Young Writers Society

Well, that was fair, and it was a little harder to be bothered about looking scary if everyone looked scary. "Haha, is cheese the special word?" Taber said. He smiled at the tiny box and waved his hand. "Cheese!"

Kartiel snapped the picture. It took a moment for to load on the screen, but, when it finally did, he wasted no time in showing it to Taber. "There you go!" he said. "If only I had my printer - I could print this out and give it to you."

"Wow," Taber said, getting up close to screen. "We look so...cool. Not friendly cool, but, you know, cool."

Aegeas shook his head. "Don't we have better things to do? I'm not going to stay around while you guys find a printer or whatever it is."

"Nah, it's okay if we don't get one," said the wolf. He never moved his eyes from the picture. "I kinda tear stuff like that up anyways, 'cause I have claws and stuff."

Magic cleared their throats from the back of the room.

"Aegeas has a point," they chimed in. "We really should be trying to get my magic back. It'll just be a little difficult with Kartiel and Second to account for on top of us, since they don't look like heroes like us..."

"That might be a good thing," Lucifer hesitantly said, awkwardly raising his hand to draw attention to himself. "I-I think we could use that to our advantage. Second could be leading us around but really just letting us search for the room where the magic is, and Kartiel could be asking us questions so it looks more natural."

Taber turned his head to look at Aegeas. "See!" he said. "It's a good thing they showed up! And we were spending all this time talking about pictures and stuff, so the conversation part should be pretty easy."

Aegeas rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything. Magic was right, and there really wasn't any point to add on to what they said.

"It sounds like a plan," Kartiel said, grinning. He readjusted his glasses and messed with his hair a little more than he previously had; it made him more unrecognizable. He doubted someone would know who he was, but it was impossible to predict what kind of things he got up to by the time this year rolled around. Maybe Levi Quinn had become a familiar face?

Beside him, Second slipped his helmet back on. He glanced over at his boyfriend and slipped his hand into his - Kartiel knew that he didn't need to tell Second that he couldn't hold Lorcan's hand once they left the room. Second was smart. Brilliant, even. Out of all of Hero's little group of friends, it was Second that he usually found himself on the same wavelength as; the guy had a knack for strategy, even if he was a little out of his element right now.

"I'm ready when everyone else is," Kartiel said, glancing back at the others in the room as he rested his hand on the door.

"Sure!" Taber said, running over to the door.

Aegeas followed. "Alright," he said with a small nod. "It's not like we have any other choice, so let's go."

Second and Kartiel both took the lead as they exited the room, the former giving a longing glance in Lorcan's direction before perfectly playing the part of a soldier. Kartiel, too, was in his element - he easily acted as one of the scientists, asking them questions about the worlds they supposedly came from when they passed other people. Heads turned, but not in suspicion; everyone were merely in awe of the newcomers. Magic prattled off answers about worlds that may or may not have existed somewhere in the multiverse, and Hero gave simple replies to any questions relating to Minecraftia.

Their ploy worked incredibly well. As they continued to aimlessly wander, Magic felt for their magic - at least, that was the answer Hero received when he gave them a confused look in one of the empty hallways. He just nodded and returned to looking on ahead, waiting for some sort of sign.

Magic finally came to a stop before a room with an unassuming door. A handful of people exited the room, and their supposed guide tried to look unassuming as he listed likely untrue facts about the hallway they were in, engaging in small talk none of them bothered to reply to. When the coast was finally clear, Kartiel ducked his head inside the room, scanned it, and then gestured for them all to follow.

The room was as unassuming as its door - or, at least, it would have been. There was a noticeably large tube of something in the center of it, hooked up to a strange rod-like device that protruded from the center of a glass dome in the ceiling.

"This is it," Magic said. "I can feel it."

Aegeas breathed a sigh of relief. The strange looks that people had been giving him the entire time were still digging into the back of his skull. He hated being thought of as so strange and weird and alien to all of these humans, even if it wasn't nearly the first time he'd ever dealt with a response like that. Kartiel's random and stupid questions (not to mention that Aegeas was still uncomfortable dealing with any Kartiel) hadn't helped. Hopefully Aegeas's answers hadn't been obvious enough lies to attract suspicion. But it didn't seem like they'd spend too much longer here.

Well, probably. The otter stared at the strange contraption in front of him. "How does this work?" he said, glancing at Magic. "What are you supposed to do?"

Magic crossed their arms.

"I admit I'm not entirely sure?" they hesitantly replied, still looking the device over. They took a step towards the giant cylinder and studied it for a moment before moving to investigate the devices hooked up to it. "They had me connected to this tube thing earlier, and I'm guessing the tubes must have fed into here."

"Maybe we need to break it open," Second suggested, now also investigating what was in front of him. It was completely unfamiliar technology - nothing like the things he had seen in Charlotte's house or any of the red stone tech he had encountered on Minecraftia - but it would make sense given the context. "There could also be some sort of opening that lets you access it."

"I'm betting on that second option," Kartiel spoke up. "Science 101 - you have to check on your experiments somehow. This doesn't strike as the videotape it type of experiment, so there has to be a little hatch."

"Ugh," Aegeas said, glaring at the device. "It'd be much easier to smash that thing up, but it's never that simple.". He glanced back at the door. "How much time do we have?"

"There's no way of knowing," God said, peeking around the side of the tube. Hero, Lorcan and Second awkwardly lingered by the door as the trio from this reality went to work with their search - Kartiel also tried to help a little. "We just have to hope we finish up in here before-"

He paused.

The group collectively tensed at the sudden silence.

