it. With the woman’s help, she was finally able to enter a proper sitting position. It wasn’t quite the standing she’d initially wanted, but it let her stretch her legs out. She grimaced at the sight of the nasty purple bruises that had already formed on her legs.

“Thanks, ah, for the help. I’m Millie, by the way.”

“I’m Katelyn,” the tall girl replied. “I’d say it's nice to meet you and all, but...w-well, let’s rest for a while, okay? I’m sure that...I’m sure someone will come soon, or...”

The woman struggled to suggest a positive outcome for the situation but gave up quickly. Adjusting her pencil skirt, Katelyn took a seat next to Millie on the floor and unbuttoned her blouse as she let out an exhaustive sigh.

The woman’s more practical clothing seemed at odds with the bright blue maternity dress Millie was wearing. It had been bought on clearance, and the small flower pattern along the hem certainly didn’t help its appeal. Of course, at the time Millie had gotten it, she’d complained bitterly to her mother over the phone about its huge size, saying she could have hidden a Mini Cooper in it. But now, she…

She swallowed hard, trying to re-focus on breathing. The old memory felt bitter, making her heart hurt and the tears threaten to return. Were her parents going to be okay? Even if she assumed that whatever thing that had come to Toronto hadn’t vaporized the city—her father needed a hospital. Would he get to one in time?

“Where do you think we are?” She asked, and Katelyn turned to look at her.

“I...I don’t—”

Her response was cut off as another new voice sounded out from nearby. Another woman.

“Katelyn? Is that you? Oh, thank the Lord!” The stranger said, with a high-pitched if slightly nasally voice.

Katelyn raised a long arm and waved. Glancing over, Millie saw a much shorter, plump woman approaching. She was breathing a bit heavily by the time she arrived.

“I’m so glad you’re okay. I don’t—Oh! Are you alright?” The distracted woman interrupted herself when she noticed Millie on the ground. Millie gave her a weak smile and waved a tired hand to dismiss the concern. Katelyn spoke up for her.

“This is Millie. She’s okay though,” Katelyn assured her friend. “She just fell hard after the…event.”

The new woman’s thin lips pursed before she nodded gravely. “I thought at first…I thought it was the Rapture. That His time had finally come. But this…I don’t know what this is.” The woman gestured to the crowd.

“I know, I…” Katelyn replied, and Millie saw the tall woman’s hands drop to a set of prayer beads she wore on her wrist. “I don’t know what’s happening. I-I don’t know where we are, or—”

“No one does, Katie.” The woman cut in, before sitting down next to them with a huff. She glanced at Millie again before reaching out a hand. “Sorry—I’m Catherine.”

Millie took Catherine’s hand in return with a nod. It was sweaty, which didn’t do the clamminess in her own hands any favors. A match made in moist heaven, Millie thought numbly.

The pudgy woman winced, likely thinking similar thoughts, before reaching up to push the large rimmed glasses on her face back up. While there, she brushed absently at a strand of aggressively curly chestnut hair that had come loose from the ponytail tied haphazardly behind her head. She wore a modest maroon sweater with jeans.

They had several minutes of a shared, beleaguered silence before their peace came to an end.

A susurration rippled through the crowd. A few people shouted anew, pointing towards a section of the arena across from where Millie and the girls sat. They looked up, Katelyn gasping while Catherine signed the cross. Millie just stared silently.

A…thing had walked out, standing on a dais overlooking the crowd. At first, it was small and indistinct in the distance, until a large screen, the size of a Time Square billboard appeared in front of it. It amplified the being’s image, turning it into a giant.

The being was tall and thin, with pale, scaly-looking skin. Its hands seemed segmented, as though a pair of three-fingered hands were joined together giving it two thumbs to use. The creature’s neck was long, and its head tapered into a flat shape with a series of eyes, six in total with three on each side. They lined the sharp ridge of its pointed, triangular skull. Those eyes were filled with disdain as they tugged at a set of elaborate-looking robes.

“Oh, how wonderful,” the creature said, its projected voice high and gravely. “I see I have indeed been reanimated, and with system limitations. I suppose this is in punishment for my attempted coup, Governor?”

The creature gestured towards the ceiling, which Millie and the crowd followed to look at. The darkness that had filled the sky suddenly shifted into a mass of swirling dark clouds. They lit up briefly as a quiet thunder echoed from on high, flashes of lightning illuminating the area with a kaleidoscope of colors. The creature on the dais gave a quick, unfamiliar gesture at it in response. Something in its body language gave Millie the impression it was meant to be rude.

