“And you’re definitely not letting me come?” Ivy sat on the bed and watched Waia root through their bedroom closet.

“Definitely.” Waia opened a drawer full of smooth pebbles and began filling her backpack with them, making sure they didn’t jostle the other pockets of the bag. “I don’t know much about the Down Below, but I do know that it can be as dangerous as it gets, depending on how lucky you get with where you end up.”

Ivy folded her arms. “Fine. But come back quick, I’m not used to the giant lava lady version of you, and I don’t want to stay worried for too long.”

Waia zipped her bag up and walked to the door. “Hey, there’s no need to be worried about me. Y’know, there’s a saying among the Hawaiian Primoi about me.”

She opened the door to reveal two Primoi standing on her front porch. They weren’t in their true forms, but the icy-blue and purple eyes made it clear that unless they had a condition or were wearing color contacts for some reason, they weren’t particularly human. The instant Waia opened the door, the blue-eyed one on the left spoke. “What did you do?”

Waia looked from one to the other. Despite concealing their true appearances, she managed to recognize both of them, they were from elsewhere on the island. Hama on the left, Polu on the right. “...So, have you just been standing in front of my house for dramatic effect?”

“Answer the question, Waia,” said Hama.

Waia shrugged. “I’ve done a lot of things that would warrant someone asking me that. You’re gonna have to narrow it down a touch. Also, hi, it’s been a long time, so nice to see you.”

Polu pinched the bridge of his nose. “Our villages have been attacked by monsters. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about why that’s happening, would you?”

“Actually, the same thing’s going on over here. And yeah, I do know what’s happening.” She adjusted the backpack straps on her shoulder. “And I’m gonna go fix it, so you two don’t need to worry. I know, I didn’t do anything this time. Shocker, crazy, impossible. Pick your jaws up from the floor.”

“You saying that only makes us more worried. What’s in the bag?”

“Travel stuff. Earphones. Sketchbook. Mostly rocks. The usual.”

Hama frowned. “You’re fighting something?”

“That’s the idea. Gonna go to the Down Below and punch a green lady or something. My kind of solution, honestly.”

“...And you didn’t tell us?”

Polu looked over at Hama. “Frankly, we shouldn’t have expected her to.”

“It’s a time-sensitive thing. Magic stuff, ask the wizard.” Waia noticed her four companions leaving the motel. “Speaking of…” She attempted to shoulder past the two. “I gotta hit the road. Mauna Kea’s a tripping hazard when it’s dark, I wanna get there early.”

Ivy peeked her head through the bedroom door. “And who are these two?”

“Oh, right, I never properly introduced you.” Waia stood between Hama and Polu and put her arms around their shoulders. “Ivy, these are Polu and Hama. You two, meet your relatively new sister-in-law. You might’ve already spoken at the wedding, but I’ve definitely mentioned her during my visits.” She gently pushed the two of them inside. “She can probably fill you in if you have any other questions. In the meantime, I gotta bounce. Make sure nobody burns down the town while I’m gone. Real shame you can’t come, but there’s some magic stuff at play. A tragedy, really. Later!” She shut and locked the door behind them.

Ivy slowly sat down at the dinner table, while the two Primoi stared at her wordlessly. She struggled to think of a conversation topic. “Uh… Weather’s nice. Heard you did that.”

-

Waia sighed as she walked over to the other four. Hopefully, Ivy could keep her guests occupied long enough for her to escape the dimension. At least they wouldn’t be able to follow her without getting help from another magician.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Mark, Horan, Quet and Omet stood waiting for her outside. Now that he was in broad daylight, Quet noticed the RISE AND SHINE sticker on Mark’s forehead and made a poor attempt to stifle a snicker. Noticing her expression and following her gaze, Mark peeled the sun-shaped sticker off of his forehead and scowled dramatically at Horan, who pretended not to notice him. Omet’s eyes were still half-closed and they were being partially held up by Quet. Not even the crisp morning air from the open window in their room could wake them from their waking stupor.

