It’s about a hundred degrees outside. That’s not an exaggeration, I checked, and it’s in the high 90s. Which means that marching practice was particularly brutal. A girl in the clarinet section passed out. So I don’t really appreciate that Anja is late picking me up. (I thought that telling my dad that I wanted to hang around city hall with a couple of friends and a wild armadillo after my piano lesson would come off as very suspicious.)

Zoe took the whole thing better than I expected. Don’t get me wrong, she was freaked the hell out, but she at least wasn’t more so than I was the first time. She did find this method of changing things… questionable, and honestly I kind of agree with her on that. But we’re still sticking with it. At this point, it seems like we’re in too deep to back out of it now. That said, we did agree that Zoe won’t be joining us in doing the actual fighting and Palace crawling, so she is at home right now.

At long last, Anja comes rolling up, Nova in the passenger seat. So I climb into the back, where a certain armadillo is nodding at me curtly from the next seat.

Anja messes with her phone for a little bit before putting the car back in motion.

“I didn’t realize you were old enough to drive.”

For some reason, Anja gives Nova a quick, sharp look. “Well, I am.”

“Well, that’s for the better. We don’t want to generate suspicion.”

“In a quarter mile, turn left onto Mango Street.”

“You really think you need Google Maps for this?” I question. “Nova could’ve given you directions. This town isn’t that complicated to navigate.”

“I don’t see how it matters.”

“Well, do you really want to tell Google where you are at every second of the day?”

“What are they going to do with that information?”

“I don’t know. Whatever they want. I thought that, being a liberal, you would be more wary of the motives of large corporations.”

“Okay. That’s enough commentary from the peanut gallery.”

We arrive at our destination shortly after that. I’ve never been to the courthouse before now. It’s a white, rectangular building lined with windows, that has a taller and wider center. It’s almost a little like a mini version of the White House.

“That’s him!” Nova hisses at us shortly after we climb out of Anja’s car. There’s a man exiting the courthouse from the front.

“Awh shit! That’s just our luck!” Anja whispers, looking around as if trying to find somewhere to hide.

“Chill,” I tell her, “What’s he going to do, call the cops on us? Besides, it’s probably better that Anja and I know what he looks like anyway.”

“What if he does call the cops on us?” Anja presses me. “We don’t know what this guy’s damage is.”

“What are you kids doing here?” Pavia asks, still a few yards away.

I turn towards him. He’s an older man, heavily balding. He carries himself in a very pompous way.

“Oh, just exercising our civic duty,” I say.

“Hmm… you’re the Mosely boy!” He says, having just noticed Nova, who is glaring at him.

“You can’t talk to him like that!” Anja snaps at him. “What makes you think you’re so high and mighty?”

Pavia blinks, taken off guard by the jab. After a second, he recovers and puts on a faux-fatherly vibe.

“Well, little girl, I’ve proudly served this county for over a decade now. Doing my part to uphold the law, both that of the founding fathers and of our Creator…”

“You mean George Washington told you to make him move back in with his abusive mother?”

He smiles a dangerous smile. “Ah, so you believe the story of this r- er, this young boy?”

For some reason, Anja freaking loses her shit at this. She goes red in the face and starts stuttering “How… you j-... I…”

I think I’d better defuse the situation. I put my hand on her shoulder and say, “Anja… let’s just get along with the reason we came here , okay?”

“You seem like a responsible young lady,” Pavia says to me. “Make sure that these two stay out of trouble.” And on that note, he walks away, clearly having more important things to do than talk to us.

“Oh don’t worry, we’re going to get into plenty of trouble,” Anja muttered, wringing her hands maniacally. “Like ripping you a second…”

“What’s gotten into you?” I scold her. “We’re supposed to wait to get angry until we’re fighting the demons and shit!”

“You heard what he was about to say!”

“Actually, I didn’t. That’s kind of the nature of it not actually being said.”

“He was going to say the r-slur. I just know it.”

“The r-slur?” I rack my brains for a word starting with r that would refer to a racial minority.

“She means ‘retard,’” Nova adds softly.

“That’s a slur now?” I ask.

“Yes it is!” Anja answers. “I’d like to give that shithead a piece of my mind!”

“Don’t bother,” Nova tells her. “People like him don’t listen to people like us.”

I seriously never knew that was a slur. I always thought it was just another word for “idiot.” In hindsight, I suppose that explains why my mom once got really angry at me for saying that. I’ll make a note of this for the future.

