It was dark, cold, and worst of all, Flora was lost. Alone, she wandered in an empty wasteland, a landscape devoid of any defining characteristics. She cried out, but the only answer was a steady drum of metal hooves against the ground as she was hunted by metal horrors. Her leaden feet refused to obey, and she was forced to drag them slowly across the ground to keep moving. She glanced behind her and saw them: strange beasts made from metal and flesh melded together. Man fused with machine into four-legged tangles of joints and appendages that shifted form with each step. Each had the face of one of the mercenaries, his face twisted into pain and anger.
She stumbled back and the creatures towered over her, scythed fingers reaching for her as the faces called out in agonized unison: "Kill me!"
Flora sat bolt upright, covered in sweat. Her breath came in ragged gasps as her mind struggled to separate the dream from reality. The sky was dark, but it was still a uniform gray, and the trees they had taken refuge in had shriveled to gaunt shadows. The fire burned low, making it hard to see anything beyond the still sleeping forms of the others around her.
"Nightmare?" a voice asked.
In her panic she hadn't noticed Bryce sitting next to the fire. He stared into the embers, his eyes focusing on something beyond them. He looked even more haunted than she felt.
"Yeah," she said as the adrenaline wore off. "You too?"
Bryce didn't answer. He just pulled his legs up to his chest and hugged them. It was painful to see how small he looked. In her eyes, he had always been untouchable, unreachable. Now he just looked like a lost and frightened child.
Flora carefully stood and swallowed her anxiety as she went to join him by the fire. "What was your nightmare?" she asked, settling on the ground next to him.
Bryce's eye closed, and his face twisted in pain for just a brief moment. "I don't want to talk about it," he finally said.
Flora didn't argue; she understood that feeling well enough. He wasn't ready to share his burden with her; but if her presence could provide any comfort, she would gladly give it.
For a long time they sat silently staring into the flickering flame before them, both sharing each other's company without a word. When Bryce spoke again, his voice was subdued, and his British accent was heavier than usual.
"After everything that we've been through, we'll probably all have nightmares for a while," he said without turning.
"Yeah..." Flora agreed. She worried that the silence that followed would turn awkward, but Bryce was quick to speak again.
"It's been one bloody crisis after another, and there's no end in sight," he said. The bitter words fell like acid to the ground, but his expression softened before they had a chance to settle. "I guess I'm not the only one who had a rough time with it, if Isaac's to be trusted." He turned his head to look at where the white-haired boy lay sprawled awkwardly across the ground, fast asleep. "He was swallowed by a bloody dragon, you know? Though he got to meet Sherlock Holmes too. Wish I'd met a big name like that." He lay on his back and stared thoughtfully into the sky. "Shyla's not too keen to speak to me about what happened. Probably best she doesn't; there's too much going on to worry about stirring up a kerfuffle."
He fell silent again, and Flora allowed the emptiness to wash over them unhindered. She didn't have the words to say to him, and even if she did, it wasn't her place. So she sat beside him in quiet contemplation as the minutes ticked by unnoticed.
"I really..." Bryce started to say, but hesitated. "I really just want to go home." He touched his eyepatch instinctively. "But at the same time, I'm scared; I can't do the things I want with..." he trailed off.
"What do you want to do?" Flora asked.
Bryce's gaze turned wistful as he replied, "I always wanted to play pro football; I even had a few scouting options. My parents wanted me to inherit the family business. They didn't see my dream as 'financially responsible', so they sent me to stay with Jonas so I could learn how to act proper." Bryce sat up and looked over to where his cousin was sleeping. Even asleep, he seemed serious. "He gets in his own head, but he's a responsible chap," Bryce commented. "I'm glad he's here, or I don't think I'd be able to go on like this."
There was a loud snort, and both Bryce and Flora turned to see Isaac sitting upright. "The butler did it!" he cried out, though his eyes were still closed.
The side of the tent suddenly lashed out, knocking him on the side of the head. Isaac fell back with a grunt and resumed snoring.
"Keep it down!" Adriana snapped irritably from inside the tent.
Bryce and Flora looked at each other, and Flora was relieved to see Bryce was grinning.
