<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 200%; line-height: 116%;"><span style="color: #BF40FF">Season 1</span><br/><span style="color: #BF80FF">Episode 3</span></span></div><br/><br/><span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;"><span style="color: #800000"><div style="text-align: center;">In the Void</div></span></span><br/><br/>Far away, tucked into a small out of the way pocket universe undetectable by Yggdrasil, the man in the bowler hat melted out of the shadows. He looked surveyed the surroundings. This world was one of darkness; a void of nothing. Some of the others were already there. The Tractor. The Giraffe, a bloated shadow that insisted on taking the shape of a thin man with a very long neck. Other shapes began to melt out of the darkness. The bowler hat searched for his partner, the one that had gone to the girl. Anger flared through him. The boy had gotten away from him. He hoped his partner had gotten the girl, that would at least work in their favor.<br/><br/>"Failure is such a disappointment," a voice came from the darkness. A beautiful man in his 20s walked out. His eyes glowed black. As black as the void around them. Thoughts didn't always stay in your head in this place. He needed to be careful.<br/><br/>"Mr. Town," the man in the bowler hat gave him a respectful nod.<br/><br/>"Verikus," the black eyes bore into him, "I'm going to assume you're early because you failed." A pause, "miserably."<br/><br/>"I wouldn't say that," Verikus said.<br/><br/>"I certainly would," said Mr. Town.<br/><br/>"I ripped mine to shreds," came a voice from behind Verikus. The Hound drooled onto the dark below. The drool sizzled before seeping into the ground.<br/><br/>Mutt, Verikus thought.<br/><br/>The Hound smiled, revealing very sharp canine teeth, "jealousy looks good on you Verikus."<br/><br/>Verikus kept himself from snarling, "says the creature too stupid to realize the irony of taking on the form of a loyal companion, considering your Fall."<br/><br/>The hound's brow lowered, the others around them quieting. Mr. Town gave Verikus a long look, making him uncomfortable. They never talk about those things. Never about their old lives.<br/><br/>"Mr. Town," another interjected, breaking the quiet, "what's this meeting for?" This broke the spell and Mr. Town looked away, addressing the group.<br/><br/>"There is a problem," he began, "The Tree has found its guests." The group burst out in murmurs. Verikus felt himself redden at his failure. "Two to be exact. Two fresh cosmonauts."<br/><br/>"I took care of mine! Don't look at me!" An angry voice yelled out from the group.<br/><br/>"The two who failed their duty know what they have done. They will face their punishment," Mr. Town didn't look at Verikus, but he could feel his attention on him. Verikus felt himself sink into the void a little - and he felt, fear? He could taste it in his mouth. His own fear.<br/><br/>"Visage is closing in on another Law," Mr. Town continued, "the cosmonauts are likely not far behind." Mr. Town looked at the failures, "She will take care of them both."<br/><br/><span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;"><span style="color: #00BFFF"><div style="text-align: center;">David</div></span></span><br/><br/>Mrs. Field was a stunning and formidable figure. She seemed to tower over them. When her eyes landed on his face, he could feel a tingling sensation. He could feel himself draw closer to her, even though he hadn't moved. He could feel a desire to answer any question, to do anything she wanted, grow in his mind. She repeated her question and David felt the tingling again.<br/><br/>"No," David heard himself say. Then immediately, he panicked. He was just about to give them away. They were going to die here and now because he couldn't control himself. Then he felt himself grow stronger, like when he fought the man with the bowler hat. It was like a fog lifting from his brain. He spoke again, a bit too quick.<br/><br/>"No," he said again, "not just refugees. We're orphans." David hoped that would be enough to save his blunder. Mrs. Field narrowed her eyes, but he couldn't tell if she believed him or not.<br/><br/>When she looked away and towards Tessa, David could feel the effect completely fall away.<br/><br/>"Is that true?" She asked Tessa. David wondered if she was feeling what he had felt.<br/><br/>David stole a look at the men beside her. They were large. He felt for sure that they could crush him in one single blow.<br/><br/>David didn't hear Tessa's conversation with the older woman, he instead focused on movement past the guards down the hall. A young woman, perhaps not much older than David and Tessa, came down from the ceiling. She fell onto the ground with absolutely no sound. David wondered if Tessa could see, but he didn't want to look away or draw attention to her. The woman saw him looking and she smiled, placing a finger on her lips in a "shhhh" gesture. She winked at him and Tessa, then straightened, composed herself, and walked out of the hall. No one had seen her come down. As she passed a maid, they exchanged hellos, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.<br/><br/>Was that?... David wondered.<br/><br/>"Your name, I will not ask again." David suddenly felt the tingling sensation on his face and realized she was back on him.<br/><br/>"David" he blurted out. That damn fog. He couldn't react fast enough to lie. He cringed internally at giving her his real name.<br/><br/>"I was just saying to your fellow orphan here," she said orphan like someone he didn't think it was a real word, "that you two seem quite clean." Her eyes were narrow and her tone seemed lower, "you do not look like refugees."<br/><br/>David tried smiling, "Thank you," he said. "We're not like the others, we had some money saved up and we were able to make the journey a bit better."<br/><br/>Mrs. Field watched them both, taking in their faces. Then a woman came down the hall at a quick pace.<br/><br/>"Mrs. Field, ma'am," she stopped just outside the door. "The visitor, she asking for some of the restricted books. I tolds her they were off limits for a reason, but she's a bit aggressive ma'am. She insists on being able to see them at once."<br/><br/>Mrs. Field didn't move for a moment, then finally, "Take these two...refugees...to Kara, have her give them jobs and lodgings." She turned and started out the room, the other woman bowing her head slightly as she passed.<br/><br/>"Yes my lady," the servant said.<br/><br/>Mrs. Field stopped for a moment and looked over her shoulder at the woman, than at David and Tessa, "Make sure she has them pay a down payment. These aren't just any refugees it would appear, they're upper class." Her smile was not genuine. She then turned and made her away down the hall with her two bodyguards before disappearing.<br/><br/>The woman looked shocked and gave an uncertain bow saying, "Yous are both nobles?" She sounded a bit excited.<br/><br/>"Umm," David said, "not exactly."<br/><br/>"I aint met any noble refugees," she continued.<br/><br/>"Well, actually, we're just," David tried to interject, but she wouldn't stop talking.<br/><br/>"Well we gots to make our ways to Kara's office. Shes gonna give yous a job."<br/><br/>She looked at Tessa, "Are you a duchess? You look so pretty," she touched Tessa's hair, "oh your hair's so pretty." Then she jumped back, "oh, I'm so sorry I forgots myself," she bowed many times. David sighed.<br/><br/>"What's your name?" He asked.<br/><br/>"Viki," she said.<br/><br/>"Don't worry Viki, we're just like you. Go ahead and take us to Kara," David said.<br/><br/>"Certainly," Viki answered, almost bouncing. She seemed to cycle through moods very quickly.<br/><br/>When she was a bit farther down, before he and Tessa started walking, he whispered to her, "Did you see the girl? I think maybe that's who we're supposed to talk to. Also, what the hell was it with that woman? It felt really hard to lie. Is this more magic stuff? I don't really like it. It's gonna make it hard to keep lying to her."