Outside the world was overwhelming in a way that made Steve think back to when he first awakened from his decades long freeze in the middle of New York and ran out into Times Square. People of all shapes and sizes were everywhere with all manner of hair colors, animal heads, and types of ears.

He had seen this kind of thing before on the covers of books and movies, the kind that he didn't typically have the time to indulge in for too long. Animal ears had become a pretty popular Halloween tradition for some women back on Earth too, but these were real and they were not too uncommon.

Steve had checked the street on over in either direction and this seemed to be the main thoroughfare through the city. He had gathered that it was the capital of wherever he was and that the castle was somewhere uphill toward the center. Instinct was to head there and find some way together some answers, but it was like he didn't exist in this world and never had and even more strange was that despite all of that they didn't seem to be bothered by how different he was dressed.

Miss Anastasia had been correct, the navy-blue jumpsuit with the blank space on the chest where the white star had worn away from years on the run didn't exactly fit the general look of the others that he passed. The men tended toward tunics with some of them wearing a cloak or long coat over it. There were some more ornate than others with intricate embroidery and coats of arms affixed to a tabard that they wore. The women had on dresses, though there was a great degree of variety and artistry there too.

Swords, axes, and bows were the most common weapons that he saw and there were great deal of them worn. Some seemed more for show than general use, but the further he headed in one direction the more rugged the weapon and clothes became.

Along the side of a street a trio of women in brightly colored dresses that flared out like tutus and left little to the imagination waved to him. One of them pulled back the train of her dress and let her fishnet wrapped leg protrude out into the path. She was dark skinned with big loopy curls and a pair of ears jutting up out of her hair.

"You're a fine thing," she said, though not with a confidence that made him think that she wanted to do this. Steve didn't know how old she was, but it worried him that the look in her eyes didn't have the fierce pride that he saw in that of the other women.

He came to a stop alongside them. "Excuse me, Miss." Steve stopped and on instinct his body fell into a military parade rest stance. "Would you happen to know where the nearest guard station is or maybe a knight's garrison of some kind?"

"The guards…" she said, her brown eyes wide.

"I just need to check in with them about some things," Steve said.

"Wh-why are you asking me?" she asked.

Steve shrugged. "You were the first person to speak to me. Why? Did you need help with something?" He asked, he couldn't help himself because it wasn't right to look at this young woman standing here like this and not make this was something that she wanted to do.

"I'm fine," she said, straightening up. "I-I just have been kind of struggling to do this work. You know—"

Steve nodded, though he wasn't sure exactly what she meant.

"Sorry, if I offended you by calling out like that. I mean, you probably ain't got to pay for it and if you chose to it wouldn't be with a dirty Demi-human."

Up until then, the other two women had been mostly ignoring their conversation. Then Steve went down on one knee in front of the dark skinned girl in an effort to get down to her level. "That's not true. Look, something tells me I'm going to be here a while—when I get some extra money I'll come by and we'll just go somewhere and talk, coffee, a ba-tavern—whatever you want."

The other two women stared him down. "That's unreal."

"Are you one of the royal knights?"

"He's so chivalrous, this has to be Reinhard—" said the first of the two again.

"Reinhard has hair like fire and is clean shaven!"

"I didn't know you were his mother," said the other woman with her hands on her hips now.

Steve chuckled as he got back to his full height. "You lady's stay safe and take care." He went to walk off before turning back.

"Oh, I'm Steve, by the way."

"I'm Lilly," the Demihuman said. "These two are Kaylis and Martha."

Steve bobbed his head to them in turn. "It's nice to meet you all."

Wood clattered nearby and there was a scream. Steve spun around to see a woman tumbling into the side of a cart as a cloaked man bolted through. He moved to help the fallen woman and only got halfway before she let out a shrill cry.

"Thief! Thief!"

Steve waved his hand back toward her as he rounded through the crowd. "Someone make sure she's okay. I'll run down the offender."

His muscles tightened and the air sailed past him as he took off through the crowds. He had to slow his pace to maneuver between people and obstacles. There were carts drawn by lizard like creatures with some stalls occupying the middle of the street. Ahead he could see the person he was chasing bolting through people and pushing them aside to avoid losing momentum.

Steve heart barely sped up for this amount of activity and there was something else strange. As they ran he could swear his steps carried him too far. Each footfall and subsequent push-off felt too powerful for the amount of effort. The thief grabbed the back of a carriage as it rounded a corner and Steve curved his path to head the robber off.

At the last moment the thief leapt from the back of the cart and ran the opposite direction from the one that the vehicle had turned through the intersection. Steve moved to correct his path and spotted something near the corner of the road at a small shop: a small round basket with a woven lid.

"Sorry, I need to borrow this." Steve spun, grabbing the lid the basket. He slid to a stop and twisted his upper body to keep the momentum from his chase. With an expert swing of his arms he threw the wicker lid up at an angle toward the upper corner of the building. It wasn't vibranium, it wasn't going to bounce three or four times, but it also wasn't going to break anyone's bones.

It ricocheted off of the building and angled back down just in time to slice through the air and take out the thief's feet and leave them in a crumpled heap on the ground. Steve jogged up and stood over the person who had taken whatever the item was. A few of those gathered around on the walking paths that had noticed what he did were clapping.

"You know where I come from they have as saying: crime doesn't pay. It especially doesn't pay when you get caught."

When Steve finally caught a glimpse under the person's cloak he found that they were young, far too young to be needing to look for work in any kind of fair society. Steve helped them up and a short while later they had returned the item that was stolen to the woman.

In the short while since he had appeared here, Steve had wondered what exactly all of this was. When he was a boy he liked to hear tales of knights and their exploits in the Europe of long ago and maybe even some of the code of honor of those people had rubbed off on him. But it wasn't the kind of place that he had ever thought he would end up and he wasn't sure how he had.

