"So, you're Robin's father?" Maddox asked hesitantly as he took in his new surroundings. After a brief chat with Gray, Kadri had been more than excited to show him Alfheim, and the thought of a shining new city seemed too amazing to pass up. He knew it was too good to be true, but he was alright with that. If he could live in a dream for even a little bit, standing at the edge of a bridge higher than the clouds, he would take it. The dream was more vivid than his own life had ever been.

"He's not my father." Robin cut in with a harsh glare at Kadri, pure hate radiating from her voice.

"Well, technically no, I'm not," Kadri stated, his hands tucked in the pocket of his sweatshirt and eyes trained on his feet. He almost seemed to have a childlike hop to his step as if his thoughts were miles away from his words, more determined to keep the backpack on his back than finish the conversation. Even as a full grown man, he seemed to see everything through the eyes of a child, full of innocence and wonder. "Robin kinda didn't have someone to stay with, so my fiancée took her in. It's sorta her job, taking care of kids that is."

"I'm not a kid!" Robin's voice rang with anger and Maddox jumped back, his heart pounding. Ever since he got back outside, the fogginess had begun to fade, leaving every tiny emotion feeling like a wave of warning.

"I think you just proved today that you are."

The silence grew uncomfortable as questions began to spill into Maddox's mind. He hardly cared about their argument, and as he let his eyes drift past them and onto the city, he couldn't help but shatter the silence.

"Where...what am I?" Maddox's questions came in a muddled idea, too many to fit in a single statement until he felt dizzy just trying to understand how his feet kept him on the ground. He was almost glad when he felt Kadri's hand on his shoulder protectively. It gave him something real to hold onto.

Kadri nodded, the argument forgotten as he ran the question through his mind. Finally, he walked over to the railing of the bridge, Maddox following like a nervous shadow.

"You see the way the light hits the snow on that mountaintop?" He asked with his hand raised to the sky and Maddox nodded his head. It was as if the snow was trapped in a constant sunrise, ribboned with colors and lit like a stunning torch. Kadri grinned as he pulled his arm back, his eyes trapped on the masterpiece. "I did that. I had to move every last beam of light, and it took me a month, but it was so worth it. It's even more gorgeous when the sun rises. Looks like it's on fire."

Maddox nodded his head, imagining the flaming ribbons that would cover the mountainside. He didn't understand, but there were many things he didn't. It was just easier to nod his head and pretend as if it all made sense. "We call ourselves moonshadowers, and we control light or darkness."

"I don't get it." Maddox breathed, trying to process the idea. With his mind whirring like a blender of broken thoughts, he sighed and joined Kadri leaning against the railing. Below, a group of three little kids were playing some kind of game with a glowing ball that Maddox didn't recognize.

"Well, let's say that those three kids are the world," Kadri spoke simply, Maddox watching carefully as he pointed to the taller of the three. "That one right there represents humans. Like the other two boys, he has a light inside of him. It's a literal light, like a life force of sorts, and he can't survive without it. But the other two boys are what we call moonshadowers. The smallest one," Kadri raised his hand and pointed to the shortest one with dark hair. "He doesn't have a light inside of him. He's like Robin and me, and we call him non-luminescent. Because his body doesn't produce light, he has to take light in to survive. He can create darkness with the touch of his fingers, or make someone feel cold just by brushing past them."

A sudden chill ribboned through Maddox as he realized Robin had her hand pressed against the back of his neck. Maddox gasped and pulled away, warmth spilling back into him as she grinned. "Sorry. I couldn't resist."

"That's..."

"Creepy, I know." Robin smiled, then leaned against the railing, taking in the view Maddox had studied in wonder. "But it's ordinary here. Just like the third boy." Kadri nodded as he continued, but Maddox kept his eyes bent on Robin. There was a strange terror that welled up in him around her, so he kept her in his sight, scared that she would freeze him all over.

"That boy with red hair," Kadri began again," he has too much light inside of him. His body produces too much light for his body to manage, so he has to get rid of it. Sometimes he might just glow, or bend the light around him, or....light on fire."

