"Rise and shine, sleepyhead."

"Five more minutes dickweed." Adriel raises a hand and swats at Julias, not opening his eyes and not registering what's going on.

"I'm not Zayn."

At that Adriel bolts upright, hand pressed to his chest.

"Right." His head drops and he flashes Julias a thumbs up. "Bullshit World."

"Not what it's called."

"Well that's what I'm calling it."

"The moon just rose so we should probably get going." Julias crawls out of their makeshift tent, stretching his arms over his head. Adriel mutters something before getting out of their tent with much less energy than Julias.

"I hate this," he grumbles, pulling apart their tent and tossing Julias's cloak at him.

"Because it's so enjoyable for me?"

"You actually know what to do." Adriel rolls onto the balls of his feet and stretches his entire body. "I still can't quite believe where we are."

"Sh!" Julias shoves a hand over Adriel's mouth, looking in the direction of the village. "Someone's there."

Adriel licks Julias's hand but, to his dismay, it doesn't move.

"Oh you fuck," he mutters, voice muffled by Julias's palm.

"Will you shut up?"

"Take your hand off of my mouth!"

Julias pulls his hand back and wipes it on his pants.

"Hello?"

Julias and Adriel crouch down, eyes trained in the direction of the voice.

"Are you sure you saw something?"

Adriel lifts two fingers, then a third as three silhouettes cross behind a group of trees in front of them.

"There's nothing here, Bovu."

"I know I saw something!"

"It's okay. It's hard to see when the sun is up. We're not angry."

"Why don't either of you believe me?"

Julias grabs Adriel's hand as his left foot begins to fall asleep. Adriel wraps an arm around his waist, keeping him from falling and making a noise.

"Let's go and look around later."

"Come on, Arwu!"

"I'm sorry. There's nothing here right now."

Adriel sighs as the silhouettes vanish along with their voices.

"We need to get going," Julias whispers, standing up. "Now."

"Agreed." Adriel jumps to his feet. "Grab our bag and let's get out of here."

"Wait!" A silhouette sprints up to the duo. Adriel slides his knife out of its sheath, pointing it at the figure who raises its hands. "I just want to talk. I've only got a few minutes, so please don't attack me and make this harder than necessary."

"Name?"

"Arwu."

"You said you didn't see anything." Julias pulls his cloak tighter around his body. "You told your friends there wasn't anything here."

"I lied." Arwu smiles and shrugs. "Mind putting the knife away? I really don't like those things."

"No, I'm gonna keep it out until you leave." Adriel waves the knife around a bit. "Talk fast."

"Fine."

"One question before you say anything else," Julias interrupts. "What's with the bat people?"

"Illusionists?"

"We're not going there," Adriel hisses. "No way in hell am I going to a city full of people called Illusionists."

"We weren't planning to go there in the first place!" Julias whispers back.

"Can I talk now?" Arwu wiggles his hands around. "My friends are gonna start looking for me soon."

"Fine," Adriel grumbles, lowering his knife. "But do it fast."

"There's a town between Beshure and Rehbrek that's not on the map," Arwu begins. "You'll find the most help there."

"And why would they help us?"

"Because they're hybrids." Arwu lowers his hands. "My friend's brother is one. His name is Viret. He's a mix of fire and light."

"Hybrids aren't treated well." Adriel looks at Julias. "Imagine that!"

"That's why the Illusionist hybrids carved a town into the ground beneath a pond."

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Julias asks.

"You two are here for a reason." Arwu grabs the knife from Adriel's hand, startling the duo. "Chill, I'm not gonna attack you."

"Give me back my knife."

"I just said I wasn't going to attack you. Now shut up and pay attention."

Julias rests a hand over Adriel's mouth, nodding at Arwu.

"You two are destined to save the world."

"We're destined to do what now?" Adriel pulls Julias's hand away from his face, glaring at Arwu. "I can't even save my English grade!"

"And you still made fun of me for getting a bad grade on a math test?" Julias shakes his head. "Seriously?"

"You two are insufferable," Arwu declares. "Now shut up and pay attention. Yes, you're destined to save the world. Don't ask me for more details, I don't have them. The top race is the Petals. They hold all the information at the capital. Go to Yevue and get supplies, legally, and then find someone to take you to Eeribuvi. There you find more information on how you're supposed to save the world and whatnot."

"Convenient," Julias snorts, looking at Adriel. "Someone knows exactly what we're supposed to do."

"Viret nearly got killed because of this stupid fucking world." Arwu reaches out and grabs Julias's collar. "You need to do something. Please. There are people here who are getting killed for no reason and you're the only people who can do anything about it."

"Why not start a revolution?"

"Because-" Arwu shuts his mouth, looking off to the side. "A revolution. One big enough to change the world."

"Yeah." Adriel nods, pulling Arwu's hand off Julias's collar. "There's no guarantee we succeed. There's no guarantee we're the ones who're supposed to save the world. Maybe some couple is supposed to do it using the power of love and whatnot."

Arwu blinks. "Are you two not a couple?"

It takes approximately two seconds for Adriel and Julias to start dying of laughter.

"Did I say something funny?"

"Sorry, give me a moment," Julias wheezes, straightening up and resting his hands on his hips. One glance at Adriel has him giggling. Adriel straightens up as well, wiping away the tears that had gathered in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," Adriel chokes out. "We hate each other's guts. We are the farthest thing you can get from a couple."

"Arwu!"

"That's my cue." Arwu sets Adriel's knife on the ground and starts backing away slowly. "Viret will help you."

"Wait-"

Adriel and Julias watch as Arwu sprints away.

"A city beneath a pond." Julias looks at Adriel. "Interesting."

"Why did he help us?"

"If I had to guess, probably because he likes Viret."

Julias crouches down and pulls out the map Adriel stole. He hands it to Adriel, then stands back up.

"Arwu said the city was between the Illusionists and whatever the cat people are called," Adriel murmurs, unrolling the map. "Here's Beshure."

"Here's Rehbrek."

"There's so many ponds," they both groan.

"How're we gonna know which one's the right one?"

"I can help."

Adriel shoves Julias behind him, knife pointed at the new figure, who already has his hands raised.

"Hey." He nods at the duo. "Name's Vauer. Arwu told you about me and my brother."

"So?"

"So let me come with you." Vauer's ears twitch as he lowers his hands. "I've been meaning to visit Viret for a while. Want to make sure he's doing okay."

"We're not traveling with-"

"He knows the world," Julias whispers. "He knows where the town is. He can get us there."

"Fine!" Adriel throws his arm down, the knife rocketing out of his hand and embedding in the ground. "I still don't trust you."

"That's alright!" Vauer wiggles a little bit. "Your boyfriend does and that's what counts."

"He's not my boyfriend."

Question of the Chapter: uHhHhHhHhHhHhHhHhHhHhH who's your favorite character? Mine hasn't been introduced yet sadly v-v