Silence muffled all discussion in the cart, stifling any attempt at words. Disi made a small, discontented squeak, and Emile stroked his soft horns.
"W...what's a ghost town?" asked Janus, feeling quite unsettled. "Is it bad? Should we stay away?" He shivered, looking at the spot where the village had just been. Could an entire town just disappear like that?
He blinked, and it reappeared. "What?" he whispered.
Remus let out an excited laugh and jumped over the edge of the cart, Roman not far behind him. "Time to wrangle some ghosts!" he exclaimed happily. "Doesn't that sound fun? I can use this iron sword-thing I made out of spare parts the other day!"
He held out a beaten, molded iron dagger with a leather handle, the blade wickedly sharp and toothlike, the metal so dark it was almost black. Small red stones glittered on the handle, making Janus think of the eyes of the giant spider that had scuttled across the clearing where he lived-- used to live, he reminded himself.
"That's oddly... comforting," Emile murmured from where he sat. "But do we really have to go into the place with lots of ghosts? Can't we just... stay here?" He scooted a little farther away from where the town was, and squeezed his eyes shut as if he wanted it all to disappear.
"Agreed," Logan spoke up. "Ghost towns are dangerous, and though treasure may be found--"
Roman gasped.
"Although treasure may be found," Logan continued, his lips pursed, "you may die in the process before you even catch a glimpse of a silver goblet. So let's go, and continue to the village so we can hide until the kingdom fights off Fiere."
Suddenly, Roman made a small shriek and pointed a shaking hand at... something. Janus squinted and saw a small, pale figure wreathed in smoke approaching. "W-w-who's that?!" he shouted, and Remus jumped in front of him, holding the dagger threateningly.
Emile screamed as the figure pounced, digging sharp nails into Remus's arm, but the other just gritted his teeth and slashed right through the thing. It disappeared into a burst of smoky mist, and a wail like nails on a chalkboard echoed through the clearing.
Logan looked around briskly. "That is exactly what I'm talking about," he muttered. "Figures like--"
But before he could finish, a large, ghostly dog came lunging toward them, howling. Wreaths of mist wrapped around its transparent, pale paws. It was at least the size of the cart, and its eyes glowed with a strange, dark, black light, matching the dripping-black wounds along its side.
It howled again, the sound loud enough to send shivers down Janus's spine.
I'm going to die, he thought with absolute certainty as the dog shook out its mane and growled, deep and low.
Remus tried to slash it with the dagger, but it pinned him down with one massive paw. He struggled for a while, yelping as the spectral hound lowered its sharp fangs, yipping with pride.
Roman lunged for the dog, carving a great wound up its ankle with a broken axel wheel lying nearby, and with an almost humanlike scream the dog released its hold.
"That's what you--" Roman yelled, before the dog slashed his arm, and with a cry of agony he fell against the cart. Emile threw a milk jog at it, but it went straight through the animal.
It didn't even notice, Janus thought desperately. We're all going to be killed.
I just got out of my tower!
Remus drove the dagger into its side, but it just shook him away with a snarl of pain. Janus screamed as Remus landed with a thud against the side of the cart, limp.
"What's going on?!" Emile cried, grabbing Remus's arms and hauling him into the cart. Roman jumped over the edge, pressing himself against the far wall, away from the smoke-demon-dog.
Logan hissed. "We need something larger, with more iron!" he yelled, looking around.
Emile looked around frantically, but there was nothing in sight. Janus joined him, throwing aside milk cartons and pushing the glass jugs around, but eventually he had to face the facts, there was nothing to be used.
Janus clambered onto the top of the milk cartons, squeezing his eyes shut with a fierce, sharp certainty of death hanging over his head like a dull axe.
And then, with a sudden scream of agony, the dog disappeared into steamy mist.
Roman looked up, dazed, just as a figure stepped through the smoke, waving away the mist with a confused, shocked expression on his face.
He was around Janus's age, 19 or 18, with wavy, silver-blonde hair shining like the moon, and eyes red and pink like pomegranate ink but hidden behind dark sunglasses. He had sun-kissed tan skin, with freckles dotting his shoulders and neck.
He also looked very extremely confused.
"Who are you, and how did you do that?" Logan asked carefully, stepping down from the cart to examine the boy closely.
The boy opened and closed his mouth, shaking his head a bit. "I just... I heard someone shout 'more iron' so I found a great big fuckin' crowbar lying around, and I chucked it right at the thing's head."
Janus let out a long breath. "Well, whoever you are, you just saved us from getting eaten," he muttered. "Thanks, but couldn't you have done it sooner?"
"No, actually," the boy snapped back, crossing his arms. "I just appeared, and the first thing I heard was your flapping around, so stfu before I call security on your ass, gurl."
Janus was... not sure what he thought of this new development, however he was quite sure that he knew one thing. "I am not a girl," he yelled at the boy, stalking towards him and narrowing his eyes. "Why does everyone seem to mistake me for one these days!"
Logan grabbed Janus's hand, pulling him back. "Wait, what do you mean by 'just appeared'? Also, how would you call for security? Last time I checked, there are no guards stationed in ghost towns."
The boy sighed. "It's an expression, you..." He adjusted his glasses so the light sparkled on them in a million different ways. "Gawd. Anyway, I had a question. Do you know where here is?"
From his corner, Roman blinked. "Uh... west of Jacobson, around three miles away from Sunflower Bay. Are you lost? Did some witch teleport you here? Or was it a dragon?!" His voice grew more and more excited as he went on, pulling another knife from his belt. "Fear not, young citizen, I shall save you!"
