Sip. Tap.

Captain Grayson sat down his teacup as he leaned back in his chair. All around him, the people of Grim Aegis went about their day, walking down the street with smiles in their long dresses and frilled suits. It was a peaceful day to dine in a cafe, and when Captain Drake returned, they could go about their mission.

"This place is paradise," he whispered, not recalling precisely why he was in Grim Aegis to begin with.

The last thing he remembered was entering the port on Captain Drake's ship, the Arbiter. Before that, he was delivering mail before his ship, the Robin, was stolen. However, no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn't remember who had stolen his ship. The fact was there, but there was no other information attached.

He bit his lip, but then the thought faded again, and he was wondering where Captain Drake was. They would need to start their patrol soon. They had to get back to their mission, whatever that mission was.

"Would you like a refill, sir?"

A woman, their server, approached. She wore a tan long-sleeved shirt and a long black dress. She held a serving tray tucked under one arm and a pitcher of steaming tea in the other hand. For the second time, Grayson thought he recognized her.

She had long black hair and dark eyes. She didn't look like the serving type to him, and he could imagine her staring down the barrel of a gun at an outlaw.

"I'm fine." Grayson held up one hand. "As soon as my associate is done, we'll leave."

"Well, thank you for your patronage." The woman bowed before returning to circulating between the tables.

Click-clack.

The noise of black talons on stone alerted Grayson to Drake's return, and he turned to see the massive red-scaled lizardman picking his way through the surrounding tables. Drake wore the same black and red uniform as Grayson, marking him as a member of the Military Police. Where their uniforms differed was in the adjustments for their bodies. Drake's uniform lacked boots, and a hole was made in the back for his long tail. He also didn't wear a hat, but his serpentine head didn't allow for a good place for a cap.

Grayson picked his hat off the table, taking one last sip of his tea before leaving a few paper dolers on the table to pay. He didn't need to be told that it was time for them to head out. He was already ready to leave.

"We'll find it today." Drake nodded to Grayson as they exited the cafe's patio and walked out into the paved streets of Grim Aegis. "I'm sure of it."

"What precisely 'it' is we've yet to figure out." Grayson stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets as they molded into the crowd.

He couldn't remember how many days it had been since they had entered Grim Aegis. Every time he tried to focus on why they were there, his mind wandered. He couldn't even remember the way back to the docks, and none of the other citizens could tell them.

"It's bothering me too," Drake said, a wisp of smoke rising from his maw as they walked.

"I know we're supposed to be here," Grayson said as they stopped to let a woman cross with a basket laden with apples. "I know we have an important job to do. I just can't remember why."

"It's the same for the people here," Drake said. "No one can recall why they're here. They go about their days bereft of an origin but with a purpose. Even with this fog in my mind, I can't help but think it is all too strange."

"I'd think it was a curse, but my Path of Will should nullify it. I don't even want to imagine how strong someone would need to be to get past that."

"Very unlikely," Drake agreed. "Maybe it is inherent to the island."

They stopped as they came to a rail guard that looked out over Grim Aegis. Ahead of them was the tiered structure of the island. Several levels stretched out below and above them in tiered levels. At the top was the keep, where King Lopold oversaw his people's rule. Below them seemed to stretch forever until it reached a fine mist covering the lowest levels. In that mist was Grim Aegis's wall, a massive structure that cut off the jungle surrounding the island. However, all that lay out of sight, blocked by the heavy mist.

A bright morning sun rose out from the sea of mist around them.

"That mist has been here every day," Grayson said as he looked down into the blocky shadows of buildings below.

"Can you sense anything in it?"

"No."

"Best not to think of it then." Captain Drake turned away, starting down the steps. "We have our mission, and we should focus on that."

Drake was right, of course. They had a mission to take care of. That was the entire reason they were on the island. Grayson stuffed his hands in his pockets and followed after Drake. His mind had already erased the mist from his thoughts without a second of reconsideration. All that mattered was that they patrolled Grim Aegis in search of their target.

He just needed to remember what that was.

Captain Grayson paused, his eyes darting to the shadows of a nearby alley. Two dark eyes looked out at him, and for a moment, he stood locked in their gaze. He clenched his fist. An instinct called anger into his mind, and he scowled before it disappeared. Like the mist below, his brain fogged, and he couldn't understand precisely why he was angry.

He released his fist and shook his head.

"Are you coming?" Drake asked from below, already having taken the stairs down a level.

