Derby spotted Sage on the other side of the street and waved, but her friend didn't notice. The two agreed to meet up downtown, which was normally a no-go for Derby. Sage was one of the few people who could get Derby to actually go out in the city. Derby made little anxious noises as people passed by, reminding her why she didn't want to be out in public.

Derby met her friend Sage Derby back in their school days. Derby was the quiet kid with few friends and Sage the cool new student from far away, everyone called them an exchange student but they just moved to the state from another country. Sage was immediately very popular, but always made time for Derby when others wouldn't. Something about Sage's last name being Derby felt like destiny to Derby, but the feeling seemed to be one sided.

Derby waved again, but Sage didn't see. She finally decided to just cross the street already, but Sage was busy with someone else by the time she got there.

A hunched over old lady stood next to Sage, grumbling to herself as she had baskets of groceries. She was a bit of a local legend, everyone called her "AC." The old lady was called Aged Cheddar by those in town, but no one was sure if that was actually what AC stood for, or if it was really her name or not. Rumors around the city had various people running into her and her revealing the truth, but about half of the rumors had her reveal that AC did stand for Aged Cheddar and the other half that she said it stood for something else. No one had the nerve to ask her as she was quite an intimidating presence.

"Need some help again, AC?" Sage asked.

The woman's head whipped toward Sage, the scarf wrapped around her head almost unraveling from the motion. Sage looked like they were experiencing wrathful judgment as AC stared, then the old woman looked forward again.

"Sure," AC said.

"OK...heh..." Sage said.

Derby sighed wistfully as Sage helped the old woman across the street. Sage was always helping out anyone in need, Derby was always infatuated with their kindness, so much so that she barely noticed that Sage and AC had crossed the street and Derby ended up on the opposite side again.

"Hey Derby," Sage said when Derby made it back to the side of the street she started on. They managed to make a hoodie and pants look like the most handsome outfit possible. Sage always had a choker on, too, which Derby always stared at. Derby felt like her combo of anime t-shirt and basketball shorts looked like total trash in comparison, but she had gone with comfort and the hope that someone would recognize her Sommelier Saga shirt and start a conversation with her about it.

"Derby." AC said, her lips pouting and moving like she was tasting Derby's name in a competition.

"Er, h-hello madam," Derby said.

AC elbowed Sage. "Ain't your name Derby? She don't look like your sister."

"Ha ha, my last name's Derby," Sage said, that princely grin of theirs brightening the world. "And Derby's first name is Derby."

"H-heh..." Derby said. "You know, if we got married…our names would be Derby Derby."

"Why would both our names be Derby Derby?" Sage asked.

"I, uh, heh..." Derby trailed off into the abyss of an awkward silence she saw no way out of.

"Here," AC reached into one of her baskets and held out a handful of bite sized bits of meat.

"U-um," Derby laughed nervously. "That's...I...ha..." Somehow this was Derby's attempt to politely decline.

"Your friend sucks," AC said, handing the meat to Sage instead.

"Naw, Derby's great," Sage said. "You need anything else, AC?"

"Not from you," AC said as she shuffled away.

"Don't mind her, she's crabby because they didn't have the seasoning she wanted in stock," Sage said. "So what's going on, Derby? You sounded a bit spooked on chat earlier."

Derby scratched her head, impressed at Sage deducing that. Sage was unfairly good at reading emotions, and somehow made time for everyone. They're a true prince, Derby thought.

"Well..." Derby did her best to tell the entire wild story of the last few days as the two walked, stopping at Sage's usual game and comic stores.

"...we thought it was a case worker, but then it turned out she was this other lady, and she knows Brie because she's also a dark lord, and the two had a big fight but it was like, a friendly fight? But then the real case worker showed up and she was really nice and only stayed for like fifteen minutes! And now Brie's staying in my room."

"Wow..." Sage said. "Wasn't expecting any of that."

"What should I do?" Derby asked.

"Uh...I guess just see how it goes?" Sage laughed. "I don't really see the issue, I suppose."

"Really? Like just keep carrying on with a dark lord who asked me to marry her living in my room?" Derby asked.

"That sounds awesome when you say it out loud," Sage said. "Maybe you can bring her and CC to the convention in town and see if they like it? That might be fun."

Something about that struck Derby as strange, but she didn't realize what until much later. There was something she immediately got, though.

"Wait, there actually is a convention in town this weekend?" Derby asked.

"Uh huh!" Sage said. "We should go, I wanna meet this Brie!"

And so the two spent the rest of the hangout planning what they'd do for the convention.

Meanwhile, across town, Dani Ofohp's minivan parked at a local government building. Brie stepped out, observing the meager place. It seemed indicative of the way of this world was compared to her home, meek and rather cozy.

"My sincerest thanks for the ride, Dani, Matriarch of Hope," Brie said.

"Oh, no problem!" Dani said. "And just Dani is fine, alright?"

"So this is where the movers and shakers of this world, er, move and shake?" Brie asked.

"Pfft," Dani said. "It's where the paperwork is done. And if you wanna be in this world for any extended period of time, you gotta do a lot of paperwork."

