I was standing next to what appeared to be this world’s version of a TV. It appeared to be a mix between a standard TV and a tablet. Scrolling through channels was infinitely more annoying since you had to walk over to the screen every time you wanted to change the channel, or even the volume. It didn’t help that there were quite literally thousands of channels.

  The others had gone out to explore the city, meaning I was free to watch whatever I wanted. It felt weird to be able to understand what these people were saying, but not any of the text that was flying across the screen. Eventually, I settled on a channel with an energetic girl in an oversized cardigan rambling about… soda? Why was this on TV?

  The door’s lock clicked open, and I turned to see Zetta walking in. She glanced at the TV for a moment before saying, “That’s Mari. She’s the daughter of the ME but is popular more so because of her charismatic personality.”

  She did seem very bubbly over her bubbly soda…

  Zetta walked over and sat down on the bed across from me. “That’s an older model.”

  “Huh?” I asked.

  “The newer models project straight to the wall.” Oh, she was talking about the TV. She slipped her hair out of its ponytail and combed her fingers through it. She was actually kind of pretty with her hair down… The light from the TV was also bright enough that I noticed she had freckles.

  My chest tightened and my stomach sank as I recalled Zuri’s warning. She could kill me at any moment… Well, I wasn’t going to let her kill me without a fight! So long as I always have an eye on her, she won’t be able to hurt me, right?

  “What’re you staring at me for?” She asked as she continued combing through her hair. Her hand stopped as she winced, likely coming across a knot.

  “I-I’m not staring! Who’s staring? Not me!” I sputtered, turning back to the TV. I realized that wherever she was, it was daytime. This must have been recorded during the two hours of sunlight…

  A minivan pulled up comically fast, and Mari’s assistants wasted no time opening it. Dozens upon dozens of bouquets fell out as Mari held her hands to her cheeks, feigning shock and delight. She thanked her “fans” for their support, did a little dance, and the broadcast ended.

  “You said she’s the ME’s daughter, right?” I asked.

  Zetta nodded before leaning back onto the bed.

  “Does that mean she has magic?”

  “Probably. It’s in her bloodline, but not everyone will get it.”

  I continued flipping through the channels. To my surprise, most broadcasts included daylight. I wondered if shows filmed during the day were considered more enjoyable. A few shows were filmed at night, like this one show that had a girl with long hair and a tank top reviewing… tap water?

  “She’s a Mari copycat,” Zetta explained. “For whatever reason, she’s almost just as popular as her source material.”

  “You seem to know a lot about Etopia,” I said. “Why is that?” There’s no way all of this information could’ve come from her visions, right?

  I could hear a loud sigh. “You better buckle up, kid, or whatever you say on Earth. You’re in for a long ride.”

  The next day, we arrived at the middle of the city, which just so happened to be a giant casino… This was where we would find information on the conduit? Was the conduit just buried under people’s gambling addictions?

  The building was huge, probably twice as big as a football stadium. Not that I had ever been to one, but I heard they’re pretty big.

  The center was the casino itself. The right wing was a resort, filled with luxury suites, as the sign put it. The left wing hosted several luxury restaurants, as the sign also put it.

  “At the very top of the building,” Zuri began explaining, “that’s where the government’s headquarters are.”

  “Why would you place your headquarters filled with dozens of secrets above a heavily populated tourist trap?” I asked.

  “To show off, of course,” Sorine answered, brushing past me to get to the front of our group. “Don’t underestimate the security. It’s filled with magic as well as the most technologically advanced security system.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I read an article on it yesterday.”

  “I suppose they wouldn’t just happen to have the bypass codes written on a piece of paper somewhere within our reach, huh?” I sighed. Not that we would ever have to access that area.

  Or would we?

  “That would be utterly stupid of them,” Lumi replied.

  “Here,” Sorine slapped what looked like a smart watch onto my wrist. “You can stream broadcasts to any nearby surface. If necessary, it should tell us everything that’s going on nearby.” It was then that I realized she and the others were already wearing one. I guess I missed a shopping trip yesterday.

  Once we made it past the line and actually entered the casino, the noise was overwhelming. Talking, screaming, and broadcasts from both the TVs and the announcements in the casino filled my ears. It didn't help that the lights were blinking and flashing, attracting my attention in every direction. I watched as Lumi quickly put on a pair of what looked like headphones and sunglasses, and wished I could do the same.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Um, where do I use my Talent?” I asked.

  “Somewhere more discreet,” Sorine said as quietly as she could in this crowd, with a scowl on her face. She was clearly enjoying this as much as the rest of us.

  Where would we even find somewhere discreet? The bathroom? Those were images I didn’t want to see.

  I noticed a girl a little younger than myself in a white dress with long platinum blonde hair peeking around a corner, staring directly at me. What’s someone like her doing here? Most of the people here were significantly older than me. Still, I shouldn’t just leave her alone.

  I pushed through the crowd, stumbling over people’s feet and even an entire deck of playing cards (the owner of which was not too happy with me), trying to get to her. But when I got there, she was gone… Was I hallucinating? Or maybe she had magic? Or was this some sort of trap to split me up from the others?

  I slowly made my way back, taking a different route to avoid the people I had previously (and probably rudely) bumped into. When I got back to the entrance, the rest of my group was also gone! Why are people disappearing?! Had they even realized I had left? I doubted they would just abandon me, especially when I was their key to finding the conduit.

  Right… I was just a tool to them, like Zetta had said.

  “There you are,” a familiar voice said, and it wasn’t Zetta or any of the other Magus of Historia members.

  It was Maverick.

  I stared at him wide-eyed, blinking a few times, wondering if I had imagined him like how I had probably imagined that little girl.

