Prologue: A Traveller 

Aji shook her head, frowning. 

Nothing around her was familiar. 

Aji was standing on a path. All around her was a maroon sky filled with 
pinpricks of electric blue light. Above her, all around her... 

And below her. 

Aji took a few steps back but realized quickly that wasn’t wise because she 
was perched on a path that was extremely precarious. It was rocky, and mostly 
smooth on top, but it was extremely thin, and seemed to be floating in the air. It 
continued on behind her as far as she could see, and also in front of her until it 
reached what appeared to be a larger, floating rock with... buildings on it? 

“What the...” she muttered, rubbing her eyes. Rocks didn’t float. And If they 
did she didn’t think anyone would build anything on it. 

Did they? 

Aji suddenly became acutely aware of the fact that she had no idea who she 
was, where she came from, or how she got to where she was.  

She quickly took stock. She was wearing some sort of leather vest with a 
white button-up shirt under it. She had on thick trousers tucked into tall, black 
boots with multiple straps keeping them together. She also had some sort of 
canvas sack on her back, filled with... quite a lot. She didn’t go through it because 
it was very full and she didn’t want anything falling off of the trail. She had a 
leather cap on and her red hair was pulled into a ponytail on the side of her head. 
Her hair was long enough that it went over her shoulder. She was a little confused 
as to why it was pulled over to the side like it was, it didn’t seem like an effective 
way to hold her hair. 

There was a fork up ahead and it seemed to have a wider area, so she 
decided to hurry over to it and keep taking stock from there. As she approached 
the fork she realized there was a booth between the branching roads. There was a 
wooden sign perched on its top in a language Aji didn’t understand. She 
approached cautiously, realizing there were benches perched around the fork, as if 
it was some sort of gathering spot. She tugged at the strap of her bag, nervous. 

At first Aji didn’t see anyone there, so she approached curiously. Was it 
abandoned? She stepped between the first two benches. One sign pointed one way 
in the fork, towards the mountain with the buildings on it, and the other off 
another path. In the distance there were other floating rocks and formations. She 
slowly stepped closer until she saw movement inside the booth. It was set up like 
some sort of concession at a fair, one that might have funnel cakes or nachos. 

Funnel cakes and nachos? What were those? Aji’s head began to throb until 
she took a few breaths. 

Aji shuddered, taking a few steps closer. 

“Eh, look at that, Yoot,” a voice said from inside the booth. “A traveller.” 

Aji quickly became aware of two pairs of eyes trained on her. 

But they weren’t the eyes she expected. 

One was a small boy with unkempt hair, dressed similarly to how she was 
but his button-up shirt was dirty and his leather vest was ripped. He was 
extremely thin, but as he stood she realized he was actually fairly tall. He didn’t 
look too old, maybe still in his early teens, but his height was intimidating. He 
must have been Yoot because the one who spoke was the one the gruff voice had 
come from, and he was quite a sight. 

He had the head of a crocodile, snout and all, but his eyes were angled 
slightly more towards the front, though not as front-facing as a person’s eyes 
were. He grinned as she approached. He was shorter than Yoot but much more 
brawny, standing on his hind legs and wearing his own canvas button-up and a 
ratty bow tie. He even had a baggy cap on. His sly crocodile mouth curled up into a 
grin as she approached, staring. Crocodiles couldn’t talk, could they? 

“Didn’t your mam tell ya it a’int polite to stare?” The crocodile asked. 

“Sorry, I just... haven’t seen a crocodile that can talk before,” she said. 
 The crocodile shot Yoot a look. “You a’int from these parts, are ya?” 

Aji gulped. “Not really,” she said. Though in her head she was acutely aware 
of the fact she had no idea where she was from. 

The crocodile stared at her for a second, just long enough to make her 
extremely uncomfortable before laughing. “Hah, don’t you worry, my people aren’t 
exactly that common around these parts, either. I was poking fun at ya. Name’s 
Uggs. I’m pretty famous around these parts because I take care of this rest stop, but 
there a’int a lot of us. You see a lot more of you humans, the owls, and those pesky 
squirrels, but us crocs are few and far in-between. We prefer the independent life. 
If you a’int seen one of us before you a’int all that crazy. Anyhoo, you wanting 
somethin’ to eat?” 

Aji wasn’t sure she had an appetite until the smell of frying food hit her and 
she almost fell over shaking. “Um... I would, but I’m not sure I have any money.” 

Uggs looked confused. “You a’int sure, or you don’t got any money?” 

Aji pulled out her bag, frowning. She looked around, then realized that with 
the different language, it was probably some sort of money she wasn’t used to. 
What was the money she was used to? She couldn’t remember. 

“Um, what sort of money do you take?” Maybe his description would help 
her figure out what it looked like. 

Uggs sighed. “Eh, don’t sweat it. You musta come a long way, and I like ya, 
kid. I can’t give you a full-on meal, but I can slide you a donut on the house,” he 
said. “Yoot, pull out a donut for the lady.” 

Aji frowned, then stepped forward and sat. “That’s... nice of you. Thank you.” 

The donut wasn’t exactly what Aji was expecting. Instead of a ring of fried 
dough with a sweet glaze, it was a triangle-shaped piece of dough covered in 
melted cheese. Yoot put it on a plate and slid it over. Aji was surprised, but after 
sitting at their counter, she felt her legs and feet sigh in relief. Had she been 
walking for a long time? She must have. She picked up the pastry and took a bite. 
The savory donut was actually phenomenal, filled with some sort of cheese sauce, 
more silky than the melted stuff on the top. It reminded her more of a baked 
pretzel than a donut. 

What was a pretzel? 

“So where do you come from?” Uggs asked. 

Aji looked to the side. Should she tell them about her amnesia? 

“Very far from here,” she said. She was fairly sure that was true. Nothing 
here felt like it was familiar. So... it couldn’t actually be familiar to her, right? 

Could it? 

“I heard of a lotta places. We talkin’ Tysmar far, or further out than that?” 

Uggs was pointing at an island a bit away. Aji felt that her home was 
nowhere near that place. “Further out,” she said. 

Uggs whistled. “Pretty far, then.” 

Aji was glad to leave it at that. 

“So what brings you to Hibbsbot?” Uggs asked. “I a’int mucha a traveller 
m’self, mostly ‘cause I couldn’t stand these highways much beyond takin’ care’o 
this ‘ere rest stop. Also ca’int afford ta take a boat. But not many stop ‘ere at 
Hibbsbot, so I like ta ask.” Aji didn’t like all of the questions, but he was giving her 
free food. She took a bite to give herself more time to think before answering. 

“I’m just travelling,” she said. 

“So you’re looking for a place to stay?” Uggs asked. “Gonna try and plant 
your roots here or are you still gonna try your luck on the highways?” 

Aji frowned. Did she want to stay there? She didn’t know enough about it to 
make a decision yet. Maybe her memory would come back and she would be able 
to make a better decision. “Not sure,” she said. 

“Gotta look around, first, I guess,” Uggs muttered. “I think it’s a nice place, 
though. Better than taking your chances on the highways if you ask me. But 
maybe you don’t mind ‘em if you’ve already come so far,” Uggs said. 
 Obviously falling into the abyss was something Aji didn’t particularly want 
to risk, but was that what he was talking about? He said it was risky. 

“Well, what is there really to be afraid of?” Aji asked, trying to sound 
nonchalant but really wanting a straight answer. She didn’t do a very good job. 

Uggs laughed. “Hah! Only fallin’ in, the fog, the phoenix! You’re quite the 
snide one for someone who a’int seen a croc before.” 

The fog? The phoenix? What did that mean? 

Aji fell silent, finishing her donut. “True,” she said, though she had more 
questions than answers. She suddenly felt unsure if she wanted to stay at this 
place. Maybe it was guilt for lying. Or... not telling the full truth. Was there a 
difference?  

She more or less had her bearings and knew that whatever happened she 
needed to head to that strange city. 

“Any tips on places to see in, er, the city?” She couldn’t remember the name 
of the city for some reason. 

“Hah! City! I a’int heard anyone calling Hibbsbot a city before. You’re an odd 
one, girlie. But if you plan on stayin’ you might wanna see an inn. They’ll give you 
a place to stay. They might ask for money or some help in the kitchens if you don’t 
have it, but they’ll have a place for ya. If you’re looking for a job, I’d talk to the 
freighters. Loading up the boats a’int easy, but for someone willing to travel the 
highways it can’t be too tough, and it pays well. And if you’re wanting pretty 
sights try the shrine. They practice magic’n stuff there. It’s kinda pretty to look at, 
if that’s what you’re into.” 

Magic? And what boats would she be loading up? 

Aji nodded. “That sounds exciting. I might head over there now, then.” 

“You think you’re okay for another hour of journeying? You can stay here a 
mo’ if you’re not up to it just yet. I don’t mind a bit of company. Yoot’s a good kid 
but he a’int much for conversation.” 
 Yoot was still sitting in the same corner, not saying anything. He looked 
bored more than anything. 

Aji frowned. She wanted to ask if they lived here, but didn’t want to make 
herself look more suspicious. She spent so long without telling them she didn’t 
have her memory, she didn’t want to say anything about it now. Then she’d have 
to explain why she didn’t say anything sooner. 

“I’d better be going. I’ll need to speak to the innkeeper before dark,” she 
muttered. 

She quickly realized that she had no idea if it even got dark here. The 
maroon sky with pinpricks of light didn’t seem to have a daytime or a nighttime 
hue to it. Somewhere in between. What if... 

“I suppose so,” Uggs muttered. “Yoot ‘n I might need to be packing up shop 

soon, too. Well, we might see you ‘round the streets then. If you end up needing 
anything, I don’t mind helping you out a bit. Just let me know if you need 
anything.” 

It was odd to see a crocodile tip his cap, but Aji smiled anyway. Something 
was unspeakably wrong about what she was seeing but somehow she didn’t 
really mind it that much. She felt that as much of an abomination he seemed, 
Uggs was really just a talkative guy trying to make friends. 

“Thank you so much for the donut,” she said. “It was delicious.” 

“Don’t you worry about a thing,” Uggs said. “Careful on your way over, now. 
I’d hate to get there and find out you fell in,” he said. 

The fact that he mentioned it terrified her, but it was cordial enough that 
she trusted she could at least get over to the city just fine. She waved to the 
crocodile and the tall, quiet, disheveled boy and began on her way over to the 
floating city in the sky, gulping at the thought of the bottomless chasm below her. 

“Odd girl, that one,” Uggs said. “Doesn’t seem to know much about Hibbsbot. 
Wonder why she came here from so far away.” 

Yoot frowned. “She didn’t. You don’t think she’s a mage, do you?” 
 Uggs laughed. “You and your imagination. You know we a’int got a mage of 
our own for years. Besides, she woulda told us she can’t remember nothing if she 
really couldn’t. I mean, if you couldn’t remember your own name you’d be tellin’ 
the first people you meet, wouldn’t ya?”   
 Chapter 1: The Dock Boy 
Pitt tugged on the rope he had tied around the support beam before hopping 
down to the ground with his fellow workers and taking a look at the skyboat they 
were tethering.  

The skyboat was fairly small compared to most skyboats. It was about twice 
his height and about thirty feet long. The bottom was fitted with skystone planks 
that would help it float as they launched it into the sky. Hopefully it would work. 
The skystone would float, but what they were trying to fix was the machine’s 
engine. It hadn’t been working properly. 

“You think it’ll set off right this time?” Jitters asked Pitt. The two were good 
friends, together since they were small. Living in Hibbsbot was an adventure, and 
the two had been getting into trouble together all their lives. 

They were working in the shipyard, on the outside edge of Hibbsbot where 
the skyships came and went. Obviously it was a much safer way to travel than the 
highways, so travelling by ship was the most common way of doing it. 
Unfortunately, if a motor broke it was easy to get stranded. This boat was lucky 
another was sailing nearby and managed to tow it to their town. And now they 
had to fix the motor before they could set off again. 

There were eight workers trying to get it to start again, and they thought 
they had gotten it, but obviously it was a terrible idea to try and send it back out 
without testing it first. They had multiple ropes tied to tethers at the docks that 
would keep the ship safe if for some reason the motor failed so that they could pull 
it back to the docks to keep working on it. From what they knew, it would be fine. 

“Well, y’know, unless it breaks,” Pitt said. 

“Isn’t that what I’m asking?” Jitters chuckled, elbowing Pitt in the side. 
“Why wouldn’t they set off right unless it breaks!” 

Pitt shrugged. “I dunno,” he mumbled. 

“Well, I think it’s finally set. I think the coil really was jammed, and this 
thing is gonna set off flying better than ever after today.” 
 Pitt frowned. “You sure it wasn’t the fuel lines, though?” 

Jitters shrugged. “Nah, I don’t see it being like that. Surely it would’ve blown 
on its way over if that was the case.” 

Still, Pitt wasn’t sure. 

The docks were fairly big, especially considering the size of Hibbsbot. They 
took up about half the amount of land on Hibbsbot. There were many warehouses, 
some used for building skyboats, but most used for storing materials and tools to 
fix skyboats. There were places for twenty three separate skyboats to dock and 
most were usually filled. Pitt had worked there since he’d been tall enough to be 
accepted, at about five and a half feet. He’d grown since then, of course. 

“Alright, lazy bones, everyone to positions we’re gonna try and launch it,” 
the taskmaster said. He was a tall man and commanded attention. His furry beard 
was full of dust and oil, though it was clearly gray from age. Dond was his name, 
and he was one of the tougher taskmasters around the docks. He liked to get 
things done. Some people didn’t like him because he was hard to work under but 
he was very good at keeping his clients happy.  

Everyone positioned themselves close to the ship, each one holding onto a 
tether that was tied to the skyboat. Their job was mostly to pull the skyboat back if 
the motor didn’t work for some reason. They were all strong, those working were 
five crew members of the boat, including a tall and skinny pair of twins, their 
short, stocky captain that Pitt thought might have been named Milwa, a frizzy 
haired girl and a plump little man who Jitters had decided was the chef, then Pitt, 
Jitters, and another worker named Snive. Pitt didn’t like Snive much, so he steered 
clear of him. Jitters didn’t talk much to him, either. Dond also took a rope and the 
captain jumped onto the ship to try and drive it out. She had to hold onto her hat so 
it didn’t blow off. 

She had some sort of megaphone in the ship, so as soon as she was ready 
she shouted out to the rest of them “Eyy, starting the motor now!” the loud 
megaphone sounded as they heard the motor whir to life. The enormous fans on 
the back began to spin and before long they had lift with the skystones, and the 
fans began to push the vessel forwards. 
 For a moment everyone was relieved to see the motors running, pushing the 
boat forwards into the empty sky. The twins smacked each other in the arm, 
wooting, and the frizzy haired girl gave out an excited laugh of relief. Pitt, Jitters, 
Snive and Dond knew better than to be relieved just yet. 

Dond approached the ship as it paddled out into the sky lazily. “Well, she’s 
running, but as they say you should leave her running overnight to make sure she 
doesn’t stall out overnight.” 

“I hear ya,” Milwa’s voice came out as she left the control room. “I’ll keep ‘er 
running ‘til tomorrow, then. If we don’t have any problems we’ll be heading off.” 

Pitt snorted and relaxed. They wouldn’t be needed there for the rest of the 
night. He might even get a break... 

Even as he thought about that, though, he heard Dond shouting. 

“Pitt, Jitters, I’ll need you helping out on the re-hulling of the boat on dock 
13,” Dond said. “And obviously tomorrow I’ll need you back here to help untether 
this thing.” 

Obviously, ​Pitt thought. ​Because there’s no way these professional sky 

sailors could e
​ ver ​untie a few ropes on their own. 

“A’ight we’ll be there,” Jitters said, nodding as they walked off towards dock 
13. 

Pitt and Jitters began stalking off while the crewmates started chatting and 
Snive looked sullen as always. 

And that was when everything went badly. 

Without warning there was a huge boom and Pitt and Jitters spun around. 

“I told you it was the fuel lines!” Pitt shouted as the two ran back to pull in 
the burning boat. 

The entire motor had exploded and the ship now was leaning to one side. A 
few of the skystones came loose and the weight of the ship was starting to cause it 
to droop. It was now going below the edge of the dock. If they even managed to 
save it it would be a miracle. 
 “Grab hold of a tether and pull!” Dond shouted as he pulled on his own 
tether. Each of the crewmates had grabbed hold of one of the ropes and was now 
putting all of their body weight into pulling it back to solid ground. Pitt and Jitters 
ran back and grabbed the nearest tethers and began to pull with all of their 
strength. 

The boat seemed to be coming back onto shore at first as they pulled with 
all of their might, but the burning engine had weakened the wooden frame of the 
boat and even as they were starting to pull the boat back onto the land, the 
wooden boards cracked and the boat’s tip fell further down into the sky. 

Milwa shrieked. “The strongbox!” she shouted, running over to where the 
boat dangled precariously at the edge. 

“Captain, it’s too dangerous!” Dond shouted, struggling against his tether. 
The ship now had its nose pointed directly downwards, with a flaming pile of 
rubble sitting on the land right under it. Their chances of pulling it back up was 
low, and even if they did it likely wouldn’t be salvageable as a boat. If they could 
get any spare parts out of it at all. 

Captain Milwa screamed something neither Pitt nor Jitters could make out 
and ran in, kicking a flaming board out of her way and diving into the hull of the 
boat. 

“Hold it up while she’s in there!” Dond shouted, turning and pulling the 
tether over his shoulder. Everyone felt a jolt as Milwa’s body landed somewhere in 
the boat. It was a miracle the whole thing didn’t collapse. 

“Stupid skyfarers and their ​stupid s​ trongboxes. We were ​repairing t​ he 

blooming​ s​ hip and had f​ ull​ access to it for three weeks, pulling out floorboards and 
replacing them as well as the engine, and yet she has the gall to leave her 
strongbox full of whatever special riches she didn’t want to share solely for the 
purpose of not revealing its location to us so she can store more riches in there 
later! Then,” Jitter grunted mid-rant, struggling on the rope to keep the ship from 
falling, “then she decides she’s a blooming l​ unatic ​and jumps back into the boat as 
it’s blooming ​sinking s​ o we can hold onto the b
​ looming ​thing long enough for her 
to pick up whatever pieces of gold she thinks she needs more than her blooming 
life​!” 
 Skyfarers were known to be idiots, and while Jitter used the word 
“blooming” far too many times, Pitt was in agreement. This captain was nothing 
short of a raving madwoman. 

“HELP ME YOU BLOCKHEADS!” The sound of Captain Milwa’s voice 

bellowed straight out of the hull of the boat. Pitt groaned as the twins let off of 
their ropes, putting more weight on his own. 

“What’s the matter, cap?” one of the lanky twins asked, kneeling at the hull 
and brushing aside some flaming debris. 

“I CAN’T GET OUT OF THIS CURSED SHIP, WADDAYA THINK, BRICKNOSE!?” 

She wasn’t any captain Pitt wanted to deal with. 

“Ay, we’re gonna find a rope, don’t sweat,” the other twin said, looking 
around dopily. He clearly had no idea where to find a rope. 

Pitt sighed. “Ey, keep this up I’ma be real quick,” he said. Jitters just groaned. 

Pitt let go of his rope and ran past the twins to a nearby supply rack. He 
grabbed as many stacks of rope as he could, not having time to figure out which 
ones were long enough, and bolted back over to the burning wreckage. He picked 
out the longest one as he ran back and threw the others to the side. Not too far in 
case they were needed but it was unlikely. 

Inside the ship the captain was bracing her feet against the hull and her 
back against the deck of the ship, looking up at them with a wild look in her eye, 
clutching a wooden box about the size of her head to her chest. Pitt wrapped one 
end of the rope around the twin that was standing, not without surprising him a 
bit, and threw the other end down to her. 

“Grab on, we’re going to pull you up!” Pitt shouted.  

She shoved the box into her armpit and used one hand to grab the rope. The 
twins pulled from behind and Pitt pulled while crouching near the hull to keep an 
eye on her. She had impressive strength, the box looked extremely heavy and she 
managed to get herself most of the way up with only one arm. 

Unfortunately, it wasn’t fast enough. 

 “Ay!” Jitters shouted. “I’m starting to give, hurry it up! Ship’s going down any 
second!” 

“Pull harder, lumpcows!” the captain shouted. 

The insults are getting less insulting and more confusing​, Pitt thought to 
himself as he heaved. “You might need both hands!” Pitt shouted. “Drop the box!” 

“Never, you...” 

She didn’t have time to think of another odd insult before there was a deep 
creak and then cracking. 

“It’s going down!” Dond shouted. The entire structure of the boat was 
beginning to fall apart, including boards that would catch Milwa if she fell. They 
had to pull her up right then or she was a goner. 

Pitt stood and heaved, surprised to see the captain’s arm come over the top 
and heave the strongbox to the top as she did. Pitt kicked it to the side and grabbed 
her arm, pulling her up to the surface. 

“It’s... gone...” Jitters shouted as he lost hold of the rope and it snapped into 
the air. With Jitters gone, the ropes began to get ripped out of everyone’s hands. 
The boat began to fall. 

Pitt grabbed the captain and pulled her to the side just in time. 

The metal, torn apart motor slammed into the ground, bits of metal shrapnel 
and sparks flying out into the air. The wooden hull of the ship pulled it, scraping it 
across the stone ground and literally gouging away rivets of rock until the 
flaming, metal hull tipped and fell into the abyss after the rest of the boat. 

Everyone gasped for breath, and Pitt sat hard, letting go of the captain. 

For a moment, everyone was just relieved no one was hurt. 

Then Milwa caught her breath. 

“You. Jigglewiffers. Ruined. My. BOAT!” 

Jigglewiffers? 
 “Ma’am that was very foolhardy...” Dond started, but he wasn’t about to be 
able to change the subject. 

“YOU SNOTSNIFFERS RUINED MY BOAT!” 

“I’m so sorry, ma’am, but...” 

“I DEMAND A REPLACEMENT OR I’LL GET YOU ALL THROWN OFF WITH 

IT!” 

The twins looked terrified. One picked up the strongbox and tried to offer it 
to her to calm her down, but instead of calming down she ripped it out of his 
hands and started yelling at him for touching her strongbox. 

Pitt quickly made his way somewhere else. 

“You okay?” he asked Jitters, who was nursing his hands, which were red 
and a little scratched and bloody for holding onto that boat for so long. 

“My hands a’int, but I’m fine,” Jitters muttered. “This lady is a maniac,” he 
muttered. 

Milwa was currently verbally ripping Dond’s head off for what had 
happened. Clearly it was a fuel line problem, but it was policy that if anything 
comes back after the motor stops working not to check that sort of thing because 
they probably would have blown up on the way over. Obviously it was a 
possibility, always, but the chances of anything like that making it back to land 
was next to none. 

Pitt had wondered if it was one of those chance times. The things they’d 
fixed had been very minor and he’d seen boats work with the same problems they 
diagnosed, but since it was so odd that it had gone so far without blowing them all 
to smithereens, he had just gone along with policy. Honestly they should all be 
thankful to be alive. Their entire crew was essentially doomed if it had happened 
anywhere else. 

Finally, Milwa stormed off, her crewmates following close behind, and Dond 
approached them. 

“That was a right disaster,” he muttered. 

 “I’ll say. Though in the end it’s a good thing they didn’t blow up in the sky,” 
Jitters muttered. 

“You sure about that?” Dond joked. “The lady’s a loon if I’ve ever seen one. 
Still, she’ll get the authorities involved if we don’t at least offer labor in rebuilding 
her ship. I guess that means you two are on that.” 

Pitt groaned. “Does it have to be us?” 

“Well, you did save her life, Pitt. She might end up liking you, I guess?” 

“Not sure I want to be liked by her,” Pitt grumbled. 

“Well, you don’t have much of a choice. Listen, I’ll speak with Amond in the 
warehouse tonight, we’ll get a start on construction tomorrow. In the meantime... 
you have the rest of the night off. You must be sore after holding those ropes for so 
long. I am. But come back tomorrow, I promise I’ll do what I can to make it worth it 
for you.” Dond was being nicer than usual. 

“A’ight,” Jitters muttered. “Tomorrow morning, sharp, I guess?” 

“Sharp as always,” Dond replied. “Head off, then.” 

The two sighed and headed off towards an exit stairway. 

“You jigglywiffer!” Jitters joked, elbowing Pitt in the side as they slung their 
bags over their shoulders. 

Jitters was the taller of the two but he liked to play around the most. His 
unkempt blonde hair was different-looking every day, and his vest was missing a 
button. His grin was mischievous, and no one trusted him with anything valuable. 

Pitt was smaller. He was strong from working at the docks for so long, but 
he wasn’t very tall or even terribly impressive to look at. He had glasses and 
normally wore a floppy cap. His hair wasn’t well kept either, but generally he kept 
it loosely combed with his fingers.  

The two set off towards the main part of the city. There were homes all 
around, but generally not near the edges of the city. There were lots of walls 
keeping the edges safe, and the markets and other businesses were generally 
found around there. Sometimes inns were found around there as well, but not any 
permanent residence.  

“Ey, let’s get a bite, I’m starving,” Jitters said. 

“A’ight,” Pitt said. “I’m thinking my stomach agrees with you.” 

There were plenty of places to eat in Hibbsbot, ranging from the 

higher-quality inns to street vendors which varied in quality, but their favorite 
stop was a booth in the inner market. It was fairly out of the way, but they had 
good food, and not many knew about it so there weren’t many regulars. 

The two set off toward the inner market. Just because it was called the 
“inner market” didn’t mean it strayed far from the edges of town. In fact, a good 
portion of it was against one of the city walls, and some stalls were built right 
with the wall at the back. The roads mostly skirted the edges of the city and 
avoided the residential areas. They passed a few markets and inns as they 
walked. 

“Can you imagine what it’s like to live the high life in those fancy inns?” 
Jitters asked. “Travelling in the boats, eating fancy meals and touring around, 
seeing different places. Wouldn’t you want to be a sailor?” 

Pitt frowned. “Let’s get Milwa out of the docks and then I’ll think about 
being a sailor,” he said.  

Jitters elbowed him again. “We’ll be fine. How much harm can one crazy 
sea captain do?” 

“Were you not there earlier when she ​jumped into a burning skyboat​?” 

Jitters snorted. “But you had it covered, and she had a box full of trinkets to 
save!” 

Pitt groaned. “And now we have to rebuild an entire boat for her.” 

The two sighed and walked in silence for a moment. Jitters wanted to lift 
Pitt’s spirits, but the two knew that with the looming rebuilding of Milwa’s boat 
maintaining high spirits would be next to impossible. 
 The inns slowly fell behind them as they reached the entrance to the city. 
The inner market was on the other side of the main street that came out of the 
entrance. The entrance was sloped downwards for a long way, falling down until 
it reached the highway. It wasn’t terribly important to keep guards by the entrance 
since highway travelling was so difficult. Security wasn’t terribly important. Any 
sort of attacks from pirates would come from a skyboat. 

It was unusual to see a traveller coming up that hill, but the two were 
surprised to see that the road wasn’t empty today. 

“Is that old Uggs and Yoot packing up early?” Jitters asked. 

“That’s one person, numbskull,” Pitt said. “And it looks like a girl to me,” he 
muttered. She had reddish hair and carried a bag on her back. She looked a little 
nervous. 

“Huh,” Jitters said. “S’pose you’re right, then.” 

For a second, Pitt was entranced by her, watching her stand. She was a bit 
down the hill, and probably hadn’t noticed him yet. He couldn’t see much but he 
couldn’t help but watch her. 

“Ey, snap out of it, will you?” Jitters said. 

“Sorry,” Pitt muttered, turning back towards their path. “Just curious. 
Y’know, a traveller.” 

“Yea, yea, but I’m starved, let’s go. I’m sure we’ll hear more about ‘er later.” 

They nodded and hurried off to eat. 

Aji slowly walked up the hill to the city. 

The difference between the highway and Hibbsbot was stark. The 
wondrous, but somewhat lonely emptiness on the highway was both terrifying 
and awe-inspiring. On the other hand, Hibbsbot seemed to offer more substance. 
Safety and security, but the wondrous and somewhat calming emptiness was 
gone. She started to hear sounds of people chatting, and there were now walls 
around her. 
 As she topped the hill, all of Hibbsbot spread out in front of her. 

Directly in front of her were odd houses, made from some sort of cement, 
they had box-shaped structures stacked on top of each other, of varying heights. 
They were odd looking, with flat cones of some sort on top, probably for the rain. 
By the center she saw a building on top of a hill. There were some empty fields 
around it full of green grass, and a few trees. Were there... green and blue lights 
flashing around it? 

“That must be the shrine,” Aji realized. It was what Uggs had told her to see. 
She did want to see what happened, but she was exhausted and she was needing 
some rest. 

She needed to find an inn. 

She had to either pay or work to get into an inn, so she needed to figure out 
if she actually had money so she could pay. She really hoped she did. 

She saw a bench nearby and decided it was a good time to take stock of 
what she actually had in her bag. She walked over and sat down. A few people 
walked by, as well as a large human-shaped bird with feathers and everything. 
She tried not to stare. Was that normal? Everyone else seemed to think so, but Aji 
felt like she’d never seen anything like it before. 

She began rifling through her bag. She found one section of it was full of 
clothes. She didn’t look too closely, but it looked like more of what she was already 
wearing. All of it was actually clean, and what she was wearing wasn’t actually 
that dirty. Had she really been walking that long? Her clothing didn’t seem to 
think so. 

Past that she found a few things. One was... a book? She didn’t see much in 
it, so she put it back. Maybe it was a journal? Too bad she hadn’t written anything 
in it before... She also found some other trinkets. Jewelry? She hadn’t been 
wearing any accessories before. Then, at the bottom of the bag she found a little 
bag full of coins of some sort. There were three different sizes and they had things 
printed on them. She found that they had numbers written on them. After 
studying it for a while, she found one that was 15... of whatever the money was, 
another that was 50, and one that showed it was 100. She found three of the 100 
coins, about five of the 50s, and the rest were all 15s. She estimated she had about 
700 of whatever the money was called. Hopefully that was enough for a stay at the 
inn. She had no idea the value of the coin. She put it back in her bag and with that 
knowledge she stood. 

Now to find an inn. It looked like there were a few around town. Some 
looked more ornate than others. She suspected that however much the money was 
worth, since she didn’t really have a plan at the moment, it was wise to try and 
find somewhere cheap. Unfortunately, logic dictated that would mean somewhere 
less comfortable, and probably more dangerous. 

She saw four things she thought might work. Far to the right of the town’s 
entrance there were some very fancy-looking ones she didn’t think it was even 
wise to look at. There was one a little closer, but she still felt it might be above her 
ability to afford, so she turned and looked at the three to her left. They seemed to 
be in some sort of market, with stalls and more temporary booth-like buildings.  

They had lights set up all around. The power they used to light them wasn’t 
immediately clear, there were orbs of slightly different color hanging in lanterns 
of some sort. Aji couldn’t tell if it was fire or electrical. 

What did electrical mean? The word sounded familiar but for some reason 
the details of what it was seemed to elude her. 

She started walking towards the tents and stalls of the market. The sky was 
beginning to darken and she needed to find a place to stay quickly. She decided 
the inn closest, which was surrounded by the tents and temporary stalls of the 
market, was as good a place as any to start looking for a place to stay. 

She walked on the street towards it and slowly the sides of the roads began 
filling with stalls full of people selling things. 

She was happy to see that most things could be bought with one of her 15... 
pieces of money. The sellers shouted prices with just the number, so she still 
didn’t know the exact name of the money, but she hoped eventually it would be 
clear. It seemed like 15 was the lowest value of the currency, but a decent amount 
could be bought for one. A dozen eggs for fifteen, or a few pounds of flour. They 
also sold fruit and vegetables by weight, again, a good sized bag for 15. In fact, just 
about anything seemed to be sold by 15. 

As she got closer to the inn the market got thicker. She had to shimmy past 
more people, and humanoid animal people. There were plenty of birds, and there 
were some small, hunched, squirrel men, buck teeth and all. They all had 
ridiculous hair and looked like they probably shouldn’t be trusted with anything 
valuable. She couldn’t tell the difference between the male and females for most of 
the animals. She did walk by a dog-like man, complete with snout and a fluffy tail 
popping out his rear, swinging behind him as he walked down the street. 

Quickly she realized it was a perfect spot for pick-pockets and wished she’d 
left her money as far down in her bag as she had found it. She reached up and 
began twisting the drawstring between her fingers.  

She walked quickly, weaving between people until she finally figured out 
how to get to the inn. It was a good thing it was tall, because otherwise she would 
have never made it. She heard someone shouting inside, probably drunk by the 
sound of them. She didn’t have a good feeling about the place, but looking into the 
market she didn’t really want to try and squeeze through the market again. 

She took the steps up to the entrance. The doors were wide open. They had 
some fairly pretty designs on them but they looked worn and banged up, like 
they’d been hit with sledgehammers repeatedly. She suspected it was more likely 
drunk customers had punched and kicked them over the years. 

Inside the inn was full of seedy characters. She didn’t like how it looked, no 
one there looked trustworthy. Unless this thing would let her pay 15 for a year of 
rooming she probably wouldn’t consider it. If she had known more about this 
specific inn before entering she probably wouldn’t have come. But... maybe they 
were all like this. She decided to go on in and see what they charged. 