"Yeah, yeah." Grayson sighed, starting after Drake. "I was just dealing with something. Maybe I'll remember it later."

Alex slid behind the wall and out of sight as the uniformed man turned away and walked down the stairs to the lower levels. Cold metal rested in his hand, a silver doler he had procured from the man. He didn't need to get close to pickpocket, thanks to his gift.

He smiled and started down the alley, slipping the coin into his pocket.

Clack.

"I'll eat well tonight with that." He kicked a loose pebble down the alley as he started toward the square.

He had a few stops to make before he could go to his spot for the day. There were places in Grim Aegis he was drawn to, places where he needed to see to make sure that he was anchored in this time and place. Like everyone in Grim Aegis, he was there without memories, only a drive to fulfill his purpose.

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He started toward the furthest corner of the current level, level six. He paused at the edge of the alley, sticking to the shadows as he looked out into the street at a small building. It was a small rotund hut with a thatched roof and a small garden in front. Several vines rose up its fences, wrapping up the black iron and giving it the veneer of a hedge row.

A few people walked the streets, but most didn't need what the hut offered. Alex only knew about it for one reason. It was where he had awoken on his first day in Grim Aegis, though he couldn't count the days since then.

Ding. Ding.

The rotund front door opened, and an old woman stepped out, leaning heavily on a cane. Behind her was a younger woman in a green cloak. She was the reason Alex stopped by every day. She was also the first person he had met when he woke up on Grim Aegis.

"Thank you again, Erin," the old woman said, smiling at the black-haired woman. "You're the only one who can soothe these old bones when they start aching."

"Just make sure you mix your medicine with your morning tea." Erin smiled back, pointing at the small bag in the woman's free hand. "It'll reduce the inflammation in your ankles."

She said that, but as far as Alex could remember, the old woman had returned every day. It could have been the same strange repetitive malaise that afflicted everyone in Grim Aegis, or maybe Erin was just that good of a healer.

She paused as she waved goodbye to the woman, looking up and catching Alex's eyes. Alex froze, but he didn't step forward. It was part of the game. Every day, she noticed him watching, and every day, he turned and walked away. Maybe he would talk with her one day, but that wasn't today. Alex nodded but turned and started back down the alley. He had other people he needed to check on.

His second stop was in the main square of level six. It was a shop with a single door and a long window. The outside of the window had etched red text, 'Sayed's Butcher Shop.' Inside the window rested an accoutrement of fine-dried meats hung up for display. Alex squinted to look through the window, catching sight of the proprietor of the butcher shop.

A large man flexed his muscles, stretching his shirt tight in a pose behind the counter as he talked with a customer in line. He was tall, his head almost scraping the ceiling of his small shop. Unlike most people in Grim Aegis, he had dark skin, black oily hair, and a long curled beard. He wore a long apron and had on a square white hat.

Alex smiled as Sayed kept talking with the customer, his hands spread wide as if he was telling a story. The few times Alex had gone in the shop, he hadn't been able to get away without a few extra stories. That was one of the reasons he always came by to check on the man.

Sayed squinted out the window, pausing in his story to smile at Alex. Alex nodded before retreating down the alley. He still had two more people to check on.

He paused as he reached the end of the alley, letting a group of women in delicate dresses pass by. They looked like they lived on level eight, which made Alex wonder why they were on level six. However, it wasn't any of his business.

"Look, it's the vagrant," a woman said as he walked away, and Alex grimaced. "You'd think we were on level one."

After all, that was who he was to the people of level six. He was the one who slept in the streets—the man without a home. Alex opened himself to his gift as they walked away, the world turning blue with bright dots as he immediately sensed all the metal they carried.

The jewelry would be too obvious and too risky to take. Instead, he focused on the small purses they carried in their arms. He flexed two fingers, catching hold of two coins in one of the purses and pulling on them. They slipped out the pouches and crossed over to his hand with little effort.

"It isn't much, but it is an honest day's work," Alex whispered as he pocketed the dolers.

He would need the money anyway for his next stop. There was a cafe on the other side of the street where his next person worked, and he didn't like showing up without a way to pay. That led to run-ins with the Hell Knights, and if there was one thing he didn't want to deal with, it was the Hell Knights.

He picked his seat on the many tables outside the cafe so that it was in a corner and close to the street. He could already see Li Wen working, serving cups and sandwiches to nearby customers in her smock.

