Jesse sat awake, watching Hadrian and Mevia argue as the October Children's lovely couple (okay, well, Maya had just told Gill to go dunk his head in a toilet, but Jesse still thought they were cute together) got some supplies together. Radar was helping the most, ticking things off a list.

A full night's rest had done wonders for their cold, and now (thankfully) they no longer dripped snot everywhere.

Sure, their nose was still a bit stuffed, but they'd take what they could get.

"You did well yesterday..."

Jesse blinked and glanced over. The demon with green hair and the unhealthily gray skin was standing there, blinking at them through a visor that Jesse couldn't see through.

Maybe it was like mirrored glasses or something?

"Oh! Um, thank you..."

The demon smiled- a little stiffly, Jesse thought- and sat next to them- close enough to feasibly have a conversation, but not so close that Jesse felt as though they were being creeped on. "I thought your solutions to the challenges were very well done. And you have an excellent grasp on magic."

Jesse thought it might be rude to tell them that the magic they'd been performing were the spells that Jesse could remember and not actually anything impressive or high-level, according to the book, so they just politely said "Thank you" again.

They shifted and looked at the green-haired demon. "So, uh... you would've been a challenger yesterday?"

"Yes, Magnus just picked random people from the crowd as fighters..." The demon shrugged. "I thought it was interesting that you picked him and not one of the others."

"He did say to pick anyone... I hope you're not offended that I didn't pick you," Jesse said hastily.

The green-haired demon held up their hand nonchalantly. "Oh, no, it was interesting to watch. I've never seen such a good mastery of magic before. You must be really useful to have on hand in a sticky situation." And they gave Jesse a warm, gentle smile at that.

Jesse resisted the urge to correct them on that as well, shuffling a bit. "Oh, well... I... thank you..." they mumbled, blushing slightly despite themselves.

Nobody had ever thought they were useful before.

"Hey, Jesse! Mind helping us get this over? Since Maya's got no muscle."

"Shut the fuck up, you git."

Jesse looked over at Maya and Gill, who were both joshing each other around a little bit (though compared to Mevia and Hadrian, Jesse could now very clearly tell it was mostly joking). "Oh! Uh, sure, one minute."

They turned back to give the green-haired demon a smile. "It was nice-"

They stopped.

The demon was gone.

"Jesse? What's the holdup?" Gill had tilted his head to one side, in an almost adorably confused way.

"Uh- no, no holdup," Jesse said hastily, hurrying over to help carry some things into the supply bags. Half of them were for the other demons' return journey to Enchantra; half of them were for Jesse and Hadrian.

Jesse had voiced their surprise that they needed so many supplies, to which Mevia had replied that she'd packed some cough potions (despite the name, they worked more like medicine than making someone cough- like cough syrup) and a few candies for them, before turning a frosty gaze onto Hadrian and telling him she'd also packed him a conscience, and if he wanted to consider putting it in she wouldn't mind.

(He'd kicked at her in irritation, but beyond that hadn't done much to express his ire with the statement.)

Gill had helpfully added he'd put in more stuff in case any emergencies popped up, before Maya had corrected him and said that half of the stuff was her idea, before he had rebutted that her idea of 'an emergency' was if Jesse needed snacks, before she pointed out that snacks were good and they might not be able to have a proper meal, before Hadrian had told them both to shut up before he threw them off of Magnus's tower.

(Radar, who'd already been rather quiet prior, went even more silent at this.)


Jesse wondered- briefly- when they crashed down and they'd recovered from the nausea and they could actually breathe- if they'd ended up in the wrong area.

But no, Hadrian had quietly assured them they were in the Sunshine Institute.

The Sunshine Institute was less of a 'city' and more of a 'rehabilitative zone' (which Hadrian nearly rolled his eyes out of his head at while saying this), for criminals who had done things so bad or so egregious that they weren't welcome anywhere else.

(Jesse had asked him what sort of crimes, since it seemed like murder was okay here, and Hadrian had considered this before saying, "I know one of them ate a puppy once" in the most casual voice ever that had ever said this.)

(Jesse had promptly agreed that this was the most awful crime one could commit, and they were fairly certain that Hadrian's lips had twitched. Actually, they would've bet money on it.)

(Well, if they had money.)

The Sunshine Institute had one proper building, and... that was really about it. It looked almost like the world's biggest prison yard around it, with fences that towered up to the sky and barbed wire at the very tippy top. Combine that with obsidian and bedrock dotted around the yard, and it made Jesse feel like they were in prison.

Which they supposed was possibly the point.

"Xara came from here originally," Hadrian remarked absently, as they strolled towards the main building.

"She was from the south of Cosmos?"

"Yeah, she was born in here. Her parents... I'm actually not sure what they did, the story changes every time," he muttered. "She tends to spin some tall tales about them. Maybe so nobody feels inclined to see them. Or maybe for intimidation tactics, it wouldn't surprise me if that's something she likes doing..."

Jesse looked around, noticing several black suits among the countless figures in orange.

(They reminded Jesse of prison jumpsuits, but decided not to point that out).

"Are they still in here?" they asked meekly. "Most of them don't really look that old..."

"Yeah, they're in the old care home. They're about..." Hadrian frowned and looked at his hand, counting on his fingers briefly- a surprisingly juvenile action that made Jesse smile a bit. "... four hundred years old at this point?"

"Isn't Ivor older than that?"

Hadrian nodded. "Of course he is. But he's also a lord."

