A/N: Hello and welcome to the long overdue chapter 12. I apologise for the somewhat shorter chapter, let's just get right into it.

My POV

It took us almost fifteen minutes of half-running half-stumbling to make it back to the inn where we were staying, and by that time, Buwaro was a shivering mess of wet cloth. We stepped inside into the much warmer lobby, and the front desk guy was there to greet us.

"Whoa, what happened?" They asked.

"He fell into the Zolle River," Rhea explained quickly. "We just need to get him to the bath."

"No more water, please..." Buwaro whined.

"It'll be hot water this time, it should help."

The front desk guy was confused. "But why wouldn't you-?"

I just gave them a shrug. "Let's go..." I started leading Buwaro out of the lobby, Rhea following close behind. Now, where the hell were the bathrooms in this place...?

It took about five painfully slow minutes to finally locate the baths. We stepped inside to look at the place. It looked...surprisingly nice for something that wasn't 21st century. Far nicer than what I saw at Farun, at least. And I need to stop comparing this place to Farun, jeez. It's like comparing that little town I compared Farun to, to a major city that I'm reminded of by Riverside Ci- wait.

Rhea led Buwaro over to a stall, where there was a tub. There was a system of pulleys and levers right next to it. Is that how they poured in the water? "Okay," She started. "If I remember correctly, it was this rope over here?" She pulled on one of the ropes attached to the pulleys, and water flowed briefly into the tub. Briefly, because she had barely tugged it; the water flowed for only a second. She placed a paw on the water. "Yeah, that's it! That's the hot water!"

Boy, this is interesting.

I pulled on the rope again, holding it there; this time, the water flowed steadily into the tub. Buwaro watched it wearily; at least until it started to steam, then it got his attention in a more positive manner. He was still shivering, however.

"Okay, Buwaro, time to get ya off those clothes..." Rhea grunted, tugging on his sleeve. He complied, taking off his hat, his boots, both of his coats, and whatever was left of his shirt, dumping them all on a bench at the wall of the stall. He rubbed his arms, shivering more, his fur matted.

"A-anything else?" He asked.

"The rest of it..." I said, shrugging. "Just wait until I'm done filling this."

"Wh-what are we even g-gonna use i-it for?"

"You're freezing cold, Buwaro. We have to warm you up." Rhea said. "Trust me, it'll feel great once you get in."

I finally finished filling the tub. "All set. Now I'm just gonna wait outside." I stepped out of the stall without another word. I did not want to stick around and see things, despite my very morbid curiosity-

I smacked myself.

Kind of.

...

Lightly.

"Come on, Buwaro, just get in!"

"I-I d-d-don't want t-to!"

"Get in!"

"N-no water!"

"GET IN THE FUCKING TUB!"

There was a yelp, followed by a splash. Did Rhea just shove Buwaro in?

"Rhea?" I called out, at the stall.

"Yeah, yeah, I got 'im in." She grumbled. "He's enjoying it NOW."

I couldn't hear Buwaro at all; I think he's just silent, in the water. Just the fact that he's not complaining about it is good.

I thought back to what I knew about Demons. Apparently, Fire Demons hated water, a lot; Buwaro is no exception, I remember that he hated rain, from that one page. But the fact that he wasn't complaining about being about as submerged in water as he was before, minus all his clothes, means that he doesn't actually mind it at all. Which is great.

Rhea stepped out of the stall, dusting her hands. She had gotten a bit wet from the splash, but not much. "Okay, that's done..." She poked her head back in. "Let him warm up and then we'll just send him to bed to rest."

I almost dared poke my head in the stall, but I instead just looked at the door, and called out. "How are you faring in there, Buwaro?"

"G-good!" He called back. "It... it feels nice..."

"Okay, that's good..." I sighed. I sat down on one of the benches set up outside the stalls. "So...I guess we just wait here?" I asked Rhea.

"Do we?" She shot back.

"Well, we're gonna keep Buwaro company, aren't we?" I shot back; that might've come out with a bit too much bite.

"Yeah..." She sat down next to me, sighing.

"Are y-you okay, Rhea?" Buwaro called out from the stall.

"Yes, I'm fine." She replied, firmly.