"I think I found it, Magic," God said. He gestured at a small hatch on the side of the tube. Magic hurried on over and peered at said hatch, crouching down so they were at eye level with it. After a moment of hesitation, they flung it open. Hero wanted to argue that it maybe wasn't the best idea to do something like that, but it was too late to make his objection - Magic was already reaching their hand inside the hole.

"Oh, this feels weird," they said. "I can feel me moving around in there, but it's not me at the same time. I really, really don't like the feeling of this."

Hero could see them giving a small smile.

"But I guess I just have to deal with it if I want to set things right." There wasn't any visible change that occurred in the following minutes; they just awkwardly stood there as Magic presumably got their magic back.

And just as the something in tube finished draining, Lorcan suddenly went still beside him.

Hero already had a sinking feeling in his gut when Lorcan glanced back at the door; despite not being in his natural form, Lorcan still had impeccable hearing. And if he was hearing something from outside...

"There's people coming," Lorcan hissed.

Second and Kartiel stiffened. Darkness began to spring to life around Hero's fist, and black scales began to creep onto Kartiel's face as his eyes flickered from green to purple. God and Lucifer both looked tense, too.

Magic hurriedly drew their hand out of the tube and slammed the hatch shut. "We need to go," they said.

"No duh," Kartiel replied, voice high with terror. "How exactly do you plan on going?"

"Transportation spell, maybe?" God suggested. He was already in the middle of dragging everyone over to where his brother was standing, his apparently inhuman strength accounting for any resistance he might have faced in doing so.

"But they could track us if I used my magic here," Lucifer quietly argued. "If they have a spell caster or have their transport devices ready, they would be able to find us. We wouldn't be able to get away."

"We could fight them," Hero suggested. His sword was already beginning to appear as the approaching groups outside came to a stop in front of the door.

"We wouldn't win," Second said. "There's too few of us, and too many of them."

"Then what are we supposed to do-" Kartiel started to say, only to be cut off by a burst of warmth from nearby.

Hero turned.

There wasn't any visible change to Magic, but they had to have been the one to cast the spell. The warmth that accompanied magic was coming from where they were standing. It looked like they were struggling to use the magic, but then they gave him and the others a weak smile.

"If they'll find us here," they said, "then we just needed to go to another reality."

The world suddenly spun around the group. Hero gave a startled cry and desperately tried to grab for Lorcan and Second, but was unable to as they - and himself - suddenly broke apart into tiny particles of light.


When the world came back into focus, Hero was standing in an unfamiliar street, snow falling down from dark clouds in the night sky above. He peered in the darkness, trying to make out the forms of the people that surrounded him. For a moment - catching a glimpse of a white lab coat - he was worried that the escape had failed.

But then he saw the glowing purple eyes appear, and realized it was just Kartiel.

Someone suddenly staggered into him. Hero just barely managed to catch them before they fell over - it was Magic. "Thanks," they said, giving him the same weak smile before. Somehow, they managed to look even more frail and tired; the spell must have been a taxing one. "I'm still...I'm still adjusting to my magic again. I wanted to get to your realities...but..."

"This is Berlin," Kartiel announced from nearby. "We're in Germany. Did we just move to another continent? Is that how the spell failed?"

"No," God replied, moving about in the darkness. "It's not...Berlin...Berlin..."

He faltered.

"...Berlin was the first city to be destroyed in the war," Lucifer whispered. "It was wiped off the map in a single night..."

"...The last time that many souls arrived in Heaven simultaneously was during World War II," God added. "...At least, it was then. Berlin was just the beginning - New York City and London even worse."

Hero frowned. "But if this wasn't ours, and isn't yours, then who's Berlin is it?"

Magic swayed a little, and Hero hurried to catch them. "The Viper and the Silver Fox's," they replied.

Then Magic passed out.

It was snowing. Why was it snowing? It wasn't the right time of year for snow. To say nothing of the darkness (hadn't it been daytime just a minute ago?), the city (it didn't look like any city he knew of), and Magic passing out (weren't they supposed to have greater control of their powers?). Everything was wrong, and what was even more wrong was that the others recognized where they were. But there was a 'viper' and a 'silver fox,' so this had to be his world. Right?

Aegeas took a few deep breaths, watching it fog into the air. Stepping back, he ran into something large and fuzzy. He spun around, just as quickly realizing that it was Taber, who immediately scooped him up and held him in his arms like he was a stuffed animal. Normally Aegeas would complain, but he felt that Taber was perfectly excused this time.

"I trust Magic and everything," Taber stammered, "And I'm happy that we're not about to get thrown in jail by the government, but...what did they do?"

Lucifer whispered a spell under his breath, suddenly casting the group in the gentle warmth and light of an old-fashioned lantern.

"...They teleported us to another reality," Lucifer said.

"It's none of ours," God added. He glanced at the empty street they were standing in, and at the towering buildings nearby. "Using up their magic must have wiped them out - their body probably needs to adjust to it still."

"But we still don't know where we are," Kartiel replied, exasperated. "We know we're in Berlin, but who's the Viper and the Silver Fox?"

"...der Silberfuchs," Magic suddenly muttered - apparently, they were still partially conscious. "...It's either the first or second, but I don't know where we are...."

"Well that's comforting," Kartiel said with a roll of his eyes - they were flickering between green and purple again. "Anything else you can tell us?"

"...Watch out for the dragon..."

Kartiel groaned. "I don't even know why I bothered to ask."

"We need to get to some place safe," Aegeas said. "Dragons are bad news, especially if we don't know if this one is going to be a friend or not." He pointed to the nearest building, a dark, multi-story one. If it wasn't for the fact that it looked clean and well-maintained, and the front entrance was shut, he'd have assumed it was abandoned. It probably wasn't, but they'd have to take what they could get. At least it looked like nobody inside was awake.