"Fair warning," Chandra said suddenly, just as they were about to leave Sun's Reprieve. Many days had passed since the group had reluctantly and tentatively agreed to assist Chandra in her personal war against the elder dragons. Elspeth had pointed out that first they had to find Serra's Lost Treasure and prevent Bolas from getting his hands on it. She knew it had been split into three pieces and if the pieces were to be combined and a command word spoken the energy within the treasure would be released. "On the world we're going to the mana is so unused and concentrated that using excessive amounts of it is extremely poisonous. Like deadly," Chandra smiled sheepishly, "Sorry I didn't tell you earlier."

Jace stared at her, "You're serious?"

She nodded, "Yeah."

On Elspeth's recommendation they were going to search an extremely isolated lost world that was so broken away from the multiverse that the only way to get there was to get lost, which was potentially very, very dangerous. Jace had agreed that something as powerful as the treasure was more than likely hidden somewhere very isolated like that world.

"So...that means we won't be able to use any magic?" Ral asked.

"Very tiny amounts of it at most," Chandra shrugged. She flicked a flame at Ral, "I won't even be able to do that without getting sick."

"How are we going to leave then?" Jace snapped.

"Echo," Chandra shrugged, "She's already working on coming up with a fix for that."

"What about those jumper things?"

"They don't work with us. A planeswalker's presence in general can screw it up," Chandra said, "It was made so no 'bad' planeswalker could use it for their own advantage. It will still turn on and you'd still be able to see the map and what not but it would malfunction if you tried to get it to take you anywhere. She's modifying that for us but it'll be a little bit."

"Besides, we're hunting for something that's in three pieces at least," Gideon said, "So it'll more than likely be ready to go before we are."

Jace sighed, "Fine. Let's get this over with already."

The group left.

"Our timing was off," Chandra explained once they regrouped after landing, "so the four of us," she motioned to Jace, Lilianna, and Ral, "passed through a temporal rift."

"I'm younger!" Ral grinned.

Gideon looked them all over uneasily, "That's young though."

"A decade at most," Jace said, "However it does not appear that we all lost a decade in our age. I haven't seen a mirror so I wouldn't be able to tell you about my age. However, it would appear that Chandra and Lilianna are now around the same age. I'd say somewhere around 15. Ral appears to be older than them at 16."

"You look younger than all of us, Cat Ears," Ral snickered.

Jace shot him an icy cold look, "Like I care."

"Luckily we landed outside a city that is used to...'unnatural' occurrences," Chandra said.

"What city?" Kallist asked.

"It's called Elendeth City. It's the home base of the Lotus on this world and stuff like us happens all the time here."

"That's actually reassuring," Ral nodded, "So we won't stand out too bad."

"Unfortunately it also means that certain organizations and agencies are very interested in this city," Chandra said.

"So the fact that we have unusual abilities would attract their attention," Jace concluded.

Chandra nodded.

"I think only your physical appearances changed," Kallist said.

"Don't worry," Chandra smirked, "The decreased age takes longer to take effect in the mind. Our maturity will decrease over the next few weeks."

Jace stared at her, "What?!"

"That's uncalled for," Lilianna crossed her arms over her chest angrily, "I don't want to-"

"Too bad," Chandra shrugged. She sighed, "We should get to the Lotus Hotel before long. Our clothes are...odd."

"Odd?"

"No one here walks around in steel armor," Chandra looked at Gideon, Kallist and Elspeth, "or cloaks or anything else like that." She led the way through the alleys of the city. It was almost dawn on this world and everyone of them could feel the drastic difference in time. The sun was already above the horizon by the time they slid into the hotel through the back door.

"Phoe-what happened?" Shadow asked in surprise.

"Temporal rift," Chandra shrugged, "We need clothes and a house that can hold four kids that won't get along very well as well as Gideon, Kallist, Kaechia, and Elspeth. Oh yeah. And a baby dragon."

Shadow's eyes widened, "Are you going to be able to pay the rent on that?"

Chandra shrugged, "We'll see. Eclipse gives discounts."

Shadow nodded. She smiled, "By the way, Michael and David are giving Lotus a hard time. She's spent the past four days sleeping in the hotel."

Chandra nodded, "I'll take care of that in a second." She turned back to her companions, "Stay here. Don't go anywhere until we get clothes."

"What about you?" Kaechia asked.

Chandra smirked, "I come here sometimes so I've already got clothes." She turned away, "Don't worry about style. I'll pick stuff that fits your personalities."

Ral grinned, "Jace still has cat ears and a tail."

"And you're still an obnoxious annoying lightning mage," Lilianna shrugged, "Your point?"

"I don't see how it's so amazing," Jace muttered.

"Oh yeah," Lilianna took Jace's hand and led him to the mirror that leaned against the end of the hallway up the stairs.

"Dammit," Jace muttered as he saw his reflection. It looked as though he was a whole decade younger.

"You're the youngest Cat Ears!" Ral grinned as he used Jace's shoulder as an armrest.

