It wasn't long before they got within sight of the town square, but as they started to move around the ground beneath them turned to slippery mud and slush. Alexander managed to keep his balance again with some quick footwork, but Hannah fell to the ground in its wake. "Try side-stepping," he offered to her as she got off and cleaned her clothes as best she could, "It'll give you more traction from more of your foot fighting the ground." There happened to be a small slope right at hand, so he decided to demonstrate as he turned sideways and crab walked down it.

"Now then, let's see here..." he said as he looked around for anybody that looked connected to a castle in some way. That failing, he'd keep his eyes peeled for the local watering hole. When in doubt, go where the booze is, as they used to say back home. And it had yet to fail him in his life.

Sumi shook her head. "Sorry I don't Astrid." The two were able to make it to the front of the castle with no more interference. There were two guards there outside the gate.

"Halt, what is your purpose?"
"I want to get to the top of the castle," Sumi said straightforward. The guards looked at each other a little startled.
"That is not permitted." The second guard responded. Sumi frowned.
"What does it take to get to the top?"
"No one is allowed up there." The first guard responded. Sumi glanced at Astrid.

---

Hannah looked at Alexander frustrated. "I tend to be a brute force type, not go with the flow." She shrugged and stomped her way through the mud after Kade and Alexander. Kade realized what Alexander's idea was as they approached the bar.
"Good idea." He complimented him. The three of them entered the bar, which was exactly what one would expect in a town that pulled in the lost. No one seemed to blink an eye when they entered either. Not a single chair in the room matched. Each table had several people at them and it seemed as if not a single person matched either. There were people in just about every type of outfit imaginable. Someone caught Alexander's eye, it wasn't that they stood out among the motley group of people, but it was a face he knew. A young man who had fallen from the ship and had never been seen again. The man had been assumed dead.

---

Christopher came to the same conclusion as Katalina as they walked around the mote. There were strong defense points that he knew would be manned if the place were ever to be attacked, and it appeared, as far as he could tell, to be a perfect replica of some Disney-esque castle. He had no idea which one but knew that if someone who did know saw it they would be able to inform him.

It was Katalina who noticed though as they passed a shed that it not only had several well intact boards but also an old ladder that when poked seemed to hold together well enough that it would bear their weight if they climbed one at a time. There was something odd about the way it felt when touched as if it was waiting to be used.

"It's fine Sumi, it was more fortunate if you had another... but I guess not." Astrid did her best to clean herself up, but she probably was still stained with mud as she got to the castle with Sumi. She did let the other girl do the talking, as she had the most experience, but they found themselves stonewalled.

She stepped in close and looked up at the guards. "Are you sure there is no way we can get to the top? Or manage to convince you that we need to get there?"

The first guard glared a bit at that. "Are you deaf? No one is allowed up top. Now go. Both of you."

Astrid stepped back at that and then looked away blushing. She had failed at that. Oh gods, she usually was able to talk to people but it seemed that these guards really had a dedication to their duty.

---

Katalina looked over the castle, and felt a tingle of nostalgia at the back of her brain. The castle felt like one of the ones that she had seen in all those Disney movies as a kid. She wasn't sure which one it was, but she shrugged as she walked around the castle and then looked over as she noticed a shed.

She tilted her head as she walked over to the ladder by the shed and she touched her hand to it. It was burning to be used, and Katalina looked at it. It was perfect, and it looked like it would hold their weight. "Hey Christopher, I might have found our way up. We should hide it and then go tell the others. We were meeting up at the fountain, right? We should head that way."

"Yes, we're meeting there. Let's head that way." Christopher seemed happy to have found the ladder as well, so they had a good way to head to the top of the tower. However, Katalina was still worried about how this was going to go down. She hated heights, and she would have to jump into the unknown.

There was an old pirate saying that no matter where the wind takes you, bars will be bars. And it seemed to be true, even in the In Between, because this bar was bustling with all manner and shapes of people, mismatched and motley as they came. As he passed his eye around the place looking for somebody who knew what they were talking about, or perhaps resembled a guard off their shift... something that was neither of these pulled his attention. It was a perfectly ordinary lad, quietly sitting at a table drinking what was doubtlessly heavily watered down whiskey- anything else gave him the big yawn over the ship's railing an hour later. Alexander knew that, and a dozen other things besides, because to his great surprise this was someone he knew.

"Wash?"

The boy nearly choked on his drink as his eyes grew wide and centered on Alexander.

"Xander?!" he asked as he finished coughing, "Is that you?"

"That's my line!" Alexander replied as he walked closer and pulled another chair out to sit on, "We thought you were dead!"