When she looked his way, Alex raised one finger, and she nodded back to him. He pulled one of the silvers he had stolen from his pocket and set it on the table as he waited, running his finger on the coin and rubbing it against the table's metal top absently. Plenty of people passed by, and he did his best to ignore the looks.

His jacket was in tatters, hardly without a rip or a hole. He knew that his clothes weren't doing much better, but he couldn't justify buying new ones. To do that, he would have to up his theft game, and it felt wrong to steal and beg. He was doing fine, just getting by.

Tap.

Li Wen returned with two cups of coffee, setting one on the table in front of Alex before taking a seat across from him. Alex let the coin fall as he reached for his own cup. Li Wen pushed one strand of her long black hair behind her ear before she picked up her own.

It was a ritual they had developed.

"You're back again," Li Wen said before sipping her coffee.

"You're on your break?" Alex asked, taking a sip of his own before grimacing.

"Same as always." Li Wen shook her head. "You know, they're starting to talk about us."

"I can guess," Alex said, setting down his cup. "And you assure them it's nothing like that. Then they smile at you and shake their heads."

"Every day," Li Wen said. "It's the same thing every day. I don't understand why I'm here or how it came to this."

"There's something I keep trying to remember," Alex said. "But it fades every time I think of it. Something Day, but I can't fill in the blank."

"I don't know what you're thinking of, but I feel like it's something only you and I would understand."

"And you're annoyed by it," Alex said, picking up the coin and rolling it against the table again.

"Yes." Li Wen scowled but didn't leave.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Alex had found out early on that he wasn't the only one who felt like he lived in a world stuck on a repeating cycle. However, like everyone else, he couldn't seem to break out of that cycle. It was like there was a block in his mind that stopped him from pushing too far. It was better just to keep going on the same way that he had every day. Who was he to question how things were?

"Have you visited them all today?" Li Wen asked, though he knew she already knew the answer.

Tap.

"There's still one more," Alex said, putting down the coin and sliding it across to her. "I'll go there next. He should be in the park, giving a lecture like always."

"Scholar or hermit." Li Wen sighed. "And you're not going to finish the coffee."

"Of course." Alex stood up. "I don't come here to drink the coffee."

"This is why they talk." Li Wen shook her head, and Alex waved as he left.

Alex went to the park, which rested on the far side of level six. It was a valley of sorts that was carved into the natural mountain that formed Grim Aegis. At the edge, you could look out over the tiered city and out into the mist below, but that wasn't why Alex was there.

At the park's center was an amphitheater carved out of stone with lines of white block seats surrounding it. A few people sat in those seats, mostly minding their business as they talked with friends and acquaintances. No one paid attention to the man standing on the center stage of the amphitheater, dressed in dark blue robes.

The man was tall but not as tall as Sayed. He, too, had dark skin, black as night, which was unusual in Grim Aegis. However, what was most remarkable about him were his hands. Instead of flesh-and-blood hands, he had bone-white skeletal fingers that jutted out of his robes. His name was Jean, and he lectured daily on various topics about places people had never been and events no one had seen. Most people called him a liar.

He animatedly moved his hands as he talked to the crowd like he did every day. None of them listened. Alex found his seat on the second row and sat down to listen.

"There exist many things between the Real, the Surreal, and the Outside," Jean said, catching Alex's eye and stepping forward. "Abilities like curses are tied indelibly with the Surreal, but they are not the only way to manipulate the ambient aether in the world."

Alex always wondered if what he could do was a curse. However, he thought it was more related to the metal device embedded in his chest. That couldn't be a curse, at least from what he understood.

"Those ways are often called Magick by those who study it. Magick is a way to manipulate aether in an orderly way, a way to change the rules of the Real with a force of will. Many scholars at the Academy believe that curses are just a natural extension of Magick, a buildup of power within a body that needs a way to escape without control. I think they are wrong, of course."

He went on for a while, and Alex did his best to listen. Jean was the last person he needed to check on for the day so he could afford some time before finding food for the night and then settling to sleep. He gave Jean a solid hour before he stood up to leave, and the scholar smiled as Alex tossed one of his silver coins onto the stage.

He hadn't stopped in his lecture once the entire time, and Alex could appreciate that. It recalled memories that he couldn't access, only vague feelings of hurting hands and sore legs.

Alex made his way out of the park as the sun dipped low into the mist. He would get a good night's sleep and start the whole chain over again in the morning. That was what life in Grim Aegis was about, after all.

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