The kid followed her. He almost looked like a dog with its tail between its legs. Still, he looked like a ghost when he saw Alain. Did he remember being spooked off earlier?

What did Alain know at that point? Ai knew not only Natalie and Marshall but Duke, too. The thing that happened to him had likely happened before.

Still, who was this person they mentioned, and what did he do?

Ai put his arm around her. "Come on. You know you need to lie down."

Alain couldn't bring himself to ask if they needed help. Duke probably wouldn't want it after what happened earlier. What gave a stranger the right to ask that?

"What's wrong with your eyes?" he asked.

"Oh, and you don't have a headache after that encounter?" she asked.

Duke turned away. "You weren't there when I first got into that store, dear."

Ai glanced back at Alain. "How old are you, hon? Sixteen?"

"S-seventeen," he replied. His birthday had actually passed a few days earlier.

Wait, this girl's name was Ai. Alain didn't hear that name every day. The girl could technically be one of his dad's relatives if she were from Earth.

***

Ai led the boys into a relatively undisturbed part of town. The buildings weren't so tightly clustered together there. It reminded Alain a bit of his parents' properties.

The area was marked with an iron gate. Surprisingly, it had a placard labeled with kanji. Then again, it wasn't that out there given her name. It must've been her family name.

Koizumi meant "small spring or fountain". It was also a name of a prime minister. It would've been interesting if they shared blood, but with the worldly divide, it wasn't likely.

When they went inside, their first sight was a staircase.

A woman greeted them at the door with a curtsy. "Welcome home, my lady."

Ai kicked her shoes off. "Courtney, could you prepare a room for Duke? I will take care of the rest of the preparations later."

Courtney's uniform looked like Tea's except it was blue instead of black. "Yes, my lady."

"Have Lance and Dawn finished their shopping?" Ai asked.

"Yes, my lady." She smiled as she fixed the flower in a nearby vase. "Just before you arrived."

A boy with dirty blond hair came down the stairs. "I'm coming."

How did he hear them from upstairs?

"You're dismissed, Courtney."

The lady went upstairs to complete her task.

How was Tea doing? Aya-chan was crawling when Alain left. She must have had so much more to clean. Plus, Alain and Sarah couldn't help her at the moment.

The guy crouched in front of Duke. "Come on, bud. Let's get you upstairs."

"Lance, I-"

Ai glared at the boy. "Duke..."

The boy sighed before getting on Lance's back.

***

Alain claimed the room furthest from the others.

Noelle appeared after he shut the door. "You wanted to talk to me, right?"

She'd changed her outfit. It was more relaxed but still white.

"I did."

"About what?"

The young man sat down on the bed. "First, do people in this world own watches?"

"Of course. They're just the kind most Earth kids today don't like." She cracked a smile. "Travelers prefer to rely on the thing you call the sun." A laugh lurked in her eyes. "Not having a clock is disorienting, isn't it?"

Alain rolled his eyes. "As a matter of fact, it's unnerving." He turned his head. "Why do they prefer to rely on the sun?"

"Travelers have four major limits: sunlight, weather, illness, and injury." She shrugged. "Nothing else matters."

He raised an eyebrow. "You say like it like it doesn't apply to Earthlings or those who don't travel."

"Streetlamps are likely not as common here as they are on Earth." She drew a long breath. "That's the will of the higher-ups. How they want things run. No one's been able to change it."

"Has anyone tried?"

Noelle rubbed her arms. "Not for at least a good few years anyway. No clue what's happened since."

Her teeth chattered. Alain got a glimpse of her eyes—hollow, trembling, looking past everything—her unspoken thoughts looked like ghosts feeding on her nightmares.

The dark-haired young man nodded.

Noelle shook her head. "I'll have one for you by tomorrow morning. Know we have most of what Earth has that doesn't involve 'modern' communication tools."

He gazed upward. "So, air conditioning, electricity, and running water?"

"If it doesn't involve phones, assume we have it unless you're given reason to believe otherwise. Anything else?"

"Do you know where the palace is?"

She gazed at her Key Keeper like he grew a second head. "Of course, I do. Why?"

"I intend to go there one day. If I'm ever gonna save my sister, checking out her home is a great place to start."

She averted her gaze. "Why do you sound so eager?"

"The opportunity to rescue my siblings is finally within my grasp. How could I not be excited about that?"

"That is exciting, but what you're suggesting invites danger. You do realize that?"

Alain raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't willing to face a little danger. My siblings need me to rescue them and I do have an idea of what entails."

"I doubt that. You don't know who's running the place."

"I support the royal family. Of course, they wouldn't like me."

She crossed her arms. "Anyway, for now, you're better off taking time to get acquainted with this world. You won't be able to rescue her tomorrow."