“Infernal machine—I nearly achieved the greatest feat of Magincia’s history! To bind my soul for such a droll task is an unacceptable slight!”

Once more the sky flashed, and the creature scowled. It was an unwelcome sight—the thing’s mouth was wide enough to cover three-quarters of its head. It would’ve had more of a shark-like appearance, Millie supposed, if not for its large, flat teeth.

She was torn away from the nightmare fuel by the sound of a door opening in the distance. From behind the creature a pair of human-looking robots walked out. They were simply dressed, in terms of complexity, with Renaissance-fair-inspired skirts and vests covering their metallic bodies, but despite their androgynous clothing, they each had definitively feminine features. One of them smiled with far too much enthusiasm before handing the irate being a rolled-up scroll. The creature snatched it rudely out of their hand before its scowl deepened as it read the contents.

“Complex life in a Mana Void Universe? Are you serious? I told those bastards it was possible, but of course like with everything else they just… oh. Oh—First damn us all! What’s this about them lacking core soul features? How are we...”

The thing trailed off, mumbling before it paused to glare at the crowd. With a wave, the screen amplifying it disappeared. Millie watched its tiny head swivel as it examined the group before it. Millie took the opportunity to finally stand up, getting help from Katelyn and Catherine so she could see the strange being better.

“Is that an alien?” Katelyn whispered.

Catherine looked at her slack-jawed, lost for words.

Millie just scoffed, “He’s certainly no angel.”

Her voice, however, must have carried in the strange acoustics of the arena, as the creature, despite being over half a football field away, suddenly looked straight at her. Millie’s blood ran cold as the creature waved into the air again and the amplifying effect returned. Millie shuddered as she stared directly into the alien’s beady sextuplet of eyes.

“Oh, but of course. Humans. Wonderful. Is there truly nowhere in the Infinite Cosmos that your virulent species won’t appear? And, what luck, that one’s even spawning right now. So disgusting.”

It gestured at Millie with a sneer, and she flushed wildly as survivors in the room turned to look at her. One hand fell over her belly protectively, but the creature didn’t push its mockery any further. Instead, it went back to its scroll, sneering and complaining quietly as it studied the unknown contents.

But the sudden spotlight had had unexpected results.

“Millie?” A familiar voice shouted from afar. The creature on the dais ignored the cry, but Millie turned to see a welcome sight.

“CJ?” Millie said. “Oh my god—CJ!”

The scrawny boy came rushing over to her, blood on his white button-up shirt and face. He quickly grabbed her and brought her in for a tight hug. Millie couldn’t help it—new tears began to flow as she grabbed him.

“Thank god you’re alright, Millie.” He said. She could feel him shaking.

“I am. But my parents, they need help, and I don’t know what to do. Wait…you’re bleeding. CJ, are you okay?”

Her friend smiled, but her eyes traced the long cut across his face.

“Hey, come on you know I’ve had worse. The cab’s windows just blew out and nicked me.”

Millie pursed her lips, before hugging him tighter. A bit of the anxiety gripping her heart eased.

“Millie!”

Only to grow ten times worse when she heard another person call her name.

Oh god, please tell me that’s not who I think it is. Please, can’t you just give me this one thing?

She turned to see an unwelcome sight. Pushing through the crowd to approach them was a handsome man, with short black hair, clean-cut features, and a charismatic air. Following the adonis was a petite blond-haired girl holding his hand.

“Liam. Tanya.” Millie said, pulling reluctantly away from CJ to stare at the two of them. Her mother had told her Liam was in town, but she hadn’t wanted to believe it. Millie’s brief euphoria at finding CJ was shut down the instant she came face to face with her greatest heartache.

“Millie. I’m glad you’re safe.” The adulterer’s dulcet voice rolled over her. She hated how it still made her feel weak in the knees.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I can’t say I’m glad to see you though. You really followed me to Canada?”

In the corner of her eyes, she saw CJ glance awkwardly between her and Liam, before turning to the two confused-looking girls. He quickly ushered Katelyn and Catherine to the side as he took the chance to introduce himself to them.

“H-hey, Millie.” The blond girl stammered. “I’m sorry that this is so sudden and…”

“Please…just stop talking, Tanya.” Millie cut her off. “Go stand in the corner and take a picture of the alien or something.”