"You're the oldest," Lilianna smirked, "You get to be an adult again first."

"Well damn," Ral sighed.

"I doubt he'll ever be the oldest mentally," Jace walked away unhappily.

"What's wrong with you Cat Ears?" Ral jogged after him.

"Nothing," Jace shook his head.

"Cat Ears!" Ral stood in front of him, "As I am now older than you, what's wrong?"

"I don't have to answer that just because you've decided you have authority here," Jace muttered. He pushed past Ral and continued down the stairs. This isn't going to end well I don't think. Things like this never end well. He looked around the main hall of the hotel. It was empty as the building had yet to open for the day and the people staying over night weren't going to be up for a while.

"Lilianna," Chandra grunted as she returned carrying a giant bag over her shoulder.

"What is it?" Lilianna sneered.

"When's your birthday?"

"My...what?" Lilianna stared at her in surprise, "Why do you care?"

"We're both fifteen. We have to figure out who's older," Chandra sighed as she dropped the bag in the middle of the room, "Go through those and pick out what you want. Everything else can come with us when we finally get the house figured out.

"You sure know what's going on here Beautiful," Ral picked curiously through the clothes in the bag.

"I've been here a few times," Chandra shrugged. She turned back to Lilianna, "Well?"

Lilianna crossed her arms over her chest, "October 17."

Chandra grinned, "I'm older than you."

"What?! When's your birthday?!" Lilianna glared at her.

"March 21," Chandra smirked.

"You're still the shortest of us," Lilianna stalked past her.

Chandra spun around to face her, "So?"

"They're already less mature than they were two hours ago," Gideon noticed uneasily.

Jace glanced at him and then looked at where Chandra and Lilianna were arguing. About their birthday of all things. And size. And actually I think she's taller than me. Oh well. It's not like it matters. How'd she know what size clothes to get anyway? She's never been good at estimating. Then again she went with Echo and she's...she's...UGH! I can't think of the right word.

"Actually," Ral butted into their argument, "Cat Ears come here."

"Is this necessary?" Jace snapped. He crossed his arms over his chest and remained where he was.

"Fine," Ral grabbed Chandra and led her to where Jace was standing, "Cat Ears is now shorter than Beautiful."

Jace felt everyone's shocked gazes boring into him. He hissed through gritted teeth, "It doesn't matter how tall we are. We're here for a reason. The sooner we find that treasure thing the sooner we can leave." He stalked away. This isn't going to end well. Bolas has such a head start on us. It's what he was looking for during the tournament thing on Ravnica. It's what he was looking for when we helped the guilds defend Ravnica from an army of terrifyingly inhuman constructs as well as our construct doubles. It's what he was looking for that entire time. He looked over his shoulder, "Where's the library?"

Chandra rolled her eyes hard enough her head followed the motion of her eyes, "Really? First you need to change and then I'll show you where the library is."

"Oh," Jace sighed. He grabbed some clothes and a scarf and disappeared up the stairs.

"Would a library here really have what Jace would be looking for?" Kallist asked. He stared at the stairs where Jace had disappeared worriedly.

"I know of a library that has a...secret section that might have what he's looking for," Chandra explained.

"If it doesn't he's going to be in a bad mood," Lilianna said.

"Well," Shadow interrupted, "It looks like there's a house with six bedrooms in it. It's relatively expensive though so Eclipse is charging a higher rent. Though it is very much less expensive than the rent you'd be paying to anyone else."

Chandra nodded, "How much?"

"$980 a month," Shadow said.

Chandra's eyes widened, "Extortionist bastard."

Lilianna snickered, "That's rude to say to someone that's being so generous."

Chandra scowled at her.

"Jace help bring stuff into the house," Gideon said.

Jace crossed his arms over his chest and met Gideon's gaze defiantly, "What about the library?"

"After stuff gets moved into the house," Gideon said.

Jace shook his head, "You can't change the-"

"Jace," Elspeth said sternly, "Help."

Jace turned and glared at her.

Elspeth met his gaze. Her eyes turned gold and they narrowed. Golden flames leaped from her left eye.

Jace's eyes widened and he took a step back in surprise.

"Now." Elspethe ordered.

Jace nodded quickly and darted past her. That eye is creepy. I know it's because she's technically dead. It was a power given to her by Erebos so she could see what's going on with us no matter where she was. It's still terrifying.

"Helping out?" Kallist asked. His tone was friendly if somewhat surprised.

"Elspeth said to," Jace shrugged gloomily.

Kallist handed him a stack of shelves, "Those go with the bookshelves that are already inside."

"How many bookshelves?" Jace asked instantly.

"Um...there's seven right now," Kallist shrugged, "I have no idea if there are anymore."

