She acted like she agonized over the decision, but she knew what she was going to pick right away. She made sure to make all the right facial expressions, to pretend to reach for the case only to jerk her hand away, then tap her foot impatiently. But honestly, it was all a farce, and she wasn’t the only one who knew that.

  She didn’t answer him. She just stood up and went to the water. Something like a satisfied gleam entered Holt’s eye, and she tried to not let that shake her.

  She stepped up the barrier of the doorway, the wall of water that waited for her. This was so stupid. But even if things went bad – and she was certain they wouldn’t – she was pretty sure she could make it to the surface in time.

  She didn’t bother sucking in a breath of air before stepping into it. She just walked into the water. She didn’t think about it. Didn’t give herself time to talk herself out of it. She opened her mouth, and let it all in.

  There was a sex joke in there somewhere, and for once, she was going to be above making it.

  She knew the water wasn’t salt water, but still she expected it to taste like salt. Hell, she’d even swallowed some before. You couldn’t dive for days straight for hours at a time without swallowing some water at some point. She knew it was clean and crisp, but it was the ocean, and part of her brain demanded that it taste salty. Which probably expined why she quit college, even if she tried to wave it away by saying she did it to do live streaming fulltime.

  As soon as the water hit her throat, she panicked a little. She forced herself to swallow, to breathe, to take it in her nose, but her limbs just kind of started filing, and next thing she knew, she was scrambling to turn around and go back through the door to Holt’s little pocket of air and safety.

  Only, in Holt fashion, both it and he were gone. The room was now just as submerged as it should be, filled with water and fish as if it hadn’t just been defying reality itself not seconds ago.

  She swam back, debating whether or not to go back to the surface, and tried to vocalize a ‘fuck it’ and let in as much water as she could.

  More panic. More limb filing.

  And then it was… okay.

  A peace settled over her, a warmth, and some part of her mind wondered idly if she was drowning and this was what death felt like. Just… acceptance.

  She let herself float, spreading her arms and legs, and letting the underwater current take her. And the entire time, she breathed. Breathed the waters of the Jiridion Belt.

  No. Not the Jiridion Belt. Jiridia.

  The thought struck her, and she didn’t know where it came from.

  Breathing water felt weird. She could feel the weight in her lungs. Felt them expanding and defting, much like a sponge would when you soaked it then squeezed it out. It was like her lungs were learning – no, being taught – a new way to work. Like something inside of her was changing, on a fundamental level.

  The water was being taken into her.

  She could see it. It felt like flying, coasting along the clouds, looking down at the nd, both as it was, and what it had once been.

  The buildings were whole, skyscrapers that rivaled what she expected from her world, but with the beauty of something you’d see in a movie. It was like Rivendell, but on steroids.

  It wasn’t just the buildings, though. The nd itself was different. The Jiridion Belt was an odd series of nd strips, forming a series of connections between the two main continents in the known portion of the world.

  This was a continent, stretching further and further south. It was endless, rger than maybe the other two continents combined.

  She wanted to ride that wave of information flowing into her brain, but it quickly turned to bck. She could see stars in the sky. But no, they were not stars. She was one of them, hovering above an endless night, a star holding back the darkness, she and her eight siblings.

  And then, if it were possible for a star to turn its back, they did, one by one, facing away from her until she was by herself, all alone. It felt like high school, but on a cosmic scale. Petty and childish, but with vast implications and dire consequences.

  And then, below, a presence in the darkness. And she was so alone, so terrifyingly alone, she couldn’t help but reach out to it. And in doing so, she was consumed.

  She screamed, her mouth opening and inhaling water, and she realized she was back in her body, if she had ever really left at all. She swam upwards, breathing as she did, taking in life itself from the waters around her as they supported her.

  When she breached the surface, she doubted her eyes for a moment. How long had she been under? They had left dock when it was morning, and now the night sky stared back at her. Gorin was still there in his little ship, leaning over the side and looking directly at her.

  “Get back on,” he said, casting out a line to her.

  She didn’t need the rope to get back in, but she took it anyway. When she was back in, she asked, “How long was I down there for?”

  “Hour, about,” he said, giving her a sidelong gnce. “Not as long as you’d think, with all that, but long enough you shoulda drowned. Which means you did somethin’ stupid.”

  “I might’ve tried deliberately breathing water.”

  He nodded, as if that had been the expected answer, but still said, “And why’d you go and do a fool thing like that?”

  “Would you believe peer pressure?”

  He snorted, and then nudged at something on the deck with his foot. It was Holt’s briefcase.

  “Also a bribe,” she said.

  “You’re mixing with a dangerous sort, and doing dangerous things to do it. You’re young and dumb, but I knew that the first time I saw you.”

  “Yep, that’s me.”

  “Not even gonna deny it. Good. Means I have somethin’ to work with. Someone not too full of themselves.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  He pointed to the dark sky, the moon high above them, the stars casting their light down. “Do you know what this is about?”

