The docks of Vale were impressively massive, with docks large enough for ships like Kerry's to anchor to. The bulk of them were made of what appeared to be concrete, with appendages and walkways made out of sturdy wood. Hundreds of boats, most of them smaller merchant ships, were docked here. The sun lit up the port brilliantly the west. Ray couldn't see much of the city from the ship as they slowly headed in, as the buildings blocked much of it. He could see the very top of what must be the castle over the roofs, but the land was rather flat and the castle was not a prominent feature - not like Geoff's castle in Achievement City.

A young man stood waiting with arms crossed at the end of the dock Kerry's ship neared. His fluffy brown hair was carelessly brushed back but messed up by the sea wind. He wore no crown, but was dressed finely enough for a prince, with a scarlet silk top embroidered with gold and a white square cape attached to a black belt at the waist. Black pants fed into expensive leather boots laced with gold rope, and several rings glittered on his fingers. A short sword and shield were attached to his back with thick straps decorated with rubies, topaz, onyx, and opal.

Kerry stood next to Ray at the railing while his crew docked the ship. "Funny," he said with a grin. "Miles dressed down today."

The ship finally docked after what seemed like ages to Ray. His heart rammed in his chest, and he had to stop himself from bouncing in place. He was finally going to get some answers. Maybe, a voice whispered in his head. Probably, he replied. Most of the crew stayed on the ship, but Caleb, Kerry, Ray, and the Rose Thief climbed down off the ship to greet the grumpy looking Miles. As the Rose Thief helped Ray clumsily disembark, Kerry went in for a hug. He threw his arms around Miles, who stumbled at the weight but refused to hug back.

"Miles! Have you been waiting all day for us?" Kerry exclaimed happily, pulling back. When Miles still refused to smile, he bowed and added mockingly, "Oh, sorry, I forgot. Your Highness."

Behind Kerry, Ray whispered to the Rose Thief, "'Your Highness? Is Miles the prince?"

"Did I not say?" the Rose Thief said thoughtfully. "Yeah, he is."

Miles sniffed haughtily. "That was stupid of you and you know it. Sir Gray is still mad at you, but we've managed to convince him not to take action against you. Took a fair amount of gold."

Kerry scratched the back of his head and grinned sheepishly. "Ahh, yeah. My bad."

Miles finally noticed the two Rays and did a double take. "Woah, wait, why are there two of them."

"That's what we want to find out," Kerry said. "We were hoping we could talk to the Court Mages here."

Miles stroked the stubble on his chin and hummed. "You know I can't give you permission for that. You have to get it directly from King Monty, but you're probably going to have to wait a few days. Formality, you know?" He glanced at Kerry and finally allowed his lips to twitch into a smile. "I can't stay mad at you, you idiot." He lightly grabbed Kerry's head and planted a kiss on his cheek as Kerry squirmed and leaned away, grinning. "Come on, you can stay at the castle while you wait. And wash up," he added, wrinkling his nose.

As Prince Miles led them through the streets of Vale, Ray's heart dropped a little. He was going to have to wait even longer. He didn't want to wait another day, but there wasn't anything to do about it. He sighed, glancing at the buildings around him. He supposed a few more days wasn't going to kill him. He preoccupied himself with the things around him.

The buildings were of varying height, material, and style, certainly making Vale an interesting city. Vale got a lot of traffic with their apparently famously large marketplace, which they were avoiding today in favor of getting to the castle faster. As such, they got many types of people passing through or moving there to focus on their craft, including different architects with different training. The people themselves were very colorful, even those in the plainest clothes. Additionally, almost everyone carried a weapon of sorts. Most of the people on the streets ignored them, though several waved at Miles. Some even bowed, bending from the waist with straight backs and palms on their thighs. Miles would nod or wave back.

Ray fell back with Caleb and asked, "Is... is Miles, uh, Monty's son? Like... actual son?"