Thanos had snapped, had this been the result of that? Maybe he had sent half of the people in the universe to another universe and it was this one. It didn't make good sense though—no one else around Steve had any issue with their surroundings and they were obviously used to it. This world was different and something all on it's own.

Even then, had others from the Avengers or even Earth come here? Had they been split up?

As he continued his stroll through town someone stalked a short distance behind him in the crowd watching. And so far what they had seen exceeded expectations.

Peter and the white haired elven woman had gathered exactly zero clues as to the whereabouts of her stolen property and what was worse they had barely left the small area around where the original crime had taken place.

They had doubled back and gotten up high on a walkway that overlooked the alley where the men had attempted to rob Peter when his companion balled her fists up at her sides and leaned back against the walkway's railing.

"This is hopeless!" She said.

Peter could see the frustration in her reddened face. "It's only been a hour, maybe something will turn up." He could have covered more ground in the air, but how would he explain it. Plus it wouldn't be like there was a lot to swing off of and firing webs over great horizontal distance had the added bonus of wasting more webbing for less effect. Peter had extra on him. In fact he even carried an extra web shooter, but he didn't know how long he would be in this place and it was best not to risk it.

"Then why haven't we come up with anything at all?" She asked.

Puck, the palm sized cat wriggled its way out of her hair and sailed through the air making a semi-circle around her head. "Pete's right. We've still got a bit more daylight."

"What if we widen out search?" Peter asked. "Stop thinking about where we saw her last and start looking into where she might be headed?"

"That's not a bad idea," she said.

"I wish I knew my way around better," Peter muttered.

"To be honest, I wish I did too," the half elf said, seemingly more calm now.

Peter glanced up at her. "You're not from here then?"

The silver haired girl shook her hair. "I tend to try and avoid the city. Large crowds, which would make things a bit more difficult, considering…" she trailed off, before starting up again.

"Maybe I troubled you enough—Puck and I can take it from here. Any way you slice it, I can't pay you for the assistance you've already done. I don't have a single copper on me."

Peter shrugged. "I just want to keep helping."

"Without any pay or reward?" She asked.

"You two were first friendly faces I saw…since getting to this city."

She stared at him and puffed out her cheeks. "You're a weird one, Peter Parker." The silver haired half elf held her gaze on him for a bit longer before striking off toward the next street. "Anyway, your idea about seeing where the thief might be headed. I am going to try something, but I need somewhere that I can get a little privacy."

Peter and Puck followed along, though Puck zipped down next to Peter's head. "Thanks for sticking with her and helping. Most people would never…"

There was something about his town that let Peter know there was more going on here, more going on between this weird magical cat and this half elven girl. For one thing, in all of the crowds thus far, Peter hadn't seen another elf at all. He couldn't remember if he had seen anyone at all that looked like the silver haired woman he was helping.

They followed the silver haired half elf for a bit and she checked down an alley before entering. Peter and Puck hung back as she stood near a wall muttering something. It looked as if she was praying.

Puck must have noticed Peter's confusion. "She's trying to consult with lesser spirits," Puck explained in a whisper.

Peter turned, confused.

"You've probably seen regular magic around, well Spirits Arts users are rarer. Instead of using their own gate to produce magic they form a contract with a Spirit. Like me."

"Are other little cats going to come out and help her?" Peter asked.

Puck chuckled. "No, lesser spirits don't really have much of a form—they're just lights. Spirits like me on the other hand, well let's just say we're a bit more complex as are the contracts we form with the arts user."

Peter had yet to see anyone use magic that he knew of really, but he didn't want to stand out too much. He watched the silver haired half elf as tiny colored lights began to dance around her. There were so many of them and every so often one of them would fly up close to her face and she would whisper at it.

It occurred to him right then that Peter had seen magic before. That wizard he went to space with, Doctor Strange, was doing all kinds of wild stuff. Thinking back to that made him wonder if Strange was here. Or Iron Man. Or any of the others.

He tried not to dwell on it now and focus on the little bit of good that he could do.

"Did they say anything?" Puck asked as the half-elf came back toward them.

She shook her head. "It might be best to go with Peter's plan, but I want to start from the main road down below and work our way over that way," she said pointing.

I really ought to get her name, it's getting harder and harder to really address her without it. "You know," Peter began. "Puck and I have gotten pretty acquainted over here, he was teaching me about spirits, but I am just realizing that I don't know your name."

This must have caught her off guard because she paused and turned so that he could only see her in profile. Her silver hair looked chaotic with how it hung around her shoulders and had fallen flopped over her chest. Then she shut her eyes as if considering something for several seconds.

"Satella…" she spoke as she opened them.

"Nice to meet you…" Peter trailed off as she stared at him and if his tingle has flared up right here, just from that glare he would have been completely unsurprised.

Maybe the moment to press the issue of a name was earlier when she first asked him to help. Peter had seen how some women, sensing something predatory or weird in men will get defensive and will want to give as little information as possible about themselves. He hoped that he didn't come off as pestering her or worse.

Satella turned away, but in the last second before she did he saw her eyes sink. "I don't have a last name, just call me Satella."

In the same breath that she was demanding to be called Satella, it felt as if she was daring him to actually say it. Before this moment there had been a friendly banter between them and a healthy back and forth, even if she was panicking. This entire episode had completely severed that.

Puck streaked through the air to catch up with Satella, but just before ducking into his usual hiding place in her hair he muttered. "That's in really bad taste, you know?"

Peter didn't know what he had said or done, maybe there was some custom or tradition here that he hadn't caught onto yet? All that he knew now was that he wanted to avoid saying Satella's name.