Up close, the unicorn looked just as magical as she would have expected. Pure white with a single golden horn – it honestly looked gold – and blue eyes, it would be impossible to mistake this creature for a mere horse. But really, once she was inside the cart, it felt like a normal horse would feel pulling the carriage. They didn’t fly or have anything magical happen. They were jostled around just as much as one might expect from an otherwise ordinary ride. But damn he… she… was beautiful to look at. Kind of like a certain someone nearby but also really, everyone here that wasn’t just outright strange.

                If they were generally composite images, it was no wonder they looked uniquely attractive. And androgynous. It made her wonder what a Royal would look like. Everyone else or did they have a more unique or noticeable appearance? It stood to reason since they themselves were more capable of using magic. Frowning, she just decided to ask, “So why are Royals able to use magic more than the common imago?”

                Amber and Ren both held their hands up to listen beyond the carriage at the mention of Royals. “You’ve gotta be careful who you say that around,” Amber murmured softly, still a bit tense.

                “They’ve got ears everywhere,” Ren added with a nod in the direction of the driver.

                “Ah…” Sunyoung trailed off, biting her lip to keep from saying more.

                She wasn’t all that upset when Amber shifted closer though so she could speak in a lower voice. “Something to do with the bloodlines. I don’t know what, but there’s something in their history that sets them apart. Stronger in the way of magic. I have it a little bit,” she murmured, one eye winking and her thumb and index finger creating a tiny space between them.

                “Whatever it is,” Sunyoung clarified.

                “Yep. And Ren’s-”

                “Your standard imago,” he shrugged with a soft laugh. “Nothing all that special about me other than being friends with someone who is at least indirectly connected to the Royals.”

                “Huh,” Sunyoung chirped, chewing her bottom lip again. “What does it mean to use magic more effectively though? Like bigger magics or stronger or what?”

                “Everything really. But the biggest difference is probably the control. On a small scale, I have decent control over making things. Larger projects are far more likely to go… wrong,” she explained with an uncomfortable expression.

                “Like, lose control and destroy things or catastrophe wrong,” Ren further explained when Amber didn’t.

                “Oh…” Sunyoung blinked, pursing her lips thoughtfully. That didn’t sound good.

                “True Royals usually only have one great accomplishment during their lifespan,” Amber mentioned. “It’s their legacy if you will. Like the Metropolises or the forest striders. Large things like that often claim their life as payment. Smaller ones, like the unicorn and the chocobo, provide convenience and entertainment but aren’t particularly memorable. They might have been created by a half-blood Royal or someone like that.”

                “So how do you actually use magic?” Sunyoung wondered, glancing between Amber and Ren with interest.

                They shrugged in tandem and Amber answered, “It’s part of who we are. Little magics come directly from us and will usually make you tired. Larger magics, like what the Royals do, come from them but also the crystals.”

                “Right!” Sunyoung chirped, one finger rising into the air. “Do they act sort of like batteries?”

                Ren and Amber laughed at the comparison, but the former nodded. “That’s one way of describing it.”

                “Yes,” Amber agreed, “but they also augment or strengthen the magic. It’s why the Metropolises are pretty much self-sustaining at this point. The crystals have absorbed or been given so much power over time that it’s sort of this symbiotic cycle. It keeps the city afloat. The people live there. Their natural magics help sustain what the crystal uses and the cycle continues.”

                “Huh.” That was interesting to Sunyoung. Sounded pretty efficient but also a little scary. She wasn’t sure she liked the idea of… anything taking her energy. Even if it was for a good reason.

                “Oh look,” Ren called suddenly, peering out of the carriage. “We’ve got guests,” he laughed once, waiting for the women to take a peek before he explained what he saw.

                On cue, Sunyoung poked her head out and gasped in surprise when she noticed jumping and flying creatures keeping pace beside them. They were using the trees to move but it was no trouble for them. To her eyes, they looked like a cross between monkeys and squirrels. “Flying monkeys?” she wondered.

                “Basically,” Ren laughed, his head swiveling to follow the dozen or so. “The official name is a mammalian airborne primate, but we just call them maps.”