There was a desk at the end of the entryway. A fireplace burned behind it, 
with a very pretty hearth and brick chimney rising up past the ceiling behind it. 
The walls had very nice lamps and everything was fairly rustic and pretty. There 
were even some paintings hung high up on the walls. The architecture was a 
strange foil to the people she saw in there. She walked up to the desk where an 
older man with a cigar leaned nonchalantly looking into the dining hall where the 
patrons were heckling some man in a ridiculous costume. She was hungry but 
immediately knew she would wait until morning with this crowd. They all looked 
drunk and she didn’t like the atmosphere. 

The man saw her coming and got a strange look in his eye as she 
approached. Aji wanted to turn around and leave but for some reason she just kept 
walking. Near the desk was a flight of stairs. An old man was sitting there. He 
looked poor. His eyes seemed to plead with her, fixed on her. She looked away. He 
probably wanted her to give him something. 

Aji reached the desk and the man at the counter grinned at her, moving his 
cigar to the corner of his mouth, grinning wide. Aji didn’t like him. 

“How much is a room?” Aji asked. 

The man raised an eyebrow. “You’se wanting lodgings here, eh?” 

Aji decided not to confirm that. “How much is it?” 

He chuckled. “Not one for games, are we? Hehe, don’t worry, don’t worry. It’s 
gonna be fine. See here we have a special rule, you’se eh... a pretty girlie, a’intcha?” 

She didn’t like the sound of that. “I’m just wondering how much a room 
costs,” she repeated. 

“Well that’s pretty good for you, because, see, pretty girlies like you get to 
stay here for free,” the man said. He began to mosy around the counter. Even 
though Aji knew this place was trash and not worth her money, that gave her 
dread. No one gave anything free without an ulterior motive. Especially someone 
this shady-looking. 

“What’s the catch?” she asked. 

“Well, see, we here at my inn appreciate pretty girlies. All I ask is you, eh... 
do a little dance for the boys we have here. Just up there on the stage.” 

“I’m not a performer,” Aji said. 

“Eh, but, hey, it’s the rule. And you can have your room for free here, 
waddaya say?” 
 “No,” Aji said. “I just want to know how much I can pay for a room.” She 
knew for a fact she wouldn’t do a little dance, get an applause from the other 
patrons and be able to move on. She wasn’t willing to risk anything.  

The man was already around the counter, approaching her. “I, uh, don’t 
believe you understood me,” he said. Suddenly he grabbed her wrist, which she 
had rested on the counter. “I told you the price. Now come on over here and just do 
a little dance for the boys in the other room.” 

Aji was done here. She grabbed the arm the man was using to hold her, 
twisting it until he yelped, then used her leverage to rip her arm out of his hand 
and spin him around. She then slammed her palm into his back and caused him to 
stumble away. 

Where’d I learn to do that?​ Aji was very sure that kind of reflex couldn’t 
have come naturally. Maybe she’d practiced before? 

“I’ll be looking for lodgings elsewhere,” she said, and began to walk off. She 
saw the old man on the stairs still staring at her as she turned and walked away. 
She didn’t ever plan to return to this place. 

Some of the characters standing around the entryway stared at her as she 
left. A few shifted their eyes as they watched. Something was wrong. She realized 
that she heard a shuffling behind her.  

“Look out!” A raspy voice said from behind her. 

Quickly she realized what was happening, hunched down and launched a 
powerful kick behind her, connecting her foot with the gut of the man with the 
cigar. He spat out the cigar, gasping as he went careening backwards. As he fell, 
she turned to hear a clatter. The creep had come up behind her with a long, metal 
poker for the fireplace. It was glowing red from being in the fire. 

He was trying to stab her. 

She immediately spun around. “Are you insane?” she asked, staring. The 
creep found his footing and stood, holding his gut. Everyone was staring at the 
two. 
 “You’ll be sorry for that one, girlie,” he said, eyes dark. “Bitts, Impo, show this 
girlie her place.” 

He backed up and two of the shadier characters who were leaning on the 
walls approached. They were huge, and much more burly than the surly old man. 
They looked like the kind of characters you didn’t want to get on the bad side of. 

And Aji was now on their bad side. 

Before they could get close, she stepped forward and grabbed the flaming 
poker. “Don’t come any closer,” she warned, brandishing the red-hot tip and slowly 
backing towards the exit. 

They didn’t stop coming closer. 

Pitt and Jitters were returning from their meal, joking. Pitt felt much better 
after eating something, and the two were laughing to themselves as they made 
jokes and pushed through the thick crowds of the markets. 

“Fifteen a dozen fifteen a dozen, fifteen a dozen,” Jitters rattled mockingly 

into Pitt’s ear, mimicking the sellers in the booths around them. They rattled off 
their wares from all sides.  

“You ever walk by that squirrel at the ​Beard’s Bullion​,” Pitt asked. 

“Shews, shews, lemme fixya shews,” Jitters mimicked in a nasally voice. 

The two broke down laughing. 

They were passing the J ​ ewel of the Sky​, the closest inn to the main road. It 
was a bit of a sleaze pit, but the police made them keep their stuff inside the inn or 
they were going to get shut down. If anything Pitt hoped they got shut down so he 
wouldn’t mind to see it so he could report. So he didn’t mind passing in front of it 
on their way home. 

And he definitely saw something as he did. 

Two of Oggot’s goons were stalking down the stairs, bearing down on a 
smallish redheaded girl holding some sort of stick. 
 And were they... scared of her. 

“Step back and you won’t get hurt,” the girl warned, even though she was 
stepping back herself. Walking backwards down the stairs probably wasn’t the 
safest thing, especially with two big goons bearing down on you, but somehow she 
was light on her feet, and seemed to be well in control. 

“No one messes with the boss,” one of the goons said, stepping further down. 
“You’re not gonna get off that easy.” Even so he was biting his lip and watching 
the girl warily. 

“She’s the traveller from earlier,” Pitt whispered to Jitters, who was 
entranced by the scene as much as everyone else.  

Jitters nodded. “Looks like she chose the wrong inn,” he muttered. “But 
how’d she get out?” 

“I dunno,” Pitt muttered, biting his own lip. “Think we should help?” 

Jitters looked unsure. “I don’t wanna get my head smashed in is the 

problem,” he muttered. 

Pitt bit his lip. 

Then, without warning, one of the goons rushed the girl. They stared with 
morbid curiosity at what was surely going to be a mauling. 

And it was a mauling, but not the way anyone expected. 

The girl held her poker steady until the goon tried to dodge it, but she 
twisted to the side and instead of poking him she jumped onto his back and pulled 
the iron stick around his neck, wrapping her arms around the metal bar. The goon 
started flailing but she held on firm. The other goon tried to grab her off the other’s 
back, but she twisted around and smashed the iron bar into his face. He reeled 
backwards, tripping on the steps and falling hard. She jumped off the other goon 
and was about to run when there was a shout. 

“ENOUGH!” A booming voice shouted. “WHAT IS GOING ON IN MY 

STREETS!” 
 The goons immediately shot up, backing away from the girl, who looked on 
to see an owl walking towards them. He was in an official councilman outfit and 
immediately commanded respect. 

Councilman Billin marched up to the fray angrily. “OGGOT, GET OUT HERE, 
NOW!” 

The scrawny old man limped out, holding his gut. Either he was in actual 
pain or he was hamming it up for the authorities. 

“Waddaya want, Billin?” He sounded annoyed but he looked terrified. 

“Oggot, I have told you over and over again, keep your fights off my streets! I 
walked by here once this week and the first thing I see is your goons mid-fight 
with a traveller! A young girl at that. Explain yourself this instant.” 

Oggot limped out and sat down, really making it clear he was in pain. 

“Billin, you don’t understand. See this girlie came in my tavern wanting a 
room and I told ‘er the price, see... but as soon as I did she hit me in the gut and 
took this poker, see, and started attacking me and my goons. She stole my money, 
see, and my goons was only tryina get that money back for me from this girlie.” 

Billin looked at the girl. “Is this true?” 

“Yessir!” one of the goons piped up. 

Billin motioned for him to be quiet. “I’m sorry, but your testimony is as 
valuable as Oggot’s, being part of the brawl. I was talking to the girl. What’s your 
name, traveller?” 

She looked uncomfortable. She still had the iron bar in her hands. “Aji,” she 
said. “And I didn’t take anything. I refused the, uh, ‘price’, and he got angry with 
me. Tried to hit me with this poker. I kicked him and he told these guys to attack 
me. I was just trying to get out of here.” 

Billin sighed. “We have two stories here. Oggot, you are still under 
prosecution for brawling in public streets. My question is whether you are under 
charges of assault or this girl is under charges of theft. What is it she stole, 
exactly?” 
 “My money,” Oggot said, “Didn’t I say that?” 

Billin groaned. “I mean how much. How was it held, in a wallet or bag of 
some kind?” 

“Roundabouts 700, I had it in a bag of some sort.” 

Aji frowned. She didn’t look happy about that description. 

“Give me your bag, girl.” 

“Listen,” Aji said, pulling out her bag. “I swear on my life this bag is mine. As 
you can see it’s in my bag, underneath a bunch of stuff. Do you really think I could 
have shoved it in there and fought off his goons at the same time?” She pulled out 
the bag and showed it to Billin. 

“This is just about what Oggot said. Did he see the bag at any time?” 

“I didn’t ever pull it out because he wouldn’t give me a room without making 
me dance in front of his creeps.” 

Billin sighed. “Fine. I need an eyewitness. Did anyone see what happened?” 

“I saw a bit,” Pitt volunteered. 

“​What are you doing?​” Jitters hissed under his breath. 

“​The right thing,​” Pitt whispered back. He stepped forward. 

“I didn’t see anything in the inn but I did see her out here. She was just 
trying to get away from the goons, and they were the ones after her. I didn’t see 
her do anything.” 

Aji looked at him with thankful eyes, but Billin looked concerned. 

“I’m afraid that won’t do. The question is whether or not she stole this from 
Oggot. Nothing you’ve said has contradicted that accusation.” 

Pitt frowned. That was sound logic. He bit his lip. Everyone knew Oggot was 
to blame here, but they couldn’t rule out the possibility that she was actually 
trying to steal from him. She was an outsider, after all. 
 Aji’s mind was running back and forth. She had no idea what to do, how to 
prove her own innocence. She obviously hadn’t taken a thing from that sour old 
man, but she didn’t have a way to prove it. And she didn’t have anyone who 
trusted her here, since, of course, no one really knew her. 

Everyone stood still, trying to figure out what to do.  

“I saw the whole thing,” a wizened old voice said. 

Aji recognized the man as the one who had been sitting on the steps and 
watching her before. He’d walked out the door next to Oggot. Oggot took in a sharp 
breath and glared at the old man. Oggot’s goons also stared him down, but he kept 
his eyes fixed on Billin. “I saw her walking in. She didn’t look like she was too 
happy ‘bout the place, but she was tired. I could tell. I tried to motion for ‘er not to 
come into this place but I don’t think she understood me. She asked the price of a 
room and that’s when Oggot did his first crime.” 

Aji frowned. 

Billin motioned for him to continue. “Which is?” 

“Choosy pricing. He wouldn’t give her the normal rates. Instead he told her 
she had to perform in order to get a room. She wouldn’t have it and when she 
realized he was going to be a fraud she tried to leave. He grabbed ‘er, his second 
crime, assault, and she got out of his grip and walked away. He then pulled out ‘is 
fire poker and tried to attack her from behind, his third crime, armed assault. Then 
when she knocked the poker out of ‘is hand he called his goons on ‘er. I’m no 
lawyer but I do believe that is a kind of assault, as well. She tried to get out without 
fighting, but they followed her out here, and you all saw the rest. Nothing went in 
or out of her bag. If he knew what her money bag looked like it was because he’s 
had some spies watching her. She’s innocent.” 

Billin nodded. “Thank you, Rawking. As a third party to this squabble I 

believe your testimony will be considered valid. I do want to ask about that last bit. 
I know there are plenty of rumors spreading around these parts. Girl, did you 
remove your money pouch from your pack since entering our walls?” 

Aji realized what he was getting at. “I did remove it to double-check how 
much I had earlier, near the entrance. I suppose someone could have seen.” 
 Billin nodded. “Not wise. I’d think a traveller would know that. Fortunately 
for you, this pouch seems to be made from the same material as your pack. I think 
that is enough evidence, along with Rawking’s testimony, to deem you innocent.” 

Aji sighed in relief as he returned the pouch of money to her. “Keep that 
safe,” Billin warned. 

She nodded. “I understand. I wasn’t thinking earlier, I was tired from 

travelling so far.” 

Billin nodded. “Stay safe. Don’t make that mistake again.” He turned away 
from Aji. “As for you, Oggot,” he said, much louder, and much more authoritatively. 
“You and these two will meet in the office of the council tomorrow at high noon. 
We will discuss your punishment for these crimes. Rawking, you will come with 
me. The customary protection of a witness of a crime will be afforded you.” 

“Come, now, Billin! She stole my fireplace poker at least!” 

Aji approached and threw the metal poker onto the step right under his feet, 
making him jump. “Keep it,” she said. 

“But this is an outrage. She’s an outsider!”  

“I DON’T WANT TO HEAR ANOTHER WORD FROM YOU, OGGOT!” Billin’s 

voice was strong when he wanted it to be. He could also keep it calm and 
controlled when he wanted it to be. 

“Good day to you, Oggot. Now get your goons off my streets.” 

Pitt approached the girl, Aji, quietly. Billin still stood nearby, noting 
something in a book he had pulled out of somewhere. Pitt wasn’t sure how his 
feathered hands held the pen, but he didn’t bother questioning it. 

“You’re amazing in a brawl,” Pitt said. 

“Don’t encourage it,” Billin said. Pitt didn’t know he was listening in. 

“Erm... thanks, I guess?” Aji said, looking sheepish. 

 “Well, er, I was just impressed. Those goons were twice your size and you 
took them out without too much trouble at all!” 

Billin sighed. 

“Well, they weren’t very smart,” Aji said, shrugging. 

Pitt laughed. “No jokes, they were, though!” She chuckled along with him a 
little but still looked uncomfortable. “So,” Pitt continued. “You’re a traveller?” 

She nodded. “Yeah, I’m not from anywhere near here.” 

“Do you plan on staying long?” Pitt asked. He wasn’t sure why he wanted to 
know that so badly. 

“Well...” she seemed unsure. “It depends on how much you all want me to 
stay after all of that.” 

Pitt shook his head. “Ey, don’t feel bad. Just about anyone would get on 
Oggot’s bad side unless they’re as slimy as he is. No one’s thinking you’re gonna be 
trouble, really.” 

Billin chimed in. Pitt didn’t like how he was listening in on their 
conversation. “I do, legally, have to keep tabs on you now that you’ve been accused 
of theft. But if nothing else happens you should be just fine in our city. If anything 
I apologize on behalf of the city that we haven’t cleaned that place out. 
Unfortunately we can’t out him until he’s committed some serious crimes. And 
brawling in the streets isn’t quite at that caliber. Though if we can find proof of 
frequently committing those crimes Rawking accused him of we might have what 
we need to seize this inn on behalf of the council.” 

That was a lot to take in, so Aji ignored him. So did Pitt. 

“You still need a place to stay, don’t you?” Pitt asked. 

Aji nodded. “Well, I guess I should make my way over to the other inns,” she 
muttered. 

“Wait,” Pitt said, “I have an idea. Were you wanting some work while you’re 
here? I don’t think 700 will last you too long.” 
 Aji frowned. “Well, I guess so...” 

Pitt grinned. “Why don’t you come down to the barracks with us? We work 
at the docks. If you want some work we have a new project we’re working on. I’m 
sure you’d get hired. You’re definitely strong enough if you can take on Oggot’s 
goons. And we get fed well by Dond, our overseer. I think you’d like him!” 

Aji frowned. There was something about this boy. He seemed so eager to 
help. It was kind of odd but... welcoming. She didn’t know why she trusted him, 
she’d known him for very little, and she didn’t actually know his name, either. 
Still, she needed some kind of work or she’d run out of money fast. Especially if 
she couldn’t go with the cheapest inn. 

“I guess I could go with you,” she said, smiling slightly. “I don’t have 
anywhere else to go.” 

Pitt grinned widely. “You’ll like it, I promise!” Jitters approached from 
behind, somewhat unsure of how to take the development. “Oh, this is Jitters, by 
the way. And my name is Pitt,” he said. 

“Nice to meet you. My name is Aji,” she said. 

Billin interjected. “If you do take work at the docks, you will need to come to 
our offices and register as a worker in Hibbsbot.” 

Pitt grinned. “I’ll be sure she gets over there tomorrow morning,” he 
promised. 

Billin nodded. “You do seem good at taking charge,” he said. “Very well, 
then. Head off. Though I don’t recommend stopping by here again.” 

“Of course, sir!” Pitt said, and took off, motioning for Jitters and Aji to follow 
behind him. 

Aji felt a little frazzled. Her eyes were getting heavy, and the sky was getting 
dark. She was ready to find someplace to sleep. She followed behind Pitt and 
Jitters in a bit of a daze. Pitt began to talk about the town and the docks. Jitters 
warned her about Milwa and how if she did get put on that project she should stay 
on the lady’s good side, but it all sort of went in one ear and out the other. They 
exited the market and began to cut through the neighborhoods to near the docks, 
where apparently the two lived in a barracks for dock workers. They said there 
was room for her if she wanted to work with them, and as long as their 
taskmaster, Dond, was okay with it. 

Aji zoned out as they walked and began to look around at the scenery 
around her. The cubic homes stacked on top of each other all had cement steps 
leading up the side, and doors to the separate cube-shaped houses above them. 
The people could be seen in round windows of various sizes. Some looked out at 
them, since Pitt and Jitters were chatting loudly, but most didn’t seem concerned 
with them. 

As they walked through the streets, Aji began to wonder again where she 
came from. This world seemed so foreign. Maybe it was because some things 
seemed less strange than others, and she seemed to remember a lot of things that 
she was so in awe about others. Mingled among the people in the houses were 
different humanoid animal people of various species. Some squirrels, others birds, 
and she even saw a family with thick bull horns sprouting out the sides of their 
heads. It was so strange to her but... surely if it was just the effects of her amnesia 
the humans like her would feel as strange as well? But they didn’t. Maybe it was 
because they were like her? 

Everything was confusing. 

Not only that, but the whole concept of everything floating in the sky. Why 
did they fall, and other things fell, but these stones and rocks holding up the city 
didn’t? And how did the highways not fall apart? Also where did they farm to get 
food? There didn’t seem to be much space for those things on this island city. 

Even as these thoughts swirled in her head, making her unsure of 
everything she thought she knew, a brilliant trail of emerald light shot to the sky 
from ahead of them. 

“Is that the shrine?” she asked, in awe. 

Pitt grinned. “Yup. Our very own. We only have two mages, we haven’t had 
a new one in ages.” 

She wanted to ask about how they got a new one, but since he didn’t explain 
she figured it was common knowledge, and she’d figure it out eventually. 
 “It’s very pretty,” she said, staring up as the emerald trail dissipated into the 
darkening sky. A few moments later a magenta trail of light shot up in a slightly 
different direction. She wanted to ask what the point of it was, besides being 
pretty, but she didn’t want to look like an idiot because, again, she didn’t know 
what was common knowledge and what was not.  

They continued on, past the shrine. “Do they let people come and see it up 
close?” she asked. She, again, wasn’t sure if that was common knowledge or not, 
either, but she had to know. Something about it pulled her in. 

“Don’t all of them?” Pitt asked. 

She shrugged. “I’ve seen some that don’t,” she lied. 

Jitters frowned. “What kind of a shrine doesn’t allow visitors?” 

“They’re odd,” Aji said, trying to shrug it off. Clearly visiting was very 
welcome, which she was glad about. 

As they continued through the residential areas, she looked back 

occasionally to see the different colored lights flashing into the sky. It was 
somehow calming.  

As they approached the end of the residential area, she began to see that 
there were boats floating out in the sky, anchored to the island. She stared for a 
while. How did they float? She’d never seen anything like it. 

“It’s a nice shipyard, isn’t it?” Pitt said. 

“Um, yes, it’s... nice.” Aji said, still mesmerized, staring at the floating ships. 
She supposed the whole island was floating, but she was still affected by gravity, 
wasn’t she? Now she had some sort of confirmation that it wasn’t just the islands 
that floated, though. There was something else causing the floating. 

Aji finally turned back to them. “So... where’s this barracks you were talking 
about?” 

“It’s over here. We’ll have to stop by Dond’s place first.” Pitt and Jitters 
motioned for her to follow. 
 Aji followed them down a flight of stairs near the docks to a larger building, 
positioned on the side of the island. It even had a boat next to it, floating in the air. 
It was a few stories high, and unlike the other buildings it was just one single 
structure, instead of a few piled on top of each other. It had a peaked roof for the 
rain, and appeared to be made of brick. There was another house, more like the 
ones in the city but it was just a single cube, nestled against the stairway leading 
down to the dock area directly in front of the barracks. 

Jitters approached the doorway and knocked on it. “Hey, Dond! It’s Jitters, 
and Pitt, too. Listen, we have someone that wants work here!” 

There was a rustling inside, and a feminine voice shouted out to them. 
“Door’s open, come in with ‘em!” 

Jitters opened the door without hesitation and ushered Pitt and Aji in. 

Inside it was a cozy little space. There was a loft with ladders up to it where 
their beds were. Under the loft was the kitchen, and there was a table and places 
to sit around it just offset of the door, so they could come in and see. Inside was the 
man who must have been Dond, sitting at the table and chewing on some sort of 
meat. A woman sat next to him with a bowl of the same food, looking up at them. 
Aji felt a little intrusive entering during their meal, but stepped in after Pitt and 
Jitters. 

“Hello, boys,” the woman, who must have been Dond’s wife, said. “Come in, 
come in.” She stood. “Have you had anything to eat, yet?” 

“No worries, ma’am, we’ve had dinner,” Pitt said. 

Aji had not had dinner but she didn’t say anything about it. 

“Nonsense,” she said, hurrying over to the kitchen where she pulled out a 
long loaf of bread and split it into three parts, handing one end each to Pitt and 
Jitters and handing her the section in the middle. “Eat up,” she instructed. As she 
handed the piece to Aji she gave her a smile. “I’m Dond’s wife, call me Naia.” Pitt 
and Jitters shared an uncomfortable look. They were actually, honestly stuffed. 

Aji took a hearty bite, though. She hadn’t eaten anything since Uggs’s donut. 
 Dond stood, finally swallowing what must have been an extremely chewy 
bit of meat. “So you’re looking for work? I haven’t seen you ‘round here, where you 
from?” 

Aji swallowed her bite of bread. “I’m a traveller,” she said, hoping he 
wouldn’t start prying further into where she was from. 

Dond raised an eyebrow. “How long have you been ‘ere in Hibbsbot?” 

“Just this afternoon,” she said. 

Dond looked over to Pitt and Jitters. He chuckled. “Sorry the first ones you 
met were these jokers. I’m assuming they asked you to come here and take a job, 
eh?” 

Aji nodded. “Well, I need somewhere to stay, and a job to get some more 
money, so it sounded like a good deal.” 

Dond sighed. “They tell you about Milwa?” 

She nodded. That sounded familiar. “We need to build a ship for her?” 

“But did they tell you about her... antics?” 

She frowned. “Well, I think I’ll manage.” She honestly just remembered not 
to get on her bad side. She thought she might be good at that. 

Though her track record wasn’t exactly true to that... 

Dond sighed. “Do you have experience working in a shipyard?” 

She wasn’t sure, honestly, but if she did it was all gone now, she didn’t even 
understand how they floated. “I don’t,” she said. “But I’m willing to learn.” 

Dond looked back and forth to Jitters and Pitt. “You really think she has it in 
her to build a ship?” 

Pitt scoffed. “Dond, you have no idea what she has in her. I saw ‘er beat the 
snot out of two of Oggot’s goons earlier today. I think she’s got it in ‘er.” 

Dond raised an eyebrow. “You? Beat the snot out of Oggot’s goons?” 
 She wasn’t sure if that was something she should be bragging about, but she 
supposed it was true. “I did,” she said. “I picked the wrong inn, apparently, and it 
didn’t go well. That’s when they found me and told me about this place. I figured it 
beat trying that again.” 

Dond chuckled. “Well, if you have that in you I think you’ll have what it 
takes to build a ship. All I can say is as much as you might want to, try not to beat 
the snot out of our customers. Milwa’s already had quite the time here.” 

Pitt chuckled. “So you’ll take ‘er?” 

Dond nodded. “If you’re okay with it, girl, I’ll take ya. What’s your name?” 

“Aji,” she said. 

“Well, Aji, just be ready to work hard tomorrow.” 

“I will,” she said. 

“Alright, now you three head up to the barracks. You two can show ‘er to 
where she’ll be sleeping, right?” 

“Third floor with the ladies?” Pitt said. 

“Obviously,” Dond said, ruffling his hair. “Now you three go on.” 

“Wait!” they heard from behind them in the kitchen. It was Naia. “Take 
some of these sweet pies, I made too many!” 

And so they were sent, two empanada-like pies each, filled with some sort 
of yellow fruit Aji didn’t recognize, to the barracks. 

“So there a’int many ladies working ‘ere, you should know,” Jitters warned 
as they led her into the doorway. “It’ll actually just be you, Miny and Tyri.” 

Aji nodded. She couldn’t say anything because her mouth was full of pie. 

She stepped into the barracks. There were metal stairways heading up the 
floors and there were doors that must lead to rooms on the sides. They took her up 
the first flight of stairs, and the second was further down. 
 “We sleep here on the second floor,” Pitt said. “It’s got the men’s barracks. No 
one really sleeps on the first floor, we keep a lot of tools and the supplies down 
there. Second floor we also keep a lot of stuff here, but we sleep here, and up on the 
third floor is where the women’s barracks is.” 

Aji nodded. “So that way you don’t have to climb all of the stairs we do,” she 
noted. 

Pitt blushed. “Sorry about that,” he muttered. “I think we originally all slept 
on this floor but Miny didn’t want to sleep so close to the men so she set up 
another room up on the third floor. Tyri decided to go up with her and we’ve had 
us divided like this ever since.” 

Aji grinned. “Well, I guess I’ll forgive you this once,” she said. Honestly she 
felt like she wasn’t making much sense at the moment. She needed sleep. 

They climbed up the final stairwell and reached the top. It was mostly bare, 
by the look of it. Aji followed them to one of the rooms where he knocked. “Ey, we 
have a new roommate for ya!” 

There was a scrambling and someone opened the door. The girl was short 
but toned, though not bulky. She had her vest off but still had her button-up shirt 
on, and had replaced her thicker work pants with baggier, softer ones, presumably 
for sleeping. 

There was a whine from inside the room. “Tyriiiiiiii!” It must have been 
Miny. She wasn’t visible from the door. 

“Calm down, no one can see you!” Tyri shouted. Her dark hair swished as 
she turned back to them. “Sorry, she didn’t want you to see her hair. Anyway, so 
you’ve got someone to help you with Milwa?” 

Aji nodded, swallowing her last bit of pie. “That’s me,” she said. 

Tyri Frowned, giving Aji a look over. “I haven’t seen you around. You a 
traveller?” 

She nodded. “Just came into town today. Didn’t have much luck getting an 
inn, so they said I could come here and work,” she explained. 
 “Oggot?” Tyri asked. 

“Yup,” she said. 

“Well, you must be tired. Come on in, there are plenty of bunks for you to 
choose from,” Tyri said. “Thanks for bringing ‘er in, boys, you are dismissed,” Tyri 
said, fake saluting Pitt and Jitters, then closing the door after Aji. 

Pitt shared a look with Jitters before shrugging and heading back down to 
their room. 

Aji walked in to see that the room had beds all the way down, actually very 
deep. There were maybe sixteen beds on either side of the room. It was somewhat 
depressing to see that only two were being used. 

“I’m Tyri, and this is Miny,” Tyri said, motioning further down into the 
room. Miny was sitting in her bed, fussing with her hair, which was actually very 
immaculate considering she was in her bed. Her things looked much more 
organized than Tyri’s, which were strewn around her bed, which was the one 
closest to the door. Miny’s was the one next to hers. 

“Sorry if I look like I’m a mess,” Miny said. 

“No, don’t be sorry, you look... good,” Aji said, unsure of what else to say. 
Miny was wearing a sleeping gown, unlike Tyri (and probably herself, she had to 
double-check what kind of pajamas she had in her bag but she didn’t think she 
had anything like that) and had her hair in a fancy braid. She was still toned like 
Tyri, but she was taller. Maybe as tall as Pitt? Aji wasn’t sure exactly what she 
thought was wrong with the way she looked. Maybe she was just self-conscious 
around people she didn’t know very well? She had been the one who moved the 
girls up to the third floor, according to Pitt. “I’m Aji,” she said. 

“Nice to meet you,” Miny said. She still looked a little spooked from the 
sudden appearance of a roommate. 

“So, you’re sure you can handle making a boat?” Tryi asked. “It’s tough work. 
No offense but you look a little scrawny.” 

“I haven’t really tried before, but I think I’ll be fine,” Aji said. 
 Tyri raised an eyebrow. “Just steer clear of Milwa, I guess. Pitt and Jitters 
are kinda dumb but they work fine. Just follow their lead and you should figure it 
out pretty quickly.” 

“So does Milwa come here a lot? Sounds like everyone knows about her.” 

Tyri laughed. “Nope, she just comes in two days ago and starts screaming 
up a storm. Her boat’s engine stopped working and she needs it fixed, she says, so 
we get some workers on it. They fix it the way they think it should be, see, and 
they set it off, trying to check if it worked, and the whole thing blows up!” 

The way she told the story in present tense made Aji’s head hurt, so she 
took off her leather vest, which felt nice, and dropped her bag and belt at her bed, 
next to her boots. She considered trying to find some nicer pants to sleep in, but 
she was tired, and hopped into the bed across from Tyri, listening. 

“So then her boat starts falling off the edge, because the skystone is coming 
off, and the guys are pulling on it trying to save it, though it doesn’t look good, and 
do you know what she does next?” Miny rolled her eyes, flopping back. 

“What?” Aji asked, throwing on some covers. 

“She j​ umps into the burning boat​! No kidding! She’s trying to get her 
strongbox out! If Pitt hadn’t ran in and saved ‘er she would have really gone down 
with the ship!” 

Aji raised an eyebrow. “That’s dumb,” she said, though she was more 
interested in figuring out what skystone was than the rest of the story. 

“But then, she gets out after one of our guys saves her life, and dy’know 
what she does next? She goes ​ballistic o
​ n Dond and starts tearing him apart 
because apparently she didn’t do her fuel line checks and it made the whole thing 
blow. We didn’t check it since it’s a miracle it didn’t blow already, so we thought it 
was the coil, but she shoulda been checking ‘em regularly and she wasn’t! Still the 
same, she decides we hafta fix her ship! Us! What a noodle,” Tyri finished. 

“Sounds like she’s crazy,” Aji said. She wasn’t terribly eager to work for this 
lady, but she didn’t know what else she could do. Though she was beginning to 
formulate an idea. These skyships would be a much safer way to travel than that 
highway. If she got good at dealing with them here... maybe she could go out to 
other places, and try to find out who she was. She felt a little uncomfortable telling 
everyone about it now that she’d already introduced herself, and everything 
seemed to be working fine, but what if she had a family somewhere else? A 
boyfriend? Maybe brothers and sisters, and parents... all out waiting for her. 
Maybe she already had a job! For all she knew she was meant to meet someone 
here at Hibbsbot, or maybe she’d been trying to get somewhere past Hibbsbot. Still, 
she wasn’t sure she wanted to risk that highway again. She wasn’t sure why she’d 
tried to risk it in the first place. 

“Anyway,” Tyri said. “We’ve got a long day tomorrow, you should try and 
sleep. Welcome to the docks,” she said, waving around her hands in some 
mocking bow before jumping onto her bed. 

“Thanks for the welcome,” Aji said, and Tyri hit something on the wall, and 
the electric lights puttered out. Aji realized then that they had electricity here. For 
some reason that felt odd, like it was out of place here. Why did they have electric 
lights? Alongside magic, animal people, and inns, this strange money system... 
electricity seemed... 

Familiar. 

She took in a breath. Was that a clue? Electricity was normal to her, but 
none of the rest of this was. So maybe where she came from they had electricity, 
but not those other things. 

Maybe? 

It was late. Too late. Aji turned over in her bed and closed her eyes. Finally, 
she drifted off to sleep. 

“So what do you think of her?” Pitt asked Jitters as they walked into the 
men’s barracks. No one in there said anything as they walked in. Oho, an owl, was 
reading in his bed, and Snive was doing some weird exercise he probably made up 
so he could look cool. There were about eight other men laying around, some 
already asleep. Three others were still not there, they would probably be finishing 
their dinners. They weren’t supposed to be out drinking, if they were Dond would 
suspend them for a few days without pay. Having a drunk person working by the 
docks was extremely dangerous. More than likely they were just messing around 
in the market. 

“Aji?” Jitters asked. “She’s fine. She’s a traveller I’ve only known for a few 
hours, what am I supposed to think of ‘er?” 

“I dunno,” Pitt said, suddenly feeling self-conscious. “I just thought she was 
pretty... er... strong when she was in that fight, you know, with Oggot’s goons.” 

“Correction,” Jitters said, grinning slightly. “You just thought she was 
pretty.” 

“Ey!” Pitt said. “Lay off,” 

“No shame in that,” Jitters said, putting his hands up. “But to be honest you 
were making googly eyes at her all night. She might even like you, too.” 

“Don’t try and force anything,” Pitt said, hopping into his bed without 
changing into any sort of pajamas himself. “She’s a traveller, she’ll probably be 
gone next week. She’s just looking to make a few rhythe before heading off to the 
next town.” 