Caleb laughed. "Oh, no! Anyone with eyes can see that. No, King Monty adopted Miles when young and is responsible for educating him to be the next king. That sort of thing happens a lot. Sometimes the kingdom will go to the biological child, but more often than not, they choose someone else. Mostly because they don't have children of their own, but sometimes their own children are... incompetent. Is that not how it happens in your world?"

"Uhh... not really. We have... a complicated government system, but the people vote for a president out of selected candidates."

They rounded a corner and suddenly the castle was in view. It wasn't very tall, having maybe only one or two floors, but it was long and sprawling, set on a slightly raised hill. The setting sun was to the left, bathing it in scarlet and orange. The sloped roof was shingled with deep, glittering red and rimmed thickly in gold. The walls were pale, solid and smooth, and the doors and window shutters were of dark, polished wood. The doors and windows were all outlined in white and yellow gold, and statues of fearsome dragons stood guard at the major entrances. The short staircase leading up to the open, rather empty courtyard in front of the largest doors had red railings in the shape of long dragons as well. Every decoration was intricately carved, and in the low angle of the sun helped highlight this. Ray couldn't help but compare it to the stark, looming grandness of Geoff's castle. This one might be smaller, but there was much more attention to detail here.

Kerry caught him staring and thumped him on the shoulder. "Impressive, right? I've always liked the Ruby Castle better than Venator's."

Miles glanced back. "That's the double, right? Has he never been here before?" He paused at the top of the steps and turned, throwing his arms out to the side and beaming. "Welcome to the Ruby Castle, my twinned friend! Rumor has it that it took King Lavernius's whole life to bring this castle to total completion. The outside was done fairly quickly, but the last room was furnished and decorated just a few years before his death. The finest architects, artists, and carpenters were hired from all over the four kingdoms, and some say that was the start of our popular trade route."

Two guards were standing at either side of the large front doors wearing heavy-looking chainmail and colorful, padded leather armor. One of them, a man with a bandage over one eye, jogged forwards and bowed to Miles. "Your Highness, we have been waiting for you. If you would just come inside, his Majesty the king Monty has been anxious for your return."

Miles rolled his eyes. "What, I can't have a little presentation to my guests? He knows where I was." He sighed when the guard simply stared at him. "Alright, alright. Summon a servant to show our esteemed guests to their rooms and have someone bring them a tray of dinner later. I have a message I need to take to the king."