"...h-how long until S-Snowy comes back?"

"Not sure, Buwaro." I stated. "But maybe by nightfall." I looked out the door of the baths. Strangely, the place was very quiet; Buwaro, Rhea, and I were the only people present, actually, surprisingly. Then I spoke something on my mind, something surprisingly genuine.

"I wonder how much luck she's having with the search..."

Cameron's POV

I looked up at the sky, bathed in golden yellow and ochre red hues as the sun slowly set in the east, to my left. Dad and I had spent the last few hours searching, for a group of three people. We searched a good portion of Riverside City for these people. We had found no leads then. But we still had time, we could keep searching.

We were searching on behalf of a beautiful young lady, who went by the name of Kieri Suizahn. She had long, sea blue hair, milky white skin, and shining blue eyes. She was an Angel, in every sense of the word, even the literal one. She was an Angel who had been stranded on Medius for reasons even she didn't know, and she was in search for her brother and his friends. As a Trouble Centre helper, there was no way I would've not offered to help.

She was grateful, but her spirits were still somewhat low, it seemed. She had been searching for quite a while, and her other friends had to leave after one of them fell into the Zolle River. He was fine, but he had to be taken away. Now, Kieri was by herself, with Dad and I left to help.

I turned to her, to see that she too was looking towards the sunset. "Looks pretty, right?"

"Yes..." She said, nodding and turning to me. "Medius has its own kind of beauty."

"Let's not waste too much time." Dad cut in. "We don't have all day to just sit around."

Kieri nodded again. "W-we should hurry."

I couldn't help but agree. I need to stop myself from getting distracted.

And so, we continued, stepping into the next district in the area. It was one of the more densely populated places in Riverside City, featuring many higher class homes, many parks and hills, and the like. Definitely the kind of place a desperate traveller would've come to get the necessary equipment for the trip.

Judging by Kieri's description of her brother and his friends, it shouldn't be too hard to find at least one person that has seen them. Whether or not one could blend into the crowd, two Angels dressed in bright clothing would stick out like a sore thumb.

We would only know if they tried talking to anyone, however, so our search isn't any easier. Especially since Kieri let drop that neither of the Angels actually knew how to talk in Lingo, and that the Human could barely speak the Angelic language.

"We should be able to find someone in the supermarket." Dad suggested. "Cashiers must've seen something."

The three of us stepped into the store, looking around.

"Could be any of them. Let's split up." I said, and the three of us went to ask different people. I got a young Jakkai lady who had just finished with a customer; It was late, the usual evening rush was already starting to end. The lady was dressed in a uniform, and her tag read "Ciera".

"Excuse me, miss?" I asked

"Hm?" She looked up. She had bright green eyes.

"I wanted to ask if you've seen a few certain people around here."

"I see lots of people every day, kid. I'm not sure I'll be able to know who you're talking about." She said tiredly.

"Help me out here, please." I pleaded. "It's a group of three teenage guys, two of which wore bright clothing and had white hair?"

She stopped, looking surprised. "Are...are you serious?"

I just gestured to Kieri, who was nearby. "Oh..." Ciera sat back down and thought for a moment. "Well...I think I saw people like that not too long ago. It was yesterday morning, maybe even today."

"Really?" So they HAD been here! "Did they say anything about where they were going?"

"S-s-slow d-down, kid!" Ciera stuttered "They said n-nothing, but they got enough food for a long trip. Could be to St Curtis, most likely."

"Thank you for your time." I walked back to the entrance, where Dad was waiting. Kieri was still asking some of the other cashiers, so he called her over.

"Did you find something?" She asked, a small slip of an accent at that last word.

"Yeah." I told her. "One of the cashiers said she saw them sometime yesterday or today."

Kier's eyes lit up. I smiled proudly. "Okay, boy," Dad said. "We made a step forward, now what? Where else can we search?"

"There's gotta be a few more stores around here..." I started walking away, gesturing for Dad and Kieri to follow. I was gonna get this girl to her friends, and I'm not dropping this search after one lead. I ran around, looking at store after store, trying to see which they would pick. We eventually got to one that sold hunting equipment; this kind of stuff would've been ideal for the trio.

