The third floor had four doors. Luther rationalized which was the smallest by noticing its closer proximity to the others on either side of it. It gave them another void toilet but also a bathing area nearly as tempting to Lyall—for neither he nor Luther had properly bathed in about a week—as the kitchen downstairs. Luther kept them sanitary with the same spell he’d used to remove the deceiver gunk, but it left an odd sensation of lack across Lyall’s skin. Aurae checked and opened the door to the left. 

“It’s a child’s bedroom.”

Three windows with pulled curtains of bright blue lined the wall. A low bed sturdy in frame for jumping nestled itself against the left wall, and the other necessities like a dresser and desk found themselves almost lost amongst the plentiful boxes overflowing with toys, costumes hanging on pegs, and the softest of plushies waiting on shelves, the bed, and in corners. Diffused, warm light radiated from cloud-shaped lamps floating on the ceiling. 

“How fun!” Aurae gushed. She picked up a pig plush and squished its snout. “I have several stuffed animals in my room at home.” 

“Ruffy, my stuffed toy dog from when I was young, protects my room at home while I’m gone from his perch on a shelf,” Luther wore a nostalgic grin. 

“I hope there’s nothing hidden inside these,” Lyall carefully pressed the center of a kitten toy, feeling nothing but stuffing. “I’d hate to rip them open.” 

He glanced around the room again. Had this truly been a place where a child stayed? The way everything before him was arranged felt more...performative. As if the bedroom intended to be the ideal of a child’s wishes instead of a workable living space. Lyall certainly couldn’t deny his younger self wouldn’t have dug wide-eyed through the toys the same way Aurae ‘investigated’ one of the chests as she currently did. She found a ball. Lyall wondered what toy he would have gone for first. As he thought that and strode towards the corner by the bed to begin searching, each stride covered less and less distance... 

Aurae 

Aurae knew she grinned ridiculously at her fingers squeaking upon the rubber of the red ball she held to her ear. A faint, cheery jingle rang within, but she couldn’t tell if that was intended or if something like the key awaited inside. 

“Lulu, are you able to see if this ball’s enchanted or—” 

Her jaw fell. Turning to see her magically-inclined companion gave her a full view instead of Lyall shrinking with each step as he approached the room’s inner corner. His armor and equipment melted away until he wore nothing but a green shirt, brown pants, and sandals common to any five-year-old boy unconcerned with the concept of fashion—for Lyall was now a child cautiously picking up a carved horse figurine. Adorably pointed ears more visibly pressed against shorter auburn waves a tad unevenly cut. Aurae pressed her hands over her bouncing heart seeing shine on his plump cheeks enticing her finger for a poke. 

“Oh, wow!” 

Aurae whipped her attention to the other corner by the window. She squeaked a gasp. Another five-year-old boy—one with a mop of black, wiggly waves—shoved a ship captain’s hat onto his head as if he’d been crowned king. Luther. However, Aurae’s brow dipped taking in the nicer cut and quality of his button-down shirt, cable knit vest of burgundy, and tailored black pants. It was nothing fancy fancy, but as Aurae glanced over to little Lyall again seeing worn fabric and frayed ends on everything made her question the fairness of the magic at play here. 

“Guess I’m the one who didn’t let the tower get to me this time, huh?” Aurae boasted, ignoring how her hands jiggled the ball to continue the pretty jingle. Lyall and Luther snapped their gaze her way. Both stared quietly for a second before staring at each other. Luther dashed to her, brown eyes traveling up and down. 

“You have big boobs.” 

“Hey!” Lyall chided and leapt to shake Luther’s shoulder as Aurae spit out laughter. “You can’t say rude things like that!” 

“But she does have big boobs! She’s laughing too, so isn’t it fine?” 

“Are you taking your chance to be bold being in this form, Luther?” Aurae wiped amused mist from her lashes. Luther blinked at her. 

“How do you know my name?” 

“Oh, shit.” 

“Bad word,” Luther covered his ears. 