                “Okay,” Sunyoung laughed once, shaking her head at the moniker before watching them some more. They were very agile creatures and they did travel a bit like flying squirrels as well as monkeys in equal measure. They were strangely soothing to watch and she took a breath as she relaxed, under the spell of their natural movement patterns. She knew that Amber and Ren were discussing something inside, but this was nice too. Just being in the moment and not worrying about what might happen next. Though really… given the nature of the world, and the uncertainty of this moment, she figured it might be a good idea to start thinking about it.

                She was just about to do so when the carriage started to slow down. Turning, she frowned first but then Amber waved a reassuring hand in her direction. “It’s okay. We’re just stopping to go on foot from here.”

                “Where are we going?” she couldn’t help but wonder, though she did follow Amber and Ren out of the carriage.

                “You’ll see,” Amber winked, offering her hand.

                Sunyoung laughed once, sidestepped to give a parting pet to the unicorn, and then returned quickly. She accepted the hand and sighed, “That’s not much of an answer you know.”

                “I know, but you will see,” she responded with a cheerful grin.

                “You’ll probably like it, too,” Ren added with a bright smile. He pointed towards the trees on the right side and nodded once as if to indicate that was where they were supposed to be going.

                It looked exactly the same as the rest of the forest had so far. Sunyoung didn’t know why this particular place was different, but that had been true of the stations on the forest strider as well. And in the Metropolis. Maybe it was just something about them being magic and the world itself being magic. And her not being magic was what made it so hard to see a difference. Either way, she had little choice in the matter. On her own, she’d just be lost and at least this way she was in good company.

                “We can’t really go back to a Metropolis right now and most of the known mirrors are probably being watched pretty closely,” Amber explained without looking back. Her head swiveled constantly, as if she was listening or looking for something, but the steady contact of their clasped hands let Sunyoung know she was very much focused on her.

                “Right now, we’re just trying to buy time. This kind of thing doesn’t really happen so… we’re not exactly sure how to fix the situation yet,” Ren admitted, glancing over his shoulder as he looked between the two women with some concern.

                “How would you normally handle it?” Sunyoung asked, curious how she changed the dynamic.

                “Well, if we had someone to vouch for us, we’d usually find a sponsor to back us and then approach the Royal Council to beg for leniency or a lesser punishment,” Amber explained, looking back with a shrug.

                “But considering who Amber offended, it’s not likely we’ll find much of a sponsor,” Ren grimaced, the expression obvious from his tone.

                “He’s that high up the food chain is he?” she wondered with a pained frown.

                “That’s one way of putting it. More like his family is,” Amber sighed, clearly annoyed.

                “So what are we trying to do now?” she had to ask, needing some kind of direction to all this.

                “The main thing is finding a way to keep you safe for the moment,” Amber explained, nodding at Ren as he turned to agree. “If you’re safe, then we’ll have more freedom to move around and through your world as needed to escape.”

                Well that didn’t make Sunyoung feel particularly helpful. She seemed to be more of a liability at the moment. “Sorry,” she apologized automatically, feeling guilty all of a sudden.

                Amber and Ren paused to look back, confusion writ on their face. “It’s not your fault,” Ren explained quickly, taking a step closer to her as they stalled. “Honestly, it’s hers,” he added, pointing matter of factly at Amber.

                “Yep,” she agreed without hesitation, though she did give Ren a bemused glare in response. “So don’t you dare try to take it away from me,” she snorted, focusing her attention back to Sunyoung with a pat on the head and another effortless wink.

                Immediately, it had the intended effect and Sunyoung laughed once, ducking her head in embarrassment. “So maybe it is your fault, but I do still feel useless,” she admitted with a heavy sigh.

                “Just because you can’t use the magic of our world doesn’t mean that’s a bad thing,” Ren promised with a shrug. “At least they can’t find you so easily by following your body signature.”

                At Sunyoung’s confused look, Amber explained, “It’s how we keep track of everyone. Since we can all change what we look like, appearances are pretty much useless. But everyone has a different energy. Like DNA but less science based,” she laughed once and gestured with her free hand. “You don’t have one. At least not the kind they can follow so easily.”

                “Ah,” Sunyoung nodded in understanding, falling silent as she mulled it over.

