It was not a long way from the strange station Jax arrived at to the place Alex called home. Jax was sure of that. They could not have spent more than 30 minutes to walk from place to place. And that was with Elena's interruption about halfway through. However, the journey felt very long, as if hours had passed. Ever since Elena had joined them, no-one had said a word. And before long, Jax had fallen into a sort of trance. He picked up and dropped a few trains of thought, all of which he forgot as soon as he abandoned them. Building after building appeared from and disappeared into the fog, most of them tall and all of them different. Jax was sure that they stayed on the same road the entire time, that they never even made a turn. Yet, he was equally sure that he would never be able to find his way back to the station again, not unsupervised.    

  

Eventually, Elena stopped. At first sight, the building looked much the same as all the others. That is to say, it was unique and kinda strange, which made it unassuming in this city. But on closer inspection, Jax noticed that it had become clearly larger than most of the buildings he had passed up until this point. Something that would come in handy if he ever needed to find his way back here. Despite the rain, Jax approached slowly. The building possessed an aura that made him cautious. Finally, he joined the others on the porch. Alex was shaking his umbrella to get rid of some of the rainwater before entering the front hall. He tried to follow, but he was gently stopped by Elena, who was suspiciously dry.  

  

Ela: "I'm sorry, but I can't let you enter like this ?. You would make the whole place messy."  

  

Jax: "Do you guys really live here?"  

  

Ela: "Yes. . . but not just us, don't worry. It's my girlfriend's place ?. . . sort of at least. Some of the others live here as well, some of the time that is. But I don't think any of them are in right now. . . Anyways, I'll fix you up so, it's okay for you to enter. . . ?"  

  

Once again, she came uncomfortably close to him. Usually, Jax was able to handle people invading his personal space. And he was definitely alright with girls doing so. But Elena made him nervous, probably due to the insane way he got introduced to her. Or at least that was what he liked to believe. This time she didn't stop to observe him. She took a deep breath and, without warning, exhaled what felt like about ten times as much air as she just inhaled. Jax was taken entirely by surprise. He didn't have the chance to even attempt to protest or dodge. He only managed to close his eyes just in time. The air was painfully hot and, to his surprise, dry. Once it was over, Jax didn't dare open his eyes, afraid that Elena might do something again. But even in the darkness, he felt different. No longer cold and wet, but warm as if his body had absorbed the summer sun for an entire day. No longer did he feel water dripping down his face and from his hair. He felt his clothes, which were dry as well. When nothing else happened, Jax finally opened his eyes. Elena was still in front of him, but she was no longer in his personal space. She had taken a few steps back and just stood there smiling contently. He wanted to say something, but the words didn't come to him. Elena cocked her head and looked at him funny. From somewhere inside the building, he heard Alex call. Elena extended her arm in a welcoming gesture.   

Finally, Jax was allowed to enter, with Elena close behind him.  

 

Elena: "I actually want to be able to breathe fire, you know," she said conversationally, "but right now I can only do this much, which was good enough for just now. And I guess that it was lucky for you that I couldn't breathe fire there ?."  

  

Jax had once again no clue how to respond to her, no clue if she was serious or not. He wasn't even sure anymore whether believing she couldn't breathe fire was harder or easier than believing she could. And then there was Alex. He had done nothing remarkable yet. But the way he seemed to accept all the insanity around him made him perhaps even stranger than Elena. Suddenly Jax was exhausted. This had to be the weirdest, most vivid dream he'd had since childhood.  

  

He moved away through the screen and stepped inside of a large room full of chairs and tables. A large staircase dominated the far-left side of the room. While a short bar was situated on the right. 

  

Jax: "Wait, what do you mean this is your home?! This is just a fucking inn. . ."  

  

Alex: "Nah, for it to be an inn, it needs to get customers ?."  

  

An unfamiliar high-pitched voice came from somewhere in the back of the building: "Wow, rude ?!"   

  

Alex: "Well, it's true, isn't it ??" 

 

A small girl appeared from behind the bar. At first, only her shoulders and head were visible, but once she came close enough to the bar, her chest and upper arms became visible as well. She had a small cutesy face, long curly black hair, dark eyes, and brown skin. She wore some kind of cafe uniform, which was much more over the top than you'd find in any proper establishment. In her hair and on her clothes, she wore colourful ribbons, jewellery, and other accessories. Overall, she had a frail, childlike appearance, physically and stylistically and seemingly also emotionally.   

  

Girl: "What, of course not! We get visitors ?!"  