“You don’t recognize me?” Aurae pointed to her face. 

“I’ve definitely never seen you come through Luteria before,” Lyall heartily shook his head. 

“I’ve never met you either,” Luther added. 

“How old are you both?” Aurae checked. Luther held up his five fingers. Lyall counted his five before putting up his tiny palm. “Aww, I wish I could enjoy this properly! You’re both impossibly cute! Would it be too much to ask for a hug?” 

“Sure!” Luther leapt into her open arms without care. Lyall, on the other hand, shuffled a step back and lifted his chin stiffly. 

“I don’t know you.” 

“She’s a nice person,” Luther defended. 

“You just met her too, so you don’t know that.” 

“My name is Aurae Crimson. I’m a cleric of Caxtune dedicated to protecting those who need protecting,” she motioned to the symbol on her armor, which reduced the intensity of Lyall’s suspicion. 

“Is your last name Crimson because you’re red?” Luther wondered. 

“Yes, actually. I was told I needed to have a last name, so I chose something easy,” Aurae beamed. She poked Luther’s cheek, and he grinned. “My goal right now is to find a chest that’s somewhere in this tower. Do you two want to help me?” 

“No, I want to play!” Luther bounded from her hold and to a box, reaching his hands deep. 

“Me too!” Lyall decided. 

Before he turned away, Aurae caught a glassy sheen ripple across his mismatched eyes. She rubbed her chin, “I see, I see. If you two want to play, how about joining me on something of a scavenger hunt? There might be something like this key,” Aurae took out the piece, “hidden in this room.”

“I’m good at searching!” Luther agreed. He proceeded to dump over the entire box before him. 

“I can help too,” Lyall nodded. Aurae clutched over her heart again watching him work his way one-by-one through the stuffed toys, carefully squishing them to feel for anything hard without hurting them like he’d done before. 

Though she wished to watch the two boys—one earnest and one enthusiastic—inspect their way through the room, Aurae leant her guidance to ensure the toys held nothing of use. It didn’t surprise her when neither of her child companions wished to leave the room. Giving them half an hour to simply play didn’t change their stance, but she understood there’d be complaints from their adult selves if the tactics weren’t changed. Luther nursed his pride and smacked hand by building a town from blocks after a mock fight with wooden swords ended with Lyall’s overwhelming success. Lyall rummaged every container, gathered all the toy horses, and lined them up on the windowsill closest to the bed. Aurae knelt by him. 

“You like horses?” 

“Mmhmm. A courier who came through town let me sit on his. I liked being so tall and feeling like I could go anywhere. Mama even bought me a wooden horse like this,” Lyall pointed to one of the simpler carved pieces. “It was fine that it was old and had been someone else’s because it was my first toy ever.” 

“O-Oh?” Aurae touched her chest for the entirely different way her heart convulsed this time. 

“Everard threw it on the ground by the end of the week though. It broke.” 

“That’s horribly mean.” 

“Everard’s always mean to me. I normally don’t mind, but that made me mad.” Lyall folded his arms on the sill. 

“Did you hit him?” 

“No?” Lyall raised a concerned brow high. 

“Excellent! That is exactly what you should have done—not resort to violence,” Aurae’s smile twitched. “So, um, Lyall? Don’t you think it’s time we should head out?” 

“I want to keep playing...” he mumbled. 

“I know, but I promise you’ll get to play with plenty of toys later. Besides, I wish to check in on your mother and make sure she’s doing alright.” 

Aurae’s heart stopped cold now at how Lyall’s face drained and contorted in horror. 

“Roscoe didn’t come back, did he?!” 

“What? Who? N-No, I—” 

“I’m going to go!” 

Lyall bolted towards the door. Aurae bounded towards Luther. 

“That’s one down.” 

Luther calmly watched Lyall make his way out, but he morphed into a rabid animal the instant Aurae caught him around his waist and charged the open door. Teeth and fingernails sunk sharply into her skin, but he dropped out of her grasp once on the landing for he, and Lyall, immediately reverted to their adult forms. Luther stumbled to find his footing while Lyall clenched his eyes and shook his head. 

