"One was like the sun, the daylight reflecting off his skin and blinding anyone who dared look upon his form – his every step accompanied by darkness, tendrils of the night sky leaving gaps between his clothes. They were followed by what we assumed to be a servant girl, but just like them, she was a spirit..."

Taylor sat across Izhar in the dining room of the temple. The corners of his mouth were slightly lowered, despite his forced attempt at a smile. The others had decided to go walk around the city, take in the sights and maybe learn more about anything that might have to do with the hand or a way home.

Bitch was doing… whatever Bitch went off to do when she was alone. Taylor knew where she was, but she would be here by dinner regardless.

But Taylor didn't want to. Not only to avoid the people, but also to talk to Izhar.

"Your dreams?" he asked. It was one of the reasons she wanted to talk to him instead of the others. The man was educated, and his opinion not as tainted as Amal's.

"I'm… having dreams," she said. "And there's a pattern, it's repeating and I just remembered it when one of the others mentioned it."

"It's nothing unusual. Anyone dreams, men and gods alike." Izhar nodded, glancing at a book on a shelf near the door. "There is a lot of literature about the topic."

"I don't care about the literature and stories about dreams," she said. The man blinked. "I'm interested in the image, if there's anything you can tell me about it."

"What image would that be?"

"Chains," she said. "A hand blanketed in chains."

The man blinked again. Izhar hummed, his hand coming up to his cheek, his eyes narrowing slightly in thought.

"I admit, I can think of multiple stories like this, but…" he began, sighing. "I've heard that you're looking for a way back 'home', was it? The place where you live, and the other spirits as well."

"Yes," Taylor said, nodding. "There's a lot going on, and our visit here was apparently forced by the hand that came through the portal."

"Portal?" he asked.

"Think a door from one place to another," she explained. The word itself wasn't unfamiliar to him, obviously. "Only instead of just letting you enter a home or exit to the outside, it can let you travel incredible distances, or even worlds."

"And this door from your world to ours was what led you here?" he repeated. She nodded. "That doesn't really narrow the selection of literature down."

Taylor sighed. She had assumed as much.

"However, I do understand the concept of the world of the Gods and the world of Man. I assume the portal you had opened wasn't actually supposed to lead you here?"

"It wasn't," she said. "It was made to let a few people go back home, but after they left, everything went to hell."

"I am unsure if I would call our world 'hell'," the man smiled. Taylor coughed, a bit too late to change her words. "Say, spirit Skitter, do you believe in 'fate'?"

"No."

The answer couldn't have come out quicker, and the man, once again, blinked. Taylor didn't believe in fate, people made their fate. As probable as the end of the world that Dinah predicted was, there was still a chance to fight back.

"Then you might not like what I have to say," Izhar told her. "I will do so nonetheless, and maybe you will find it in you to listen to my words without bias. There is an order to the world, certain events happen because they [i]have[/i] to happen, but we are free to change these events."

It was Taylor's turn to blink confusedly. "I think your definition of fate differs from mine."

"How so?"

"Fate is what you say, certain events that happen because they were predetermined, but there's nothing you can change about that."

"Let me try again." He stood up, stretching slightly, before walking around towards the bookshelf, his voice rising slightly so she could still understand him. "Mamitu, mother of the gods and the humans, is also the Mother of our Fate. Our Fate is to live free from the machinations of the world, and develop as we see fit, which means accepting or refusing the help of divine beings as we see fit. Of course, we have accepted the help all the time, and it led us to prosper."

"So you're saying your concept of fate is simply free will?" Taylor asked. "That's something I can believe in."

"Then, if you had chosen not to send those people home through this portal," he began. "You would not have arrived here, would you?"

Taylor's eyebrows twitched. Another point to blame on Tattletale. She hoped it was worth it for the Travelers, but they were really the least of her concerns. "No."

"Rather, your appearance here is the sum of your choices up to that point, and this hand, whatever it was, used your choices to lead you here."

"But what if it was simply a hallucination? Something strange we saw because we were being sent from one place to another?"

"Then maybe it has less meaning than you think." Izhar smiled. "Or it is the most important memory you have. Though I have to ask, spirit Skitter, why can you not create another portal to lead you home?"

