The city was a crumbling mess, everything deteriorating to the very base of the stacks of houses. As the Herakle flew Maddox across the tops of the city, steel and gold turned to wood and tin, and cobblestone bridges transformed into large planks of wood balanced between open windows and doors. Even the stacks of houses seemed more cluttered, no longer a magnificent tower testing the sky but stacks upon stacks of building materials strewn about in an attempt to make a home. The whole structure seemed prepared to topple over at any moment, and Maddox held his breath in fear that it would all come tumbling down.

"Ready for the landing?" Robin's voice ripped through the wind as Maddox spun his head, the terror surging through him like the rapids. It had taken all of his guts just to grab the thing in the first place, and now she was expecting him to let go? She was expecting him to plunge into the chasm between the mountains, with no idea if he'd ever land?

Maddox opened his mouth in protest, but before he could even utter a terrified squeak, the ribbon slipped from his wrist and his screams were lost in the wind. Then, as quickly as it started, his world became a flash of cobblestone and sky, tumbling and turning, flashes of a tin roof, and...

His breath caught in an unsounded scream, an expansive cavern of houses laid out before his face in a frozen fall. His chest rose and fell with each terrified breath, all while the cobblestone underneath his feet kept him from tumbling into the abyss. As he glanced back, Kadri grinned, holding him at the edge of the bridge by the collar of his shirt.

"You did better than my first landing." Kadri laughed, pulling him back onto the bridge. With a quick stumble, Maddox caught himself, his stomach still twisting as if he was falling through the air all over again. "I didn't even land on the bridge."

Maddox opened his mouth in a cry, a scream, or anything to express how he was feeling, but his voice felt clogged by fear. Instead, he stared at Robin, stopping the vomit-like spur of words his brain wanted to churn out.

"Our house is this way." Maddox winced as Robin's voice hit a sour note, something telling him that she wasn't quite over what had happened at the patrolman's office. Still, he hardly hesitated to follow her down the bridge and towards a wilting set of wooden stairs. He had nowhere else to go except where she led him, even when every part of him wanted to curl up in fear of what was ahead.

Maddox lost count of the number of stairs he had climbed, planks he had stumbled across, and the times he had tripped across small debris scattered from the ruins of a home. He was almost relieved as Robin paused in front of a little doorway tucked among the shadows. It was sunken back into the wall, a little alcove shrouded by sheets of tin and overgrown plants until Maddox never would have guessed there was a door at all if Robin hadn't shown him.

"So, this is home," Robin spoke, wrenching open the screen door with a bit of a tug. "I know it really doesn't look like much, but..."

"No, it's...really fine," Maddox spoke simply as he walked through the door to reveal a worn down kitchen. His entire life, he had everything he ever asked for. Growing up with a famous, actor mother and a father with his own oil company, money had never been a problem. That just made it harder to explain to his friends that money was the problem.

His parent's used money as an apology, a distraction, anything to excuse themselves from his life. They were never home, never approving, and hardly cared about anything but their bank account. Maddox had found his own ways to deal with the pressure, but he had watched too many of his friends fall away by trying to find some kind of belonging. As much as his parents had pretended it was, money was still a poor excuse for a family.

As Maddox laid eyes on the crumbling kitchen, he couldn't help but feel that the change of scenery was wonderful. Everything from the smoke billowing from the stove to the rickety table and the cloudy window was more home-like than he had ever seen before.

"Hey, Kadri?" A tiny voice sprung up from the hallway, shattering Maddox's speechless sense of awe. Drawing his eyes to the doorway, he watched breathlessly as a small girl walked into the kitchen. "Mary's caught a nasty cold. I think we might have to call a doc... Who's this?"