I stepped in, to be greeted by a fairly tall human with long brown hair and glasses, dressed in heavy clothes. "Good evening. How may I help you...?" He seemed to trail off when he noticed Kieri. Hmm...best be careful here.

"Yes." Dad spoke for me this time, damn it. "We were looking for Ms Susan's brother, and his friends." He gestured to Kieri, who looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Well..." The man thought for a moment, then spoke. "Yes, I did, actually." He said. I felt my chest warm up at the sight of Kieri's hopeful expression at that moment. "They showed up yesterday afternoon, actually. The two that looked like her didn't even speak Lingo, but they kept asking stuff of me like I expected to know the language." He shrugged. "At least they had someone that was trying to keep everything in check. In the end, they came out of it with an adequate amount of equipment. And I'm not gonna forget that incident any time soon."

"Thank you for your time, Mr..."

"Ollie."

"Wait!" I cut in. "Do you have any idea where they're headed?"

He raised an eyebrow and thought for a moment. "...The kid said they were headed east to St Curtis...or Weyville, one of the two. He wasn't very sure himself. Apparently they were going after someone."

"Okay, thanks." I nodded to him, and the three of us exited the shop. Kieri was beaming, pretty much. I was more than happy. "We did it!" I said. "They're here!"

"Well, we know where they're going, at least." Dad said.

"Thank you both so much!" Kieri said happily. She turned and grabbed her purse, starting to pull out some coins. "H-how much?"

I shook my head. "Don't worry about that. You shouldn't have to pay; we're just doing you a favour!"

"Oh, please..." Dad cut in. "It's our job. And all you have to do is sign again for us to get payment, but tips are appreciated." He held out his clipboard for Kieri to take.

"Dad, she doesn't have to pay, she's an Angel!" I admonished without thinking. Kieri's face fell slightly, and she turned away while signing the clipboard. Crap, did I do a bad?

"Then let 'er decide on what she wants to do." He replied, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Easy, girl." She looked up nervously, holding the clipboard close to her chest, before quickly handing it back. "Th-there, I signed." She was still holding her purse.

"S-sorry..."

She glanced at me when I said that. "I-it's okay, Cameron..." She smiled very slightly, before simply pulling out a few coins and holding them out to me. "Still...I have to thank you for your help."

It took me a moment to process that, but then I took the coins from her small hand. "It's no big deal, Kieri..." Her smile only grew. "I have to go, tell my friends the news..." She said, before stepping back, waving, and sprinting back the way we came.

Wow...I think I'm in love.

"Cameron, don't stare like that."

My POV

"Tres tristes tigres tragaban trigo en un trigal en tres tristes trastos..."

The sun had already set, and dinner had already been eaten. But Kieri kept taking her time, and there was nothing to do. Rhea and Buwaro recounted their tales and misadventures in Hell, but eventually it got too loud for me to stay.

So now here I was, walking through the cold streets of Riverside, muttering Spanish tongue twisters to myself to keep in practice.

This side of Riverside wasn't all that interesting. There were a few small shops here and there, but mostly houses and a small amount of random people, Humans and Jakkai alike were walking around, ready to end off their day.

"Pepe Pecas pica papas con un pico, con un pico pica papas Pepe Pecas…"

And there go literally the only two Spanish tongue twisters I know. I need to find something else to entertain myself with. I looked at the buildings in the street.

Groceries? No. Bakery? No. Clothes? No. Library-? Ooh, a library.

I stepped inside, taking a deep breath from the warm inside air of the library. It was fairly big, had a decent amount of books. Pretty interesting all around. I mean, I know I still have that alchemist book at home, but I haven't really gotten a chance to read it...or an excuse to, for that matter. No alchemy materials or equipment.

The library, unsurprisingly, was mostly empty, with many people having gone home, and the only ones left aside from me were a Jakkai or two and the Human librarian, writing stuff down at her desk. I had gotten too used to computers to realise that last bit straight away.

In libraries, I don't typically go over every single book; I don't usually recognise any save for a certain few which either have famous authors, or famous stories. Here, everything was unfamiliar, not to mention there were Jakkai authors and what I could only assume were Khamega authors; the names were just really weird. There were comic books, children's books, full-length novels, and educational books, and so on.