“Why so pessimistic?” Jitters asked. “You might be able to convince her to 
stay, y’know.” 

Pitt snorted. “As if. Listen, no one takes to the highways without some sort 
of longing for somewhere else. She won’t settle down. Anyway, if she did I can’t 
see it being for me.” 

“Whatever you say,” Jitters said. “I won’t force anything. But I say give it a 
shot, at least.” 

Pitt frowned. “Well... we’ll see. I guess we don’t know anything about her, 
yet. I’m sure we’ll find out sooner or later.”   
 Chapter 2: The Sky 
“Ey, it’s time to wake up,” Tyri said, shaking Aji. 

Aji jolted awake, rubbing her eyes. She’d been sleeping well and for a second 
completely forgot where she was. She mumbled something she didn’t even 
understand, then stretched and regained consciousness. She’d been dreaming 
about something, but she’d forgotten it already. 

Miny was almost already dressed in work clothes and Tyri had already 
changed into her thicker pants. Aji sighed and slid off her bed. They had work 
today. 

“‘Ow was the bed?” Tyri asked. “Most a’int too comfortable.” 

Honestly, Aji was so tired she hadn’t even noticed, but nodded in agreement 
after thinking about it for a second. “Not too soft, but it didn’t really bother me,” she 
said. 

“I guess after sleepin’ on the highway anything is soft enough,” Tyri said. “I 
couldn’t dream of anything like that.” 

Aji frowned. Honestly, she couldn’t imagine sleeping on the highway, either. 
“It’s not great,” she said. “But I guess I got by.” 

Somehow​, she thought to herself. 

She then tried to figure out her clothes. She didn’t have too much variety but 
she wasn’t sure at what point she’d be able to bathe, or wash them for that matter, 
so she wasn’t sure if she should just stay with what she already had on for that 
day or not. They felt surprisingly clean for being a day old. Still, she didn’t like the 
idea of wearing the same thing two days in a row. 

“I guess you don’t have much else to put on to get ready, then?” Tyri said. 

Welp. As much as she didn’t like it, the decision was then made. “Yeah,” Aji 
said, pulling up her belt and vest and fitting them around her again. She was going 
to keep these same clothes on for now. But she had to know. “Where can we get 
our clothes washed, when we need it?” 
 Tyri frowned. “We do washing every month, don’t ya worry. The men 
sometimes skip days, but Miny and I will make sure you can get eve’rthin 
washed.” 

If Aji had been sipping something she would have spotted it. “Every 
month?” she asked, incredulous. 

“Ye, don’t worry, we’ll make sure you can get everything cleaned.” 

Aji felt like she’d just seen someone vomit, it sounded hideous. Was that 
normal, or was it a dock worker thing? Surely people here washed their clothing 
more than once a month? Or did they just have more outfits than she did? And 
bathing? Now she wondered if that happened at the same time as the washing, 
every month. But, Tyri and Miny would surely show her as soon as bathing was... 
customary.  

She sighed. She would get through this. But now she knew she had to use 
her clothes sparingly. 

The three got ready and walked outside. They didn’t take anything specific, 
the three left their things in the room and Tyri locked it up with a key after 
making sure they had everything they needed, which she informed Aji was 
nothing. The three girls walked down the stairway to see Dond banging on the 
door of the men’s quarters, shouting for them to hurry up and get out. Pitt and 
Jitters stepped out, as well as an owl man and a few others that looked 
somewhere between bored and incoherent. 

Pitt saw the girls step off the steps and approached them, grinning. “Did ya 
sleep alright?” he asked Aji. 

“It was nice,” Aji said. “I felt like I hadn’t slept for a week.” 

Pitt grinned. “Well, I hope you feel better now,” he said. “Because we have a 
lot to do today.” 

Aji nodded. “I don’t know much about this, but just tell me what to do and I’ll 
do it.” 

Pitt nodded. “I think Dond will have someone help you, I dunno who it is 
though. I’m sure They’ll help you a lot, I’m sure.” 
 Aji nodded. Tyri, Miny, Pitt, and Jitters were the only ones she actually 
knew, so she thought maybe they’d help, especially since they’re supposed to be on 
Milwa’s boat, and from what she understood she’d been hired to help with that. 
Still, if they assigned her someone else they couldn’t be too bad. 

Could they? 

“Alright, all!” Dond shouted. “Just to recap all of the projects. First we ‘ave 
the re-hulling on dock 13. I’m gonna keep all of you on that yesterday there. You 
can head back up there. We also ‘ave a project on dock 5, Oho and Uli, you’re on 
that. Everyone else, we need to rebuild a ship for the pirate Milwa. Jitters, Pitt, 
you’re on that, and Tyri and Miny, I’ma need you on the engine build. I have most 
of the parts, just a few. I’ll be back here helping you. Also, Aji, for those that don’t 
know she’s new ‘ere. I hired for extra help working on Milwa’s boat, but she don’t 
know much about dock work, so I’ma need Snive, you’ll be in charge of showing 
‘er around, then you’ll take ‘er to help with the build for Milwa’s boat. She’ll have 
the prints to rebuild it. You two know how to do all of that, now get to work, Naia 
has sweet pies if you need some breakfast.” 

Aji looked at Pitt and Tyri as he finished and was surprised to see both of 
them grimacing. They looked uncomfortable until she spoke up. “What’s with 
those faces?” she asked. 

They shared a look. Jitters and Miny also looked like they knew something 
Aji didn’t. 

“Well, er... it’s just Snive, er... I just didn’t expect him...” Pitt said, 
uncomfortably. 

“Ummm...” Tyri looked like she wanted to say something, but in the end 
didn’t. 

“So, you’re s’possed to be new o’ somethin’?” Aji turned to see Snive 

approaching. He looked like an edgy middle schooler, trying to look cool but just 
looking ridiculous instead. He wore the same clothes but his nose was in the air 
like he had a bloody nose and didn’t want it to drip, and he made a weird pose as 
he got there. It didn’t make him look cool. 

“Ummm... yes,” Aji said. “And you must be Snive...” 

 Snive nodded. “I’ll be ‘elping you out today. Don’ worry ‘bout anythin’, I’ll 
show ya all ya need ta know.” 

His accent was the hardest to understand of all Aji had heard so far. She 
smiled anyway. “Thank you. I’ll be glad for the help.”  

He motioned for her to follow and she did, taking one last look back at her 
four hastily made friends, all who looked extremely unsure and uncomfortable. 

“Why would he choose ​Snive t​ o teach anyone anything? I don’t think he 
even knows how t’do a hull right!” Tyri was furious. 

Miny nodded. “What was Dond ​thinking​?” 

Tyri snorted. “Maybe Snive was just th’ least useful when it comes to 
actually doin’ work?” 

Miny sighed. “That’s probably it. But... poor Aji.” 

Tyri nodded. 

“Ey, come an’ help me with these parts!” Dond shouted from behind them. 

They were standing in the workshop of the docks, where they would be 
rebuilding Milwa’s engine. There were a network of chains they used to hold up 
the engines as they built them. The girls approached Dond, who had a cart of 
materials. They started pulling them off and expertly attaching them to various 
parts of the chains to suspend them in air. 

“‘Ow quickly can I tell Milwa this will be done?” Dond asked, through 
clenched teeth and he pulled out one of the metal plates that would go over the 
engine in the end. They were the biggest pieces and the heaviest ones. He didn’t 
attach it to the chains, but instead he laid it on a table nearby. 

“I’m sure we c’ndo it in three days,” Tyri said, securing in a part of the 
engine. 

Dond pressed his lips together. “Could it be two?” he asked. 

Tyri and Miny shared a look. “Two days? A’int that a little rushed?” 
 Dond bit his lip. “I’m just wantin’ ‘er out of here as soon as we can get ‘er out. 
She’s been hitting the pubs and got into a fight last night. Billin is on my tail to get 
‘er out of here as soon as we can.” 

Tyri frowned. “Sounds ‘bout like Milwa. Well, I’m sure if it gets done right 
we can send ‘er off in two days. We’ll ‘ave a bit of a job doin’ it, but I s’pose we’d 
better get on it, then.” 

“Right,” Dond said. “Shout if you need something. I’ma check with Pitt ‘n 
Jitters. They’ll be starting the hull now, and I doubt it’s good to leave Milwa alone 
with ‘em.” 

Dond ran out and left the girls to start quickly assembling the parts he gave 
them. Tyri was good at assembling things, and Miny would notice if she put 
something together wrong. Assembling an engine wasn’t something easy to rush, 
but the girls could have it done by the end of the next day, he knew it. Normally he 
wouldn’t push them like that, but he was starting to feel the pressures from 
various places and it would be better for his health the sooner Milwa got out of 
their town. 

As he left for the boat construction, he could see that Milwa was already in 
an argument with Jitters.  

“Captain, I get that ya don’t like it, but we can’t get the materials for that 
kinda ship,” Jitters was trying to explain. 

“Me ship was brutally ripped ‘part by ya and yer fellers and ya ca’int even 
make a proper vessel in return! I’m heading straight to...” 

“What seems to be the problem?” Dond asked, clenching his teeth. He was 
impressed with the setup Pitt was already working at. He already had the skeleton 
shaped out and some of the beams already bolted in. Dond hadn’t seen that kind of 
progress in so little time for a while. He reminded himself to try and hold Pitt to a 
similar standard in the future. 

“I’ve been tellin’ yer worker ‘ere that I asked fer a real vessel, not a little 
dinghy like they seem ta be thinkin’ I was gettin’.” 
 “Captain, I assure you, a Bloghden style is comparable to the Ittysheks you 
brought into harbor. If anything, it’s less likely ta break after a blown engine like 
we saw yesterday.” 

“Ya think I brought a simple Ittysheks inta harbor? Did ya not even look at 
the ship b’fore ya blew the thing to splinters? So many modifications that’ll be 
costin...” 

“We saw the modifications, Captain, I assure you. They were that there 
strongbox and a few designs ya carved into the ship. While I a’int questioning ya 
using them, legally speakin’ they actually brought down the value of that there 
ship.” 

Milwa’s face turned red. “I’ll be seein’ what the law says. HAYNAI!” Her 
shriek brought the frizzy haired girl scrambling forward. 

“Yes, cap,” she said. 

“You keep watch o’er these sniffers. I’ma head on my way o’er to the council 
‘n see what kinda slimeball laws they’va got ‘ere.” 

And with that Captain Milwa stormed off in a huff. 

Dond, Jitters, and Pitt sighed. Their council didn’t even decide the law, it 
was part of a collaboration with multiple cities in the vicinity. The treatise decided 
what kinds of ships were of comparable value and how to determine value. They 
kept it so that they could be part of the collaboration and it made shipping much 
easier to them as a city. In reality, the values were fair in their eyes, so they would 
have adopted something similar if they had to, anyway, but it also helped them in 
the case of... unconvinced customers. 

Haynai watched her captain storm off, then turned to them. “A’ight, sorry 
‘bout ‘er. She liked the old ship. She a’int been herself. Anyhoo, what sorta stuff 
d’ya want me ta help with?” 

Dond nodded. At least the crewmates were halfway sane. “Help these two. 
They have the plan, they’ve been workin with this stuff for a few years now. I need 
to check on our other projects. Then I might just take a double check on Snive ‘n 
our new hire. I’m hoping Snive can be teaching ‘er something, but I’m startin’ ta 
wonder ‘bout that decision...” 

Aji wasn’t learning anything from Snive. 

He was strutting around the docks like he had no idea what he was doing 
but wanted to look cool anyway, and he was pointing out random things saying 
what they were, and Aji had no idea what he thought that was going to 
accomplish. 

The docks were actually quite exciting. Standing over a cliff, staring off into 
the empty sky was exhilarating. She could see that there were lighter reddish and 
bluish hues during the day, and the pinpricks of light mostly faded when it was 
daylight. Still, she couldn’t see anything underneath them, and that made her 
wonder. Where was the ground? Where was gravity coming from? That needed 
some sort of dense or heavy object to pull them, right?  

Where did she learn that? 

Snive was still talking. She decided that she should at least listen to him in 
case he accidentally said something important. 

“This one is of the ambassador of Achminelle,” Snive droned on. “They come 
to talk to the council sometimes. It’s the biggest boat we have here,” he explained. 
“They need the big anchors,” he said, showing the thick chains they used to keep it 
anchored to the docks. 

“Im... er... impressive,” Aji muttered, trying to be polite. The chains were 
thick, but... something about the way he presented them made them feel very 
bland. She did notice that there were multiple kinds of chains hooked onto the 
docks. There were piers stationed along for the boats to dock to, all made of strong 
metal scaffolding below. There were also chains hanging from the piers. That 
might be important to remember. “How do we know which chains to anchor a 
boat with?” 

Snive frowned. “Just use the bigger ones for the bigger boats,” he said. 

Aji sighed. ​That wasn’t all too helpful, S

​ he thought to herself. 
 They continued to walk down the docks talking about random things Snive 
thought would make him look cooler, and not resulting in much help for Aji. 

“Snotty, squirmy, sly, big-headed, sons of...” 

It was Milwa. 

She was stalking down the stairs angrily, muttering choice words about... 
someone. There were a number of people she could have been muttering about, but 
probably quite a few would fit the bill just fine. If anything she might have been 
muttering about all of them at once. 

No one knew. 

Aji decided they’d probably be wisest to just ignore her and let her sulk, but 
apparently Snive didn’t agree with that. 

“Sulking again, Cap?” he said. Aji raised an eyebrow, stepping back. She 
immediately knew this was not going to end well. 

“As if you kniffers would care,” she hissed, stepping off the last stair and 
glaring at him. 

“I jus’ thought it migh’ not be good for ya. Ya crew wud be less likely to 
follow ya if ya looked n’stable.” 

Aji’s eyes began to widen. Snive wasn’t wrong but it was completely out of 
line to bring it up like that. Also very stupid. 

“Ya think ya can teach me ‘ow to be a captain, dock boy?” Milwa asked, a 
low growl audible in the back of her throat. She glared at him with a primal rage. 

“I’m sure it was just a thought...” Aji tried to interject, but Snive stepped 
forward anyway. 

“I do, act’ully,” Snive snorted. “Ya a’int been doin’ nothin’ good fer ya crew 
s’nce ya landed this ‘ere ship on our dock, see. I don’t be thinkin’ ya fit ta be a 
Captain.” 

“Take that back, dock boy,” Milwa warned. 

“As if, Cap,” Snive snorted, holding up his nose. 

 How’d I get stuck between two lunatics at the edge of an endless cliff? ​Aji 
thought to herself. 

Milwa charged. 

“I’MA TEACH YA A LESSON YA A’INT GONTA FERGET, MAGGOT!” Milwa 

shouted, hands reaching for Snive’s throat. 

Snive grabbed her hand and tried to keep her back, screaming something 
unintelligible in pitches high enough Aji didn’t think she’d ever heard them 
coming out of a human throat before. He started slapping her and she grabbed his 
wrist. The two started wrestling. 

“Geroffme,” Snive muttered as she grabbed his face. 

“Stop, hey!” Aji shouted, but the two weren’t really paying attention. 

Aji stepped forward and grabbed Milwa’s wrist, twisting it so she lost her 
grip of Snive’s face. She grabbed his hand that was slapping Milwa and pulled it 
back, causing him to whimper as she gave each of them a kick to the rear and sent 
them stumbling in either direction. 

“That’s enough!” she shouted. She didn’t have time to wonder how she’d 
done that so efficiently before Milwa started yelling.  

“YE ‘OLE LOT’RE GONNA GO OVER THE EDGE RIGH’ NOW!” Milwa shrieked 
and rushed after her. Aji grabbed her wrist as she approached and sent her 
spinning away. 

“Get a hold of yourself, we’re not trying to fight you,” Aji said. Milwa turned 
to her with wild eyes, then turned. In the commotion Snive had taken off back to 
where they had come from running. Milwa seemed to have the natural animal 
instinct to chase whatever is running, and took off after him. 

Aji gave a short sigh of frustration and hurried after them. 

This wasn’t good for her first day on the job. 

Snive was rushing past a more empty part of the docks. Anchored at the 
sides were smaller skiffs they used to head out into the nearby sky in case they 
needed to meet a boat before they could dock, or talk to them about where to lay 
anchor, but Snive quickly recognized their use as a getaway vehicle, and jumped 
into one of them, unhooking its anchor before turning on the motor and launching 
a bit into the sky, where they couldn’t reach him. He turned off the motor quickly 
so he ended up drifting in the sky a bit aways from the edge of the docks. 

Snive gave a short chuckle as Milwa reached the edge near where he’d shot 
off. “Y’ see, Captain, ya may ‘ave da brawn ta be a captain, but th’ most impor’nt 
part is th’ brains. Which ya don’t seem ta have. Me, on t’odder ‘and...” 

Milwa didn’t wait to find out what followed Snive’s massacre of the English 
language. She screamed, as was standard at this point, ran a short way down the 
pier, and jumped. 

It was actually incredible to watch the feat of human strength. She jumped 
three or four meters, without missing the thin skiff, landing directly on her quarry. 
Her screaming mingled with Snive’s high-pitched screams and she took a handful 
of his hair in her hand and began to pull it, trying to throw him off the edge of the 
skiff. 

“BRAINS THIS, YA SNOTLICKER!” 

Aji didn’t really particularly mind watching Snive get his hair pulled out, but 
it would obviously be very bad if either of them ended up falling over the edge of 
their little skiff. And with the way they were struggling, it was a bit of a miracle it 
didn’t flip and spill them both into the empty sky below. 

She ran up the pier until she was as close to them as possible, and quickly 
picked the longest chain she thought she could throw. She pulled it up, watching 
the skiff drift further away. She pulled up the chain, painstakingly, then began to 
spin it over her head to build up the momentum. Without it she wouldn’t be able to 
reach the ever-further drifting skiff. She let it go and the hooked end somehow 
managed to land somewhere inside the skiff, and as she pulled she hoped it would 
hook onto something. 

It didn’t. 

She sighed and pulled it back up, starting to pant. Her arms were starting to 
feel strained. This wasn’t going to end well. 
 Aji pulled the end up and tossed it again. Surprised, she realized it had 
hooked itself into one of the loops at the edge of the skiff. 

She’d landed it. 

Aji put her weight into pulling the skiff back. She was small and didn’t have 
that much muscle so she was surprised as she put all of her weight into it, the 
skiff bumped sharply then began to return to the pier. Her heart beat began to slow 
as she realized she was going to be able to get them both back to shore. 

But Milwa didn’t like that plan. 

“Get yer filthy chains offa this boat!” Milwa hissed as she started struggling 
at the hook, trying to pull it out. Snive was latched onto something at the bottom of 
the boat, whimpering as he tried his best not to fall off the skiff. 

“Milwa, you are going to fall, let me pull you in!” 

“Yer a righ’ siren, girlie!” Milwa dug her fingers in and pulled the hook off 
the boat, throwing it back out. 

The unhooking of the chain had two disastrous results. First, Aji, who had 
her entire body weight pulling the chain and skiff back to shore, was launched 
backwards, careening over the edge, hands grasped firmly to the chain as she fell 
over. Second, the boat rocked hard, causing the entire thing to flip, leaving Snive 
screaming and sniveling as he hung, gripping the seat of the skiff tightly, and 
dumping Milwa into the sky. 

Adrenaline was the only thing that saved them. Aji’s hands immediately 
gripped the chain tightly, causing her to swing down, then out towards the exact 
point Milwa was falling. Without much time to react, she kicked the hook of the 
chain towards Milwa, somehow causing it to slip under her belt, catching her and 
causing them both to start swinging, dangling over an empty sky with nothing 
below them. 

“GET ME UP OUTTA ‘ERE ​NOW​!” Milwa shrieked in horror. 

“Swing!” Aji said. She realized if they’d swung back and forth and kept up 
the momentum they already had they might be able to reach a nearby pier. Milwa 
didn’t seem to understand, though, and Aji’s attempts to swing the chain didn’t 
end too well. 

“Aji!” she heard someone yell. It was Pitt. He and Jitters must have seen 
more or less what happened and come to help. 

“Pitt! Jitters!” Aji shouted. “Pull us up!” 

The actual chain was wrapped around her hands, and part of it had been 
wrapped around her foot, which helped her support her body weight with that foot, 
too, which might have saved her, because she was starting to realize that her arms 
weren’t strong enough to support even her small body weight for sustained 
amounts of time. 

She felt the chain begin to raise, and again, her heart rate began to slow, 
realizing they had a way back up to land. 

Again, it was a little too soon to relax. 

Without warning, dark, lavender hued flames shot up from below them. The 
chain shook and Aji had to hold on. She felt the flame and it wasn’t hot, but it filled 
her with a chill of dread. The sky darkened and a hush fell about the area. 

“She’s ‘ere...” Milwa whispered in the most hushed voice Aji had ever heard 
come from that woman’s mouth. 

“Who...?” Aji was cut off by a piercing caw, so high and sustained it shook 
her bones. 

“THE PHOENIX DIM...” 

Aji felt a chill as a purple wind blew them to the side. 

“‘URRY ‘N GET US ON THAT LAND!” Milwa shrieked. 

Aji watched in awe as the sky below them transformed into flame, lavender 
hued, but dark. At first she thought it was just flame, but as it moved through the 
sky, she realized it had a form. A long, regal neck, wide, flat, outstretched wings, 
the flame wasn’t fire, it was coming off a form. 

The phoenix. 
 Aji had heard mention of the phoenix, but didn’t know anything about it. It 
had something to do with the outside world, the sky... she might have hoped it 
was some sort of benevolent being, but it seemed every time the phoenix was 
mentioned it was with a mixture of awe and terror. 

And that was exactly what Aji felt, as the piercing white eyes of the bird 
were trained exactly on her. 

A cold, piercing voice travelled through the land like a shockwave. L ​ eave 
my sky, i​ t said. The command filled Aji with the most intense of dread. She just 
stared, in horror, unable to respond as the chain pulled her higher. It was clear 
there was some sort of motor pulling her up, not Pitt or Jitters, because it hadn’t 
stopped since the breathtaking apparition appeared, and it was constant and 
smooth. 

I said to LEAVE MY SKY​, the voice shrieked again, a purple wind blasting 
Aji backwards. To her surprise, the chain caused her to pull up with the 
momentum, and she and Milwa fell hard, each one hitting the pier hard. The pier 
was rough, probably to avoid slips, and Aji felt her face burn because of the scrape 
she’d just gotten. Her entire body ached, but she quickly untangled herself from 
the chain and got on her elbows, staring at the flaming bird. 

Do not make me return, ​the phoenix instructed. Everyone was staring at it 
with dread. It suddenly phased backwards, disappearing into thin air. 

And as soon as the chilling winds were gone, and the sky had lit itself back 
up. Pitt was pulling her up, and Jitters was pulling Snive, whimpering, to the pier. 

“You’re okay,” Pitt whispered, embracing her. She didn’t have the capacity to 
appreciate his gesture because her whole body had begun to shake. 

“Aji?” he asked. “Aji, are you...” 

Aji wanted to respond, say she was okay, and double-check that Snive and 
Milwa were okay, but her body began to shut down. She tried to croak something 
before she blacked out, but didn’t manage to. 

Everything went dark.   

 Chapter 3: The Phoenix 
It’s time you stopped ignoring the truth​, something whispered. 

Aji knew she was unconscious. This was just a dream. You can’t actually 
get hurt in dreams. Nothing would matter when she woke up. Yet she still felt a 
terrible chill, and knew, with some sort of abject, horrible certainty that she was in 
terrible danger. 

“Who are you?” she asked the dark emptiness around her. 

It’s not important. Your past isn’t important. Now is important. Tell them. 

Aji looked around, but she didn’t have eyes in a dream, did she? “Where are 
you, show yourself to me!” 

Fine. I’ll show you a snippet. You’ve wondered where you got your strength 
from? I’ll show you. Then you need to tell them. 

“Tell them what? Wait, please, don’t...” 

The scene changed around her. 

Aji bolted up, breathing hard. “Hapkido,” she whispered. “Judo, I...” 

“Aji, are you a’ight?” Tyri asked. 

She was sitting on her bed, back up in the barracks. Tyri and Miny were 
there. All of them were still in their work clothes, but Aji was the only one that 
looked like she had been sleeping. Her sideways ponytail had been undone, and 
her hair hung behind her. As odd as it was, somehow she felt odd without her 
hairstyle. 

“How long was I out?” Aji asked, rubbing her head. 

“About two hours,” Miny said. “They took you in ‘ere after you fainted. Said 
you saw the phoenix?” 

Aji gulped. “Yeah, she... she wasn’t happy,” Aji whispered. “Do you, er... see 
much of her around here?” 
 Tyri shook her head. “I a’int never seen ‘er, you know she don’t come over to 
docks that often. It’s just sailors and folk on the highway that see ‘er, more than 
anything. You seen ‘er before?” 

“Not much,” Aji said. Who knows, she might have seen the phoenix before 
on her travels. Apparently it wasn’t uncommon. 

Tyri nodded. 

“What was that you said when you woke up?” Miny asked. 

“What?” Aji frowned. 

“Those words you said,” Miny asked. “Hoppy... what was it you said?” 

“Hapkido,” Aji realized. “Judo, Taekwondo,” she listed off. 

“What’s a Tay-kwon?” Tyri asked. 

“I was dreaming about them. They’re martial arts.” 

“What kina art is that?” Miny asked, confused. 

“Self-defense,” Aji said. “I used them to fight off Oggot’s goons earlier. 
Y’know, fighting, but they’re techniques to do it.” 

Miny and Tyri looked confused but impressed. “So you know how to fight?” 

Aji nodded. “More than anything I use it to defend myself. My teachers 

always said to never start fights, just use it to protect myself.” 

“Where did you learn this?” Miny asked. 

That was where Aji’s memory began to fail her again. She still didn’t have 
all of her memories, but for some reason the memories of her martial arts had 
come back. She’d done a lot of them since she was young. Faces of her teachers 
and the other students were fuzzy, but she remembered the places she’d learned to 
do them. She loved Hapkido, and had done some training in Judo and Taekwondo, 
but she felt like her belt in Hapkido was the furthest along. Why did she suddenly 
remember that? She fuzzily remembered a voice telling her it would remind her 
that much, but... 
 “I learned it at my old home. Before I started travelling,” she said. That much 
seemed to be true. “It’s been helpful, for sure.” 

“I’ll say,” Tyri said. “Snive was talking about how you wrestled ‘er around a 
bit before she took ‘er dive,” she commented. 

“Are Snive and Milwa alright?” Aji asked. 

Tyri laughed. 

“What?” Aji asked. 

Tyri snorted again. “No, it’s a’ight, I just never thought I’d ‘ear someone 
sayin’ they were worried about Snive and Milwa in the same sentence and really 
mean it, see,” she giggled again. “Yer too good for us, Aji,” she said. 

Somehow, that warmed Aji’s heart. 

“Anyhoo, they’re fine. Tho Milwa might not fer long,” Tyri said. “She’s bein’ 
tried for assault of Snive. She’s sayin’ it was provoked an’ all that, but she 
apparently tried ta throw ‘im over the edge.” 

“Well, she did do that,” Aji said, grimacing. “You should have seen her jump 
into that boat when he tried to get away,” she said. 

The three shared a laugh. “They should be givin’ us dinner, soon,” Miny said. 
“You should eat.” 

The three stood, Aji stretching, and followed the three down to the first floor 
of the barracks. There at the bottom Naia was producing a whole table of various 
foods for them to eat. Aji recognized some but some were completely foreign to 
her. She tried most of those foods anyway. As of yet she hadn’t really eaten 
anything she didn’t like, so she wasn’t too cautious about what she ate. 

Pitt and Jitters appeared. They looked like they’d been working on the boat, 
and ran up to them when they saw Aji. 

“Aji! You alright?” Pitt looked relieved. 

“I’m fine,” Aji said. “Just a little shaken.” 

 “A little,” Pitt laughed. “I was more than a little, and I wasn’t hangin’ off the 
edge holdin’ on for my life. It’s a miracle no one fell down with all that blowin’”. 

Aji nodded. “I hear Milwa’s on trial now?” 

“Well o’course,” Pitt said. “She straight-up tried to throw Snive off the edge.” 

Aji grimaced. Well, it was pretty much deserved. Though Snive did egg her 
on, she did take it way too far. Aji took a bite of a bun full of beef. This wasn’t going 
to be fun. 

“Also...” Pitt said. “You’ll need to testify at the trial t’morrow...” 

Now that wasn’t something Aji liked to hear. “Oh,” she whispered. 

“Yea... since Snive and Milwa ‘r the ‘parties’ they say there needs to be some 
sorta third person t’say what really happened n’all that.” 

Aji groaned. “Well, I guess that’s fair. I did see the whole thing,” she 
muttered. “Doesn’t mean I like it, though.” 

Pitt grimaced, and so did the rest of them. Her situation wasn’t enviable. 
“Well... that’ll be tomorrow. ‘Ey, we finished up mosta the work for the day already, 
‘n since Milwa’s on trial we a’int as rushed to finish it all up so soon, so do you 
wanna do somethin’ with us tonight? Y’know, to take the stress off?” 

Aji smiled at him. Pitt was pretty sweet for a dock worker. “Well, what 
should we do?” 

“Ya wanted to see the mages, right?” Miny remembered. “We could do that.” 

“Then we could take ya to get some ‘o those creamballs they sell in th’ 
market,” Tyri noted. 

“Ooh, yes! Have you ‘ad a creamball before?” Miny asked Aji. 

Aji shook her head. “I don’t think so.” 

“A’ight, well we do need ta set a few mo’ things in the engine, but Miny ‘n I’ll 
be catchin’ up with yous at the shrine, then?” Tyri looked pleased with herself. 

“A’ight, we’ll see ya at the show, then?” Pitt asked. 

 “Righto,” Tyri said. “See ya in a mo’, then?” 

Aji took another bite of her bun. Not everything had gone perfectly so far, 
but she at least had to appreciate these four and their efforts to help her out. 

They did a once-over of the ship’s construction before they headed out, and 
they were actually really far along in the process. While Tyri and Miny were 
watching over her they had clearly been working hard. They actually had the 
majority of the supporting structure of the boat done. They just pointed out to her 
where they were going to hull it over, and where the skystones would be held so 
that they could make it float, but they said they would wait to put those on until it 
was completely finished so they could do weight adjustments to the hull and 
structure afterwards. They’d done a pretty good job from Aji’s inexperienced 
viewpoint. 

And on top of that, she’d learned more from them in that short time they 
pointed all of that out than all afternoon with Snive. 

They finally left the ship and led her up the stairs and towards the town. 

“So you know much ‘bout mages?” Jitters asked. “You seen ‘em in other 
towns, right?” 

Aji frowned. She felt like she wasn’t familiar with them, even if she did 
have her memories. “Not much,” she said. “I normally haven’t stopped by in other 
places.” 

Pitt frowned. “That why ya wanted ta see ‘em ‘ere?” 

“Yeah,” Aji said. “Just piqued my interest, I guess.” 

In reality Aji was fairly sure she would have been interested in magic and 
mages before this, but for some reason she felt she just hadn’t seen them before. As 
if maybe she’d heard of them but somehow been... unable to reach them? 

She really wanted her memories back. 

Tell them... a
​ voice whispered to her on the wind. 
 She frowned, turning. Pitt and Jitters stopped, looking at her. “You alright?” 
Pitt asked. 

“Umm... did you guys hear that?” she asked. 

The two shared a look, then frowned. “I a’int heard anythin’,” Jitters said. 

“Ya sure you're alright?” Pitt asked, approaching. 

“Um... yeah. Just a little woozy from earlier, I guess,” Aji said, turning to 
follow them again. “I’m fine.” 

The three set off towards the shrine. 

The shrine had a large field of grass and flowers around it. As the sky 
darkened to the deeper maroon of the evening, the flowers dotting the grassy 
fields began to glow, some light yellow and some light blue. It gave the whole area 
an ethereal feel, not barring the colored lights coming out from the top of the 
shrine on occasion, bathing the area in otherworldly light. 

The actual shrine was a wide building, organized in a square around an 
open-air courtyard in the center, which was where the colored lights were coming 
from. Inside the building itself, there were various rooms, but as they entered it 
was clearly a place visitors could walk around. There were plaques around the 
building and items in glass that visitors could look at. The place had a very 
reverent feel, and everyone was very quiet as the three youths entered. 

Aji could see that there were doors leading to the courtyard but somehow 
felt drawn to the exhibited items. The one closest to the entrance was a robe, 
decorated with fancy embossing. As she approached it, Pitt and Jitters behind her, 
Jitters peeking into the courtyard where lights flashed into the hallway, and Pitt 
looking at the cape from a further distance, she stood in front of the robe, then 
looked at the plaque. 

She couldn’t understand a thing. 

She was certain she could read and write. Suddenly she doubted, but she 
imagined in her head how to spell words, and was able to remember everything. 
Grammar, writing, the alphabet, it was all there, she was able to envision it. And 
she’d been speaking in the language she knew, and everyone understood her, so 
clearly it was the same language, but the words on this plaque weren’t that. The 
letters and runes had completely different shapes and forms. She realized she’d 
seen the characters elsewhere, but somehow hadn’t made the connection that it 
was writing until just now. She couldn’t make anything of the words written on 
the plaque. 

She turned to Pitt. “What language is this written in?” 

Pitt frowned, coming closer. “It’s just normalspeak. Don’t they read with 
normalspeak where ya come from? I thought it was what ev’ryone read?” 