"What do you mean?" Wash asked quizzically, "I'm right here, ain't I?"

"Well yes, NOW," Alexander said with a roll of his eyes, "But we all watched your lifeline come loose when we took a full broadside from the Reaver... you went straight over the railing... how did you end up here?"

Wash paused for a moment of thought. "You know," he said after a moment's passage, "I can't really remember. I DO remember falling, but anything between going under the clouds and ending up here..."

"Felt like the white filled everything, put you in your bunk, and you woke up on solid ground?" Alexander asked with a knowing in his voice.

"Yeah... wait, Xander, you didn't...?"

"Story for another time mate," Alexander responded with a laugh, "Oh, right! This," he said turning to Kade and Hannah, "Is Wash. That's not his actual name, we just called him that because-"

"Because of an incident we will not be talking about!" Wash piped up.

"Oh come on mate, it was glorious! Anyway, uh..." he continued, "Wash is... from my home. He was on the ship with me."

Sumi glared at the guard, not that she was intimidating anyway, she was a chubby Asian girl from a land of sugar. She turned around and marched off irritated. "Astrid, what is your opinion on rule breaking?" Sumi knew what world Astrid was from and that it was a lawful sort of world, but it was on the Morte scale which made it sort of odd anyway. "Let's go to the fountain. Hopefully, someone else had more luck than us." The skies opened up and rain poured down on them. Sumi lifted the hood of her jacket and looked even more sullen than before.

---

Katalina and Christopher had no issue finding a fountain. It had been ostentatious when it had first been installed. Now many many years later it was a wreck, but it was being used by a small group of people washing their clothing. As the entered the clearing rain started pouring down on them. The people washing the clothes didn't seem to care, they only paused for a second before resuming their chore.

---

Kade nodded at Wash.
"Nice to meet you," Hannah said. She was still covered in mud. "You wouldn't know a way into the - " Kade shoved an elbow into Hannah side. She didn't wince but she gave him a dirty look. "What we're here to find out and he might know. At least then it would be someone with connections to our group." Kade's eyes darted around the room. Hannah seemed to get the message then and nodded.
"Would you care to join us at the town fountain Wash?"

"Some rules are meant to be bent and broken... not all things in life are firm. However, we should go see if anyone else has had more luck than us first." Astrid looked over at Sumi, and then when the guard turned to leave, she turned and stuck her tongue out at his back. She then was rewarded by the rain pouring down over them both, and she sighed. She was already wet, muddy and cold, now she'd be wetter and colder. "I hope wherever we end up will be warmer than here. Gods know this isn't as cold as Hel, but at least I had a fur coat there." She shuddered at that as she looked at Sumi. "Town then." She turned back that way and started making her way, giving up on keeping herself dry at this point.

---

The fountain must have been beautiful when it was constructed, but now it was crumbling and being used for laundry. They did not seemed to mind even as the rain poured down, but neither did Katalina. The rain didn't bother her, even as it caused her hair to get wet. She simply tugged up the hood of her coat and she looked over at Christopher. "Seems we're the first people here. Who do you think will be next? Sumi and Astrid? Kade, Hannah and Alexander?" She looked up at him and paused a bit.

"I'd say Kade and the others... they're more likely to be on time." Christopher said softly as he looked over at Katalina.

"That's true, I'd believe this as well." Katalina looked out through the rain, wondering who would be joining them soon.

"Uh, the fountain? Sure, I guess," Wash replied as he glanced over toward the window. Checking the sun for the time of day like always, "I'm not expected for shift until well after nightfall."

"Shift? You have a job here?" Alexander asked, curiously. It was rather hard to imagine Wash picking up a basic old job.

"Man's gotta eat doesn't he?" Wash replied as he stood up and left some money on the table, "I work on a boat nearby."

"Ship," Alexander corrected as they moved to follow Kade and Hannah. That was always a sticking point, it was not a boat it was a ship, and any man who said the B-word was like to be dangled overboard for a time.

"Nah, this one's a boat Xander. Horrifyingly small, wouldn't last a second in any kind of fight. Thing can't even get airborne, that's the worst part. I'm still not used to the water splashing up at me."

"Well at least you're working something with sails and rigging!" Alexander replied, "That's gotta count for something." Spoken, he thought, just like a man who hadn't set foot on a deck in far too long.

"You'd think," Wash replied a little glumly, "But really all it does is pass the time. They take care of you around here, far as needs, but it's just the same old junk day in and day out. It gets boring in no time."

They walked for a bit, not that fountain was far, but as they did Wash seemed to fidget internally, as though he had something he was burning to ask. Before much time had passed however, he finally gave it a voice.

"Xander... did something happen on the ship?"