Dani brought Brie inside and to the line for folks from void worlds, and Brie ran into an immediate issue. Her nemesis CC was in line as well, and the two stared daggers at each other. Still, Brie didn't want to cause a ruckus at this place with so many bystanders around, and she didn't want to displease Dani, so she did her best to stay somewhat cordial.

"Tch," Brie said. "Greetings, CC."

"Howdy to you too, Brie de Meaux," CC said. "Surprised you found the place."

"I received transportation from the Matriarch of Hope," Brie said.

"So it's 'the' Matriarch of Hope now," Dani said.

"Heh, while I found it all on my own!" CC said. "My navigational skills will always be superior."

"Never going to let that sailing race go, are you?" Brie said.

"Unlikely," CC said. "I bet my meeting will be done before yours."

"As if, my charm and charisma will ensure my meeting only takes mere moments!" Brie said.

The two bickered on and on until their caseworker summoned both together. It was the same woman who met with them at the Ofohp household, a middle aged woman named Camembert. She kept adjusting her hair or playing with her tie, something Brie found curious until she noticed all the paper coffee cups scattered around her desk, and the heavy smell of coffee lingering in the room in general.

"So this world has coffee too, I take it..." Brie said.

"Mhm, I wouldn't get through the day without it," Camembert said. "Want a cup?" Before Brie or CC could answer, Camembert turned, opening a cabinet behind her desk, where she had a pot of coffee brewing. She poured three mugs and tossed her latest paper cup aside.

"So I suppose I'll start by asking...why are we meeting together?" CC asked.

"You're both from the same general area, and we're swamped lately with void arrivals, so we're just getting you both taken care of at the same time," Camembert said. She wheeled over to her keyboard, frantically typed for a minute, then wheeled back. "So the whole deal, and I gotta say all this stuff, legal whatnot, is that there are effectively two worlds." She handed out some pamphlets that read The Void & The Stable Dimension & You: Being a Good Freaking Visitor If You are Visiting From the Void. "In broadest of broad strokes, this world is the stable one, and you two are from the unstable one. That gets real complicated when you consider this world only has one 'world,' and the void has infinite. But I'm not a scientist so I'm just handling folks like you coming in. Following so far?"

"Stable...sure..." CC said. "Where you keep...horses, uh huh..."

"Obviously I follow, with the superior intellect required to be a dark lord!" Brie said.

"If you don't get it right away it's fine, I just have to say all this junk," Camembert said. She had somehow already finished her mug of coffee, and poured herself more. "The world you came from—"

"We call them realms," Brie said.

"Right, the Skarlax realm of five realms!" CC said.

"Sure, yeah," Camembert said. "You come from a pretty combat heavy place from my research, so obviously don't be starting fights all the time in this world. That said, this is East Valataran, so you'll be right at home."

"What do you mean by that?" Brie asked.

"I mean you're both Pyre Cani, and this is the state for Pyre Cani," Camembert said. "This city has a fairly low Cani population, but head out into the deserts and you'll see plenty like you getting into huge fights, so the stuff I gotta say about fighting is kinda pointless with that in mind. But...you're not allowed out there until you pass your power tests." She put two bracelets on the table. "Since you two are Cani, you are gonna have to wear power blockers until that test certificate is in my hands."

"We have to block our own powers? What nonsense is this?" Brie asked.

"It's just a precautionary measure," Camembert said. "Y'see, the deal with Cani and Echela go way back..."

Camembert went on and on about Cani, but Brie didn't really care. She knew what she was, the dark lord of the umpteenth realm. Where her powers and gifts came from biologically was of no concern to her.

This is rather dull. I wonder what Derby of Hope is up to? Hopefully something more fun than this.

Brie vowed to survive this incredibly boring meeting so she could see her Derby of Hope once more.

Elsewhere, in a palace cloaked by darkness, the image of Brie de Meaux clenching her fists as she sat in a meeting with CC was cast onto a crystal ball carried by a mage in a loose robe. Thunder rumbled and rain pattered on the rooftops as the mage scampered through the halls until she reached the throne. A tall woman sat upon it, almost hidden in the shadows, her presence only seen for flickering moments as lightning struck behind her. The mage knelt before her master.

"Your highness, the powerful and wise Magie de Madawaska, the Darkest of Dark Lords, the Darkliest!" the mage said.

Magie didn't move for a moment, still leaning her cheek on her fist.

"You may speak," Magie said.

"...we've located her," the dark lord's underling presented the crystal ball, the image of Brie still shining within it. "And CC as well. They've retreated to a relatively peaceful realm. I believe it may be the Atria of legends."

Magie sat up at the sight of Brie de Meaux, leaning into the pinkish glow of the crystal ball.

"Excellent work," Magie said. The mage giggled with delight at a complement from her master. "I will think upon my next move. In spite of the temptation to find her and rip her throat out now, I must ponder."

"A wise decision, my master," the mage said. "One must not act too rashly."

"Exactly," Magie said. "Now leave me to my plotting."

"Of course, my dark lord," the mage said, returning to the shadowy halls.

Magie stared with pure contempt at the girl in the crystal ball.

"Brie de Meaux...you've humiliated me for the last time," Magie said.