"Yes, your Highness."

~~~~

Ray's room had a tall ceiling and felt very scarce overall. The prominent feature was the large bed with crimson sheets and tall posts draped with white sheer fabric. Three tall windows faced the east and were completely covered by gold curtains. A lit fireplace was opposite the bed and torches lined the walls, giving the room a warm orange glow. There was a dark wood wardrobe and a vanity of sorts with an intricately carved chair and a wide mirror with a fancy gold and silver border. Ray supposed the room was meant to make him feel wealthy or something, but mostly it felt empty.

A bathtub was set up in the empty space in front of the vanity, a bronze thing with a tray attached to one side that carried washcloths and soap. The bathtub had already been there when he arrived, its water pleasantly hot. Ray couldn't ever remember being as excited to bathe before. He felt absolutely filthy after being on a ship for two months. He shrugged out of his black shirt in front of the vanity and chucked it at the bed. The shirt floated just shy of the mattress, but Ray didn't really care.

He glanced at the mirror and paused, startled by his own reflection. He stepped closer and leaned on the vanity. His face had thinned out somewhat, and he needed to shave again. He had shaved a couple times on the ship, but it involved scary-looking silver razors-and on a rocking ship it was doubly terrifying. Notably, however, he had gotten tan under the hot ocean sun. He laughed to himself. He supposed he was worthy of the nickname Brown Man again. He turned around back to the tub.

"...Ray?"

Ray froze. Was he hallucinating? He must be. The voice-the unmistakable voice-had come from behind him. Ray looked over his shoulder in disbelief, not expecting to see anything.

"Ray? Is that you?"

The mirror above the vanity had stopped showing a reflection of his castle room and instead pretended to be a window into his apartment. And Michael-his Michael-the Michael he left behind when he woke up in this bizarre land was apparently leaning on his desk and looking into his computer. It was an image that usually played on Ray's livestreams, except now Michael replaced him.

"Michael..." Ray was so stunned he couldn't even exclaim loudly. Michael's name slipped from his lips like a careless whisper, like a hunter yanking his trap on an unsuspecting critter. He nearly slammed into the vanity as he went to lean on it again. "Is that really you?"

"I just asked you that," Michael said, grinning. "Where have you been? What are you doing in the computer?" His eyes flicked down. "Heyyy, you been working out, man?"

Ray glanced down. Already slim to begin with, the combination of less food than he normally ate and a rigorous athletic routine meant that he had begun to show hard, lean muscle on his arms and his abdomen. His cheeks heated up. "I fucking guess so," he said. He wanted to drink in Michael's friendly face. The last time he had seen it, it had tried to hang him. But this was his Michael. His friend.

"It's been so long," Ray said. "Fuck, two months. You guys must be fucking worr-"

"Wait," Michael interrupted. "Two months? Are you fucking crazy? We've been wondering where you were for like, a day. I just got off work."

Ray frowned and bit his lip. "Okay wait," he said. "What day is it, where you are?"

Michael furrowed his brow. "Friday," he said.

"What day, Michael."

Michael said the date, and Ray began to shake. According to Michael, it was the day after he fell asleep in front of his computer. "Th-that doesn't make any-any sense," he said, his voice quivering. Michael's expression grew concerned. "I-I've been here for just about-about two months. That doesn't make any fucking sense..."

"Ray... What's going on?" Michael asked, his voice dropping to a calm tone laced gently with worry. "You said you've been gone for two months, but I got your last text..." He checked his phone. "... about twenty hours ago. And you're in the fucking computer screen and here we are talking normally... Where the fuck are you?"

Ray shivered. "I don't know," he said quietly. "I don't fucking know. I-I fell asleep, I had put Minecraft in and then the Xbox had to update, so I took a nap and I woke up in this different world. I don't know anything more than that, but I'm trying to figure it out."

Michael hummed and glanced to the side. "Well, your Xbox is still on." He laughed, though it didn't sound very mirthful. "Fuck, if I weren't talking to you now..."

A knock at his door startled Ray. The mirror snapped back to normal as though someone had pressed the power button on a TV remote, showing only his tired, wide eyes. "No... No!" he said in a low but rising voice. He shook the mirror as if that would bring Michael back.

When the knock sounded again, Ray whipped his head around and shouted, "What!?"

The large wooden door creaked open and Caleb poked his head in. "Sounds like someone didn't get a good night's sleep."

"Wha-"

"Since we can't see the king yet, and therefore gain permission to access the library, we were going to take you to the market to get you a sword of your own." Caleb stepped fully inside the room and shut the door behind him. He wore apparently the same outfit he wore on the ship, with his extremely-long-sleeved white tunic, but it looked much cleaner. In his arms he carried a new bundle of clothes, presumably for Ray. "The Ruby Kingdom is well known for its weapon craft. It would be better to have a sword made specifically for you, but you probably won't be here long, so a pre-made one will be fine. I'm sure you wouldn't really know the difference anyway."

"Wh-Caleb, what time is it?"

Caleb frowned, noticing seemingly for the first time the dark circles under Ray's eyes and his frantic facial expression. "It's probably like, nine in the morning? Is everything alright?"

Ray didn't reply, instead staring bewilderedly at the mirror for a moment before striding over to the heavy curtains blocking his windows. With a heave, he yanked on of them aside, allowing bright morning sunlight to stream inside the room. He backed up, his brow knitting together and his heart pounding against his ribcage. He felt a panic rising in his chest, clawing up his throat and threatening to lift his head from his shoulders. He had been able to talk to Michael for the first time in two months only to be rudely cut off by what he could only assume was magic he didn't understand.

Caleb set the bundle of clothes on the bed and walked up beside him to put a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

Ray bowed his head, pinching his nose bridge with a hand. "I... I seem to have missed the night."

Caleb frowned, concern glinting in his eyes. "What do you mean? Do you not remember the night? Maybe you just don't remember falling..."

"No, Caleb, I was awake. I was awake and..." Ray hesitated.

"Did you... simply lose track of time?"

Should he tell Caleb about seeing Michael in the mirror? There certainly was nothing to really be gained by withholding information from the Mage, but for whatever reason, Ray had a strong desire to keep this private. He wasn't sure why this urge was so powerful. It was a giant puzzle and he wanted to have the pieces, all the pieces, and he wanted to try and solve it himself. Not share it with some alternate dimension Caleb. He wasn't sure how much Caleb would be able to help anyway. Ray decided he would wait until he had more information.

"Yeah, that must have been it."

Caleb frowned again and patted Ray's shoulder. "Well, get dressed then. In about half an hour, someone will bring you breakfast. We leave for the market in about an hour."

Ray watched Caleb leave, the door closing behind the Mage, and sighed. His shoulders felt all tight and tense, and an aching loneliness had settled in a condensed pit beneath his heart. He wandered over to the bath, intending on washing up at least a little. He dipped his hand into the water to test the temperature. It was still hot.