"Hmm?" Alexander said, "Not that I'm aware of, though that doesn't say much."

"Well," Wash fiddled, "Then why are you here?"

"Oh, that," Alexander's mood immediately went south, "That's a long story. Pretty much... I fell through the clouds, almost the same as you. But I didn't end up here, I went... back to where I came from. There's a place there, for people like me. People who were born one place, but came alive somewhere else. It's there to help us get used to not being where we belong."

"I see," Wash said, "But that's not here, so..."

"That would be because-" Alexander paused for a moment. Kade had nudged Hannah when she nearly asked about the castle, and he'd advised a lot of caution before they even came in. "I'm not sure I can tell you that, Wash. Never show the Dead Man's Dice to your neighbor, yeah?"

"If you say so," Wash shrugged.

A short silence passed between them, both boys out of their element and not fond of it one bit. Then a smile bridged Alexander's face as he had an idea.

"As I was flying to Elbith, twas on a market day," he began to lightly sing.

It took Wash a moment, but once he knew what was happening his face lit up. "I met the finest ram, sir, that ever was fed upon hay!" he sang, joining in.

"That's a lie, that's a lie, that's a lie, lie, lie!" the young men sang in unison.

"This ram and I got drunk, sir, we bought the bar a round!" Alexander continued.

"And when we sobered up sir, we were out among the clouds!" Wash followed up.

"That's a lie, that's a lie, that's a lie, lie, lie!"

Sumi heard the noises of the fountain before they saw it. Turning the corner she saw the backs of Katalina and Christopher. Kade and his group were also just walking up to the fountain. They had an extra person with them, who seemed to be singing with Alexander. She frowned and glanced at Astrid. "They picked someone up." She said it confused and then hurried to meet the group at the fountain. "What all did you find out?" But she gave another glance to the stranger in their midst.

Kade spoke first. "We went to the tavern and found an old friend of Alexander's." Sumi nodded and then gave him a half smile.

"How long have you been here?" She asked him.

"Not a full year yet," Wash told her. Sumi nodded.

"Well you won't be able to leave, but you might be able to help us." She turned to Katalina and Christopher, "Did you two have any better luck? The guards wouldn't budge so there isn't a way to get in through the front."

Katalina saw Sumi and Astrid arrive before Kade, Hannah, and Alex returned with another young man. Alex and the young man were singing some kind of tune about... lying? Dear nereids, chanteys were weird in other worlds. She remembered the ones that she had learned in her world but of course, she couldn't sing any of them. It would hurt everyone's ears, and she didn't have the right vocal chords anymore.

"So, you found an old friend of Alexander's and the guards are... stubborn. Well then, I'm happy to say I have some good news. We found a ladder, and it has some kind of magic in it. It will get us to the roof of the tower, I promise. It is behind the castle, where there are no guards." Katalina smiled a bit and looked at them. "However we will have to go one at a time up the ladder. It might not hold the weight of all of us at the same time."

"Christopher and I know where it is, so we can show you."

---

Astrid shyly hid behind Sumi when the new boy approached. She was still unsure of how to approach boys sometimes, even while they were in another world. She had found it easy in Valhalla, but here... the boys were handsome and now, there were more of them. She looked over at the rest of the group, and listened to Katalina as she spoke.

"So, a ladder? That's our ticket up? Sounds good to me."

"He can't?" Alexander asked Sumi when she said Wash couldn't leave- which of course meant he could not go back with them. It was disheartening, to an extent; here he'd finally found some semblance of home, and it wasn't to last. Granted, it had been a slim hope, but he'd harbored it anyway "Any particular reason why not?"

"Xander it's not a big deal..." Wash said.

"I still want to know."

Kade put his hand on Alexander's shoulder gently. "Remember when I told you not to eat or drink anything here? Wash here has had food and drink. Sumi was seeing if he had eaten or drank yet. Leaving now..." Kade trailed off, his hand leaving Alexander's shoulder and glanced up at the large castle in the distance. "It would start a war." Lightning flashed across the sky and Kade winced. It felt like a threat. The rain didn't lessen either. It poured down harder.

"Take us to the ladder. Wash you can join as long as possible. I think it'll help to have a local for some of it at least." Sumi said first directing to Katalina and then to Wash. She gave Alexander a sympathetic look. "You'll know when you can't go any farther." She added.

"I'll take us to the ladder and well... sorry." Kata looked over at Alex, giving him a sympathetic look as well. She felt for him. How many people had she left behind when she had been tossed from her world? Her hands clasped over the oyster in her pocket. She frowned as she remembered her beloved's face. Every rub of her thumb over the oyster reminded her of him. God... how many tides had it been? Sweet nereids she just wanted to once more hear him say those three words...

