The cultivator slowed down, leaving a gouge in the earth ahead of us. I put the cart back, leaving the handles in the air.

Around us the tall grass cut off the view of most everything, save for a half circle of small hills.

"Min, come to me," I said as the Moon Spirit left to my shoulder, "protect her if she needs it."

That fatherly urge to protect your kids from harm kicked in hard as I realized that Xueyie had only recently broken through to the second realm. Whoever was facing us was at least in the third realm.

The dust cleared and as expected of a society that took far too much stock in drama, a person with a mask and long flowing locks stepped to greet us. They had the first set of long curly hair that I had seen so far here, over a green gi that left room for fighting.

"It seems like we are at an impasse," I said, "we would like to continue onwards, but you seem to be in our path."

The avatar walked forward, the mask an androgynous placeholder for either gender, this worlds dubious hair culture getting in the way of telling me anything of note.

"The only one in your path is yourself," a female voice with a middle eastern accent said.

I blanched.

Everyone so far had a flat or neutral tone, this woman sounded like she was selling baba ganoush. It was the voice of every woman I had met at the Kibbutz I spent my summer at junior year of High school.

"Who are you?" I said, holding an arm up for Xueyie.

The masked figure paused in front of us, giving ample breathing room. Another villain hopefully ready to monologue.

"Why, Joe, it hasn't been that long, has it?"

The ceramic mask dropped from her face with a flourish to reveal the last woman I expected.

"What in the ever loving fuck are you doing here, Maxine?" I said.

She held onto the mask with the tips of her fingers.

"I should ask you the same question, Joe. Who is with our daughters?"

"What the hell are you talking about and -oh...If you're here?"

If I had been magically transported here and Maxine had done the same well, the laws of custody were pretty straightforward as to who the kids would go to next.

"You just decided that you would skip town and live out some adventure here while your girls were worried sick at home? Just to shlep two enforcers out of town?"

"I...er..."

"Or better yet you didn't think. See this is why-and I'm sorry you got caught in the crossfire Miss, but he's all yours if you want him, I divorced him for a reason- this is why we aren't together anymore. You weren't thinking about your choices when they asked you to come here."

I was content to let her leak information all afternoon, as sometimes she had a penchant for oversharing and now I was unsure of how both of us had made it here intact. Someone had asked her to come here. I had nothing like that in my memory, just the quick transition through a doorway

"What did you tell the girls? Before you left, I mean?" I hadn't gotten a chance to tell them.

It sounded like she had some foreknowledge that she would be coming here and my mind went to the patient who had been talking about kung fu wizards and I began to hyperventilate.

"I told them that Mommy was going on a work trip for some time and that they were to stay with their dad. Obviously, this didn't work out."

"And you didn't think to tell me any of this?"

"I only had them on weekends, Joe. And then only some weekends. But I see you're already starting a harem here so perhaps I was wrong about your commitment to them."

Xueyie was watching this exchange with rapt attention. She had leaned over the cart handle and gotten comfy. At her mention she straightened up.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"So, This is why we broke up. She made decisions like this without asking me. I had no clue but this explains a bit. Still doesn't explain how you got here, and I'm not starting a Harem."

It explained nothing to me, but I was trying to play along with her.

"If I had known that the powerful potential recruit we had been searching for was you, I would have stopped them a long time ago. Anyway, I would like my two associates, if you please," she said, and for the first time, I felt her power.

The was a peak second realm cultivator or an early third realm, we were too close in our advancement to tell.

"Your... Associates?" I said.

"Technically they're mine, but seeing as how you look exhausted and they're right there with you, qi thought I would save you the trouble and just take them off your hands right now."

"No, I get that it's just," I said moving my head from side to side, "I don't see a red fang tattoo on your face whereas these two-"

"Think of me as more of an independent contractor. And seeing as how you're part of this contract, I will be exercising my right to get out of it," she said, moving to the cart.

Min jumped to my shoulder as Xueyie and I walked away from the cart. I hadn't left any personal effects on it, learning to leave it with Egiya, but it still stung that not only had this world sent me my ex wife when I was still grieving the breakup with Lauren, but that she had been sent to get me by this over eager Sect.

"Oh and Joe, a word of caution. The girls may not be able to reach you here, but I can."

My mind was swirling with questions that I wanted to ask her. She had apparently a much better network than I did and at the very least knew about Egiya and Moon Lee, if she was going to drop the Harem comment.

"Maxine-I-... It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you too. Goodbye Joe."

Maxine held out her left hand and I could see Qi circulating around her arm ad she placed it on one of the men. He disappeared, slowly fading into shadow before my eyes. She repeated whatever technique she used with the second men before turning to us and giving a wink.

"Whatever you think of him, think twice before you marry him," she said to Xueyie, before taking off Iron Man style.

That was completely unfair. I wanted Iron Man style flight.

"What the hell was that, *Joe*? Care to explain?" Xueyie said once she was a speck on the horizon.

"That was something. How much do you know about people being summoned to your world, exactly, because I have questions."

---

It was not in fact a minor thing, people getting pulled here. Nor did Xueyie particularly know the answers as to how people got here and if it was possible to go back, because if it was possible, I would break this world in half to get back to my girls.

We sat together looking back at the city that we had ran out of as fast a possible.

"Don't you have rehearsals?"

"Cancelled. They thought to give the family some time after the passing of the leading actor."

"This whole thing, being harassed by the Red Fang to the point that they got someone on the outside, it just doesn't sit well with me."

"It doesn't help that they hired your ex wife?" Min asked.

She had curled up around me, half cat, half liquid. She got a scritch for that. I remembered a time when it had felt weird, but that was thankfully behind me now.

"I just-look I can see that it might be strange, but we both came from the same world and she's somehow slightly stronger than me here? I'm a bit jealous to be honest."

"Because she is so strong?" Xueyie said.

"No, because-I don't know I can't really place it," I replied.

"The parts of the dream world that I could see from them- they didn't feature her as far as I can tell so she may not be involved in their particular brand of cruelty," Min said, "but that doesn't mean she isn't a party to it."

I didn't want to think about Maxine as a demonic cultivator, as my path kept crossing theirs. Another clash seemed inevitable with the Red Fang, but I wanted it to be on my terms. I definitely didn't want to trade blows with someone who I had such an acrimonious history with.

"Is there a way to tell, definitively that she is with them?"

Min jumped down to the cart and moved it slightly. There was a sightly incline and she got it to move about two inches back. Xueyie gave it a gentle push to playfully move it a bit further.

"It is unclear. She does not bear their mark. there could be other ways."

"Xueyie, do you know any good lunch spots this far out? I think it's time for me to tell you about my ex wife."

"She comes out of nowhere and solved a problem that we hadn't even finished working on? What exactly did you think you were going to do with them?" Min pointedly asked.

"To be honest, if they didn't say anything I was going to kick them outside the totems."

Xueyie stopped playing with the cart.

"You were going to sentence them to ... That?" She said.

I looked between the two.

"Yeah I'm going to need some more context. Lunch?"

"I know a place," Xueyie said,"are we leaving the cart?"

Her eyes told a story of a girl who just wanted to go on a magic carpet ride, but had been told that she was confined to her room

"I have an idea."