“Well, aren’t you going to ask me to dance?”

The glint in the Gemini’s eye, and that self-confident smirk plucking at the corner of her mouth, seemed to age her. It was as though Crow were being spoken to by someone several years his senior. He’d seen that same look from Astra before, a quiet amusement at someone’s naivety or simplicity. It had first shown itself in the Gemini when he’d promised not to tell anyone else what she’d shared with him about the Sieve, and it had seemingly persisted since.

It occurred to Crow that he hadn’t answered the Gemini, and so he forced himself to do so.

“Uh, I don’t know how to dance."

He had just enough time to silently kick himself for his idiotic response when the girl’s light amusement turned into a full-on grin.

“Don’t worry, most of the contestants here don’t. Just follow my lead and try not to step on my feet."

Before Crow could protest, or even fully register what she was telling him, the silver-haired girl had seized him by the arm and begun dragging him- rather gently- across the floor. They came to a stop some ten paces away, at which point she turned to him. As their eyes locked, Crow was suddenly struck by how pretty hers were. Pure blue, unbroken by even a fleck of any other colour and so pale as to appear luminescent. His focus was only pulled away from them by the voice of the girl to whom they belonged.

“Alright, you said you don’t know how to dance? It’s easy. This is a mostly formal event, so what will be going on is standard ballroom stuff."

Crow found himself smiling.

“Ballroom stuff?”

“That is the technical term for it, yes." The Gemini’s face lit up with a suppressed chuckle, and she continued. “Basically, we hold on to each other and walk around in circles for a bit. Simple stuff, and it’s deliberately designed to be that way."

“Hold each other? Uh, where?”

With a slight arch of her eyebrow, the Gemini stepped towards Crow- gently grasping his wrists and using them to guide his hands. His right was placed onto her waist, while she took his left in her own hand- bringing them both outstretched to the side.

“Like this”, she smiled once more. “Sorry to disappoint but it’s quite tame."

Crow felt his face burning, and though he knew she was merely joking he still found himself muttering a brief explanation regarding his never having encountered the strange form of dance before. It was a lie, of course. The truth was that Gemini Menza, slim, pale and wearing a dress which looked very much like it had been woven from threads of pure silver, was not the sort of person he’d ever expected to find himself being asked his hands on in any context.

He glanced around him briefly, taking small comfort in the fact that there were at least fifty other pairs taking a similar position. He’d been confused by the music when he first entered, sure that it couldn’t have been for dancing- lacking the intense, energetic beats which were surely necessary to inspire movement. Now he realised that his definition of dancing had merely been too slim.

It came as no small relief to him that the Gemini guided the movement as well as the stance. A slight push and pull from her hands told Crow which direction he needed to step, though he stumbled at first she quickly helped direct him in his footwork too.

“You need to take long strides, almost like you’re trying to avoid stepping on the gaps between cobbles."

Crow frowned at that.

“What?”

“Trying not to step on the gaps between cobbles, you know? Sometimes you just try to avoid that, for some reason. Make a game of it while you’re walking."

“I have no idea what you mean."

The Gemini’s delicate features scrunched up into a frown.

“Crap, I don’t know how else to explain it."

Crow was surprised to hear the Gemini swear, but quickly stifled such thoughts. After a moment of consideration, he spoke.

“Should I just, uh, follow your lead? Maybe watch the people around us?”

The silver-haired Menza’s face lit up as she nodded.

“Yes! That’s a good idea, way better than what I was thinking. Do that."

Crow did so, making sure to pay attention to the directive pushes and pulls he received from the girl- though quickly deciding to keep his gaze far from the other dancers when he realised how many of them had theirs fixed directly on him. He remained like that for some time, dancing- or rather trying to- in silence with only the low-energy music reverberating through the hall to give his thoughts punctuation. After a few minutes, however, the Gemini spoke once more.

“So, you’re not from Pangaea are you? Or Olympus, or anywhere else that’s… uh.”

Smiling, Crow finished for her.

“Important?”

She cringed in response.

“No, I didn’t mean-”

“It’s fine, I’m a country boy through and through. This city, well cities in general, it’s new to me."