She was tugged from her thoughts as she heard Christopher asking her to lead the way. "Huh? Oh yeah... I can do that. Sorry." She frowned a bit as she turned toward the castle, and pointed at it. "We're going to have to go around, so that the guards can't spot us. Hope you guys are okay with that." She then took the lead to lead the merry little band of misfits towards the ladder.

The sympathetic looks the others chanced his way didn't help. If anything, it made him feel worse. Pity just wasn't Alexander's thing, and in the wake of being told this brief happiness was just that, it was absolutely unwelcome. It hardly helped that the explanation, while complete, didn't make much sense to him. Who in their right mind would start a war over someone eating food? Was it even possible to be that petty? If he ever met whoever was that dead set on the matter he'd love to give them a piece of his mind and boot up their-

"Xander, it's fine," Wash said with a slap on the taller boy's back, "It's not like I'm dying here. I'll find my own way home."

"Yeah, but..."

"No buts. You came here to do something, right? Let's go."

"Yeah," Alexander said glumly, "I guess you're right."

"Hey," Wash said, "We can't stay gone forever. The wind always calls..."

Alexander smiled a little. "You just need to listen for it."

And with that they began to catch up to the others.

Kade's job as a teacher and therapist for the kids of his Great-Aunt's school made him want to explain and comfort Alexander, but he could see the irritation growing in his face so he let it drop.

The group followed Katalina and Christopher as they led back behind the castle. The weather shifted again and it was now scorching hot. Any water that had soaked their clothing quickly evaporated and jackets were shed. Wash seemed unaffected by the change, he was aware of it but didn't shed a layer to compensate. He did, however, sip from a canteen at his side, which he offered to Alexander.

Christopher pulled the ladder from the spot they had left it and held it out to Sumi. She didn't look that impressed with the ladder. "Okay, so we need to get across the mote and this will get us to the top?" She asked confused. Sumi looked up at the castle which towered over the ladder, which was maybe six feet tall.

"I promise, the ladder will work... I felt something when I touched it earlier." Katalina reached out, putting her hand on the ladder. She brought it over to a spot that would easily reach the top of the castle, and once her hands were on both sides of it, it extended itself to reach the top of the castle tower. Katalina gasped a bit as the ladder soon reached the full height they would need it to reach. "So... I think we have our way up. But as I said before, I think we need to go up one at a time. Aside from..." She looked over to Wash. "I'd say your good bye's now." She shrugged a bit at that and then went to climb the ladder first.

---

Astrid really was hating the weather here, and had shoved all the excess layers into her pack. She could not wait to be out of here and go wherever they were headed next. It had to be more stable right? Sure, she was use to weather fluctuation, but this was crazy.

She was distracted from her thoughts by seeing that ladder climb all the way to the top and she felt her spirits soar again. Maybe this would be the closest she could get to flying again, but she hung back as she had heard what Katalina had said. One at a time, or the weight might harm the ladder. Once Katalina was at the top, the former Valkyrie was hopping on the ladder and climbing easily to the top.

"Talons, and I thought the Stormwall was temperamental with its weather," Alexander said as he quickly sloughed off his jacket in the face of the now scorching heat. The group trudged along beneath it, everybody now sweating and panting- save for Wash. In fact, he didn't seem bothered by the heat at all- a far cry from the lad Alexander remembered. Either he'd toughened up considerably in the last year or so, or whoever was willing to go to war over food was screwing with them and leaving him out of it. Quite possibly both. He stood there right as rain, not bothered at al by the scorching heat as he took a swig from a canteen, then extended it toward Alexander. For a brief moment, muscle memory took over- when your shipmate offered you some water on a hot day, by the sky you accepted it.

"Top mast of you mate, I'm parch-" he managed to say before his brain caught up with everything, "Wait. Wash. Where's the water from?"

Wash looked at him confused for a moment, and in the silence Alexander thought he could almost hear the gears in Wash's head clicking. "Oh!" the lad said in sudden clarity, "Right, yeah, it would be from here, wouldn't it? Haha, whoops. Sorry, wasn't thinking was I?" he said almost sheepishly as he took the canteen back.

"Ah, don't ruffle your feathers," Alexander replied jovially, "Neither of us knew it meant droppings until today."

A short while later and they stood in front of a magical extending ladder that the girls were climbing up ahead of them. "Welp," Wash began to say, "I guess this is goodbye. Again. At least I get to say it this time, eh?"

"Ah, don't be like that Wash," Alexander said as he suddenly pulled the younger boy into a headlock and playfully rubbed his fist on Wash's scalp, "Until today you were a dead man, who the hell knows what'll happen next?"