She frowned. Normalspeak? She hadn’t heard that word, but... wasn’t it 
called English? She shook her head, finally. She had to make something up. 

“I can’t read,” she lied. “I just thought it looked odd.” 

Pitt looked surprised. “You can’t... I mean, I just though’... er... well... 
y’seemed like the kinda girl that could read, I dunno... sorry about that.” He looked 
embarrassed. 

“Can you read?” she asked. 

“Well, yea,” he said, seeming concerned. 

“Can you read it to me?” she asked, finally. She wished she could read it on 
her own, but she felt a deep desire to know what it said.  

“Well, er, I can do it, but I’m not all that good at it...” Pitt said, blushing. In 
reality he was horrible at reading. 

“You still read better than me,” Aji said. She moved aside and he started 
reading. He looked uncertain as he read. 

“Well, it says this is a cloak belonging to, er, an old mage... oh, the, er, first 
mage of tha city, after we’d been started for a few years n’ such. You know how it 
is, they started the city and the Phoenix gave ‘im to us after we’d been here for a 
while.” 

Aji realized he wasn’t really reading as much as he was skimming and 

substituting his own knowledge of the cloak for the rest. Strangely enough, she 
was learning some surprising things. The Phoenix gave them the mages? Why 
were they so afraid of her if they loved the mages like this? Clearly there was more 
to the Phoenix than Aji had realized before. 

Aji realized she’d zoned out as Pitt had been reading. She turned her 
attention back to him. 

“N’ after he built this ‘ere shrine he began to help the people with the 
farming. They put the grass here and then after that they put a new garden over 
up there ‘n he started makin’ it grow.” 

Aji raised an eyebrow. So these spells made their crops grow? Was that why 
such a big city could survive with so little farm space? She had noticed that there 
were some very small farming fields on one side of town, between the markets 
and the docks, but she hadn’t been able to figure out how it had supported the 
whole city up until then. 

“Yea, so that’s old Jaji, the mage,” Pitt said. 

“Thanks,” she said. “For... er... reading that to me.” 

“Well, I a’int much for it, but if you want I can try to teach you a bit,” Pitt 
offered. 

Aji nodded. “I’d like that,” she said. “What about that plaque over there?” 

She pulled him off to another plaque where she made him teach her a few 
things about reading.  

As she read she began to discreetly discover the odd existence of mages. 
Apparently, the Phoenix, who was apparently the creator of their sky, liked to keep 
people out of it. Which made their jobs as dock workers fairly difficult, since they 
had to balance helping people travel and keeping the Phoenix appeased. That was 
why she was so mad earlier, apparently having people dangle over her sky on a 
chain wasn’t terribly pleasing to the Phoenix. But to help them, the Phoenix gave 
them mages that could help them survive better. The mages could grow crops, 
provide water, punish rulebreakers, and, of course, entertain while doing it. How 
many mages a city had was based heavily on its population and standing with the 
Phoenix. Still, the Phoenix was mysterious and it was difficult to tell when she 
was going to give them a new mage. Apparently Hibbsbot was currently many 
years since a mage had appeared, even though they had grown quite a bit as a 
population. In fact, while the population had increased, their mages have died off 
and they were now left with very few. 

And all of that she got while pretending she just wanted to learn to read. 
She felt pretty pleased with herself. 

“Ey, you two gonna come ‘n see the mages or what?” Jitters asked. He’d 
approached them at one of the plaques. 

Pitt looked at Aji. “Well, you came to see ‘em, didn’t ya?” 

Aji wanted to keep learning, but she felt she had a good grip on the mage 
situation, and decided that seeing it in person would be fairly... well, magical. 

“Alright,” she said. “Let’s go see.” 

The three entered. The courtyard had large stone steps all around the edges 
with entrances on all four walls around them. There were a few others seated 
around. Most looked like normal people, just here to see the mages work. Aji sat on 
one of the steps near the doorway and watched, Pitt and Jitters sitting near her. 

The two mages were fairly old. One looked like an older man, not quite 
graying but fairly close, and the other was a very tall, white-haired woman, each 
dressed in robes. Each one was embossed like the one she’d seen in the glass case. 
Their movements were some of the most interesting she’d seen. They stepped 
forward and backwards, gracefully. Sometimes their actions mirrored each other, 
but sometimes they seemed to move completely out of sync with the other. As 
they moved, occasionally they would wave their hands and a stream of colored 
light would flow from their hands and fly off into the air. The room was fairly 
silent, but occasionally a child would whimper or someone would cough. It 
seemed more than anything everyone was mesmerized by the display of intricate 
movements and bright light. It looked like a dance of some sort. 

Suddenly, a flashback hit Aji like a truck. 

She was standing with some of her friends in a long room lined with pads 
in case they fell. She was younger, quite a lot, but she and her little friends were 
dressed in white uniforms with colored belts. There was an instructor, teaching 
them a move. Hapkido, she was learning hapkido. She practiced the move on her 
own, and was surprised to fall. One of her friends giggled, but she whined, and 
someone came from the side to help her up. It was... her dad. 

She had a dad. 

He dusted her off and urged her to try again. As she did, her instructor told 
her she did it really well. She felt so proud of herself she did it again. 

But try as she might she couldn’t remember faces. 

She had dreamed of that and various other moments the night before. It was 
hapkido. She’d remembered that was where she had learned to fight, even people 
bigger and stronger than her. She’d practiced it all her life, since she was little. Her 
dad was the one that wanted her to learn, he also practiced it. 

But that was it. No names, no faces, she couldn’t remember anything else. 
Why couldn’t she remember? What was wrong with her? She suddenly, deeply 
longed to see her family again. Her dad would have loved to learn whatever these 
mages were doing with her, or even just to see it. 

But he wasn’t here. She didn’t know where he was. She didn’t even know 
why she had left him! She didn’t know anything about him. The people here didn’t 
even know what hapkido was! How could that help her? 

A single tear rolled down her face. She felt so alone. 

“Aji, are you... okay?” Pitt whispered. 

“Oh... yeah. I’m fine. Sorry, I was just thinking of home,” she whispered. 

He frowned. “Do you miss your home?” 

She took in a shaky breath. “Yeah, but... I don’t really want to talk about it.” 

He didn’t say anything after that. 

After some time, the two mages stopped their dance, and bowed to the 
people. After that, people started to stand and leave. Aji knew she’d seen the magic 
lights after this time, so maybe that specific show was over? Or maybe they were 
just taking some sort of break. Even so, they disappeared somewhere into the 
building. The three stood. Aji had wiped off her tears and felt fine again, but she 
couldn’t get that nagging out of her mind. She couldn’t remember a thing about her 
father, but she still missed him dearly. How many others had she forgotten? 

They exited out the doors to the shrine in silence. Aji did feel bad that she’d 
made Pitt uncomfortable. Clearly he’d recognized how sad she was and tried to 
help, but she’d shut him out anyway. 

“Thank you for taking me,” she said. “It was beautiful.” 

“O’course,” Pitt said, seeming still a little confused but glad she broke the 
silence. “I guess now we can go and find soma those creamballs we decided on...” 

“Ey!” a voice said from the road. Tyri and Miny approached. “Ya can’t really 
be thinkin’ ta head out there without us?” 

Aji smiled at them, hoping her face wasn’t red from crying earlier and she 
could just ignore all of what happened in the shrine. “Well, it’s about time you 
showed up.” She grinned to show she was joking. 

Tyri raised an eyebrow. “Developin’ an attitude, eh?” She grinned. 

Aji smiled. “Well, I guess you have to show me where these creamballs are, 
right?” 

“Come on,” Tyri said. “‘Ow was the shrine?” 

“It was really pretty,” Aji said. I​ also learned a lot. 

As the girls headed out, Jitters and Pitt lagged behind a bit. 

“Ya really think I can convince ‘er to stay? Even if she a’int gonna travel 
forever... she’s got a family, Jitters.” Pitt seemed unsure of himself. He really liked 
Aji, and even though he had barely known her for a day or two, he was starting to 
accept the reality that she might not be there forever, and it felt awful. 

“Well... if she’s happy here, she’s happy. But if she a’int... do ya want that?” 

Pitt sighed, following after the girls. 

 
 At the market, the creamballs were sold in a booth of sorts. They were fried 
balls of batter around soft, cream centers. Aji thought she remembered a kind of 
food called cream puffs from home, but they were normally a hollow pastry filled 
with cream afterwards, while these seemed to be deep-fried from the start. They 
were heavenly. 

As the five headed home, filled to the brim with sugar, fat, and 
carbohydrates, Aji fell behind in her step so that she was walking right next to 
Pitt. 

“Listen,” she said. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry for shutting you out.” She 
looked to the side as they walked. 

“Oh, I, er, you don’t need to worry ‘bout that...” 

“I know you just wanted to help. It’s just... I’ve been thinking about my 
family a lot recently. I miss them a lot. I’ve been away for a long time.” 

Pitt sighed. “Well... then why don’t you go back to ‘em?” 

She couldn’t tell him the real reason she couldn’t go back to them. Could 
she? She considered it for a moment, then sighed. 

“It’s complicated,” she said. “They’re very far away.” 

Pitt nodded. “Do you plan to go back later? Or keep going? Or... you could 
stay here. But... it’s what you want.” 

She frowned. “I... I’m not sure.” 

The two walked in silence for a moment. 

“Thanks,” she whispered. “For listening.” 

Pitt wanted to put his arm around her, or offer any other sort of token of 
affection, but the pit in his stomach was widening. He could tell she wanted to 
move on. Hibbsbot wasn’t her home, and it wasn’t her destination, either. He 
wasn’t her destination. He was just a stop on the way. 

He sighed. He wanted to forget about her and continue forward, but while 
she was here he couldn’t. He cared about her too much. 
  

Aji’s dreams were turbulent that night. 

She was standing on a cliff. No, a pier. No, it was a cliff again. It was made 
from purple flames. They burned her feet as she stood on it. 

“What do you ​want​!?” she shouted. She knew it was the Phoenix. She had 
angered her. “It was a mistake, please!” 

Tell them your secret!​ The voice seemed bored. 

“I don’t even know my own secrets!” Aji felt helpless. “What is it? I can’t 
remember anything at all! Please, just leave me alone!” 

Tell them or you WILL PERISH! ​The voice was furious. The burning ground 
under her began to crumble. She tried to run, but everything she stepped on 
crumbled under her, and before long she was surrounded only by flames. Two 
piercing white lights appeared in front of her. 

Aji’s eyes shot open. She was breathing hard. She sat up and looked at Miny 
and Tyri. They were fast asleep. 

Was it the Phoenix? If it was the Phoenix... maybe she’d done something 
before she lost her memory? Something to anger her.  

She had to find her memory. If anything, she had to find someone who 
knew her. Someone who could tell her things she didn’t remember. 

Someone who could tell her about the Phoenix and what she’d done to 
anger her. 

Slowly, Aji laid her head back down on her pillow. She couldn’t sleep 
anymore. She had the trial tomorrow, and she had to find someone who could help 
her remember who she was. There was so much going on. 

Somehow, though, she managed to slip back into a restless sleep and drift 
away into oblivion.   
 Chapter 4: A Trial 
The council building was uncomfortably cold. 

Tyri and Miny had brought Aji there early that morning before they went to 
work on the engine for Milwa’s ship, but they had to leave her alone there. Some 
official, a buck-toothed squirrel man who looked bored out of his mind, had 
instructed her to sit in a waiting room and had left and never came back. 

She didn’t have a clock but was pretty sure it had been an hour or two and 
no one had come for her. 

She wished she had something to practice reading. She wanted to get better 
at it. She didn’t quite understand everything about it, there seemed to be a 
disconnect to how they said words and how they read them. That was why Pitt 
had been having issues reading the day before. She wanted to learn it, but she 
didn’t have anything to do. 

The room was tall, and there were padded seats all around it. There was a 
hallway heading out the way she’d come from, which led to the exit, and there 
was a door on the other side of the room. She didn’t know, but she suspected it was 
a supply closet or something. At the very least, the average citizen wasn’t 
supposed to have access to it. 

She was the only one in the room. A bird girl had been sitting in there when 
she’d sat down, but after a few minutes someone had come to ask her to follow 
them, and she’d been alone ever since. 

She finally couldn’t stand it, and stood. She started pacing. She had been 
thinking about her family ever since she’d sat down, and she was trying to figure 
out how to find them without her memories. She started to formulate ideas and 
realized that she needed to return to the last town she had visited. She knew the 
direction she had come from, she could visit that town and check the inns, try to 
figure out if anyone remembered her, but she didn’t dare travel the highway all the 
way there. She felt exposed to the Phoenix, and she didn’t particularly feel like she 
wanted to sleep at the edge of a cliff every night for however long it took. 

The only option, though, was to go by boat. And she didn’t know how to 
commission her own boat. She did work at the docks, though her two days 
working there had been out waiting in a room to testify to a trial, and trying to 
save a reckless incel as a sky captain tries to beat him and throw him off a cliff, 
then recovering after a mythical fire bird sent her into a nightmare coma for a few 
hours. 

So her experience with actual skyboats was minimal. 

Maybe after they finished Milwa’s ship she could figure out her own. In the 
meantime, she would just work with them. She didn’t mind spending time with 
Pitt, Jitters, Tyri, and Miny either. She liked them. She would miss them when she 
eventually left. 

She paced around the room, standing, waiting. What was taking so long? 

Finally, the squirrel entered the room again. His bow tie was skewed 
slightly. Had it been before? He looked a little flustered. 

“Sorry about the wait,” his voice was nasally. He fixed his glasses as he 
approached. “We’ve had some... difficulties with the last trial. Actually, we need 
you to come and testify for a different trial before you can testify in the case of the 
Captain. The case of the innkeeper, Oggot. In fact, I’m surprised you weren’t asked 
to testify against him earlier.” 

Aji blinked. She’d completely forgotten that Oggot had his own trial. In 
reality, she wanted nothing to do with him or his inn for the rest of her life, the 
creep. Still, she was willing to cooperate. “That’s fine,” she said. She still had a pit 
in her stomach as she followed the stout, furry, curly-tailed man further into the 
building. 

The hallways and rooms of the council building were very high. She was 
slightly entranced by them. Further down she could hear there was a lot of 
shouting. She grimaced. Apparently Oggot’s trial was not going well. 

Inside the room, it was still spacious. There might have been other rooms, 
though, because compared to some of the other hallways and rooms it felt small. 
Especially so jam-packed full of boisterous street rats. 

It looked like Oggot’s whole inn had come in to the trial. None looked like 
they’d bathed in years, and at least half of them were drunk. Most were burly and 
had very unkind faces. By the look of it, they didn’t really have a part in the actual 
trial, they’d just come to watch and jeer when it didn’t go their way. They clearly 
liked Oggot. They probably got away with more in his inn. 

“Ah, Aji. Thank you for coming,” Billin said. The owl man was standing on a 
raised stand of sorts. On one side, Rawking, the old man who had testified for her 
stood, while Oggot sat on the other, chained with a larger man in more official 
attire, some sort of policeman by the look of him. The man looked like he’d seen it 
all before and he expected to see it all again, and almost had an air of boredom 
about him. 

Aji approached slowly. There were jeers from the crowd, but she decided to 
ignore them. “Of course,” she said. “How can I help you?” 

Billin began to walk towards her. “I hope you’ll understand, we as a people 

have a policy when a foreigner is involved in some sort of crime that results in a 
trial, especially as perpetrators and victims. While I have come to respect you, and 
understand you’ve had a few other difficult situations in the past few days, I must 
finish this before I can finish convicting Oggot of his crimes.” 

“I been tellin’ ya, this girlie made the whole thing up! She attacked me in me 
own inn!” 

“That’s enough, Oggot,” Billin said. The larger man pulled on his chains to 
shut him up. “That possibility is why we have this policy, you must understand, 
Aji. You see, we don’t know about your trustworthiness, so it’s custom for you to 
come at the end of the trial, without warning, I’m afraid, to retell your version of 
the story. If it matches what you’ve said before, we normally assume it’s the truth. 
If there are glaring variations, especially with your own story before, we will have 
reason to discount your previous testimonies.” 

Aji nodded. It was actually fairly smart to do that. She didn’t feel any need to 
fear. She remembered that night vividly. 

Unlike her past... 

“That night I’d just come into town. I had taken out my money bag earlier to 
check to see how much I had, and you, Billin, suggested at some point one of 
Oggot’s informants saw it and about how much I had. I realize my mistake now. I 
approached his inn, thinking it might not be terribly expensive, and when I asked 
for the price, Oggot said he wouldn’t accept my money, but that he wanted me to 
perform instead. I refused the offer. He tried to grab me, but I broke his grip and 
walked away. As I was walking he approached me with a fireplace poker, trying to 
hit me with it. I kicked him, causing him to grab it, and he commanded two of his 
goons to follow me. I took the poker to defend myself, and backed out of the inn. 
The goons followed me to the steps, where they attacked me. I defended myself 
until Billin arrived. As he was trying to sort out the situation, Oggot accused me of 
stealing, and I believe he had learned at that point how much money was in my 
bag so he could accuse me of stealing it from him. He told you, but we were able to 
determine his claim was false because of Rawking’s testimony against Oggot.” 

The courtroom was silent. 

“A clear, perfectly accurate picture of what she testified of before, even 

including the pieces we put together through our investigations and other 
testimonies. It’s been over 24 hours, and she had no idea she would be giving this 
testimony. I believe that is plenty of proof to put this case to rest,” Billin said. 

There were jeers and shouts from the audience. 

“I swear, she’s just got a good mem’ry! Lookit ‘ow much she’s remembering, 
surely she could remember if she’da lied!” 

“Enough, Oggot, your attempts to avoid justice are feeble and only further 
condemning. You will be thrown into prison, and your inn will be seized by the 
council to avoid the rambunctious and illegal activity we’ve proven has been 
committed within its walls. The land will be distributed to more worthy stewards. 
Once the council has received an appropriate number of applications, it will be 
announced the new stewards of your inn. Until then, it will be shut down by order 
of the council. This trial is dismissed.” 

There was an outcry from the audience, and the angry goons began to stand 
and shout. One pulled out something heavy and threw it at Billin. Aji was terrified 
for a moment, but then the brick stopped in midair, frozen. 

The man mage from before stepped out. The rioters stopped and quieted. 
 “You will all do me the favor of leaving my courtroom,” Billin said. The room 
was quiet for a moment. 

“I SAID THIS TRIAL IS OVER. LEAVE MY COURTROOM!” 

There was a ripple in the audience and the sulking goons all stood, and filed 
down the stairways and through the exitway. The larger man pulled Oggot up, 
who was glaring daggers at Billin and Aji. 

“Thank you for your testimony,” Billin said. “I apologize for putting you on 
the spot. I appreciate your honesty. I can’t say it as a councilman, but I also 
appreciate that you outed Oggot this way. Hopefully this will be an opportunity for 
our city to improve, and do away with our worst parts.” 

Aji grimaced. She supposed in a way she had been very helpful to knocking 
down Oggot. She hadn’t thought of that. It gave her a bit of courage. 

“Well, I don’t really want to do that again, but I guess you’re welcome for 
that time,” she said, trying to smile but just feeling awkward. 

Billin nodded. “And you’re here to testify for the Captain’s case as well? 
You’ve had a busy few days.” 

Aji nodded. “It’s been crazy,” she said. 

Billin looked at her. He seemed contemplative for a moment, then snapped 

out of it. “Captain Milwa will be here in a few minutes. You’ll be seated here, with 
the other witnesses.” 

Aji nodded and sat at the indicated spot. 

It became clear very quickly she was about to sit and wait for another 
extended period of time. She sighed and sat back for a minute. The mage retreated 
to another room, maybe he was following the rioters until they left the premises? 
That seemed like a wise move. A few janitorial members went around cleaning up 
the mess the goons had left behind. Aji wondered if they could even clean up 
everything before they had to get on with the next trial. Likely they would do what 
they could then warn the next group coming in to see Milwa’s trial? 
 Eventually, a few more came in. Snive was there, but he didn’t talk to Aji 
and sat on the other side of the room. He honestly looked completely unchanged 
by his experience and Aji quickly decided there was no final harm. The only real 
thing they were trying to achieve with Milwa’s trial was deciding how to keep her 
from doing further harm. Likely... Aji decided that might include locking her up. 

Aji also realized that a lot of the crewmembers came in. At first she thought 
they were just there to see the proceedings, but they were directed to sit near her, 
and all sat around. Most looked bored or uncomfortable. The frizzy haired girl, 
Haynai if Aji remembered correctly, sat right next to Aji. 

At first Aji felt somewhat uncomfortable, but Aji spoke up. 

“Sorry ya had ta get involved’n all this,” she said. “Me aunt a’int ‘erself lately. 
She’s been... gettin’ inta trouble.” 

Aji raised an eyebrow. Milwa was Haynai’s aunt. That explained why she 
was given so many responsibilities. It also explained why Haynai stayed with the 
crew despite the fact she seemed fairly normal and the others were lunatics. 
Either way, Aji suddenly felt a lot more empathy for her situation than she had 
before. 

“Oh. I imagine it’s not easy being in her crew right now,” Aji said, trying to 
be empathetic but feeling like it didn’t really come out right.  

“You a’int been here in the city long, ‘ave ya?” 

“No,” she said. “Just a few days. I was trying to make some money at the 
docks, I was just learning yesterday when... everything happened.” 

Haynai laughed. “Been havin’ fun ‘ere I see. I ‘ear ya had a run in with a 
sketchy type at an inn, too?” 

At first Aji wanted to ask where she’d heard that, but after realizing she’d 
just been in a public trial just a few minutes ago, she decided not to question it. A 
number of people could have told her about it. In reality, she was starting to realize 
she was probably some of the biggest news this small town had seen in a while. 

“Yeah, that wasn’t fun,” she said. “But they just finished the trial and 
hopefully we won’t see that slimeball again,” she smiled a bit. 
 Haynai laughed. “I think we kindred spirits. Thrown inta stuff we weren’t 
thinkin’ ‘bout til it hit. I didn’t really wanna be a sky sailor, but me aunt lost a 
lieutenant after a fight in a pub down by Ulchet, ‘n she ‘ad to take a delivery real 
quick. I tagged along for a single trip, but she didn’t ‘ave a mind to let me go back 
home after all that. Been keepin’ ‘er outta trouble ever since. Well, tryin’ to, 
anyway.” 

Aji sighed. It wasn’t exactly a pretty story, but it gave her a lot of respect for 
Haynai. 

“What will you do?” Aji asked. 

“Whaddaya mean?” Haynai asked back. 

“If... if your aunt gets put in prison? Do you just wait for her to get out?” 

“Depends on th’ sentence.” Haynai was watching as Billin began to lead 

some other officials to the stands. “If she a’int gonna be in there for longer’n a 
week, we’ll wait for ‘er. If not, we gotta deliver a load we been waitin’ to deliver 
since we got stuck ‘ere. We’ll set sail without ‘er and come back when she gets 
out.” 

Aji didn’t know much about sentence durations, but she decided while 
listening to Haynai’s tone it wasn’t likely they would be able to wait for her aunt. 

“So who’s going to be captain while she’s... er... not there?” Aji asked. She 
suddenly realized she might be prying, but the question had been asked, and 
Haynai began answering it anyway. 

“I s’pose the lieutenant, Tysso. He’s also our chef,” she explained. “Though 
he’s been wantin’ to skip out for a bit. Might take this as’n opportunity.” Aji 
realized she’d begun talking quietly. The other three crewmates were sitting a bit 
further down and Aji realized she didn’t want them knowing she was talking 
about them. 

Discord among the crewmates was a sign this crew wasn’t going to be 
together for much longer, especially considering it was a lieutenant that was 
planning to leave the crew.  

“How many of you would be left?” 

 Haynai sighed. “Just the three’v us. Me, Tib, ‘n Gibbers.” Aji decided Tib and 
Gibbers must have been the lanky twins’ names. “But who knows, maybe those 
two’d skip on us, too, without Tysso. We wouldn’t ‘ave a cook, that’s for sure. N’ I’m 
no good in the kitchen.” Aji realized this must be the first time in a while Haynai 
had been able to talk about her troubles. That made her feel good. Being 
approachable was something she liked. 

“I’m sure it’ll all work out,” Aji reassured. 

Haynai sighed. “Thanks,” she said. 

Billin broke in at that moment. Milwa had been dragged, moping, into the 
room. She wasn’t like Oggot, protesting, but she looked absolutely miserable. 

“We have all we need to begin. Thank you all for your attendance. We will 
now begin the trial for Captain Milwa, travelling freight deliverer and captain of 
the S.S. Skystreak III, which is currently under construction in wake of the 
untimely destruction of her previous vessel, the S.S. Skystreak.” 

Aji frowned. It seemed odd they’d skp straight to the Skystreak III instead of 
the Skystreak II. 

“Me uncle separated to double their profits with the Skystreak II,” Haynai 
whispered. Aji nodded. That made sense. “That’s when me aunt started getting 
crazy. I dunno, but I think it’s the leadership that took ‘er the wrong way.” 

The story was starting to piece together. The two set off as a young couple, 
got a nice crew, then separated to increase their profits, but Milwa didn’t realize 
how much her husband had been doing until she was on her own, and slowly lost 
her mind. 

Aji really liked the name of the boat, though. 

The trial went about as planned. Snive hammed up his injury, though he 
was clearly fine, if not slightly shaken, Milwa called him rude names, and Haynai 
tried to testify about her aunt, telling what she knew about her, and not seeming to 
know if she wanted Milwa to get a harsh or a light sentence for her actions. Billin 
questioned them on Milwa’s past history with criminal convictions, the actual 
encounter with Snive, the fight, and there was a brief explanation of how they 
ended up okay after the Phoenix appeared. 

Billin didn’t say anything the whole time, just gathering the witness 
accounts of what happened. 

Finally, it came to Aji’s testimony. ​Why am I always last? S

​ he wondered 
briefly. ​Is it more interesting for the plot or something? 

She smiled to herself at her witty fourth-wall break and stood, approaching 
the stand where Billin was waiting for her. 

“You were an eyewitness of the Captain’s attack on Snive. Explain to me 

what happened, starting from the beginning.” 

Aji nodded. She felt Snive and Milwa’s eyes on her. She knew she had to be 
completely neutral or she’d anger one of them. 

She took a breath and began. 

“I was with Snive. It was my first day as a dock worker, and he was... 
teaching me about the boats on the docks. Milwa recognized us as she was 
returning to where her new boat was being built. She was frustrated, I assume 
because of the situation with her boat. She and Snive began to trade insults. Both 
were saying rude things. I believe it was Milwa who first attempted to use force 
after Snive said something especially rude. I tried to break them up, but Snive ran 
off and Milwa followed after him.” 

“And what means did you use to break them up?” Billin asked. He didn’t 
elaborate on exactly why he thought that was important, but Aji figured it 
wouldn’t hurt to answer. 

“I spun them around,” she explained. “I might have kicked them away from 
each other. Some bits of the fight are hazy, I fainted at the end, so some parts are... 
less vivid than others.” 

Billin nodded. “You fainted? Continue. I wasn’t aware of that part.” 

She nodded. “It was then that Snive tried to get away in a little boat. It was 
one of the little ones they use to go out and meet bigger boats... a skiff? I think so. 
Like I said, I’m new at this job. They kept insulting each other for a little bit, but 
then Milwa jumped to the skiff.” 

“Impressive,” Billin muttered. 

“It was,” Aji admitted before continuing. “They started fighting on the boat. 
Milwa was trying to force Snive off the boat but he was holding on tightly. I tried 
to get them to come back on land, but they weren’t listening so I took a chain 
hanging off the dock and tried to hook it from far away. I missed once or twice, but 
I managed to hook them after a while and tried to pull them in.” 

“Also very impressive,” Billin said, raising an eyebrow. 

Aji wasn’t sure what to say. “Thank you?” She felt awkward. After a brief 
pause, she continued. “I started pulling them in, but Milwa began trying to unhook 
the boat.” 

“Why would she worry about that?” Billin asked. 

“I can’t say for sure,” Aji said. She was convinced it was because Milwa 
didn’t want to be interfered with while she ripped off Snive’s arms, but she wasn’t 
about to say that on trial, especially with Milwa watching. 

“I see. Go on,” Billin urged. 

“Yes, erm... yes. So after a while she did unhook it, and I lost my balance, 
since I’d been pulling on the chain very hard. That made me fall backwards, and 
actually over the edge. I managed to wrap the chains around my hands and feet, 
so I was able to stay up without falling. At the same time, the skiff flipped, and 
Snive managed to hang on since he was already trying to stay in the boat, but 
Milwa fell. She got tangled in my chain, by some miracle. It was then that some 
other dock workers, Pitt and Jitters, managed to get over to where we were and 
they tried to pull us up.” 

“Very lucky,” Billin said. 

Aji was somewhat tired of Billin’s interjections, but continued. “Yes. 

Unfortunately that was when the Phoenix showed up. It got angry at us, and blew 
us back on land. After that, I fainted, so if anything else happened I wouldn’t be 
able to help.” 
 “The Phoenix was angry with you?” 

“Well, erm... the sky is its territory,” Aji ventured. Was something wrong 
with what she said? “And there were people fighting in it. I’d imagine it’s similar 
to how you feel about brawls in your streets, erm... sir.” 

Billin didn’t respond to that one. Aji waited there for a second, feeling 
awkward. “I... um. I’m afraid that’s all I really know about the situation.” 

“Yes, right,” Billin said. “You are excused. Thank you for your testimony.” 

Aji nodded slowly, then returned to her seat. Why did she feel weird about 
the way Billin reacted to the part with the Phoenix? She sat quietly and watched 
him. 

“Thank you for all of your testimonies today,” Billin said after a moment of 
silence. The owl paced the podium for a while, as if thinking. What was there to 
this case? Milwa was clearly guilty of assault. Maybe it was the severity of the 
crime (and therefore punishment) Billin was trying to decide? 

Aji sat quietly. She felt Haynai tapping her foot nervously. 

Finally, Billin stood straight, and turned to face Milwa. She looked sour and 
unhappy but didn’t protest the way Oggot did. “Captain Milwa of the S.S. Skystreak 
III, I have decided your sentence. We have convincing evidence that you did, in 
fact, commence a brawl with Snive, and that you attempted to throw him over the 
boat. You and Snive would both be guilty of disturbance of the peace, if it had been 
in a public place. But because you were not in a public place, I will waive both 
charges. Captain Milwa, you are guilty of attempted murder.” 

There was a hush around the courtroom. Aji felt her lips tighten. She did... 
actually attempt murder, she supposed. Throwing Snive off the edge would have 
killed him. 

There was no way this sentence would be small. 

“You are sentenced to incarceration here in Hibbsbot, and your case and 
verdict will be sent to the city you are registered as native to, and you will stay 
here in Hibbsbot until an envoy from said city comes and takes you away from 
here. If they do not arrive in ten years’ time, you will be ejected from the city. You 
are never to return to Hibbsbot from the moment you step foot off it, whether to 
receive punishment from your native city or being ejected after the ten years’ 
incarceration. If any wish to challenge this sentence, of attempted murder, we can 
reopen the trial only in the case of new information relating to the sentence. 
Thank you all for your participation today. That will be all.” 

And it was over. 

Aji was staring into the distance. She knew this was the best, but it still left 
a sour taste in her mouth. Something about Milwa struck her as crazy but not 
intentionally malicious. She still shouldn’t have done the things she did, and she 
was a danger to society, but... it didn’t feel good. 

People began filing out of the room. Aji didn’t want to talk to Snive so she 
specifically walked slowly out. The crewmates walked over to where Milwa was. 
They had to discuss business. 

As she was leaving, the squirrel tapped her arm, getting her attention. 
“Umm, miss? I’m sorry, I was meant to get you to sign some forms before the trial, 
but you were needed before I had them ready. Will you come with me?” 

Aji sighed. This was probably against protocol, but she hadn’t lied and had 
no problem signing that everything she’d said was the whole truth as far as she 
was aware, so she followed the squirrel man to the front desk where he pulled out 
a myriad of forms. To her frustration, she realized that she didn’t understand any 
of them, like the plaques at the shrine. 

“Umm... I’m sorry, I can’t read,” she said. “Can you tell me what they say?” 

The squirrel looked confused. “You can’t read? But... you seemed so... 
intelligent,” he said. 

Aji bit her lip. She wasn’t sure if she was offended or flattered, so she 
decided not to comment on it. 

“I just... never learned.” she said. It was a lie. She knew how to read. Just not 
this writing, whatever it was. 

The squirrel nodded, and began to read the pages. They were, as Aji 
suspected, about swearing to truthfulness, but as it came time to sign, she realized 
she had no idea how to write her name, at least in these symbols. And if she pulled 
out the other kind of writing she knew... it wouldn’t look good. 

“Do you know how to write your name?” the squirrel asked. Aji shook her 
head. 

“Aji, correct?” The squirrel made some marks on a scrap piece of paper, then 
handed her the odd writing utensil. It had a feather on the back, but the actual nib 
was metal. She felt it was an odd thing to do, but she put it on the paper, and 
managed to copy the marks in the indicated spots on the legal paperwork. 

“You have a steady hand for someone who’s never written before,” the 
squirrel noted, taking the papers. 

“I’ve always had a steady hand,” she said. “My mom taught me to draw.” 

Aji’s own eyes widened, wondering where she’d remembered that bit of 
information. It was true, her mother loved drawing, and she’d taught Aji to do it 
when she was younger. She was pretty good at it. 

But she still couldn’t remember her mother’s face. 