“Well, we don’t know that’s what he was going to say,” I remark. “Maybe he was going to say ‘runt’ or ‘ruffian’ or something. Granted, I suppose that still would’ve been really rude…”

“It doesn’t matter. Honestly, I don’t care,” Nova insists. “Let’s just get on with it.”

With clear reluctance, Anja bites her lip and drops it. I press the app, and into the purple haze we go.

...Or not. It’s clear the moment the world comes into focus that this place is a bit different.

My eyes are stabbed by the flash of a bright light. I turn and see that it’s from a huge building that is where the courthouse just was.

“Wow, looks like Mr. Clean went a little overboard,” Anja comments. Nova laughs loudly at her.

The building is in the same shape as the courthouse, but it is made entirely of a sort of limestone-esque stone that emits a very noticeable glow. The building also looks a bit fancier, with some extra frills and rafters The landscape around it is also affected for several yards in every direction. The dark colors of the rest of the Metaverse subtly transition into the bright white texture, and the veins get smaller as they approach before seeming to turn down into the ground beneath it.

Well, I guess it’s nice that the first “Palace” we willingly encounter actually looks like a palace, as that will make it easier to remember from here on out.

“Don’t let the inviting appearance put you at ease,” Ted says from right beside us, causing Anja and Nova to jump about ten feet in the air. “Any place in the Metaverse that sticks out of the texture like this is bound to be filled with danger.”

“You snuck up us!” Anja chides. “Hey, wait a sec!” She looks around us. “We’re further away from the place than before!”

Come to think of it, she’s right. We had our little chat with the big man on the sidewalk in front, but now it looks like we’ve been moved back to where the other side of the street would be.

“Well, it makes sense that it would teleport us to wherever the very front is,” Nova offers. “If we just popped up right in the middle, that’d be too easy, now would it?”

“That doesn’t add up though,” Anja says, frowning. “Back at the school, we ended up in the middle of the tentacle rape jungle the moment we entered.”

“That is strange,” I admit. “I guess different Palaces have different rules.”

I begin walking towards the entrance of the building. After a pause, I can hear the others follow suit.

The closer we get to the building, it somehow feels like we’re not walking towards it at all. It just feels like we’re standing in the same place, and the Palace is just growing ever larger, hovering over us like a ghost.

“It feels kind of stupid walking around in a tee shirt while you two are all fancy,” Nova comments unecessarily.

“Don’t you worry, I’m sure you’ll be getting your own soon,” I assure him.

“Are you implying that you’d like to wear my dress?” Anja teases.

“If I did, you wouldn’t have anything to wear!”

“Eh. I can just go naked.”

“And have no protection against whatever monsters we meet?” I question her.

“It’s not like a dress is much protection anyway.”

I sigh at her. “Anja, remember, we’re in a metaphysical world here. I think it’s safe to assume that our outfits don’t directly provide us with material protection like they would in the regular world.”

“Ashley, I literally don’t have a clue what you just said.”

“Forget it. Just keep your clothes on.”

Anja sighs back dramatically. “I’ll try.”

After what feels like several hours, though it should’ve only been only about a minute, we arrive at the entrance.

“Everyone got a hold of their panties?’ I ask the group at large.

“I don’t wear those,” Nova responds. “I’m a boxers guy.” Without further ado, he shoves the front door open, and I follow in after him.

As it turns out, the Palace is bigger on the inside. We enter a magnificent chamber, which has no other entrances or exits as far as I can see. It’s about fifty feet tall, twenty feet wide, and stretches so far that I can’t see the other end directly in front of us (assuming that there even is one.) The floor is lined with white bricks covered by a red carpet that leads straight forward. The walls are adorned with matching red drapes and various golden vases sitting on wooden shelves. In between each shelf is a marble statue of something that resembles an angel. What’s unusual about them is that they all have their mouths wide open, as though screaming. The effect is quite unsettling. (Although it also makes me wonder if my Persona being an angel will give me some type of home advantage.) The ceiling is slanted glass, beyond which is a bright sunny day covered by endless fluffy clouds.

“Well… dude sure knows how to decorate,” Anja comments uneasily. Nova is squinting, carefully scanning the room.

“Looks like there’s no way to go but forward,” I say. “At least there are no enemies around.”

Suddenly, I realize something. “Hey, wait a sec. Where’s Ted? I thought he was right behind us.”