Mark caught Waia’s gaze. “Alright everyone, let’s get moving. 6:30 is a great time to head out, and according to the brochure I found in a trash can, we should make it to Mauna Kea by late afternoon. Lead the way.”

Horan shook his head. “Sorry, he’s like this.”

Waia shrugged. “Well, I’m ready to hit the road. And you can use those twelve hours of hiking to introduce yourselves, because I don’t know any of your names. I feel very excluded from this group right now.”

-

“So then, while I still couldn’t move, Thel was about to kill me, but then Mark came up from behind and stabbed him. I couldn’t see it because I was unconscious, but I’m sure it was awesome.” Horan floated above the other four while he recounted the events that occurred three months prior. He kept his back to the ground, preferring to gaze out at the increasingly impressive view offered as they climbed the slopes of the volcano.

Omet deigned to interrupt him. “Wait, you just stopped? I thought he’d tired you out or something. Seemed a little anticlimactic.”

Horan looked down at them. “Well, yeah, it’s a miracle I survived. Were you even there? Oh, right, you were. You just didn’t do much.”

“Not much I can do with a scorched arm.”

Waia looked at Omet’s arms. She preferred to stay in her human form, so they could easily tell where her eyes had wandered. “So, are you even okay after that? Handling soul stuff wrong seems like it would leave a mark.”

Omet examined their wrist. “Nah, it’s fine now. Painful, but fine.”

“Alright.” She looked over at Mark. “So, do you have any cool powers after you got your soul boosted a bunch?”

“I wish. Still need to eat and all that, too. I feel more ripped off than anything.”

“Then why not give that stuff to Horan? Seems like he needs it, if all he can do is fly.”

“I would if I knew how.”

“Yeah, Egyptians transfer Roi pretty much on instinct, I have no idea how I’m even supposed to teach it to him,” added Horan. “And I can do more than fly, I’ll have you know!”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Waia, sensing that that avenue of conversation had run its course, decided to pull her mobile phone out of her back pocket.

Mark noticed Waia open the lock screen. “You brought your phone? Does it even work anymore?”

Waia shrugged. “Well, I can’t text or make calls anymore, but the camera works fine and I can play music on it.” She reached over to one of the side compartments on her backpack. “Plus, this model was built to last, I’m not super worried about it breaking. Just because we’re going to another dimension doesn’t mean I can’t rock out.”

“And it doesn’t even have a cord…” Horan floated over and looked at her playlist as she fished out her earphones and plugged them in. “...Is that all heavy metal?”

“Hey, don’t simplify it like that. Some of it’s punk. There's also some thrash.”

Mark tried to look at her screen without anyone noticing. “If there’s a single band on there that I’ve heard of, I’m going to be disappointed.”

Quet raised her eyebrows. “Well, you definitely know your tastes. Hurat plays that kind of thing all the time, so I’m… familiar. You hear it that often, you pick some stuff up.”

“Oh, really?” Waia raised her phone. “Well, maybe I’ll hang out with him a little once we meet up. Ivy doesn’t usually listen with me, her interest in this stuff goes as far as what it can add to her vinyl collection.”

Omet chuckled. “Yeah, from what I’ve seen, you would get along great with… most of our family, really.”

“Considering how dealing with four of you has gone, I really don’t want a fifth Primus in this weird posse we’re forming,” said Mark.

“Well, maybe you need to be open to the wilder possibilities of a group of six…” Quet stopped. “I’m sorry, I really did forget your name. Is it Mang?”

“Mark.”

“...Yeah, but being called Mark makes it sound like you own a tech company. From what I’ve seen of you, you’re the exact opposite of a tech company owner.”

“You mean how I’m fully in touch with my own humanity?”

“...Bit out of left field, but sure, Mang.”

“I’m aware that Mark is a boring name, but don’t call me that.”

“I’m calling you Mang and you can’t stop me.”

“Ugh.”

Horan watched from above, grinning from ear to ear. “Ah, the marvels of conversation at play.”