The train ran throughout the night, its occupants sleeping and eating in their cabins. A man in an apron came round at regular intervals, delivering them the meals that they had chosen.

Avakian actually rather enjoyed his eastern rice-and-meat dish, but looking around, his companions didn't seem to be sharing his enthusiasm.

Ellian looked like she was miserable about something, but it was hard to tell as sulking was more or less her natural disposition. Chiros was also looking rather sad, poking through his dish; which looked like pasta with ketchup.

"This food sucks." Ellian deadpanned.

"It's not that bad." Avakian countered. "Try some pork and rice, it's good." He hadn't eaten much meat in his lifetime, mostly sharing meals with the vegan Chiros. The only animals he had eaten were the tentacular insect, and various small game he had hunted on the wilderness survival course.

"Wait.. Is that-" Ellian gasped, ignoring Avakian's offer and looking out of the window.

Chiros leaned over Avakian to look out of the window. "The 73rd Fold..."

Looking outside and upwards, the group could see what had made Ellian so shocked. A strip of land had appeared in the sky whilst they were travelling, the enormity of it was enough to give anyone vertigo.

Academically, Avakian knew the geography of the Manifold; that the world was constructed from hundreds of thin strips of land floating in the sky. However as Kamatie liked to point out; knowledge is often departed from understanding.

Simply knowing wasn't nearly as impactful as seeing a floating continent just a few miles above their heads.

---

The strip of land above them grew larger and larger the closer the train got to their final destination. Avakian could see the town in the distance.

Its name was Anchorage. Anchorage was named as such because it was the place Aemon Lucius and his foundlings had first landed. Back then they had to use mere grappling anchors to traverse the distance to the untouched strip of land.

The train began to slow down, the breaks grating their ears, and a worker walked up to their cabin to inform them of their arrival.

They disembarked quickly, grabbing their luggage from the compartments they had stored them in.

The town of Anchorage was quaint, it clearly served more as a tourist destination and travel centre rather than an actual town. Avakian spotted hotels, shops, museums and guilds, but no actual residences.

"Look." Pointed Josef.

Up ahead, where the two spacebound continents were closest, was a series of gigantic metal cables connecting the two land masses. The purpose of these cables was to ferry passengers and goods between the two folds, the purpose of their journey to Anchorage.

"We can book tickets at the travel centre, and visit the coin exchange." Ellian declared. Avakian and Josef both looked shocked at her apparent competency, while Chiros just nodded.

The coin exchange was a necessary stop. Most Folds had their own unique currency, some more than one, so it was a prerequisite to change their currency for the local one.

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The Centre and Inner Folds rarely bothered with their own currency, its occupants preferring to use other Fold's currencies or simply barter.

They approached the travel centre, a single, old, building with a long queue for a single reception desk. The process was relatively simple, although it was called a 'travel centre', the only thing they did was sell tickets for the interfold cable.

They waited their turn and bought four tickets from the man at the front before visiting the coin exchange. Avakian exchanged 10 of his green coins for a dozen metallic coins that were common in the 73rd Fold.

"Ready?" Chiros looked around at the group, and then at the massive metal cable in the distance.

"To die, that is." Ellian muttered humorously, staring up at the gondolas travelling up and down the cable.

The walk to the interfold was tense. None of the four had ever left the 74th Fold before, except technically Avakian in the brief hours before his pod landed.

As they approached the asphalt ground the cable was built around, a brown-skinned man with a friendly smile approached them.

"Party of four? Do you have your tickets?"

Josef, who was holding onto their tickets, displayed them to the man, and they were led closer to the sky-bridge.

"We have around 15 minutes until the next gondola is available. If you have any questions I would be happy to answer, I've ridden this thing multiple times a day for nearly four years now." The man offered.

"Sure. Do people ever die?" Asked Avakian immediately.

"It's unlikely." Replied the man with a frown. "There's only been one accident in the whole history of the interfold, but there have been occasional deaths from haemorrhaging due to the gravity reversal."

"How long does it take?" Ellian asked next. She was currently picking her teeth with a floating blade, a practice which didn't exactly endear her to the old couple standing near them.

"Less than 20 minutes." The man had a slightly apprehensive look talking to Ellian. Many in the higher folds had a justified fear of the Void, and those that utilised its powers. There was no law against it in Aemonsford, being a more liberal city, but that was more an exception than a rule.

After a short wait they boarded the gondola, with six other passengers and the attendant worker. The inside of the gondola was stark, all metal and glass, and eleven seats fitted with safety straps.

There was a short delay while the attendant checked their straps, and then someone outside blew a whistle. They started to rise.

"Shit! Left the stove on." Ellian bantered. Avakian was the only one to laugh, the other passengers looking too scared.

After a few minutes Avakian could feel the gravity tying him down to the 74th Fold weaken. At around half way, gravity completely ceased to exist within the cabin.

He felt an incredible sensation of weightlessness he hadn't experienced since he was a mere youth, all those weeks ago.

Looking outside, Avakian had an incredible view of the 74th Fold, the forests and plains the train had travelled through on their journey. Looking up he could see the 73rd Fold, although they were a bit far away and he couldn't distinguish anything.

The attendant turned, and pulled down a large metal lever. Suddenly the chairs everyone was sitting on started to flip around, down became up, and suddenly it was the 74th Fold they were looking down upon.

The gondola sped up slightly, assisted by the gravitational forces of the 73rd Fold. As they descended Avakian wondered what would happen if he was tossed out of the cabin. His kinetic ability was too weak to fly; he had tested it, and the most he could manage was a short float. Was it enough to survive falling from space? "Probably not." He concluded.

They finished their descension.

Around half of the passengers aboard the gondola were clearly experiencing some kind of motion sickness. Avakian, Chiros, and Ellian were spared as a result of their inhuman physiques, and Josef also looked fine for some reason.

They departed from the vessel just as a middle-aged woman had started vomiting. "Perfect timing." Thought Avakian.

The first thing he noticed about the 73rd Fold was that it was hot. Instead of plains and forests, the 73rd was all red soil and giant rounded boulders. The few plants he did see were either yellow cactuses or dead-looking shrubbery.

The second thing he noticed was the Void. It was stronger here. Denser. It still wasn't nearly enough to sustain Avakian forever, but it was a lot better than Aemonsford, where the ambient Void was dry and anaemic.

Avakian took a deep, satisfied breath. It may have been the easiest step on their journey, but it was a step forward nonetheless.