  

Alex: "Visitors sure, but do you also get customers. You know, people who pay ??"  

  

Girl: "It not my fault you guys don't pay ?!"  

  

Alex: "So you don't get any customers ??" 

  

Girl: "Yes, I do!"  

  

Alex: "When did you last have someone come here who wasn't one of us ??"  

  

Girl: "Well. . . we have one right now. . . right ??"  

  

Jax felt all eyes locking on him: "Well. . . I mean. . . this is a nice place. . . why wouldn't people want to come here. . . I guess."   

   

Alex: "So you're gonna pay ??"  

  

Jax: "Well. . . I mean. . . I don't think I have any money. . ."  

  

Girl: " That's okay ?." The girl was suddenly standing right beside him, smiling brightly. "You can pay in all kinds of ways ?."  

  

For a second, Jax was overwhelmed with worry as all kinds of unpleasant, potential methods of payment flashed before his eyes.  

  

Jax: "Wait, at least tell me how?"  

  

Ela: "Doesn't matter."  Suddenly Elena had appeared behind him. 

  

Girl: "Elena! You're back! Finally, you were gone for days again. We talked about this right. . . I mean, you gotta tell me when you leave and what you're doing. Like I get so worried otherwise. . . But you're back now, and that's what matters ?."  

  

While the girl was talking, she rapidly came closer to Elena, and when she was done, she hugged her. And Elena hugged her back.  

  

Ela: "I'm happy to see you to Sara ?. But I can't promise you that, you know that. Also, Jax. . . Have I told you that’s a stupid name yet? But anyway, it doesn't matter if this is an inn or not, this is our home. And since you're our guest, you don't need to pay. More importantly, I haven't eaten in like 2 hours. . . so can we do something about that?"  

  

Sara: "I'm on it ?."  

  

Ela: "Wait, wait, first introduce yourself. . ."  

  

Alex: "You didn't do that either ?!"  

  

Ela: "I did ?!"  

  

Alex: "Not without me telling you to ?."  

  

Ela: "No, you didn't! I just took a long time. . . anyway, just do it, Sara." 

 

Sara: "Okay, fine ?. I'm Esther Sara Arianna. Well, I'm going to the kitchen now, be right back ?.  

  

They watched her quickly move behind the counter and disappear.  

  

Jax: "So is she also a sibling?"  

  

Ela: "Nope, she is my girlfriend ?."  

  

Jax: "What?! That child?! Isn't she way too young for that?"  

  

Ela: "What are you talking about ??! She is 48. I mean sure, I'm much older. . . But she should be old enough!"  

  

Jax: "What are you talking about. That kid isn't 48."  

  

Alex: "No, she is. . . I mean, how old did you think I was ??"  

  

Jax: "I. . . don't know. . . I thought you were about as old as me, like 28, maybe 30."  

  

Alex: "Ha! You're the child here. . . I'm 93. That's how long I've been stuck here. . .?"  

  

Jax: "What? You're kidding me, right?"  

  

Alex: "I mean, did you think a kid was running this place? How ??"  

  

Jax: "That doesn't make any sense, I suppose. . ."  

  

Sara: "Wait, why are you guys still standing? Go take a seat ?!"  

  

Ela: "Yes! Yes! Thank you! The food's looking good ?!"  

  

They sat down at a large table, in stiff, uncomfortable chairs. Arianna quickly put the food from her cart on the table. Finally, aided by the food-smell, Jax realized how hungry he was, and his mouth filled with water. There was bread, stew, soup, and grilled meat, all of it served hot. On top of that, there were several jugs, but Jax couldn't see what was in them. All in all, the meal looked surprisingly normal. And so, did the inn itself actually, he thought.   

  

Jax: "How on earth did you manage to make all of this food so fast? Did you already have it prepared or-"  

  

Sara: "Skills. . . and primarily, a good kitchen ?."  

  

Elena immediately started to eat. She stuffed her plate full and attacked its contents, armed with knife and spoon. While she was eating, she filled a second plate. When he finally saw his chance, Jax took a plate of his own. He helped himself to the stew and tried a spoonful. . . *ouch* he burned his mouth. So bad was the burn that Jax wasn't hadn't even able to taste the food. He heard Alex's suppressed chuckle while the other man was pouring himself coffee from one of the jugs. Jax glared at him and saw now that the man didn't even have a plate. He looked towards Esther, and she didn't have a plate either. Jax let his stew for what it was and took a piece of bread, but quickly pulled his hand back as he burned that as well. He stared at Elena, who had all most finished her first plate. 

