I didn't really want to try again. I didn't. I would just get up again, trip over something, go into some sort of coma, and then wake up again.

That's how my days go.

So instead of whipping back up and taking a heavy breath of air when I woke up, I laid there. I even took my stiff arm and tried to cover my eyes from the light coming into my face.

More or less, I was in a pretty comfortable position. I was laying in a bed, which was a lot nicer than hot sand. I also had a blanket over me, which was helpful because I didn't have any pants on.

I did have some really tight tub top on, which was cutting off the circulation to my head. I was about to tear that off as well.

When you're running away from monsters you don't have a lot of time to just sleep. I mean really sleep. I was going to take this chance of relaxation.

My image of the area I was in didn't even form because I refused to open my eyes. All I knew was that there was a warm comfortable surface under me and over me. So when I went to turn to block the sun out more, I didn't know where the side of the mattress was.

As soon as I knew it the mattress under me was gone, and I was dragging my blanket with me as I fell off the bed.

Of course rude awakenings were the only awakenings I ever got. I adapted to that concept.

So I stood back up, and my joints cracked as I stood up. My whole body was stiff, and moving made everything feel ten times worse.

Then I was given a bunch of clothing, and I was getting a serious case of deja vu.

Andor was looking at me, straight in the eyes. He seemed very tired, but happy. The strain and stress in his face had left, but his smile was still tired and there were dark circles under his eyes.

I glanced down at the clothes, and the first ting on top was a pale pink sweater.

"This top is literally the same color as my skin-"

"-hope-"

"Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a top?"

Andor, who was so sleepy that he didn't even laugh at my joke, rubbed his tired eyes. I could tell he was holding something in, but I couldn't tell what it was. He was so good at doing things like that.

"The people who saved us," he said. "They're inviting us for dinner in six hours."

I clutched onto the clothes. They smelled like grass, and were warm from the sun. I was so confused. These people had attacked me in water, but now they were feeding us? Also I was half sure the little girl that had almost drowned me was Mot's adoptive daughter Allyssa.

"You saved them Hope." He answered. Even saying that made him a little more lucky.

"What would have happened?" I whispered out. My voice was straining, and my knees ached. I sat down on the bed. "What happened?"

"You got shot by a venomous flower." He said.

"Like a snake," I inquired. I did remember that. The orchids came alive and shot me with these pine needle looking things.

"Yes." He let out calmly. "Like a snake."

He didn't say anything then. That was it. He didn't have anything more to say, so he wasn't going too. He was tired, hungry, and a bit stressed. The best thing I could do was leave him alone for a while. Even if that was a few minutes while I was getting dressed.

The room had stark white walls, which is why it was so ungodly bright. The bed was pushed up against a wall, which was also a little ironic because it was the frame was huge enough to be a queens. They just shoved it to the side like they had Queen beds to spare.

The floor was this dark oak wood, that was cold to lay my feet on. The room was cold because of the stone walls, but I knew outside it was tropical levels of humid.

Lots of other little accessories sat in the room, like plants and even a wardrobe, but I ignored all those things because they weren't worthwhile.

"She said she was sorry." Andor said.

I turned before I could reach the door that I assumed to be to the bathroom.

"Alyssa. She's Mot's daughter. She said she thought you were dangerous and she was sorry."

The small child that had tackled me. My assumption was correct.

"You could of died, if the people here hadn't of found us in time. Alyssa definitely would have."

I smirked at him. "A little bit of poison isn't that much at this point."

He smiled brightly this time. Not some lackluster attempt to make him less angry at me. He held his head, and stared at the ground. "Go get dressed. You're half naked."

I swung open the dark oak door. Thankfully it did lead to a bathroom, with all the works.

"AYE AYE CAPTAIN!" I yelled out. If anyone was around us they would very much wonder what was happening.

"Never call me captain again-!"

I slammed the door before he could finish.

"So your a resident here."

"That's just what I said Mr. Syndicate."

"Well, let me just get it out in the air, that I'm a resident here too."

"I'm aware." The girl with the pale blonde hair tried to force out a smile. "I'm the one giving you the tour."

I could assume her normal demeanor wouldn't be like this, seeing as she almost shot us dead with a pistol at the swamp, but Mot had betted her that she couldn't be nice for a whole day.

And Tom sabotaged the first thing he could find.

Her name was Andy. Andrea was her full name, I had been told by Matthew Gaines, but she didn't go by that anymore.

She reached for a key out of her jean pockets. She didn't have dainty hands like most women. Her fingers were strong and toned, just like the rest of her. The grip she gave to the doorknob as she turned it showed me that if Tom didn't knock it off he was going to get his ass kicked.

She waved her hands sarcastically in front of the door. "This would be your room sir James Wagglington."

"Oh," Wag let out politely. He was surprised by the use of his old Wizards name. "It's just Wag now."

"Mhm," she barely got out.

I didn't even have to guess before I knew who's alter ego she was. Hope's. Personality wise they were the spitting image of each other. It was scary. Even scarier that Tom continued to hit on her.

