Ever's head collided with the stairs as they fell, biting their tongue and the taste of iron filled their mouth, each collision more painful than the last. Eventually, they came to a stop, their head thumping one last time against the floor. They turned their head as it throbbed from the repeated abuse. They groaned as they struggled to push themselves up, eventually relenting and simply rolling over to stare at the ceiling. The ceiling was made of lightly colored wood and was covered in stains. 

As they stared up at the ceiling, the sound of voices flowed into Ever’s ears. "Tesla, Jaxson, would one of you go and see what made that noise." There was a brief silence, barely a second-long, before two voices spoke up one after another. “Not it!” 

The male voice from before groaned, and then Tesla laughed. “Ha! Ya snooze, ya lose!” 

The sound of something being scraped against wood emanated from the source of the voices. Ever heard footsteps coming towards them, and they looked toward the sound, They noticed a pair of socked feet that they followed up until they were staring up at the face of a boy with dirty blonde hair paired with forest green eyes. His tan skin seemed worn by sun and weather, and he looked down at Ever as he spoke in the same voice as the unknown male. “So…you need help?” 

Ever glared up at the boy, who they had to assume was Jaxson, and quipped. “Oh no. I don’t need any help at all. I just love laying helplessly on the ground and staring aimlessly at nothing.” 

He tilted his head before saying. “So...” He drew out the ‘O’ before adding. “You don’t need help?” 

Ever ground their teeth together and snapped. “Of course, I need help, you idiot!” Ever watched as he turned around and began walking away, their voice pleading “Hey, where do-” 

They were cut off when Jaxson called out. “Hey, Tesla, the stray you picked up fell down the stairs! Come get ‘em!” Ever watched as Tesla came into view now wearing an apron that looked like it had been rolled in every substance known to man and then simply left out in the sun to dry. The worn blue fabric was covered in stains of varying shapes, sizes, and colors. Ever turned back to the ceiling and began counting the stains that covered it. 

Footsteps sounded but quickly stopped and were replaced with a laugh followed by. “What are you doing on the floor?” 

Ever rolled their eyes and said in false cheerfulness. “Oh, nothing much, just using the stair as a footrest and counting the stains on the ceiling. I’m up to 28.” Ever looked at Tesla and said as they pointed at a large brownish stain. “Oh, look at that 29.” 

Ever looked at Tesla to see her scratching the back of her head as she questioned, “Do you… do you need help? Or are you fine here?”

Ever shook their head back and forth before saying. “Oh no, no.” They slammed their fist against the floor and yelled. “Of course, I need help!” 

Tesla flinched before raising her hands and soothingly spoke. “Okay, okay. No need to get angry over nothing.” 

She reached down, pulling Ever to their foot in a single swift motion. Tesla wrapped Ever’s arm around her neck and began moving forward. Ever stumbled with each step until they eventually made it into the kitchen. The smell of pasta sauce hit their nose as they were gently placed into a wooden chair. They watched as Tesla walked over to a stove and began stirring a ceramic pot that was stained around the rim. Jaxson sat across from Ever and watched Tesla.

“You’re making a mess!”

“Oh, and could you do a better job?”

“Yes, in fact, I could!”

The two began to bicker as Ever looked around, taking in the peculiar style of the room while trying to ignore her hosts. They noticed the copper pipes that ran along the ceiling toward the sink, stove, and fridge. Their head continued to pound as their eyes focused and unfocused as more of the room's details came to them.

Ever pressed their hand to their temple, squeezing their eyes shut as the bright lights of the kitchen became too uncomfortable. Ever gritted their teeth and pressed the heel of their hand harder against their temple, trying to alleviate the painful throbbing that was only getting worse. The noise began to rise in volume as Tesla and Jaxson continued to argue. 

“Stop stirring like that! You're getting sauce everywhere!” Jaxson yelled.  Ever forced their eyes open to see both Tesla and Jaxson now standing near the stove. 

Tesla’s hand was on a spoon half submerged in the pot as she looked at Jaxson and said, “I thought you weren’t gonna help me with my punishment?” 

Jaxson crossed his arms over his chest as he said, “Well, this isn’t your punishment. This is our dinner, and you're making a mess of it!” 

Tesla smirked as she whipped the spoon out of the pot, sending sauce flying onto the ceiling and onto Jaxson’s face. ‘So that’s how stains get on the ceiling.’ Jaxson wiped the sauce from his face and yelled, “Do you know how unhygienic that was?!” Tesla placed the spoon back into the pot and mockingly bowed to him. “Oh I’m so sorry your majesty. May I make it up to you with a peace offering?” Ever watched as she pulled a stained rag from a rack and held it out with false respect as she offered it to Jaxson.

Jaxson snatched the rag from her and wiped his face, muttering. “Ass.”

“That’s two bronze for the jar.” Julia said, without looking up from what she was reading. “But I didn’t-” Jaxson’s protests were cut off by a glare from Julia, and he reluctantly reached into his pocket, pulling out two bronze coins with several flat sides. He placed them in a jar that was simply labeled, ‘Swear’ and they clinked against the coins already inside. 

