The Cave

Orrin gave a sorrowful nod. "Kendrik told me about Thytes' crush on me, and I had to tell him that it wouldn't work out because we're from two different worlds." He took a deep breath to steady himself, then muttered more to himself than to Jaron, "Of course I wouldn't be able to stay with the one person who accepts me."


Their conversation concluded, Maahes and Lucifer silently - yet simultaneously - came to the decision to return to the rest of the group. They had a lot they needed to figure out, and standing around wasn't going to get either one of them anywhere.

Adeline spoke up from where she had been unconsciously half-hidden behind Kartiel.

"Um, has anyone explored these buildings? A- are they abandoned for sure?" She called, her voice loud but shy. Something about the empty town around her just rubbed her the wrong way, and she half-expected someone to be hidden somewhere, watching them.

James, who had been mostly checking out, was brought to attention by Adeline's question. He turned around to see the glass girl behind Kartiel. He didn't have an answer for her, but seeing as he was stuck in this situation with everyone else, he wanted to be listening for anyone who did know anything.

Jaron looked down at the ground. "That sucks," he whispered. "It's always hard to find a person who accepts you for being yourself. It took me nineteen years."

Kartiel shrugged, having been doing his best to keep an eye on Lucifer and Leo to make sure nothing happened to the former. Apparently whatever conflict they had earlier had been resolved by their conversation.

"I was with you," he said. "And Lucifer and Leo only just got here with me, so they probably are clueless, too. Same thing with James."


"Yeah," he quietly replied. He looked up, gave Jaron a little smile, and gestured behind him. "I'll go check out the main town building now." He gave a quick wave, then slipped away from Jaron. Thytes likely didn't want to see him now, not when he had just broken his heart.

It was better this way, anyways. Reyes Eberhardt had always worked alone. And that was who he was now. The only reason he clung to Orrin Baines was because he wanted answers from his father; he couldn't continue to be that boy anymore. Not that he had been, for a very, very long time.

So, yes, this was the best thing for him to do. He knew ghosts. He knew how to get answers from them. He knew how to navigate situations like this. This was Reyes Eberhardt's job, wasn't it? It wasn't like he was trying to run away from his problems. He definitely wasn't.

So why did it feel like he was?

"Alright..." Adeline frowned and shivered slightly, still fixated on the darkened windows of the nearest building. Deciding to let it go for now, she glanced over at James before walking over to him- he seemed to be less upset than when he'd first woken up.

"Hey... are you feeling better now? I know you didn't get to sleep very long, but-"

Jaron hesitated for a few seconds. The fox looked back at the alley, where Thytes and Kendrik seemed frozen in place. The two glared at each other. Probably waiting for the other to make a move.

Yep, he wasn't getting involved in that. Jaron ran over to Reyes, tapping him on the shoulder. "Can I come with you?" Jaron whispered. "It doesn't feel like I should be with Kendrik right now."

James looked over at the glass girl - probably the person he was annoyed by the least, next to Maahes - and nodded.

"I'm feeling a little better," he said quietly. "Thank you for asking."

"Of course." Adeline smiled at him reassuringly. "You know, as much as I'd love to figure out what this place is and why we're here..."

She paused and sighed, self-consciously hugging her arms around herself. "I do have to agree with what you said earlier- this place is most likely dangerous. Not to mention spooky."

James nodded slowly, glad that Adeline seemed to have a reasonable head on her shoulders, and that at least, he wasn't alone in being wary.

"I'm afraid we'll run into something worrisome soon... but I think at this point it's unavoidable. I'm beginning to think my getting lost in that forest was not an accident, and if I were to go back out into the storm, I wouldn't find my way home."

"I can relate to that." Adeline offered a weary smile, "I am positive I won't find my home. And so, in a way, any place I go is as good as any other. At least here, I have companionship."

As she said this, her voice was light and carefree. Already having had one emotional breakdown today, she wasn't in a hurry to have another. The way she thought, it was best to pretend to be fine with your situation and see it's positive aspects- eventually, it wouldn't be pretending anymore.

James probably should've added a qualifying statement to the end of his reply. That being that home was a term he used loosely. He only meant home as in his own world, and that with which he was familiar. But as far as homes went, he hadn't had one of those for a long time. Not in a place, and definitely not found in people.

He nodded politely though, gaze drifting over to Maahes. "I suppose it does beat... being alone."

"So, tell me... the world you come from, what's it like? You are from a world different from this one as well, correct?" Adeline gripped her hands together in front of her, eager to hear more descriptions and stories of far away places.

It was only after a moment that she considered the fact that James may not have wanted to talk about what he had left behind. "That is- if you don't mind sharing it with me- I don't mean to pry."

James was honestly surprised that he'd yet to be engaged in anything akin to small-talk in all of his time there until that moment. He was grateful for it, and that at least, with Adeline, she was gentle about it, unlike how he would expect many of the others to be.

"It's alright," he said. "I don't mind." Sharing about his world wasn't personal.

"I come from a world where magic is commonplace, but technology isn't very far advance compared to... well, some other worlds or universes. We've only just begun to mass-produce guns. It's an odd time of swords and gunpowder. And as far as magic goes, it's outlawed in human society, but openly practiced among every other non-human race."

"Interesting." Adeline stared off into the distance as she thought of this, "so, human laws do not apply to other races? They are free from human control? And- guns. Gunpowder. Are those... weapons?" She frowned.

The way he had explained it, it seemed that other worlds might have had more advanced weapons than even these "guns", which already sounded more advanced than swords, which she was familiar with. This concept was slightly terrifying to her.