All of our alter egos were here actually. Tucker's, Sonja's, Tom's, and I's. Sonja's you would know as Alyssa. Tom's who we already had gotten to know, Mot. The only ones we hadn't met were Tucker's (who was on a mission of some sort) and mine. And I was way to excited to meet other me.

They had all taken up residence here. At the Kingdom of Aura. It was an academy of sorts. A training ground for future soldiers. They had a courtyard where people could practice fighting outside, surrounded by the beautiful landscaping. I had even heard rumors of a basement floor where they had a custom weapons room.

Even though the Kingdom of Aura - which most just called Aura - was for mainly teaching. It was also for us. The fallen. The people who fell from the sky.

Those people were rare now. I was a rarity, but in the few moments when that does happen they can stay in Aura.

Which was honestly a blessing in itself because the place was like a five star hotel. The rooms had gold moldings - gold! - and the beds had the comfiest mattresses in the world. Everything was so clean cut, and nice, and orderly.

I couldn't wait to meet the founders over dinner.

Andy had a sharp face, just like the Japanese exchange student I had befriended in my sophomore year. A sophisticated and strong gaze on the world. That's what her eyes gave off. They were piercing blue, which was so weird but fitting for her at the same time.

"Dinner is in 4 hours," Andy said, handing Wag his room key.

"What do I do until then?" Wag asked. For once he had complete freedom.

Andy shrugged. "Whatever you want." And then she slammed the door shut in Wag face.

"Next room," She slightly murmured out, and I could see her sigh with happiness as she noticed that the key was Tom's.

I decided that instead of having Tom annoy Andy, I would annoy her. With multiple questions about other me.

"So is my alter ego here right now?"

Andy groaned. She started to walk faster, and me and Tom were forced to keep up with her.

I wasn't giving up that easily. "So he isn't here?"

"He is," Andy finally broke down and said. Her shoulders had slouched and she was rubbing her head. She had a short temper.

"Where? Can I see him?"

"Both of those answers are 'I'm not telling you." Andy started to rush through the keys, seeing if my room was far away from Tom's.

"Why is his name spark?"

"Because."

"How did he get Ianite to fall in love with him?"

"He made cupcakes."

"When designing the architecture of Dagrun, did he plan for the docks to survive high tide all the time or-?"

Andy whipped her head around to glare at me for only a moment. "I don't know how he planned any of that. The guy is 70 years older than me." She stated frankly.

We stayed quiet for awhile. I looked over at Tom, who was walking beside me. He looked like he was winding himself up, ready to pop out of the metaphorical Jack in the Box and piss us all off.

And he exhaled to get out his statement, like a warning siren.

Andy definitely took it as a warning, because she opened the next unlocked door she could find and motioned to it.

"Oh my goodness. Look at that! It's your room!" She let out cheerily.

Tom slowly raised his hand in distrust. "-but I thought I was on the second floor-"

"Get in there you crazy beast!" Andy shrieked out.

Tom was hurled into the room, as Andy pushed him with her surprising strength.

Tom was even going to try to rebuke her statement more, and Andy realized with fear that he would have been able to. She hadn't given him the key.

Suddenly she threw the key in the room with him. She hurled it into the room like it was a baseball, and then slammed the door behind her.

If she could of she would've locked it.

Andy had almost relaxed, until she caught the eye of another person. Everyone she was running into was just on the path to give her a bad day.

Except I don't think Matthew Gaines would ever want Andy to have a bad day. He followed her around like a lost puppy, and we had only been here for a few hours.

Andy had only taken the opportunity to give us our rooms because she wanted to get rid of Matthew. She had even made it where she dropped him off at his room first. Sadly the fact meant that he had unpacked first, and he had gotten back on the hunt for her quickly.

"Oh my god," she paused in shock, but her voice was just tired. Her eyes were screaming "are you fucking kidding me".

"Okay," Matthew started to say. He was still walking towards her as he started to blabber on. "I did try to find the courtyard on my own, I promise, but I couldn't find it."

Andy just glared at him.

I almost felt bad for Matthew. He immediately got stiff and awkward and couldn't get a word out. "I - I - just - I-"

Andy pushed me out of the way, and stood uncomfortably close to Matthew. At least uncomfortably for me. They looked like they were having a fine time.

They were around the same height, but Andy's strong posture made her seem so much taller. She held Matthews face in her hands, and stared lovingly at him. So lovingly that I thought I was going to have to leave, and just not get my room.

Until Andy started to lean in for a kiss. Except it wasn't a kiss. She leaned in further and further, and when she was only a few inches away from Matthews face she let out "No".

Then, she simply walked away from him. Like that.

She pushed my key into my chest and walked away.

Matthew and I were left to fend for ourselves.

It was quiet rude of her to shove that door into my face. Not to sound like an angry old man, but I am over 300 years old and do deserve some respect.

It was also rude of her not to show up to dinner. None of the alter egos did. It was a team dinner.

I had also been informed by Tom that the name of the team was "Team Reester" for some god awful reason. I decided not to argue because at least I was part of the team.