                With uneasy glances around, Amber and Ren took her silence for understanding and opted to continue walking. Sunyoung was still curious about quite a few things but they could wait for the moment. Her more pressing concern was actually her feet. Her work shoes were fine for work, but they were terrible for traipsing around in the middle of nowhere outside.

                Unfortunately, while her companions could move easily without any trouble, Sunyoung began to slow and she was forced to reluctantly take a break as her feet started to hurt. “Hold up a minute, please,” she asked, biting her bottom lip as she leaned into a nearby tree and shifted her feet, trying to assess what the damage was so far. As she’d figured from her first look, the trees in this forest were so very large and towered above them to dizzying heights when she looked up. Curious and distracted, she wondered aloud, “How tall are the trees here?”

                Ren and Amber exchanged uncertain glances and shrugged. “We’ve never really thought to measure them. Maybe a hundred feet or more?” Amber wondered aloud, eyes trailing upward as if to measure for herself.

                Sunyoung’s mouth twisted into an amused grin and she shook her head. “I knew that much.”

                “I can’t remember if they grew from the ground up naturally or if one of the Royals made them grow so large,” Ren admitted with a frown, glancing around the various trunks and up to the overarching foliage.

                “Probably both,” Amber supplied, kneeling near one. “In time, they probably would have gotten this big anyway, but I’d bet someone got impatient.”

                “Sounds about right,” Ren agreed, glancing at Sunyoung. “There aren’t trees like this on your side, are there?”

                Sunyoung frowned thoughtfully and then shook her head. “We have different trees, but no… none grow this large. That I know of anyway. Certainly not anywhere near me,” she laughed. Cities were not known for having remarkable trees anywhere. Since they had stopped for a moment longer than she thought they might, she reached to pull her left shoe off and rub at the sore spot on her heel. She was pretty sure it was going to turn into a blister…

                “You alright?” Amber asked as she drew close, her face twisted in mild concern.

                “Yeah,” Sunyoung answered, waving her off hurriedly. “My shoes are just stupid,” she added with a forced laugh.

                “Ayah,” her companion grimaced, kneeling in front of her. “I should have remembered you weren’t wearing shoes for something like this.” She glanced at her own feet that had perfectly respectable sneakers and then frowned in concentration. “Here. Let me try something,” she encouraged, reaching both hands to touch at the plain but professional black dress shoes.

                “Amber,” Ren warned worriedly, stepping closer.

                “It’s just a little bit of magic,” she countered, raising one brow at him.

                Sunyoung mildly cringed in concern as he added, “I know you know what you’re doing. I’m more worried about those who could detect it…”

                “I’m sure we have time,” Amber promised flippantly, focusing her energy on changing Sunyoung’s shoes into a black version of her own – comfortable sneakers that would be much better in this terrain.

                Immediately, Sunyoung felt the difference and she sighed in relief at the change. The feeling of magic happening directly against her skin was strange, but the effects were well worth it. “Thank you,” she beamed, gingerly putting the left shoe back on to see how it felt. Her heel was still a bit tender. She couldn’t do anything about that, but the rest of her foot felt fabulous.

                “Anytime,” Amber winked, standing up and giving her shorter companion a gentle pat on the head once more. “Sorry again.”

                “It’s fine. There was a lot going on recently,” Sunyoung promised with a reassuring smile. She saw some of the tension melt in her companion and that was enough for her.

                “I’m glad there are no hard feelings, but if you’re done, we should really get moving again,” Ren reminded them, anxiously shifting from foot to foot several paces away.

                “Right,” Amber nodded, glancing at the woman in front of her. “Ready?”

                “Yep,” came the automatic reply.

                “Okay. We’re almost there,” Amber promised, holding her hand out for Sunyoung to take it again if she wanted.

                She took it gladly, laughing just a bit, “I’m still not sure why you won’t tell me where we’re going.”

                “Just safer that way,” she answered with a shrug, glancing over her shoulder to offer a reassuring smile and then turning back as she started moving again.

                “Royals like to have ears everywhere and if they did manage to hear where we were going, it’d be easier to set a trap. If they didn’t just want to try and capture us directly anyway,” Ren explained from the front, shrugging with a grimace as he looked back to speak. As he did though, his eyes went wide and he briefly froze.

