The city looked like a grammar textbook exploded and someone tried to rebuild civilization using punctuation and caffeine.
There were signs in five different languages stacked on top of each other. Scrolls floated through the air like lazy butterflies. Some buildings whispered spells under their breath. I tried not to make eye contact with one that looked like it was judging my posture.
And me?
Still lost. Still clutching my one pathetic fire scroll like it was a security blanket.
I turned a corner and—WHACK.
Face, meet scrolls.
Dozens of them, scented like cinnamon and burnt paper, flew everywhere as I staggered back.
> "Whoa! Sorry—scroll traffic?" I mumbled.
The girl who'd collided with me tilted her head. Messy side-bun. One glowing earring. Her eyes flicked over me like she was trying to decide if I was dangerous or just dumb.
> "You're new," she said flatly.
> "Was it the outfit or the energy of pure confusion?"
> "Both."
She started scooping up her scrolls, which floated just slightly above her fingers before folding themselves neatly into her satchel. Show-off.
> "Name's Leo," I said, crouching to help.
> "Aari," she replied. "And you're lucky those weren't combat scrolls. One time a guy bumped me and got launched into a chutney stall."
> "That's oddly specific."
> "So is this town."
I handed her a scroll. It glowed briefly, then hissed and curled away from my hand.
> "Okay, rude," I muttered. "Even your paper doesn't like me."
> "It senses fear."
> "It should sense trauma."
She raised an eyebrow, amused but not exactly impressed.
> "Heading to the Archive?"
> "That obvious?"
> "You're holding a basic fire scroll upside-down and your aura smells like 'accidental arson.' Yeah."
I looked at the glowing spires rising in the distance — tall, twisted towers that shimmered with words. The air around them seemed to ripple like heat off pavement.
> "That it?"
> "Yup. Archive. Magical knowledge, language practice, one haunted ink pot, and a vending machine that only speaks Dutch."
We started walking together, her scrolls humming softly in her bag.
> "So what's the plan?" she asked.
> "Learn not to burn people."
> "Solid goal."
> "And maybe figure out how to get home."
She glanced sideways at me. "Yeah… good luck with that."