"Day: two. Hour: too many. They still don't realize I don't belong here. My bed was nice, not as medieval or magical as I would have expected. I am getting to wear armor, so that is cool. They- Ow!" Marccus interrupted my pretend voice log by hitting me with some large stick. It looked a lot like a shepherd's staff. "Oh, is it Christmas down here? Are you playing Joseph? Can I be an angel so I can fly away?" Marccus glared at me but seemed confused. Maybe they didn't celebrate Christmas down here? "So, is it always day time down here? Like, it felt like it got dark last night, but it looks the same. I can't even complain about you waking me up so early, there is no sunrise!" I rubbed my temple. Was it just me or were my jokes getting worse?

"You have to train for the fighting festival. You are getting too desperate to go home, it is getting ridiculous. Drop it already. Was your room not acceptable?" Marccus said, setting the staff on a weapons rack and trading it for a wooden sword. "Do not try to compare our light to the surface's light. Most things here are powered by what your people call magic. Choose your weapon."

"I don't know anything about weapons other than guns, and I don't see one over there. I don't want to be a part of your stupid war anyway. I don't even know how the sun or time works down here! Or magic! Like, it's really cool, why is it so casual? Humans can't do magic! And, why would I fight for a place I don't like and don't want to be in? And, let me guess, you aren't going to answer any of my questions except for maybe in a cryptic-ish way. No one has actually answered any of my questions since I got here!" I took a break to breathe, I didn't realize how upset I was getting. Who could blame me? "I mean, maybe that doctor-lady answered like one question. Maybe."

Marccus didn't care one bit about my nervous breakdown. "How about a chakram? You need to learn to balance your bad humor with silence."

"Aw... you think I have a sense of humor, how sweet." I rolled my eyes as he handed me a wooden round thing. "How do I even hold this?" I asked, trying and failing to copy how he was holding it.

"This is the handle, you wrap your fingers around it. Try using it as one blade for now. You-" I cut him off (not literally) by swinging the blade up. I'm not saying I was trying to hurt him but I wasn't not trying to hurt him. From the glare in his eyes, I could tell he knew.

He bounced back, pulling a wooden blade to the ready. As he began to circle cautiously I realized I had made a big mistake. He lunged in, trying to stab at my stomach. I swiped down, narrowly pushing his blade to the ground. His eyebrow raised. To be fair, I wasn't expecting that to work either. He pulled back quickly, raising the handle of his blade to come down on my skull. In my desperation, I let go of my weapon and punched at the bottom of his stomach with both my fists. I expected to get a fist full of pain from hitting his armor. Instead, Marccus flew back, hitting a nearby wall.

"What th-" I started, confused by my own strength. That was when I noticed there was someone else in the room. The queen.

She looked at me with rage and fire in her eyes, "Vyron!" She spat. She raised her hand and what felt like a gust of wind shoved me back against the other wall. "Foul demon!" That was the worst insult she could think of? So unoriginal. Tears streamed from her eyes.

The air felt like it was being sucked out of my lungs. My hands went to my throat. My legs flailed wildly. For the second time in the past 24 hours, I felt like I was going to die. I tried to scream or yell, but all that came out was spit and a gurgling sound.

"My queen, don't do this!" Marccus yelled, wincing a bit. His armor was bent up. "My queen, stop!" Darkness began to creep into my vision. "If she dies, we lose!" Finally, the cruel queen slowly let down her hand. I fell to the ground, gasping and making more strange sounds. I didn't know what had just happened, but something told me magic had to do with it.

There was a loud swoosh! As the queen flared her cape and left in a hurry. A soft sob echoed as she thundered down the hallway.

Marccus winced as he hobbled over to me. I emptied my stomach. Marccus, per usual, seemed unphased. When his eyes met mine, he looked shocked. His hand flew to his mouth and I heard a soft sob. "You are a Vyron."

If I had air in my lungs I would have made a quick quip or cussed. But I didn't."That could have gone better," said a velvety voice. Mei, the kimono lady, stepped out from the shadows. Her kimono was pink today, and she had a cute little umbrella to match. "I think the fighting festival will be very interesting this year."

Marccus, still crying a bit, glared at her "If you weren't late this wouldn't have been a problem!" She ignored him, and looked right at me, "Everyone has their reasons for hating or..." Her eyes darted to Marccus for a quick moment, "Having strong feelings about Vyrons. Josephine is no exception." Her eyes fixed on Marccus, sizing up the damage. She seemed colder than yesterday. "And with her reaction the course of action is clear." The pink-clad woman let out a sigh. Marccus winced as he reached for his blade. "Loyal little Marccus, please don't make this any harder than it has to be."

Oh god, I thought. The queen already wants me dead, not Mei too! I thought she was on my side! Can I not make any friends?

Before I could blink, Mei rushed forward. I braced for impact, but it didn't come. Instead, she had knocked Marccus to the ground. "Adri, you need to come with me." She extended her hand out to me. For obvious reasons, I hesitated. "If we do not leave now more harm will come to Marccus." She was being oddly formal for a life-and-death situation.

I let out a loud, dry laugh. "Why should I care? It's not like he has been helpful or kind or even welcoming! No one has! I just want to go home!" "He didn't tell you?" Mei said, looking back at Marccus, who was struggling to get up. "Figures." There was yelling in the hallway. Lots of yelling. "They are here! We need to go. I will answer your questions later!" She grabbed my hand, and we ran.