"In ancient times, man's greatest wonder / Was to harness light; but what a blunder!" – Nameless Bard

Refia fidgeted with the collar on her dress. It was hard enough to get the servants to leave out the frilly stuff that she gave up on trying to get a dress that wasn't awfully restrictive. At least they hadn't given her one of Princess Sara's monstrosities. The last thing she needed to worry about today was being strangled by her own headdress. Not to mention these useless, draping sleeves!

A couple of passing gentlemen – nobility? Councilmen? – passed by and tipped their hats. Refia kept her gaze fixed ahead, ignoring them. She was pretty sure that acknowledging the gesture could be seen as an invitation to converse, and from what she remembered of Ingus's endless lectures on court etiquette, a single misspoken word could lead to a blood feud that would last for a dozen generations.

Wind gusted through the corridors, blowing dead leaves along the stone ground. Refia rubbed at her arms. This stupid dress didn't provide any warmth, and there was no feasible way of adding layers without, in Princess Sara's words, looking like a barbarian.

She passed some giggling servant girls and felt a wave of self-consciousness wash over her. Felt at the back of the dress for ripped seams or something. She found nothing, of course.

Really, most people here probably didn't care what she looked like. And to those who did, she was a Warrior of Light. Protector of the Crystals, vanquisher of the Cloud of Darkness.

Blacksmith-in-training, from a small mining village…

But it was just a dinner. Refia just had to survive the evening and then she could be done worrying about how she was dressed. She could get back into tights and boots and not worry about getting tangled in her own clothes.

She paused outside of Arc and Luneth's door. Sara had lectured her at length last night about visiting the chambers of a man – or men – alone as a lady, but Refia travelled and fought beside these two and Ingus for a full year – they were hardly strangers.

After a couple shallow breaths, Refia knocked twice at the door. An unintelligible, muffled answer came and Refia hesitated before cracking the door open. "Hello?"

"Whoa!" Luneth said, appearing in the crack. "What did they do to you? Arc! Come look! They took the real Refia and swapped her out for a horrible imposter!"

"Hey!" Heat rising to her face, Refia scowled and forced her way in, shutting the door behind her. "There are people outside!"

The room was larger than hers, built for two instead of one. They had a whole other room for the closet!

"Since when did you care about what people think?" Luneth asked.

Refia frowned. "I don't care. But this is really important to Sara – she lives here, you know. All the nobles that are going to be here… we don't have to deal with them, but she does. All the time."

Arc's short figure appeared in the corner, tying a buckle around his vest. He and Luneth were both been forced into some nicer vestments, with leather mantles and images of dragons burned into the leather. Luneth's attire was purple themed, with a short, decorative cloak slung at his shoulder, while Arc's was green and extending into a full skirt.

"Festive," Refia said flatly, noting personalized sigils in their vests. "Very bright."

"Speak for yourself," Luneth said. "You could attract moths with that thing."

"At least I know how to blend in with high society, unlike you two uncultured swines."

"Ah-ha! Now it makes sense! You're Ingus in disguise!"

Arc looked up at them. "Are you two fighting again?"

"No," they said in sync.

Refia said, "I was just dropping in to make sure you weren't about to burn the castle down." It wasn't strictly dishonest.

Luneth rolled his eyes, "Come on. Arc isn't that clumsy."

Arc gave Luneth a flat look.

"And," Refia continued, "I was thinking, Sara and the king are being really generous with this feast thing. Do you think there's some way to repay them?"

"Well," Arc said, "we've been talking about learning how to do magic shows. It means we'll need to plan something out, but-"

Luneth scoffed. "Who needs a plan? All the most genius inventions have been caused by mistakes!"

Arc looked confused. "Um, no. No, they haven't. They've taken years and years of work. That's why we haven't been able to replicate the Ancients' engineering."

"Says the scholar. You just eat up the lies that the library feeds you."

