Before we left for their house, Bleu examined Nico once more. 

"Do you remember what happened?" They asked.

Nico thought for a second, [insert what happened because I'm too lazy to write it rn]

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Robie pulled out a map and pointed to a forest. 

"We can take the bridge to Gwalchmei and cut through Sundershaw forest. We should try to get there as quickly as possible, before nightfall." He looked to Bleu for approval of his plans but they didn't seem to be paying much attention. I gave them a tap on the shoulder while Robie gave his usual annoyed look.

He threw a bandage roll at them. "Hey Ogechi, you listening?" 

I thought he was being playful for once but Bleu didn't seem to like that, catching the roll and whipping it at his head. It did lighten the mood and get a laugh even out of Jia.

Bleu pointed to the opposite end of the map. "This way. We'll take the Wadon bridge from Gwalchmei into the city. We're in no hurry so let's take it easy and I'll show everyone around."

Nobody protested. [We'd been in Cadair for less than a week,] their brother was missing and my mom was out their somewhere but we were all exhausted.

"Say no more," I said eagerly and grabbed my bag. [add stuff idk]

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We crossed the bridge connecting Ethos and Xoshea one by one. I crossed slowly, enjoying the view of a tower to my right and a waterfall to my left. Last time, we had fallen and I kept this at the back of my mind. We made it across safely and landed in what I assume was Gwalchmei, the immediate surroundings being a blacksmith and a post office. 

"That's the strangest combination of buildings I've ever seen," I muttered as we walked past the ironworks and over a bridge. 

Bleu turned to us, their arms spread out, a big smile across their face. "Welcome to Xoshea!"

We made a beeline for Bleu's house, dropping off our things before heading out to explore the city. When we got back, I pulled out some paper and started a letter for my family back home.

Wadon Valley didn't have much but I was interested in their gay bar and cafe. Bleu has frequent shows there so maybe when all of this mess is over we can go and I can see them in drag. Next, we visited Elwyn. There was a middle school, a couple of arcades and a Caribbean food place which I instantly ran into, not thinking about money. Bleu covered it for me as I left the store, my face warm from embarrassment. Wecht was next. It didn't have much but we took a peek in the train station before making our way to around to Sairgus. We stopped there for quite some time. First, we went to Lucky Feather Stationary so I could write some letters. We fought over where to eat, half of us wanting Korean bbq and the other Chinese food. Ultimately, we split up and met back at the stationery store. On our way to Paragon, I saw an antique store and made a note to pick something up before I left. 

Paragon took up most of the city, a library the size of a house right in the center. It had mostly government buildings and banks but Bleu pointed out a tattoo parlor and showed us the vines going down their left arm. They stuck their arm out and vines came to life.

"Ok, I want one," Lu said, marching towards the parlor. I grabbed Lu and we moved on to Binnon. I was unimpressed by the high school and coffee shops until I saw the superstore. Nico and I stared at each other in a silent agreement that we'd probably live here since they had a Costco.