Taylor cursed Tattletale. Miss Militia wasn't wrong. Despite probably being her best friend, the girl could do a [i]catastrophic[/i] amount of damage with her mouth.

"The people who could did not get pulled in with us," she said. "Our powers don't change, at least not that much. They're decided and stay like this."

Unless a second trigger happened, but there was no need to explain anything she knew about passengers, as minimal as her knowledge about the topic was.

"Fascinating," he said, his hands twitching as if looking for something. The book had been opened on an empty page. "Forgive me, such revelations have to be written down…"

He put the book on the table, his thin fingers pointing at a certain point in the text. Taylor's headache came back when the thought of her dreams hit her. She could read this text. She could understand the language.

Why did it look so wrong now?

"The story of heroes?" she asked.

"It's a fictional story, though they say that all stories have some truth in them, and I believe that anything written might as well have happened."

Looks like there was an avid reader here. Taylor frowned, looking at the pages. It wasn't bad, but his mention of it simply being fictional didn't do anything to help her be interested.

"To summarize, it is about four heroes who were summoned," Izhar explained. "To fight an ancient evil."

"I… don't believe that this is the case," she said. Honestly, that sounded like a [i]really[/i] bad plot, and even worse if it actually happened. "The problem is that the others weren't dragged here. They fell in after I was grabbed, they say."

"You specifically?" he asked. "Why you?"

"I wonder that too," she told him, leaning back in her chair. He put the book back up on the shelf. "I just want to get home and be done with all of this headache."

The man looked rather downcast at her words, similar to Amal.

"I am sad that you are not feeling home in our kingdoms, spirit Skitter, and it pains me that you want to leave us so quickly."

"It's not you or the people," Taylor said. "Something bad happened and I need to check on everyone. My family, my city."

"I understand," Izhar nodded. "You have responsibilities. I swear an oath to you, spirit Skitter, I shall look for the chains in every book we have and I will report to you with any information I can find."

"Thank you," she said. "Maybe ask Miss Militia, she has really good memory and could tell you more about the hand and the chains."

"I shall do that. That woman is wise beyond her years," he said.

Taylor couldn't say she didn't like Miss Militia. Despite being an enemy for months, the woman has never been unreasonable. She can't even fault her for pistol whipping Tattletale and putting a gun into her mouth. If Taylor was in the heroes' shoes, she would have done the same. And Miss Militia was right. [i]Alexandria[/i] was right. The portal was a bad choice.

"I'll go look for my friends." Taylor stood up. "Thank you for your time."

"Anything for our gods."

Taylor muttered curses under her breath as she approached the place she could feel Clockblocker, Alec and Newter in. She couldn't understand how those three actually got along, especially with Clockblocker absolutely [i]loathing[/i] her presence, and looking for excuses upon excuses to avoid her. It's not like whatever she did was as bad as Alec getting rid of Sophia, right?

Right. Obviously. There was no way armies of bugs crawling on people's skin and into their noses could in any way be worse. Aisha was walking next to her.

"Yeah, bugs and all that are totally not as gross as body control." Aisha nodded. Taylor stopped, the girl following suit.

"Did I just talk out loud?" Taylor asked. She was sure she hadn't. "Did… we talk and you used your power on me?"

"Nope!" Aisha said. Taylor narrowed her eyes at the girl. "Maybe?"

"Don't do that," Taylor said. "I've had enough problems keeping focused."

"You know I'd never do anything serious." Aisha sighed, but shrugged. "Alright, I promise. No sense of humor. But really, I'm pretty sure that if we were enemies, I'd [i]totally[/i] be a lot more terrified by you than I would be about Alec."

"Your power makes you immune to him," Taylor said.

"Yes, but if it [i]didn't[/i]!" Aisha grinned. Taylor sighed, shaking her head and entering the bar. "Underage drinking, whoo!"

"No drinking," Taylor said.

"Party-pooper, booo!"

"BOOO!" Alec shouted, raising his fist. He looked slightly tipsy, his eyes closed slightly. Clockblocker didn't look drunk, while Newter was just sitting back watching them play with some cards. "Hey, Skitter, could you grab your groupie and tell her to explain these cards to me?"