"They're not lies…"

"Come on, are you really saying you believe the idea that the Sacrean had any idea what they were doing when they slapped the title of 'Gaia' on the planet? I checked it out. Gaia is actually the name of a person."

"A person that was the personification of earth life. It was derived from-"

"Either way, it's a little egotistical, if you ask me. He probably knew that the world was a planet instead of an eternal plain and tried to use that to turn himself-"

"Herself."

"-Into a god."

Refia waved her hand, "Forget it. I'll just ask Ingus how to say 'thank you' in Royalese after the feast."

Water lapped the pond's shore near Flagg's feet, pushed by a light wind. Small villages were scattered throughout this area, along the foothills of the mountains that marked the southern border. Beyond those mountains laid the lawless desert, full of tribes that warred among themselves. There were a few trade routes through the mountain passes, but they were well-established as fae territory. Few traders were willing to brave those roads, and no war could pass through them.

Although records of those who had tried to take war across the mountains were often quite entertaining. Fairies liked to get creative with those who infringed on their fair dungeons.

"Now," Flagg muttered, safely out of earshot of his men, "Will you tell me what we are here for?"

It will be easier to show you. Take hold of my power.

"… How?"

Remember the fairy that I controlled, and what it felt like to hold its life in your hands.

He remembered. It was unsettling at the time, and yet the memory proved… comforting, now.

Hold out your hand. Imagine the fairy's life is in your palm, right now.

He did.

Because it is. You can feel me. I am under your skin, inside your bones. You took me from the fairy, and with me came its life.

Flagg felt a smile pull at his mouth. He wasn't sure whose it was.

Now crush it.

He did. There was the slightest sense of pressure as he closed his fist, and then the air in front of him tore.

Cries of alarm came from his men.

At ease. I'll only be a minute.

"At ease," Flagg said, stepping into the portal, "I'll only be a minute."

The world shifted around him, breaking and churning and rebuilding. He felt like he was standing, but was sure that he was floating. The mountains were all that remained constant amid the chaos.

When it settled, his men were gone, as was his airship. The pond remained – it was slightly larger, he thought – and a few structures had sprung up nearby, including a sizeable wall near the pond's opposite shore. A dirt road led down the hill he stood on now, and he could hear the sounds of a bustling city further on.

See the mine entrance.

Yes, he could.

Your soldier waits inside.

Wary, Flagg entered the mine. Otherworldly shadows darted away as he stepped inside, and the air pressure seemed to spike. It was a fairy dungeon, though he didn't see any–

I have taken this place. Its denizens know better than to approach you without leave.

Guided by the Genie, Flagg traversed the dark labyrinth. Some of the walls seemed to shift at his approach, curving outward. Growing larger for him.

He stopped in a wide cavern. Twisted metal was piled in the middle of the floor, but aside from that, the place was entirely empty.

"Where's my s–" Flagg started to ask, but was cut off as the Dark Genie took complete control of his body. He walked straight to the pile of metal and stabbed his hand into it. Flagg mentally cursed at the cuts but couldn't pull away.

"Flotsam," a warped version of his voice said. "You are barely better than useless, but you have a singular talent for not dying, and I have few options at this time. Return to me."

Violet energy exploded from his hand, curling into tendrils around the shredded metal. The metal shuddered and shifted. The Dark Genie withdrew Flagg's hand and stepped back as the pile of scrap formed into a vaguely humanoid shape.

Snap. Crack.

The metal – now a man – screamed in pain.

Control returned to him and Flagg scowled, "A robot clown? You told me I would have a soldier!"

He will obey orders, the Dark Genie replied. He sounded sardonic, to the best of his limited ability. His first master made quite good use of him – do you believe yourself incapable of doing the same?

"I am capable," Flagg snapped, and waited for the clown's screams to die down, "You. Come with me."

Breathless, his… soldier… hurriedly nodded.

You are weak, the Genie whispered, but you will be strong. You have used my power to move to the future, now you must use it to return to your time. You have influence there – use it to protect your fledgling power. With every enemy you destroy, your strength will grow.

