Carter and Navin took a moment to check in on Jake before heading downstairs.

“I’m a fucking spectacle,” Jake said, an expression halfway between a grin and a grimace on his face as the two walked in. “Never been so popular.”

“We can’ leave if-” Navin started but Jake shook his head.

“Nah, it’s alright.”

Navin shuffled his feet, looking over the newly transformed satyr. “I’m sorry buddy. That looks like it fucking hurt.” He’d hoped to be able to inspect the horns a bit, see if he could figure out any alternative to the theory of magic, but Jake’s blood-stained sheets and pajamas and slapped him real fast with a dose of reality.

“Certainly not a boring morning.” Carter looked almost as uncomfortable as Navin felt.

“Disagree. Something was definitely boring today.” Jake tapped one of his horns with a finger and his satisfied smile transformed instantly into a wince. “Ow ow.”

“You deserve that,” Navin said, but the pun was enough to break a laugh from the three.

“I’m guessing you’re not coming downstairs with us?” Carter asked.

“Fuck no. Pain’s like, barely at a four right now. It’s getting better but my legs are not about to carry my weight. Feel like they’ll never be. Why did 8-year-old Jake want to be a goat so badly?”

“I always thought it was weird,” Navin said.

Despite having just made the crack at his own expense, Jake looked defensive. “The horns were a birthday gift. And it’s not like we didn’t do weirder things at camp. Remember the Sky Priests?”

“Selectively blocked them out,” Navin said.

“We’re just giving you shit,” Carter said. “You scared us for a bit this morning.” He paused, as if to say more, but just nodded to himself. “Alright. Get some rest. We’ll be back up for you when we’ve searched the rest of this place.”

---

The first place they explored was the first set of massive double doors in the entry hall, the ones closest to the stairs. They swung open with some effort, revealing a dawning summer sun pouring its warmth over a huge field.

Morgan took the first few steps out, bare toes treading softly over the dew-soaked grass. Violet was quick on her heels. Hidden away, in a deep, secret part of herself, Violet felt that Echoterra belonged to her. Her parents had founded the camp years ago, working with her and her sister Russette as long as they could remember to invent the world. The stories, the Gods, the portals to other worlds, it had all come from their minds. When they borrowed characters from literature and history to serve as Travelers, people summoned by the Doorway, they did their utmost research into each individual. Violet knew Echoterra’s history better than Earth’s. She wasn’t a jealous person but she also wasn’t going to let Morgan experience the whole world first.

“Hey, let’s not go too far guys!” Meredith called from the doors as the group ventured out. She bobbed on her feet, watching their receding backs, then tossed a pleading look at Carter.

“Alright team!” Carter’s bellow rang out across the field and the wandering figures that had strayed too far from the castle paused and turned. “We are way too unprepared to be wandering around outside the castle like this! We don’t even know everything inside!” His voice quieted as the group, somewhat sheepishly, reformed in front of the castle, but never dropped its authoritative tone. Violet hovered by his side, smiling quietly to herself. “We’re going to finish exploring the castle, find ways to arm or protect ourselves, and then we can decide on a plan of action. Let’s not forget that we were practically kidnapped to be here. Just because it happened magically doesn't change that point.”

“Inside is boring.” Morgan’s arms were crossed tight over her chest and she sent an envious glance towards the massive forest in the distance.

“Mysterious castle full of magic isn’t cool enough?” William asked.

She rolled her eyes, but grinned good-naturedly and followed the rest back inside.

“I’m actually with Morgan here,” Shawn was telling Fiona. “It’s creepy in here.”

“Shawn, hun, you gotta have more balls than that. No one’s gonna let you get hurt.”

“Yeah, but just looking at the place from the outside gave me the jeebies. Feels like someone’s watching me from the windows.”

“I got that feeling too!” Meredith swooped into their conversation. “Especially the dorms.”

Shawn nodded, eyes big, talking quickly. “I was sure I saw something move by one of the windows at the end of the second floor.”

“How sure?” Violet asked, finally done pretending not to eavesdrop.

“Uh, honestly, not at all,” he said. “I did a double-take and nothing was there. Still doesn’t make me trust the place.”

By this point, the group had reached the second double doors at the other end of the entry hall. These doors opened at a touch, lighter than a feather, and they all found themselves facing a massive dining hall, large enough to fit well over the regular hundred and fifty campers they usually saw. It dwarfed the entry hall by an order of magnitude. From the ceiling hung massive chandeliers. Dozens of torches lined the walls. The walls of the room were a warm brown, dotted with a few doors, and the floor was worn and well-traveled, with marks and scrapes on every bench and table. At the end of the hall was a raised platform with a large, magnificently carved oaken table stretching across the whole end. At each side of the platform, a small door led beyond the dining hall, and a huge tapestry took up almost the whole wall.

