Despite both of their immediate curiosity about each other, the nature of the room they were in and Amber’s mother trapped inside a glass dome took precedence – and Changsun’s attention.  It seemed like almost as soon as he confirmed Amber was alright, it gave him free reign to try and understand everything all at once, with a series of seemingly endless and uninterruptible questions.  Amber did her best to answer them, but as soon as she finished explaining about the villagers and what she knew of the initial casting, Changsun immediately trailed off into a series of other questions about Seungho – who appeared slightly miffed at being spoken about as if he wasn’t there, and then her father - since he was apparently afflicted with a similar condition, among other things.

                The more Amber tried to say something or ask her own questions, the more Changsun seemed determined to finish his inquiries first.  Amber raised a brow but continued to begrudgingly answer him, slightly mollified by Seungho pressing his head against her leg in mute comfort.  Both understood he would need as much information as he could to try and unravel things, but it was frustrating being kept in the dark about how he’d found them and if he could get them out.  It was particularly tough having to bide her time while she knew that he was likely to blame for everything as well.  Unfortunately, confronting him about it might well send them into an argument she didn’t want to deal with…

                Eventually, Changsun finally seemed to run out of questions to ask for the time being, and he looked at Amber with a proud, if slightly patronizing – or so she thought – expression.  “You figured all this out by yourself?”

                Amber’s eye twitched involuntarily.  It wasn’t what he said that bothered her, so much as how he said it: honest surprise and slight disbelief mixed with a tone closer to what one might use when speaking with a child to be encouraging.  She sniffed once and grabbed Seungho’s fur to help ground her before she spoke in response.  “Most of it.  Seungho helped me after we sorted ourselves out,” she explained with a nod towards the golden beast at her side.

                “Sorted yourselves out?” he immediately latched onto the words, looking between them with speculative curiosity.  “What do you mean?”  The nature of his questioning previously hadn’t exactly required she explain how Seungho and her had first met, or overcome their misunderstandings.

                At last, Amber was obliged to talk and she was able to better explain what happened when she arrived and how things had progressed over time.  When she explained how they had hurt each other, Changsun immediately became protective and concerned, demanding to see the wounds she had been given.  He was more than a little put off when she refused because they were fine – she’d checked, though she was grateful for his worry all the same.  Regardless, she opted to continue with her own side of questions, now that she had his attention at last.

                What had he been doing?  How much time had gone by?  How had he found them?  Listening with bated breath and absorbing every word, Amber nodded along with each answer, feeling a multitude of emotions wash over her.  She was sad to hear how Soonkyu especially had been saddened by her disappearance.  Likewise for Minho and Sungmin too, though she knew they’d never admit it aloud.  Guilt nibbled within that she had not spared them much thought while she’d been trapped here.  As soon as she’d found the people she had lost, her thoughts had turned to getting them out, not wondering how those beyond had fared in her absence.

                That aside, she was grateful to hear that Changsun had spent nearly seven months continuing to search for her, even when apparently everyone else had given up.  His parents were more than ready to send him back to his Master for more suitable pursuits.  The King’s High Mage had failed to maintain correspondences and had no results from his research.  But most of all, Amber was certainly surprised that such a frightening event here had been the one to allow Changsun to find them.

                Apparently, when the mirror had moved to the wall and released her father, the backlash of magic had rippled through the seams of the realms, managing to do what they could not: escape the Mobian portal.           Still searching, Changsun had been able to notice the subtle shift in magic when he next returned to Karith.  Unfortunately, noticing the change and doing something about it had taken time and effort since he had not immediately been able to understand what had happened.  It wasn’t until he used a modified, amplified scrying spell that he had been able to notice the pocket realm.  Not surprisingly, from the outside looking in, it apparently resembled a giant, gray ball and he had not been sure she was there until he’d made the jump to try.

                “So you used a teleportation spell then?” Amber prompted with the fingers of one hand tracing over Seungho’s fur soothingly.

                “Of course,” he nodded matter-of-factly with a satisfied smirk.  “Once I found the place that you had to be in, it was only a matter of placing myself within the boundaries of the space I wished to occupy.”  Changsun’s face softened then as he looked at her, and he reached across the small distance between them to cup her cheek with his palm.  “I found you, Amber.  Just like I promised myself I would, as soon as I lost you,” he whispered.

