“We didn’t even get inside," Esther said. "I didn’t think those bio-guards would wake up.”

“Well, at least we fought them off.” Kit said.

"Is your nose OK?” Esther asked.

“It’s a little sore, but I’ve had worse.” Kit said.

Esther handed Kit a cleaning wipe for the dried blood, which worked a lot better than Kit's jacket.

"Really sorry about all that," Esther said, frowning. "I should've been more careful. And done better to protect you."

"I'm alright, really!" Kit said.

"We're here too, you know," Serril said. "Might be nice to check on our grievous wounds as well."

Sora looked embarrassed to be in the same vicinity as their dragon companion.

"Now that we have this out of the way, can we leave now?" Sora asked. "Nothing good will come from staying here."

"I don't know," Esther said. "I feel like there's something here..."

"Is the sword giving you anything?" Kit asked.

Esther tried to use the sword as a compass, but it didn't glow this time. "Maybe it's burnt out from that fight." She looked around. "How would we get out of here, anyways?"

"The way we came?" Sora said. "Genuinely, walking around the perimeter would be safer than staying inside these walls."

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

The group whirled to see a girl with dark blue hair and glasses approaching.

"Sora, my dear friend," the girl said. "How lovely to find you trespassing."

"Hi, Charmaine," Sora said.

"So that's...?" Kit said. "Sorry, who is...what's going on here, Sora?" She flinched as Charmaine continued to advance at them. “Please don’t fight us. I cry easily. And my nose is already busted up from getting punched right in the face from those bio-guards."

Charmaine laughed. "Relax. I’m just making sure what’s mine isn’t getting tampered with.”

Kit sighed in relief, hacking up a bit of nosebleed that had made it down her throat. She couldn’t take any more terror in one day.

"Sora and I have already been introduced, but I haven't met the rest of you yet," Charmaine said, giving them her name.

“I’m Esther, and this is Kit.” Esther said.

"And I'm Serril," the small dragon said.

“Did you really take a hit to the face from one of those faceless freaks?” Charmaine asked.

“Uh-huh. It hurt so bad I couldn’t even cry but I really wanted to.” Kit said, ruining whatever coolness came from surviving a punch from a bio-guard.

“Yeah, they don’t hold back.” Charmaine said. “What made you think you wanted to go exploring these ruins?"

Esther and Kit looked at each other.

"We...got a bit lost," Kit said.

"Crashed a plane and a ship so we were hoping to find a less crash-y way forward, or some food maybe..." Esther said.

Kit's stomach suddenly grumbled. The wind made an odd howl, that again almost sounded like a soft voice. It made her want to be even farther away from the castle.

"Maybe I can get you some food and we can talk this over," Charmaine said.

Charmaine led the group through the maze of shacks, finding one that looked like the others on the outside, but was very cozy on the inside, with a fireplace and plenty of relaxing spots to sit. Sora didn't seem like they were able to make eye contact with Charmaine, and Charmaine looked like she was ignoring them.

Kit felt a lot better with a meal in front of her and sitting in a comfy chair in the dorms.  Charmaine and I dug into our respective steak and grilled melty cheese sandwiches, while Esther was a bit more apprehensive about hers.

“You’re really one of the Myrhes?” Esther asked.

“Don't recall saying my last name when I introduced myself," Charmaine said, propping her feet up on the table between us.

"We saw it on the doorways," Kit said.

“Ah, good eye.” Charmaine said. She flashed a wolfish grin. "Don't know why they wrote all those names on the shacks, but most of them are me."

“So that castle…it’s yours?” Kit asked.

"Everything here is mine, technically," Charmaine said. “I’m from a long line of Myhres. Back when the Jecruible Alliance was a thing I guess that meant something. Even if it belongs to like, a distant cousin, I still feel like I should have some ownership over it. It’s in my blood.”

Kit didn’t remember the name Myhre in any of her studies, but she remembered reading a bit about the Jecruible Alliance. They controlled of a series of islands, but Verdant Sun destroyed many of them. Kit had read a million princess stories that were probably inspired by the family and didn’t even know it.

“I don’t know how to tell you this Charmaine, but you should take better care of your castle.” Esther said.

“It has seen better days.” Charmaine said. "So how did y'all end up here?"

Kit briefly explained their escape from the city and arrival in the castle, but she followed Esther’s lead in not giving too many details to a stranger.

"Is there a temple here?" Esther asked. "We can be on our way and out of your hair if you can show us one."

Charmaine shrugged. "You don't seem too bad to me. I'd love if Sora dragged their ass out of here after what they did, but watching em squirm here is kinda fun too."

Kit's brow furrowed as she looked between Charmaine and Sora. Once more, she had the crushing feeling that she had no idea about her best friend's life outside of work if they had a secret dragon as a friend and whatever had happened between them and Charmaine. Sora shot Kit a look that said "I'll explain later," but Kit wasn't so sure she'd get that explanation.

It wasn’t too long of a walk to get to the temple on the castle grounds. At Esther's request, Charmaine waited outside. Sora would have stayed behind too, but they chose to go with. This temple didn't have a secret side entrance, but Esther hoped there would still be a map room inside.

"She doesn't seem untrustworthy," Esther said. "But it's probably best to not show her this right away."

"What's that all about, Sora?" Kit asked, gesturing back towards Charmaine.

Sora shrugged. "Very long story."

"You and Serril sure like saying that, huh..." Kit said.

"Easy way to deflect!" Serril said.

"The way you described her," Kit said. "I thought she was going to fight us right away. But she's been pretty welcoming."

"Yeah, she'll do that," Sora said.

Serril climbed up Sora's leg,  reached into one of their pockets. They took a small gear out and dropped it into a collection bowl embedded in the wall.

“That you may one day return.” He said softly.

“I didn’t peg you for the mystical type.” Sora said.

“We dragons are more interested in the ancients for the marvels they left behind, sure. But we also care about the culture they left behind, you know? This isn’t the first time the ancients left."

According to the legends, there were other points where the ancients left this world.

"Doesn’t it feel…different this time?” Kit asked. “The sun didn’t turn green last time they left.”

“As far as we know," Serril said. "I don’t know what happened on Verdant Sun but it was enough for a good chunk of the population to leave." Serril squinted at Esther and Kit. “What did you two come here for?”

“Oh! Well…” Kit said, forgetting if Serril was OK to tell about their mission. Esther had a similar look, perhaps wondering if they should have asked the dragon to wait outside as well.

“We found a map at a temple in the city.” Esther said. "We were hoping there was another here."

Serril looked around. “You’re probably not going to find that here.”

It didn’t stop them from trying. After a frustrating search for anything useful, it was clear Serril was right.

"Well, now what?" Kit said.

"This whole place is a bit of a bust," Esther said. "We need to find some transport, and a way to Cloudy Eye. If there was a more furnished temple, it'd be easier..."

"My village isn't too far from here," Serril said. "The temple is much better as well. Maybe you can send a beacon out to this Cloudy Eye, even!"

"I agreed to help Serril find his home," Sora said. "So I vote that as our next destination."

Esther thought about it. "Works for me."

Kit was a bit surprised Esther let Sora and Serril join so easily, but she supposed surviving an escape and ship crash forms a special kind of bond you can’t really replicate.

They began to leave the temple, all feeling a mutual determination. Charmaine was waiting outside for them.

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