"That would explain the number of shelves," Jace nodded. He took them and awkwardly carried them back into the house. 'Fair warning. On the world we're going to the mana is so unused and concentrated that using excessive amounts of it is extremely poisonous. Like deadly.' She said that but nothing feels off. Of course it may not be worth testing if it really is suicide. I'll look into it once I can figure out a way out of-The thought was cut off when he felt Elspeth watching him. He swallowed nervously and walked back to Kallist. Nevermind. Might as well help until this is done. He sighed, "This is a serious waste of time. Why not just stay at the hotel?"

"We're too rambunctious to stay at the hotel," Chandra said, falling into step beside him.

Jace rolled his eyes, "We're not that-"

"The four of us that are least likely to get along are now teenagers Jace," Chandra reminded him.

"Oh." Should that matter? I doubt we'd do anything but keep to ourselves like we always do anyway. He continued to help unload the furniture and everything else.

"Here," Chandra held out a skateboard to Jace as he sat in a corner of the house.

"What is that?" Jace asked dully.

"It's a skateboard. Locke has requested that I give this to you because he wants someone to race," Chandra explained.

"Oh," Jace took it and leaned it against the wall next to him.

Chandra sat next to him, "We're going to have to go to school in August."

"August?" Jace glanced at her, "Why? What month is it anyway?"

"It's May. It's close enough to the end of the school year that there wouldn't be any school that would accept us."

"It's MAY?" Jace stared at her.

"Time flies here. Or did you not notice?" Chandra smiled, "The sun's already going down."

Jace glanced out the window in surprise, "It is. That's so fast though. The day isn't nearly this fast anywhere else."

"We'll still age as though we weren't on this world because it is so disconnected," Chandra got to her feet and looked out the window.

"What's the time difference here compared to everywhere else?" Jace asked.

"Well how long does it feel like it's been?"

"I don't know, maybe an hour at most," Jace shrugged.

"You're not far off but here it's been a two days. That's how big the time difference is."

Jace's eyes widened, "That's...that's a big difference."

Chandra nodded, "But we've only aged an hour and three minutes."

"We arrived around dawn two days ago," Jace noted.

Chandra nodded, "Yep. When's your birthday?"

"Huh?" Jace looked at her in surprise.

"Your birthday? When is it?"

"Uh..." Jace lowered his gaze, "I have no idea."

"Oh," she looked him over, "You were born in June."

"You're just making that up," Jace didn't look at her.

"Well, any school that we go to will want to know," Chandra shrugged, "Besides, that means that your birthday's coming up soon."

"Okay," Jace shrugged indifferently.

"June...19. How about that?" Chandra smiled. She sat back down.

"Okay," Jace shrugged again.

Chandra nodded, "Alright. Technically, though this isn't correct, you were born in 2001."

"2001?" Jace looked at her.

"It's how they count years. Don't ask me. I don't know," she shrugged, "Lilianna and I were born in 2000 and Ral in 1999. Technically. As far as matching our apparent ages to this world's time goes."

"Oh." He looked up at her, "What about the library?"

"It won't be open at this time of day," Chandra shrugged. She looked at him, "And no. We can't sneak into it."

Jace looked away from her, "I wasn't going to suggest that." He glanced at her, "Since when did you become interested in following the law?"

"The Black Lotus Assassins are law enforcement around here since this city does have so many magical creatures living as humans. I don't intend on facing Eclipse because I helped you break into a library."

"But you are-"

"That doesn't mean anything," Chandra shook her head, "If anything it'll be you that gets off easy."

"Can't you just-"

"No," Chandra shook her head, "Unfortunately, Star can get into my head easier than you can. I can't lie nor can I bend the truth in any way."

"And even without Star they'll know because you don't give a damn about the rules," Jace added.

Chandra nodded, "Yep." She stood up and turned to walk away. She paused and winked at him over her shoulder, "Not tonight at least."

Jace nodded, "Tomorrow morning I want to go to the library."

Chandra nodded, "Yeah, yeah. I'll take you to the library tomorrow. Chill."

"You say that like it's an easy thing to do," Jace muttered.

Chandra laughed. She shook her head, "Sleep."

"No."

"Yes."

"No. It's only been an hour," Jace insisted.

"You're going to have to get used to the time around here somehow. Just rest," Chandra shrugged.

"You're one to talk! I'm sitting on the floor. You're standing," Jace crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm heading to bed," Chandra shrugged, "You're the one sitting by the door brooding."

"I'm not brooding!"

"You are brooding," Chandra kneeled down in front of him, "Besides, if you don't align to this world's time you'll sleep for days. That's a lot of time."

"Not really-"

"I can assure you that whoever Bolas has hunting this treasure will be working to find it every time the sun shines," Chandra said seriously.

Jace's eyes widened, "Well..." He turned away from her.

"You've gotten worse at lying. Your face turns all red," Chandra chuckled.

"Shut up," Jace mumbled.

"At least try to rest," Chandra patted his head.

"HEY!" Jace glared at her.

"What? I'm essentially your big sister now. I'll pat your head if I want to. It's an encouraging gesture," she smirked and walked away.

Jace glared after her until she disappeared from his sight.