  “No. I thought you would?”

  “I have an idea, and it’s probably not a good one. Has to be a Dreamer showin’ off, and only one has domain over the night. Nasty bitch, that one, but then, they all are, in their way.”

  “Do… do the Dreamers regurly do stuff like this? Just turn day into night on a whim?”

  He gave her a look, giving voice to how stupid he thought that particur question was. “No. But they’re pretty much the only ones who can, outside of maybe a couple of really mean Mythwalkers, and… well, never mind that.”

  The sky fshed, like fireworks lighting up the sky, only it was the stars themselves fring and twinkling, rearranging themselves in a vibrant dispy. And when they were done, they’d taken the form of a face.

  “That’s Sami,” Pan said in awe.

  “What’s a Sami?”

  “Someone… someone I know. She’s in the Sass Wastes, st I checked.”

  “That’d make sense. This whole thing stinks of the Sassian Dreamer. Looks like she took up her first Pact in a long time, and she’s showing it off.”

  “She doesn’t normally do Pacts?”

  “Not since she smashed Sass into dust. Better keep it to yourself you know who the Pactholder is. Some are going to be interested in that information. But then, you do a lot of stupid things.”

  Pan was going to ask who would want to know, and then she realized. The sky had probably changed for everyone, all around the world. Everyone had just seen Sami’s face, drawn with the stars themselves.

  The things Otter and Rua had said were nonsense. Madness. That this was a real world, with real people. But Rua herself seemed to be proof of it. She was too real. So was Gorin. And all the random people Pan had met in the Jiridion Belt. This whole thing was too big. Just too insane. She didn’t want to think about it.

  And if it all were real, and there were beings powerful enough to turn day into night, and make art with the stars themselves? Pan had always been an atheist. Where did that leave her? Were the Dreamers gods? Or were they some kind of multi-dimensional beings with access to forces outside of her purview?

  “I think I need help,” she said.

  Gorin spped her on the shoulder. “First smart thing you’ve said.”

  “What?”

  “You drank from Jiridia. You think people don’t come here because of some rocks? No, that water’s why people don’t come here.”

  “What?” she repeated, feeling even more ignorant.

  “You drank poison. Luckily, you survived. Usually kills most people.”

  “And you didn’t think to tell me?” she excimed. “I’ve been swimming in that stuff for like a week!”

  He shrugged. “Figured you knew. Everyone around here knows the risks, and knows the benefits if they survive. It’s why we get anyone willing to do this job in the first pce. Guess that means I’m gonna have to teach you.”

  He gave a long sigh, and went back to staring at the stars.

  “Teach me what?” she asked.

  “How to take into your saiku. Gonna be a pain in the ass. Haven’t had an apprentice in years, not since that st little shit went and….” He trailed off, muttering to himself. Gorin had a bad habit of that.

  “What’s a ‘saiku’?”

  He blew out his moustache in that way that said he was really annoyed. “You know. Life force. Converting your own soul’s power to tap into general soul power. I knew you were a dumb Wayfarer, but…”

  “Wait. You’re gonna teach me ki techniques?”

  “Dunno what key you think I’m gonna help you turn, but I guess that’s a good enough metaphor.”

  “How Dragon Ball am I gonna get with this? Energy bsts? Flying? Moving faster than the eye can see?”

  Gorin rolled his eyes. “I have no idea what you’re babbling about. As usual. Time for your first lesson.”

  “Yes, sensei! I will honour your every teaching until the moment of your tragic death, which will motivate me in my journey as the main character!”

  “First and most important lesson. Don’t forget it. Ready?”

  “With all my being.”

  And then she found herself falling over the side of the ship as he shoved her over it. She squawked loudly before hitting the water, and sputtered and filed a lot until she righted herself and got a good dog paddle going.

  “First lesson,” he said. “Always take care of my stuff. It’s worth more than you. Go finish the job you’re getting paid for. That silk ain’t gonna weave itself.”

  “Wait, really?”

  “What, you think I work for free? I’ll train your dumb ass, but it’s coming out of your pay. Unless you think you can find another saiku master on these waters.”

  Of course. Good old Gorin. He could always be depended upon to pad his wallet. Or coin purse. Whatever. But something was bugging her.

  “How come breathing in this water gave me super powers?”

  “It didn’t,” he said. “Just gave you potential. The powers, as you said, are all on you.”

  “Okay, but why?”

  He snorted. “You think what’s down there is water?”

  “Uh, yeah?”

  “It’s the damn ocean. Oceans are salt water. That ain’t salty.”

  “But… you said underwater streams! Glyph stones! Something else!”

  “Yeah. It’s a dumping ground from the body, so it doesn’t contaminate the ground water.”

  “What body?”

  “The Dreamer, you dumb idiot. You’ve been swimming in Dreamer blood. From when the only time one of ‘em died. Whole area’s littered with its parts.”

  DorenWinslowe