“Uh-oh, did we leave him behind?” Anja asks, looking around her feet.

I turn back towards the door and try to open it again, but it won’t budge.

“Um… fuck. Stand back,” I tell the others. I slash at the door several times with my sword. It doesn’t even leave a scratch.

“I don’t think the Palace wants us to leave,” Nova comments, somewhat ominously.

“Well… I hope the little guy’s okay,” Anja says.

“It seems we have no choice but to soldier on and meet up with him later,” I say. And so we begin walking down the red carpet.

This room seriously is ridiculously big. We keep on walking, but there’s no end. Is this a trap? Is there any way out at all?

Why did I agree to do this, anyway? I mean, none of us really knows what the fuck we’re doing. I guess that’s what Ted was here for. But now he’s not here. I mean, I guess it doesn’t matter. It feels like I’m not just walking to progress, I’m walking away from something. But I’m also walking towards something. But what does that even mean? I try to just push it out of my mind. I can’t think. I feel like my brain is addled or something.

“Hey guys,” I say, “Can we take a quick break? My legs are getting a bit sore.”

No response.

I turn around. Neither Anja or Nova are there. What… the fuck?

“Hey guys! What the hell?” I shout. I start jogging backwards. Did something happen to them? How did I not notice?

After a while, I see Anja curled up on the floor.

“Hey, what the hell are you doing?” I demand of her. I look down and see her… crying?

I get down on one knee. “What happened to you?”

She puts her face in her hands, hiding it from me. “We need to go, Ashley. There’s nothing we can do here. It’s… too much.”

“What’s too much?” I question her.

“You mean you can’t feel it too? The evil. We’re going to walk straight into the evil.”

She’s totally off her fucking rocker. I look around the room. Is something putting a spell on her? Somehow, I suspect the statues...

“It will destroy us, Ashley,” she continues. “I’m just one person. Not even old enough to vote yet. I’m just food for the machine.”

Extremely alarmed by her behavior, I jump to my feet and try to think. I have no clue what the fuck she’s on… Maybe… If I find Nova, he’ll be able to talk some sense into her? That doesn’t really make any sense, but it’s the only idea I have, so I run back to find him.

It’s not long before I run into him. He too is sitting on the floor, sitting in the fetal position and staring blankly into space. Well, at least he’s not crying, so that’s an improvement.

“Nova! Get off your ass!” I yell at him. “Something’s wrong with Anja! She’s gone loopy. We need to get her to snap out of it!”

“What am I going to do about it?” He says, his voice as blank as his stare. “I’m totally socially inept. If you couldn’t do anything, I won’t be able to.”

“Nova, just quit being a bitch and help me!”

“You don’t get it. I can’t help with anything. I don’t do anything but sit around and play video games. I literally have no skills. Well, my mom was right about that much.”

“Nova, we came here to do this so that you don’t have to deal with your mom anymore. Remember? How about we finish the assignment now, and mope about our lives afterwards?”

He just ignores me. I get so frustrated that I just start walking back towards the end again.

Okay, I guess I’m doing this without them then. Fine. Whatever. It’s just the story of my life. You think that they’re on your side, and then they just leave you, for no reason. I’m just stuck walking down this stupid corridor alone. Passing all of these stupid screaming statues. They’re screaming at me. At what I’ve done wrong.

And what exactly have I done wrong? I mean, it’s not like I wanted this. It’s not like I did anything to deserve it. I just got unlucky. Everyone just turned on me because of who I am. Over something that I can’t control. That’s not my fault. What could I have done? I guess I could’ve planned my big reveal a little better. And some of them had turned on me even before they knew…

Ah, why am I thinking about this? It doesn’t even matter. No use thinking about what was. When the going gets tough, I do what I always do. I just keep on walking. I don’t like to leave things unfinished. I’m not going to start something and just abandon halfway through. If I have to do the whole group project by myself, so be it.

I guess I’m not completely by myself, though. I mean, I have Zoe now. Oh Zoe. Oh God. I did this. All the misery that she’s been through. It’s my fault, isn’t it? If I hadn’t liked her so much, I wouldn’t have tried so hard to be friends with her, which means that she wouldn’t have started to like me so much. Though I don’t even know why she likes me to begin with, if I’m honest. Because it is true. I haven’t learned a thing. Nobody has ever benefited from associating with me.

I think I must be driving myself insane. Damn it all!