“What to do, what to do…” I mused aloud and leaned back in the chair.

  After a good night’s sleep, I’d just had a rather large breakfast. My stomach swelled from all the food. I honestly felt a little bad about feasting on some poor sod’s food. I comforted myself by thinking that it was quite unlikely they would be returning any time soon.

  The food would have spoiled by then anyway.

  I chewed on a toothpick and threw my feet up on the table as I balanced on the two hind legs of the chair. If I went straight to the Layered Empire, I could use the surrounding buildings to supply myself with most of the things I needed to get by. The cooldown to step from one world to another was about a month or so. It honestly felt kind of short, but I guess that’s just how powerful a legendary accolade was. If, on the other hand, I was to jump to my cabin, I could get to work on the bullets. That would postpone any sort of progress I could be making towards growing stronger. Not to mention that I would be leaving Gabi in her less than ideal state.

  I shook my head. That was out of the question. That meant I needed to head to supply myself to last a month. The problem was water. I couldn’t just carry around a few gallons. Sure, the amphitheatre had water where I could resupply, but I wasn’t going to be sticking around in the Seventh layer. I’d already done most of what could be done there. My quest would take me elsewhere—closer to the surface, if I could trust Sera. Which at this point, I was pretty certain that I could. We were practically one and the same with our personalities fusing and whatnot.

  “The Layered Empire it is…” I muttered and eased my chair back onto solid ground.

  Fiddling with the hollow bullet casings, I stood up and moved through the apartment. It didn’t take me very long to find a wardrobe. I rummaged through it in hopes of finding a backpack, and as luck would have it. I found one.

  Not just any backpack either, a hiker’s backpack. It was old and the color had started to fade, but it looked sturdy enough and it would fit more than just a few days worth of food. I brought it back to the pantry and stuffed it full of all the things that wouldn’t spoil during my travels. And I made damn sure to not just bring conserves. Although convenient, that stuff grew old real quick.

  After taking what looked useful, I headed out to the next apartment. No matter how well-stocked the old owner had been, it hadn’t been enough. After ransacking three more apartments and stopping to grab a nice blanket, a pillow, and a few extra pants, I felt ready.

  My shoes didn’t feel the same.

  By circulating magic through them, I managed to get a rough idea of how long they needed to cool down. Just a bit more than a day.

  I rubbed my nape and sighed. After deciding that I was going I really just wanted to get it over with. Kind of like taking a cold plunge. Instead, I was presented with time to ponder and doubt my plan, even though I knew that it wouldn’t do me any good.

  Groaning, I climbed back up to the old apartment and redid my lock. The wind howled through the city, along with something else. Something big.

  Not my problem.

  I headed to the kitchen table and slathered a cracker with jam before munching it down like a glutton. With nothing else to do, I might as well try the radio. See how the others are doing.

  It took me a few turns of the old wheel to find the right frequency. The handheld radio sparked to life.

  “Entering zone A3, over.”

  I felt a twang of pain at the sound of Stewie’s voice. He’d always been around the old man. Everything was still so fresh… He had prepared this radio for me as a way out if things went to hell. The thoughtful old coot. His death would be easier to get over if he hadn’t been so damn likeable.

  I bit my lip and pressed down the button to send. “Is this a bad time?”

  The other line was silent for a moment. “Cal? Is that you Cal?” he asked. Not even the soddy signal could mask the astonishment in his voice.

  “How are you doing, Stewie?” A hint of a smile spread on my face.

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  “I… I’m…” he stuttered. “Did you get the fucker?”

  I rubbed my eyes. “Yea. He’s dead.”

  “Good…” he muttered, his voice devoid of empathy.

  “So,” I cleared my throat, “how are you doing?”

  “Better now. What about you?”

  “I’m fine. A few busted ribs and a cut to the chest. Nothing I’d need doc for.” I chuckled, then froze. “Did he make it?”

  “He’s fine. Quinn knocked her head into his when Ga… when the Puppeteer started shooting. Knocked him out cold.”

  I laughed and shook my head. “Sounds like her.”

  “She hasn’t stopped talking about you, you know? Cal this, Cal that. We need to go pick shit for brains up before he gets himself fucking killed!”

  His impression left a lot to be desired, but he nailed her cadence and vulgarity. I covered my mouth, but a few laughs still leaked through. I wiped my eyes. “It’s good to hear she’s recovering at least.”

  “Speak for yourself. I’d rather she slept for a few more days. Until we got out of the veil coverage at least. It’s not easy to grieve with a personified typhoon breathing down your neck.”