He sighed. "I guess so... I have been waiting for a long time as it is..."

"I'll help you however I can. Just know this won't be an easy endeavor."

He cracked a smile. "Well, of course. I've always known that."

"You brought your phone with you, right?"

"Of course, I did." Alain looked at her sideways. "Why?"

She held her hand out. "You want to be able to contact your family on occasion, don't you?"

He nodded and handed his phone over.

"I'd be careful how and when you reach out to them, though. Seeing as phones aren't commonplace here."

"Right."

She fixed her dress. "Anyway, I should go. Good luck. Don't be afraid to reach out to me if you need anything."

"Thanks."

***

Noelle disappeared. A blanket of fog seemingly filled the space.

Now might as well have been a good time to call his mama. If not now, when?

Ring! Click!

"Hi, sweetie." Alain felt her smile through the phone. "Are you doing alright?"

"Yeah."

It was quiet. She must've been in her room. "Have you had lunch yet? Your dad has. I haven't."

He laughed. "Nope. I'm waiting, too."

"Old habits die hard." There was an air of excitement in her voice. "What's the place you went to like?"

"It's different from the properties. That's for sure." Alain adjusted himself in the bed. "Kids in this place get to travel in this world and no one bats an eye."

"Like that old cartoon with that cute mouse?"

He covered his mouth. "Yeah. I think that's still on, too. Haven't watched it in a while, though."

"That sounds like so much fun!"

"It's interesting, too. They don't have TV and phones and things like that. it doesn't seem like the middle ages, though."

She gasped. "Oh, wow. I wouldn't expect you to be able to get a signal then."

"I didn't, either," he admitted. "I did this time, though. I'll try to message you when I can."

"Okay! Have fun!"

Flames pooled in the pale boy's cheeks. "You and I talked about me leaving this morning, but what about Dad?"

"Oh, don't worry about your dad." He imagined she waved her hand. "I told him my uncle asked you to stay with him and it was so last minute we didn't have time to talk about it before you left."

"Did you tell your uncle?" he asked.

"Of course, I talked to him about it first." She laughed. "Love you."

"Love you."

Alain hung up.

The sheets on the bed were soft. If Alain were on Earth, he would assume they were made of velvet.

***

Knock-knock!

"Can I come in?" Ai asked.

He sat up. "Go ahead."

She came in with a plate of meat and potatoes. "We have a housekeeper on staff. She insisted on feeding everyone cuz we're travelers and this food won't keep much longer."

"I..."

"It's fine. We really don't mind." She smiled. "If we don't eat it, she plans to toss it out."

The young man raised an eyebrow.

"I'd rather she shares the leftovers with the needy children in town, as I imagine you just thought to, but she won't hear of it. I'll take it from her when we leave though."

"Good." He took the plate from her. "Are you still feeling whatever that was?"

"I have a proper bed tonight. I'll sleep it off." She drew a long breath. "I ran into one of our fellow travelers. He always throws me out of whack."

How odd. Why was that?

"Anyway, I'll leave you to yourself now. Enjoy the food."

Noelle appeared in front of Alain a little while later.

"I found a wristwatch."

"Impressive." He took it from her and smiled. "Thanks."

"Oh, yeah." She put her finger on her chin. "In my nervousness earlier, I wanted to talk to you, but I forgot."

Alain sat up to put on the watch. "About what?"

Noelle scrunched her nose. "That rest house they found earlier was disgusting."

"It was, but I don't think they realized how bad things were until they got into their room." The black-haired young man sighed. "I somehow got the better of the two rooms. I'm glad we left when we did."

"Why do you think they entertained the idea of staying there?"

A long breath. "I get the feeling they aren't too well off. In that case, they can't be picky." He glanced at his new leather-banded watch. "I'm just glad the cleaning lady didn't brush Marshall off and the receptionist gave him their money back."

"I don't care if they're my responsibility or not. If those workers did those things, I wouldn't have stood for it. People like that aren't workers worth having."

"Could you really have done anything?" He looked at her sideways.

"Of course, I could have! I'm a local after all!"

If she said so... Her reaction seemed a little over the top. Not that I was going to tell her that...

"Do you want to help them?"

"Of course, I do, but it's not that simple..." He drew a long breath. "It's not like I'm still on Earth. If I were, I'd try to use my parents' connections to help them."

She crossed her arms. "That's part of why I'm here."

"That's not the only thing. I don't think they'd want it. They work hard and don't beg or expect hand-outs. I doubt they'd just take it."

"I know Earth has benefactors. How often do you think the good ones actually reveal themselves?"

Point taken.

"Just leave everything to me."

She winked and disappeared again.

Noelle was something. That was for sure.

***

Thoughts on Ai and Duke? Lany? Theories? Predictions?

~Shino out!