"I think that you need to talk to someone."

The man across from me wore a loose fitting robe over a worn workmans uniform. I had the same workmans day laborer outfit on, as I tried to mirror him. He'd recently come through a portal from another world unexpectedly and had a bout of amnesia.

But the thing is, I knew him. Let me back up a bit.

We'd worked together. In fact he was one of the guys who had convinced me to go into private practice, before I'd been summarily transported here. We had a successful therapy practice in Los Angeles. It was a co-op where several therapist shared a building and sometimes swapped tactics and patients when one didn't mesh. He wasn't the only other therapist there but he was one of the ones that I traded notes with the most often.

He'd just had a bit of amnesia since between leaving Earth and how he ended up here. It was coming back to him, but I knew the symptoms of post traumatic stress and he was a textbook case.

"Joe," he said, his dry cracked voice one that made him sound like a lifelong smoker, "I get it. I love you. You are a good guy... but I don't need therapy right now. And I'm the last guy to avoid processing my feelings but things are completely overwhelming at the moment."

"We can do a venting session now, if you're not solutions oriented. I can understand that it's a lot, being sucked away from earth and being effectively put into a fridge to await being eaten."

Lorenzo shuddered.

"It's not that. It's just that all these other people-how many did you say?"

"There were sixty three in all. We are still determining who else is from Los Angeles."

So far only a few had been from Earth. They had it the worst. Demonic cultivators needed fresh corpses to feed upon, the fresher and stronger the dead was, the more they would in turn advance.

Lorenzo and the people he were with had been hypnotized and kept barely alive. I say hypnotized but it was some cultivator bullshit power that kept them entranced and not fighting for their lives.

"It's monstrous what they did."

"You went through something that no one should ever have to go through. We're not going to push you to process this too fast or to just get over it-that would be too much. But I could use a friend."

"A friend?"

"I know you. Heck, our kids know each other. We built something great, but now? These monsters tore all of that away from me when I got pulled here. They took even more from you. I know you. You're a strong man who would give the shirt off his back to help a stranger. But this world is very might makes right."

I let the companionable silence fall over us.

"You know what? You used to be known for these walk and talk sessions. We can walk around Western Jewel, and see some of the sights if you wish. I'm done for the day at the very least so my schedule is free. We'll have to take a sedate pace, but you're safe with me."

"Ellen said that you're the reason we're alive," he whispered, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"You-uh-wow. I really need to talk to her."

I stood up, extending a hand. I didn't want to develop some a savior complex so I hadn't let on that so had been the instigator that got them out. So I did what any normal person would do: ignore the question and try to redirect the inquiry. This all took about two seconds for me to sort out. I was going to have to deal with the fallout later.

"I know a great bun place," I said.

"Lead on, O great hero."

The path in front of us was clear to the lare stone arch entryway. Outside the town was full of activity as men and women in all shades of martial robes line the streets. Western jewel was a city in the true sense of the word as they had built up structures over the years to get to this point. Large mostly square islands connected by bridges were divided by canals where gondoliers pushed through the water ferrying passengers and cargo to and from the city. Each island was a neighborhood unto itself and it had the feeling of a very planned community, as the stone that made up the base layer had to be regularly treated.

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Lorenzo and I stopped over one of the many bridges between the neighborhood to watch the gondolas pass by. Ten meters below, a blue canal ran the complete length of both adjacent islands.

"The water is so clean here," He said.

"They have a ton of clams down there. It's a delicacy and they filter the water as well. They sell them by the street vendors, but they're so salty. I tried one and it was a bit too much for me. I can get you one?"

"I think that I'm good. Seafood didn't agree with me before and I doubt it will now. So, Maxine is here?"

"Yeah. She's opened a boutique shop where she uses local help to make her lingerie line. She was thinking about getting some of the victims to help if they needed work. I know two of the women already took her up on it."

"But Lauren isn't?"