Morgan hopped up onto a table and raced across the marred, well-used wood. Her bare feet barely touched the surfaces as she skipped from table to table. Back at camp, there were rules against both climbing and bare feet, and Morgan wasn’t about to honor either.

Violet walked through the room, feeling very small. How much of this world was based on camp? Who else was here? Were her parents? Russette had just graduated from CIT to counselor, was she here?

She stepped onto the raised section, eyes on the tapestry. It was a striking emerald green, with a deep, midnight blue E down the middle. Around the E were seven ornate crests, each representing the various Orders of Echoterra, groups of heroes sworn to protect the world in a unique way. Her eyes fell upon the crest of the Order she’d belonged to as a camper back home: a grey hare silhouetted against a jet black background, only distinguished from its surroundings by a thin white border around the animal. The Daisan Order. It was real here. It was all real here.

Then there was a scream and loud clang, followed by swearing. One of the doors on the side of the platform was open. Violet drew her knife as she crept forward, wondering if she’d have the guts to use it. She and Carter were the first to the door, as the others guarded themselves, drawing weapons.

But, as Violet approached the door, her nerves were soothed by the sound of laughter.

“You fucking idiot.” Amanda’s words were punctuated by her own laughs and as Violet grew nearer, she could hear Sam’s giggles too.

Violet entered the room to find a large kitchen. On the ground, Sam was sprawled in an uncharacteristically undignified heap. Amanda had her sword pointed at whatever had startled Sam so badly, which appeared to be a large, upturned pot that had fallen from a shelf.

“We are way too jumpy,” Violet said, reaching down to help Sam up.

The younger girl hopped up before Violet’s hand was even fully extended. “It attacked me!”

By this time, more of the CITs had crept into the kitchen.

“Fuck yeah,” Zack said, nodding approvingly at the room. “I can work with this.” Behind him, Violet could see Fiona and Meredith creeping up slowly, eyes pouring around him to look for the cause of the drama.

“Just a pot!” Violet called to them.

“A kitchen! Fuck yeah, way better than magic!” Weston had, more or less, led the rest of the group to the kitchen. “I’m boycotting any more exploring til after breakfast. I am hungry.”

“Yeah, you look like you need a lot of food,” Shawn said.

Weston rounded on him in mock outrage. “You calling me fat?”

Shawn blanched but Violet and Carter exchanged eye rolls and Meredith gave Weston a shove. “Be nice,” she scolded.

Weston turned away, shaking his head in a disappointed manner, failing to conceal how his shoulders shook with laughter.

“You’re good, Shawn,” Darren said, patting the younger boy on the shoulders. “But I do second making breakfast.”

“Good.” Zack had already been taking stock of the kitchen while the others bickered. “I’m gonna need someone to help me out with finding food.” He didn’t give names or even really look over his shoulder, but Meredith was already on it, searching through the cabinets. “What do we got?” he asked.

“Lotta supplies. Dry goods, tons of things I don’t recognize. Bunch of weird equipment too. Oh shit, look at this!” At this last sentence, Violet turned to see her open a small, heavy-looking door. “Massive fridge thing! I’m gonna take stock.”

Some of the others followed her in.

“Does it run off magic?” Shawn asked.

“I’ve ruled out electricity a while ago.” Aaron ran a finger across the interior of the cold storage. “No outlets, plugs, screws, nothing, in the whole building. I’m on board with the magic theory.”

Darren was also investigating, moving around various heavy storage containers, examining small symbols around the inside. “Runes? Definitely an enchantment.” His face lit up at the mention of his specialty.

“I’m trying to get some work done.” Meredith’s grumble was so low, Violet barely heard it, but the girl was giving Aaron distrustful looks, anxious at his presence.

“Aaron,” Violet started, sidling up next to him. “Maybe we should give Meredith some space to run stock?”

“She can wait.” He waved a hand.

“She’s trying to get breakfast done.”

“She can wait until we’re finished with our investigation.” Aaron’s voice had risen a bit and this was enough to attract Zack’s attention.

“Nope. You want to help make breakfast, you can stay. Otherwise, out of my kitchen!”

Aaron looked shocked at the rebuke, from a first-year CIT nonetheless, but Violet laughed and grabbed him by the arm.

“You heard the chef,” Darren said, a smile on his face, following the two out of the fridge.

“I know I’m new here,” Shawn said, “and I only met him at training week, but I didn’t know people talked to Aaron that way.”

“They can,” Violet said. “You just have to be firm with him.”

“No,” Meredith said, “you just need to have earned his arbitrarily assigned trust.” She didn’t look too happy but didn’t press the issue. “Now go. Shoo. I’ll collect orders soon.”