Cards was a stretch. These things looked more like thin plates of metal or maybe some shiny stone with some numbers on them.

"Are you drunk?" Taylor asked. "Really?"

"Dunno, are you?" Alec slurred.

"He's pretending to be more drunk than he is, he didn't even finish his glass," Newter said.

"Dammit, man, stop doing this to me, you need to let me tell stuff my way," Alec said, his slurring gone. "Am I the only one who wants to have some fun here?"

"You're in a sacred city full of pilgrims and wondering why the tavern is so empty this early in the morning," Newter said. "And Clockblocker can't drink because Miss Militia would be really pissed."

"Understatement of the century," the ginger said. "You think being a Ward is easy? It's the horror."

"Being a villain is way harder," Alec shrugged. "Nobody likes you. At least you get some good PR and the chicks on PHO."

"I'm pretty sure nobody likes you because you're you," Aisha said, sitting down next to him.

"Ah, you wound me," he sighed theatrically, his fingers digging into his chest.

"It's not [i]all[/i[ fun and games and nope, the nudes are not better than anything you can find on the internet."

Taylor wanted to smash her head against the wall.

"They're better because they're personal!" Aisha argued.

"Not you too," Taylor muttered. "Okay, I'm out, Aisha, tell that idiot not to drink too much, I'll look for the others, alright?"

"Aight!" Aisha waved her off, taking the plates/cards. "Holy shit these are heavy."

Taylor left, leaving bugs on them, and making a note to make them bite whenever someone tried to drink something.

Taylor found Bitch near a more open place. Despite the city's size, there were a few patches of green here and there, and while Taylor could barely see those between the buildings, she could feel them through her bugs and made her way there.

It wasn't as nice as a normal park, but it would do. Bitch was apparently training the wolves in some basic commands.

"Hello," she said, approaching from the distance. Bitch grunted in acknowledgment. "Is the training going well?"

"Too easy," Bitch said, and Taylor could have sworn that she heard some confusion in the girl's voice.

"Too easy?" Taylor asked. "Is that not a good sign?"

"Never happened before." Bitch shrugged. "It barely takes two tries and they have it down. "It's only been three months."

'Only'. Taylor became painfully aware of how long exactly they were gone. Maybe it wasn't actually a full 90 days, but it was still significant enough.

Not much longer and Taylor spent as much time here as she has spent in Brockton Bay in a costume.

Only there was no Leviathan here, no Slaughterhouse Nine, no Echidna.

No heroes fighting the villains. No Coil. No corrupt PRT.

If she hadn't lived through all that to help Brockton Bay, Taylor might've grown attached to this place. Or maybe she was already attached to it in some way. It was peaceful, kind of. At least a lot less full of conflict than Brockton Bay was. Is.

"You think it might have to do with how we ended up here?" Taylor asked. Bitch shrugged.

"How should I know?"

"I'm not sure, maybe you noticed some kind of change besides… well, this," she indicated towards the wolves, but wasn't sure if Bitch actually saw her arm move. The wolves all sat down Bitch said the word barely above a whisper. "My range went whack, still not something I'd compare to this city's size, but definitively large."

"Portal did this to our powers?" Bitch asked.

"Maybe."

"It's not bad," Bitch said. "Just confusing."

"Not bad," Taylor agreed. "Just… really confusing."

"That's what I said," Bitch looked at her.

"I know, just agreeing with you," Taylor sighed. "I'll go back to the temple, just be there before dinner, alright?"

"Alright."

The way to the temple was, as always, accompanied by stares and bows. Someone was with Izhar, the two men inside the temple moving around way too much, and if there was a smaller amount of bugs there, she might've thought he was being attacked.

Luckily, she could listen in.

"Really?"

"Yes, yes, truly, a marvelous sight, but… it seems they're in conflict."

"Two spirits fighting…?"

Considering Taylor met anyone besides Miss Militia, and doubting that Miss Militia would go back on her word, whoever was fighting must've been someone else.

And considering there were only three people missing, Taylor's steps increased in size and speed, making bigger strides towards the temple until she all but crashed through the door where Izhar and the man stood.