Ingus reluctantly took his position to the right of the king. Sara was all the way on the left, so apparently intelligent conversation would wait until after. At least Refia was the one on Ingus' other side, with Luneth after that, so he was safe in that regard.

The gathered lords and ladies remained quiet as King Altney introduced Ingus and the others, some looking on with awe, others masking contempt of varying degrees. Ingus avoided catching any of their gazes as he scanned the crowd.

"… As they have so graciously protected us!" the king was saying, raising his glass. "To the Crystals and their champions!"

Agreement echoed through the crowd and everyone raised their own glass accordingly. Ingus held his out, trying not to notice Arc barely moving his own further than his chest. Luneth threw his glass up so fast, the wine inside sloshed out and spilled over his glove. Refia, thankfully, had been through enough of these to do the motion properly. Though she could use a little work straightening out her posture.

The harp and fiddle players took their cue as everyone sat and soft music filled the banquet hall. Ingus let himself relax. Luneth was bragging to Refia about something, but in hushed voices.

"Ingus," the king said, grabbing his attention whilst cutting into his flank of lamb. "You don't have to be back this week. I can arrange for a longer trip."

Ingus glanced between him and Sara, who sat sipped at her wine. "It should not be such a journey, majesty."

"We're not at war, Ingus. There's nothing to say I can't assign your men to another squad for the time being. Let yourself have fun for once!"

Luneth and Refia started arguing to Ingus' right. "I… do not consider this 'fun,' majesty. Please do not consider I would prefer to be away."

"Oh, I'm not thinking anything of the sort." The king took a bite, ripping meat from his fork. "I'm sure you appreciate it here, but all men need a break sometimes. You haven't had a rest since you got back all those months ago! Do yourself a favor and enjoy the trip, my boy. Bring back some tactical information we can use in improving the efficiency of our own troops, or maybe some nice decorations for my chambers. Or Sara's, am I right, dear?"

"I don't need foreign trinkets, father," she sighed, casting a knowing glance to Ingus. "Ingus should collect whatever he would prefer."

"Either way," the king said. "Don't rush."

Ingus picked up his knife and prepared to eat, though he felt little appetite.

"Hey!" Refia hissed beside him. Her cup had spilled and she was struggling with Luneth over cleaning it up. One of them, Ingus couldn't trace the magic, froze the water over and stopped it from dripping to the floor. "What do you think you're doing?" Refia demanded.

"I-I don't know-" Arc stammered. "I just thought we should stop it."

Ingus felt his heart beat almost right out his chest. Some turned their heads at the commotion.

"Hey!" Luneth said, touching the frozen puddle. "That looks almost like a lake!"

The three hesitated. "Doesn't this place have a lake?" Refia asked. She cast a glance to the king, who didn't seem to notice.

Luneth moved his fingers – a bad habit of his and the reason why Arc would always be a better magician – and the water from his own cup moved to the frozen puddle. Icicles formed upwards from the table, shaping into… towers?

"Oh, my," King Altney said, finally noticing. "What's this?"

Ingus swallowed hard. Refia glanced between the ice and the king, and Luneth said simply, "It's your castle! You wanted a show, right?"

More turned heads. Ingus fought to control his breathing. It would do no good to hyperventilate, it would only fog his mind and dull his senses.

But that was so much easier said than done.

The king looked on, face unreadable. Arc at least had the good sense to shrink away. The other two grinned like children showing off a handcrafted wooden sword.

The king finally said. "Do continue!"

By this point the whole hall had riveted their attention on the four. Ingus breathed. In. Out.

The three set to work, pulling in water from all over the room. The castle grew, towers expanding higher. Servants hastily grabbed the plates from the table, saving the forgotten food from the spreading ice. Arc appeared to focus on the towers and battlements while Luneth took the walls and base. Refia developed wildlife and scenery around the castle, fine trees and bushes lining the walls and dotting the landscape where they didn't exist in reality. It wasn't even an accurate depiction of the castle.

