The Rose Thief had stopped at the crest of a hill, still probably a mile or two away from the first building, so Ray got a good look at Astropolis. It was vaguely star-shaped and not walled in, and from this distance he could see an enormous town square dead center with a tall obelisk-like statue in the middle. One tip of the star reached towards them, and the base two straddled the river where it bled into the sea. Ray guessed that at least a hundred boats were docked at the base of the star and up the river, and more were anchored farther out in the water.

The Rose Thief slid off the horse, helped Ray off, then jumped back up. "Stay here," he ordered. "I'm going to go return the horse. So stay a little ways away from the road and we'll go into Astropolis when it's night. There's still a chance that the messenger beat us here and told the guards to look out for us." Ray nodded mutely, and the Rose Thief galloped off, his long cape billowing out behind him in the wind.

Ray stretched and sat down in the grass. The main road was a little ways off - he couldn't even see it. The river was loud, gushing and flowing down to the sea. Ray sat there for a while, letting the sun warm his face, before lying down and just looking up at the darkening sky. It was boring. He idly wondered how they were going to leave. Were they going to hide away on a ship? He hoped not. He didn't really want to be a stowaway. His thoughts inevitably drifted back to his hopeless situation. Thinking about it all made it feel like someone was sitting on his chest. At least he was on the move. That gave him a small amount of optimism that they could find something, learn something, to get him back home. Maybe if he clicked his heels three times...

Ray sat up suddenly, the back of his neck prickling. He glanced around, but he couldn't see anyone. He rubbed his neck. He was on top of a hill and there weren't many trees - he should be able to see if anyone was there. Still, he felt like he was being watched. He shivered with an unexpected chill breeze that bled through his clothes and settled into his skin, making goose bumps rise. The sunlight was almost completely gone. He stood, hoping to increase the range of his vision. A scraggly tree at the base of the hill behind him looked almost pitch black in the dusk. Torches and street lamps started flaring up in Astropolis as the lamplighters made their rounds.

Ray thought he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He spun, staring down at the scraggly tree again. The wind blew again, making the branches of the tree dance. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. He was being spooked by a little breeze and poor lighting. This was stupid. But then, why was his heart racing? Why did the hair on the back of his neck still stand up? He really wanted the Rose Thief to return now. He was suddenly feeling exposed and defenseless. He wanted to go home.

His first wish was granted. "Oi!" he heard him voice shout. "It's time." Ray practically sprinted to meet up with the Rose Thief again, who was standing at the base of the hill nearest Astropolis. The duo stole into Astropolis quickly. By the time they made it to the city, the sun had set completely. Most of the streets here were made of gravel with wood planks for sidewalks, though the largest roads were paved with cobblestone. The outer buildings looked quite cheap and dingy, made of new wood that was already beginning to deteriorate with the humid, salty air. Stone was used when possible, but it was clear that the buildings near the edge of the city couldn't always afford stone. The Rose Thief's long cape swished softly as they hurried down the streets. Deep in the shadows between buildings and hanging out in the golden light in front of taverns, multitudes of peasants watched them past. Their faces were grubby with grime and their clothes were mostly brown and in varying stages of fraying.

"Yo," Ray said suddenly. "For a thief, you've got really nice clothing."

The Rose Thief laughed shortly, but it sounded fake to Ray. "Well..." he said, and then after a brief hesitation, "I'm a good thief." The Rose Thief had to know that Ray could pick up on the lie of omission. Ray slowed to make eye contact with a kid, who watched him with wide eyes that seemed glassy in the moonlight. When the kid realized he was being watched back, he quickly shied back into the shadows. Ray sped up to catch up with his doppelgänger.

"Where are we going, exactly?"

"An old friend has his ship docked out in the bay. He often lets me hide out on his ship. You might know him, too, if the trend stays."

The buildings and streets gradually got nicer as they got closer to the water, but as they reached the center of the city, the buildings suddenly turned old and nearly luxurious. The town square that Ray had seen from the top of the hill was like a giant circle, the buildings surrounding it made of pure, smooth stone bleached white. Many of the buildings had engravings over entrances and around glassless windows. Smack dab in the middle was a paved expanse of land, with the roads going around the edge. On a pedestal was an enormous statue made of some hard stone - possibly marble. It was of an enormous rectangular tower sat upon an intricately carved block of marble. In front of it, in a power pose facing the sea, was a rather rotund man, his hammy fists on his waist and his legs spread solidly. A grin was carved into his round face, the eyebrows drawn together to make a victorious expression.

"Who and what the fuck is that?" Ray asked, pointing at the statue even though it was pretty hard to miss. The Rose Thief didn't even look at it as he encouraged Ray to hurry along.

"King Dexter, the first king of Venator," the Rose Thief said impatiently. "He's standing in front of the completed Tower. Can you hurry up? I don't like the way that patrolling guard is looking at us."

"It's not impossible to fucking walk and talk at the same time," Ray reminded him crossly, but he stopped lagging behind. He felt like laughing, though. He'd bet everything that that was the Tower of Pimps - though he sincerely doubted the people here would call it that. And Dexter? Wasn't Grif's first name Dexter? "Do you know the history of your own kingdom?" he prompted as they left the square.