~~~~

Ray's new outfit included a relatively simple black jacket with a short stiff collar, slits just under the shoulder to reveal redness beneath, and a set of button ties that closed the jacket diagonally over his right breast. He had seen Monty-his Monty-wear similarly constructed tops before. Ray also wore white pants, a short red-lined black cape shaped sort of like a rose petal attached to a wide belt at his waist, and black boots that pulled over the knee with half-spherical buttons running up the outside. Ray did not fully appreciate this outfit, but it was clean and it was what was expected of him.

Caleb retrieved him from his room, and the two of them met Kerry just outside the front doors of the castle. The captain was chatting amicably with the one-eyed guard when they got there, the gold embroidery on his fresh red coat glittering in the morning sunlight. His coat was long enough that both sides had a slit for ease of movement. Kerry still wore his three-pointed hat; he seemed relatively proud of that hat. The Rose Thief was nowhere in sight-Caleb said that he didn't want to draw attention to the fact that there were two of him, lest the attention turned sour. Ray wasn't sure about the reasoning, but he couldn't exactly do anything about it. He shrugged it off.

The Central Marketplace was a wide open area in the middle of the city. Dozens of stalls, shops, and tens opened their doors and uncovered their tables to the crowds that milled about every weekday. Every street that fed into the market had a guardhouse, and anyone entering had to be checked or scanned for weapons which, if found, were taken until the person left the market. Not much could be done about magic users, though there was a ward around the area that suppressed spells. It wasn't a powerful enough ward to stop all magic, but it would slow a Mage down long enough to be stopped by a guard.

Ray thought it was unusual to ban weapons in the Central Marketplace when the Ruby Kingdom was known for warriors and weapons, but Kerry explained that it was to decrease unnecessary deaths. Before that rule was created and enforced, a deadly brawl could break out at any moment. Now the only people allowed to have any weapons were the constables wandering the place. Those selling them had dull blades and had at least one guard standing by.

As they wandered the marketplace, Ray guessed that probably about half of the stands and stalls were of food. High-end jewelry and fashion stores and decorative weapon stores that promoted style and elegance over functionality filled the permanent shops in the buildings surrounding the square, as well as other random fancy stores. Everyone else made do with sturdy rented stalls and weighed-down tents. Kerry and Caleb led Ray through this stalls, looking for weapon craftsmen.

"What about this one?" Caleb asked, gingerly picked up a narrow, plain sword.

Kerry shook his head and made an ugly face. "I can tell by looking at it that it will never suit Ray." Ray frowned. He couldn't really tell the difference, but Kerry would be the one to know.