It wasn't until I decided to leave that things took a turn.

"Excuse me." The librarian called out to me right as I was about to step out. I turned around and looked down at her. She was a little small and young, but still clearly older than me, maybe 20 or so. Her skin seemed to be a somewhat darker tone than the others, but that's about it; I was never good at being able to tell one's ethnicity accurately. What surprised me was the accent. It was faint, like mire, but it was there.

I walked over to her. "What is it?" I asked. She seemed to look me up and down.

"I don't know... something about you..." She narrowed her eyes. Yeah, now I was sure there was an accent.

"Well, is there anything you'd like to ask me?" I replied, experimentally deepening my accent a little, just enough for it to be noticeable.

She nodded and tapped the table. "Yes." She started, pulling out a sheet of paper. "Sir, you have an overdue copy of The Eyes of Salazar that you need to return immediately."

What?

"What are you talking about? I-I never...took a book from this library?" I was very confused. Was this a library or a bookstore? And why was she asking me about this book when I never set foot in this library?

"Yes you have, sir. I recognise your voice." She continued. "It's three days overdue, I have it listed right here!" She pointed to a sheet of paper I couldn't see from the angle I was at.

Normally, I'd've asked for her to show me the list, but I had already been taken off-guard and it didn't occur to me. "I swear, I h-haven't- Look, Miss, this has got to be a mistake." I tried keeping calm best I could.

"Well, I can assure you," She replied. "I know what I'm doing."

Right as she said that, the doors opened and closed, as the two Jakkai left the library. She sighed, then reached for another sheet of paper. "I also have another question."

"Okay..." I sighed begrudgingly. I may as well just listen to what she has to say.

She put a sheet of paper in front of me. "Do you recognise these symbols?"

I looked down and my eyes widened.

In the sheet in front of me were a series of symbols, and yes, I immediately recognised them. The Yin and Yang, the Star of David, the Swastika, the Hammer and Sickle, and most prominently, both because it was the most detailed and it was centred AND it really wasn't like the rest: the Superman logo.

I looked up at her, then back at the symbols, then back at her again.

"I'll take that as a yes, then."

"Y-you too?" I let slip.

She seemed to freeze, but then nodded. "Yeah...can't believe I actually found someone."

No fucking way, she's from Earth too. First Arin, now her?!

"I-I..I don't believe it-"

"Calm down. No one's here, we can talk." She got up from her desk and led me over to one of the tables. "You can start by telling me how you got here."

It wasn't much to say; I was teleported into a graveyard 5 days prior, in the presence of two Demons and a Jakkai who had been resurrected. Then I told her the good few misadventures I had before making it here, deciding to leave out the part where one of the Demons died, the other came with us, and the fact Lazuli and Talus existed and also died.

"I see..." The woman said. "Well...there're similarities between your story and mine."

"What do you mean?" I asked her curiously.

She took a deep breath and started.

"I arrived on Medius on August 22nd, 2016, going by Earth years." She said. "I woke up, my mind was very hazy, found myself in one of the cemeteries just outside the city. Lucky, because not 20 metres away there were a trio of Demons beating some guy up." She shuddered. "Took all my willpower to hide and pray they didn't spot me. Big, animalistic beasts...

"Eventually, they left, and I went to check on the guy. He was actually still alive and even though he was hurt, he wasn't m-mutilated or anything, so I ended up helping him home. I didn't understand what had happened at the time, and things only got weirder as time went on. He rambled about having been in Hell for trafficking, I entered the city to find there was nothing modern about it, everyone was speaking English, and there were little fluffy critters called Jakkai running around! It wasn't easy when I could barely trust the person explaining everything to me."

"Yeah, he wasn't lying about the Hell part." I deadpanned.

"I figured." She huffed in response. "I ended up having a freak-out and being detained for a good few days. It wasn't unpleasant, it gave me time to clear my head. Having a Jakkai as a guard certainly helped...I eventually made friends with him."

"That's nice."