The spineless little harlot flushed before backpedaling obediently to the side.

“Look,” Liam said, gesturing broadly. “I wouldn’t have had to follow you like this hadn’t blocked me across all social media and refused to meet with me. But is now really the time to get into this?”

Millie sucked in air through her teeth. She was struggling to keep calm. “No, it’s not. But do me a favor? Leave me alone.”

Liam narrowed his eyes. She’d rarely gotten the opportunity to see him mad, so it was somewhat surprising.

“I’m not going to leave you alone here, Millie.”

“Why?” She demanded. “Because I’m pregnant? That gives you the right to push your way into my life?”

“It’s my child, Millie, of course it gives me that right. Especially in whatever fucked up situation we’re in now, I need to be—”

“Oh piss off!” Millie finally snapped. “Last I checked you had the gall to ask me if it was even your child. You’re barely a sperm donor. If you want your own baby, go knock up your new whore.”

Liam’s face flushed with rage. “I needed legal proof, damn it, don’t suddenly act like some spoiled brat, Millie! This isn’t an apartment or a dog to fight over. This is our child, and I have the right to be there for my son.”

Millie’s eyes widened and her nostrils flared. “So. They told you the gender too? Is everyone conspiring behind my back now?”

“I—”

“Silence!” The alien on the dais shouted, interrupting Liam. In her fury, Millie almost shouted back, but before her temper could get her in trouble, the creature lifted a hand casually, and...silence descended on Millie and those nearby.

It was like a smothering blanket had suddenly been draped over her, and she struggled to even breathe with it on. When she gasped, no noise came out.

What the fuck!? Her mind screamed, but her voice was gone.

“Now, I believe I have been properly educated as to the current state of the city. Here—” The alien droned, before tossing the scroll into the face of the smiling robot next to it. “It's fascinating, actually. In many ways, you cretins should all consider yourselves quite fortunate.”

Another susurration passed through the crowd as people were in strong disagreement. In response, the alien lifted a hand again. Millie wasn’t sure if it used the same…thing to silence them all as well, but regardless the sounds of the crowd cut off. The survivors were held in forced rapture to the alien’s declarations.

“So, I suppose some manner of introductions are in order. I am…former Archmagus Trieaties. You will refer to me as Headmaster Trieaties. If you must bother to speak with me at all.”

It nodded solemnly before sighing deeply. “You humans have the honor of finding yourself within the City of Magi—or as it's commonly referred to as—Magincia. It is one of the original Seeded cities of the First Civilization. And of them—we stood as the greatest bastion of magical knowledge and the practice thereof for untold eons until an…unfortunate incident occurred.”

The sky above billowed with unbridled rage, shaking the arena as people panicked in the forced silence. It quickly burnt itself out, but the alien almost seemed to shrink back in…shame?

“Yes, well—regardless,” it said, coughing into its hand in a surprisingly human gesture. “The city lacks sufficient personnel to operate, as well as Magi to guide it. And so it is, that all of you shall be trained to fill the necessary roles, and those among you with the sufficient conviction, wisdom, and ambition shall be allowed to climb the ranks to rulership. Unopposed, even.”

The creature made a distinct sniffing sound, filled with evident distaste at the idea. The crowd, however, echoed Millie’s feelings of resentment at the situation as angry gestures and expressions swept the group. The creature frowned before waving again. The blanket of silence was lifted from everyone, only to immediately be followed by people shouting.

“Why us!?”

“Why did you kidnap us then? Couldn’t you just ask if people wanted to join your stupid city?”

“Please! I need to get home to my family!”

The alien lifted a segmented hand to its face and messaged the thin strip of scaled flesh between its jaw and eye ridge. As the barrage of exclamations continued, it turned from the crowd and leaned over to one of the servants next to it. It whispered to the robot, which smiled brightly before leaning over to whisper in return. The back and forth continued for a few moments before the alien turned back to the crowd.

“To be welcomed into Magincia is an honor, but it's also traditionally performed through committee. Which, at the moment, is indisposed due to the...untimely death of all members therein.”

This time the alien definitely looked uncomfortable as the sky glowed smugly. Could skies glow smugly? This time, Millie rubbed her temple in stress.

“Therefore,” the creature continued, “the emergency systems brought Magincia to your world before selecting an area that contained a large diversity of populace to draw on. You weren’t given a choice because the governing systems lack the required authority to…negotiate volunteers, or to resurrect personnel without oversight except in non-critical roles. So, to put it in a way that your world’s language should be able to convey—you have all been…er, shanghaied. Did the translation get that right?”