                Sunyoung yelped when Amber immediately yanked them to the side. Fear flooded her then as she felt something pass by them very quickly. Glancing over, she saw what appeared to be a net of some kind, covering the space they’d just been in. Looking back, her eyes widened too at the sight of hovering Imagos, dressed very distinctly in black clothes with silver trim. None of them looked happy.

                “Damn hoverboards,” she heard Amber mutter as they took off running into the woods. Her head darted to the side as if looking for Ren but she remained silent otherwise.

                There was nothing Sunyoung could do or say herself so she simply held tight and focused on not tripping. This would be the most inopportune time for her to lose her footing or something. And… she did, but it really wasn’t her fault this time. “Amber!” she cried out, literally falling forward when her back foot stalled. Amber’s hand slipped from hers and she hit the ground hard, almost losing her breath.

                “Sunyoung!” she heard, even as she looked back to see one of the nets had caught her foot and pinned it in place. “No, you don’t!” Amber growled as hands slid under Sunyoung’s arms, pulling at her hard.

                The net was firm and her foot ached from the pressure. Sunyoung whined at the pain but with Amber’s help, managed to kick free, losing her shoe in the process. “Ow!” she yelped, the pain in her foot briefly spiking before they both fell back to the ground, mildly entangled with each other.

                At the same time, they scrambled to get up, arms and legs flailing. But it was too late. Stalled in place just long enough, another hoverboarding Imago swooped into view and fired on them, catching both in their net. “No!” they wailed in unison, pinned together as the edges of the net curled in and under them when they were lifted up.

                “Let us go!” Sunyoung yelled, awkwardly trying to shift the net, a difficult task when it was plastered to her left side and her right was obviously digging into Amber’s torso.

                As the ground moved away from them, Amber’s hands pressed against Sunyoung and the net at the same time. Her voice eased through the panic setting and she murmured, “Easy.” She didn’t look away from their captors, but her words were for Sunyoung alone. “Let them think they’ve won,” she encouraged, left hand pressing against the other woman’s back reassuringly.

                Sunyoung sniffed and nodded once before falling still. Immediately, the tension in the net eased just a little bit and it was almost tolerable. “Do you have a plan?” she wondered quietly, peering through the netting to see if she could spot Ren.

                “Sort of,” Amber laughed softly, the sound of her swallowing loud in Sunyoung’s ears. They had almost reached the canopy now.

                “What are you gonna do?” she asked, craning her head to look up at the other woman. Her face was easy to see as she looked down at Sunyoung, the expression warm and a little sad. Even as she asked, she watched Amber begin to glow ever so lightly. Her hand on the net blazed brighter and, as they cleared the canopy and moved into the open air, she dragged it down, slicing through the bindings.

                Sunyoung started to slip through the new opening and Amber caught her. “Be brave,” she smiled, leaning forward to kiss the corner of , the action accompanied by a small tingling sensation that flowed over her body. Briefly stunned and confused – had she meant to kiss her there? – she had little time to react before Amber actually pushed her out the already mending opening.

                “Hey!” someone above shouted, the sound both alarmed and confused. She heard, “She’s gone!” before the canopy swallowed her once more, blocking the sky from sight. And then Sunyoung panicked as she fell, unable to stop her fall and completely disoriented. But the leaves were surprisingly steady as she crashed through them, and it was impossible to miss when she hit a branch. Even then, they seemed to give, letting her slide from their hard planes instead of bouncing off or smacking into them painfully.

                None of that mattered though when she reached the end of her fall. It wasn’t the ground that reached up to greet her, but rather a messy assortment of sticks and fluff and chittering creatures that panicked when she landed in the midst of them. Head spinning, she clung to consciousness by the barest of threads and held very still as she waited for the world to slow down.

                All too quickly, the alarmed creatures fell absolutely silent and Sunyoung felt a chill creep over her. A strange whispering sound entered her awareness and she dared to glance up, neck twisting painfully in the process. There, flying over her position and looking around intently was one of the hoverboard searchers. It was obvious they’d followed her and they should be able to see her, by all rights, but for some reason, they didn’t. Or if they did, they simply chose to ignore her, which made no sense at all.