"We should probably go back to bed so we don't wake her highness," Bryce said with a soft chuckle.
The sky had lightened to a gentler gray as they broke camp. No one was hungry, which was good since the coffee trees had somehow vanished while they slept. Isaac had been the first to wake, and he had borrowed Jonas's red marker to make name tags for everyone, which he enthusiastically handed out to the groggy crew.
"Why do we need name tags?" Shyla asked, holding hers up to read it.
"Because not everyone knows everyone," Isaac answered as he handed one to Tobias. "Except James, of course."
Cecil accepted his tag and read it with a puzzled expression. "Why does mine say 'Jeeves'?"
"Better question:" Bryce said, raising his hand. "Why--no, how is this in my handwriting?!"
"It's personalized," Isaac said cheerfully, as though that were enough explanation.
Jonas checked his as well, and saw that it was just as Bryce had said: his name was written in his own handwriting. Normally he would have chalked it up as just another of Isaac's bizarre antics, but now that he knew Isaac was blessed with psychic abilities, it had a different significance. Isaac was potentially useful now, rather than just a burden.
James pulled his sword from at his waist and slung it over his shoulder. "Isaac is right; we should all get to know each other if we're going to be traveling together," he said.
"Oh, goody," Adriana groaned, "are we gonna say our name, age, and favorite color?"
Jonas let out a laugh before he could stop himself, but James only smiled.
"Your favorite color is optional, but I would love to hear about what you used to do back in the old world," James said as he gestured invitingly.
"Oh boy, you are a treat," Adriana said with a grin. It was hard to tell if she was being genuine or insulting by her tone, but maybe that was her intent. "I'm Adriana Mercana, I'm twenty-three, and you don't need to know what I used to do."
Oh, I like her, Jonas thought with a smile. He hadn't seen anyone give James snark before.
"I'm Tobias Riverton," Tobias spoke next. "I'm twenty, and I am a creative writing student."
"You mean 'was'," Adriana corrected.
"I'm Jonas Taylor," Jonas said quickly to hide his amusement. "I'm twenty, and I was a civil engineering student at the University of Texas."
"I'm Isaac Matthews!" Isaac shouted. "I'm twenty, my favorite color is blue, and I'm bat man!"
"Isaac, you are not bat man," Tobias said with a frown.
"He is--was an art student, like me," Flora spoke up. Her voice was unsteady, but she did her best to speak clearly. "I'm Flora and um, Flora Jones, that is. I'm...nineteen."
Shyla cleared her throat before taking her turn. "My name is Shyla Kaur, I'm twenty-one, and I was a nursing student."
For a long moment, nobody else said anything. Jonas had to kick Bryce in the shin before he spoke up.
"Oh! Uh, I'm Bryce Sheffield, and I was a football player before..." he trailed off and his face fell.
"Age?" Adriana prompted loudly. For someone who acted like she didn't care, she sure enjoyed teasing the others.
"My cousin is twenty-one," Jonas interjected for Bryce, who clearly looked like he wanted to be left alone. "And 'football' is what British people call soccer, in case you were wondering."
Everyone looked expectantly at James, who gave them a broad smile before speaking. "And I am James Garland; I'm twenty, and I plan to get a Radio-Television-Film degree from the University of Texas when we get back."
Jonas cringed.
Adriana laughed.
Everyone else looked hopeful.
"Alright," James said, "we've got a long road ahead of us still, so we should get going before we waste the whole day." He lifted his sword and pointed it straight into the sky. Light coalesced on its oily-black surface, building in strength until it reflected away from the blade in a line. It was the second time they had seen him do this, but it was still awe-inspiring. The light would point the way to their next destination, wherever that might be.
The light shot away and pierced the side of a large boulder that jutted out of the terrain a short distance away and stopped. As they watched, the beam of light burned a symbol into the rock, which then grew until it formed the outline of a door.
As James lowered his blade and extinguished the light, everyone crowded around the rock for a better look. In the center of the door, where the light had first struck it, the rock now bore a blackened symbol that resembled a complex Celtic knot.
"Well, that was easy," Tobias commented.