Sure I had been part of a team before, if you could call the Wizards a team, but I was with a team that did good. The Wizards felt more like a cult to me that I was entrapped in. I was never happy or fulfilled simply building onto an oasis we had been banned in.

Being as strong as a god is not something anyone should envy.

These silly mortals that had been bonded tightly together like a family were true. They were the explorers who decided to find more. They were the knights that saved the manipulated instead of praying on them. They were heroes. Heroes no world could plan on having.

When I sat down and saw that there were seven empty chairs instead of three, I realized it was more than a team dinner. Martha and Andor would show up, being just as new to the world as us.

The hosts were kinder than expected. When running a Kingdom you were less trusting, more diligent. They had set up a big feast for us, and I could smell some sort of bird cooking in a broiler. The chairs were gold line oak wood, and had a purple cushion seat.

If I ran a Kingdom, I would never throw strangers a feast in a grand dinning room on the first day they were here. Though these hosts set at life with a sort of childlike wonder. Curious and ready to learn.

They had even set up Dianite his own meal, which is something I had heard the cooks murmuring about. I had gotten their earlier and it was easier to sneak in all the gossip.

Sonja and Tucker had seated. Tucker had even stared at me funny, and commented that "Being punctual must be my strong suit."

And I nodded my head yes. "Yes it is."

Then Jordan showed up, with Tom following suit. Tom didn't look a bit disappointed that Andy wasn't their, even though he had showed so much interest in her before hand.

I then realized that Tom saw flirting as a tool for annoyance, more than getting a lover. A concept that I could never try to grasp.

Martha then entered the room, and she had put her hair up into a lavender bun, which made her look ageless. A same type of complexion that I had seemed to grow. Her shoulders stood straight, like always, and the white blouse that she had found looked marvelous on her.

I couldn't help but compliment her. "You look very nice tonight."

She smiled brightly, and then pushed out the seat beside me. "Well thank you." She sat down beside me and smoothed out her skirt.

When I looked up everyone at the table was either half smiling at me, or had a look of shock.

I had also forgotten how mesmerizing budding love is to mortals. Something so common, yet so interesting to them.

The room was becoming so silent, waiting for these founders, that someone was soon going to be forced to make small talk. No one wanted that. Thankfully with his godlike senses, Dianite came in and save the day.

Dianite is always enough to start an interesting conversation.

He didn't even have clothes on, just a bath rob, which was covering all of his extremities. Mostly it was his messy hair and the bags under his eyes that made us curious. Mostly because most ancient gods don't sleep. Dianite being an ancient god doesn't sleep.

I couldn't tell why he looked so tired.

"Gods need relaxation to." He muttered out, trying to smooth down his black unruly hair. "Even if it's just lying down and listening to the beautiful nature your sister created."

He then scrambled into the kitchen, and I could half hear him yell. "Where the hell is my food please?! Your all dolls, but I'm very tired!"

When it got blantetly obvious that no one was coming to give Dianite his special dinner any time soon, he came and talked to us. He had gotten that desperate.

"So," He leaned against the table. His leg became a little too obvious. I saw Sonja wince and look away. "How has your days been?"

"Seeing as we've only been allowed to have time alone for three hours, not great," Tucker answered grumpily.

Everyone silently agreed with Tucker's statement. Although the dinner was nice, none of us wanted to go out of our way to stop sleeping and eat. Getting away from my 2 hour long nap was very hard.

"Well, don't expect Matthew Gaines to make his way down to dinner," Dianite said. "He's wrapped up with Andy."

Tom suddenly got a bit too interested in the conversation. "Wrapped up physically or metaphorically."

Sonja kicked Tom under the table.

He tried to squirm away from her. "-ow-"

Dianite had the decency not to answer, which I silently respected him for.

"Where is the other two?" He asked. I couldn't tell who he was talking about until he pointed in the vicinity of Andor and Hope's seats.

"Hope got stung by that flower thing." Jordan answered almost off a whim, like he had been spinning that excuse around in his head.

Dianite still looked at the seat suspiciously.

"Hope is usually late for everything." Sonja got out. The awkwardness of the conversation continuing wasn't something appropriate or our business to be involved with. "It's kinda her thing." Sonja shrugged.

Dianite still had his eye on the same theory.

Whatever that may be.

"Your lord." A cook struggled to open the kitchen doors as she held the pan filled with Dianite's food.

Dianite tried to help her, but he was too surprised by how heavy some food could be. Though during that I noticed her face, and how it also had that ageless glow to it. Even though her hair was as dry and white as an older women, her dark skin was youthful and braking out into acne. As if she was as young as Hope.

"Well thank you for that dear." He said, trying to be as helpful as possible to her cause. Still the plated dish still swayed right and left, and a bit of whatever stew Dianite was eating almost fell on the floor.

"Please don't drop that." The cook got out. "It's corrosive out of that plate or your body." She talked about the sake of it so smoothly, like this was something she ran into all the time.

Jordan's eyes got huge. He wasn't aware of what God's ate that was actually palatable. Mortal food did absolutely nothing for them.

"Wait what-" he tried to get out.

"Yes, yes." Dianite waved the women away. "I get it."