Eventually, Ray lagged behind to look at some of the stalls they were passing. Kerry and Caleb had one goal in mind, but Ray had never seen anything like this. He wanted to wander. He wanted to see some of the wares. He had no hope of buying anything-Kerry and Caleb held all the money, which he supposed was for the best. He passed a lady selling fancy hats and a dude selling small decorated cakes. One woman had set up a sort of portable stove and was selling a warm, bread-like treat.

When he passed by a table selling all sorts of glass objects, the guy manning it called out to him. The man was dressed nicely enough, but there was something grubby about him that Ray couldn't place. The man's hair was white and wild, reminding Ray of Einstein. "You there, my good sir! You look like someone who would be interested in my fine wares!"

Ray paused to get a closer look. The man had probably called out to him because he was dressed like a lord, and Ray figured it'd be rude to completely ignore him. He might not have had any money on him, but he at least wanted to look at the wares and then shrug it off and claim disinterest or something. He was conscious of Kerry and Caleb wandering further away, but he didn't care. He'd find them later.

Many of the glass objects were small figurines, though there were also pendants, vases, and decorative bowls. The man gestured to his wares enthusiastically. "You seem like a lord in need of some trinkets to bring home! What about this fine little unicorn? Handmade by yours truly!"

Ray grimaced. It was a pretty sculpture, but it was far too delicate for him. "No thanks. Hey, I need to get going, so..."

"Ah, but wait, young sir," the man said desperately, waving his hands. "I've got something rare you might appreciate!" Ray hesitated, and the man took this as his cue. He flourished his hands and presented a glass sphere about the size of a gumball. It was a dark green with hints of deep ocean blue, the color getting darker towards the center. Ray instantly recognized it as an Ender Pearl. He kind of expected it to be bigger.

"I see you know this! Of course, I'd expect a man with as fine a taste as you would. Yessir, straight from the Ender Kingdom! You don't see them much anymore since trade shut down. I could let it go... for a fine price. Here, hold it!"

The man shoved the pearl into Ray's hands. Ray had read somewhere once that touching things in shops made you more inclined to purchase them. Not that he cared, having no money on him, but he wanted to examine the pearl all the same. It wasn't every day you got to hold a real life Ender Pearl. Its surface shone like glass, but it was soft and smooth like a real pearl. Ray rolled it around in his palm and peered at it closely, looking at how it bent and reflected the light.

He realized soon that the eye looking back at him wasn't his own. It appeared for a few seconds in the reflection of the pearl, familiar yet unplaceable. It definitely wasn't Michael's, either. Ray stared at it stunned, until the pearl made a cracking noise and the eye disappeared, startling him. A crack at formed on the top of the pearl. The man hadn't seemed to notice yet, but Ray began to panic when he heard more cracking noises like the sound of glass crunching underfoot. And that was when the pearl exploded entirely.

He didn't have much time to react. He threw his hand up and out, tossing the pearl just before it shattered, the hand he had been holding the pearl with flying up to shield his face. Smoke and shards burst out from the pearl, and Ray felt a sting in his palm. The explosion was cold and much larger than one would have expected from such a small object. His hand turned icy as though plunged into a bucket of ice water as he stumbled to the ground.

"Hey, you break, you buy!" the man shouted angrily. Ray barely heard him. His hand was so cold, it hurt, like on a winter day when he forgot his gloves. He curled his body around his hand, cradled it, but it was as though it was producing its own chill. The cold seemed to emanate from deep inside the flesh of his palm, numbing it and making it pulse painfully.

The smoke didn't dissipate, but hung there thickly before sucking back like the explosion was played in reverse. It billowed up from the center, and a shadow appeared, tall and spindly in front of Ray. Dimly, he started to hear screams as the smoke faded. Shouts rang out. People were fleeing. Someone might have been calling his name.

The coldness Ray now felt in the pit of his stomach was different from the coldness that pained his hand. It was one born of terror. Terror that paralyzed him, curled on the ground around his frozen hand. His muscles felt weak. An Enderman loomed above him, balancing on the balls of its bony humanoid feet just a yard away from him. He could barely hear the shouts around him; it was as though cotton was stuffed in his ears. The Enderman was above him, leaning over to look down at him with its paralyzing purple eyes. Its black skeletal hand drifted forward, reaching for him.