                She continued to hold still, praying that whatever was keeping her safe would continue to hold. She even stopped breathing for a few seconds as they slowly made their way down and then over her landing spot. This close, the searcher was particularly alarming as they had no standard face. Oh, they had eyes, but they were strange, alien. And there was a mouth, but it too seemed odd – more a line in an otherwise featureless visage. If their pallor had been gray, she would have thought them to be an alien in truth.

                Her follower didn’t speak as they drifted away and down. They simply continued their slow, determined scan, moving past little by little as they worked their way below the canopy. Even when she was certain they wouldn’t be able to see her, Sunyoung was loathe to move. She still felt a strange sort of tingling over her and the chittering sounds were starting to pick up again. Looking around her temporary haven, she discovered she was nestled in the boule of one of the trees and it appeared to be a nest of… maps. The discovery made her laugh once and the creatures froze again, eyes darting about in confused alarm.

                Could they not see her either? “Hello?” she called out softly, taking care to sit up slowly. Her words caused a general stir of panic once more and the creatures scampered around the area her voice had come from. She saw several looking in her direction but it was more like they were looking through her. Glancing at herself, Sunyoung saw everything was at it should have been, but for all intents and purposes, she appeared to be invisible to others… At least until she wasn’t.

                All of a sudden, the tingling sensation disappeared and every head turned to focus on her. “Uh…” she trailed off, looking around at the dozen or so maps in her vicinity. Their ears flicked while tails twitched and though they didn’t look dangerous, Sunyoung didn’t know them well enough to understand if they were or not. There were just a lot of them of various sizes and colors in her immediate vicinity…

                At an impasse, it seemed as if they might stay that way forever, but there was something hard and sharp digging into Sunyoung’s hip and she needed to move to check. As soon as she shifted, the maps darted off, clambering up the tree and otherwise hiding in the overhead canopy. Alarmed calls followed them but they were more plaintive than angry or aggressive. “Sorry,” she mumbled, rolling off one hip to reach under and grab at whatever was there. When she picked up something surprisingly smooth, she was even more astounded to see a piece of what looked like a crystal. “What the…?” she trailed off, holding the approximately golf ball sized gem in her palm.

                That got a reaction out of one of the denizens as they half scampered down from their retreat and paused, staring at her. Its tail twitched and the little nose wriggled while it chirped at her, but it didn’t try anything else.

                “I guess this is yours,” she murmured, glancing between the map and the crystal. She was half inclined to put it back – obviously the critter liked it, but… there was something about the gem as well. It almost felt alive. There was a kind of energy to it, and if she didn’t know better, it looked a lot like the crystal she’d seen powering the Metropolis. It just happened to be significantly smaller. “Sorry little guy,” she murmured, pocketing the trinket before she stood up and started to limp around.

                The map followed her at a distance, while the other denizens rustled through the leaves, darting down and up to keep frequent eyes on her. Her position was otherwise precarious and still quite high up. Though the tree had caught her in a boule, the rest of the trunk extended a long ways down. And she had no rope or ladder or anything to help get down. And she was missing a shoe.

                Well that was just great… The reality of her situation suddenly weighed down on her as everything that had just happened finally had a moment to catch up. Sunyoung was trapped in a tree in a parallel dimension while she had almost been kidnapped and one of her best friends had been kidnapped and was probably going to be killed and she didn’t know what had happened to Ren and there was nothing she could do about any of it. Any one of those would have been bad enough by themselves. All of them together were just a little overwhelming and she felt hot tears well up.

                “Ugh! Stop it!” she growled at herself, stomping her foot and wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. “Crying won’t help you,” she reminded herself, and it helped but didn’t completely stem the tide of her emotions. The first thing she had to do, was figure out a way down. Then she could start worrying about what might or might not happen after that.

(a/n: Considering this is not supposed to be too long, things are happening a little quickly, though I at least had a bit of inspiration recently. I know mostly what's going to happen next and how I'm going to get there. Now I just have to put it down on paper. Thank you for being patient with me and here's to hoping the next update doesn't take so long to get out. Thank you!)