With the deft movements of a sky sailor Alexander began to nimbly clamber up the ladder after releasing Wash. He all but leapt up the first few, then turned and hung off of it by his one hand so he could turn back to his old buddy. "At the very least I'll try and make one last stop-in once we're done. Sit tight, I doubt it'll be long, yeah?"

"Yeah," Wash said, his glumness evident, "Good luck, with whatever it is!"

"Bah, you know what we always used to say! Luck's got nothing to do with it!"

With that, Alexander put two fingers to his own forehead, flicked them away in an ultra casual salute, then returned to his climb two rungs at a time until he was at the top.

Sumi didn't want to tell him that they hopefully wouldn't be back, but she was thankful at least Alexander had caught himself before drinking the offered water. Kade let them all climb and was the last up the ladder.

At the top they found themselves on exactly what they would have expected. It was a flat tower top with crenellation. It felt oddly familiar to each of them in their own way, but they could not have explained in words what it was that made that tower top so familiar. Perhaps a dream.

Sumi hopped up on top of the crenellation and paced around the edge of it. She walked carefully looking up and down. Her hands seemed to be questing for something as if she were in a dark unknown room.

Christopher was the first to see it, Hannah, however, seemed distracted with something else entirely. The air around Sumi's fingers started to burn golden. The heat from what could only be considered the noonday sun that had baked them all dry as they had climbed the tower seemed to be saturated with that gold. The air they breathed in turned to ice and a number was clear.

The thrilling exhilaration of being up high tingled in Astrid's soul, and it made her miss her beloved mount more than anything in the world. She felt the wind whipping through her hair, causing the tendrils to whip around her face. Oh, the tower felt familiar to her, something that spoke to her, but she couldn't place why it was familiar. However, she felt something resonate deep within her bones and her empty eye socket.

She walked around the edge of the tower, not sure what was going on until the air started to changed gold, and then she gasped as she saw Sumi's fingers start to burn gold. "Oh Sif's hair..." She muttered a bit as she felt the warm air around them starting to glow more. She paused a bit as she looked around, until Christoph pointed out the number.

"Six?" She raised her brow a bit at that and then looked over at Sumi again and then frowned a bit. "Uh, are you okay?"

Gods, but the air was perfect up here. The wind was blowing, there was neither ground nor building to either side, and if Alexander didn't keep a hold of himself he was likely to leap off the edge and whistle for Julie. Although, he DID seem to remember Kade mentioning that they would be jumping at some point... He put those thoughts away for the moment, however, as he watched Sumi fumble around like a blind beggar in the air. He was going to ask what she was doing, but then she seemed to find something as a searing bright light emerged around her hands and the air began to grow hotter.

Alexander was no stranger to seeing through bright lights, so it took him a little less time than most to notice the number. Six. Now what on earth could that mean, he asked himself quietly. And now the air was turning icy cold. Almost as if the number had sucked up all the heat that had poured out and then some. But how could that be?

Sumi jumped off the ledge onto the tower top with the others. She stared at the blazing number and then around at the group. She looked to Kade her eyes wide. He had already figured it out. The pair of them let out a sigh and looked at the group again. Hannah was staring off, only having glanced over when Christopher had pointed out the number. Kade crossed his arms and nodded at Sumi as if to tell her she was the one to talk since it was her quest.

"So..." She started drawing it out. "Someone has to stay." Christopher's eyes widened realizing they would be losing one of their numbers. They had seven people and the golden number was six.

"It is the payment," Kade said. "Payment for us crossing through this land to get to the Index Line. It can't be Sumi, she has a destiny in her world." Sumi looked like she was going to argue but Kade held up his hand cutting her off. "If you have a chance of going home I suggest it not be you. If your door will open for you again someday then being here will cut you off from it, which is why it should be me."

"No," Hannah spoke up cutting him off. "I can't go home, and my parents don't want me. There is no hope for me to return to the Wilds. I know you can't go home either Kade, but you're needed at the school. You took over for Lundy, and you'll eventually take over for Eleanor." She looked at the others. "Your doors are all waiting for you to find your way home, and this is as close as I'll ever get again. Heck, I even already have someone I can be friends with. I'll find Wash again." Sumi dashed forward and pulled Hannah into a hug so tightly the two almost tumbled backward onto the thick cut stone.

"I could stay." She whispered.

"No you can't, you have a daughter to have, a husband to marry and a kingdom to save." Hannah hugged her friend back tightly. "You guys should go, before the weather shifts again."

Sumi nodded and climbed back on the ledge in front of the burning number six. She simply stepped forward and was gone. The number was now five.