The girl’s face seemed conflicted for a moment before she replied.

“And yet you have the Eye of Chronos."

Not sure quite how to answer, Crow only nodded. The girl continued.

“If you don’t mind my asking… how? I don’t think anyone would have expected a family with that strain to be living out in the middle of n- uh, the countryside."

Crow barely stopped himself from shrugging- recalling Astra’s lecture on Bermudan politeness just in time.

“It surprised my mother too, apparently. There were some stories in the family that we had it, you know- stuff about descendants of Chronos and all that. Of course with how rare it is, I’m the first one to actually inherit it in… well, our entire history."

“I can imagine that would be a surprise”, the Gemini murmured. “Though it makes you think, doesn’t it? All these ancient Deities and other strain users were born millennia ago, before the illuminated era even began. How many descendants might they have now?”

Crow simply nodded at that. It was a thought he himself had had several times. Strains, like many magical traits, became exponentially more likely to be inherited by someone who’s magical talent was already very high.

He and Astra were the most talented mystics ever to be recorded in Selsis’ three century history, and yet Crow had been told that it was still a hundreds-to-one chance that he’d have inherited the Eye. How many more bloodlines did it lay dormant in, remaining submerged for hundreds of generations of inepts and mystics?

Of course it was generally considered impolite to make a conversational topic out of how remarkable oneself was, so Crow chose to instead bring up something else.

“It’s the one thing I ever had over my sister, she was always better at magic, fighting, learning and all that. But she didn’t have the Eye of Chronos. That one little shortcoming always drove her nuts."

The Gemini seemed somewhat interested as he said this. Her eyes practically glowed from the slightest widening, framed perfectly by her beautiful face- all china like features and pale skin without blemish or blotch. She was to the Pangaean standard of beauty as Karma Alabaster was to the Olympian.

“Your sister’s more powerful than you? How much more?”

“Oh a lot. She can beat me nine times out of ten."

Much to Crow’s surprise, the girl’s pale face seemed to fall slightly- the interest practically draining out of it.

“Ah, I see."

Worried he’d done something to bore her, he quickly continued.

“What about you? Uh, I know you’re probably more powerful than all of your friends but do you have anyone close enough to spar with?”

Gemini frowned slightly, and Crow couldn’t help but find the expression quite endearing- even if it was a display of annoyance on her part.

“Yes”, she practically muttered. “I do quite a bit of sparring, believe it or not I’m the one who usually gets beaten up though."

“Really? Sounds like we have something in common, Astra barely got more of a struggle out of me than she would have from a training dummy."

Crow chuckled at his own joke, unfunny though it was. Much to his surprise, the Gemini’s face displayed an empathetically amused smile at his words.

“Did she constantly insist on you sparring for the sake of improving, but then refuse to answer about a quarter of your questions for the sake of making you find the answers yourself?”

“That, and she had a fondness for insisting I don’t use my strain against her so that I could improve without it. I’d try to convince her otherwise, but… well, very head-strong, my sister. Convincing her to change her mind, or acknowledge what’s on another person’s, is a lot like trying to squeeze blood out of a stone."

“Oh, I completely know what you mean”, the Gemini replied- not a trace of exaggeration or embellishment in her voice. Crow noticed she brought a hand up to briefly touch one of her ears for some reason. Before he could think to ask, she continued speaking.

“So, is your sister a year older? She doesn’t look that far from your age."

“Ah, no she’s my twin actually. Well, I guess technically I’m older by a few seconds."

Crow yelped as he got his footing wrong, sending his temporary dance partner stumbling a step. The Gemini righted herself in the blink of an eye, leaving on trace that her balance had ever been thrown off- save perhaps for a slightly annoyed expression. Face burning, Crow muttered out an apology.

“It’s fine”, the girl replied sharply. After a second of silence, she continued in a less stern tone. “I shouldn’t have been surprised, you’re doing better than I did when I first learned to dance."

Eager to change the subject, Crow decided to follow that particular train of thought.

“How did you learn?”

Gemini paused for a moment, apparently thinking to herself- then met his gaze and, with a smile, spoke.

“Perhaps we should have this conversation while standing still, I’d rather not distract you and get my toes crushed."