"Hey!" he heard Kerry shout. A small stone whizzed above Ray and hit the Enderman in the middle of its face. He looked over his shoulder to see Caleb and Kerry standing in front of the crowd. Some people hadn't quite cleared the area, stopped by fear. Caleb, too, was visibly shaking and looked as pale as his tunic. Kerry was frightened yet determined, his clenched fists trembling. "Get away from Ray!"

Ray's neck grew tired, but he felt so cold and so drained that he didn't want to move anything. Next to Kerry was a table with a tarp covering it, the tarp weighed down by buckets of water attached by a thin rope. Kerry slid out a knife from under his coat-something he obviously had smuggled past the guards-and sliced through the rope. He grabbed the bucket, dashed a few steps forward, and just before he ran into Ray thrust the bucket at the Enderman. The water gushed out, splashing heavily into the Enderman's dark narrow chest. The Enderman screamed, a horrible hollow and primal sound, sort of like wind howling through rattling bones. And then, in the blink of an eye, it vanished again, leaving behind only a sucking, warping noise.

Kerry dropped to his knees next to Ray. He picked Ray up so that Ray was sitting again. Ray hunched forward, still cradling his arm. Kerry's eyes were large and wild.

"What happened to it?" Ray mumbled.

"It teleported away, probably to die," Kerry said, glancing at the spot where the Enderman had previously stood. He licked his lips. "Are you okay?" Warmth was returning to Ray's body, but his hand was still throbbing and numb, so cold that he didn't even realize he was bleeding until he raised his hand. Kerry's eyes widened. "The Enderman shouldn't have been here. Their main mode of transportation is to teleport, but they never go far. They've never come across the sea to the Ruby Kingdom before. What happened?"

"The Ender Pearl..." Ray murmured. He felt exhausted. He just wanted to crawl into a warm bed now. "It exploded..."

Kerry clucked his tongue, then twisted around to shout at Caleb. "Snap out of it, you stupid Mage, and get your ass over here!"

Caleb violently shook his head and hurried over, flicking his hands out of his long sleeves. He kneeled on the other side of Ray as the crowds shyly returned, observing the scene with caution. Even the guards stayed back. Caleb's hand hovered above Ray's, and a golden light weakly sparkled between the skin of the two men. He scanned Ray's entire forearm slowly with an intense frown wrinkling his forehead.

"I need to take him back to the castle," Caleb said. "He needs a bed and I need to get out of this damned ward. You buy a sword. I will get word of this to the king as well. I will see you later."

Kerry nodded and stood as Caleb helped Ray to his feet. Ray still cradled his icy hand, blood oozing from several small wounds in his palm and threatening to drip. He began to shiver, and Caleb's hand tightened around his shoulder. The eyes of the crowd bored into him, and he desperately wanted to get out of the marketplace. A guard stopped them to ask some questions, but Caleb firmly told him to essentially back off, and the guard took his cue. He seemed to realize Caleb was a Mage, though Ray wasn't sure how.

The walk back to the castle felt very long to Ray, though as soon as they arrived it felt like it hadn't been very long at all. The whole while, Caleb quizzed Ray on what just happened and how he was feeling, etc. Something about his tone of voice seemed worried. Caleb hurried Ray to his room, dropped him off to dash back to his own room, and returned with a small iron box.

"I think there are some pearl shards trapped in your hand," Caleb said quickly, his hands still trembling slightly from the Enderman encounter but moving deftly. He opened the box and dug around, retrieving a piece of cloth and some herbs. "It's... hard to sense. Harder than usual. I've noticed this about you. I thought it was me at first, but it's you. You seem incredibly resistant to magic."

"Hn?" Ray asked, focusing his energy less on the formation of words and more on the inflection of his voice. Caleb sighed as he began scanning Ray's hand and forearm again.