  “I can imagine.” I didn’t know whether or not asking was stupid, but I couldn’t help myself. “How’s Gabi doing?”

  He stayed silent for a moment before speaking. “She’s stable. But the others don’t really …they don’t trust her like they used to.”

  I clenched my hand, feeling how my nails dug into the palm of my hand.

  He spoke again. “I know. It wasn’t her fault. I don’t blame her. But the others… Cal, they’re so devoid of all hope that cling to whatever grievance might keep them going.”

  “If they touch her I swear to-”

  “No need. Nyla has made it clear that she’ll kill anyone who even thinks the thought. She’ll keep her safe until you get back. You can trust that.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. They might have been stupid as shit. But they were loyal to her, and she would most likely keep her promise if anyone dared to disobey.

  “That’s good.”

  “I’ll keep an extra eye on her for you.”

  I chuckled. “Counting on you, Stewie.”

  “So, do you need us to pick you up? … Please? Anything to get Quinn to quiet down.”

  I shifted on the chair. “Nah. I’ll make my own way home. Got a few more places I need to go.”

  He sighed, making the speaker crackle. “Figured as much.”

  “Sorry,” I said and smiled. “I probably won’t be back for a while. A month at the earliest.” I cleared my throat. “You’ll have to give Gerrard’s love to Sunny for me. And introduce us when I get back. I’d like to see what all his fuss was about. Anyway, take care.”

  He sniffled. “Always.”

  I turned off the radio with a deep sigh. That was a bit harder than I had hoped. Still, it was nice to hear that they were alright. Judging by the talk of lettered and numbered zones, I assumed that they had gotten in contact with the outside. They wouldn’t have had the time to make a system like that themselves.

  With nothing better to do, I organized the bag until I knew its contents by heart and could find whichever item in a pitch black room. Placing it by the door I prepared a meal using a few pieces of fresh meat and whatever was left in the pantry. I’d never been a great cook, but I was quite happy with how it came out. The meat was still a little pink in the centre, but not enough to bleed. Just how I liked it.

  After finishing the meal I tucked myself in and stared at the ceiling. Seconds turned to minutes turned to hours. I couldn’t sleep. Unease weighed on me like a cinderblock. I was leaving so much behind. All that I’d fought for with Joanna, Samara, Yusuf. I was turning straight back, right after getting out of my second shady magical contract. For what? Duty?

  I burrowed my face in my hands. For love?

  Was I really the type of person to do that? A part of me wanted to scream yes, but another felt strangely distanced from the concept.

  Sera and I had been bleeding into each other for months now. It still felt like we were separate persons, but maybe the truth wasn’t so easily defined. I rubbed my eyes and forced myself to think of other stuff. There was no use. It was happening, and had already happened. Whether I like it or not didn’t matter. I just needed to adapt. Whoever I, or we, were. That was the person I was now.

  I fell asleep after a few more hours of tossing and turning in bed. Luckily I didn’t need to get up with the sun and could sleep in. I woke up some time after ten in the morning and did what I needed to do. I took a look in the mirror and cringed at my long hair. It got in the way as I moved if I didn’t tie it up. Deciding enough was enough, I used Silent Scream to cut it shorter. The accolade cut through my hair like it didn’t even exist in the first place. Honestly, the satisfaction of it was quite addicting, and I had to stop myself from cutting just because it was fun.

  I still kept my hair quite long, just not long enough to fall into my eyes. Inspecting my new look with a satisfied grin I turned to the shower. It didn’t work, but the sink did. I filled it with water and washed myself before having breakfast.

  After having my fill of sweet and savoury alike I got dressed. As usual I wore a dress shirt—I’d gotten used to them before I knew it. This one, I had borrowed from one of the apartments. It was beige and soft and the seams didn’t restrict my arms. I liked it.

  Over it, I strapped on Embrace, then donned the coat. I also wore a pair of black chinos and my boots, which according to the Cobbler were shoes.

  Casting myself one last glance in the mirror, I couldn’t help but admire how I filled out the clothes nowadays. If before I had been a charming boy, then I dare say I looked like a dashing young man nowadays.

  Grinning, I activated the Veil Strider and let the magical aura compress over my body as I stepped forward. Space tore and twisted, folding under my feet to transport me from my world to the other. My foot struck the cobbled stone of the amphitheatre’s plaza with a satisfying click.

  I took a deep breath of the stale air and craned my neck to look at the stalactite crystals lighting up the Seventh layer. “I’m back,” I mumbled.

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