It questioned the robot next to it as a loud eruption came from the crowd. Nearby, Katelyn turned to Catherine and nearly had to shout to be heard.

“Wait, isn’t that a city in China? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It's a term from the 1800s,” Catherine said. “It means to force people to join a ship that needs crewmembers.”

“It can’t be serious,” Millie butted in. “They just expect us to work for them here?”

Catherine shrugged, eyes distracted with distant thoughts, but remained silent as a man in the crowd yelled.

“Why does the city need us? Can’t you or those androids do the work?”

Several people shouted encouragingly to his question, but the creature stared deadpanned back at him. It then, predictably, scowled. It was very prone to doing that, Millie noted.

“Ape, if I were still an Archmagus I would obliterate you simply for breathing the same air as me.” A few indignant shouts replied, but it waved its hand and the area fell silent. “You needn’t concern yourself with the Laws of the city at this time, nor the complexities and shortcomings of the reanimation procedure and the nature of Animus bindings. Or, for that matter, the Governor’s known propensities for rebellious acts. Suffice it to say—I am dead. A Remnant with only the power and authority granted to me by the governing systems to oversee your training. As such, my agency is highly limited. Which…probably means—”

He pointed a finger and it glowed ominously. When nothing more happened, the alien let out a frustrated sigh.

“As I suspected. The magic woven into my current form only allows for actions relevant to my position, which doesn’t include execution. A pity, I do so love the smell of cooked mammal.”

“Jesus, this guy is a psychopath,” Liam muttered.

“Why are you still here?” Millie hissed. He turned to her, glaring, and she returned the look in kind.

“Regardless, you will all undergo the initiation to start with.” The irate being continued. “However, given that all of you seem to lack…everything essential to being Magi, or technically alive by most standards, the more dangerous aspects of the Test of the Magi have been deactivated. In addition, the city is working to manufacture a remedy for your medical condition that should allot you with a proper Soul Core. As absurd as that sounds. Those of you who pass will receive one at no cost. I’ve also been told you’ll be given an extended period of Hospitality and bonus resource credits to begin your studies with. Truly—you are the most pampered Initiates to ever grace these halls.”

“Test?” Millie said. The word echoed across the lips of dozens nearby.

“What happens if we refuse?” Someone shouted.

“Can’t we just go home? Please?” Another voice added.

“You have all been conscripted into the services of Magincia. Your souls have already been marked—in life or death you shall belong to this city forevermore. Be honored.”

A wave of dread passed over them all at its words. “Further—if you so adamantly chose to abstain from participation, then those that fail to finish the initiation test in the next hour will be recycled for what meager resources your diminutive souls can provide. That means death for those of you who are too slow to follow my meaning.”

Shouts of shock sounded out, but the alien lifted both hands and silence covered them all again. Millie trembled as the oppressive feeling of a smothering blanket returned.

“Enough. I may be obligated to provide oversight for your instruction, but I am not required to listen to your inane complaints. Stay here and die if you wish, but you are all Initiate Magi of Magincia from this moment forward. Perform well in the Trials of the Magi, and you shall be accepted into the higher ranks. Luxury, power, knowledge—all these things and more await you if you have the determination to reach further. Now—no further instruction is required on my part. Goodbye.”

The creature waved dismissively and the blanket of silence dispersed. Turning, it practically stomped away as the two robots followed after it. In its place, strange text appeared on the shimmering panel that had amplified its visage. The text shifted, warping in the air like…

Numbers counting down, she thought. Is that our time limit? Why didn’t they use numbers we can understand?

She didn’t get a chance to ask, as the crowd erupted into panicked shouting. Those near Millie were little different, save for Catherine, who fell to her knees and clasped her hands praying loudly.

“He can’t be serious, right?” CJ said. “We’re supposed to do some sort of test now?”

“I…I guess,” Millie replied, turning to see Tanya throwing herself anxiously into Liam’s arms. She tore her eyes away to look back at CJ. “I just don’t know where we're supposed to—”

Her words were cut short by a grinding noise that washed over the arena. Almost as one, the crowd of hundreds turned to see the area behind Millie open up. A set of doors, five in total and several stories tall, stood open. All that laid beyond were walls of yawning darkness filling their frames, but they presumably led to their ‘test.’