  “You came all this way to gamble?” he asked, taking a few steps forward. I backed away until the heel of my foot hit something. I frantically turned to see that it was a stupid plant. Who puts a plant in…the middle of the room? I guess it wasn’t all that strange.

  “N-no, I did not come all this way to gamble. I’m looking for something. Something that will help us get rid of the void,” I answered.

  “And you came here by yourself?” He raised an eyebrow. “I know Sylvis didn’t send you here. She’s been so worried about you that I thought I saw wrinkles forming.”

  Should I be honest with him? If I told him I was working with the Magus of Historia, how would he react?

  “What took you so long to find me?” I asked.

  “There was something around you like a shield that prevented me from teleporting to you until now,” he answered. Had Sorine created a shield around us? And now that she wasn’t near me… “We’re going home.” He harshly grabbed my wrist.

  “Wait!” I shouted, desperately trying to pry my wrist away from him. He was all but dragging me across the floor, earning odd stares from the people around us. “I’m not done here!”

  “Then tell me what you’re doing and we’ll do it together.” His tone was stern, annoyed even, but there was a lightness to it that wasn’t there a few months ago.

  If I told him I was searching for the conduit, would he catch on? Would he take me home then and there? Did I want him to take me home? I’m sure he’d know what would happen if the conduit was destroyed.

  “I’m sorry.” His grip on me lessened, and I was able to free myself. “I can’t tell you.” I walked away, trying to find the rest of my group, or at least find a quiet place to use my Talent until they could find me.

  “Why?” His voice was desperate—pleading—as he followed me. “What could be so important and secretive that you can’t tell me?

  I clenched my fists at my sides and stopped, spinning on my heels to face him. “I want to tell you! I want nothing more than to tell you! To have you and the others by my side! But… you won’t understand. It doesn’t matter how many times I explain it to you, or how I explain it, you’re not going to think it’s a good idea.”

  “Then maybe it's a sign that whatever you’re doing isn’t a good idea,” he said warily.

  “No, I think it’s just that you’re stubborn.” I crossed my arms. “Finn would get it.”

  He winced, and his eye twitched. “I-if Finn would get it, then so would I. I’m smarter than that sack of bricks.”

  I sighed, but continued walking with Maverick following me in silence. He wasn’t going to give up that easily.

  “You have me intrigued with what you’re doing. If you’re not going to tell me, I’ll just have to follow you,” Maverick said.

  I rolled my eyes, but there’s no way he could’ve seen since I was facing away from him.

  Eventually, I found a closet filled with cards, chips, and strange devices. I didn’t exactly jump with joy at the thought of being alone with Maverick in a closet, but this wouldn’t be the first time. Wait, last time was with Aidan…

  Whatever! I held out my arm and used my Talent, focusing on the floor rather than the objects. A similar vision from earlier flooded me. I was in a grassy plain, but this time, the glowing line pointed directly under me. I could feel a surge of magic nearby. The conduit had to be under me.

  “You just used your Talent, didn’t you?” Maverick asked once time returned to normal. “What did you see?”

  “What I wanted to see.” I smiled as I brushed past him. I had to find the others.

  Once we got out of the closet, a small group of people stormed over in our direction. “There he is!” a middle-aged man shouted, pointing in our direction. “He’s the one who appeared out of thin air!”

  “You!” Two men, security guards most likely, positioned themselves on either side of Maverick. “Identify yourself.”

  “Identify yourselves first.” Maverick crossed his arms.

  “Multiple witnesses have attested that you appeared within the casino out of thin air.”

  “H-he knocked the fish off my plate!” An elderly woman pointed a shaky finger at Maverick. “H-he landed on the t-table! The youth of today have n-no respect for their elders!”

  “Oh, you mean like this?” Maverick smirked before disappearing. I hoped that he had actually teleported away this time and didn’t simply turn invisible. Either way, I had things to do—

  “Hold it right there.” One of the security guards grabbed my forearm. “What is your relationship to that man?”

  “He was stalking me. Wouldn’t let me go. He was annoying, really. Please catch him.” I smiled politely. It seemed to work as he let me go.

  I continued my search for the Magus of Historia members. They couldn’t have gone too far. And again, they needed me. They wouldn’t just leave me behind. If Maverick teleporting in had caused that much of a scene, it was understandable that they wouldn’t risk teleporting to me or using any other magic to find me. I would just have to find them. I supposed worst case scenario, I could just wait at the motel if it got too late.

  A crowd of people seemed to form a circle around… something. There’s no way they were crowding around the same people I was looking for, right? Well, it was better to be safe than sorry. I shoved myself into the crowd, which was difficult when people were practically glued to the ground. I was able to peek in between two people near the center to see Mari playing something similar to pool. There was a stick, but it seemed like the goal was to use the stick to guide the ball to the goal. Any time the stick fell away from the ball, she had to restart.

  Cameras were everywhere. I looked down at my watch and got a notification for some live event, which seemed to be the very one I was watching in person. Well, she wasn’t who I was looking for, so I squeezed back out of the crowd.

  “There you are,” Sorine’s harsh voice greeted my ears right as I pulled my head out from some guy’s armpits.

  “I was looking everywhere for you, you know.” I crossed my arms. My face was heated, but I didn’t know if it was from facing Sorine or having my head smooshed between people’s extremities.

  “Then don’t go running off to begin with.” Her voice was unusually frustrated—angry, even. Zetta looked as pissed as Sorine sounded, but the others merely looked tired. I guess they had been looking for me, too.

  “I found what we’re looking for,” I said, keeping things vague.

  Sorine’s one visible eyebrow raised as her lips parted slightly in amusement.

  “It’s below us.”