The squirrel raised an eyebrow. “She didn’t teach you to read, too?” 

“No,” Aji said. “She couldn’t read either, or she would have.” 

Of course she was referring to the language this squirrel was asking her to 
read, her mother taught her to read something, just not this. 

As she finished the paperwork, she was racking her brain trying to 
remember more bits and pieces of information when she saw the crewmates 
leaving. To her surprise, Haynai wasn’t part of them. The twins were saying 
something to Tysso, the chef/lieutenant. At first Aji was confused, but then the 
situation dawned on her as she watched. 

She decided to wait and see if Haynai came out. 

She eventually did, walking slowly, dejected. 

“How are you doing?” Aji asked her, and fell into step beside her. 
 “Well, you know, me Aunt decided ta get ‘erself tossed in a cell fer ten years, 
the lieutenant decided ta skip on us, ‘n I gotta get a load over to the next town over, 
Gimmlet, in a week. I’ve been better,” she muttered. 

Aji bit her lip. What do you say to that? 

Haynai sighed. “Thanks fer waitin’ fer me. I needed someone ta talk to.” 

Aji nodded. They left the building. 

“So after the ship gets finished you need to go and bring that shipment over 
to... Gimmlet?” 

“Yea,” Haynai said. “It’s just that town over there,” she explained, pointing. 
The council building was a bit higher up than the rest of the town, so Aji was able 
to see that it was the nearest town over, in the direction Aji had come from. She’d 
probably stayed there when she’d been on her way over. 

She sighed. She couldn’t remember anything about it. It seemed, at the very 
least, the memories closest to when she’d lost her memory had been the least 
potent. Not that her old ones were terribly clear. At least things were starting to 
come back, she supposed. 

“Well, at least it’s not too far away,” Aji noted. 

“Yea, we thought ‘bout takin’ the ship straight there when we was gettin’ 
towed back in, but the tugboat said they wasn’t gonna risk it. Still, we can’t jus’ 
walk it there on the highway, we needs a boat. And few ‘re gonna let us jus’ take 
their boat, even if ‘tis just ta the next town over. So we gotta wait for the new one.” 

Aji nodded. That was a bit of a mess. Still, at the very least they could make 
it over quickly once their ship was ready to sail. 

“We’ve been hurrying the ship, you should be ready to set sail in a few days 
at most. Maybe even tomorrow, if it goes well!” 

Haynai snorted. “Not without another crewmate or two. The twins ‘n I can’t 
sail it on our own. We got two lookers, makin’ sure we got enough space ‘n we 
a’int gonna hit somethin’ in the air, see. That’s the twins mosta the time. Then I 
s’pose I’ll be at the helm, mannin’ the engines ‘n whatnot, but we also need 
someone for lookout, they can see a bit better’n me, ‘n they can help steer the sails. 
The twins ‘n me could be makin’ it ta Gimmlet, I’m sure, we’ve sailed with three 
b’fore when a few came down with the aches, but we a’int gonna get ourselves 
cleared to set sail without at least one other in the crew.” 

Aji frowned. That definitely wasn’t a good situation. “Where would you even 
start to look for a crew member?” 

“We gotta head to a port. The nearest one’s in Dimmelkup. Skyfarers look for 
work there. Sometimes you find a sailor or two in Gimmlet, they ain’t as small as 
this ‘ere town, but it wouldn’t be sure.” Haynai was clearly trying to figure it out. 

And that is when it hit Aji. One more crew member... 

“What if I went with you?” Aji asked. 

“I...” Haynai looked perplexed. She hadn’t even considered it. “But you barely 
been working at the docks for a few days!” she said. 

“Well... sure. But I really just needed somewhere to get some money and 
have somewhere to stay. I’m sure Dond wouldn’t mind if I just helped finish your 
ship then I left with you. Your ship is the reason he hired me, you know.” 

Haynai frowned. “Well... if ya can... that works,” she realized. “You could be 
the lookout! I’d just need to teach ya to steer, n’ if ya don’t feel good for it, I can do 
the steerin’ if ya do the lookin’... we could at least get ‘er to Gimmlet. Then, I mean, 
you’re a traveller, right? Maybe ya’d find your own way after Gimmlet, or after we 
find another crew member, I s’pose... but if ya could... thanks so much!” Haynai’s 
eyes filled with relief. “You’ll really do it?” 

Aji nodded. “I... yeah. At least to Gimmlet. I might head on my own way after 
then, but I’ve been thinking of returning there!” 

“Thank you, thank you!” Haynai said. “I’d better be for telling the twins. 
Listen, I’ll meet ya at the docks tomorrow. If the ship’s been close to bein’ done I’ll 
show ya the way ‘round ‘er. If not, I guess you’ll be for helpin’ fix it, as well.” 

Aji grinned. The way Haynai ran ahead, after the twins, a spring in her 
step... it made Aji feel good. 
 And Gimmlet was the last city Aji would have passed through. She might be 
able to find someone to tell her which way she’d come from. Then she’d be able to 
follow those clues until she finally found her home. 

She skipped along herself, heading back to the docks. She’d miss this place, 
it was the only place she really remembered. 

But she was going home.   

 Chapter 5: The Preparations 
Pitt’s eye twitched as he bit his lip. 

“She’s... leaving?” 

The crewmates of Milwa’s ship had returned after the trial. Unfortunately, 
only three had actually returned. The twins had seemed dejected, apparently their 
captain had been sentenced to ten years, and their cook had left after that. Now 
they needed someone to join so they could at least finish their latest delivery, and 
there were very few looking for that kind of work in Hibbsbot. 

That was when Haynai, the frizzy-haired one had appeared, and told them 
that Aji had agreed to join them. 

Pitt and Jitters had just been working on the boat, unsure of whether or not 
it would be used, and wondering at their pickle until that had happened. Both were 
surprised by the news. 

Pitt’s heart began to sink. 

“Yes! She ‘greed to ‘elp us out as our fourth member! A’int it great! I dunno if 
she’s gonna stay with us after all that, but she ‘eard we was headin’ to Gimmlet ‘n 
said she was thinkin’ of goin home, an’ that was on the way! We’ll ‘ave enough to 
make a crew once this ‘ere boat is done.” 

Jitters shot Pitt a look. “She’s, er... headin’ home, you said?” 

Haynai nodded. “Sounded like it.” 

“We’ll... miss ‘er, I guess.” 

The crewmates carried on laughing and chatting,  

Pitt took in a breath and then started working again. He tried to drown out 
the voices of the celebrating skyfarers. This was good for them. They were going 
to make their delivery, they could get to a bigger port to be able to seek out more 
help sailing, and they got to ride around with Aji for a few days... 

But for Pitt... 

 He tried to think about fitting the boards together so the skystones could be 
fit in correctly, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Aji. 

He knew she would leave eventually, he just didn’t know she would leave 
so soon. Maybe... maybe it was for the best. He’d been obsessed with her ever since 
she’d appeared, and hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her. Maybe it would 
help him be more realistic after she left. Of course she wasn’t going to stay there. 

Pitt and Jitters worked on, and the twins and Haynai helped out when they 
could. They were sailors, not boat builders. Good thing, too, because they weren’t 
very good at it. 

Finally, Aji appeared. She approached from the direction of the barracks, 
meaning she probably had already spoken with Dond about the whole situation. 

“Aji,” Jitters said as she approached. Pitt wanted to smile at her, but he 
wasn’t sure he could. He pretended to be extremely focused on what he was doing, 
as if he hadn’t noticed her. 

“Hello,” she said. “I spoke with Dond, and he agreed that once the ship was 
done I’d be fine to go with you to Gimmlet.” She was speaking to the crewmates, 
but kind of directing it to Jitters and Pitt. She wasn’t sure what Haynai had told 
them yet, so she wanted to make sure they knew. 

Pitt dusted off his hands. “So... you’re eh... headin’ off, then?” 

Aji looked at him. She could tell he didn’t like it. “I am. They need an extra 
crew member to make it to Gimmlet, and I was thinking of going back there 
anyway. I figured it would be best to go with them, since I was planning on going 
there eventually, anyway. I... I did want to stay longer, but... I...” 

“No, don’t worry,” Pitt said. He gave her a forced smile, and somehow he felt 
it might have even been somewhat convincing. “We’ll jus’ miss ya. That’s all.” 

He wasn’t sure what else to say, and neither did she. “So... I’d better help 
with this ship. What can I help with?” 

Jitters nodded to the hull. “‘Ere, no sense’n teachin’ ya how to do ever’thing, 

I’ve already measured this board, c’mere ‘n I’ll teach ya to hammer it on.” 
 Pitt watched her as Jitters showed her how to hammer the board into the 
hull. He shook his head trying to clear his thoughts, then continued working. 
Somehow, though, every nail he hammered into the hull felt like it was being 
hammered into his own heart. 

The ship would probably be completed in two days. Luckily for them, Milwa 
was no longer involved in the process and that was plenty timely for Haynai and 
her new crew. The third day they’d be able to set sail. They’d need a few things to 
prepare for the journey. First, they’d need to restock supplies. They didn’t have 
food for the night’s journey to Gimmlet, nor did they have anyone that could cook 
it. They also needed fuel. They would get one full tank before going to Gimmlet, 
and though it was a journey, that, according to Haynai, would take much less than 
a tank of fuel, it was always wise to have at least one backup tank onboard.  

Aji needed to work on the ship with Pitt and Jitters, but Haynai and the 
twins were in charge of finding the rest. Haynai had decided to first visit her aunt 
in the cell. 

“Look who decided ta show ‘er face,” Milwa muttered as Haynai entered. 
Haynai grimaced. She knew her aunt was furious, and she hoped to appease her. 
Milwa was led to a table where Haynai could sit across from her. They were in a 
guarded room to make sure Milwa didn’t try anything. There wasn’t much point, 
though. Running from the law of an island was essentially suicide. There isn’t 
really anywhere for a fugitive to go most of the time.  

“Sorry, I was tryin’ ta prepare to take the load ta Gimmlet. We’ll be headin’ 
off soon,” Haynai said. “I’m sorry ya can’t come along.” 

Milwa scoffed. “T’ain’t ya fault. I’m the only one I ‘ave ta blame.” 

Haynai didn’t disagree but she didn’t dare agree either. “Well... maybe they’ll 
send for someone ta come’n getcha?” 

Milwa shook her head. Her head had normally been covered in a large 
captain’s hat, but it was now bare. Somehow without it Milwa just looked sad. 
Haynai felt a pang in her chest. Her aunt was a lunatic but she was still her aunt 
and she wished she could do something for her. “There’s not a chance they’ll send 
for me. Maybe I’ll get Ollo ta come’n visit me when ‘e’s around, but there’s not a 
chance anyone official-like’ll want ta deal with me.” 

It was true. Maybe it was a little unfair for Haynai to give her false hope. She 
felt bad for her aunt. 

“Well, maybe I’ll take the crew’n come pay ya a visit every once in a while,” 
Haynai said. “I s’pose I’ll be captain for the next mo’,” she noted. 

Milwa laughed. The thought of her niece as captain was somewhat comical 
to her, but even as she did, she realized she liked that idea. Her niece, captain of a 
ship, sailing the skies and having adventures. Milwa realized she didn’t know 
anyone else she’d rather be the captain of her ship. 

“You’ll be a great captain,” Milwa said. 

Haynai frowned. Was that... encouragement? Not characteristic of her aunt. 

“Thanks,” she said, unsure of what else to say. “I’ll try’n do ya proud.” 

Aji’s hand slipped and she almost fell over. Tightening the big bolts they 
used to fasten in the skystones was difficult. It was also odd because the things 
floated, and tightening them was only possible because the floating boat was now 
anchored down. Unfortunately that meant Aji had to figure out how to twist the 
bolt without making the boat jostle. She wasn’t having a very good time with it. 

“No worries, it’s a bit odd tryin’a tighten these.” Jitters tried to sound hopeful 
but dealing with skystones was difficult work. There was no way she would be 
terribly good at it before she left. 

“It’s just so weird,” Aji muttered. Pitt was expertly tightening the other end 
of the long, gray stone without much effort at all. “How do you do it?” she asked, 
leaning on the floating boat and panting a little bit. 

Pitt looked over. “It’s just practice, don’t worry,” he said. He looked back to 
the boat. 

He seemed oddly distant. Aji didn’t really like it. He’d been the encouraging 
one before. Aji liked that about him. He’d always seemed so positive before. 
 And now it was like talking to a brick wall. 

Aji sighed and put her weight on the wrench differently. Sighing, she 
gingerly twisted the wrench, shifting her weight as she went around. Slowly she 
made it all the way around, tightening it. 

“There we go,” Jitters said, giving the skystone a nudge to test its stability. 
“That done worked out, didn’t it?” 

Aji sighed and slid down until she was seated on the ground, panting. 
“Thank goodness,” she muttered. “I thought we’d never be able to figure that out.” 

Pitt sat down himself. “Well, we got it,” he said, grinning at her. 

Aji smiled back, but Pitt looked away as soon as she made eye contact. He 
looked sad. She sighed. She had to deal with this hunk of wood and skystone, and 
that was enough stress for the next few days, but she knew Pitt was sad she was 
leaving. He’d done a lot to help her out, maybe he felt unappreciated? She didn’t 
want him to feel like she didn’t appreciate what he’d done. He’d been the reason 
she hadn’t gone crazy trying to figure out who she was all this time. Not that she 
wasn’t appreciative of Dond, and Jitters, and Tyri, and Miny, but he was the one 
that had reached out to her after her ordeal at Oggot’s inn, he’d tried to help her 
learn to read, and he had always been encouraging and friendly, something that 
was invaluable in this strange place. 

She wished she could stay, but she couldn’t just sit around and forget about 
her past. At least not while she had a chance to retrace her steps at Gimmlet. She 
had to do this. Besides, she couldn’t just abandon Haynai after she opened up to 
her the way she did. This was the right thing for her to do. 

Wasn’t it? 

Despite her initial decision, and all of the sense it made, something was 
nagging at her. Why did something about this feel so wrong? 

She sighed and stood. Either way she needed to finish this ship. 

 
 That night, they went out to get something to eat. Haynai and the twins 
decided to join Tyri, Aji, and Miny. For some reason Pitt and Jitters decided not to 
go. Aji didn’t like that, but didn’t know what to do about it, exactly. The place was 
in the market but near the edges, so the crowds weren’t as thick. The server was 
an owl woman who served soups and rolls. Aji had gotten past not knowing what 
things were made of and just accepted whatever others recommended, since it 
was easier and just as reliable as trying to figure out what they were. 

“So how did it go?” Aji asked Haynai. “Did you get everything we need?” 

“Well, sorta,” Haynai said, sighing. “We do ‘ave a bit of a hitch.” 

Aji raised an eyebrow. Haynai took a bite of her roll, which she’d been 
soaking in the broth of her soup. Haynai sighed. “The pro’lem is we ca’int be 
headin’ off without some sorta food. We could leave without one, but me’n the 
twins a’int cooks. We couldn’t buy the more affordable ingredients, we’d ‘aveta buy 
the stuff already cooked, n’ we a’int got much more money after gettin’ the fuel 
and the tools we need on the ship. I’m not sure exactly what we can do ‘bout all 
that.” 

Aji frowned. “So we would need a cook? Would it be less expensive to buy 
food for another person if they could cook?” 

Haynai nodded. “If’n they can cook good, I’d be able to buy much cheaper o’ 
food. It’d be worth it if we had ta feed three more mouths ‘n one of ‘em can cook.” 

At first Aji didn’t think she’d be too much help, but then something clicked. 
“Actually, I might know of someone who knows how to cook.” 

Haynai looked surprised. “You know ‘bout a cook who’d come with us?” 

Aji frowned. “Well, I know of a cook. I don’t know if he’d really be interested 
in coming with us but I can go talk to him. Maybe we can go over before work 
tomorrow? Then we can finish the ship and everything will be ready for us to 
leave the next day.” 

Haynai considered it. “Well... I s’pose it can’t hurt ta check.” 

“Great,” Aji said. “I’ll meet you early in the morning and I’ll take you to him.” 
 Tyri elbowed Aji. “So what kinda party are ya thinkin’ of having t’morrow 
night? Y’know, ta send ya off?” 

Aji frowned. She did want something, at least so she could say goodbye to 
the people that had helped her out so much, but as she thought, she realized she 
had no idea what kind of thing Tyri and the others would have expected.  

“I don’t know, what do you think we could do?” 

Tyri grinned. “A fire at the docks, maybe? I’m sure Naia’d be able ta find 
some sorta meat to roast up there. It’d be a right way ta send ya off. I’m sure they’d 
be willing, what with you sendin’ off Oggot the way ya did, n’ all the fun we had in 
these past few days.” 

Aji smiled warmly. These people were the kind of people everyone wished 
they had in their life. She almost wished she could stay. “That sounds amazing,” 
she said. 

But she had to find her family. 

Pitt didn’t know what to do. 

He liked Aji a lot, and it was driving him insane. He hadn’t even been able to 
speak to her or look her in the eye all day. He was glad Jitters had recognized the 
need and taken over teaching her what she needed to know, because he wasn’t 
sure he’d be able to with the state he was in. He even decided to skip dinner just to 
avoid talking to her. Jitters had decided to stay behind to keep him company. The 
two were pacing around the docks as the sky darkened. 

“You should tell ‘er how ya feel,” Jitters said. 

“Why in the deuce would I say somethin’ like that?” Pitt asked, incredulous. 
“Ya know she’s gotta leave. I’ll just make ‘er feel bad is all, ‘n I don’t like that.” 

“I don’t mean to try’n keep ‘er here,” Jitters explained. He kicked a rock, and 
it bounced off a metal chain’s anchor to the docks. “I mean in case she’s ever 
gonna come back. I get it, she a’int gonna stay right now, but ya a’int exactly an 
old man. Maybe she jus’... wanted ta see ‘em again. Maybe it’s just for a holiday or 
somethin’. Maybe she’ll set off again later. ‘N, if ‘er home didn’t keep ‘er in the first 
time, I’d say she’d set off travellin’ again sometime. And maybe when she’s ready 
ta settle down she’ll head back ‘ere and find ya.” 

Pitt sighed. “Don’t say that sorta thing. Ya know what the chances of that 
kinda thing are.” 

“Ya wouldn’t like ta see ‘er again, if it does happen to work that way?” 

Pitt didn’t respond for a second. “I jus’... I a’int gonna forget ‘er, but I’m 
startin’ ta... obsess, a bit. I can barely focus on anythin’, just knowin’ she a’int 
gonna stay. Imagine if I was waitin’ for ‘er to come back? I’d be like this the rest of 
my life.” 

Jitters sighed. 

Suddenly, they heard the chatter of girls talking, and they realized that the 
rest were coming back from dinner. The two immediately reversed direction, 
aiming towards the barracks. That way they could pretend they were actually 
doing something, not just avoiding them. 

At first they thought they would beat them to the barracks and avoid a 
confrontation, but before they could reach safety, Tyri shouted their names and 
they had to turn and acknowledge the group. 

“Ey, why didn’t ya come eat with us? Ya had some other kinda food?” Tyri 
approached them from behind while they slowed so that the other group could 
catch up. 

In reality, they hadn’t eaten anything. Jitters was starving, but he was 
worried about Pitt, and didn’t want to leave him alone. Pitt hadn’t really eaten 
much lately, and he was starting to worry. 

“We just, eh, stopped by Allo’s for some quick buns. I wasn’t really all that 
hungry,” Pitt said, not really turning as the posse caught up behind him. “Wanted 
ta look at a few ‘o the new ships comin’ in.” 

Jitters frowned, looking at his friend. He was trying so hard to move on, but 
he could tell it wasn’t good for him. He sighed. He couldn’t really force anything. 
 “Listen, we’re gonna talk to Naia ‘bout a party tomorrow, ya know, ta send 
off Aji right,” Tyri said, stepping between them. “Ya a’int gonna step off to Allo’s 
tomorrow ‘n look at borin’ old ships, are ya?” 

Pitt looked unsure. He looked like he was going to refuse for a second, but 
then Aji spoke up. 

“Yeah, I really wanted to do something with you before I have to leave,” she 
said. “You’ve got to come tomorrow.” 

Jitters decided he had to intervene. “We’ll be there, don’t ya worry. Sounds 

like a load o’ fun, I say.” 

Pitt finally turned. “Yeah, waddaya think, we’re gonna miss that?” 

Jitters almost sighed in relief. Maybe there was hope for him. 

The next day Aji set off early. 

Haynai and the twins were sleeping in a guest barracks nearby, so she met 
with Haynai outside their barracks before heading out towards the other end of 
town. 

“So where’s this cook ya mean ta take along?” 

“He’s actually the first person I met here,” Aji said. “He’s talkative, out on the 
rest stop before the town. When I walked in we started talking, and he said he’d 
like to travel but couldn’t afford it. Well, maybe as a chef he’d like to come along. 
He’s a crocodile named Uggs.” 

Haynai frowned. For a minute Aji feared there was something wrong with 
crocodiles, or maybe a rest stop cook wasn’t good enough, but to her relief, Haynai 
finally nodded. “Y’know, it might just work out. Let’s go ‘n see if he’s up to it.” 

They walked out past the residential area, the shrine, and the markets. The 
crisp morning air was beautiful, and everything was still as the first twinklings of 
mornings shone in the sky. There wasn’t a sun bue there was a clear transition 
between day and night, so Aji didn’t feel the change too much, but she distinctly 
remembered that in her world there was a light that rose up in the east called the 
sun, and it set in the west, creating the day and night, but here it just seemed that 
the sky got brighter and then it got darker. 

It worked for Aji, at least for the moment. 

They walked down and onto the thin highway leading out into the sky. 

Aji did not feel comfortable on it. The deep expanse below her was 
terrifying, and if she didn’t have a destination she’d never go anywhere near these 
roads. Still the same, she was surprised to see that Haynai was even more petrified 
by the feel. 

“So this is what it’s like on a ‘ighway,” she whispered, standing very close to 
the center of the road, stepping closely behind Aji. “How do ya get b’tween cities on 
this thing. It’s horrifying.” 

Aji frowned. In reality she didn’t know how she did it. “It’s not fun. That’s 
why I wanted to go with you on your ship. I’m considering trying to find ships all 
the way home.” 

Haynai nodded and followed. “I’d advise that,” she muttered. “I don’t much 
like this.” 

“I don’t either, but I think Uggs will be a great chef for us if he wants to 
come.” 

Haynai didn’t complain further and the two walked down the terrifying 
highway suspended in the sky, approaching the booth where Aji’s memories 
began. 

Setting up shop inside, likely having set out not long before the two girls, 
Yoot and Uggs were inside the booth. When Uggs saw Aji, his grin spread wide. 

“Ey, finally settin’ off are we?” Uggs said. “And ya found a friend?” 

“Sort of,” Aji said. “Uggs, this is Haynai, she’s a new captain of a ship.” 

“Pleased to meet ya,” the crocodile said, stepping out from behind the 
counter. “Is there some way I can be o’ service?” 
 “Well, yes,” Haynai said. “Y’see, me aunt was the captain, but she got into 
some trouble...” 

“Ah, yea, I was hearin’ ‘bout ya auntie,” Uggs said. “She’s a ‘been locked up, 
eh? Not exactly a treat for ya crew, I’ll bet.” 

“Not at all,” Haynai said. “A nightmare, if anythin’.” 

“I’ll bet,” Uggs chuckled. “And now ya gotta be a cap’n?” 

“That’s the way it happened,” Haynai said, sighing. “But, see, there was a 
lieutenant. Problem’s that ‘e bailed on us when me auntie got locked up. He was 
also our chef.” 

“Ahh,” Uggs said. “I see what ya mean comin’ ‘ere today. Siddown,” he said. 
“I’ll treat ya to a donut for coming out ‘ere.” 

The two girls sat. Uggs fired up his fryer and started making their food. 

“See, I’ma tell ya girls a story,” Uggs said. “I actually used ta be a traveller 
like you are, girlie. I took the highways, see. That’s why this ‘ere rest stop’s a 
perfect place for me ta set up shop. I knew ‘ow nice it was when ya found someone 
else on the highways, ‘n I a’int got qualms spendin’ time ‘ere. Still, it weren’t easy 
bein’ a traveller. Sometimes they didn’t take kind to gators like me. Still don’t, 
some. See in parts where I lived as a lad, there were lotsa gators, but I a’int seen 
one for years ‘round ‘ere. At first I kinda thought ‘bout goin’ home, but somethin’ 
bout the highways seemed to lose its savor. Boats a’int gonna get me far before my 
wallet’s gone, too. I just wanted a home. That’s why I settled ‘ere, kids. And though 
life as a sailor does sound like an adventure my life a’int seen in a mo’, I gotta 
refuse ya ladies. I’m an old gator. I can’t be travelling like you ladies ‘re doin. I say 
leave it to the young.” 

The two girls nodded as Uggs put a cheese donut in front of them, and they 
began to eat. “I didn’t know you were a traveller,” Aji said. “You sounded like you 
hadn’t travelled much when we first met,” she noted. 

“Well, all have secrets. O’, maybe jus’ things we a’int gonna mention. I’ll 
imagine you’ve got your own,” he said. Aji shuddered for some reason at that. 
 “Well, do ya know where I could find a cook for me ship, then?” she asked 
Uggs. 

Uggs frowned. “Well... ya a’int gonna find many types willing to set out 
without some time to prepare. When’s shove off day?” 

“Tomorrow,” Aji said, feeling forlorn. 

Uggs grimaced. “I dunno if’n ya gonna find anyone ready to pack up and set 
off tomorrow. Truth be told, I don’t really even know if it’s smart to spend a lotta 
time tryin’. I might send ya swingin by the market if I thought there was a chance, 
but I can’t say I think there will be, see.” 

Haynai sighed. “I thought as much. Aji just mentioned ya might be 

interested so I thought it was worth a shot. I s’pose when we get to Gimmlet I 
could...” 

“Uggs,” a voice interrupted. To everyone’s surprise, it was Yoot. “Do ya... do 
ya really need me ‘ere in the booth?” 

Uggs frowned. “If yer askin’ for the day off, I don’t think it’s the time ta...” 

“No, I mean, what if I was their cook?” Yoot asked. “I can work this ‘ere 
machine just as good as you can. I could make ‘em foods. That’s if you don’t... if ya 
can take care of the booth without me.” 

“Son,” Uggs said. “If I need someone ta help me out, I’ll find ‘em. Lotsa kids 
need work these days. If ya think the life on the sky’s for ya, take the chance. Not 
many come lookin’ for crew here in Hibbsbot.” 

Yoot looked surprised. “You mean you’ll...” 

“O’course,” Uggs said. “You’ll make a great chef. Though ya might wanna 
learn a bit more’n donuts if ya don’t want an obese crew, I say,’ he chuckled. 

There was silence for a moment. 

“Is it what ya want, Yoot?” 

 Yoot nodded. “Look, I’ve heard a lotta yer stories, Uggs, ‘n I a’int sayin’ much 
‘cause I a’int seen nothin’... I think I wanna go’n see the world.” Yoot looked 
sincere. “I wanna go with ‘em.” 

Uggs nodded. He grinned to Yoot. “Then ya’d better be for packin’. I’d better 
send ya back with these ‘ere ladies. Listen, it’s been good makin’ donuts with ya. 
I’ll be there tomorrow mornin’ ta see ya off, you go on. I’ll man this ‘ere booth.” 

Yoot looked surprised but excited. “Thanks, Uggs. I’ll miss this ‘ere little 
booth.” 

“Yeah, yeah, hurry along, ya got a lot ta do if you’s thinkin’ of headin’ off 
tomorrow mornin’.” 

Aji and Haynai shared a look. It was all coming together. 

The prisons were quiet that night. 

A mage was always in the prisons, normally sitting and waiting while other 
guards patrolled the halls. Normally there were two, and if they needed the mage 
they’d call for their help. It actually wasn’t terribly dangerous, the prisoners were 
all unarmed and locked away, especially during the night, and trying to escape 
prison always ended badly. There was nowhere for them to go. The prisons were 
in the basement under the courtrooms, and it was often cold. 

In a cell near the corner of a hallway, Oggot was seated on a bed, fiddling 
with his thumbs. He rarely slept during the early parts of the night. The guards 
didn’t really care about him that much, he was a defunct owner of an inn. The inn 
wasn’t actually his in the first place. He’d won it off a bet with the owner. 
Everyone knew it was only a matter of time before he’d lost it again, he was a 
terrible owner. 

Unfortunately, he was well beloved among the slimier residents of Hibbsbot. 

They could often do illegal things in his inn, and as long as they didn’t get on his 
bad side he wouldn’t rat them out. It had become a hive for scumbags, and there 
was even a small black market there. 
 So it was no surprise to Oggot that he would receive communications, 
unbeknownst to the guards, regularly. 

Tonight it was a live person. That meant the goons were looking for 
direction. 

Oggot’s cell had a window. The hallway outside it was sometimes patrolled, 
but most patrols only went there once or twice in a night. It was much more 
important to guard the hallway his cell led out to, since it was almost impossible 
for him to escape the barred window. Unfortunately for the guards, it meant 
sneakier people could get in and out of that hallway easier and talk to the 
prisoners. 

“Ey, boss.” 

It was one of his smaller cronies. Much easier for him to sneak in. He wasn’t 
that important, either, so if he got caught the other goons could keep going without 
him. 

Oggot waited for a moment before responding. The guards would notice the 
noise they started quickly conversing, even in whispers. He had to make it seem 
like he was muttering to himself. 

“News, then?” Oggot finally hissed. 

“It’s the girlie, boss. I know you’se wantin’ ta get yer revenge on ‘er. Thing is 
she’s sailin’ off tomorrow.” 

Oggot growled softly under his breath. This doofus was entirely too loud. 

“Quieter,” he hissed. 

“Sorry, boss, I jus’...” the voice came in quieter. “Though’ ya wanted ta do 
somethin’ ‘bout ‘er.” 

Oggot thought about it. He did want revenge on that girl. Very badly. He’d 
been trying to think of ways he could do it. Unlike most thought, he wasn’t 
incapacitated there in the cell. Most of his work was carried out by goons, anyway. 
Still, he’d been thinking about her, and he’d figured something out about her. 
Something big. 
 “She’s sailin’ off tomorrow, then?” he whispered. 

“Seems so,” the voice whispered. 

Suddenly, footsteps began to approach. They weren’t hurried, whispers 

coming from Oggot’s cell were actually normal. He muttered to himself a lot. 

Or so the guards thought. 

“Memememememememe...” Oggot muttered to himself. The meaningless 

mumbling was a sign to his informants to stop talking to avoid exposing 
themselves. 

He continued to mumble meaningless words. An owl guard walked by, in 

his usual pace, marching. He would always look into Oggot’s cell. There wouldn’t 
be anything to see. Just a mumbling idiot, shot down from what he thought was 
glory. 

After a moment of mumbling gibberish, the owl’s footsteps faded into the 
distance. 

“Anythin’ else ta report?” Oggot finally asked. 

“Nothin’ else boss. Waddaya wanna do?” 

“Continue with the plan I had b’fore,” Oggot whispered. “Don’t worry ‘bout 
the girl.” 

“Sir? I though’...” 

“Don’t worry ‘bout ‘er. She a’int gonna get past the docks.” 

“Waddaya mean? Ya already got a guy on it?” 

“Ya might say so.” 

“How’d ya...” 

“I didn’t hire nobody, but she’s got a problem leavin’ this place. She’s 
angered the Phoenix. She’s gonna get blown straight outta the air tomorrow 
mornin’. ‘N I don’t think she even knows it”   
 Chapter 6: The Skykeeper’s Wrath 
The night was full of laughter. 

Aji’s send off wasn’t exactly a huge event, but they’d set up two bonfires and 
had spits of meat spinning on both. A few dock workers were there, as well as the 
crewmates for the S.S. Skystreak III. Yoot was there, and Uggs had even showed 
up for a little bit before heading off to his home a bit early. 

Pitt and Jitters had been sitting over by one of the fires whispering to each 
other. Aji wanted to talk to them but she was seated next to Tyri, who had been 
talking her ear off since they’d been let off to prep for the send off. 

The ship was floating nearby. They’d done a few tests and the ship now had 
an engine built by Tryi and Miny, with some help from Dond, and it worked great 
after they’d gone through some more tests. Haynai had promised to get services 
for the fuel lines more regularly to prevent the previous problems with the S.S. 
Skystreak, and they were ready to leave in the morning. 

Aji had gotten inside (she’d helped build it, of course she had), and helped 
them load just about everything they needed for the trip. They’d gotten some food 
and some kitchen tools for Yoot to cook with, and had two extra tanks of fuel that 
they would use only if there was some sort of emergency and for some reason 
they couldn’t stop in Gimmlet. There were six bunks, and a captain’s quarter. 
There wasn’t as much privacy for anyone except the captain, but since it wasn’t 
going to be too long of a journey Aji wasn’t terribly worried. She probably wasn’t 
even going to sleep more than a wink or two anyway. 

“Have ya ever been in a boat before,” Tyri asked nonchalantly. 

“Not sailing to another city,” Aji said. “Just making the boat with Pitt and 
Jitters, really.” 

Tyri raised an eyebrow. “With all you’ve travelled, ya never been in a boat?” 

“Never,” Aji said. “I’m pretty excited.” 

“I ever tell ya ‘bout the time I got stuck on a boat ta Gimmlet meself?” 

Aji snorted. “How’d you do that?” 