"The more magic you possess, the more susceptible you are to it and the change it brings. Basically, the more malleable your mind and body. That's why you almost never see Mages or Potentials as leaders. Those with no magic at all are more resistant to its effects and are considered more reliable that way. Venator and King Geoff are unusual in that regard, and even then King Geoff's prime advisor and his prince are both non-magical. Mages still help the leaders and are often close advisors, but the non-magical person often makes the final decision. You, however, are more resistant than any non-magical person I have ever examined before."

"Sorry," Ray said, unsure of how to respond. Caleb shrugged.

"Not your fault. It's fascinating, mostly, but especially in situations like this, it's more than a little frustrating." He clenched his hand and the golden scanning light winked out. "Okay, I think I've located all the shards. This might hurt. I'm sorry in advance."

With his left hand, Caleb grasped Ray's fingers tightly. His right hand hovered over Ray's palm, and after a brief pause his eyes flashed and his hand began to glow white. Ray quickly figured out why Caleb was holding on to his fingers. His hand erupted in pain, like someone was digging a hot knife through his flesh from the inside out. His hand spasmed against the pain, and it was only Caleb's grip on his fingers that prevented his hand from jerking around too unmanageably.

"Fuuuuuck!!!" Ray hissed, making an effort to not flat out scream. The shards wiggled out of his hand, bring with them small spurts of blood. When they popped out through the holds they entered in, they drifted over to the piece of cloth Caleb had pulled out earlier.

It took Caleb ten minutes to get all the pieces out-ten minutes of slow, grueling, pinching pain. Caleb swayed and rubbed his temple but didn't let go of Ray's hand yet. He cleaned up the blood with another piece of cloth, scabbed the wounds over with another spell, and wrapped herbal paste with cloth tape around Ray's palm. "To help with scarring," he explained, "and minimize the work my magic has to do." Then he called for a servant to take the shards and throw them in the ocean. "I'm not sure if the Endermen can use the shards to teleport to a location, but it's better to be safe than sorry," Caleb said. "It must have broken the pearl to teleport here. Normally they can't teleport very far. That's why the Ruby Kingdom has been so far untouched by Endermen."

Ray flexed his hand and swore under his breath. Feeling and warmth was slowly seeping back into his flesh. "You mean you didn'tknow about them using Pearls before?"

Caleb gave a helpless shrug. "It's never been noticed. Soon after the Endermen first appeared, the Ender Kingdom shut down completely. No one would go in it, and no one would leave. Even the Mages who entered were never heard from again. So the Pearl trade shut down, too, meaning you don't see very many of them anymore. Many people viewed them as bad talismans and broke them or threw them into bodies of water. How are you feeling?"

Ray had to backtrack in his mind. He had gotten sidetracked by this new information and had to think about his condition again. "Tired, mostly," he admitted. His hand and forearm now ached, but it wasn't painful anymore.

Caleb patted his shoulder. "Not surprising. It's been a busy morning, and healing is always tiring for both parties involved. Get some rest, then. We'll see you when you wake up again. Hopefully King Monty will see us sooner rather than later in lieu of this... development." Caleb drew the covers over Ray and left, taking his little iron box with him.

Ray's sleep was fitful, and he drifted in and out of terrible, dark dreams filled with shadows, glowing pearls, and Michael. In most of his dreams, he would reach out to the figure of Michael with his right hand, the hand that had had the shards. As he reached, his hand would turn gray and crumble to pieces as though frozen to the core and so brittle that a breeze would shatter it. He barely remembered his dreams coherently.

He was shaken awake by an eager Kerry. "The king is finally going to see us," he said quickly, enthusiasm making him talk fast. "Especially you. He wants to hear what happened in the market earlier." Kerry backed up to let Ray push himself into a sitting position. His back felt damp with sweat, but Kerry didn't seem to notice anything. Ray's hand still felt a little cold, like it had sat in front of a cool fan for a while. He shook it out to get some blood flowing and took his jacket back from Kerry. When he was fully dressed again, he followed Kerry out to see the Ruby King.