Crow nodded, a wave of relief seizing him at the thought of no longer needing to keep all his attention on where he stood. As they made their way off the dance floor, he noticed there were a few less stares directed at them than before- or at least less than he could see.

“I’m glad that’s over” the Gemini mused, seemingly to herself, as they came to a halt. “Dancing is tiresome, especially in shoes like these."

“Sorry again for, uh…” Crow gestured to the leg he’d accidentally tripped her with, but the girl simply shrugged.

“It’s fine, I said this already but you aren’t terrible. For a beginner at least. I was worse when I’d just started learning so I’m hardly one to judge."

Not sure how else to respond, Crow let out a laugh which sounded slightly more nervous than he’d intended.

“I suppose I’ll have to take your word for it, I’ve never really seen anyone dance like that before."

The Gemini stared at him, and he felt his face begin to heat up.

“What?”

He hadn’t meant to sound so defensive, but thankfully she didn’t seem to take offence.

“Nothing, it’s just… Well. I suppose I hadn’t realised how different things are in your home than the cities, that’s all."

Crow was about to ask whether the differences were really so pronounced, and then he remembered how he’d first felt about the towering buildings and winding streets. He nodded instead.

“It’s hard to believe, in fact I would’ve thought Bermuda an impossible city when I first came here. It’s so… big."

The Gemini shrugged, she seemed to do that a lot.

“It’s not that huge, if I’m being honest. You should see Pangaea. The city, I mean. Some of the buildings there- the Nexus especially- are so big that it hurts your neck to look up high enough to see their tops, even from hundreds of paces away."

Feeling his mouth go dry, Crow only stared at her stupidly- unable to think of how to respond to such a statement. He’d thought he’d spent the last few days seeing the true scope of the world for the first time, and yet now she was telling him it was just the beginning…

A smile sprouted on Crow’s face, and just as he went to exclaim his excitement- however embarrassingly- his words were cut off by a set of heavy boots coming down on the ground less than a metre to his right. Turning to their owner, Crow was met with the sight of an exceptionally large man- a full head taller than he was, and with a chest more closely resembling the trunk of a tree than that of a person.

The tall man didn’t glance at Crow, he merely levelled his gaze straight at the Gemini before speaking in a low, gruff voice.

“Miss Menza, greetings. My name is Dawson Gyke, I do hope Bermuda is treating you well."

Surprisingly, the man’s lined face cracked into a smile- his bulbous nose seeming to inflate. The way the flesh of his cheeks and forehead shifted and crumpled in on itself combined with his muscular frame to give him a rather strong resemblance to a fighting dog.

“And”, the man added, “not to be overly forward- but I hope you aren’t taking a stronger liking to the customs of Olympus than you are to those of your own homeland!”

Though it was said with a smile, Crow got a distinct feeling of intensity behind the words. He noticed he wore a golden griffin engraved on a sharp-looking buttoned uniform, realising immediately that he was a military man. The Gemini recaptured his attention by answering.

“Of course not." Her words were accompanied by a light laugh, the kind that made one feel as though they were in on a joke that nobody else in the room was getting. “Olympian parties are far too much for me, I’m afraid."

A knowing smile was shared between the Gemini and the soldier, the latter of which turned his attention to Crow. His eyes resembled the beady, black globes of a pit hound more than ever as they narrowed slightly when coming to rest upon him.

“Hm, Crow Tempora was it? I saw your performance in the second stage of the Sieve. Jolly impressive how you overcame such a grievous wound, which Faction holds your allegiance?”

The question stunned Crow. He knew the Unixian Alliance was split between its two halves, and yet he’d never been asked which one his allegiance was with- he hadn’t even known common citizens were expected to prefer one over the other. At most he’d heard some of the elders of Selsis mutter about their hatred for the Xions after the events of the Faction war fifteen years ago.

“Uh, I… I don’t know."

Gyke grinned, though it was a strained and artificial thing.

“Hm, trying to remain on the fence? Play both sides, eh? I suppose that lines up with what I’ve heard of your performance in the first round."

Before Crow could even attempt to argue against his public perception, the Gemini gently gripped him by the shoulder- tugging slightly to make him move towards her.