---

Meredith and Zack raided the kitchen in search of recognizable foods. In the process, they found a host of bizarre cooking contraptions, some obviously magical ingredients, and what was definitely the liquor cabinet. They flitted around the kitchen, busy bees clutching half-filled wine glasses, and soon the smell of bacon and eggs and sausages flooded the hall. They uncovered an increasingly random assortment of trinkets as they continued, including a couple daggers, a nearly empty bolt of cloth that hummed when they touched it, and three clocks, all aggressively hidden. It would appear the Masters of the castle were as messy as their Earth counterparts.

“I’m gonna go take orders,” Meredith said, putting her glass down. She didn’t really love wine but she wasn’t gonna pass up a drink when Zack offered her one.

She found the rest sitting segregated by dorms. She hopped first to the girls, then to the third-floor boys, and finally to the second-floor boys.

“Hold up,” Aaron said when she reached him. “That’s it. There are only five people at the girls’ table.”

Meredith held her parchment scrap, already annoyed. “Yes. Cause I’m not there.”

“Right. There should be six cause each dorm has six people.”

Darren, sitting across from him, nodded, and it was clear that Aaron was actually talking to him, not Meredith.

“This is what I don’t get. Our table has six.”

“Because six people in each dorm,” Darren prompted.

“And the third-floor dorm has three.”

“Because Jake’s still upstairs and there are two empty rooms.”

Aaron snapped loudly. “No, that’s not right. Zack also lives on the third floor.”

Meredith had been absentmindedly following along with their train of thought but now tuned in very carefully. The chatter at the table had gone quiet.

“There are six girls by chance. Their dorm layout looks nothing like ours. Only four to a floor, with two empty rooms.” Aaron now commanded the attention of everyone in the room as the others started listening in. “There are seven rooms in the third-floor room. But, the floor beneath is identical. We missed something.”

“I saw something pass by the window at the end of the hall on the second floor,” Shawn said, voice tripping over itself to add his experience. “When we were outside.”

Aaron turned sharply at him. “Why are you only mentioning this now?”

“I thought it was a trick of the light, I thought-”

Aaron held up a hand. “We’ll have a discussion on transparency and perception later. For now, we need to discuss what you saw in the window at the end of the floor.”

“‘Scuse me but,” Sam said, not waiting to be excused, “there wasn’t a window at the end of any of the floors. Ours had either solid stone or a staircase, but yours had-”

“A door.” Patrick’s voice was low but easily overrode Sam’s quiet lilt.

Aaron stood up and everyone turned to look at him. “Gather your swords and meet up here. No one leaves this hall until we have agreed on a plan.”

Meredith felt sick to her stomach as she twirled her hair, watching those skilled with weapons talking. Shawn had been right to worry and she really wished the girls hadn’t dismissed him so fast. She hadn’t noticed a door at the end. In fact, she’d been the one to rush upstairs. If she hadn’t done that, who knows what might have happened? Of course, if she hadn’t gone up when she did, who knows when they would have found Jake, and what state he’d have been in.

She stopped short, a lock of hair still half twirled around her finger. Jake was still up there, in the boys' dorm. No way had he been the one moving around, in his state, which meant there was a stranger up there with him.

Over at the table, the others were deep in a planning session. They had barely started covering each other’s skill levels with various weapons. They were moving too slowly.

She had to act. If she was quick and bypassed the second floor, she could make it upstairs to Jake and warn him, get him prepared to move. Besides, he was good at swords. If he was feeling better, she could warn him and the two of them could stay in his room, protecting themselves while the larger group moved up to flush the intruder out.

Meredith moved to the entry hall, keeping an eye on the group, which didn’t seem to notice her leaving. She didn’t notice Sam sneaking up on her until the girl grabbed her at the base of the stairs.

“Bad idea.”

Meredith jumped, heart in her throat. “Jake’s up there. He’s up there alone and everyone charging up there to get him isn’t a good idea. Just one person sneaking, though, might work.”

Sam frowned for a second, before nodding and smiling. “Ok, good plan. I’ll go.”

“Sam-”

“I’m sneakier than you. And you can tell the others that you tried to stop me. I’m not scared of them being mad. And, final point, I can fight. A little bit at least.”

Meredith didn’t love the idea but she also didn’t love being in mortal peril and Sam definitely was better for the job.

“...ok fine. I’ll wait here. Are you gonna try to move him or just hide up there?”

Sam shrugged one shoulder. “Depends on his condition. Wait here.”

Meredith hugged herself as Sam ran up the stairs, footfalls so light they were inaudible. The more she thought about it, the stupider her plan felt and if Sam hadn’t stopped her, she could have been in real trouble. She wished she’d thought to run it by Sam, or that there had been someone else she was close enough to that she could confide in. Fiona was a little too close to Aaron, Zack too close Morgan. Shawn wouldn’t have really had much input and Patrick never would have approved of the plan at all. She sighed, wishing Jasper was there.