 

Jax: "How are you able to eat any of this?" He had some trouble speaking because of his burned mouth, but she seemed to understand him nonetheless.  

 

Ela: "Benefit of the hot-breath. . . I still can't breathe fire though. . .?" She had her mouth full as she spoke, which Jax tried to ignore, but couldn't fully.  

 

Jax: "Yes, so you said earlier. . ."  

 

When she didn't answer him, Jax decided to not pay too much attention to her anymore. He felt she was dangerous, much more dangerous than Alex or Esther. Nothing was said at the table for a while. Jax tried his best not to make any eye contact or even look at his companions. The silence allowed him to reflect on his situation. And again, he failed to comprehend what was going on. Somehow, he was not panicking, but it was through no feat of his own. The feeling of being in a dream overwhelmed him once more. It was certainly fitting. The weirdness, the gaps in logic and time, all seemed to confirm his suspicion. Usually, however, he would start to wake up once he had recognized his dreams as such, while he had now realized this two times without any signs of waking. And he had never been so self-aware in his dreams before. Let alone be self-aware yet unable to remember basic things about himself. On top of all that, certain things felt terrifyingly real, like his hunger and fatigue. 

 

Jax made up his mind. For now, he would act like he was not in a dream but in some kind of foreign city, a place that was strange and hostile to him. And his current objective had to be to just survive. He was in luck since he seemed to have some local people looking out for him, though they were definitely dangerous and couldn't be trusted. Still, had managed to find a place to stay. Now, all he had to do was, drink, eat and, sleep. He drank water while waiting for Alex to take a piece of bread before finally eating himself.   

 

After Elena had finished her second plate, a conversation between her and Alex started up again. She was still eating, but slower now. Alex had started eating as well, which made it almost seem like they were having a normal dinner. Jax wasn't quite able to follow what was being said. He was tired and, a lot of unfamiliar names were being thrown around. However, he did understand that the two of them were talking and disagreeing about current affairs in the city. During all this, Jax remained focused on his own food. It was only when he looked up that he noticed that Esther did not eat or drink anything, nor did she chime into the conversation once. She kept looking into the distance. 

 

At some point, the conversation ground to a halt. Jax had dozed off by this point, but the sudden lack of background noise woke him up. Just in time to see how Elena got out of her chair, walked over to Esther, and lifted her up. The girl, because Jax still couldn't see her as a woman even if she was supposed to be 43, let out a high-pitch shriek, which contained more joy and excitement than fear. He really couldn't see her as a woman, Jax thought, while he watched Elena walk across the room. Before reaching the stairs, she looked back.  

 

Ela: "Goodnight." After that, the girls disappeared.   

 

Alex: "Let us go up as well. You should get some rest. Tomorrow is another day. . . plenty of time to figure things out later. . . ?"

 

Jax followed Alex upstairs. They had to take five stairs before arriving at their floor. And there was no sign of the girls anymore. Jax wasn't sure whether he was more surprised that the inn was tall enough for five stairs or that Alex made him climb them all even though he claimed the place never got any customers. However, he was happy when the man pointed to a door and told him that it would from now on be his room. And when Alex entered a room next to his, Jax felt reassured despite his suspicion and misgivings.   

 

Jax's room was spacious for one person and left him plenty of space to move as he pleased. However, he was happy he didn't have to share it with someone. He desired a place to which he could retreat and where he could have the opportunity to collect himself. The room itself, on the other hand, did not conform to his taste. The only thing Jax liked about it was that it was soberly furnished. But he would have much rather seen a similar approach for the room's colour-scheme. The interior consisted of a bed, closet, cabinet, desk and, two chairs, only one chair more than he needed. But all of these were different made from different wood and fabric. And it all came in bright colours with intricate designs. Still, it was clear to him that the chamber was impeccably cleaned. After his eyes became used to the visual barrage, the room seemed to throw his way, Jax noticed the door in his new living space. After a few seconds of anxious consideration, he tried the handle. . . but it didn't give. He tried it again while putting much of his strength into it, but the door still didn't butch. Jax stared at it for a few more seconds. The idea that there was a door he couldn't open, but someone else might use, in the place he slept, made him uneasy. He touched the handle again. . . but didn't press it and gave up. Jax laid down on his bed without undressing. There was still so much to think about, so much to consider. But no matter how hard he tried to, the sleep was stronger, and it took him.