Maddox ignored her question, timidly studying her from the doorway. Even from a distance, he could tell how odd she was. With a mess of blonde dreadlocks and skin the color of smoke, her sea-green eyes caught the light like an ocean of color. Little bits of emerald ribbon and flowers were tucked among the tangle of hair on her head, the beautiful eyes bent towards a toddler balanced on her hip. As the child held back a quiet whine, Maddox noticed just how young the woman seemed. If it weren't for the motherly way she comforted the child, he would have guessed that she was just a kid as well.

Her eyes fell on Maddox as he turned to Kadri, longing for any kind of explanation, but it hardly helped. All of Kadri's attention was drawn to the girl. The lopsided grin spread across his face with childish glee, dark eyes sparkling with something Maddox had never seen before. Kadri's eyes were full of love-struck wonder, that it made Maddox's stomach spin and tumult until his insides felt like they were melting.

"Hey, Anna." Kadri gulped the words like a child approaching his first crush, which Maddox realized just might be true. Everything about him was bouncing with pure joy and excitement. "I found another kid in Arizona. Well, actually, he found me, but his name's Maddox, and he's a really good kid." Kadri rambled on, his voice laced with the same sparkle Maddox saw in his eye. As Maddox hung back, Kadri jumped forward and plopped his bag on the table as childish as a kid come home from school.

"And this, Maddox," Proudly, Kadri wrapped his arm around girl's shoulder as she hid an embarrassed grin. "...is the most beautiful girl in all of Alfheim!"

"Anna Connolly." Her voice hit Maddox's ears like a cool ocean breeze as she shook his hand. Gesturing to the child on her hip, she followed with a grin. "I'm his fiancee, and this little one is Mary. And I'm really sorry, but I don't have anything set up for you to stay yet."

"Uh, I wasn't told I was staying anywhere." Maddox felt his insides drop with the handshake, unsure what to say. It was nice that Kadri was willing to invite him into his home, but permanently; it was like something from a dream. Someone wanted him with all of his little quirks, which made his heart flutter like moths drawn to a flame. Hesitantly, he held his breath as Anna teasingly glanced up at Kadri, realizing he had never explained any of this to him.

"Well, you don't have to, but I just thought...it sounded like your life was a bit messed up and..."

"You're welcome here, Maddox." Anna cut in and Kadri sighed, looking relieved that he wouldn't have to cover up his mistake anymore. "You don't have to stay, but if you want to, our doors are always open."

"But...I don't understand." Maddox studied the kitchen all over again. It was a disaster on every level, dented pots, bits of food clinging to creaking cabinet doors, and chipped dishes, but his heart still fluttered with a strange excitement.

"It's their job," Robin piped up, the bitter attitude seeming to cast a shadow over her as she laid eyes on Anna. "Those cities that are locked in a war, Kadri rescues kids from there so that they don't have to be soldiers. So that we can have a normal life. And sometimes, he helps out other oddballs like you."

"And then this angel looks after you." Kadri's eyes sparkled again as Anna's face lit up with humbled joy. "She's honestly the most amazing moonshadower I've ever seen."

"Look, you don't have to stay, but we'd love to have you here," Anna spoke up again, and Maddox felt himself nod. It was such a small movement, but he felt the weight of the gesture grow inside of him. He was finally going to have a home. Not a house, or a mansion, or a garden in his backyard, but a home, and that was more than he had ever asked for when he fell through the painting.

"Great! Let's go show you around!" Kadri jumped to his feet, hardly realizing as he left Robin and Anna behind in the kitchen. Before he could even raise his voice, Maddox found himself at the edge of an oddly shaped room. The wood boards creaked beneath his feet, seeming just about as sturdy as the flickering lights above his head. Furniture lay scattered around a stone fireplace with dying flames while swirls of dust drifted in front of cloudy windows.

Feeling his breath catch in his throat, Maddox let his eyes drift over the beautiful mess. "Uhh, where are we going?"

"Well if you're going to be staying here, you should get to know everybody." Kadri patted him on the back with an odd excitement, bouncing on his heels as he gestured to a collection of kids scattered throughout the room. "Maddox, meet my family!"