Tesla stuck her tongue out and muttered. “Serves you right.” Jaxson walked back toward the stove, hitting Tesla on the back of the head. 

Her hand flew to cover where she had been hit, and she turned to Jaxson yelling. “Hey, what was that for?!” 

Jaxson turned to her. “You know what for.” The pair quickly dissolved into incomprehensible nonsense. 

Ever’s head began to throb and they squeezed their eyes closed again. The voices blended together as they filled the small kitchen. “Shut up.” Ever muttered as they began to move the heel of their hand in small circles. The bickering seemed to get louder as they gripped a fistful of hair. “Shut up!” They said louder this time, which caused a pounding to begin against their eyes. They ground their teeth together and began messaging harder than before. “Just shut up already!” Ever growled, and the room still didn’t fall silent. As the bickering continued, Ever opened their eyes focusing in and out on the ground. 

Ever unclenched their jaw just as Julia yelled over the bickering. “Quiet!” The kitchen fell silent and Ever looked up, focusing on the two wide-eyed, slack-jawed idiots. “Tesla?” Julia said.

Tesla straightened her back and yelped. “Yes?” 

Julia looked her in the eyes as she spoke. “Put together an ice pack. I believe young Everleigh needs one.” Tesla nodded and Ever watched as she moved toward the refrigerator. She pulled a refillable ice pack from a drawer, opened the freezer, and pulled out a metal tray. She twisted the tray, causing ice to be uprooted from it, and she began to put the cubes into the pack. After twisting the cap on, she made her way over to Ever. 

Tesla handed the pack to Ever, mumbling. “Here.” 

Ever noticed the pack was made of brown cloth instead of blue plastic, but they placed it on their head regardless. Ever tried to look at Tesla. “Thanks.” She nodded and walked back over to the stove. Ever watched as she began stirring the pot and leaned their head against the table, slowly closing their eyes. The ice slowly began to soothe the throbbing into a dull ache. 

The room was silent and Ever took the time to think. To try and figure out where they were and how they had gotten there. How had they gotten into this exact situation? How had they ended up sitting at a stranger's table with what had to be a mild-to-moderate concussion? ‘Think Everleigh! How did you end up here? What’s the last thing you remember doing?’ Ever took a deep breath and tried to think back, ‘I was at the top of a waterfall and I–’ Ever stopped mid-thought as their eyes flew open, and their head shot up. The ice pack had fallen from their head and onto the floor. They looked down at the table and clenched their fist as they muttered. “I jumped.” 

“What?” Tesla said.

Ever didn’t look, simply continued to stare down at the table as they mumbled. “I jumped off a waterfall. I should be dead.” Ever looked up and felt their heart sink into their stomach. “Am I dead?” They looked around the room and got nothing but blank stares back. Ever looked from Tesla to Jaxson as they spoke in a trembling voice, “I-I can’t be dead, right?”   

Ever felt their heart rate pick up and their breath start to come in gasps when the sound of light laughter caught them off guard. They turned toward its source to find Julia, her mouth was covered with her fist and her shoulders shaking slightly. Ever didn’t know what to say as this woman laughed at them and furrowed their brows in anger at the audacity of this woman.

Ever opened their mouth to yell at her only to be cut off before even getting a word out, “No, you’re not dead. Although I can see how you would come to that conclusion.” Ever struggled to believe this woman who had done nothing but threaten and mock them, and they only narrowed their eyes at the woman who smiled. “Many Drifters jump to that conclusion upon their arrival in this world.”

Ever mentally backpedaled at the statement and could only stutter. “Drifters? This World? What!?” As they looked at Julia who was actively ignoring them and Ever turned to look at Tesla who had her head in her hands looking as if she was in the middle of a mental break. “Will someone please explain what’s going on!?”

“Tesla, take Everleigh outside and explain what’s going on.” Julia said. 

Tesla’s head snapped up, and she groaned. “Why me!?” 

Julia clicked her tongue and spoke. “You brought her here, so she’s your responsibility.”

Tesla took a half step forward and muttered. “B-but-”

She was cut off by Julia, who clicked her tongue and shook her finger before saying, “Your responsibility.” Tesla sighed and walked over to Ever, grabbing them by the arm. She pulled them to their foot and Ever watched the muscles in Tesla’s jaw work as they moved. They came to a stop in front of a door, Tesla reached out, twisting the knob and pulling it open. 

Ever’s sense of smell was assaulted by the overpowering smell of oil and coal as they were pulled through the door by Tesla. They kept their eyes on the ground to assure that they didn’t stumble. Eventually Tesla, and in turn Ever, came to a stop, and they allowed themselves to look up and what they saw shocked them into silence. 

“Welcome to Angel Falls,” Tesla said, her voice tense.

Ever looked at the scene before them and could only mutter a single word in disbelief. “Impossible…”