Maddox froze, the terror of Robin fading as Kadri nodded his head. He had a light...inside of him. Instinctively, Maddox pressed his hands above his chest as if he could suddenly feel the light there, touch it, hold it. Kadri nodded and placed a hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

"We call you luminescent." He stated kindly, his dark eyes seeming to shine with a million colors. " You can bend light and create it. There's so much you can do. You can make rainbows with a flick of your wrist, turn on a light with your thoughts...teleport through paintings with practice."

"And I'm....normal?" He asked, desperate to hear the words. Normal had become such a joke, such a riddle he had spent years trying to crack. He just wanted to hear him say it, hear that he wasn't the freak he was raised to believe he was.

"Normal?" Robin laughed loudly, spinning around to face him as his heart fell. "Normal's a joke. It doesn't exist."

"Robin," Kadri glared at the girl as she crossed her arms and glared. "Luminescent is normal here, but lighting on fire happens when you can't figure out how to get rid of the light your body makes. It builds up and then you explode in flames like a time bomb. It happens a lot to little kids."

"We call it being a pyro." Robin cut in as they began to walk down the bridge again. It was so strange how all of the sidewalks and roads were bridges, suspended in the air and pressed up against rows of stone walls and pristine doors. "But I think it's an easy fix too. Just like a pill or something."

"Oh." Maddox didn't know how else to respond. How could he still be odd in a world where light and darkness bent to everyone's will? Ducking his head, he hopped down the cobblestone steps two at a time, desperate for any sense of belonging.

"Hey, don't let it get you down." Kadri grinned like a child, teasingly elbowing him in the arm. Maddox glanced up, his walk becoming brisker as they talked. "We've all had our fair share of problems here. I didn't move to Alfheim until I was 18. Had to learn everything just like you, but it all works out in the end."

"Why's it called Alfheim?" Maddox blurted out, trying to distract from the rest of his problems. Robin rolled her eyes and paused at the edge of another bridge.

"It was honestly kinda a joke. There's like, 7 Cities like Alfheim, made for moonshadowers and hidden from humans. They're all named after the cities humans imagined, but could never find, you know: Camelot, El Dorado, Atlantis..."

"And there's only...seven cities of people like us?" Kadri stifled a laugh as he joined Robin at the edge of the bridge. His eyes were caught on one of the giant jellyfish creatures only inches from the railing.

"Hardly. Those are just the ones that are safe." Gently, he drifted his hand under the tentacles of the creature with the curiosity of a child. "A lot of big cities and ghost towns are secretly run by moonshadowers, but they're always at war with each other; you know, luminescent vs non-luminescent."

"They all wanna conquer the world or something boring like that." Robin rolled her eyes like it was all some kind of joke, but her voice was laced with sadness and hate. "And neither of them can rule with the other, so they fight, and they have for centuries. There's no freedom in those cities. It's all about the war."

"Wow, That...sucks." Maddox felt the words fall flat, the response feeling empty and dull to the cruelty that they described.

"Yeah, but we got Alfheim." Kadri cut in again with a note of peppiness. "They can have their war, but if we stay out of the human's way and don't get mixed up with other moonshadowers, we're safe. C'mon, I want you to meet the rest of our family."

The giant jellyfish creature had tangled one of its tentacles around Kadri's wrist, a giant pink streak across his forearm. Silently, Maddox stared as panic rose up his throat. Just the thought of going near one of the creatures again made his stomach lurch.

"First time traveling by Herakle?" Robin laughed as his face grew red with embarrassment.

"Look, it's really easy. You just grab the tentacles like this..." Maddox tried to hold back his fear as Robin lifted his wrist to the beast, Winding the pink ribbon around his arm until he could hardly see his own skin. "See? Nothing to worry about."

"Uhh, how does this work again?" He asked, the words trailing off in a terrified squeak. Robin giggled, winding the tentacles around her own arm.

"Just wait. It's great." Kadri reassured, and with a quick whistle from his lips, Maddox began to fly.