The new world that greeted James when he stepped through left him dumbstruck. He found himself in the center of a large parking lot full of cars. In the distance he could see structures reaching into the sky over the treetops that he recognized as roller coasters as well as a ferris wheel. The sound of laughter filled the air as everything swirled around chaotically.
"Well," James muttered to himself, "I wasn't expecting this."
The others exited the portal behind him one by one, each stopping to marvel at the sight.
"Whoa!" Tobias exclaimed, "did we do it? Is this our world?"
"No," Jonas answered, "these cars are a different design compared to anything from our world. I'd say they have maybe fifteen or so years of technological advancements over what we're used to."
"Why an amusement park though?" James wondered aloud.
"The blade takes us wherever we need to go, right?" Tobias asked. "I know I could use a vacation right now."
Jonas frowned as he tried to puzzle through the logic of the blade. It didn't make sense that part of their journey to recover their world would include vacation time, but it was hard to argue with the evidence.
James also seemed hesitant. "I don't know," he said "it just seems kind of--"
Isaac whooped as he dashed ahead in the direction of the park gate. "Race you!"
"Oy! Get back here, Isaac!" Bryce shouted as he took off after him.
"He always was the competitive type," Jonas said with a grin as he watched his cousin chase after Isaac.
James couldn't help but smile at the sight. "You're probably right: they look like they could use a break."
"Of course I'm right," Tobias said with a mischievous grin. "I'm also going to beat you there!" And with that, he was off sprinting as fast as his legs could carry him.
They were about halfway to the gate, with Tobias nowhere close to catching up to Bryce and Isaac, when he remembered his one advantage: they had athleticism, he had his power of flight. With a quick running start, then a strong forward leap, he allowed gravity to shift until it was pulling him towards the gate. In seconds he had gained enough acceleration to pass Bryce, then Isaac immediately after. Then he realized he didn't have a plan for stopping. With his target destination closing in at an increasingly rapid pace, he panicked and tried reversing his gravity. For one stomach-churning moment his orientation flipped, leaving him reeling with a wave of vertigo. He desperately held onto his balance as he slowed to a stop, then he relaxed his power until he fell peacefully to the ground.
That was going to take some getting used to if he wanted to do it again. He had to lie there for a moment before he felt able to stand, during which time Bryce and Isaac had caught up. He staggered to his feet and tried to run; Bryce had already caught up to Isaac, and was right behind him; his natural agility giving him the advantage now.
They were neck and neck with the gate only yards away, when a portal appeared right in front of it and James stepped out wearing a smug grin.
"Hey, no fair!" Tobias shouted as he leapt into the air again.
Behind him he could hear Isaac's delighted laughter as he crashed into the gate, just barely ahead of James.
"Oof!" Tobias gasped as the wind was knocked from his lungs. But other than that he was surprisingly unharmed for having taken a thirty foot freefall onto metal bars.
"Suffering saffron!" exclaimed a voice nearby.
Tobias looked around until he spotted an exchange counter next to the gate where a man sat clutching a newspaper in front of himself as looked up at him in terror. With his gaudy red suit and purple top hat, Tobias was surprised he hadn't noticed him earlier.
"Oh, uh, sorry about that." Tobias carefully reoriented his mind so gravity pulled him down from the gate. He hit the pavement hard, but again he felt only a little pain from the impact. Was this that blessing thing, he wondered? Or was it something else Lyric had done to him?
The gatekeeper folded his newspaper and cleared his throat as he tried to regain his composure. "Oh, erm, ahem... who are you then?"
James stepped up to the counter and offered him his best smile. "James Garland," he said.
"And friends!" added Isaac as he leapt into view.
The gatekeeper raised an eyebrow, but seemed to take everything he had seen in stride. He drew a hooked cane from beneath the counter and flourished it dramatically. "Well then, James Garland and friends, welcome to the grandest entertainment zone the world has to offer! Behind me lies a whole world of thrills and excitement unlike anything you've ever seen before!"
"I doubt you can top the excitement we've had recently, but go on," Tobias commented dryly.
"We've got the Thrill Zone! High Flyers! Mysticism and Magic! And to top it all, the greatest tournament of skill and prowess yet!"
