“What’s in Colorado?” Atol asked.

Even with her ability to convince, it had taken half a day to visit. One might say that it was due to the strict patient regulations in the med center. In truth, it was more likely that she didn’t want to bother.

Interestingly enough, she wasn’t among those who’d witnessed Dallion’s fainting. If she had, maybe there would have been a bit more clarity on the matter.

“Someone who really hates me.” Dallion kept moving his arm in an attempt to pinpoint the source of the pain. Currently, it was more of a discomfort, as if there was an invisible scar just beneath the skin. “A mage.”

“Oh,” the woman said with an expression that let everyone know she was familiar with the concept. “Never could stand those ass kissing shitheads. What did you do to get him mad?”

“This or that.”

Dallion had a history with Alien ever since he was part of the Icepicker guild back in Nerosal. Back then, the old man was following the emperor’s orders, assisting in the assassination of a member of the imperial family and giving the city to the Star.

Looking at things now, Dallion suspected that the real plan was to pay off the void, as well as initiate a series of events that would result in an overall war between everyone. It had taken a few years to pull off, but ultimately, it had worked, bringing the Tamin emperor one step away from becoming the next architect. No doubt Alien still felt a lot of resentment towards Dallion. A more important question was whether Moon vows remained in effect on Earth.

“Fine.” Atol gave him a skeptical look. “Where exactly in Colorado?”

Dallion looked at the woman. His mind was still focusing on how to handle the meeting. Alien was paranoid in the other world and with good reason. If he had retained his memories—which wasn’t a guarantee—he would be far less welcoming than the Architect’s wife.

“Centennial,” Dallion said after a few seconds.

“Don’t know crap about the place. Hope there’s a functioning airport anywhere near.”

“We’re driving there.”

“Are you crazy? Do you have any idea how long it will—”

“Driving,” Dallion said adamantly.

“Why not?” Atol shook her head. “Let’s just go halfway across the country because reasons.” She went to the door. “I’ll arrange things with administration. Want me to get you out of here?”

“I have that,” Dallion replied. “Should be out by noon.”

In truth, Dallion had enough experience with his new music skill to walk out right now. There was one thing he wanted to check before that, though. For that, he needed to be in the medical center, in case things went wrong.

“Okay.” The woman opened the door, then stopped. “I got you a lighter.” She reached into her pocket, then tossed it to Dallion. “I guess you won’t be needing it anymore.”

Dallion caught the item and looked at it. It was surprisingly fancy, suggesting that Atol had convinced someone well-off to give it to her. Out of curiosity, he pressed the button, looking at the faint spark that came with the click.

Moving his finger closer only gave him a light prick.

What was I thinking, he thought, tossing it on his bed. The idea was almost as crazy as what he intended to do now.

Taking a good look outside through one of the two windows in the room, Dallion went to his bed stand and opened the drawer. His personal items were kept there: keys, the alarm for his new car, wallet, a few coins, the obligatory medical consent form, and his mobile phone.

Reaching inside, Dallion took the keys. There were several of them. Most were a long and squarish shape, but there was still one with the sharp jagged side.

Here’s goes nothing, Dallion thought as he rolled up his sleeve. Then he used his attack skills to create a wound on the side of his arm, just beneath the shoulder.

A thin line of red emerged, then started bleeding.

“I really hope you’re there, Lux,” Dallion said, rolling his sleeve back down. “I’m relying on you, buddy.”

All that he could do now was wait. If all went well, the wound would be gone by evening. If not, then Nox was the only companion who had come across with him.

Wasting no further time, Dallion got fully dressed, took all his personal items, then left the room. Just to be sure, he took a look at the door handle once he released it. It was in perfect condition, with no signs of cracks whatsoever.

Several people approached Dallion as he made his way along the corridor. A quick conversation later they were on their way, completely forgetting the encounter. As far as they were concerned, Dallion was only here to visit a friend, so there was no need to be concerned or give the matter any thought.

The outside seemed markedly brighter than yesterday, as if someone had saturated the colors. The sky seemed bluer, the grass and leaves seemed greener. Even the grayness of the buildings seemed somehow sharper. More notably, Dallion could feel emanations of emotions once more. Thankfully, they weren’t coming from the thousands of items in the immediate area. People, on the other hand, were a different matter.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

It was no wonder that everyone in college behaved in roughly the same way. The entire campus was filled with love, lust, and fear—fear of what people might think, almost exclusively. The only exceptions seemed to be the people who worked there, who appeared like dark clouds, emanating a deep sense of emotional fatigue.

With a few hours left, by his assumption, Dallion decided to try to find Jenna. To his surprise, she was still nowhere to be found. All he managed was to come across Jenna’s roommate, who was just as clueless as he was.

“Just gone?” Dallion asked, using his music skills to make the girl a bit more gossipy.

“She said she needed a few days to herself,” the girl said. “I thought she was off to chase after you, but it seems not.”

“Oh.”

“She’s really into you, you know.” A smile appeared on her face. “I’d be too, if you were my type. Why do you act like you’re taken?”

“Why do you think I’m not?”

