Kita and Raya walked for the past two nights with only a few hours of rest each evening. Fortunately, Raya's good at timing the myst, so they haven't had to worry about it since leaving Vhifet.

Early this morning, they finally arrived in River City. The sun highlights the city edges as the multi-layered haven sits amongst the rapids of the river. The lowest platform has the city suspended on massive pillars that most likely extend down to the river bed. The two floors above the rest of the city are also held up by large support beams, with sloped walkways leading from the floors below to the ones above.

Each story of the city is filled with houses and stores made of wood. With the marketplace on the third floor of the city, with wooden stores and smaller stalls amongst the streets.

There are no tents here.

Everyone is likely too wealthy for that. Each of the wooden homes is large enough to house at least two dozen people if the space was used for such, but it probably isn't.

The strangest thing is, Vlad and Chevo's people are nowhere to be seen. Everyone passing by seems like a regular citizen, although they're clearly wealthier than most.

"I thought there was a war," Kita says.

"It hasn't started yet," Raya responds. "We'll find Jan before it does,"

"I don't see anyone that would be one of Vlad's or Chevo's goons," Kita says, still scanning the area.

"They're here, somewhere," Raya says, looking up the large slope that leads to the second floor of the city. "In the meantime, we should find a hotel,"

"Can we afford it?" Kita asks, gazing in the same direction.

"Hopefully," Raya answers.

As they make their way up to the first floor of the town, the streets and walkways are all dimly illuminated with light bulbs hanging from the floor above. The sun isn't yet at its peak, but at the moment it's at the right angle to shine light in through the side of the town. Creating a soft, golden glow throughout the city. Most of the buildings they pass are homes. Each has a unique design with different tones of wood for the front door. Some of them have artwork placed on or beside the door- on the outside of the house. It would look nice if the art wasn't sealed off inside a large glass box.

"Here we go," Raya says, pushing open the door of a house that extends up and through the floor of the second story. As she enters the building, she immediately notices the staircase leading up to where she'd just been looking.

The lobby of the hotel is huge, splitting in three directions. The first leads to the front desk, where a pretty woman with short black hair and a formal uniform stands smiling at Raya and Kita. To the right is a restaurant with many wooden tables scattered around the room. There are very few people in it but it's most likely 'not the time for lunch'- Kita's stomach growls at the thought of getting something to eat.

To the left is a hallway with many doors on either side. This is presumably the hotel part of the hotel. Kita noticed a hallway on the second floor too, also filled with room doors.

"Hello," Raya says politely to the concierge.

"Hi Ma'am, how can I help you today?" The concierge smiles.

"We would like to book a room,"

"Sure thing. We have a lovers package on special at the moment if that would interest the two of you,"

Raya blushes at the concierge's presumption, "We-"

"Would love it," Kita interrupts, winking at Raya to make her more uncomfortable.

"Excellent," The lady says, "The lover's room is currently eighteen hundred coin,"

"Woah," Kita stares in confusion. It's the first time she's heard of something so expensive.

"How many nights is that for?" Raya asks, almost as bewildered as Kita

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The concierge giggles, "One night of course,"

Kita and Raya pass an awkward glance at one another. Without a word, they both agree that it costs far too much.

"Do you have anything cheaper?" Raya asks, trying to hold her embarrassment at bay.

"Our cheapest one bedroom is twelve hundred coin, Ma'am,"

"Per night?" Kita asks.

The concierge nods her head. Prompting Kita and Raya to glance at one another again, this time they both shrug- figuring it's the best option.

"We'd like the room for twelve hundred, please," Raya asks politely before reaching into her bag to take out a few pouches of coin.

Without much warning, Kita feels a sudden urge within her. A longing that's tugging at the void of her soul. It's much more intense than she's mentally prepared for and in her attempt to look at Raya for assistance, she doesn't see Raya's blue hair. But the pure white hair of a woman about Kita's height.

In her confusion, she tries to locate Raya. Turning her head to scan the hotel lobby but only to find walkways of greenery all around her. The lady with white hair is standing at a stall, in what seems to be a marketplace.

She can feel her memories shifting. Her mind is transitioning into this unknown set of circumstances. She can barely remember what she was doing- all she remembers is that she was in a hotel.

Hotel. She tells herself, trying to cling to her memory. Hotel. Hotel.

"Kita?" The lady with the white hair asks.

Kita ignores it, repeating the word in her mind.

Hotel.

"Kita!" The lady's voice calls out more forcefully. Pulling Kita's attention.

The lady glares at Kita, with her deep, brown eyes and skin like Kita's. It's almost like looking in a mirror, except the mirror reflects an older, slightly more tanned image. Kita glances down at the lady's hand, which is outstretched and signalling Kita to place something in it.

"Mom?" Kita asks, knowing the answer but too dazed to process it without confirmation.

Hotel. Her mind echoes, trying to remind herself of the situation but as she recalls the word, she struggles to relate it to anything. Why am I thinking about a hotel?

She can feel a distant memory fading away as she tries to latch onto the word- Hotel. But despite her efforts, it's futile. She presumes it's one of those cases in which repeating a word many times causes the word to sound strange.

That's the best explanation she can muster up.

"Daughter?" The lady asks sarcastically, prompting a chuckle from Kita.

Kita remembers what she was doing, and reaches into the basket at her hip to pass a few large fruits to her Mother.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you're going crazy, Kita," Her Mother chuckles.

"Sorry," Kita says, "I was daydreaming again,"

"What about?" Mom asks as she places the fruits on the counter of the stall.

"I don't know," Kita says, trying to recall any details. "Something about a hotel,"

"A hotel?" Mom reiterates. "That's a strange thing to daydream about,"

Kita had partially hoped for answers but doesn't know what kind of answers her Mother could give her. The void feeling still sits in Kita's core but it isn't as noticeable. Actually, it is as if it was never there, to begin with.

Kita feels like she knows why she has this feeling, but she can't put her finger on it. Her memory doesn't serve her justice at this point and so her conclusion is simply hunger. A literal pit in her stomach that can easily be resolved with a meal.

"I think I just need something to eat," Kita says.

Mother hands Kita two, bright red fruits that create a satisfying crunching sound when Kita bites into them. It was definitely hunger. The feeling of the void slowly slips away as she concentrates on the sweet taste of the fruit.

Her Mother finishes trading with the stall owner and places a few slices of bacon into the basket Kita is carrying. Kita glances into the basket to count the vegetables and meats that her Mother got in the end. They're walking away with much nicer foods than they started with.

"You're good at this," Kita says, glancing up at her Mother who walks ahead of her with bright blue hair.

Kita tilts her head in confusion, blinking her eyes trying to correct whatever vision or daydreaming this is. Upon opening her eyes, the face of a young woman is right in front of her, with both her hands on Kita's shoulders. This startles her as she notices her Mother's white hair walking away without her.

"Kita!" The woman with the blue hair calls out to her.

"Who are you?" Kita asks with frustration, slapping the blue-haired girl's hands off of her shoulder as she looks past her in an attempt to keep an eye on her Mom.

"I need to go," Kita says, desperately wanting to follow behind her Mother, but this blue-haired girl is stopping her.

"Kita you need to wake up,"

Kita ignores her, pushing her hands away as she follows her Mother who is walking from the hotel lobby into the restaurant.