“Well, it was nice to talk with you officer Gyke."

Apparently sensing his time with the girl was up, the man nodded- replying with a not-so-friendly smile.

“Likewise, Miss Menza. Farewell."

The Gemini waited for the man to wander off, then let Crow’s arm go wish an almost exaggerated sigh.

“There’ll be more of that tonight, a lot more. Can’t even show up to a small event like this without meeting at least ten people trying to convince me to support them or marry someone or whatever else, I’m just glad that one knew better than to risk annoying me by pushing things."

It occurred to Crow that the Gemini with whom he now stood was a far different person than the perpetually smiling girl who sat down for interviews and attended public events. It wasn’t as shocking as it may have been a week ago, yet there was still little he could think to say other than a single thing.

“This is a small event?”

The Gemini smiled as though she thought he were joking, and Crow decided not to embarrass himself by letting her know otherwise.

“Sometimes it’s annoying how much focus I get, I doubt it’ll even take five more minutes for someone to decide they’ve waited long enough to be polite when coming over and interrogating me."

She paused, seeming to take a moment to think.

“Actually, now that I’ve given you a basic run-down you might want to stay separate if you don’t want to be dragged into the same tedious conversations that I am."

Crow felt himself smiling, amused at the casual arrogance on display before him.

“Come on! You said it yourself, I’m not exactly less likely to catch everyone’s attention than you are, am I?”

The Gemini actually looked offended at that.

“Excuse me? I most certainly did not say that. Incidentally, yes you are. I’m Gemini Menza. The most talented magical prodigy since Gilasev, with added anti-magic."

“And I’m Crow Tempora, first person in over a millennium to inherit the Eye of Chronos."

Bragging was far from something Crow enjoyed, but the look of utter superiority plastered across the girl’s face got to him somehow. There was no malice behind her words, nor did he feel genuine anger at them. Nonetheless, he couldn’t help but knock her down a peg.

He realised with a sinking stomach, however, that she had instead taken his rebuttal as a challenge.

“That’s one trick, one. I can do practically everything else- as well as having something no one else can do."

Stunned, Crow spoke each word as it came to his mind.

“You’re really cocky."

“I’m really honest, everyone I’ve ever met has told me how amazing I am. If they don’t want me to agree, they should stop."

Crow felt the smile touch his lips.

“So you agree it’s bad that you’re given so much attention and praise?”

The Gemini frowned, then grinned. A moment later she laughed- something which Crow noticed drawing a few more glances out of the corner of his eye. In addition to those glances, he made out movement- turning to see the approach of a tall, tanned boy with white hair.

Crow’s mouth hung open stupidly as he realised who it was.

He shouldn’t have been surprised to see Ra, not after that Immortal had outright mentioned him by name. It still shook him, however. He had reasoned that for Crow to run into the very same boy who had bested him in the second stage would be a ridiculous coincidence. In light of it actually coming to pass, he realised that a gathering of Immortals, tycoons and magical prodigies was among the best places to encounter such a strong contestant.

Logical though his presence was, Ra still caught Crow off-guard as he immediately turned to address him- only glancing at the Gemini before doing so.

“Hey champ, didn’t expect to see you here."

“Uh, hi."

If the boy noticed Crow’s embarrassing pause, he didn’t mention it. Instead his attention turned to the Gemini, his dark yellow eyes looking her once over before coming to rest on her pale blues.

“You must be Gemini Menza."

He held out a hand, and after a moment the Gemini shook it- though Crow noticed a hesitance in her actions. Ra didn’t seem to mind, merely continuing to smile politely. It was only when the Gemini actually spoke that his face changed.

“You aren’t wearing a shirt”, the girl noted- practically whispering. In response to her observation, Ra’s smile widened.

“Correct, it’s actually agonisingly uncomfortable considering how much colder Bermuda is than Jyptia. Still, style is worth a tiny bit of hypothermia... I think."

Whatever the Gemini had been about to say in response was interrupted by the clearing of a throat behind her. Crow almost jumped at the sight of the tall, broad-shouldered man standing so close by- he’d not seen any hint of his approach, almost as though he had simply appeared there.