                The words found their way past whatever annoyance she was currently harboring with ease, and for a moment, Amber felt herself leaning into the pressure, enjoying the warmth of his hand against her cheek as she basked in his tender regard.  He really had missed her.  He really had been trying to find her like she’d been trying to find her family and friends.  He really did care-

                “I missed you so much,” he admitted, leaning close and pulling her in to press his lips against hers.

                Warmth faded when surprise took its place.  Seungho stiffened under her hand with a rumble that she felt rather than heard, and Amber pushed away with a confused frown as she searched Changsun’s face.  To be fair, he seemed just as confused by her reaction.  He opened his mouth to speak but Amber cut him off quickly.  “Just… wait,” she urged, having trouble meeting his gaze.  Changsun’s eyes darted to Seungho at her side and Amber gathered her voice to speak again before either could jump to any unfounded conclusions.  “I missed you too, but I have not forgotten our last conversation.”

                By the dumbfounded expression, it was clear to Amber that Changsun did not remember it quite as strongly as she did.  Seungho growled in the back of his throat and both glanced down at him.  Amber was slightly bemused and Changsun was obviously annoyed.  “That was months ago,” he reasoned as calmly as he could, meeting her gaze once more.

                “Not for me,” Amber shook her head solemnly, picking her chin up so she wouldn’t look down again.

                For a moment, it seemed as if Changsun might argue.  His lips thinned and his dark eyes narrowed slightly.  But then he swallowed, took a small breath, and forged ahead as he grabbed her free hand with his fingers gently.  “But I’m here now.”

                Amber looked down at their hands, noticing the way his slender fingers curled around hers so elegantly.  She could still feel Seungho’s furry warmth under her other one, comforting and familiar at her side.  “I know,” she acknowledged, looking back up with a quick nod.  “And that means so much to me.  It really does,” she promised, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze.  “But right now, we need your help more,” she explained solemnly, glancing at Seungho and her mother before looking at Changsun again.  The unspoken ‘We can figure everything else out later’ hung heavy in the air between them.

                Changsun nodded and sighed, though his face looked very much as if he’d tasted something unpleasant.  “I understand,” he added, glancing at Seungho quickly before looking towards the rest of the room, though he had yet to let go of Amber’s hand.

                By his reaction, Amber figured he didn’t, but they had more important things to worry about, not the least of which was how to undo what exactly had been done.  She pushed aside the awkward tension in the room as best she could and finally got to her feet.  A silent sigh of relief escaped her lips when the pain in her knee was all but gone.  In mute gratitude, she squeezed Changsun’s hand again and turned to face him, acutely aware that Seungho was standing up on all fours and placing himself firmly at her side.  “So how do we set things right?  A counterspell?  Augmentation spell?  New spell?” she wondered aloud, frowning in thought as she ran the possibilities through her head.  She’d been over the spells and the workings and the possibilities until her eyes crossed but until she had someone that could work with the magic, none of it did her any good.

                “I’m… not entirely sure,” Changsun hesitated embarrassingly, his ears flushing at the admission.  He finally let Amber’s hand go and scratched the back of his head, looking everywhere but at them.

                “Eh?” she blinked in surprise, hearing Seungho grunt in confusion with her.

                Changsun’s discomfit was more than obvious and he shrugged while shuffling in place.  “It’s been almost four years since,” he gestured at the tower broadly, “this happened.”

                Amber crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.  “You don’t remember do you?”

                “Of course I remember!” he denied immediately, turning around to glare at her in return.  “Sort of.  What we were working on anyway.”  When Amber continued to frown at him, he defended himself, “It was years ago!”

                She scoffed then and her heel to approach one of the work tables where a slightly scarred book lay with several others – they’d moved most of the useful texts inside after her father had been cornered again.  Amber snatched it off the surface and walked back over to where Changsun was watching with some concern on his face.  “If you’re going to make changes to something, you should at least have the decency to recall them!” she snapped, slapping the book against his chest so that he jumped to catch it with both hands.

                Changsun’s eyes widened as he stared like a child caught stealing a sweet.  “You knew?” he gasped, visibly paling just a touch.  Wordlessly, Amber pointed at the book and he looked down with another shocked expression.  “Where did you get this?!”  When she deliberately looked at Seungho, Changsun scowled at the beast.