At this thought, a long groan slipped from her lips and a laugh bubbled from her as relief washed over her body. Of course. Of fucking course. Who else would just sit in their room, listening to the commotion, and wait for someone to make him get out of bed?

She hiked her skirts up and followed in Sam’s long gone footsteps, up to the second floor and across to the door on the end, where she rapped lightly a few times.

“Hey sleepyhead, it’s up time.”

The room was silent for a moment, before a familiar, soft voice called out, “Speak for yourself. I’ve been perfectly content not leaving my bed.”

“Well, I hope you’re dressed, cause I’m coming in.”

Meredith cracked the door and entered, to find Jasper lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He smiled at her entrance and sat up, his dark hair sticking out at awkward angles, the usual dark circles under his almond-shaped eyes present as always. “Good morning.”

“Morning Jasper!” She landed on the side of his bed, a smile on her face. Then the smile vanished. “Didn’t you hear us bustling around earlier? We were making a big ruckus, no way you missed us.”

“I didn’t miss you. I assumed you would if you were friends looking for friends, open my door.”

“We should have but I kinda ran upstairs early and everyone chased me and then we forgot.”

“So this is your fault.”

His voice wasn’t accusatory and she tossed him a heavy head tilt. “We were scared cause we thought you were an intruder.”

“Good, you should be scared. We should all be scared. What exactly do we know about this place? I’m assuming no one has found an obvious and clear answer as to what’s going on?”

Meredith gave him an aggressively sparknoted version of their day, mostly covering the transformations and finding everyone.

Jasper didn’t say much of anything until she’d finished. “So, we don’t have a clue where we are?”

Meredith wrinkled her nose. “You’re gonna be angry if I say Echoterra, aren’t you.”

“Likely.”

“Ok, I’ll make someone else say it.” She hopped to her feet and grabbed his hand. “Time to go downstairs.”

His brow puckered and he made a noise in the back of his throat.

“Nope,” she said, “not taking that. You gotta go because otherwise everyone is gonna come charging in here with swords.”

Jasper sighed. “I suppose that would be worse.” He hopped lightly to his feet and, still clad in his sleeping clothes, turned towards the door.

The two had just started descending the staircase when a shout of “I hear footsteps!” rang up to them, making both freeze.

“Maybe,” Jasper suggested in a whisper, “we go back to the landing where it’s less tight.”

Meredith nodded and turned to lead them back up the staircase when they heard the sound of hooves on stone coming down the stairs.

“Shit,” Meredith whispered. “Sam got Jake out of bed.”

Jasper didn’t respond, his face frozen, eyes darting up and down the staircase.

There was nothing else for it, as the footsteps on either side got closer.

“Aaron, Sam, it’s just me and Jasper! I remembered who we were missing and got him. Not a big deal, please don’t stab us!”

A second or two later, the stairwell erupted in noise as all parties converged on the two anxious CITs in the middle. Most looked relieved. Aaron looked pissed, Darren amused, Fiona pleased, Morgan annoyed, and Jake pained.

“I’m so sorry we got you dragged out of bed,” Meredith whispered to Jake after Aaron had finally decided that the threat was, in fact, nonexistent and they were allowed to return to the dining hall. She and Sam had volunteered to help Jake back upstairs as the others started breakfast. “Do your legs still hurt?”

“Indescribably.” His voice carried no cheer, forced between grit teeth. “Sam found a tend in one of the bags in the closet and that took the edge off but fuck.”

“I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t want you to be sorry. Just want to be lying down.”

“But-”

“Meredith,” Sam put a hand on her shoulder, “why don’t you run upstairs and change his bedsheets to something less bloody?”

Meredith sighed but obliged the request. She hadn’t really been helping much anyway.

A few minutes later, she and Sam rendezvoused with the rest of the team downstairs, who were all tucking into breakfast, the burst of adrenaline from the temporary panic really infusing their appetites. After the last of the plates had been cleared, talk turned to preparing themselves for the world outside. If they were scared by the mere potential of a stranger being in the castle, they weren’t equipped to leave it, and if they never left the castle, they would almost definitely never find out why they were here.

“Or how to go home,” Bastian said.

“Are we trying to go home?” Patrick asked.

Carter stepped in, stopping the potential argument in its tracks. “Regardless of ultimate goals, I think it’s best we explore the castle and break up into groups to practice a bit. I think everyone should do a bit of weapons training at some point.” He held up his hand at the barrage of complaints from the non-fighters. “I know a lot of you are mages and healers or whatever, but we still don’t know if or how magic plays a role here. I’m not having half the team forgo fighting entirely. Sound good?” He clapped his hands. “Ok, excellent. Let’s try to split the group based on interests and then start exploring this place.”