Jesse must've given him a very confused look, because he took one look at their face and sighed. "Demons with high magic affinities tend to live longer- both because they can fight off other people, but it also extends their natural lifespan. Ivor's got the most high magic affinities that a demon in Cosmos has ever had, and so he's been able to live the longest."

"Oh," Jesse said.

"The other lords have high magic affinities- Romeo's best with telekinesis, Xara's best with bringing inanimate objects to life, and Himira- well, actually, Himira actually had a few different affinities, but I think her best one was Silvertongue- commonly known as the magic of persuasion."

He paused.

"Which is actually somewhat hilarious in retrospect because Harper doesn't talk much."

Another pause.

"Do not tell Mevia I said that or she will kill me."

"Wouldn't she kill you over less?" Jesse wondered absently.

"True."

They kept making their way through. They came upon the market, upon which Hadrian grunted. "Black market."

Jesse blinked. "What?"

"In Cosmos, there's very little that's illegal... but if you want to buy it, it's here." He gestured out at the market- Jesse got a glimpse of a weapon that looked like it seethed with weird black energy before the potential buyer moved to get a better look and blocked it from view.

There were also a few corpses set out for sale, which Jesse decided to ignore and not tell Maya about- they had a feeling she'd regale them more about how Hizelk would dress up the corpses and go into details, and that was something they didn't really need to hear more about.

"They put black shades on the stalls, so we call it the black market."

Jesse blinked a few times. "In the human world, the black market is where you sell illegal things..."

"So exactly the same, then?"

"Sort of, except there isn't an actual physical market..."

Hadrian made a dismissive humming sound at that. "Odd, but alright."

Jesse caught another glimpse of a red-skinned man- someone who looked a lot like a demon to them (or like that comic character- what was his name?)- with horns sprouting from his head and a uniform that was ripped half-to-shreds- selling wheat and mushrooms. His face was a dark, thunderous cloud.

"Uh... is wheat illegal in Cosmos?"

"No, but I think outside food is contraband in the Sunshine Institute. Most guards will turn a blind eye, though, since it means that they get an outside supply for baking," Hadrian said absently.

"Are... weapons, illegal in the Sunshine Institute then?" Jesse asked, as they passed another stall piled high with crude weapons- compared to Aiden's whip or Maya's staff or even Lukas's claws, these seemed clumsy and like they could break apart in a few minutes. One guy in a white tank top and orange pants was looking them over with a vaguely critical eye.

Hadrian took a brief look. "Only recently. Crude ones used to be allowed, but, uh, the current... leader, of the city... had a small accident with a weapon- wasn't even really sharp- and now they're banned," he replied.

"And they turn a blind eye? The guards, I mean?" Jesse asked, glancing off to the sides.

"Oh, no, weapons are distinctly forbidden, but most of the prisoners- uh, sorry, I meant citizens," Hadrian said 'citizens' in a tone that sounded almost mocking, "are good at smuggling things into their cells- oh, I'm sorry, homes."

"What about meat?" Jesse glanced over at the stall piled high with red, squishy meat; the seller- a wild-haired man with bright red eyes and little flecks of food on his cheek that he didn't move to rub away- looking around his suspiciously empty stall. "Is that banned?"

Hadrian gave an irritated huff but looked over at the stall; his face cleared a moment later. "Oh, no, but most demons aren't cannibals."

"Oh, I- what!"

Jesse did a double-take, realizing with a mounting sense of horror that there was some very much flesh-colored skin still on the meat, "is that demon meat then?!"

"Most likely zombie meat, but since zombies spawn from negative energy infecting a corpse, technically yes," Hadrian replied, which made Jesse want to gag rather desperately. "Don't worry, though, most demons won't buy it."

One demon, with vines tattooed on her arm, slammed down something, which the seller beamed at and gave her a few pieces.

"Of course, those in the Sunshine Institute get a bit desperate for meat, since I think the 'city food' is mushroom stew, and mushrooms get very bland after a while," Hadrian said, a bit distastefully, while Jesse desperately tried to get a hold on their gag reflex. "Don't look."

This was one order Jesse was all too happy to obey.

They were a fair distance through the market- more weapons and random objects that Hadrian would remark were "illegal", "contraband", or "just plain fake"- when Jesse abruptly rammed into someone at one of the stalls and backed up a few inches to see who they'd run into.

Reuben gave a terrified little squeal as the person, a peaky figure with ragged blue clothes that looked like it had been set on fire on more than one occasion that hung off their figure, turned to glare down at them at them.

Possibly because their red eyes glared out from the smeared black face paint across their eyes and nose like shining embers in a fire.

But also possibly because they were wearing a rather large pig's body, with glassy eyes, blood on the hooves, and ripped open so that it sat on their head like a hat, replacing what had probably been the guts of the pig with their head.

"Whaddya want?"


A/N: Have to take this update off on responses- I have a job now (weird) and it did restrict the time I had to work on anything beyond the chapter itself.

Quick responses:

472115: Thank you!

Parakeetlover3: Hehe

TheAmberShadow: It's more like how sometimes Karens just seem to pop up, regardless of upbringing or parent's personality. / Magnus is fun haha

Happygoluckymegami: With Maya and Gill it's more jokey. Hadrian and Mevia respect each other but don't actually like each other. And... Magnus is. Magnus.

DubstepDragon14: I'm so happy you liked the chapters! Bloopers are very fun for me haha. / We will eventually meet other characters, yes! / I listen to Taylor Swift a lot but I also like Zayde Wolf and Six the Musical kinda vibes.

So sorry I have to rush review replies, but I really hope you liked the chapters!