The rumble of a coaster as it zoomed along the rails overhead emphasized his words. An electric excitement rippled through them at the thought of the brief respite that awaited them just beyond this gate.
"Awright!" Tobias shouted, "Let's go on--"
The gatekeeper's cane whipped around to block Tobias's access to the gate. "Ah-ah! First there is the matter of payment," the gatekeeper said.
"Ah, right," Tobias lamented as he backed down.
"How much does it cost to get in?" asked James.
The gatekeeper examined his own fingernails with a distracted air. "Twelve francs per ticket," he said, "a steal for the kind of entertainment we offer."
Francs? Jonas wondered. Now he was certain this wasn't the same France as the one for their world; francs hadn't been in circulation since 2002.
Bryce turned expectantly to Isaac. "Isaac? You're the one with the magic backpack: you got a hundred and eight francs in there?"
Isaac gave him a look of confusion. "I didn't think to bring Frank with me; he doesn't like the outdoors."
James held a finger up to the gatekeeper. "Sorry, could you give us a minute, please?"
The gatekeeper gave him a self-satisfied smile. "Take your time: I'm not going anywhere."
They huddled together to hold a whispered discussion. Adriana stood apart from the others with a look of disgust on her face.
"Ok, does anyone have any ideas?" James asked, keeping his voice low.
"We didn't have time to pack any valuables, if that's what you mean," Shyla commented.
"We shouldn't just assume that Isaac has a plan for everything, or we're going to get ourselves into a lot of trouble," Jonas added, looking right at Bryce.
"Hey!" Bryce protested. "He had clothes packed for most everybody, not to mention his bloody tent."
"Why don't y'all just use your magic sword to get inside?" Adriana asked in a loud voice.
James glanced nervously at the gatekeeper, who was pretending not to be listening. "No," he said firmly, "I'm not going to use the rift blade for anything illegal."
"Tell that to those space-cops," Adriana said with a huff.
There was a long moment of silence before Cecil spoke up. "Unless he accepts coffee seeds as an alternative payment, we're not likely to gain entrance," he said with a shrug.
The gatekeeper immediately perked up, his eyes widening with surprise.
Jonas noticed and played it off with a discouraged shrug. "That's unfortunate since we have way more coffee seeds than we know what to do with."
The gatekeeper quickly regained his composure. "Now hold just a minute, folks," he said hurriedly. "We may yet be able to do business! For the extremely reasonable price of half a kilogram of coffee seeds, I will grant you all access to Cirque du Circé!"
"Really?" Tobias perked up immediately. "Sweet! Don't worry guys, I've got this covered." He dug his hands into his pockets and pulled out two fistfulls of coffee seeds. He dumped them on the counter in front of the gatekeeper, who could only gape in awe.
"Where did you find these?!" the gatekeeper asked as Tobias continued to pull more seeds from his pockets.
"That's what I'd like to know," Jonas commented, raising an eyebrow at Tobias.
Tobias looked sheepishly around at the others. "I was hungry, ok? I didn't want anyone judging me for eating so many, so I kept the seeds." The pile in front of the gatekeeper continued to grow until it was obvious that Tobias didn't understand how much half a kilogram was. "I'm just glad the pants Isaac gave me have such deep pockets," Tobias said with a satisfied grin. "Uh, that's all I've got; you can keep the change, I guess," he added to the gatekeeper.
The gatekeeper pulled a bag from underneath the counter and began greedily sweeping the seeds into it. "Oh yes! Oh yes! Mistress Circé will be very pleased!"
"Is coffee really that valuable?" James asked.
The gatekeeper looked at him in surprise. "I would have thought you would understand the value of these if you took the trouble to bring them back from the brink of extinction!"
"Fair enough," Jonas said with a friendly smile. Even in their old world, there was constant talk of coffee going extinct because of its inability to adapt to its shifting climate. Jonas guessed that had already happened here, which meant that coffee seeds would be very valuable to the right buyer. He would have to keep that in mind while they were here.
The gatekeeper sealed the bag carefully and hid it back under the counter. Then he pressed a button and the gate swung slowly open.
"Please keep all weapons stowed safely to avoid any unnecessary accidents," the gatekeeper cautioned them. "Welcome to Cirque du Circé!"