Daniel ran his fingers through his hair, for the first time without tearing through tangles and matted dirt. The bath had been a strange one, with water flowing from several pipes at once entirely on their own at precisely the temperature he found comfortable. The strange substances they used for, what he could only perceive as soap, left him puzzled, but he could not argue with the smell; it was considerably better than before.

  Daniel was attempting to make his way to the courtyard to meet with his companions and see more of the city they would now be calling home for the unforeseeable future. Vul De Rah. He thought, picking up the pace. Would be great if I wasn’t lost. He went over the directions the guard had given him again, but it was no use. There was too much on his mind. Beyond the staggering situation he found himself in, he couldn’t shake the thought and worry for his friends, Henry and Angelo. Had they come here with him? The possibility was strong, as they were within reaching distance when he was transported here. He pondered this and looked again to the task of finding his way out of here.

  The seemingly endless twists and turns of halls and rooms all looked the same to him. The hall he was currently in, was lined with several doors on either side, most of which were closed, but one was slightly ajar, and he could hear the sound of scratching parchment within. Daniel let out a sigh and knocked his knuckles on the door.

  “Huh? What was that?” called a feminine voice from within the open room.

  Daniel stepped back and saw a Dae’s head poke out from the open doorway. It first looked down the other side of the hallway, then turned its head to meet Daniel’s eyes.

  “Oh, my goodness!” the Dae yelped. It stumbled from the doorway clumsily and dropped a stack of paper in the process.

  It was a female Dae, though one could hardly tell. She wore a large and cumbersome cloak of dark green, with several belts across her chest that hung with multiple pouches. Her hair was a fine pearl white, like most Dae he had encountered up to this point, but her skin was a much darker grey than he had seen before.

  She fumbled to pick up her papers and stuttered. “My, my, my, how clumsy I can be! I am so sorry.”

  Daniel couldn’t help but feel slightly amused at the sight, but moved to help her pick them up. “I’m sorry I scared you,” Daniel apologized, picking up several pieces of paper. “But I’m lost in this God-forsaken labyrinth of a palace. Can you show me a way out of here?”

  The Dae girl held her papers to her chest, in what could easily have been a defensive gesture, but stared at Daniel. “You…” she started, as her eyes widened. “You’re one of the creatures!” She took a quick step toward him and studied his face eagerly. “Oh my! You ARE one! This is incredible, such a strange color.” She then extended her hand to touch his face, but Daniel pulled back before she could.

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  “Yeah, Uh… I guess I’ll… just…” he backed up wearily.

  “No!” she shouted, interrupting him. “I apologize about the, uh… well, I just have heard a lot. And I never thought I would get to actually meet one. The whole clan has been talking about you.”

  Daniel just stared awkwardly at her. “Well… uh… I need some help getting out of here, and you’re the only other person I’ve come across so far.”

  The Dae girl paused for a moment, then pulled the papers from Daniel’s hands and clutched them to her chest with the rest of her stack. “Yes! But I would like to ask you some questions if you don’t mind.” She motioned him to follow her and began walking down the hallway. “My name is Amynta, by the way.” She turned to give him a gracious nod but continued moving.

  “I’m Daniel,” he replied.

  “Daniel,” she seemed to roll the name around her tongue, obviously unfamiliar with it. “What a strange name. Please, you must tell me where you come from or what you are. You see, I’m a scribe for House Bodilla and would love to get some firsthand information from you.”

  “Shoot.”

  She glanced at him, again, confused, but also very intrigued. “Oh! Another word I don’t know! What does it mean?”

  “I…” Daniel shrugged, realizing truly assimilating would be a long and difficult road. “It doesn’t matter. What I meant to say was, go ahead. Ask your questions.”

  She smiled, her eyes squinting as she did. “Where do you come from? Is it the hells!? Oh! Or are you fallen spirits!? Oh—”

  “Alright!” Daniel held up his hands, stopping the girl’s excited barrage of questions. “Give me a second, damn. First off, the answer to all of that, whatever you just asked me, is NO. Not demons, or a spirit, or any of that shit. I’m a human being, alright? From what I can gather, just like a Dae, only from a different world.”

  She stepped in front of him, causing him to stop abruptly, while peering at him. “So curious; you aren’t a divine creature, or a malevolent one. But an entirely different species all together!”

  “That… sounds about as close as it gets.”

  Her mouth spread into a toothy grin. “With that out of the way, we can go on to your diet, then perhaps on to your sleeping needs, of course, bodily functions, excretions, sexual behaviors.”

  “Whoa,” Daniel shook his head. “Look, I don’t have time for all that crap. I JUST need to find my… you know what? I’ll just figure it out. How hard can it be.” Daniel stepped around her, determined to find his own way out of the palace. It couldn’t be that difficult, could it?

  “Fine, fine!” Amynta ran in front of him again. “I’ll lead you out of here. But PLEASE don’t forget about me. House Ignos would never grant me an opportunity to learn more about you. They’ve got their own scholars for that. Please, ask for me in the future, I simply MUST know more!”

  Daniel sighed, feeling somewhat conflicted about the whole situation. “Fine~” he breathed, reluctantly agreeing. It wasn’t because of any obligation or anything. She just seemed so earnest about it. “But no crazy personal questions. And there are three of us here, surely your research would benefit from asking the other two some questions, right?”

  Her face lit up, and she clapped her hands together. “You mean it? Oh, this is going to be incredible! I’ll prepare some questions in the meantime. Until then, follow me, Daniel~” She said his name a bit too happily, then repeated it several times to herself as she started walking down the hall. Daniel had to pick up his pace to catch up with her as she led him out of the palace.