The Rose Thief shot him an incredulous look as if to say this is the knowledge that every baby knows. Then he seemed to remember that Ray was an outsider and continued the story. "Alright, well this basic history is practically drilled into our heads during... Okay, well the Golden Tower used to be one whole tower, and the four kingdoms used to be one whole kingdom. Then there was a fight, blah blah blah, and the gold was split into four. The obsidian base on which it originally stood sunk into the ground - to rejoin the Nether, I guess. King Dexter took one piece and staked out a claim for Venator. The Sargent King made Roosterteeth; King Lavernius took a piece to the Ruby Kingdom; and King Leonard took a piece to the End. Happy?"

"King Dexter didn't happen to have a lover named Dick, did he?" Ray asked dryly. The Rose Thief shot him another look, this time more surprised and bewildered.

"He wed the Sargent King's only son, Richard, to secure their alliance. Or rather, Richard went off with him and the Sargent King reluctantly formed one. Do you know these people in real life, too?"

"Lucky guess," Ray said quickly, hiding his smile by staring at the ground. He wasn't about to admit that these kings were very much fictional back in his world.

"Hey! Ray!" A familiar voice rang sharply out. Ray's head jerked up to see they had reached the main docks. A dirty blond man even shorter than him in a finely embroidered black coat, tall boots with turned down tops, and a three-pointed hat greeted the two of them with open arms - literally. The Rose Thief and Kerry embraced warmly, Kerry clapping his hand on his friend's back. Ray pursed his lips and tried not to react too strongly. Kerry pulled away and finally seemed to notice Ray. "Ray, there's two of you!"

"This is the fake Rose Thief," said his doppelgänger, gesturing at Ray.

"I thought you were going into the city to kill him, though?"

The Rose Thief laughed nervously. "Ha haaa, well, about that. I think he's me from another universe, or something? Listen, he seems innocent to me, and he hasn't tried to kill me yet, so I think he's safe. Just some poor guy they tried to frame. Oh, uh - Ray, this is Captain Kerry."

Kerry nodded respectfully at Ray and hopped down off the dock into a little dinghy. The Rose Thief reached over and untied the dinghy from the dock and gestured at Ray to get in. Ray sat down at the edge of the dock and awkwardly pushed himself down to the boat. When Kerry realized Ray was not nearly as competent as his lookalike, he quickly reached out a hand to steady him. The Rose Thief hopped down soon after, and Kerry began rowing.

"Apparently the same people are in his universe," the Rose Thief was saying. "Hey, do you know Kerry back... uh, back home?"

"We're friends, actually," Ray said, making Kerry grin.

"Some things remain constant, eh?" Kerry said to the Rose Thief, who shrugged and rubbed his arm. "Oh, Ray, I know you wanted to hide out in the Ruby Kingdom, but ahhh - it's not safe to dock there for a while. We're going to be sailing around for a bit."

The Rose Thief grimaced and groaned. "How long?"

"Two months, maybe? I may have angered someone important..." At the Rose Thief's sigh, he added, "Nothing really bad! I just want to let them cool their heads a little."

The Rose Thief sighed again and turned to Ray. "The Ruby Kingdom doesn't hold the same grudge against me that Venator does. I had hoped to talk to some of the Mages and scholars at the castle to try and learn where you came from and how you got to be here, but I guess we can't do that for a while. Sorry." Ray didn't reply, choosing instead to look at the black water as it lapped slowly past. The oars splashed gently as Kerry rowed. The Rose Thief attempted a slight smile. "On the bright side, I could use this time to get you in shape!" Ray groaned, and his two companions chortled. "If you're going to be here a while, you should probably know how to fight a little at least."

"Kill me now," Ray moaned.

Captain Kerry rowed the dinghy up to a ship that wasn't the biggest in the bay but was by no means the smallest. It was simple in its craft, sturdy and reliable with three tall masts and nicely sized living quarters in the aft. The living quarters had two small stories, the second one dominated by a pair of double doors. The first story had two doors on either side of a staircase leading down. The only real bit of decoration on the ship was a highly intricate wooden carving of a dragon underneath the bowsprit in the front of the ship. A couple shadowy figures were moving about in the main deck and helped pull up the dinghy with its three passengers. Ray didn't recognize any of them.

"Most of my crew is asleep," Kerry said, helping Ray to his feet. Ray immediately felt a little off balance as the ship rocked ever so slightly in the nighttime waves. "We'll give you a tour of the ship in the morning. For tonight you can sleep in my captain's quarters - I don't want you stumbling about below deck and wake up all of my crew!"

The strangers grumbled to each other and made their way below deck. Kerry led Ray and the Rose Thief up a set of stairs to the red-painted double doors that opened into a room bigger than Ray expected. In the back was a large bed with a black quilt decorated with red designs. In front of it was a little section that seemed devoted to meetings. A couch in the shape of a semi-circle wrapped around a round table with a map spread on it. There were knickknacks all over the place - on the table, on a dresser, on a vanity. The Rose Thief threw himself happily onto the couch as Kerry took off his jacket to reveal a dark red shirt and walked around blowing out the lamps placed strategically about the room.

Ray carefully removed an ornate dagger from the couch and set it on the table. The room was now dark as Kerry crawled into bed. Ray sat on the other end of the couch from the Rose Thief and fingered his ripped cape. Something wasn't adding up about the Rose Thief's clothing. Ray knew that successful thievery was not the reason behind his doppelgänger's fine attire, but now he remembered something else the Rose Thief had said. Ray was wearing an old outfit from five years ago. And yet, Michael had somehow had it at the castle. He frowned and unpinned the cape from his shoulders and shrugged out of his vest, letting the clothes fall carelessly to the floor.

Asking the Rose Thief about this oddity would surely result in more lies. Maybe Kerry would know.