                Seungho bared his teeth in a show of displeasure and Amber stepped between them immediately, facing Changsun.  “He was just trying to help me figure things out after your changes helped to cause this to happen,” she huffed, balling her hands into fists.  Wordlessly, Changsun turned away and started flipping through the pages, his throat bobbing when he swallowed loudly.  “Your augmentation only partially worked,” she added, becoming uncertain then.  Amber looked away and rubbed her arm self-consciously.  “If I hadn’t shown up, things might have gone differently so I don’t know how it’s affected what you had in place.”

                She’d thought long and hard about the possibilities, but again, it was something she had no way of checking without the ability to use magic.  As it was now, she didn’t know what Changsun would be able to do anyway.  “Even with your mistake,” he mused, thumbing through the pages without looking up, “it shouldn’t be a problem to backtrack to get to the beginning.”  Amber bit her tongue on a retort but Seungho snorted in derision and irritation.  “What?” Changsun muttered, glancing at them both out of the corner of his eyes.

                “If my mistake was the only thing that had happened, I don’t think it would be a problem,” Amber admitted curtly, placing her fists on her hips as she tried not to take offense at his words.  “But you’re not considering the magic my father and Seungho cast when we left.  Or the effects of… this,” she gestured at her mother floating in the glass covering.  Changsun’s face twisted as he was forced to think about those aspects and his frown deepened when he returned to look at his book.

                As a result, Amber scrubbed her face roughly with both hands and made herself to take a deep breath.  She knew she was being at least a little bit unfair to him.  It wasn’t his fault he didn’t remember that incident as vividly as she did; they’d both been young but it was her family, not his.  Or that he didn’t know how to immediately fix the problem, even if he was partially to blame; she did carry at least some of the blame there.  Nor was it entirely his fault that he was finding every way possible to get under her skin…  She was just on edge and after spending so much time (7 months by his recounting) in the company of those who could not speak or actively interrupt her, it was frustrating having to learn to deal with it again.  Had it been a problem before she’d ended up trapped here?

                Even worse, the tension between all of them was incredibly aggravating and she knew that wasn’t helping any of it either.  She was half afraid to even leave Seungho and Changsun in the same room together since she hadn’t missed the subtle looks they’d been throwing at each other.  And she certainly couldn’t forget the way that Changsun had tried to kill Seungho when he first got here; granted, she’d done the same thing but they weren’t going to have the time to adjust like she did.  Changsun was just going to have to take her word for it and Seungho would simply have to be more man than beast for the time being.

                But she needed to get some air and by the looks of it, Changsun was probably going to be studying the journal for at least a little while.  Pinching the bridge of her nose, Amber swallowed and spoke, “I’m gonna step outside for a bit.”

                Seungho grunted immediately, head swinging over to look at her with alert ears and wide eyes.  After a brief, distracted pause, Changsun reacted similarly.  “Huh?” he blinked, tearing his gaze from the pages to look at her as if she’d said something strange.

                “I just need some air,” she forced an encouraging smile, toying with the necklaces at as she shifted on her feet.  For the first time, she saw Changsun’s gaze settle on the trinkets and she became acutely aware of the fact that she was wearing nothing from him other than the pants and the boots he’d helped her purchase.  It made her feel even more awkward and out of place.

                “But what if I need you here?” he asked in response, closing the journal to move closer to Amber.  “I might have more questions and you’re the best one to answer them here,” he admitted, grabbing onto her arm lightly before he slid his hand down to gently clasp her fingers in his.

                The contact made Amber shiver slightly and her stomach did a flip she wasn’t ready for.  “I won’t be gone long,” she explained, carefully pulling her hand free as she took a half-step away.  “But I do need to check on the villagers,” she scrambled for an excuse.  “What with your sudden arrival and all,” she forced a laugh and shrugged.

                “I- er, we can go with you,” he suggested with a quick glance at Seungho.  The quick change in words had the beast’s ears bouncing up and down before his tail swished back and forth in quiet agreement.

                “It’s alright,” Amber shook her head and waving her hand politely.  “You should probably just focus on this.  You’re the only one who can fix it, after all,” she admitted, the smile fading slightly.  “Good luck!” she wished, laughing once before she turned to leave with a departure that was just shy of actively fleeing.

