A/N: Lundhaz doesn't know how it happened, or why it happened. All he knows is that on the Day of the Apocalypse, every Adventurer suddenly went nuts.

...He's kind of getting used to it.


There was a story his mother had read him once, before things had gone so wrong in his family. Or at least before he'd known they were so wrong. A story about a young human scholar-mage who'd courted the Half-Alv daughter of a merchant family, only to be refused her hand on the very day he had to leave to further his mystical studies. Dejected, the young mage had trudged toward the ferry dock...

"Wait!" His beloved had run toward him; dark hair unbound, dressed in traveling gear. "It's all right! I can come with you!"

Delighted, the mage had married her in the next Cathedral. They'd spent two years in study and apprenticeship at the academy; for like most Half-Alvs, his young wife had a gift for magic, though she'd never studied it before. They'd learned so quickly, the mage's mentor had urged them to visit their home village, to spread word of how well the academy taught. The scholar had offered to see her parents first, given he still suspected they hadn't given her permission to join him without reservations...

"What do you mean, your wife?" his father-in-law had thundered. "The day you left she fell into a terrible swoon. Now she only eats what is set before her, walks when someone leads her, and barely speaks-"

At that very moment, Lundhaz's mother had said, the mage-wife had appeared at her husband's side, and the silent daughter rose up laughing to hug her. A bright light shone... and the doppelganger a Half-Alv's desperate magic had created was no more, soul and body whole once again.

Lundhaz wasn't a Kannagi. He'd never had the magic needed to touch an Adventurer's soul. And he'd dealt with Adventurers before the Apocalypse. Granted, mostly at a distance, but they were far from the helpless girl in the fairytale! And yet...

If only part of them were here with us before; if part of their soul had been left behind in some distant land, trapped away from the magic in Seldesha-

It would fit. It'd explain why Isuzu acted real now. Like one of the People, with all their hopes and fears.

But - every Adventurer? That would take so much magic! And we didn't see any doppelgangers, or shadow-clones, or - anything!

And yet. There was one thing that kept Lundhaz from tossing out the whole ridiculous idea as the product of too many heroic daydreams.

For a span of time that morning, before the Adventurers went crazy... we didn't see anything. At all.

He'd had to be very, very careful asking questions. If Adventurers were confused, he had to look confused as well; and he'd never exactly been accused of being subtle. But what he'd been able to ask confirmed his own experience. One moment he'd been rousing from his sleeping roll in the golden light of dawn, getting ready for a new day of adventures. The next-

The sun had shone down from a clear blue sky, and all around him, Adventurers were panicking.

What kind of enchantment can rob an hour from the whole city?

Lundhaz couldn't think of one. Possibly one of the lost Alv spells of legend might have that much power. But the idea that anyone could cast such a spell? Here? Now?

Yet something had happened. So if one mystical impossibility had affected Akihabara - why not two?

If all this time their souls were split, if they were walking in the sick daughter's misty dream-life - they must be so afraid.

Though the very idea seemed silly. Why would Adventurers be afraid? This was still Seldesha. The land still gave them all an Adventurer's awesome powers and unquenchable lives. There were still monsters to be slain, and People of the Land to protect.

Though this Person's going to protect himself, thanks. "Miss Isuzu," Lundhaz said impulsively. What the heck, he could only die once, right? "Don't worry. I'll protect you."

The braided Bard looked up from their campfire, a sudden smile chasing worry off her face. "You silly! Sorcerers are squishy." She leaned over, just enough to bump a fist off his cloaked shoulder. "You zap the monsters. I'll protect you."

If he was right, neither half of her soul seemed to have been raised with courtly manners. Which was just weird. "Ah. Thanks?"

"We'll figure something out," Isuzu said, half to herself. "We'll find a way to get home."

Now there was a chilling thought. Monsters spawned every day. Without Adventurers to winnow them down to reasonable numbers, Akihabara - all of Seldesha! - would be in terrible danger.

I can't let that happen!

Right. And exactly how was he going to stop the force of nature that was an Adventurer if someone like Isuzu decided to run for it?

But Isuzu's a good person. Most Adventurers are. They don't leave people in trouble. They help.

Surely some of them would see the danger. Yes, they might be afraid now. Everyone knew legendary magics shook the spirit. But he'd seen Isuzu's eyes light up as she wondered what the wilds outside Akihabara really looked like.

You love this land as much as I do. You just have to remember.

Until she did, he'd help Isuzu. Even if he didn't understand half of what she said.

Squishy?!