“You? Come on!” The girl chuckled. “I’d have seen the signs. You don’t hang out with anyone in particular. Given how many guys have a crush on our new temp, they would have noticed if you were tangling with her.”

Despite himself, Dallion found discussing rumors of his love life intriguing. It was almost like watching a soap opera he couldn’t pull away from.

“Maybe she’s not from here.”

“Really? Someone from back home?” The girl gave him a critical look. “You didn’t bother to fix your phone for ages and spent more time trying to find some unknown spotify band. If you had anyone anywhere off campus, you’d be spending all your time talking to her. More importantly, she’d have spent all her time calling you. All the calls you got were from your parents.”

There was no denying that. In another life, the girl would have made a good detective… if love drama was the focus of her investigations.

“So, you’ve no idea where she is?”

“She’s definitely not home. Don’t tell her this, but she might be playing hard to get,” the girl said in a conspiratorial voice. “I mean. You’re finally back and she sets off somewhere without a word? Classic way of making you jealous. And it worked. You’re here after all.”

That sounded a bit underhanded, though not impossible. But somehow, that didn’t sound like something Jenna would do. While Dallion had only known her for less than a few months, all his senses told him it was something else. There was no denying that she was interested in him, but not to the degree to pull something like this. Or maybe she was, and he hadn’t noticed? With a lot of his abilities still locked, he couldn’t be certain.

“If you hear from her, can you tell her I want to talk to her when I get back?” he asked.

“Back? Going somewhere again?”

“Yeah… it’s a family emergency.”

“You’ve been getting a lot of those.”

“That’s life for you. We don’t choose what surrounds us.”

“That…” The girl tapped her lips with her index finger several times. “That actually sounds deep. I’m stealing it.”

Based on the sudden burst of emotions emanating from her, it was likely she was going to use the phrase to impress someone.

“Go ahead.”

Dallion quickly left and made his way to the parking lot. His car was there, eagerly waiting to end her motionless state. Atol was also present.

“All done. We’re off to deal with a family matter,” she said.

“Do you always use that excuse?” He tossed her the car keys and sat in the passenger’s seat.

“It’s simple, so it works best. It’s close to heart for the people that work here. I can do it for years and they’ll agree each time.” She joined him in the car and slammed the door shut. “For people with money, it’s all about investments.”

“Even if they lose money?”

“Even if they lose money,” she set off. “You know it’ll take us nineteen hours to get to Centennial? I did some checking.”

“I think it’ll take us a bit less. The car likes to go fast.”

Atol looked at him.

“That’s going fast. We won’t be taking any breaks, either.”

“Can you handle it?”

In response, the woman went full throttle, holding the pedal to the metal as she drove out of the parking lot and onto the road. Having the perception and reaction speed not to worry about anything unexpected, and the skill to get out of any jam, made driving an entirely different experience. Dallion still would have preferred to fly, though. Technically, he had a valid driver’s license, but he really didn’t feel the need to use it.

To his surprise, the trip felt a lot more enjoyable than he expected. Maybe it was due to his newly developed music skills. Maybe it was because he had found his first companion, but for some reason he felt a whole lot freer, even if he didn’t look forward to seeing Alien again.

“So, where’s the mage we’ll be seeing?” Atol asked.

“I don’t know. He just said he’s from there.”

“And you’re sure that by that he meant he’s still there? I’m over a thousand miles from where I’m from.”

“Doesn’t matter. As long as we find a trace we can track him down.” Dallion opened the glove compartment. The car’s license was there, along with a few business cards belonging to the people who had sold—or rather given—the car to Atol. Dallion took one of them.

“You mean me,” the woman corrected.

“You have the experience. You don’t have to use your music as much as I.”

“Cheeky fucker.” She shook her head with a wincing smile. Already he outmatched her in every way and she knew it. “What if your friend has retained his magic?” she asked. “We might be in serious trouble then.”

“Magic and music are alike. We should be fine.”

“We weren’t fine last time.” Her emotions abruptly changed. “The architect could have killed us if he wanted. He had us. Why didn’t he do it?”

In perfect honesty, Dallion had no answer to that.

“Don’t know. Maybe he didn’t want to risk angering the Moons.”

“Because you’re so special?”

“One Architect killing another is bound to pose questions. I’m surprised we’re even in the same time period.”

It wasn’t the best argument, though it sounded plausible enough. Personally, Dallion wouldn’t have risked it, either. Then again, he had no intention of killing anyone.

“Okay, but you’re taking the lead. I’m not going against a mage for your sake.”

“Sure.” A tear appeared on the business card Dallion was holding. Nox had just indicated he’d have Dallion’s back.

“Where the hell did you cut yourself?” the woman asked all of a sudden. “You’ve got blood all over your sleeve?”

Instinctively, Dallion looked at it and pulled it up. A considerable amount of blood had soaked into his shirt, yet underneath there was no sign of a wound, not even a scar.

Good to see you’re here, Lux, Dallion thought with a smile.

“I guess I must have brushed against something,” he replied. “I’ll get a new shirt when we get to Centennial.”