"Yeah. I know that I was an idiot when we broke up and I would give a lot to get Lauren back. I'm glad that she didn't get summoned here and that Rachel and Courtney didn't also come over. It's like they targeted one city block in particular."

"Yeah wasn't her shop back in Los Angeles, it was like two doors down from the office?"

"Yeah. She uh...kept the name."

"Get the fuck out of here. Resting Bitch Lace has a storefront?"

Lorenzo stopped to really size me up. Of course I was serious. I wasn't happy that she had done so and I wanted to walk the thin line between displeasure and outright attempting to foil her schemes, but it was probably best if we just didn't fight.

"Honestly yes, and it's a little too close to where I have been staying. Like had I known, but that doesn't matter now."

We got off the bridge, moving to avoid a man carrying what had to be a marble stone the size of his body. It looked like it was going to be a pillar or statue once it got to where it was going. He deserved a wide berth.

"I do appreciate the amount of care that the citizens here take in the small things. It's a beautiful beautiful city. Shame that my introduction to it had to be..."

Lorenzo finally talking about his feelings was good. I hadn't really had a time to talk about getting pulled away from my girls with anyone but I didn't think that it was something that I could put on him now. He had a lot of trauma to work through and like the man with the marble, he was carrying it wherever he went. His face couldn't mask his pain.

"There's several niche trade unions that take care of highly specific things. I would credit both the Gondoliers as well as the Couriers Union with your life as they helped us infiltrate the former Red Fang Sect. Though, the tea brokers union gave the most behind the scenes help."

"There's all these trade unions here and the government is still broken. The more things change, eh?"

"Yeah about that. Apparently I have been summoned to answer to the Mandarin and he is a man that you don't say no to. I wanted to talk to a third party about this before I beat my face into the nearest marble wall. I have to see him tomorrow."

"He's just a man, right?"

I stopped at a restaurant stand well known for its meat buns. The smiling vendor has a short line that we waited on, the smells thoroughly assaulting my advanced palette. The meat itself was probably Yak given the fatty taste but the sign just said that it was the 'Special'.

"It's like meeting the Mayor, except he is some super powered neutral third party."

"So not like the mayor. Got it. The beef ones? That's beef, right? Those look good. The smell amazing too."

I ordered a 'therapists dozen' buns. It was cathartic to see him eating again as his faint frame was not the way I had seen him last on the other side. If I wasn't working my father figure, I wouldn't have done an even split with Lorenzo. He needed it, though dad bod or not.

"These are incredible. We need to have one of these on every corner. Sad that there's no taco trucks, but if this is how their local street food tastes, I can't imagine the fine dining."

"I know. The only thing that could make this place better would be taco trucks. I really need to teach someone how to make a decent taco."

"You just need *masa harina*, water and salt. That shouldn't be too hard to find, right? They do have corn?"

We both paused our running commentary on mans place in society and the social injustice of there being zero taco trucks here. It couldn't be heaven without them, so this was either the other place or a third option. I leaned towards the latter. I still hadn't decided if this was some afterlife or a cruel joke.

"I don't know. I know that they're very shall we say particular in their tea and tea rituals. Oh hey, we are by the tea wholesalers territory if you want a real tour of the place."

Lorenzo was staring at the giant crow statue that dominated crows murder, my old stomping grounds. The Green Air Inn as well as the Cultivators Inkpot were both places I frequented. The massive square had was one of the few large open public spaces in the district.

There were several carved training courts where first realm cultivators traded blows. It you looked close you might pick up a thing or two.

"One of my associates works here if you want to stop by," I said,"She runs the inkpot. I had a friend who worked at the Inn but he's out on workers comp."

"They have workers comp here? Far out."

"I mean, he did get beaten to near death several times because of me so my enterprise set that up for him."

"Go to a new world and set up workers compensation for your semi criminal enterprise. Yeah that's the Joseph Pidge I knew from back in the day."

"You gotta be the change you want to see in the world, right?"

Lorenzo smiled at me.