“Miss Menza”, the man smiled as he spoke- and the sound of his voice was immediately familiar to Crow. He was their host, Reginald Tamaias.

“How are you enjoying my party? Not having too annoying a time with the socialites, I hope?”

The Gemini turned to speak to the man, her face hidden from Crow as she answered.

“No, I’ve been approached only once so far- thanks for asking though."

The Immortal grinned like a schoolboy, his eyes flitting between Crow and Ra.

“That’s good to hear, as much as I hate to add to that miraculously small number I’d very much like to speak to you if you don’t mind."

“I can certainly spare a few minutes for the master of the house."

“Excellent”, Tamaias maintained his smile as he turned to Crow.

“Mister Tempora, yes? I saw your performance in the first and second rounds. It was most impressive, I daresay you’ll have supplanted Chrona Kasta herself as the face of your strain within the millennium!”

Crow wasn’t sure how to respond to that, nodding dumbly before managing to force out a few words.

“T-thank you."

The Immortal nodded, as though Crow’s reaction had been in accordance with instructions he himself had given. He then glanced at Ra, greeting him with a tilt of his head before returning his gaze to the Gemini. When he next spoke, Crow got the sense he was addressing all three of them- as well as any eavesdroppers.

“Well then, I’ll just be borrowing Miss Menza for a moment."

Without another word, he and the Gemini walked off. Crow turned his head back to Ra as the boy spoke once more.

“So, I heard you got decapitated in the second round."

The speed and casual way in which the boy said those words was such that it prevented Crow from fully registering them at first. When he did, he was unable to either hide his surprise or keep the volume of his reply low.

“Decapitated? What?”

The Jyptian mystic grinned at Crow’s reaction.

“Yeah, I’d assumed it was bullshit. Story was you had your head cut almost entirely off, then somehow strangled a giant undead with your bare hands while it was hanging off your neck by a thread."

“But undead don’t need oxygen to live… do they?”

Ra laughed at that, making Crow’s face burn slightly in fear that he’d said something stupid.

“No, and I’m fairly sure Sage-level mystics do need to avoid being beheaded to live. Using those two pieces of evidence, I cleverly deduced that the story was, more likely than not, exaggerated."

Crow was hesitant to ask Ra what was on his mind, but after a moment his eagerness to know outweighed his fear to find out.

“And have you heard of the, uh, public perception about me?”

The Jyptian grinned.

“I don’t normally bother with gossip, but… well, it’s hard to miss."

Crow’s heart sank, and yet Ra’s smile seemed to widen.

“I can’t believe you stabbed your first teammate in the leg and said “I don’t need to outrun the tentacle monster, only you!." That’s cold, Crow."

Staring at the Jyptian, Crow took an embarrassing amount of time to realise he was joking.

“Tell you what Crow”, the boy mused. “I’ve heard from a fairly reliable, if tediously wordy, source that the third stage is going to take place over several days. Why don’t you come over to my team’s set of rooms to watch the first event? If you aren’t the one taking part in it, that is."

Before Crow could answer the boy’s eyes widened.

“Shit, I wasn’t supposed to-”

“It’s okay”, Crow raised his hand as he cut him off. “The Gemini already told me about, uh, well…”

Crow trailed off, realising that he himself hadn’t been supposed to let anyone know what the Gemini had informed him of. Ra seemed to understand what he’d been about to say regardless, a look of relief washing over his features.

“Brilliant, then I’ll see you then."

He began to turn to leave, only glancing back as Crow called out again.

“Wait, uh, where are you staying?”

“Oh right”, Ra glanced around a few times, swearing to himself.

“Sometimes I almost regret choosing perfect style over pockets, do you have any paper?”

Crow shook his head.

“Alright then, I’ll just have to hope you remember."

After repeating the location of his quarters several times, Ra left- looking rather less confident than before. Crow couldn’t blame him, he didn’t think “the really big building near the stadium” and “the second floor” were particularly helpful.

Watching the Jyptian flit back between the crowds, he looked around the room in an attempt to find the Gemini. It took nearly a minute for him to realise she was nowhere to be seen.

Bugger.