 Tyri jumped into a story about how she’d been stuck on a boat she was 
trying to fix when they’d set off and she had to find a ride back from Gimmlet 
since the captain wouldn’t go back with her. Aji listened, but she was surprised to 
see Pitt stand up from his seat across the way and get up to leave. Jitters walked 
over to some of the other dock workers Aji didn’t know and started talking to 
them. Aji wanted to go after Pitt, but Tyri was telling her story and she didn’t want 
to interrupt her. Pitt disappeared into the barracks. Aji didn’t like that. She wanted 
to talk to him before she left. 

As Tyri was finishing her story, though, Naia spoke up. 

“Ey, all, we wanted Aji to be able to say somethin’ b’fore the meat finishes,” 
she said, motioning to Aji. Aji wasn’t aware she needed a speech, but Naia 
motioned for her to stand and come over. She went over and stood next to Naia. 

“This ‘ere little lady’s only been ‘ere for ‘bout five days ‘n she’s already done 
a lotta stuff for us, see. She’s gotten the slimeball Oggot arrested, saved Milwa’n 
Snive’s lives from the Phoenix, and I’d daresay she was a great help building this 
‘ere ship, the S.S. Skystreak III! We’ll miss ya a lot, Aji.” 

“Thank you,” Aji said, smiling at the older woman. “It’s been great being 
here. All of you have been so kind to me, and I’ll be sad to leave you all, really. I just 
thought it would be good to return home, since there are some things I need to do 
with my family. Still, I won’t forget you all. And thank you so much for this send 
off,” she said, mostly to Naia. “It’s wonderful.” 

“Ey!” A shout rose up from the audience. The loudest was Tyri, who looked 
like she was enjoying herself a lot. 

After that they started cutting the meat off the spitted animals, which Aji 
enjoyed a lot. She had no idea what kind of animal it was, but it was tasty. They 
also had some of Naia’s sweet buns and before long Aji felt stuffed. She chatted 
with Tyri, and Jitters also came over after a second to talk to her and the crew. 

“Where’d Pitt go?” Aji asked when he came over. 

“He wasn’t feelin’ well,” Jitters said. “Think he ate some bad chowils 
earlier.” 
 Aji had no idea what chowils were. 

“Oh,” she said. “I just wanted to say goodbye to him.” 

“He might be back in a mo’,” Jitters said. 

Aji hoped that was true. 

They chatted a bit more. Haynai and her crew decided to go to bed after a 
while, they’d be setting sail in the morning and wanted to be well rested, and Yoot 
wanted to say goodbye to his family, and he’d left not long after the party had 
started. Aji didn’t think he’d actually even eaten anything. She soon decided she 
should be getting sleep, too. 

“We’ll be out ‘ere a bit more,” Miny said, motioning to Tyri who was 
laughing at something Jitters had said. “You go on, get some rest for tomorrow. 
We’ll be there for shove off.” 

“Alright. Don’t stay out too late,” Aji cautioned, but smiled. Tyri would be 
dead tired in the morning, she knew. 

As she approached the barracks and walked in, she was surprised to see Pitt 
standing by the entrance to the men’s quarters, leaning against the doorframe. 

“Pitt! There you are. You left before I could talk to you,” she said, 
approaching him. She felt like what Jitters had said about him feeling sick was a 
lie. 

“Oh, yea... sorry,” he said. “I was, er...” 

Aji sighed. “I just wanted to say goodbye to you. Tomorrow morning I don’t 
know how much time I’ll have to...” 

“Wait, er... listen.” Pitt took a step back. “I... gimmie a second. I’ve got 
somethin’ for ya.” 

Aji stopped. He disappeared into the men’s barracks for a few seconds. She 
was a little unsure of what to expect. After a moment, he came back out, holding a 
ream of papers. 
 “This, er... it’s some things I been writin’, it’s ta help ya learn to read.” Pitt 
looked unsure. 

Aji stepped forward as he handed it to her. It was all handwritten, with the 
different runes, some pictures crudely drawn by them to help her know what they 
mean. She stared at them for a second. There was so much, and he’d written it all 
for her. 

“I jus’ thought, y’know, ya might not find someone ta help ya learn ta read 
while you’re on the road, so, maybe I’d getcha somethin’ to help you.” 

“Pitt...” Aji wasn’t sure what to say. He’d done so much for her. “This is 
amazing. Thank you so much,” she said. 

“Well, I jus’ didn’t wanna leave ya without...” 

Aji cut off his sentence by stepping forward and throwing her arms around 
his neck, drawing him into a tight hug. 

Pitt didn’t know how to respond for a moment, but he finally reciprocated 
the hug. “I hope it’ll do ya good.” 

Aji didn’t know what to say. He was so thoughtful, and so sweet. After a 
moment she let go and looked him in the eye again. “I... I won’t forget you. Thank 
you so much.” 

“Hey... it a’int nothin’. Anytime, if you’re passin’ by, ‘n ya need somethin’, 

come and let me know.” 

“Of course,” Aji said. “But... you’ll be at the shove off tomorrow, right?” 

Pitt looked uncomfortable again. “I... er... yeah. I’ll be there.” 

“I just wanted to... to give you something there, too,” she said. “I don’t have it 
ready yet.” She was looking through the papers, and an idea was forming in her 
mind. 

“Oh, well... I mean, yeah, I’ll be there,” Pitt said. 

 “Ok, I’ll um... see you tomorrow then.” The two looked each other in the eyes 
for a moment before Aji turned and headed up the stairs. She had a lot of work to 
do. 

As soon as she got into her room, she began to look through the papers, 
studying them. She had to figure it out before morning. She had to figure out how 
to write a message. 

Tell them your secret​, a voice said in her head. It was the Phoenix. Its 
whispers weren’t as frequent as the first day after her ordeal, but they still 
happened sometimes. 

Aji grimaced. “I’m working on it,” she whispered to no one in particular. 

She studied until she heard Tyri’s boisterous voice outside. She then hid the 
papers and pretended to be asleep. 

“Loot at ‘er,” Tyri said. “Sleepin’ like a log. If’n I was ‘boutta take my first sail, 
I’d be wide awake.” 

Aji wasn’t sure how long it would take for the two to fall asleep. Luckily 
enough, they were right. There was no way she could get to sleep at that point. She 
just had to pretend long enough for the two to fall asleep. 

After a while she heard Tyri begin to snore, and under that she heard Miny’s 
breathing slow. She slipped out of her bed. It was dark, she needed light for what 
she had planned. She grabbed Pitt’s papers and a blank sheet with a pen, and slid 
down the line of beds towards a window, where the star-like pinpricks of light in 
the sky shone down on her. She began to take what she’d figured out and began to 
write a letter to Pitt. She wasn’t sure if everything she was writing was exactly 
like it should be, the language was unfamiliar to her, but she started painstakingly 
writing. 

Pitt, ​she wrote. I​ ’m sorry I had to leave. I know you aren’t happy about it, but 
I had to go. 

She frowned. How could she say what she wanted to? She wanted to tell 
him about why she left, so he didn’t feel like she didn’t appreciate all of his help. It 
would seem odd that after travelling as far as she’d indicated she had, she would 
randomly decide to go home after visiting Hibbsbot. As if it was Hibbsbot that had 
made her decide she didn’t want to travel anymore. She didn’t want Pitt to think 
that about her. She wanted him to know the real reason, but she didn’t know if she 
was brave enough to say it to him in person.  

She wrote on. She wasn’t sure why telling people she had lost her memory 
was so scary. If she had to explain it she’d say it was because she felt guilty she 
hadn’t said anything yet, and didn’t know how to tell them she’d been keeping it a 
secret all this time already. 

You’ve been so kind to me, and helped me a lot. I really appreciate 

everything you’ve done for me. I can only write this because of what you showed 
me. 

In reality, Aji was sure there were a handful of mistakes in what she’d 
already written, but she didn’t have time to figure out everything. She wrote on. 

I feel so bad that I kept this a secret from you, ​she took a breath as she wrote, 
but the real reason I need to go to Gimmlet is because I’ve lost my memory. 
Somewhere on the highway before I came here I realized I’d forgotten everything. I 
wanted to say so, but everything happened so fast, and I didn’t realize until it was 
really late that I hadn’t told anyone. Then I was too embarrassed to say anything. I 
really wish I’d been able to tell you in person, but I’m not brave enough. I’m sorry. 

She sighed. Just writing it gave her stress. She hoped she’d have the 
strength to give it to him before she left. 

I’m going to miss you a lot. If I can’t find my family, I’ll come back here to 
Hibbsbot. Either way, I’ll never forget you. 

-Aji 

She sighed. She looked over what she’d written. She was sure a lot was 
messed up, but she hoped it was understandable. 

Why didn’t she have the courage to say all of this to his face? She was 
briefly angry with herself. For a second, she considered ripping up the paper. This 
was dumb. 

But the thought of saying this to his face was terrifying. And she at least 
wanted him to know the truth. 
 She folded it up. She’d already spent a lot of time writing it, and it was very 
late. Her eyes were heavy. It might not be the best way, but it was better than 
nothing. 

She folded up the paper and walked back over to her bed to rest for the big 
day coming up. 

The next day the docks were busy. 

Other ships came in and out of the dock every once in a while, but it was 
rare for a ship to shove off for the first time from Hibbsbot. Everyone had to double 
check everything before they left, and the crew had to plan out their course. Aji 
also had to learn her position on the boat, which appeared to be a lookout position 
more than anything. Haynai was in charge of the propeller and the twins each had 
a sail they were in charge of. 

It seems like steering was the main job of the sails, while the propulsion 
was the propeller’s job. In strong winds they could propel the boat, too, but most of 
the time they would need the motor to keep themselves moving. 

There was a room down below by the engine where Haynai would be in 
charge of operating it. She could turn the propeller, too, but it was hard for her to 
see from the controls, so most of the steering was done by the twins. 

Aji’s main job was to stand at the top of a small tower on the top of the boat, 
near the mast, and relay information to Haynai. Her job was crucial, since the 
entire crew had to work together and the engine controls were belowdecks. 
Haynai could hear the twins, but it was easier for her to communicate with Aji. Of 
course, most of the time it wasn’t imperative that they had everyone at their spots, 
so sometimes they would be able to walk around the ship. But to shove off they 
had to set their course, and if they hit some turbulence or got too close to another 
ship they’d have to hit their stations again. 

After some practicing, Tyri and Miny had finished a full inspection of the 
engines, and Pitt and Jitters had double-checked the skystones to make sure they 
were solid and wouldn’t come off, they were ready to set off. Aji headed up to her 
room to gather all of her things. 
 “We’ll miss ya,” Tyri said, giving Aji a hug. Miny gave her a similar embrace. 

“Thank you so much for everything,” Aji said to them, heading out the door. 
She had her letter for Pitt in her hand. She went down the flights of stairs, and 
stepped out into the sunshine. Pitt was leaned on the wall to the barracks, looking 
out to the boat that was almost ready to shove off. 

“Hey, Pitt,” Aji said. Tyri and Miny sensed they were trying to have a private 
moment and continued on. 

“Hey, Aji,” Pitt said. 

They stood staring at each other for a moment. 

“Well, today’s the day, I s’pose,” Pitt said. “How d’ya feel?” 

“I’m... a little nervous,” Aji said. “But I’m excited.” 

Pitt nodded. “Makes sense.” 

Aji took a breath. “Look, um... I wanted to give this to you,” she said, handing 
him the letter. He took it gingerly. 

“You wrote this?” he asked. 

“Don’t open it yet,” Aji said. “I, um... I wanted you to read it after I left. To 
remember me,” she explained. 

“You wrote all this last night, didn’t ya?” 

Aji nodded. “I used the notes you gave me. Some of it might be wrong, but I 
think you’ll be able to understand it.” 

Pitt stared at it for a second. “You’re... real smart,” he said. “I... I’ma miss ya.” 

“I’m going to miss you, too,” Aji said. “Thank you. Really, you helped me so 
much.” She went in for one last embrace, then stepped back. 

For a second they just looked at each other, then Aji turned to the boat. 
Haynai was motioning for her to come. It was shove off time. 

“Well, I’d better go. Goodbye, Pitt.” 

 “Bye, Aji.” 

She ran off over to the ship. “Alright, let’s go,” she said to Haynai. 

“All aboard,” Haynai said, patting the side of the ship. 

There was a send off party there. Mostly Dond and a few of the dock 
workers, but Uggs was there, too, and Naia loaded them up with whatever snacks 
they could carry. They all stepped into the boat and they unhooked all of the 
anchors. 

It was a surreal experience, floating in a skyboat. Aji realized she’d never 

been on one that wasn’t tethered to the docks yet. Yoot decided he wanted to stand 
on the bow of the ship to look into the sky as they took off, and the twins took 
their spots on either side of the ship to hold the ropes that were connected to their 
sails. Haynai stepped into the cockpit and Aji took her place on the tower. 

“Alright, we gonna shove off!” Haynai announced. “Everyone to positions!” 

Aji turned back to everyone and waved. A few waved back encouragingly, 
and Haynai hit the engine. 

The propeller blazed to life. Aji had already heard it going before, but this 
time she felt a shift in the boat’s weight and the ship lurched forward. Slowly, she 
felt it bob forward in the air, and they began to move out into the open sky. 

Aji could see everything, the sky, the docks, even Hayna, Yoot, and the 
twins. From her vantage point it seemed like she could see an entire world. The 
docks began to get smaller as they sailed off into the sky, and before long the 
people waving goodbye to them turned into little toys, barely visible in the 
distance. 

“A’ight, how’s our course?” Haynai asked. 

Aji realized it was her job to help direct everyone. 

“We need to go a bit further to the left,” Aji noted. There was some pulling of 
ropes, and she felt the boat’s weight shift a bit. They turned to head further 
towards Gimmlet. Aji frowned. “Not that far, a bit more to the right.” 
 The twins adjusted the sails again, and they pulled it back together. Aji 
realized she was supposed to use the words “port” and “starboard” to direct, but no 
one had complained, even though Haynai had specifically asked her to earlier. 

She’d learn eventually. 

“Alright, I think that looks good.” 

“Alright, lock ‘er down, boys, I think we’ll be good to let ‘er go for the next 
bit,” Haynai directed. Everyone tied down their ropes, and they were set on. 

They were off to Gimmlet. 

Pitt sighed. The ship wasn’t even that far out yet, but he already felt like Aji 
was gone. He’d probably be able to see it until nightfall. He knew Dond would 
come looking for him to give him another job, but they normally got to take an 
hour or two to rest after a big project like sending off a ship they’d built from 
scratch. He decided to go back into the barracks. 

He was going to go to his bed, but felt like he wanted to watch the boat go on 
for a bit longer. There was a window at the back end of the barracks that looked 
out into the sky. He mosied to the back of the building and rested his elbow on it, 
looking out on the ship. He could still see the figures of the crewmates shifting the 
sails and setting their course to Gimmlet. 

He realized that Aji had asked him to read her letter after she was gone. She 
was gone now, so he opened up the letter. 

Her writing wasn’t anywhere near perfect, but he was oddly surprised by 
her writing. She clearly knew how to hold a pen. Considering she couldn’t even 
read that was extremely odd. Her writing was actually much better than his. And 
she was so eloquent. He couldn’t help but wonder for a moment if she was making 
fun of him when she’d said she couldn’t read. 

But as he read her writing, there were some clear beginner mistakes all over 
the paper, and he decided to trust her. 
 At first, he just noticed the mistakes, and started missing her more. For 
some reason it just made him miss her more when she’d miss punctuation marks 
or arrange the runes wrong in a word. Still, he read along the words. 

Then, he froze. 

He read through the letter again to make sure it wasn’t some sort of error, 
but soon he realized that what he thought he’d read was absolutely what she’d 
meant. 

Aji didn’t have her memory. 

She’d lost it somewhere on the highway. 

She couldn’t read. 

It all made sense. 

Aji was a mage. She was a gift from the Phoenix for their town, and... 

And she was in danger. 

Pitt turned and ran back to the docks. He needed to get to her as quickly as 
possible. 

Aji stood at the bow of the ship, staring out into the sky. Haynai stood next 
to her. 

“The sky is beautiful,” Aji said. 

“‘Tis,” Haynai said. “You excited to reach Gimmlet?” 

Aji sighed. “I’m nervous. I just hope I can find what I’m looking for there.” 

Haynai frowned. “I though’ you was just lookin’ to head home?” 

Aji decided she didn’t mind talking to Haynai about this. Maybe she didn’t 
feel like she’d betrayed her by not mentioning it before. She should have told Pitt, 
and Jitters, and Tyri, and Miny, but she didn’t. Haynai... for some reason she felt 
she could trust her, though. 
 “Actually, I don’t know where my home is,” Aji said. 

Haynai looked confused. “Waddaya mean?” 

“Well...” Aji sighed. “I don’t remember where I came from. The last thing I 
remember was walking on the highway before I got here. I must have been 
coming from Gimmlet, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to find someone that recognizes 
me there, maybe that can tell me where I came from after that, but I can only 
remember glimpses of my family. A lot of things here feel strange, so I think my 
home is a long ways away, but I can’t remember how to get there. That’s why I 
wanted to go to Gimmlet with you.” 

To Aji’s surprise, Haynai was staring at her with her mouth open. 

“Ya mean... ya popped up on the highway approaching Hibbsbot without ya 

memories?” 

Aji nodded. “I couldn’t remember a thing. I still don’t remember much.” 

“And ya didn’t tell a

​ nyone​?” 

Aji sighed. “I should have, but everything happened so fast, and then I 
wasn’t sure how to tell everyone about it, so...” 

“Ya didn’t tell a single ​soul y

​ a didn’t remember who you was?” 

Aji felt weird. “No, I... is there a problem?” 

Haynai took in a breath. “We need to get ya back to Hibbsbot right now, 
TWINS!” 

Aji frowned. “But I need to get to Gimmlet to find out where I came from,” 
she began, but Haynai cut her off. 

“No, ya don’t we need to get ya back to Hibbsbot before the Phoenix blows us 
outta the sky!” Haynai ran to the cockpit. The twins looked confused but grabbed 
their ropes and began pulling them. The ship lurched. 

Aji’s eyes widened. “But... wait! What’s going on?” 

 
 Pitt ran past Tyri and Miny, almost knocking Miny over. 

“Ey, watch it!” Tyri shouted. 

“Sorry, no time,” Pitt said, rushing over to the nearest pier. He realized there 
wasn’t a skiff there for some reason. 

“What’s the rush?” Jitters asked. 

“Why a’int there a skiff ‘ere?” Pitt shouted, grunting and running to the next 
pier. 

“Waddaya need a skiff for?” 

“Aji’s a mage and she didn’t bloody tell me except in ‘er letter.” 

“Aji’s a m
​ age​!?” Jitters froze. Things began to click in his head. “Oh, no...” he 
whispered. 

“Yea, that’s why I need a skiff,” Pitt grunted, running down the pier. He 
finally saw one and jumped on, unhooking it. He felt it shake with how rough he’d 
entered, but didn’t care, positioning himself as quickly as he could. 

“You’re gonna try’n fight off the Phoenix in that little thing?” 

“I a’int gonna let ‘er take Aji, if that’s what you’re askin’,” Pitt said. “If ya 
wanna follow in a bigger boat you’re welcome to, but I’m not waiting.” 

With that he hit the engine and the little skycraft set off. 

“What’s going on?” Aji asked. “I know I should have told you, but...” 

“You don’t understand,” Haynai said, increasing the throttle on the engine. 
“It’s not just about you not having your memory, you’re a mage, Aji.” 

Aji didn’t understand what was going on. “What?” 

“When the Phoenix gifts a mage to a town or village, she plops ‘em on the 
highway near the entrance without their memories. That’s why ya can’t 
remember a thing, the Phoenix put you ‘ere as a gift for the people of Hibbsbot. 
Normally it’s not a problem that the Mage doesn’t know they’re a mage since the 
people’ll let ‘em know ‘bout it when they go ‘round sayin’ they don’t got no 
memories.” 

Aji frowned. “Oh... that’s... not what I expected you to say. But why do you 
look so worried?” 

“Aji, mages are gifts from the Phoenix. She don’t like it when they try to 
leave their town or village. Even if ya tried to take the Highway she’d probably 
harass ya, but here in the sky? If we don’t get ya back to land soon you’re as good 
as me aunt was, but this time ya won’t have a chain ta save ya.” 

“You mean...” 

“How’s the sailwork, boys! We gotta be back as fast as possible! Try’n catch 
some wind, if’n I a’int wrong we’re boutta get some wind from the Phoenix.” 

Aji’s heart began to sink. She’d just put all these people in danger. 

“No wonder the Phoenix wanted me to tell you all about it,” she muttered. 
The crewmates started adjusting the sails, and Haynai was keeping the propeller 
at maximum speed. She bit her lip. 

And that was when the purple wind began to blow. 

“All hands on deck, boys, we’re boutta see ourselves a bit of a storm.” 

Pitt saw the dark purple flames begin to materialize in the air around the 
boat. It was trying to turn, but it was a bit bigger than Pitt’s little skiff, and, 
therefore, slower.  

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no...” he began to mutter. He readied an anchor. It 
would be much easier for him to rush back with Aji before the Phoenix could get 
too angry, and at the very least it would put fewer lives in danger. He’d throw Aji 
the line and take her in and get her back to land. 

Unfortunately switching boats in the middle of a Phoenix storm was wildly 

dangerous. 
 “C’mon,” he muttered, trying to get the engine to push faster. They needed to 
get Aji to land quickly, and it just didn’t seem like there’d be enough time. 

Get. Out. Of. My. SKY! ​A voice shrieked. Pitt felt purple winds blow through 
him, but he pushed on the little handle of the motor, despite the fact the gusts of 
air were jostling the ship and threatening to throw him off. 

“C’mon, c’mon...” 

On the ship Aji was holding the railing tightly. The winds were making the 
entire boat rock up and down violently. She was amazed at the twins, who were 
holding onto the ropes, trying to steer them towards the shore, and somehow had 
kept up their balance while doing it. Yoot was holding onto the railing near Aji, 
trying not to be thrown off the boat. 

“Aji!” 

“Pitt?” Somehow he’d pulled up near their boat as they were trying to turn. 
He was flapping around like a leaf. 

“Aji, I can move faster’n the boat, get in ‘n I’ll take ya ta shore, you’re a mage, 
you gotta...” 

Aji turned to Haynai. “‘E’s right!” she shouted over the wind. “It’s faster,” 

Pitt threw Aji an anchor from the skiff and she wrapped it around herself. 
There was a ladder next to her that she stepped down carefully, getting jostled 
every once in a while. As she got down lower, she felt Pitt’s hands grab her waist 
and help her into the skiff in front of him. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything,” she said, not sure if he could even hear her 
in the wind. Purple flames were swirling around them. 

“Let’s get ya to shore,” Pitt said, staring forward. He revved the engine and 
the little skiff shot off. The winds were rough, but somehow they shot out of the 
vortex building around the ship and shot off towards land. 

Aji looked back. “The Phoenix knows I’m not on that ship anymore, right?” 

“Better hope it takes a ‘mo for ‘er to realize it. ‘Else she’ll come after us ‘n...” 
 He should have knocked on wood. 

A shriek pierced the sky, and the form of a great firebird formed in front of 
the boat. The crewmates of the Skystreak stared at it in horror until it shot into the 
sky and flowed over them, leaving them in shock. 

The purple flames flowed through the sky until it reached the small skiff 
and placed itself directly in front of them. Pitt’s eyes widened and his grip on Aji’s 
waist tightened. He tried to swerve, but the flaming behemoth cut them off again. 

Pitt floored the engine and swerved to the right. The Phoenix shrieked. 
They were headed off to the side, hoping somehow to reach the land before the 
Phoenix could cut them off again. 

A blast of fire ripped through the sky and Pitt skidded , barely avoiding 
getting ripped out of the sky by it. He rocketed forward. The flaming body of the 
Phoenix came at them, and Pitt swerved to the side, barely avoiding it. 

Another shriek came. They were so close to the docks. 

Finally, a burst of flame caught them in the rear and sent them spinning. 
The entire propeller was ripped off of their engine and as they settled in the air, 
Pitt’s attempts to start it were fruitless. 

They stared in horror as the form of the Phoenix materialized in front of the 
two. Black flames danced around them, and they felt a chill run through the air 
around them. 

You will face the consequences for your abandonment. You have not heeded 
my warnings, and now you will pay the... 

“Stop!” Aji shouted, standing. Everyone froze. The Phoenix must have been 
amused, so it stopped. For a moment, the entire scene was still. 

“I’m sorry,” Aji said. “But don’t punish Pitt. He’s only been trying to help me 
ever since I arrived. If it’s anyone’s fault I didn’t tell them it’s mine. I... I didn’t 
realize it was important. I didn’t realize I was a mage, but... I did tell them. Not as 
quickly as I should have, but I did. And I realized my mistake, and I’m going back 
to Hibbsbot. I... if you want to kill me, take me. But leave Pitt and Haynai, and all of 
the others alone. Please.” 
 Aji looked into the eyes of the flaming figure in front of her. 

I sense your apology is sincere. I will allow you to live. Return to Hibbsbot, 
and do not enter my sky e
​ ver ​again. 

The sky began to clear. The purple flames dissipated, and the winds 
stopped. The form of the Phoenix shrank until only one eye remained, a white spot 
staring her in the eye. 

I sense you still have questions. The other mages will help you. Go to them. 

And the apparition ceased. Everything was still. 

Aji gingerly sat back down. For a moment she just breathed. Finally she 
turned to Pitt. They stared each other in the eye for a long time. 

“We’d better be for gettin’ ya back,” Pitt finally said. 

“Wait,” Aji said. Pitt realized the engine was broken and he didn’t really 
have much of a choice, but he didn’t say anything either. 

“Listen, I... I need to apologize to you. I should have told you about my 
memory being gone. I... I didn’t realize what it meant, but you... you deserved to 
know. I wanted to tell you, I just didn’t know who to trust after what happened 
with Oggot.” She sighed. “And once I knew I could trust you, I felt embarrassed that 
I hadn’t already told you.” 

Pitt shifted uncomfortably. Aji took a shaky breath. A tear rolled down her 
cheek. 

“And after all you’ve done for me. You helped me with Oggot, with finding a 
job, with reading. I-I should’ve told you, I just... I didn’t want you to be hurt that I 
didn’t tell you in the first place. You deserve to be mad, I know you’ve been mad 
ever since you found out I was leaving. I just couldn’t bring myself to tell you 
why...” 

“Aji,” Pitt said. “I wasn’t ever mad at ya.” 

Aji sniffled. “You... you weren’t?” 

 Pitt sighed. “I wasn’t ever mad. I jus’... I just... I wanted ya to stay, see. I... 
maybe this is a bit selfish, but... I knew you were a trav’ler’n, I wanted to be the one 
to convince ya to settle down. Y’know, I... I know it was kinda dumb, but I thought 
‘bout ya a lot. So when ya decided to set off again so soon, I... I felt a bit dumb 
myself. If I was mad at anyone, it was me.” 

Aji frowned. “You mean...” 

“I knew ya wanted to go for good reasons. That there was the worst part. I... I 
knew I was bein’ selfish for wantin’ ya to stay. But... I couldn’t shake that feelin’.” 

For a moment, Aji just stared. He’d been very friendly to her, but she hadn’t 
realized his feelings for her were so profound. 

“Well...” 

Their conversation was cut short by the S.S. Skystreak III pulling up next to 
them. 

“How in blazes are you two not dead?” Haynai asked. 

The two looked at each other. “Luck,” Aji finally said. “I guess the Phoenix 
likes me?” 

Haynai laughed, pulling up an anchor with a hook. Pitt caught it and 

hooked it onto their boat. 

“A’ight you two hold on ‘n we’ll get ya back to land.” 

As they moved forward, Aji settled in next to Pitt and rested her head on his 
shoulder. Pitt sighed, put his arm around her and pulled her close. There were still 
a lot of questions, and not many answers, but at least they were together.   
 Chapter 7: A Mage 
Somehow, the S.S. Skystreak III wasn’t damaged at all in the incident with 
the Phoenix. After a brief look over all of the skystones and the engine, they 
determined that it was still set to fly that day. Technically, since they’d found 
Yoot, they didn’t need any other crew members. Which meant, after another hour 
of making sure everyone was well, unloading Aji’s things, and making sure their 
cargo was undamaged, they decided to set off again. 

“I’m sorry ya can’t come along,” Haynai said. “But... I’ve heard the life of a 
mage is a good one. I just didn’t imagine it before. That said, if ya could... me aunt 
might like a visitor every once in a while, y’know.” 

Aji nodded. “I’ll er... see if I can visit her every now and again.” 

She hoped Haynai would understand if “every now and again” meant just 
once or twice... total. 

They got in the boat and started the motor. This time, Aji was the one 
watching from the docks, sighing. 

“So, you’ve finally figured it out,” a voice said from behind her. To Aji’s 
surprise, it was the first person she’d heard with an accent similar to hers. 

As she turned, she realized she was looking at a tall man, hairs graying a 
little. He stood tall, and wore a sort of robe. 

It was the mage. 

“I... I didn’t know,” she whispered. “A-about the memories. I’m sorry I never 
said anything.” 

“I’ve sensed something special in you from the beginning. In all honesty, if 
I’d known you planned on leaving I would have said something before you set off. 
I’m glad to see there wasn’t anyone hurt.” 

“I’m glad, too,” Aji said. “Um... my name is Aji, but you might already know 
that.” 
 “It’s good to finally meet you, Aji. I’m Olrot. I’m one of the resident mages 
here at Hibbsbot. My partner’s name is Anoia.” Olrot bowed. “And now you will be 
our partner as well.” 

Aji smiled at him. “Well, I, um... thank you.” She felt unsure. What was she 
supposed to say? It was still processing in her mind that she was supposed to be a 
mage. 

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions. As you may have realized, as a mage 
you won’t be able to live in the barracks at these docks. If you’d like I can help you 
carry your things.” 

Aji nodded. “Ok. I um... I think I can handle everything. It’s just this bag,” she 
said, pulling her backpack onto her back. 

Olrot nodded. “If that’s what you’d prefer,” he said, and started moving up 
the stairs. She took a glance back at Pitt, who was sitting on a nearby railing, 
watching her go. 

“Don’t worry,” Olrot said. “You’ll be able to see your friends. We’re mages, not 
hermits. Come along and I’ll help you get settled.” 

The inside of the shrine was as beautiful as ever. Maybe more now that it 
was light outside. Aji was given a room in the back area of the shrine, where she 
set down her things. The older woman mage, Anoia is what Olrot had called her, 
came in as she was settling into her room, smiling. 

“Hello, Aji,” she said. Aji wasn’t actually terribly surprised that she knew her 
name. She smiled back. “Hello... your name is Anoia, isn’t it?” 

Anoia smiled. “Yes, dear. I heard you’ve had quite an adventure today, 
haven’t you?” 

Aji’s shoulders drooped. “I think it’s been an adventure ever since I arrived,” 
she noted, chuckling. 

Anoia nodded, smiling. “You’ll be the talk of the town for months,” she said. 
“Now, once you’re settled, come over to the courtyard. Olrot is trying to figure out 
your robes without you. He’s a little impatient sometimes,” she noted. She was 
clearly the kinder one while Olrot was the one that got the work done. 

Aji nodded. “I’ll be right out,” she said. Anoia moved on and she quickly 
rearranged her things. 

She was going to unpack everything but didn’t really want to keep Olrot 
waiting, so she just got out a few things, then put her backpack in a cupboard near 
her bed. 

This was it. This was her home. She sighed. It was her life now. This is 
where she’d come every night to sleep. Somehow it was missing something. 

Aji shook her head. It probably just needed breaking in. 

Outside, she was surprised to see that Olrot was shining with bright, 
blue-hued light. 

“There you are,” he said. There were various fabrics laid out around him. 
Some lifted and floated around, while others were laid out. “Come, tell me how you 
like some of these.” 

Most of the fabrics were silky, mostly of solid colors. Aji was surprised as 
she approached that most of them looked very nice. 

“Do you like this one? I thought it looked nice,” Anoia said, pointing one of 
them out. It flew through the air until it was in Aji’s hand. It had a blue tint to it. 
She did like it, but a yellow one nearby caught her eye. 

“It’s beautiful, but what about that one?” 

The next few minutes were just Aji trying out various fabrics, somewhat 
unsure about the strange way they were handed to her, but she was getting used 
to unexpected things at this point, so she didn’t mind it too much. 

Finally, she found a turquoise fabric she liked the best. “This one,” she said. 
It was very light turquoise, very near white, but it was a color she liked. She also 
liked the texture. 

Without delay, the fabric began to twist and bend. She took a step back, and 
to her surprise it began to form various styles and forms. Most were very flowy 
and beautiful. For some reason all seemed like they would fit her perfectly. How 
did he do that? She still doubted her own ability to do this magic. Is this something 
she could really do? It seemed so surreal to even see it. 

“Well, which one do you like?” Olrot asked.  

Aji frowned. “What about that one... I don’t know what it’s called, but it had 
some sort of... belt, or maybe a sash or something...” 

“Like this?” Olrot asked, the robe changing form. 

“No, there was...” 

The dress morphed again. “This one?” 

Aji nodded. It was very pretty, with a belt over the center, and some very 
flowy sleeves. “That’s it.” 

Aji was surprised to see the robe begin to convulse in the air, as if something 
was happening inside it. 

“He’s doing the stitching,” Anoia explained. Finally, it stopped, and the robe 
fell down to her hands. 

“Alright. Would you like another, or do you want more with other designs?” 
Olrot asked. 