Ray, Kerry, Caleb, and the Rose Thief met up just outside the massive double doors of the great courtroom. All of them except Caleb wore clothing more reminiscent of the fashion of Ruby Kingdom, as was polite, including tops that clasped over the right breast and light, short capes that hung from the waist. The two guards posted outside the doors looked them over before sending them in.

King Monty sat upon a low throne, his back straight as he watched the four of them stride purposefully towards him. The courtroom wasn't nearly as long as Geoff's, and though this one was far more ornate with more statues and paintings and tapestries, it felt almost homier. Nearly all of Monty's outfit was some form of red, and his crown was sleek, narrow and gold embedded with rubies. His long golden cape was edged with soft white fur, and his black calf-high boots had hard, short heels. Miles stood dutifully at Monty's right with a pale silver prince's crown and his jacket decorated with various chains and brooches. Barbara was at Monty's left, her hair twisted up out of her face and hung with gold decorations. She wore a golden belted tunic that reached mid-thigh and white pants that fed into tall brown leather boots. She held a tablet with paper and some sort of pen or pencil. Ray could see a tattoo like a burning heart on the back of her hands.

When the doors opened, Barbara announced loudly, "Captain Kerry and his friends, including the Mage Caleb, have arrived." Miles winked at Kerry, who grinned back before quickly regaining his serious composure. Ray followed the other three's example when they bowed deeply, bending at the waist and keeping their palms on their thighs. Monty bowed from his seat, merely inclining his head respectfully. It was weird bowing to Monty, but when in Rome...

"Tell me again why there are two of Ray," Monty asked in his calm voice. "I know what my messenger told me, but I want to hear it from you."

Caleb stepped forward, and Monty nodded at him to speak. "Your Majesty, the second Ray appears to be from some alternate world similar to ours but different. We were hoping you would grant us access to your library and permission to discuss with your Court Mages here to try and figure out where exactly he came from and how he got here."

Monty crossed his arms and cupped his chin in a hand. He paused for a good minute or two, thinking. "Hmm... I don't see why not. You have my permission. Now, I want to hear from the double, who you tell me was the main witness of the Enderman attack in the Central Market today?"

"It was less of an attack and more of an appearance," Ray muttered under his breath. The Rose Thief heard him and smacked his shoulder to shove him forward as Caleb stepped back. He coughed once before speaking. "Ah, yes, Mon-You Majesty. Um. The Enderman appeared in front of me after an Ender Pearl shattered. I think that the Pearl breaking summoned an Enderman or something."

"But that doesn't make any sense," interrupted Miles. Monty carefully eyed his prince and allowed him to speak. "Lots of Ender Pearls have been broken, accidentally or on purpose. As far as we've heard, they've never summoned an Enderman."

"I didn't break it though," Ray said quickly. He was starting to get frustrated at not being believed, and made a strong effort not to swear lest he offend anyone. "The Pearl shattered as I was holding it. And..." He hesitated. Should he tell them about the eye he saw? The same desire to keep it a secret, a desire like how he had felt with seeing Michael in the mirror, tickled at his mind. But this was different. This was far beyond him. "And just before it broke, I saw an eye in the reflection that wasn't mine. I don't know whose it was, though it did seem a little familiar."

The king frowned deeply, narrowing his dark eyes in thought. "I see... That is an interesting development. We had thought before now that the Pearls were just another pretty export from the End, but it seems they may hide some magic. I will issue an order to seize all Ender Pearls in the Ruby Kingdom so that they may be studied by my Mages. Owners will be paid according to their value. I also want scouts sent out to find the Enderman." Barbara was hurriedly writing down Monty's order. The king paused, studying the four men in front of him. He certainly didn't seem as worried as Kerry and Caleb, but perhaps that was just a better command over his emotions. Ray was keenly aware that he was still a step forward in front of his three companions, but he wasn't sure if he was allowed to step back into line again. Ray began to squirm under Monty's gaze.

"There is nothing more I wish to discuss," Monty said finally. "Thank you; you are dismissed."