"Quit your yapping, wannabe," the boy muttered at Roman. "I don't need saving, I just want to get back... home." He hesitated slightly, making a face Janus couldn't decipher. "Do you know a way back to Mississippi? I can catch a bus back to my hometown there."
Janus stared at the boy for several seconds, extremely dizzied. "I only understood half those words," he mumbled.
The boy stuck his tongue out at Janus. "You're not helping, in case you didn't notice," he shot back.
"I don't want to help someone like you," Janus retorted, frowning. "You're being really rude, 'in case you didn't notice'."
At that, the boy fell silent, his hands curling into fists. Finally he laughed a little, shaking his head and leaning against the cart. "You know what, you're right," he admitted, letting his bangs fall over his mauve eyes. "I'm sorry."
Now this was so out of character that Janus had to take a little step back, squinting. "Are you... okay?"
"No!" the other exploded, stomping on the grass. "I disappeared in a flash of light and appeared in a forest who-knows-how-many-miles away from home, and I just ruined my probably only chance of finding civilization because my meds--" he cut off, brushing his hair out of his eyes.
"What?" Emile prompted gently, his tone more empathetic than Janus had ever heard him. "Your... meds?"
What are those? he mouthed to Logan, only to be met with a shrug.
The boy sighed, closing his eyes. "Forget it, I'm fine. Look, I'm really sorry." He looked up at the others with a pained look. "Could you please help me? My name's Remy Skye, and I'm kind of lost."
---
"So..." Logan cleared his throat.
They were sitting in the back of the cart, safely away from the ghost town and any slobbering ghost dogs, talking.
"You're saying that..." Apparently at a loss for words, Logan waved his hand aimlessly. "That you're from Mississippi, a place I have never even heard of, and you were sent here after digging around in a..."
"A molecular disbander," Remy finished, sighing. "Yeah, I dunno either." He took a flask out of his backpack and took a long gulp, then set it on the cart floor. "It was bring your kid to work day, and--"
Remus gasped. "Your dad works with molesting rubber bands? Woah, that's so--"
Remy held his hand up, looking disgusted. "No," he said. "No, no, no. What the literal fuck. Molecular disbanding involves, as far as I know, um..." He paused, thinking. "Taking molecules apart? I guess? Apparently it's this 'big thing' in teleportation or whatever."
Janus tilted his head. "Teleportation? That's major high-level magic right there. Right?" He glanced at Logan and Emile, who both seemed to be pretty magical, and they shrugged. "So your dad worked with that?"
"No, not really," Remy denied. "Um, all I know is that he works with limb regeneration, you know, lab-grown arms and legs and stuff." He shook his head. "That and he never finds time to come home, and even when he does--" He stopped again.
Janus looked at Emile, who also seemed puzzled. Roman glanced over, sitting cross-legged on a milk carton. "Even when he does?" he echoed.
Remy started to pull at one of his dozen bracelets, snapping it over and over on his wrist. "It's nothing, I don't want to talk about it." His voice was low.
Emile opened and closed his mouth, but didn't speak.
"Er," Janus started, "if it makes you feel better, I have a weird family... too?"
Glancing up at Janus, Remy scoffed. "Yeah?" He shook out his hair and took another sip from his flask.
"Yeah," Janus murmured. "My dad was gone for the first, uh, eleven? Years of my life, and when he came home he thought I was a girl and locked me up in a tower for some prince to save." He sighed, slumping. "God."
Remy raised an eyebrow. "Wow, that does sound awful," he laughed. "You trans?"
Janus nearly choked. "Uh--" He cleared his throat. "Depends on your... definition."
"You were born, you cried like the stupid baby you were, got told you were a girl, wore girly dresses for a while, then realized you were a boy and boom here you are." Remy tapped his nails on his bottle, which was made of some kind of metal and stuck with dozens of brightly colored stickers.
"Wow. Uh." Janus squinted. "I guess...? I was told from the moment I was born that I was a girl, but it never... clicked."
Remy snapped twice in Janus's direction. "Yup. Trans." He smiled, drinking from his bottle. "Then that makes two of us, dude."
Logan picked some hay out of his hat. "You do realize, all this soul-meeting and what-now is taking a terribly long time. We'd do better to get moving." He tilted his hat and smiled at Remy. "Would you like to come with us?"
"To where?" Remy questioned, smirking. "You gonna find me another time machine and zap me back to 2020? Nice, simple and easy?" He stood up, picking up his bottle and shaking it.
Logan shook his head. "I'm afraid not, apologies."
Remus laughed. "But is anything ever that nice?" He leaned against Janus, nudging the smaller boy. "Well, anything except for this one."
"Remus!" Janus yelped. "You promised you wouldn't try to make me all weird-ish-feeling!" He shivered as if there were cobwebs on his arms. Remus had a habit of making Janus feel all strange, and although he had told Remus repeatedly to stop, he always did it again. "Ick, stoppit."
Remy glanced over at Janus, a small smile growing on his face. "Well, isn't this... interesting."
"What do you mean?" Emile asked, pulling him down to sit on the cart next to him. Remy nearly tripped over a milk jar, but flopped onto the floor with a sigh. Emile reached up, smudging some dirt off Remy's cheek. "Anyway, I want stories of where you come from, I'm kind of bored."
"Babe, all I got is misery." Remy scrunched up his nose. "I have just given you all the kind, nice, fluffy stories I remember." Having not given us any, he scuffed his foot on the floor, looking lost in thought.
Emile smiled at him, leaning closer. "Then give me some of the bad ones. I... I don't mind." He shrugged and ducked his head, grinning at Remy embarrassedly.
"Ah, fuck," Remy muttered, glancing away from Emile with a strange, indecipherable expression. "I'm not going to want to leave, am I."