"Yes, but then they let me out, and things didn't go so well at first. I was broke and had no idea how the currency worked. I was a completely unregistered person, dressed in unfamiliar clothes. And to top it off, I couldn't even speak English very well. So after wandering around for a day and a half with nowhere to stay, I realised I didn't have much choice but to go talk to the guy I met.

"Finding him wasn't hard. He told me his name was Walter Henderson, and even told of a little brother called Joshua. I looked up both names in the town registry – because obviously there were no phone books lying around – and found an address. The family deeply missed Walter; they didn't know that he had died, nor did they seem to know that he was a criminal. He spoke good word of me to them, and his family ended up helping me."

"That's...I would say convenient, but that's kind of insensitive-"

"No, it's fine. It was pretty lucky." She reassured me. "Still, it wasn't much. They let me stay at their home while I joined the Trouble Centre and did odd jobs helping people...wait, do you even know what the Trouble Centre is?"

"I heard about it on the way here—actually, had to deal with them after a little accident we had here." I said casually. I guess I visibly reacted when she mentioned the Trouble Centre. I also really didn't know if telling her about Slightly Damned as a webcomic was the best idea, so I just left it aside for now, and gestured at her to continue. "Go on."

"Yes..." She nodded and resumed. "Eventually, I got a part time job as a guard with the Jakkai I met; his name is Robert, very nice man." She smiled lightly. "Until I finally became a librarian here. I've spent my time up til now reading up on this world. Did you know that magic is real here?"

"Yes." I raised my hand and demonstrated, forming a small amount of water on my hand. "The Angel I travelled with taught me how to get a grip, but I'm not gonna be learning anything fancy any time soon." I closed my fist, then just turned around and wiped my wet hand on my pants.

"Then I'll help you." The lady got up and walked over to a random shelf. "There's some instruction books over here that can get you started."

I got up and followed her. "Th-thanks, but you still haven't told me how you knew you weren't the only person from Earth here!"

She pulled herself over to the shelf. "I didn't until a month ago!" She replied. "Not until Robert mentioned another human had appeared randomly and got taken in by the local blacksmith before he just...went to the mountains for some reason."

"Wait, I think I know who you're talking about." I said in realisation. "Heard about the same guy. Average height, blonde, androgynous?"

"Yeah. Saw him a couple times, too. I didn't get to talk, however." She shrugged. "But those clothes, they were the most American thing you could imagine!"

I snorted. "Yeah, well, it turns out they're with the group we're tracking down, so, I dunno, I'll tell them what you think of that dress."

She chuckled. "Yeah, anyway, here're the books you'll need." She gestured at a good portion of the shelf, which was filled with books of varying size and breadth listing different elements of magic. "Basic things, nice little party tricks-"

"Combat." I said sharply, spotting the book I needed and pulling it out of the shelf. It was smaller, but thicker than my alchemy book, and it focused entirely on water magic. I started flipping through it while I heard the lady stutter.

"C-combat?" She asked, surprised.

"Yeah. From what I heard, something big is gonna happen soon, and I better be prepared for it." I said, looking up and closing the book. It was purely practice spells; I put it away and grabbed another water magic book, one with more info.

"What do you mean?"

"Lemme elaborate." I stated as I grabbed another book and flipped through it. "The Angel said that many other Angels were dragged down before her by random portals, in groups of three, at a semi-regular rate. She was dragged down around the same time that human appeared, and no doubt he appeared with other Demons at that time." I put away the book. Nothing but combat, and it was almost too thick to hide.

"I think I see what you're getting at..."

"There's more." I grabbed another. "The damned soul I told you about—her name's Rhea—said that she'd see beams of light coming from deep within Hell at semi-regular intervals, and she was brought back into Medius by being thrown into that light. Something huge is at play here." I put away the other book. It was a children's book, and had zero new stuff that Kieri hadn't taught me already.

"And what part do we play in all of this?" She asked, sounding a little frustrated.

"We survive and try figuring out how to get back to Earth. There's no way it'll happen anytime soon, but eventually we'll find a way...and everyone else that got dragged here." I said, before just taking the time to find a suitable book.

"Alright. I guess I'll be easy enough to find in this library." She sighed.