"Who is fighting?" she asked.

"The sun and the moon!" the frightened man said, he looked young, in an armor that looked cheaper than anything she had ever seen, wearing some crest she didn't know. "Like the night and the day clashing against each other! Oh Helel and Iblis truly brought down their wrath…"

'Night' was probably Grue. 'Day'?

"I'll go stop them," Taylor said, hoping she could. Grue would listen to her, but she wondered who the other one way. Weld and Tattletale were with him, if she recalled correctly. "Which gate?"

"Southern gate, where you entered, milady," the man said. She nodded, immediately turning around and leaving. Izhar and the man continued talking.

Once again, it took a while to reach the gate, but her bugs could find her targets before she could see them. Grue, without a doubt. The other was… cold. Weld. It [i]was[/i] Weld, and she could see why they called him sun when she finally reached the gates. The sun was hitting his metallic skin in away that made him shine blindingly. It was a pain looking directly at him as the two approached the gate.

And Tattletale. She was there, of course. Great, now she could actually punch her. It didn't actually look like they were fighting, however, Grue and Weld walking into the same direction with a considerable distance between them, Tattletale standing in the middle, smiling widely.

Miss Militia, Amal and Bitch arrived behind her on Bitch's dogs. Apparently Amal was with Miss Militia the whole time, not that Taylor checked on them. It was better if Amal was less attached to her and actually talked to some of the others more often, maybe that would help her gain a new perspective.

"BRO!"

And there was Imp. It's incredible how quick news travelled through this place despite its size and lack of modern communication.

Grue visibly reacted, his face turning to Aisha and his pace slightly quickening. Taylor didn't say anything, despite the joy she felt. And she was joyful, no doubt, but…

Something felt strange. It felt wrong. She should be feeling so happy that her heart was jumping right out of her throat, but she didn't.. Weld and Miss Militia took a step to the side, away from the villains, while Grue and Aisha hugged.

Tattletale approached her, smiling.

"I really want to punch you," Taylor admitted. Tattletale spread her arms, as if inviting her to. Taylor took a step forward and wrapped her arms around the fellow villain. "Later I will."

"You noticed, didn't you?" Tattletale asked. Taylor nodded, before shaking her head. Damn Thinkers. "I'll tell you in private, alright?"

Taylor didn't say anything, nodding slightly before moving a step back as Grue approached.

He had his helmet on, and like usual in costume his darkness was spreading in small tendrils away from his body. She still didn't hesitate almost tackling him, her arms wrapping around his broad chest.

She would've cried, had it not been for that nagging feeling.

"I missed you," she said.

"Me too."

His voice was rough, and she had been gone way too long without hearing it.

"Alright!" Lisa clapped her hands together as everyone was gathered at the table in the temple. "Praise be, praise be, everyone is alive and well, all limbs are still there?"

"We're not here for pleasantries, Tattletale, please," Taylor said. "If you don't get to the point quick, I'll let Miss Militia shoot you."

Amal wasn't with them, the girl excluded from the talks right now and looking obviously devastated after being told. Brian and Lisa had taken off their masks after explaining the temporary truce. Weld and Newter sat next to each other, not saying anything.

"Alright, what if I told you, 'Magic is real'?" Lisa began.

"The point, Tattletale," Miss Militia said.

"Okay, let's look at it like this: [i]Something[/i] pulled us in, and this isn't Earth Aleph, nor is this some kind of ancient world in the middle of the Earth Bet, nope, it's different, people here evolved the same as we did, but under other influences."

"Influences?" Taylor asked.

"I told you, this place doesn't make much sense from our standpoint. The geography and the way the weather here works despite that isn't exactly what I would call 'realistic' or 'earth-like', you know? It might be a place where there's some [i]really[/i] powerful parahumans who have control over the entire world."

It didn't sound like an unrealistic possibility considering things like the Endbringers and Scion existed. Things more powerful than any other normal parahuman in existence.

"Nature was ours, here it was something else," Lisa said simply. "Maybe something that's similar to what gave us powers, whatever it is, whether you want to call it magic or science, it dragged us here."

"You mean it dragged her here," Weld said, pointing at Taylor. "We shouldn't be here, right?"