“Oh, well if there’s enough of the fabric I really like this one,” she said. 

“There will be more than enough,” Olrot said. Another piece of fabric flew up 
from somewhere behind him with the same texture and color and began to morph 
until it was in the same shape and size, then dropped on top of the other, in her 
arms. 

“We can make as many as you’d like. Maybe you want some of different 
colors and designs as well?” 

For the next few minutes, Aji picked out more designs and colors she liked. 
Before long she had seven different robes she could pick from, alongside a few 
duplicates of her favorite ones. 
 “We’ll teach you to make your own if you grow tired of those you have. In 
the meantime, go change into one of them and come back in here.” 

Aji nodded. “I... okay. Thank you.” 

She went into her room and changed. She found a place to fold up the others 
and store them. She went with the original light turquoise design she’d picked 
first. It seemed like wearing the complicated robes would be uncomfortable, and 
though she didn’t feel like she was about to cartwheel, she didn’t mind it at all. By 
the time she’d gotten back out to the courtyard all of the fabric had disappeared 
somewhere, and the two elder mages sat on the bottom step, sitting quietly. 

Aji approached, and Anoia motioned for her to sit on the ground across from 
the other two. 

“So,” Anoia said. “You are a mage. You may doubt it, but I promise you’ll be 
performing magic before the day is out.” 

Aji nodded. 

“First, though. I know you have questions. If no one figured out you were a 
mage yet, I’m sure you’ve been dying to ask about all of the things that seem 
strange to you. That’s why we’ve shut doors to the shrine for today. Just so you 
can talk about everything without fear of offending anyone.” 

Aji took a breath. “Okay, first, giant talking animals? I’ve met a few and 
they’re fine, but are they still people? I know Billin is an official, but it just seems 
odd to me that no one treats them differently. I guess they should be treated the 
same, since they have human intelligence and everything, but... I don’t know, they 
just weird me out. Also... do humans date them? Is that a thing?” 

Anoia chuckled but Olrot didn’t look amused. 

“Treat them like you’d treat any other human. I’m sure you have up to this 
point, so I trust you’ll continue to. No, they generally don’t mate outside of species. 
So the owls will find another owl to, er, date and marry. Squirrels with squirrels, 
and humans with humans. I’m sure you guessed all of that, but I’m sure you’ve 
been dying to ask about it since you arrived, which is why we’re here.” 
 Aji finally nodded, sighing. “Yeah, I guess I just had to ask. Um, also, how are 
these islands floating? I’m assuming it has something to do with the skystone? 
But then how have we been mining it without making the islands sink? Also, how 
do the highways not break apart?” 

“Magic is funny. This world is bound by our will and imagination, you’ll 
learn more about that as we teach it to you, but the skystones, the islands, and 
everything we have is held up by the will of the Phoenix. You and I have control 
over that same power as mages.” Anoia closed her eyes as she explained, as if 
feeling the energy of the universe. 

“So, it’s all magic?” Aji frowned. That sounded like a stereotypical 
storyteller’s excuse for not explaining something they hadn’t thought much about. 

“The Phoenix is strong,” Anoia said. “And before you ask, no, there isn’t 
anything below us.” 

“How does that work?” Aji was confused. 

“The Phoenix controls this world. Like I said, this whole place is her 
domain. She makes everything fall, not gravity. And once you reach the point she 
doesn’t want you passing, she’ll vaporize you.” 

Aji shuddered. “Why couldn’t she just... I dunno, put us back on land?” 

“I don’t tell the Phoenix what to do,” Anoia said. 

Aji sighed. Did she have any other questions? 

Oh, right. 

“Also... why is the writing here so different but everyone speaks the same 
thing I remember?” 

“Ah, that’s one of the next things we’ll move on to. Anything else before we 
move onto that?” 

Aji frowned. She didn’t have anything else that felt more pressing than that. 
“I can’t think of anything,” she said, shrugging. 
 “Okay, so from what we know the Phoenix somehow distorts us so that we 
can speak, but all mages come in remembering to read in some other way. 
Actually a few really can’t read, but most can read something. It’s never what they 
use here, though. So we have books helping translate one writing to another. We’ll 
show you a few of the books we have, written by other mages, and they’ll be 
invaluable for you as you learn to read this new text.” 

Aji was surprised to see a few books come in from somewhere she couldn’t 
ascertain, each with a title. Some used similar runes, but all were in a different 
language. 

“English,” she said, picking it out. “But... I remember a few of these. This one 
is Spanish, er... Español, I guess. And this is Japanese... I don’t know how to say its 
name in Japanese. Why do I recognize these but not the one they write here?” She 
watched as all of the books floated off somewhere else while the English one 
settled in her hand. 

“We aren’t sure. Perhaps the Phoenix asks us which we’d like to know 
before we come here? It’s difficult to say,” Olrot was all business. “Either way, I 
recognized the others on my first day, too. I remembered to write one called 
Mandarin Chinese. And Anoia remembered one called French. The Phoenix’s 
ways are strange.” 

Aji stared at the book. English words were a sight for sore eyes, and it was 
much easier to understand exactly what a normalspeak word meant when it was 
compared to an English word than when it was compared to a crude drawing by 
Pitt. 

She would still keep those pages he’d given her and treasure them, though. 

“I have a question,” she said, as it occurred to her. “Where did we come 

from? I know we didn’t come from this world,” she said. 

To her surprise the two shared a look. “Did they not tell you we come as gifts 
from the Phoenix?” Olrot asked. 

“Yeah, I know the Phoenix puts us here, but she doesn’t just... make us pop 
in out of thin air. We had to come from somewhere, didn’t we?” 
 The two looked confused. “Well, she had to make us somehow. 
Unfortunately I don’t think we’ll ever know if we ever existed somewhere outside 
of this world. I wouldn’t worry too much of our creation, since there’s no real way 
to know it.” 

Aji frowned. But... the Phoenix had said her questions could be answered by 
these mages, right? The Phoenix knew this was a question she had, didn’t she? 

Or was that the answer the Phoenix wanted to give her. 

“Oh,” Aji said. “Alright.” 

“Now,” Olrot said. “First, we’ll begin teaching you about writing. After that, 
we’ll start on the spells.” 

It turns out, magic was easier than writing. 

She struggled all throughout the writing lesson, frustrating Olrot and 
worrying Anoia a little bit. Her handwriting was superb, but Olrot was a 
perfectionist, and her best efforts of learning to write were often wrought with 
hordes of grammatical mistakes. She was starting to learn how to write, but it was 
slow going. It was a bit of a miracle she’d managed to make something 
understandable for Pitt to read. 

Finally, after about an hour, they decided to move on from writing. 

“So, do you have any idea how we do magic?” Anoia started by asking. 

“Not a clue,” Aji said. 

Olrot nodded. “Sounds about like any of us. Magic doesn’t come naturally to 
any as far as we can tell, but all of us will be able to do it. Stand, we’ll begin.” 

Aji stood uncertainly. “So... what do I do?” 

“It’s difficult to explain,” Olrot said. “First, what kind of spell would you like 
to learn?” 

Aji’s eyes widened. “I don’t even know what kind of spells we ​can d
​ o,” she 
said. “Are there limits, or...” 
 Olrot shook his head. “There seem to be limits, but they seem to be limits for 
the mage, not for magic itself. Creating objects, changing them, making things 
move, it’s all possible. The question is whether you can do it. Often learning a 
specific kind of spell takes practice, but what you can learn is nearly limitless.” 

Aji felt like a toddler in a toy store being told she could pick anything, but 
only one thing. It was hard to wrap her head around the concept. 

“Well, er... I guess I could try to...” she exhaled. “How do you pick when it’s 
anything​?” 

Anoia chuckled. “Try something simple to start, dear. I have this little 
trinket, try to make it come to you,” she offered. 

Aji nodded. “Alright, so... how do I do that?” 

“That’s the part that’s not easy to explain,” Olrot said, grinning. “It’s all in 
your head. All you have to do is will for it to happen. The more you want it, the 
easier it will be. Try concentrating.” 

If there was ever a less specific explanation, Aji hadn’t heard it. 

She was going to say something, ask for more specific instructions, but she 
didn’t know what else to ask. Finally, she sighed. “Well, erm... I guess I’ll try it,” she 
muttered, shrugging. 

Aji looked at the trinket. It was a kind of metal figurine of a butterfly, but it 
was very small. For some reason, as she was trying, she realized that the way it 
could come over is if it flew. It was a butterfly, right? 

Even as she thought it, she nearly had a heart attack as the metallic 
butterfly began to flutter in Anoia’s hands, shooting into the air, then meandering 
through the air until it alighted softly into her outstretched hands. 

“Well done,” Anoia said. 

“But... how did you...” Olrot looked flabbergasted. “That was astounding. I’ve 
seen very few mages perform a new spell so quickly. And with flair, as well.” 
 Aji looked at the now-still butterfly, heart beating fast. “I... I didn’t even 
know I was doing a spell, it just happened.” She turned to the other two. “Is that 
how it happens?” 

“Sometimes you’ll surprise yourself with your spells,” Anoia noted. “Though 
I’m sure you’ll get more used to it as we go.” 

“Hmm...” Olrot muttered. “The Phoenix must like you. Maybe this is why you 
were spared. I’ve heard of mages being struck down for standing at the edge of the 
docks. You must be favored by her.” 

Aji frowned. “Well... I’m glad I’m favored, I guess.” She still wasn’t sure how 
she felt about all of this. 

“Try another,” Anoia said. 

“Yes,” Olrot said, stepping down from where he was standing. “Try to make 
a robe. You saw how I was doing it.” 

Aji frowned. She felt like she wasn’t all that interested in having more 
dresses, but she did want to see if she could do all of that. 

“Oh, okay. Well, um... first I need the cloth, right?” 

“Yes,” Olrot said, stepping near her. Aji felt a little uncomfortable with him 
standing so close to her. Still, she focused. She had the same turquoise cloth on 
her, so that would be the easiest to make, right? 

To her surprise, out of the air, near-white turquoise threads began to weave 
together without much effort. Eventually it had finished in the shape of a square, 
floating in the air in front of her. Aji was so surprised it dropped out of the air. 

“But... it was so easy? Why haven’t I been doing random spells before now? I 
literally just have to imagine them happening.” 

“I’m not sure, you seem to be getting this very quickly. I suppose it’s because 
you haven’t really tried very hard. Still... hm. Keep going, see if you can get it in the 
form of a dress.” 

Before long, Aji was looking at a replica of Anoia’s dress. She didn’t feel like 
she needed another of her own. 
 “Can you stitch it?” Olrot asked. Aji frowned, then the dress began to 
convulse in the same way Olrot’s robes had, and it fell in his hand. He began to 
examine the stitches. 

“You’ve missed a few stitches. This dress will fall apart fairly quickly. That 
might just be because you don’t have much experience in sewing. Still, it’s 
impressive you’ve managed to make this so quickly.” 

Aji looked around. Honestly, this spell stuff sounded extremely intimidating 
but... it was easy. Why was it so easy? 

“Well... in that case... maybe we could have you do the ritual with us 
tonight,” Olrot said. 

“Of course,” Anoia said. “She’ll easily be able to learn those spells before 
tonight. Let’s begin, then.” 

A few hours later, Aji was walking between Anoia and Olrot, heart beating 
fast, while various villagers watched on. She noticed Pitt, Jitters, Tyri, and Miny 
sitting there. They waved, and she waved back, but she could feel disapproval 
emanating from Olrot, so she left it at that. 

The ritual was more for performance purposes than anything else, but 
apparently, according to what Anoia and Olrot had told her, it was to please the 
Phoenix, which supposedly made their magic stronger, since it was the Phoenix 
that gave them their powers in the first place. 

She didn’t have that difficult of choreography, the other two had more 
complicated moves, but all she had to do was create colorful flashing lights and 
launch them into the sky, from the center of the courtyard. Olrot and Anoia told 
her that a lot of people thought they were blessing the crops or destroying diseases 
when they did the ritual, but most of that was done outside of this ritual. It was 
purely for the sake of doing a ritual, which was why it was so beautiful. 

Aji was easily able to learn to create the colorful lights, and streaming them 
into the sky wasn’t terribly hard. Olrot and Anoia had promised her people didn’t 
mind when the new mages made little mistakes, but she didn’t really know what 
there was to mistake, it wasn’t that hard. Maybe her streams were a little 
shakier-looking than the other two, but sometimes that was as pretty as a straight 
arc of light in the sky, so she didn’t mind it herself. 

The ritual would go on for about two hours, which was a long time to be on 
stage, but they would have little times to rest every once in a while, and most 
people left in between breaks. The only ones that stayed there permanently were 
Aji’s friends, who sometimes went in to look at the exhibits, but they were clearly 
waiting to see her afterwards. 

Finally, as they finished the last bit, Aji left through one of the doors with 
Anoia and Olrot.  

“Well done,” Anoia said to Aji, smiling. “There isn’t much left, but the rest of 
the night is yours. We’ll continue talking about writing in the morning, though, so 
you’ll need to remember to get back here in time for at least a little rest. I know 
you’re wanting to stay out late with your friends, but try to be wise,” she 
instructed. 

Aji nodded. “Thank you,” she said. She tried to leave, but Olrot cut her off. 

“Up, up, wait, you should change out of your ceremonial robes first. The 
Phoenix gives us travelling clothes for a reason. When you’re not on official mage 
business you should change out of those.” 

Aji looked down at herself. She figured that was probably for the best. “Of 
course,” she said, hurrying to her room. 

Outside, she found her friends waiting for her. 

“THAT WAS INCREDIBLE,” Tyri shouted. “Ya already got the whole magic 
thing down, I see,” 

“Well, I...” 

“Tell me, ya already figured out how ta fly, right?” Tyri ran up and gave her a 
hug. “We miss ya down at the docks, but I’m glad ya found yer callin’, Aji.” 
 Aji grinned. “Thanks,” she said. “I’m actually really glad I got to meet all of 
you before I found out, though, because it’s good to have some time to rest after all 
of that training.” 

“So, er, is it tough, doin’ magic, I mean?” Jitters asked. The group was 
already walking towards the market, where they’d likely find something to eat. 

“Actually,” Aji said, “It’s a lot tougher learning to write, I think,” she said. 

They all laughed. “I’ve heard all mages don’t like writin’,” Miny noted. 
“Makes me wonder why we didn’t ask you ‘bout your memories before, as soon as 
we heard you couldn’t read.” 

Aji shrugged. “I guess everything is obvious in retrospect,” she said. 

“See, words like ‘retro-spec’, or whatever that means,” Tyri said. “That’s why 
we shoulda seen you bein’ a mage comin’ from a mile away. I dunno what it even 
means, but I can read,” she muttered. 

Everyone laughed. 

They weren’t out that late that night, but it felt like it had been an eternity 
since Aji had seen the group, so it felt great to be back with them. 

They ate at another booth that had delicious fried food. They told Aji about 
the work at the dock, nothing as insane as Milwa, but they had some funny stories 
just from the rest of that day. 

After a moment, Aji realized Pitt wasn’t saying much. She elbowed him. 

“Hey,” she said. “Um... how’s it going?” 

Pitt smiled at her, putting down his food. “Good,” he said, smiling at her. “I’m 
just... just glad ya still here,” he admitted. 

“I’m glad, too,” she said. 

After they’d finished eating, the two lagged behind the rest of the group. Pitt 
put his arm around her. 
 “So, how does it feel, bein’ a mage, and all? I a’int had much of a chance to 
talk to ya ‘bout it since.” 

Aji sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder. “It’s so weird. It just doesn’t feel 
right yet. I bet I’ll get used to it after a while, I just never thought I’d be a m
​ age​.” 

Pitt nodded. “It’s... kinda hard to believe...” he muttered. 

Aji frowned. “Um, Pitt, I have a question.” 

“Yea?” he asked. 

“Can mages... be in a romantic relationship?” 

Pitt frowned. “Like, ya mean to get... married?” He felt his own heart rate 
increase a bit, and his face flushed. 

“Yeah,” Aji said. “I just noticed Olrot and Anoia don’t seem to be married, and 
I just wondered if it was forbidden or something.” 

Pitt frowned. “Truth be told, I don’t know much ‘bout that. What kinda rules 
they have, anyway. I don’t think ol’ Olrot ever got married, but I heard ‘bout Anoia 
havin’ a husband, or at least somethin’ like that. I dunno much ‘bout ‘im, he passed 
away a while ago. I was small when it happened.” 

Aji raised an eyebrow. “So... there wouldn’t be a problem if... if you and I...” 

Pitt’s face was bright red. “Well, no, I don’t think so. I might ask ‘bout it, but I 
a’int heard nothin’ ‘bout it bein’ a problem. That is, if... if ya really wanted...” 

Aji stopped, one hand taking Pitts. “Yes,” she said. “I-I do want to get 
together. Or, er... date, or court, or whatever you call it here.” 

Pitt stared at her. “I...” 

Aji stepped forward. “Well? Do... do you want to?” 

Pitt was still a little confused. “You mean, like a betrothal, or...” 

Aji realized she had no idea what kind of courting customs they had here. 
“Well, I don’t know what you do here, but from what I remember, there’s 
something called dating. Basically I call you my boyfriend, and you call me your 
girlfriend, and we spend a lot of time together, get to know each other, and if we 
decide to later we might get, er... betrothed, or married, eventually. But it’s more of 
a way of getting to know each other first. Is there something like that here?” 

Pitt thought he was finally understanding what she was going for. “Oh. 
Well, er, yea. Maybe we don’t call it anythin’, but I s’pose we do stuff like that ‘ere. 
So, ya want me to be your... boyfriend, ya said?” 

“Yes,” Aji said. “Can I be your girlfriend?” 

Pitt smiled. “Yea, I... I would like that,” he said, smiling shyly, holding her 
hand. 

Aji smiled, then threw her arms around his neck. “I love you, Pitt,” she said, 
kissing him lightly on the lips. 

Finally, he seemed to break out of his daze, pulling her into a tight hug 
himself. 

“I love you, too,” he said. 

After a moment, they continued on. There were still things to figure out, but 
they were through the worst of it. 

Weren’t they? 

A few days later, Oggot sniffed as he sat in his cell, twiddling his thumbs. He 
would mutter to himself occasionally, hoping for some sort of communication 
tonight. He didn’t know for sure if he would get any communication that night, but 
he hadn’t heard anything since he’d heard about that girl surviving a few days 
back. He was still frustrated about that. A mage managed to fly out on a skyship 
and somehow didn’t get blown straight out of the sky, but his goons follow her ten 
feet out of his inn and he gets thrown in prison! He was furious. 

He suddenly heard a rustle to the side of his cell and his head shot to the 
side. He silently cursed himself. If there was a guard outside he’d be found out for 
sure. 
 He took the paper and quickly read through it, then dropped it back outside 
the window. He heard someone on the other side pick it up and scurry away. He 
sat back down on his bed, then thought better of it and began pacing his cell, in 
case anyone had heard him get up and thought it was suspicious. 

No one questioned him. After a moment, he smiled to himself. 

He would be free soon.   

 Chapter 8: A Story 
Aji had vivid dreams. 

She had been training for about a week, learning spells and becoming 
better. It was amazing to learn this magic, and apparently she was pretty good at 
it. She had a long way to go to catch up to Anoia or Olrot, but she was improving 
very quickly. 

That, and early mornings and later in the night she was able to spend time 
with Pitt and the others. Their courtship was official and obvious to everyone at 
that point, and everyone loved it. Apparently there wasn’t any “official” way to 
court someone there, but it was normally just obvious. Apparently, though, 
according to Tyri and Miny, a betrothal, or engagement, was fairly common, even 
at younger ages where the two might not have been quite ready to get married yet. 
It wasn’t uncommon to be engaged for ten years, apparently. And after talking 
with Olrot and Anoia about it, she found that there was no real rule against mages 
getting married, it was just more difficult because of their devoted life, which is 
why Olrot had never done it. Anoia told her if she did get married she would 
probably need to have her own house, since non-mages couldn’t live in the shrine, 
but it was permitted for mages with their own house to live and sleep outside of 
the shrine. 

A lot of things were shaping up. She liked everything she was doing, the 
beautiful magic, she’d even been able to visit the farms and help with their crop 
production, and she was so happy that she and Pitt were finally able to officially 
date each other. He was coming back to his usual, encouraging self, too. 
Everything should have been perfect. 

But she couldn’t shake something. 

Her memories. They were real. She really had a father and a mother, she 
knew it. She learned Hapkido and Judo from her father. She’d learned to draw 
from her mother. She was certain she had other family. It wasn’t just some sort of 
dream her body had come up with to explain her odd talents, the Phoenix had ​told 
her it was to help her understand her physical talents when she’d remembered the 
martial arts. 
 But... everyone seemed to think it was all just a figment of her imagination. 

Every night she’d dreamed of something new. One day she remembered a 
playground at a school, another she’d remembered a theme park, and even a 
classroom. She was always surrounded by friends, but... 

None of them had faces. 

It wasn’t that she remembered them as faceless, it was like they were 
blurred out, like a TV show protecting their identity. 

What was a TV? Aji still remembered odd things she shouldn’t all the time. 

Thrice she’d woken up late and just sat up thinking about it. 

That night Aji dreamed of her bedroom, but... it was an older bedroom. 

The walls were yellow and turquoise. It was. A seashore? There were fish, 
and jellyfish, sharks, starfish, all painted on her wall. 

Painted by her and her mother, she remembered. 

There was someone else there. A brother, he was walking in. He wanted to 
play. She couldn’t see his face, but she knew he had large, pleading eyes. He 
couldn’t speak yet. 

She tried to tell him to go away. She didn’t feel well. 

He waddled in, he couldn’t be that old. Young enough he didn’t walk very 
well. 

No, she didn’t feel well.  

“Sarah,” the little boy cooed. He didn’t know many words, she could tell, but 
there was something wrong with the way he said it, like she just couldn’t 
remember it right. He threw a toy at her. 

“Caden,” she whined back. “I don’t feel good,” she said. She must have been 
much younger than she was now. 

Then her mother appeared. 

 “Sorry, dear,” her mother said. Her voice was distorted, as if someone was 
tampering with the memory. “He just loves you.” 

“I know,” she said. “But I feel like I’m gonna throw up.” 

“Do you need to see a doctor, honey?” her mother asked. “You don’t look 
good.” 

“Maybe,” she whispered. 

Stop. ​A deep, vicious voice said to her. 

“Wait, I need to see a doctor,” she whispered. 

This isn’t real. Wake up, s​ he was commanded. 

Aji shot up, sweating in her bed. 

She was back in the shrine. 

“Sarah?” she whispered. That wasn’t her name. Her name was Aji. Still... 
something about it felt more familiar than it should have. Caden... that was the 
little boy’s name. Her brother? A little brother. 

She had a little brother. 

She shivered. It couldn’t have been just some fever dream, trying to 
remember memories. They felt real. Tampered with. As if she wasn’t meant to 
remember them. Distorted. 

But very real. 

This was too much. Aji knew this was her home now, but she had a past. 
She was from somewhere. And she had to find it. 

Finally, after gathering her strength, she slipped on her boots, taking care 
not to make noise. She slipped through the door, making sure she didn’t wake 
Olrot in the next room as she left. Anoia was on duty in the prison that night. One 
of them had to be there, in case of a prison break, but Aji sometimes doubted the 
wisdom in letting the frail old woman guard the prison. 

She was a mage, though. What was the worst that could happen? 
 Aji slipped through the front door, stepping out into the night air. 

At first, her plan was to just go for a walk and clear her head, but her path 
took her right to the docks, and her mind wouldn’t stop racing. 

Every hour she was learning more about her past, but there was something 
blocking it. The Phoenix had told her to go to Olrot and Anoia, but they seemed to 
know less about her past than she did. 

The Phoenix. 

It was the Phoenix that had put her here. It was the Phoenix who told her 
about her past in martial arts, and it was always the Phoenix’s voice that ripped 
her out of those dreams and memories. 

The Phoenix. 

She had to speak with the Phoenix again. But how? From what she 
gathered, the only real way to interact with the Phoenix was to do the ritual and 
keep on her good side. It was never something like speaking to her, or asking 
questions. 

The only time Aji had seen her was when she was mad at her for... 

For being in the sky... 

Aji got an idea. A crazy idea, but... it might just work. It was risky. Extremely 
risky. 

She slipped down to the docks. She found a small skiff floating in the sky, 
then pulled the chain closer to her. She was about to step onto it, but then thought 
better. Here might not be the best place. She remembered being told that the skiffs 
could be broken down when she was a dock worker, for transport. 

She took a breath, looking around to make sure she was alone. She’d return 
it. They wouldn’t use it until morning, anyway. 

Not long after, she walked down the stairway to the highway. No one 
stopped her. No one guarded the entrance to the highway. 
 She stepped out into the darkness, admiring the pinpricks of light. Despite 
how terrifying it was, she had to wonder at the beauty of this place. She passed the 
place where Uggs’s shop was. He wasn’t there, she knew he was only there during 
the day. She wondered how lonely it must be there without Yoot. She hadn’t really 
seen him since she’d set off herself, she hadn’t seen him after the incident with 
the Phoenix. 

She continued on. She decided to go to the place she’d first remembered. 
There was something poetic about this. To regain her memories from the first 
place she’d remembered. 

When she reached the place, she took one look back at Hibbsbot and slipped 
the sky skiff off her back and made sure not to let it float away before she’d 
reassembled the craft. The skiff settled into the air out in front of her, floating a 
little higher than the highway. She was just glad it wasn’t so much higher than 
the highway, but it was a little awkward getting on with the way it floated. 

Still, she got on. She closed her eyes and took a breath. This might be a huge 
mistake, but... she had to speak with the Phoenix. She pulsed the engine, causing 
her to float out into the sky. Not too far, just far enough she knew she’d get the 
Phoenix’s attention. The sky was beginning to brighten a little, and it was 
yellowing. 

“Hey, Phoenix!” she shouted after a second. “I’m in your sky! Come and yell 
at me!” 

At first everything was silent. Maybe the Phoenix knew she didn’t really 
plan on going out any further, and she would return to Hibbsbot if nothing 
happened? Or maybe she wouldn’t wait to talk and just destroy the skiff and her 
without any thought? 

Aji’s heart jumped out of her chest as a bright eye appeared in front of her, 
then quickly materialized to a smallish form of a bird, perching itself on the edge 
of her skiff. 

You’re either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. I’d venture to say the true 
answer is stupid, ​the Phoenix said to her. I​ f I hadn’t felt your intention to return to 
Hibbsbot, I would have shot you out of the sky. 
 Aji took a breath. “Thank you,” she said. 

Now, tell me what you came here to say. This will be your last chance, and 
I’m not bluffing. Next time I w
​ ill ​kill you. 

Aji nodded. “I know I’m here to help this town. I know they need mages to 
get along, and I know you gave me these abilities I have. I do like it there, really, so 
please don’t take this the wrong way, but you’ve lied to these mages, haven’t you?” 

The Phoenix didn’t respond for a moment. ​What lie have I told? 

Aji stared. “They believe they just appeared out of nowhere! Like you just 
made us and plopped us here. They don’t think we have a past, but... I remember it. 
You made me forget, didn’t you? You made them forget theirs, too.” 

The Phoenix was silent for another moment, then sighed. The sigh of the 
Phoenix was surreal, as if it came from all sides. Aji shivered. 

I suppose if this was ever to happen, you were a good candidate for it,​ the 
Phoenix said. ​I should have expected this. 

“So it’s true? I have a past and a family, and you’ve been trying to make me 
forget?” 

The Phoenix closed her eyes for a moment. Finally, she spoke again. 

Fine, I’ll tell you the story. Who you were and why you came here. But you 
must ​swear to me not to tell all of these details to the other mages. You’ll 
understand why at the end. Then, you must promise me you’ll never invade my 
sky again after I tell it. 

“Unless I find out it’s a lie,” Aji said. 

You don’t trust me,​ the Phoenix said. I​ ’ll tell you this much, I’ve never lied to 
you, or the mages.  

Aji frowned. “But you haven’t told us the whole truth,” she said. 

The Phoenix wasn’t willing to discuss it further. ​Do you swear? 

Aji sighed. “Fine. I promise not to bring it up to them. But I will answer 
questions if they ask me.” 
 I suppose that will do. ​The Phoenix sighed again. 

You do have a past, but it is not in this world. A father, a mother, and a 
brother, as you’ve remembered, and other family and friends you as of yet have 
not. 

Aji nodded. “I’d figured out that much. Where are they?” 

They are at your old home, and they are all fine. Do not fear for them. 

Aji sighed. That was something that had worried her before. “So, where is 
my old home?” 

It’s a separate world. Very different from this one. There’s no way for you to 
travel back. Otherwise you’d still be there. 

Aji frowned. “What do you mean?” 

I’ll tell you the story, don’t interrupt. 

And so the Phoenix began. 

This world was created after your world, though long before you were born, 
for your brothers and sisters. People like you. 

You see, your world is a place for your people to live, and to grow, and to 
experience joy and pain. It is a broken but a beautiful world, and it is a step on the 
eternal journey of your people. There are governments and wars, but also families 
and art. It is only a short step on your journey, but it is an imperative one. 

There is sickness and death on this world, and while it mostly affects 
adults, those who have had a chance to live and experience these things. 

Unfortunately, sometimes it affected young people. Children, young men 

and women who hadn’t had a chance to fall in love, hadn’t had a chance to learn 
of hurt, or to learn to work and to create. Sometimes just before adulthood, 
sometimes soon after birth, all are precious. 

So I was asked to make a world for them. 

Aji slowly began to realize what the Phoenix was going to tell her. She kept 
quiet, though. 
 At first I wanted a world made up just of them, but it was too difficult for 
them to experience life when they didn’t have anyone to take care of them. So I 
took a few others from your world who were older, and placed them around on 
these islands. I wanted it to resemble your world, but before long it became clear I 
wouldn’t have enough without others to add in. So I took some of the animals and 
gave them the ability to act as part of society. They changed, but maintained a 
likeness of what they once were. 

This world was beautiful, I made a sky, made it cycle between day and night 
so you could rest, I created these highways and bound them together so you could 
travel. I didn’t have much material, though, so I also gave skystones to the people. 
They made boats and began to travel, to trade. Before long it became obvious they 
all needed mages. 

I made this world for the children who passed on before they could 
experience life. I realized the best way for them to experience it was to give them 
the strength to directly impact these societies. They still had adults to guide them, 
but they could directly influence and guide this world. Still, I didn’t want them to 
skip out of these duties. They had to learn, and because of that I had to distribute 
them to the islands. Some didn’t like it, and I had to enforce it more viciously. 
Before long I was less of a benevolent mother, and more of a scourge of the sky. 
Maybe it was a mistake, but I wanted to give these children a chance to directly 
affect their world, not just see it. 

Aji nodded. That much was clear. “So... I’m one of the children that passed 
on when I was young?” 

The Phoenix nodded. ​You’ve obviously figured that much out by now. It 
wasn’t long before you arrived here at this spot. I usually let some age before I 
introduce them to this world, but you were a little older when you passed on. 

Aji nodded. “How... how did I die?” 

It was an illness. The kind doesn’t matter too much. You contracted it at a 
young age, and fought it all your life. Unfortunately, you couldn’t overcome it 
forever, and you succumbed long before you had a fair chance to really live. 

Aji sighed. “So my family is fine?” 

Yes, they just miss you greatly. You were very close to them. They still 
grieve your passing. You were an inspiration to them from the day you contracted 
your disease to the day you were taken from them. Your closeness to them is 
probably why you retained your memories after I tried to take them from you. 

Aji felt a tear falling down her cheek. “But... why can’t I remember them? 
What’s wrong with that?” 

The Phoenix sighed. ​There are a few reasons. First, some mages died as 
infants. They don’t have memories. It’s simply unfair that you have beautiful 
memories while they are left with almost nothing. While that may not be reason 
enough for me to take memories, it’s something I like to mention. Second, and this 
ties into the first, some memories are lost whether or not I intervene. The 
transition from your old world to this one is a difficult one. And the only way for 
me to know if you don’t have your memories anymore is to remove them myself 
or have you ask me. I spent much time before I began taking the memories away 
being begged by those with no memories for some heartwarming story of their 
past, which simply didn’t exist. 

Aji frowned. That still didn’t sound like enough reason. 

And the third is for their own safety. 

Aji nodded. There it was. 

You are a mage. You affect this world with your mind. While I doubt you 
have a mind to take your friends and family away from their world, it would be 
possible if I didn’t remove them from your memory. It happened far too often. A 
young mage would be missing their family, and suddenly, their entire family 
would die. Oftentimes it wouldn’t even send some of them to this world, because 
they were older. It was far too dangerous to leave young mages with that power. 

Aji took a shuddering breath. “You probably should have started with that 
reason.” 

The Phoenix didn’t laugh. ​I find it important to give all of the details when 
telling a story. 

Aji took another breath. “So... that’s it, then? I died, and now I’m here to live a 
life I didn’t get to have in my world?” 

Precisely​, the Phoenix said. 

 Aji had a lot to think of. “What happens if a child here dies too early? Where 
do they go?” she asked. 

Finally, the Phoenix laughed. ​You are an astute one, child. Worry not, they 
are taken care of. I can’t explain more. 

Aji sighed. “Well... I guess I just came here to remember my family. But... I 
guess that isn’t possible. If anything, I might want you to erase them better from 
my memory so I don’t hurt them,” she muttered. 

Worry not, you won’t be able to affect them with your current memories. I 
won’t need to do any further modifications. 