                “Amber…” she heard Changsun trail off before she slipped through the portal into the rest of the tower, cutting herself off from them.  Immediately, she kept moving and remembered only after she turned down the first hallway that her room was not a good place to go right now.  Stopping short, she closed her eyes and took a small breath, hoping they wouldn’t see her return to go down the trapdoor staircase.  Tip-toeing back, she peered in through the doorway and saw that Changsun and Seungho were effectively glaring at each other.  The former was talking while the latter’s tail continued to swish back and forth in agitation.  It was a wonder he hadn’t decided to rise up on his hind legs.  Then again, that might actually threaten Changsun and considering he had magic at his disposal… that probably wasn’t the best of ideas.

                Biting her bottom lip, Amber looked between Changsun and Seungho once more, turning away and rushing down the stairs before either could tell they were being observed.  Having both of them nearby was practically suffocating and she just needed a moment to collect herself.  Unfortunately, the hardest thing was that she was afraid again.  Part of her was simply afraid Changsun wouldn’t be able to fix things; that they’d be stuck here forever as she’d begun to imagine might happen.  Another part was afraid her father would get free and destroy them all, as was a very real possibility if he got out.  With a look over her shoulder in the direction Changsun was in, she swallowed and had to admit that there was also a very small piece of her that was afraid of her own feelings.

                Despite the irritation and her frustration and everything that was making her antsy, she had missed him.  Seeing his smile, his open concern, his very real relief upon finding her, feeling his hand in hers…  It all sank in and made her want to forget their fight; it made her want to forget the confusion she’d had about him while she was spending time with Seungho; it made her want to go back to the way things were, but without having to worry about finding everyone.  And she was mad at herself about that.  She had finally managed to convince her head she wasn’t in love with him.  But now her heart was trying say something else and she wasn’t sure she could believe it.  Especially not after Seungho’s confession and her own feelings on the matter.

                “Ugh…” Amber groaned, pulling at her short hair as she moved through the corridor into the courtyard where the broken wall had repaired itself.  The door was open and she rushed out into the village where she noticed faint, fading scorch marks in some places where magic must have damaged some of the structures.  “Auntie Park?” she called softly, searching for the mortar and pestle.  No one moved at first, and Amber figured they were probably spooked from Changsun’s arrival: a caster throwing magic around was always a little nerve wracking.  So she kept looking, but paused when the gray sky around her caught her attention.

                It was always unchanging, remaining a dull color that gave the illusion of dusk.  But as Amber turned her eyes up to look, she frowned upon noticing little sparks of light flickering within the gloom.  They reminded her of lightning but there was no accompanying thunder.  Looking around uncertainly, she pushed away the sudden foreboding at the strange silence in the village and made her way towards the closed gate that led to the Mobian portal.  Pulling open the barrier, Amber could feel the hum of magic as soon as she came face to face with the gray wall.

                “What in the world?” she wondered, reaching a cautious hand toward the surface.  Her necklace pulsed once, hot and buzzing against her chest.  “Ayah!” she yelped, jumping back immediately.  The stone quieted at once and Amber blinked at it in confusion before she looked back at the wall.  “Alright…” she trailed off, undoing her belt since nothing else was near at hand.  With a thoughtful frown, she tossed the leather strip into the grayness and flinched when it disappeared with a sizzling sound.  “Eh?” Amber turned her head in confusion, unsure of what happened.  Then another spark flashed brightly overhead and she heard something plink into the ground.

                Spinning on her heel, Amber noticed a small item that was smoking resting in the dirt not far from her.  Jogging over to it, she gasped upon seeing the blackened, twisted metal of her buckle.  The rest of the belt was gone while the air smelled of burnt leather.  “That can’t be good,” she mused, biting the inside of her lip.  Picking the remaining bit of her belt up with care – it was still quite hot, Amber took one final look around, hoping to see one of the villagers, and then grimaced as she turned to run back into the tower.

                She didn’t know what it meant, but maybe Changsun would.  She just hoped it wouldn’t mean ill for all of them.

(a/n: Yes!  Update!  First of all, my apologies for the extended delay.  T_T  School managed to knock me off my feet for a little while and then my muse has been running away from me every chance she gets.  It's been frustrating to say the least.  And I'm not super happy with this update - I've been wrestling with it for a couple days, but hopefully now that I'm past my sticking point, I'll be able to wrap this up soon!  I'm thinking two more chapters and maybe an epilogue at most.  Thank you for being patient with me and I hope you look forward to the next update!

Also, it's hard writing these three together at the moment.  I'm trying to sort out their relationships and that's perhaps the most troubling part.  Bahaha!)