"Right," Lisa nodded. Taylor glared at her. "I mean, it's probably my fault, I admit that, but still, whatever dragged us here, it was after Skitter."

"Gee, look at Ms. Oh-so-special," Regent muttered. "Gets prayed to, has groupies. Me? I got arrested."

"I wouldn't make light of it," Taylor said, glancing at Brian. "It might be our key to getting home. Finding whatever tried to get me here."

"Yes, of course!" Lisa all but made a 'squee' sound. Taylor's eyebrows twitched. "So now the important question, where do we find it?"

Silence.

Complete and utter silence. The uncomfortable wait of everyone waiting for Lisa to give them the answer, while Lisa just looked around, the emotion of 'hope' so clear in her eyes as she stared at them. "Shit."

"You had one job, Tattletale!" Regent stood up, slamming his hand on the table. He didn't actually sound angry, but if he was trying to make a joke, it fell flat.

"Okay, this is kinda worse than I expected," she admitted. "I guess we can start living here, then."

"Sit down."

Taylor stood up as the blonde girl did as she was told. From her bag she grabbed the map, putting it on the table for everyone to see.

"We don't really have much of a choice," Taylor said. "And we know [i]every[/i] place here except for this," she pointed at the unmapped part in the north, beyond the mountains. "I'm not saying we'll find what we need there, but we are definitely not going to find anything just sitting here doing nothing or getting drunk."

"Doing nothing [i]and[/i] getting drunk," Regent muttered under his breath, just barely enough for her bugs to catch it.

"Okay, how?" Tattletale asked. "I know enough that they said nobody actually survived getting there."

"You will find a way," Taylor decided. "I'll help you with all the info I've gathered."

"Sure," Lisa shrugged. "And I got to tell you about that time Weld and I were fighting some mercenaries."

Weld sighed. Newter patted him on the shoulder.

Taylor didn't even need to be told, the bugs around the room checking for any holes, the bugs outside checking for anyone listening in. When she was sure that nobody was listening, she nodded to Tattletale.

"Okay, I'm not sure where to start, actually, you can't really remember, can you? Of course you can't," Lisa began. "It's… Grue, and Imp. It seems strange."

"What does?"

"I'll try to be as considerate as I can be of your feelings, but, uh… I kinda think Grue and Imp might know more than we do about all of this."

"How?" Taylor asked, her heart skipping a beat as a strange sickening feeling spread through her gut. "[i]Why?[/i]"

"Think back to the Echidna, when the portal was made," Lisa began. "They [i]weren't there.[/i]"

Taylor blinked, her head hurting as she tried to think back to the event with the portal. Grue and Imp were…

They were gone. Imp took him away when he ended up being caught by her and relived his triggers. Taylor's eyes widened, looking towards the door, then back at Lisa.

"They…"

The feeling came up to her throat, the headache growing worse. The words were stuck in her throat.

"No, I don't think… they would never- even if, they would tell us, Grue was out cold, did you talk to him?"

"I did, but he couldn't remember anything, he said," Lisa shrugged. "I believe him as much as you do, but Imp… I don't think I could ask her any questions without her dodging it with her powers."

Taylor checked on the girl. She was with her brother, talking about some unimportant things. Not listening in.

"What do you want to do then?"

"Ignore it until there's a problem?" Lisa tried. "Honestly, they were gone but still ended up here, it might not've been their choice, and whatever grabbed you did actually intend to get us as well. It's not unlikely."

"It doesn't make any sense without a portal near them!" Taylor shouted, before her voice lowered quickly. Her bugs were buzzing loudly, lowering in volume as she let go of her sudden anger. She didn't want to believe Tattletale, but everything about this seemed so wrong. And as many mistakes Lisa had made so far, she wouldn't be lying about this.

Especially because Taylor knew she's right, now that the memories were less blurry. Brian and Aisha, they weren't there when the portal opened.

They couldn't have been there because Aisha would have never let Brian near danger while in that comatose state.

Taylor swallowed a lump in her throat.

"We'll talk about this later, alright? When I had some time to think about it."

Lisa nodded.

This was much worse than she thought.

Much, much worse.