After much deliberation, I grabbed a smaller book. It had a short list of both regular spells, combat spells, and even some kind of magic meditation katas that could help me get a little sharper. I stepped over to her. "Anyway, it was nice to meet you...actually, amazing to meet you. Good to know we're not alone."

"Oui..." She nodded and gave me a quick hug. "I hope we see each other soon."

"Eventually. I'll be gone in a day or two...maybe." I said, looking aside. "...I just realised something. What's your name?"

"Isabelle. Yours?"

"Jamal."

"Nationality?"

"Chilean. It doesn't matter much here, though."

"Yeah, I guess me saying I'm French doesn't have much meaning."

I shrugged. "Yeah...well, hope to see you soon. My friends are gonna miss me." I turned to leave before I realised something. "Wait, I have to pay for this-"

"No, keep it." Isabelle replied. "Just put it to good use."

"I will, but are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, goodbye, Isabelle." I turned again and very awkwardly stepped out of the library, making my way back home, stuffing the book under my jacket.

Rhea's POV

Night time came very fast. The sky was dark and cloudy and it was super cold outside. It was dark and so fucking boring...

It was late when Kieri Suizahn finally came home. Everyone had eaten dinner, Jamal was already back from his random walk, and Buwaro was already dried off and resting in bed. He had quite understandably gotten sick. Problem was, it'd slow us down in the long run. All in all, everyone was subdued.

So when Kieri practically hopped in with an excited smile on her face, I was very confused.

"Snowy, you're back!" Buwaro said in his usual tone, though his voice was a little raspy from coughing.

"Did you find anything?" Jamal asked.

Kieri nodded excitedly. "They've been around here!" She quickly sat on the bed next to Buwaro. "We asked around and found out that they've been shopping for supplies to continue the trip, and they're still heading east!"

"That's great!" Buwaro celebrated in typical Buwaro fashion, causing Thadius to fall off his bed with a loud thump. "Whoa-"

I hopped off the bed. "Yeah, we're close."

"From what we gathered, they were supply hunting yesterday, so they must've left either last night or sometime today-!"

"It also means we have to go supply hunting tomorrow." Jamal added in. "And hope that it's St Curtis they're headed to, because that's closest to Riverside."

"Okay, not hard." I said. "We need to restock, because that trip's gonna take a bit more than just two days this time around."

Buwaro coughed loudly, and both Kieri and Jamal at his side immediately. I hastily followed suit.

"Are you feeling okay, Buwaro?" Kieri asked, clearly worried.

"Y-yeah. Rhea says I'll be good to go soon."

"...We don't know how soon, though." Jamal admitted. "Hopefully in a day or so, but no guarantees."

Kieri straightened up. "Okay..."

"Don't w-worry!" Buwaro cut in, flashing a grin. "It doesn't matter how long it takes, we'll help you find your brother and friends. We'll reach them eventually."

"Buwaro..."

"It's late, okay?" I said, walking back to my bed. "We're still gonna be getting our things ready all day tomorrow, so we best sleep early and get up early." I walked behind my bed, out of view, and started undressing and putting on my sleepwear.

"Yeah, she has the right idea. It's best to get as much ready as soon as possible." I heard Jamal say as he stepped to his side of the room. I finished dressing and got into bed.

"Sleep well, everyone. You'll all need it."

Buwaro was asleep in a flash. Jamal joined in soon after in his own bed. The only one who was having trouble was Kieri, who was shooting glances at Buwaro even as she got into bed.

"Kieri, don't worry." I told her. "Buwaro is gonna be fine. He's taken a lot and still bounced back."

"..." Kieri looked up at me, then back at Buwaro.

"...if you're worried about him slowing us down-"

"No! No..." She quickly shook her head. "It's n-not that..."

"Then what?" I asked, my eyes narrowing.

"...i-it's nothing."

"Sure it's not. But it's getting late, so go ahead and think on what you have in mind." I buried my face in the pillow, and fell asleep shortly after. Kieri was silent 'til then.

A/N: Safe to say there's a lot more to be different with the world than previously thought. Also, I would like to know if I'm doing a good job at portraying these characters. Constructive criticism helps.

Ronmr: Sometimes even the best laid plans can go wrong. And honestly, Jamal didn't have much of a plan at the time.