The sound of someone getting the living shit beaten out of them echoed through the sky. On the ground below, Queen Eleanor of Greenrivers gazed up.

  "There is no way that is a good sign," she commented.

  "It certainly is not, Your Majesty," Dame Joanna Smed replied. "The gods are no doubt trying to warn us of some dark event yet to come."

  Nearby them was a girl of 15 in Japanese-style clothing. She had a tachi on her hip and a naginata in her hands. A contemplative expression crossed the girl's face.

  "The gods could just be fighting each other. Some of them do that a lot in my homeland," she suggested.

  "Your gods are very strange if they fight each other, Tomoe. Especially if it's as common as you're implying," Queen Eleanor commented.

  "I have been to many lands with many gods," Tomoe replied. "I find that strangeness among them is the norm, not the exception. For some gods, it is even a point of pride."

  Queen Eleanor nodded.

  "Talking to saints will certainly give you that impression," she said.

  "I know the feeling," Joanna sighed.

  Tomoe nodded. She had no idea what a saint was, but the nail that sticks out is the one that gets pounded down. So, the girl pretended she did.

  Queen Eleanor looked around, gazing at the road they were at. While she recognized roads in general, this one was made of materials she had never seen before. Namely, asphalt. A sense of eeriness flowed through her due to the lack of life on the path. Still, the monarch remained calm. She had been in far more dangerous situations than this, as far as she knew.

  Still, Eleanor used her magic to extend her senses far and wide. She got a hearing better than a wolf, a sight greater than an eagle, and a sense of smell superior to a bloodhound.

  For a moment, all sorts of new scents overwhelmed Eleanor. However, that passed with incredible swiftness. The queen soon identified an incredibly familiar smell.

  "Well, it seems we have some help," Queen Eleanor said. "My husband is here. Two vampires as well. Not my son, though. I don't smell any of our inner circle.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Although I haven't memorized the scents of its newest members yet."

  Joanna nodded.

  "Then, do you think Saint Gustav is here?" there was a mixture of concern and relief on her face.

  "It's possible," Queen Eleanor said. "But we have yet to know for sure. Come, then, follow me. We'll meet up with my husband."

  When the three of them arrived, they found quite the sight. Voivode Dalv was sitting on a bench with Saint Gustav, trying to hold in laughter. Eris was arguing with

  Caesar Basil while Armand and Demetrius looked on with awkward expressions. King Eduard the Defenestrator was looking at a car.

  "As far as I am concerned, even Remen actors are more valuable than the lives of foreign kings," Basil declared.

  "How pathetic, siding with...wait, actors? Why actors specifically?" Eris questioned.

  Gustav spoke up.

  "In the Byzantine Empire, prostitutes and actors were part of the same social class," he explained.

  "I have no idea what the Byzantine Empire is," Caesar Basil commented. "But they clearly have more sense than most barbarians if they put actors and prostitutes in the same social class."

  Eris grimaced.

  "I hardly care what some foreigners think about social class. The only right view is that of the sensible nobles of the Kingdom of Foldzar," she said.

  King Eduard noticed his wife showing up with Joanna and someone he didn't recognize. He addressed her with incredible swiftness.

  "Eleanor, I do not know whether I should be happy or concerned that you are here."

  "I feel the same way about your presence," she replied. "I would prefer it if you were safe. However, at least we're able to help each other this way."

  Her gaze then turned to the others.

  "It appears that we've both met newcomers from a far-off land. I haven't seen anything like those boys' clothes before," Queen Eleanor commented.

  King Eduard scratched his beard.

  "Voivode Dalv and Saint Gustav believe they are from other worlds. I am inclined to believe them, based on what I've heard. And I theorize that we are in a different world ourselves," he said.

  "I would agree with you," Queen Eleanor looked around. "There are plenty of things here that I have never seen before."

  Then, a high-pitched voice boomed from above.

  "Attention, everyone. May I have your attention please?"

  Dalv furrowed his brow. He leaned in closer to Gustav and whispered.

  "Saint Gustav, have you ever met any gods outside of D?é??om and Krewh?"

  "I haven't. Why do you ask?" Gustav replied.

  "Well," Dalv commented. "That voice sounds a bit like Loki, but not entirely. It's as if Loki is pretending to be someone else, someone I don't recognize."

  Gustav let out a slight groan.

  "If Loki's behind this mess, it would explain a lot," he said in a hush.

  "I'm not sure. Loki is allied with humanity at the moment. It might not fit his allegiances to abduct a group of our kind," Dalv whispered back.

  "That just raises more questions."

  Then, the voice spoke again.

  "Go to the town's high school gymnasium for an important announcement. Most of you have no idea what that is. So, to that I say: it's the tallest building in the town.

  And yes, I could just give you the announcement here, but where's the fun in that?"