“I feel strange,” Luther grasped the barrier railing of the staircase. 

“No memories of the past hour?” Aurae nudged. 

“Hour?” Lyall remarked. 

“Short version—the two of you turned into children not long after we entered the room. I convinced you to help me confirm there were no keys or the like within, but you were stubborn about leaving. I allowed you to play for a while to see if the lure would wear off, but when it became clear it wouldn’t I took a firmer approach.” 

“This tower truly is bothersome,” Lyall ran his hand through his hair. 

“I’m curious if there’s going to be a pattern here,” Aurae boldly went to the next door, threw it open, and stepped inside. “It’s an adolescent’s room.” 

“Aurae!” Lyall chided, and his repeated tone from before danced amusement on her lips. 

Pulled in by her antics, Lyall and Luther inched inside. The bed, desk, and dresser were in the same spots, but the bed was stained and unmade, dirty clothes littered the floor with their musky stench, and none of them were particularly eager about picking through the other piles of refuse. They came up shorthanded but exited the room without any changes. 

“I could feel the room trying to impress a sense of apathy and disconnect,” Luther revealed. 

“That is the same I felt,” Lyall said. 

“A little for me too,” Aurae made known. 

“I have a theory, but I’d like to ask two questions first. Aurae, how often do you play with toys normally? Lyall, did you consider desiring to play in the other room?” 

“I play with toys constantly!” Aurae raised her hand. “I have some in my room, and I spend time with the local children every day doing all manner of fun things.” 

“I was thinking about how I would play in the room if I was a child again,” Lyall answered, and Aurae spotted connections being made in his mind. 

“That was more or less my thinking too,” Luther continued. “The children’s room transformed the two of us because we longed for our younger years, but Aurae, who maintains a closer attachment to that same wonder, didn’t need to be changed to express an honest desire for fun. I suspect for this second room that neither of you were the moody, brooding type, for I will boast that I wasn’t.” 

“That was never me at all,” Aurae answered, and Lyall nodded along. 

“Our true selves presented such an antithesis to what the room attempted to portray that it couldn’t influence us,” Luther decided. 

“Wait. Then...” Aurae sprung to the next door a second time but backpedaled in this instance finding the bedroom of an adult. “I’m not going in there.” 

“What are you thinking it’s going to do?” Lyall peeked around the corner of the threshold. 

“What’s going to happen in the adult room? The power in there would bring me to my knees—literally—and I promised Khessy I’d be professional.” 

“Aurae,” Luther covered the light blush on his cheeks behind his hand. “I can’t imagine that is the influence this room would have on us.” 

“What other impulse would there be? To do taxes?” 

“Perhaps to bicker like an old married couple or be immobilized by existential dread?” Lyall proposed. “You did well in the other room, so let Luther and I search this one.” 

“I don’t think you two should go in either,” Aurae warned. 

“No one else is in this tower but us to search,” Luther didn’t pick up the implication. 

Aurae squeezed her toes unable to stop her companions from going inside the room. They closed the door for her safety, but she thought they were better leaving it open for theirs. Still, after a moment, Aurae couldn’t help but to press her ear to the wood. 

Lyall 

Aurae had been right. Not five minutes into the search and all he could smell was huckleberry and honey. Imaginations sped through Lyall’s mind as potent as illusions before his eyes. Luther investigated his side of the room calmly and quietly though, and it wasn’t as if Lyall believed anything good would come out of an artificial prompting. He numbed his mind repeating the steps of the potion’s crafting over and over. Blessedly, their group found another success when Luther pulled back the silken covers. 

“A second key,” he displayed one of a bronze shine. 

“No need to keep looking then,” Lyall smiled. 

They left the room and relayed their finding to Aurae. Lyall ignored the lingering sweat on the back of his neck and Aurae’s odd smirk as they pressed on to the fourth floor.