Millie gulped, her throat dry. One clammy hand was grasped by an unfamiliar thin one, and she looked to her side to see Katelyn holding it. The tall girl tried to give Millie a reassuring smile, but it came out like a grimace. Even still, Millie squeezed her hand in response.

“Of course not!” Liam shouted, responding to something Tanya had whispered to him. “We aren’t just going to go charging into some dark hallway because some alien said so. If other people want to risk that, let them go first. I’ll keep you both safe until we know it's clear.”

He swept a hand out, and his gesture covered Millie. It took her a second to also realize…he was including her in his ‘protection.’ She grit her teeth as she glared at him.

A distant cry stole her attention, however, followed shortly by gasps in the crowd. A man, cursing the alien, the city, and strangely the government, had climbed up the walls leading to the dais. A dozen people began shouting in response, with even more taking off after him.

“Where are they going?” Katelyn said anxiously. “Do they think they can follow that…person?”

“Alien, you mean?” CJ said, flashing her a goofy smile. He was good at those. “I suppose, yeah, they probably wanna follow ET to see if there's a way out up there, but I’m…not sure if that's a good plan.”

“What makes you say that?” Catherine interjected, prayers seemingly finished as she stood up. “I mean, at worst wouldn’t they just find a locked door? Or do you think there's something else?”

CJ shrugged in response, before pointing at the walls lining the arena. Millie squinted to see what he was trying to point at in the dim, sourceless light, and Catherine pushed up her glasses before murmuring her own inability to see what he was indicating.

“Ugh, come on you two. Don’t you notice the stains on the wall?”

“Stains?” Millie whispered. Looking again, she tried to see what he meant. It did look oddly mottled.

“I don’t get it,” Catherine said. “The walls are just brown.”

“…and?” CJ prompted.

“And dark?” Catherine shrugged.

But Millie gasped. “Spotted. Are those dried blood stains?”

Now CJ nodded somberly, his brief smile from before gone. “I bet the only reason we aren’t being motivated to play along is because of those restrictions the alien talked about. Their test probably started…differently before.”

“But—”

Millie never got to finish her question.

The first of the group scaling the walls reached the top of the dais. One of them shouted triumphantly, as dozens followed suit. But just as quickly, the ground underneath them began to glow brightly. The first up top, a woman in jeans and a white T-Shirt that had surpassed the man from earlier, screamed. But before she could retreat, the air just…popped. A wave of force thumped across Millie’s skin, making her jump, but it was too distant to hurt. Her ears did ring briefly, even as she stared in disbelief at the sight. Because the woman was…gone.

She’d been blown away. Her body had turned into chunks, and globs of wet gore soared over those nearby as the air rippled and people toppled, jumping back while they screamed. A small plop of something warm hit Millie’s arm, and she lifted it to see a drop…of blood.

But, I’m across the arena, she thought numbly. How did it reach this far?

She looked up slowly at the remaining people on top of the dais. They were screaming, fighting against each other as they desperately tried to climb down. But more lights were appearing. They were accompanied by a high-pitched chuckle and a series of more pops.

“Aha! I can do this at least. Consider yourselves disciplined for leaving the designated area!”

The alien’s indirect voice sang out, and dozens of people’s lives were snuffed out in an instant. Detonations, lacking the characteristic Hollywood fireballs, tore into those who’d climbed. The punitive destruction followed them even after they jumped off, hitting those below with collateral damage. Bones turned to shrapnel, people were crushed by those jumping down, and dozens were dead. Just, gone. It happened in the blink of an eye, and half the arena was showered in the carnage.

It was more than enough to break the crowd. First with a ripple, and then with a flood, the group fled en masse, running and screaming in panic. Millie realized now…there were a lot of people.

And they were all running straight towards her in pure terror.

There was only one way she could go if she didn’t want to be trampled. She turned back to see the walls of darkness filling the doors. Where a deadly trial awaited. The maniacal laughter of the cruel alien echoed in the arena, competing against the renewed ringing in her ears.

“New plan,” Liam shouted. “We’ve got to go—now!” For once, Millie didn’t argue with him. She did slap his hand away, however, when he tried to grab her. Instead, she took CJ’s arm and held her belly steady while Katelyn supported her other side. Their small group rushed forward, but Millie moved too slowly to outrun the stampeding crowd.

They reached the yawning black portal of the middle door just as the fleeing mob reached them. Millie felt the first body slam into her as she stumbled through the door.