Aji sighed. “Well... okay.” She didn’t know what else to say. She’d just 
learned so much. It was a beautiful story, in all honesty. She could live her life, 
now. She wouldn’t have had that chance otherwise. Still... 

Are you satisfied? ​The Phoenix asked. 

Aji nodded. “Well, it makes sense,” she said. “That doesn’t mean I like it, 
though.” 

You’re the first who I’ve told this to for years. The reason most believe I 
created them from nothingness is simply because of false oral tradition. Some 
mage in the past decided it had to be that way, or one who knew the truth lied to 
keep it hidden, and it was handed down that way. Perhaps it would be better if I 
corrected it, but it’s difficult for me to do so without sparking possible memories in 
others. I hope to protect the mages and their friends and family from your world. 
It’s difficult. 

Aji nodded. “I understand.” 

For a moment, there was silence. Finally, Aji realized something. “I... I do 
have something to ask, though,” she said. 

What sort of request? 

Aji took a breath. She wasn’t immediately shot down. That was good. 

“Listen, I... I don’t​ want ​this to happen, but... if someone from my family, or a 
friend... dies and is sent here, I just... will you send them here? So I can see them 
again. I don’t remember everything, but I...” she felt herself start to choke up. “I 
loved them. No... I love them. Please,” she begged. 

The Phoenix looked at her, then answered. ​If someone close to you does 
come into my care, I will. 

Aji felt a tear roll down her cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered. 

Remember, though, I will only send them if they do come into my care. That 
may not happen. 

“Yes, I understand,” Aji said. “I just... I thought I’d ask.” 

The Phoenix nodded. ​Your heart is very pure, Aji. 

Aji didn’t respond. 

Now, I have a request for you, ​the Phoenix said to her. 

Aji nodded. “What is it?” 

You have a duty to fulfil. You see, this people, the people of Hibbsbot, are in 
danger. 

Aji blinked. “What kind of danger?” 

You’ve faced it before. Thugs, goons, they aren’t disorganized as they make 
out to the officials of this city. In fact, they are completely organized. They have a 
leader. You got him thrown in prison. 

Aji took in a quick breath. “Oggot?” 

The same. He is planning to escape his prison, and will try to overthrow the 
council. He will try to use force. He has many men under his direction. And he has 
already started his conquest. 

Aji shot a look over to the city. “You mean...” 

It has already begun. I didn’t say anything before because you are safe out 
here, but they are targeting the mages specifically. They know you are the ones 
capable of stopping them. You must return and destroy Oggot and his band of 
goblins. 

Aji looked from the Phoenix to Hibbsbot and back. “But... just me?” 
 You have help, t​ he Phoenix said. B
​ ut Anoia and Olrot will be incapacitated 
quickly. You will be instrumental in their downfall. 

“Anoia, will she be alright? She’s in the prison tonight! What are they going 
to do with her?” 

Go, ​the Phoenix said. ​Hurry. 

And then the apparition was gone. 

There were about twenty men gathered in front of the council building, and 
there was one guard lying limp at the entrance while the men all filed in. 

They didn’t move stealthily, but they did maintain an uncharacteristic focus 
and silence that caused them to take guards by surprise. They had a collection of 
pole weapons, knives, and torches they used to attack the guards, and incapacited 
them one at a time, before they could sound any alarms. 

Finally, they stormed down the basement. Some began to give giddy yips of 
joy. Their plan was going as planned. First the basement to free Oggot, then to the 
top to take Billin. There was a group at the shrine for the two mages not guarding 
the prison, ready to incapacitate them both. Their orders were to spare them, Oggot 
wanted to do the honors of killing the girl. 

As they hurried down the steps, hoots and hollers popping out of the various 
slimeballs, they hit the bottom where the prisons were, staring straight at the eye 
of Anoia the mage. 

“Staging a riot today, are we?” she asked. 

A gnarly owl at the front of the pack stepped forward, grinning. His feathers 
were caked with grime and he was enormous, holding a flaming torch. 

“A riot, granny? Ya think we’s somma those idiots wantin’ ta be tossed offa 
the side ‘a this ‘ere island, ya say? Naw, granny. We’s not startin’ a riot. We’s 
startin’ a revolution. We’s tired o’ ol’ Billin tellin’ us what we can do. We’s 
overthrowin’ this whole council, see,” he growled. 

“I see,” Anoia said. She didn’t move. 

 “Well, Granny? Gonna magic us o’ somethin’?” 

A few of the rioters shifted uncomfortably. She didn’t move. 

“I’m old,” she said. “My magic isn’t what it used to be. Still, I can’t let you 
down here. I’ll stand my ground. Come and get me,” she said, smiling. 

“It’s a trick!” The rioters started shouting at each other. One or two started 
backing up the stairs. 

“Shut it!” the owl shouted. “There a’int no trick. She’s an older one. Back 
down there ‘ere steps’n BACK US UP!” 

The other rioters stepped forward uncertainly. 

“Gobber! Gimme the stuff!” 

A shorter, plumper man stepped forward and gave him a bottle of 
something and a rag. He wet the rag, then stepped forwards slowly. 

“Now don’tya worry ‘bout a thing, granny, I just wanted ta... YA!” 

He lunged forwards, grabbing Anoia and pressing the rag to her face. He 
didn’t know exactly what it was, but he knew it put people to sleep. And a sleeping 
mage wasn’t dangerous to him. 

“WE GOT ‘ER!” He shrieked. “WE GOT THE MAGE! VICTORY IS OURS, BOYS!” 

The hooting rioters ran forward, rattling the cages of all of the prisoners. 
Somewhere (probably from a guard they trampled), someone produced some keys 
and started freeing the prisoners. The prisoners joined into the hooting, as they 
headed back to where Oggot was grasping his cell door, laughing. 

What they didn’t notice was peeking out of her cell door, eyes wide, was the 
captain Milwa. Instead of joining the riot, she slipped out behind them and hurried 
up the stairs. She had to warn someone quickly. She might have a few screws 
loose in her head, but she didn’t want total anarchy. 

She broke out of the doors of the capital, this place was done for. Eyes 
darting around, she looked for someone who could help her. 

The docks. She ran towards them. The sun was starting to rise. 
It had begun.   
 Chapter 9: The Upheaval 
Olrot sighed, sitting up in his bed. He didn’t spend much time there once 
he’d awoken, and stepped outside, into the hallways. 

Something was wrong. 

He frowned, looking around. He walked forwards, wondering what seemed 

so off. Anoia would be back from guard duty soon, but hadn’t returned yet. That 
was normal. 

He walked forward and noticed that Aji’s door was ajar. Suspecting the 
truth, he peeked in to see that she was gone. He looked around the room, peeking 
around the door. “Aji?” he asked. 

The girl had run off. 

He sighed. He knew she was courting that boy, she would be with him at 
the moment. It was getting time for her to focus a little more on her studies, 
especially writing. 

He was about to turn and go begin his morning routine when a hand 
pressed a wet cloth to his mouth. It didn’t take a moment before he was 
unconscious. 

Oggot watched happily as his men apprehended the members of the 

council. 

He sat down in Billin’s office, watching as the various council members 

were tied up and thrown on the floor in front of him alongside Anoia and Olrot the 
mages. 

Then, he realized something. 

“Where’s the girlie?” he asked. 

The goon who had apprehended Olrot stepped forward, trembling. “She 
weren’t in the shrine, boss,” he explained. 
 Oggot bit his lip. She was a mage, but... she was a new one. Knowing the 
stories about her, she’d pop up trying to be a hero and he’d finally get his hands on 
her anyway. Finally, he growled. “Everyone be on the lookout for ‘er. In the 
meantime...” 

Billin was being dragged into the room. His beak had been tied together, and 
his feathered body was bound in various cords. He was struggling, trying to get his 
talons up to cut the ropes, but they’d bound him well and he was powerless. 

“Well, well,” Oggot said, stepping around Billin’s desk. “Look ‘ho we got ‘ere.” 

Billin looked like he wanted desperately to give Oggot a lecture, but his beak 
was bound shut. 

“Lookit who’s gonna be tellin who what ta do,” Oggot said. He stepped in 
close to Billin and began speaking in a harsh whisper. 

“This ‘ere’s my town now. Ya a’int got a part in it ‘xcept fer that dank cell ya 
threw me in. Next time maybe you’ll think a bit mo’ b’fore sendin’ the most 
powerful man in yer little island to prison, see.” Oggot spat in his face. 

“Put ‘em all in cells, but... leave ‘em tied up. We don’t want ‘em thinkin’ bout 
escape. Also, keep that bottle o’ stuff by these ‘ere mages. We don’t want ‘em 
wakin’ up. 

The goons went to action. Despite how grungy and stupid they were, they 
were very good at following orders. 

Everything was going to plan. 

Everything, that was, except for that blasted little girlie... 

Aji decided it wasn’t wise to try and return through the entrance, it was too 
public. She instead boarded her little skiff and found a walkway at the edge of the 
island. She plugged along until she got there, then jumped on, tied down the skiff 
so she could return it to the docks if she ever got out of there, and started up. 

She wasn’t sure if that walkway was meant to be accessed from the sky, 
there was a railing at the edge, but it was definitely meant to give whoever went 
down an unobstructed view of the sky. She hurried up the stairway, panting as 
she approached the top. She hoped whatever Oggot was doing, he didn’t have 
complete control over the city yet, at least not enough for him to worry about 
putting some kind of guard over the top of that stairway. 

To her surprise, instead of reaching a public walkway, she reached the 

backdoor of someone’s house. She realized after a second that it was not a house, 
but a tall building attached to the side of the mountainside, going all the way 
down to the market. 

It was Oggot’s old inn. 

She took in a sharp breath. Had she just walked into some kind of trap. She 
looked out and saw that goons were flooding the streets. Some were pulling people 
out of their houses, others were beating up on the citizens. The markets had a few 
fights in them, but since very few people had a chance to set up their shops, it 
might have even been less chaotic than usual. 

She looked around. Did she have to go back down? Surely she couldn’t try 
and fight through Oggot’s inn on her own, right? Maybe she had to go back down 
and get in her skiff so she could sail around to the docks?  

Even as she thought of it, the doorway into the back of Oggot’s inn opened. 
Her heart skipped a beat. 

And the one person she’d essentially forgotten about stepped out. 

Rawking, the older man that had vouched for her on her first day, saw her 
and his eyes filled with relief. 

“Mage,” he said. “Thank goodness. I thought you were captured like the 
others. How’dya get ‘ere?” 

She looked down. “I got very lucky,” she said. “I need to get down there and 
help people, how can I get down? Are there people inside the inn?” 

“No, no, I kicked ‘em all out when I got me inn back.” 

Aji frowned. “Your inn?” 

 “‘Twas originally mine. Lost it in a foolish bet. I have since got off betting. 
Worst decision of my life. Put in the application, and I got ‘er back. Been tryin’ to 
get ‘er back in shape. I locked the doors good, Oggot isn’t gonna come here right 
away. He wants to make sure he’s in charge. Besides, I think he’s wantin’ to make 
the Council Building ‘is new hideout.” 

Aji nodded. “So... how can we stop him?” 

He looked over Aji. “How much magic can you do?” 

She looked at her hands. “I don’t have that much practice, but I’m pretty 
good. I bet I could do quite a bit,” she ventured. 

“Good, we’re gonna need it.” 

Pitt was barely waking when someone came barging through the doors. 

It was Dond. “Everyone up! Hurry, we gotta big problem out ‘ere!” 

Everyone shot up. Some groggily rubbed their eyes. 

“ON YOUR FEET, MEN!” Dond shouted. Immediately they started jumping up 
and some started dressing. “OUT ‘ERE WITH YER SHORTS OR WITHOUT, WE’VE 
GOT AN EMERGENCY!” 

A few still put on some pants before hurrying out, but it was clearly an 
emergency and they all hurried out. 

To their surprise, at the doorway to the Barracks, Milwa was standing in her 
prisoner uniform next to Naia. She looked uncomfortable. 

“What’na is she doin’ ‘ere,” Jitters muttered groggily. 

“Listen up! Oggot the goon’s been plottin’. Turns out ‘e’s got the entire 
council building, set all the criminals free, too. Busted ‘imself out, seems. Milwa 
‘ere came tellin’ us. We got a lot of strong men, and by the sound of it we’re some of 
the last ones they’ve got planned to take down. By the sound of it, they’ve even got 
the mages.” 

Pitt’s heart sank. “Aji,” he whispered. 

 “You lot are strong men, find whatever you can use as a weapon ‘n come on 
after me! Hurry it up, we gotta throw this slimeball back in ‘is cell!” 

Pitt ran towards the supplies room. He opened the door, Jitters popping in 
behind him. Others followed after. Pitt picked up two iron poles, and Jitters found 
a longer one he could use as a staff. 

They rushed through, followed closely behind by Tyri and Miny. 

“You ‘eard from Aji?” Tyri asked Pitt. 

“No, I’m goin’ after ‘er. That rat’s gonna get it bad if ‘e hurt ‘er.” 

“We’ll come with you,” Miny said. 

Jitters grabbed Pitt’s arm as he started running. “Wait. We can’t just try’n 
storm the building. We need somethin’ they don’t ‘ave.” 

“What do we ‘ave, though?” Tyri asked. “We just know workin’ on 
skyboats...” 

Pitt’s eyes widened. “That’s it. What we got. We’ve got skyboats.” 

The other three nodded. 

They hurried off. 

Dond didn’t stop them as they took over a boat about the size of the S. S. 
Skystreak, pulling in a few skystones to raise it over the town and headed it 
towards the council. 

“Find things ya can drop on the goons,” Pitt said. “They’re all over town, 
looks like. We’ll pick off as many as we can b’fore we hit the council building.” 

As they soared over the town, Miny and Tyri started targeting down goons 
in the streets and throwing whatever they could find that was heavy down on 
them. They didn’t hit all of them, but they heard the people in the street cheer as 
they flew over, and they started fighting back. Before long, most of the goons were 
running from the villagers. Some were unconscious on the streets, having been hit 
by the falling objects. 
 They saw as they approached the council building, some people began to 
follow under them. 

“They’re gatherin’ because they want us to help ‘em take out Oggot,” Jitters 
noted. 

“Good, we’ll need ‘em,” Tyri said. “Look, there’s a welcomin’ party at the 
gate.” 

Pitt clenched his teeth, rushing to the bow of the ship. It wasn’t theirs, or 
he’d think about abandoning ship and having it ram them. Also he didn’t really 
want to destroy the Council Building. 

“What’ve we got to throw down on ‘em?” 

“Runnin’ out of stuff,” Tyri said, sounding extremely stressed. 

Pitt looked around, then nodded. “‘Ow many skystones can we take without 
makin’ the ship crash?” 

“Two at most,” Tyri shouted back. 

“Right, you two keep the ship from crashin’, Jitters, grab a stone and come 
with me.” 

“What are we...?” 

“Grab an anchorin’ chain while you’re at it.” 

The goons all watched as the skyship approached. They hadn’t expected 
this. Sure, they knew the dock workers were one of the weaker parts of this plan, 
but they thought they’d just come in with tools and try to fight them off, but since 
they already had the good positions they’d be fine. 

Now, they felt like they were in a very bad situation. 

The skyship loomed over them. 

“Stay yer ground, ya oafs. What’re they gonna do? They got a boat, nothin’ 
else. They can’t drop stuff on us forever. Just stand yer ground, do NOT retreat!” 
The owl man was in charge of leading the men. Still, he wasn’t terribly sure what 
they were planning. 

He would find out soon enough. 

There was also a group of men, some of them other dock workers, others 
just men from the town, all gathering with makeshift tools and weapons in their 
hands, waiting to see what the ship would do. 

It stopped. 

For a moment, everything stood still. 

Then two idiots jumped out of the ship. 

Pitt and Jitters each had a skystone they sat on as they jumped, stretching 
an anchor chain between themselves as they fell. The skystones helped keep 
them afloat as they dropped, using their legs to clutch the stones as they stretched 
the chains between them. They shouted, pulling the chain taut and flying forward, 
skimming the ground with their skystones. 

The rest of the men shouted and hurried after them, brandishing their 
weapons. 

The chain hit the unsuspecting group of goons and knocked a good part of 
them down, giving others a sharp smack to the gut and knocking the whole party 
over. They hit the walls of the Council Building hard, but stood and pulled out the 
metal poles they’d picked out and charged the confused criminals. 

There were more of Oggot’s men than the men of Hibbsbot, but because of 
Pitt and Jitters’s surprise attack, Oggot’s men were in disarray when they hit.  

The criminals began to scatter as soon as they hit. Pitt knocked a few over 
the head, but mostly just let them rush off to the side. The others rushed in, 
swinging whatever hastily found weapons they had at the whimpering 
slimeballs. 

Unfortunately, their advantage didn’t last. 

“STAND YER GROUND YA LOOGS,” the owl man shouted. “PUSH ‘EM OUT!” 
 Suddenly a surge of Oggot’s men came from inside the building and started 
pushing back against the other men. They started getting pushed back outside the 
building. 

The owl man grunted. “FIRE!” he shouted. 

Pitt was confused. They didn’t have any sort of ranged weapons on them. 

Unless he meant... 

The owl picked up a canister of yellow liquid and started throwing it out. It 
got all over a few of them. Pitt immediately knew what was coming. 

“RUN, RUN, THAT’S FUEL, HE’S GONNA LIGHT IT!”  

Most of them got away before a torch was thrown, but as it blazed to life he 
saw multiple people catch fire. A few just on their wrist, and they were able to put 
it out, but he saw one man burst into flames all over his body. 

Pitt ran to him and grabbed a stray shirt that must have been ripped off of 
someone, starting to beat the flames with it as the man rolled. Before long they’d 
put it out, but the man’s face was red and he was starting to blister. 

Pitt looked at him for a second, then gave him the shirt. 

“Try to wipe any other fuel off of you,” he said. He looked up at someone 
nearby, then shouted. “‘Ey, get ‘im somewhere safe!” The younger man nodded, 
grabbing the burned man. 

“Why are you doing this?” Pitt asked, enraged. 

The owl man strutted forward, laughing. “Our days in the shadows’re over 
kid. We gonna make sure this island stays o
​ urs​.” The two stared at each other 
angrily from over the flames. 

“You lot are nothin’ without your mages. Nothin’ but sniveling, weak, 
lemmings. And you lot are all gonna burn!” 

Pitt realized last minute that he had a little bit of fuel left in his basket, and 
Pitt was standing directly on the other side of the flame. 

The owl man threw the bucket, flames bursting forward right towards Pitt. 
 But they fizzled out right before they touched his face. 

“Unfortunately for you,” a familiar voice said behind them, “they have a 
mage with them. Me.” 

Aji approached angrily, hands outstretched. 

“Don’t touch my boyfriend.” 

A mist of water began to condensate in the air. “Get out of the way, Pitt!” she 
shouted. Pitt ran to the side just as a fountain of water erupted out from in front of 
Aji, putting out the flames and knocking the owl man backwards, blowing all of 
the criminals out of the entryway. 

A cheer went out through the men, and Aji hurried to the burned man. 

“Listen, I’m new to mage work, can mages heal people?” she asked. 

“I... I have no idea, I haven’t seen it before,” the younger man said. 

The burned man winced. 

“He’s in a lot of pain. Can you do anything?” 

Aji frowned. “I’ll try,” she said. She focused. How might he heal? He would 
have to cool down his skin. She didn’t want to risk changing things about him, but 
maybe his skin would be damaged less? 

Even as she thought it, he whimpered in relief. His skin started to lighten 
from the red, burned color. Still, he had a few blisters. Aji didn’t dare try anything 
more. 

“Try to get him somewhere they can look him over,” Aji said. “He’s not 
completely healed, I just cooled down his skin so there wouldn’t be any more 
damage.” 

The man nodded and hauled him away. 

Suddenly, she was smothered by a bear hug from Pitt. 

“You’re okay,” he whispered. “I thought they’d got ya.” 

 Aji hugged him back. “I was lucky,” she said. “I was out of the shrine when 
they came.” 

Pitt sighed. “I was so worried,” he admitted. 

“I was worried about you, too, but we have to keep going,” she said, pulling 
away. 

“Okay,” Pitt said. 

The two hurried into the Council Building. They watched as Milwa rushed 
past, followed by Dond, each carrying makeshift weapons. 

“Let’s get on to Oggot!” Milwa shouted, rushing forward. 

“I’ll admit, I am a bit more of a fan of Milwa when she’s helpin’ us out,” Pitt 
noted. 

They hurried up the stairs to the offices, where Oggot was hiding. Milwa 
chased three men off, screaming wildly, and Dond got stuck fighting a large goon. 

Two more appeared, bearing down on Aji and Pitt. Aji recognized them as 
the two goons Oggot had sent after her on the first day. 

“You really think you can take me now? Now that I’m a mage?” she asked. 
The two goons looked uncomfortable, but didn’t retreat. 

“Suit yourselves,” she said. 

She shot behind one, climbing on his back and putting him in a tight 
headlock. He started gagging and trying to hit her with some sort of fancy stick he 
must have found in some courtroom somehwere, but she just willed for it to break 
and he tossed it to the side angrily. 

The other tried to attack her, but Pitt knocked aside the thicker weapon he’d 
found somewhere with his own iron bars. He stared, trying to size down the big 
man, but Aji had somehow guided her goon so that he sidestepped into the other, 
then pulled his arm behind him, pushing his face into the other one, making them 
both stumble over each other. She motioned for Pitt to follow and they left the two 
smacking each other and trying to clamber over the other.  
 Aji grabbed the wrist of another goon that tried to stop them and twisted it, 
making him lose his weapon, and forced him to turn around, kicking him in the 
back and forcing him to stumble forward, reaching the doors and ripping them 
open. Inside there were about ten politicians and the two mages bound and gagged 
on the floor. There were a few other goons, but as soon as they saw Aji they started 
climbing out the window. 

Oggot pushed one out of the way and jumped out after. 

“Pitt, you start untying all of them, I’ll go after Oggot,” she said. 

“Be careful,” Pitt said, and she nodded. She hurried out the window to see 
Oggot trying to find his way off the roof he’d clambered out onto. 

Aji jumped out and kicked one of the goons off a roof as he charged her. She 
stalked towards Oggot, who was trying to find his way off the roof. 

“Don’t run, Oggot. You know there’s nowhere to run anymore. Your men are 
all scattered, and every one of you is going back in that prison as soon as we have 
them set up again. You’ve lost.” 

“Ya cain’t do this to me! Ya kept me in a prison cell! Our kind have always 
been treated like less! Then ya took away our only place, the little in o’ mine, and 
threw me in a prison! I been mistreated, oppressed!” 

“Oggot, the only reason you’ve spent your life in the dark is that you chose it. 
If you’d chosen to follow the law in your inn you wouldn’t have lost it, and you 
wouldn’t have been thrown in prison. You chose the dark, and you’re going to get 
it back when we throw you right back in your cell.” 

Oggot looked around, trying to find some way out. Without warning, he 
sprang forward, a knife in hand. She grabbed his wrist and smacked it, twisting 
and making him drop the knife. He gasped as she flipped him over, pulling his 
arm back and forcing him to the ground with her knee. 

“Sorry,” she said, pulling his arm tighter behind his back. “But the Phoenix 
sent a mage who won’t fall for that this time.” 

“Aji, you okay?” Pitt asked, poking his head out the window. “We’ve untied 
everyone.” 
 “Throw me some of those ropes!” Aji shouted.  

Pitt jumped out of the window with a rope in hand, coming over and helping 
her tie up Oggot. They pulled the criminal out, and when he tried to shout, they 
gagged him with one of the gags he’d used on one of the council members. 

After shoving him back through the window, they climbed back up into the 
window. 

Aji made sure Oggot was comfortable, then noticed the troubling scene. 
There was vomit all over the floor. Olrot had his head in a bucket. Anoia was no 
longer bound or gagged, but the floor all around her face was covered in puke, and 
she wasn’t moving. 

“Oh, no,” she whispered running over. “Are they alright?” 

“Oggot used some sort of chemical to make them unconscious,” Billin 

explained. “But he left it by their faces for too long. It’s made them sick.” 

Aji tried to turn Anoia over, but another councilwoman stopped her. 

“It’s better if she’s face-down. She might choke on her vomit otherwise,” she 
said, looking. 

“Do you think she’ll... be okay?” 

Everyone around the room was silent. 

“It will be a miracle if I survive,” Olrot said. “I... I fear the worst.” 

As much as Aji wanted to say otherwise, she knew it was no use. 

Aji stared, and felt tears start to run down her face. It was just too horrible a 
sight. 

Pitt knelt next to her and embraced her. 

Anoia was dead.   

 Chapter 10: An End 
Anoia’s funeral was beautiful. 

They held it at the shrine. Aji cried. Olrot said some words, and Billin 
reminded everyone about how she did so much good for them while she was with 
them, and that since she was a young mage she was always helping. 

Lots of people showed up. Pitt, Jitters, Tyri, and Miny, of course, Rawking 
came, he offered a dinner at his newly refurbished inn in her honor, and even 
Uggs showed up wearing a spiffy little suit. 

At the end, Ajia and Olrot produced some beautiful white arcs of light in her 
honor, and her casket was carried to the cemetery to be buried. 

They didn’t have a tradition of following her there, though, so in the end Aji 
was left with Pitt and their friends, in the courtyard, crying. 

“I’m going to miss her,” Aji whispered after a while. The scene was bright, 
but everyone had shed a few tears. 

“We’re all gonna miss ‘er, too, Aji,” Tyri said, touching her knee. 

“I just... I wish I’d been able to help her,” she whispered. 

Pitt hugged her closer. 

They sat that way for a moment, until Olrot appeared. 

He’d recovered from the sickness, but he still looked pale. He’d be recovering 
for a few weeks, likely. 

“Girl... no, I mean, Aji. Thank you for all that you’ve done. You’ve been a 
great help to this people. I was rendered useless, and you saved our people. I’m 
sure Anoia would say the same if she were here.” 

Aji smiled at him through her tears. “Thank you,” she said. 

“Rawking is hosting his dinner tonight at his inn. I need to go and help him 
with preparations, but I hope you’ll be there.” 

“Of course,” Aji said. 

 Aji stayed with her friends all day. They decided to try and have some fun to 
take their minds off of Anoia’s passing. 

The Council Building was being rebuilt, there was a lot of damage. Most of 
the prisoners in the building had been forgiven their trespasses if they’d helped 
fight off the upheaval, so Milwa was actually going to be picked up by Haynai in a 
few days. Aji was excited to see her. She hadn’t gotten much further than Gimmlet 
before getting the notice, so it wouldn’t be too long to come and get her. The cells 
that were now vacant because of the pardons had been filled with Oggot’s goons. 
Anyone who was seen helping Oggot was thrown in, and each of their trials were 
planned. Billin had realized he’d been preventing a lot of other council members 
from participating in the judicial process, and had allowed all of those cases to be 
handled by others on the council. 

Aji thought he might have wanted a break, too. 

That night, the dinner was amazing. Rawking had fixed up the inn 
extremely well, and it was ornate. Aji was extremely impressed with it. The 
dinner was also good, but after a while of well-wishing and small talk, she decided 
to step out. 

She decided to take a walk alone, and the wind took her to the docks. She 
sat there, staring out into the sky for a while. 

Then she heard a voice behind her. 

“Careful, they say mages’ve been killed on the spot just lookin’ over the edge 
on the docks.” 

It was Pitt. 

Aji smiled at him. “I think I know why. It’s because they wanted to jump 
over the edge, and the Phoenix took them with her. She knows what we’re 
thinking. If they wanted to end it, she would take them.” 

Pitt frowned. “How’d you figure that out?” 

“I spoke with the Phoenix today.” 

Pitt stopped. “Wait, how’d ya do that?” 

 “It was why I wasn’t in the shrine when Oggot attacked. I’ve been having 
dreams, and I needed to talk to her. She told me... about my past. Where I came 
from. And she told me a lot. I’m not allowed to say all of what she said, but... I 
know where I came from,” she said. 

Pitt looked at her. “You’re beautiful, Aji,” he said, finally. 

She smiled at him. “You’re handsome, yourself,” she said. 

Pitt stepped in closer. “Um, Aji, I just, uh... I wanted ta ask ya somethin’.” 

Aji leaned her head to the side. “What is it?” 

He stepped forward. “Ya know how you were sayin’ how you remember 
different kinda customs ‘bout, y’know, gettin’ ready for marriage?” 

Aji nodded. “Yes,” she said.  

“Well, uh, I wanted to show ya somethin’ we do here,” he said. 

“Okay,” Aji said, smiling. 

Pitt produced a necklace, with a round sphere on it. “Here we take these ‘ere 
necklaces, and we give ‘em to a girl we like,” he explained. “Then if she takes it, it’s 
like a promise, see. A betrothal. We’re a bit young to get married, but it’s a thing we 
can do before then, and as long as ya keep the necklace you’ll be promised to me. 
And, of course, I’ll be promised to you.” 

Aji realized it was a proposal. An early one, maybe. She wouldn’t be old 
enough to marry for at least a year or two, but it sounded like that wasn’t terribly 
out of place here. It was probably more like asking her to be his girlfriend than 
asking her to marry him, at least how they saw it, but she was flattered. 

“Yes,” she said. Pitt grinned and slipped it over her neck. Aji stepped forward 
and kissed him again. The two sat there in the dim light of the night and stared at 
each other’s eyes. 

“Yes,” she whispered, holding him tight. She didn’t have her family 
anymore. But she had Pitt, and that was good enough for her.   
 Epilogue: A Promise Kept 
It was about four years after Aji’s arrival at Hibbsbot, and all was well. 

She and Pitt had been married a year before. They had their own house, so 
she didn’t live in the shrine anymore, but she went there daily to do the ritual with 
Olrot. He had mellowed over the years, and wasn’t as harsh, but kinder. He even 
went out every once in a while. 

Rawking’s inn was the most respectable in the town at that point, but he 
always let those too poor to afford housing spend a night or two in his rooms, 
remembering his own time on the streets. He also employed many more people 
than Oggot had, who relied on finding street rats to overwork for some crumbs. 

Oggot and his gang had been kept in the prison for a while, and they’d taken 
to letting them out for fresh air every once in a while, under watch by a mage or a 
good number of guards, of course. 

Milwa had decided to let Haynai keep her spot as captain of the S.S. 
Skystreak III, and rejoined her husband on the S.S. Skystreak II. 

Billin had resigned as a councilman and worked in a library he’d 

commissioned. Aji had since mastered reading, and was a regular there. 

The docks were busy as ever. They’d improved the barracks, and Pitt and 
Jitters were co-leaders of a group of dock workers that worked specifically with 
ship building. They were starting to get better at it, and Hibbsbot was getting 
noticed by other, larger cities for their great workmanship. Tyri had fallen for a 
passing skyfarer and married him, joining his crew (that’s a story for another day), 
but Miny had stayed behind, helping make the engines for Pitt and Jitters’s ships. 
She and Jitters were spending a lot of time together over the past few months. 

Everything was well. 

Aji had been shopping at the market. She could technically create anything 
she needed, but it was good to support the local sellers, so she made a habit of it. 
Pitt made money building his boats, after all, it was better for the economy to 
spend it on something. Besides, she liked going on walks every once in a while 
and seeing the people. 
 She was walking by the entrance to the city when she felt like she should 
stop. It was an odd feeling, something she hadn’t felt in a while. She looked 
around, and noticed that trudging up the steps, she saw a figure climbing up. 

A traveller. 

She frowned. Something about this traveller was... familiar. 

The boy looked up, she realized he was a boy. He was blonde, and a bit taller 
than she was. He was younger than she was, but she realized he looked so familiar 
because he looked like... 

He looked like Aji. 

Suddenly, realization dawned on the boy’s face. He ran up the rest of the 
stairs and approached her. 

“Sarah?” he asked. 

“Caden?” she said back. 

Before she could respond, he’d rushed forward and embraced her. 

“Sarah! Sarah, listen, I can’t remember anything. I didn’t remember you until 
I saw you, it’s like... my memories are gone! Where are we? Why are there talking 
animals?” 

Aji began to tear up. “I... what’s your name?” She asked. She’d said Caden 
before, but... it wasn’t that anymore, like Sarah wasn’t her name anymore. 

“Adoo,” he said. “I’m Adoo, I remember that much.” 

“I’m Aji,” she said. 

“But, no, I remember your name is Sarah,” he said, confused. 

“It was,” she said. “But now I’m Aji. Listen, you’re a long way from home. 
We’re very, very far from home. But, well that was your old home. This place is 
going to be your new home. I came here a few years ago, and I miss our old home, 
but this place is wonderful, too. You’ll see.” 

Adoo nodded. She hugged him for another second. 

 “So, Mom and Dad lost you, too.” She felt a tear well up in her eyes. “They’re 
going to miss you so much.” 

Adoo didn’t say anything. Their poor parents... whatever disease Sarah had, 
Caden had it, too, most likely. Aji hoped they had other children who didn’t have 
that disease. 

“I’m just glad you ended up here with me,” she whispered, pulling away. 
“Now, come on, I’ll show you to the shrine. Olrot will be glad to have someone to 
teach again,” she said. 

“Who’s Olrot?” Adoo asked. 

“He’s a mage. He’s going to teach you to be a mage, too. He actually taught 
me when I came here. You’ll like him.” 

Adoo nodded. 

Aji led him towards the shrine. She noticed a few heads turning, but she 
didn’t mind. 

She pulled her brother closer as she walked through towards the shrine. 

“Thank you, Phoenix,” she whispered to the wind. 

The Phoenix had kept her promise.