But he refrained from speaking. Only silently, motionlessly, scooted some of the shrubbery over and removed gratuitous trees.

Clapping sounded. The music turned lively and jovial. Some whispered, impressed. Others scoffed in disbelief. "Can you believe this?" one whispered close to the front. "The Crystals chose such children?"

Ingus stopped. Refia kept adding, this time moving on to farmers and soldiers.

"Check this out, Your Majesty!" Luneth said as a figure formed in front of the castle, posed with his hands on his hips and chest puffed out. The king, himself.

"What a likeness! Don't you agree, Sara?"

"If you say so, fa-" Sara cut off as another figure formed on top of the castle. Two figures. A girl, with a veil flowing from her head, dress swirling to the side, linking hands with a boy in a flowing cloak and armor and hair that-

Ingus choked. Sara flushed as red as the drapes hanging from the wall. The king laughed heartily. Luneth, Arc, and Refia finished with a bow and the room erupted into applause as Luneth gestured and the name "Sasune" appeared in a flash of glittering frost above the sculptures.

Applause. Laughter.

A spectacle.

The king joked with the others about not leaving so they could provide more displays for him. Displays that would decorate his favorite places and provide entertainment for his entire family.

Sara quipped under her breath that they were the only members of his immediate family, but the rest of her words swam in his ears.

His king would shame Ingus for amusement. Or perhaps he meant to encourage Ingus to leave. If so, the man was cunning. But then, Ingus always knew there to be more to the man than was obvious.

Ingus muttered an excuse to the king and stole away from the dining hall.

The air smelled like salt and Toan saw seagulls flocking near the harbor. Queens had become – or perhaps turned back into – a maze of streets and crowded buildings, disorienting in its similarity to fae labyrinths. The city had a lot more people than he remembered – almost every corner had someone shouting out advertisements.

He guessed that with so many, the Fairy King couldn't save everyone.

Xiao huddled in his arms, disturbed by the crowds. It was just the two of them now, as they parted ways with Goro at Master Utan's abode. Toan watched carefully for the distinctive shape of King's house. If he remembered correctly, and if it hadn't changed, then that building should look very different from the hundreds that were boxed in tight around these streets.

Ah. There it was, giant car and all. Toan slipped between the fence's poles, and rang the doorbell.

No response. He tried again.

After about a minute, Jake opened the door, "Wha–you lost, kid? Beat it!"

"Where's King?" Toan asked.

Jake leaned back, agape at his audacity, "Who wants to know?"

"I'm here to talk to Ruby."

"Oh, I get it now. You're a nut."

Jake tried to slam the door, but Toan stuck his foot inside, grimacing as it was smashed against the door frame. "Sorry," he said, letting go of Xiao as he shouldered past Jake, feeling rather like a bully. King and his goons were a smug, greedy lot, but he didn't like pushing anyone around.

Jake sputtered angrily and threw a punch that Toan slipped past. Stew appeared in one of the doorways with King close behind him.

Unfortunately for them, Toan didn't know how to interact with this new Queens. So he was just going to cut right to the heart of the matter, and be out of here as soon as possible.

"Jake," King said slowly, "What's going on?"

Jake spun on his heel, "Sir! I'll deal with this immediately!"

"Please," Toan said, dodging again as Jake tried to grab him, "This would be a lot simpler if you would just listen."

King took a long draw from his giant cigar. Stew cracked his knuckles and stepped in to help Jake. Toan grimaced. Trying to talk while avoiding them both… that would be far more trouble than it was worth. But in these close quarters, he ran the risk of seriously injuring the goons if he used a weapon.

So Toan danced between them and kept his blades sheathed because his hands didn't move the same way that they used to and he focused on getting to safety. Hop onto the table, inhale–

There.

Jake and Stew were wild. Uncoordinated. It took less than a second for Stew to leave himself wide open, and only a moment longer for Jake to do the same.

Toan used the opportunity to kick them both in the stomach and step away.

King seemed torn between fear and amusement as he asked, "Who are you?"

"Toan. I'm here to talk to Ruby."

"What, are you a genie too?"

Toan considered saying no. But remained silent. At length, King wiped away some sweat beading on his forehead, and chuckled nervously as he retrieved Ruby's lamp from his desk.

Xiao hopped up beside him the moment the lamp was in view and rubbed up against it.

King shrieked.

Thick smoke billowed from the lamp, coalescing in seconds. When the haze cleared, a woman with sharp eyes and lavender hair floated a couple of feet off the ground, posed as though she was lounging in a chair rather than hovering in the air. She flashed a smile that could melt flesh.

Then she noticed Toan. And blinked.

"Meow!"

Ruby looked to the two men on the floor who now feigned sleep, then to the one cowering in the corner, "Why, King, who is this?"

Toan felt his gut drop down to the Shipwreck, "You don't remember?"

Ruby's head snapped back toward him like he slapped her with a live fish, "You do?"

Xiao hopped up and down, "Mrrow!"

"Wait," Ruby turned to look at the cat, "Is this… Xiao?"

"No shape-change potion this time around," Toan said, "You wouldn't happen to know where we could find one, would you?"

"Meow!"

Ruby shook her head, and dropped to stand on the floor, "My. I've never known a mortal to remember another timeline – ah, polymorphing is an exceptionally powerful magic. I assume the Fairy King helped you before?"

"Seda, actually."

"And he was real chummy with the old guy, wasn't he?"

"He… seemed to be, yes."

"Although," Ruby looked thoughtful, "Seda had some pretty strong magic of his own, given the whole Dark Genie plus witch blood thing. It's possible he – you said it was a potion? It's possible he made it himself. Some of the strongest witch-blooded can alter their own bodies, and the Fairy King and Dark Genie can extend that power to someone else. Some crystals can imbue similar power… but since you kind of killed your Atlamillia, I don't think you're going to get another one."

"There's more than one?"

Ruby chuckled, "Oh, sweet child, there are countless crystals beyond the Atlamillia kind. Anyway, do you still talk with old Simba?"

"… I haven't seen him since the reset."

"Aw, well. In that case, I don't know a way to get Xiao access to her human form. Sorry, Xiao."

"Mew…"

"Well, thanks anyway," Toan said, "But that's actually not why we're here. Something's wrong with time."

"Oh?" Ruby floated back into her invisible chair, "Do tell."

"Well, there's the missing moon–"

"That wasn't caused by you."

Toan stuttered, "That–what?"

"There's a timeline between here and the one we traveled together in. I guess you don't remember that one?"

"Um. No."

Ruby nodded, "Good. We can thank that one for the missing blue moon. I don't know what exactly happened – it was before my time."

"Before your time? How–" Toan had the presence of mind to cut himself off right there. "Never mind. The thing is, my, um, father–" would that word ever stop feeling weird? "When the timeline changed, it didn't affect him."

Ruby frowned, "How do you mean?"

"I mean, he knew that the Dark Genie was going to destroy the east before it happened. And he still knew that. In this time."

"Ah, yes." She clucked her tongue. "Now that's a snag."

"Xiao and I are going to the west," Toan said, "Do you think you could look into the problem here? I can lend you the map, if you need it."

"Yes, that would be helpful. Although, before we deal with that, there is a little matter here that has been unresolved by your reset. It's only going to get worse with time, so it's best we deal with it immediately…"

"You'll leave?" King asked.

Ruby shot him a surprised look like she forgot he was there. "Of course. I have work to do."

Jake hauled himself to his feet. "We should let her go, Boss."

Ruby let out an abupt and disconcerting laugh. "As if you could hold me back?"

"Just-…" King waved a hand. "Just go."

She gave a tight-lipped smile. "You're adorable. Come on, Toan, you heard the men. Time to hit the road."