They did figure out pretty early how podcasts work. It was killing them that they could no longer read in the dark which is a killer. Especially since they were so far apart from each other still. Ian was used to reading by candle light but the hostel he was in was not a fan of candles. And by not a fan, that does mean threatened to kick him out if another flame was lit. They thought Ian was trying to smoke. She was trying to read in the shared bunk bed room but noooo, unallowed. And the bathroom was too gross to read in. Atog on the other hand, was in a cheap motel. And he was… not the happiest? About it. His sibling found that hilarious.

They’d been on a video call the moment Atog got into the room. He frantically ran around checking for… shady things. Then stripped the bed looking for bed bugs. Mind you, he didn’t know what they looked like so Jillian was trying to look them up online. They ended up deciding together that there were _probably_ not any bed bugs. Most of that was Jillian acting like she couldn’t see anything suspicious over the call which was grainy as hell.

They were honestly lucky their scry balls turned into cell phones when they arrived. Less lucky that they appeared on opposite sides of the land mass they were on. America. North? USA? There seemed to be a lot of names for the place. It was different having multiple countries on the same land mass.

Regardless, podcast. Atog texted Jillian excitedly one day telling her about something called World Gone Wrong and how … silly it was. Ian was about ready to throw hands with the girl who was yelling about her tooth brush. To avoid getting kicked out for fighting (again, he was on his last strike). Jillian gave it a try. And immediately started live texting Atog about it.

J ‘Atog. Atog. What are these people on about?’

J ‘they’ve never heard of werewolves?’

J ‘What the fuck is a Pekingese’

A sent image

J ‘that isn’t a dog. That looks nothing like Lucy’

A ‘I know!’

Another 10 minutes went by and a video call came in on the bard’s phone. They’d been waiting for this call. “-a cone!? What is this! Atog, have you seen a shame cone?? I looked it up and Yen could easily get out of that even without her people thinking brain! Actually, these people just need to talk to Yen…”

She kept going for a while until there was a briefest pause for a quick breath. Atog interrupted at that point to assure Jillian that the episodes got better. ‘It’s not bad, I just think the cone of shame and bathroom are offensive to were people everywhere! You can totally open a doorknob with your mouth!”

Atog laughed. The world was a lot especially on his own. He’d been missing his sibling. “You should just tell them or when we get back to our plane or when Yen and Cal get to us, we can set this world straight on werepeople.”

Jillian agreed to let Atog know when she listened to more of the podcast. For the moment, one of the women in the hostel room with her was actually starting a fight and he couldn’t miss that.

Ember squinted out the port hole watching the sun. Then looked back at the pan in front of her. The food was done but it should have finished before the sun set. It shouldn’t have cooked this fast. Ember started singing a hymn. When it finished, she checked the sun. Digging out the hour glass the other chefs used, she flipped it and started singing quietly again.

“Jeuli what the fuck? I know I said it right and in the right cadence. What happened?”

She popped the dish onto the plate next to her. Taking the hot pan, she threw some oil onto it and said two prayers. The oil burned off just as quickly as expected but the hour glass did not. And there was the scent of something burning.

The chef scrambled up onto the step ladder to her island which had a placemat for her to stand on. She shouted loudly, “Everything Off The Stoves!” casting thaumaturgy along with it. Once she saw everyone was off the stoves, she continued, “something is wrong with how fast things are cooking. We’re gonna have to eyeball everything we’ve got cooking or count in your head. I can come keep count if you need, then we’re switching to cold items only until we can figure this all out.”

This time without thaumaturgy, but still pretty loud. She was a professional after all. Looking around, she spotted Duncan inching closer to a hot eye while holding nearly done bacon. “Duncan, I need you to go find Flavius and ask him to get down to the kitchen, I’ll handle that bacon. Everyone else, finish what you’re cooking or wait and I can help you.”

A chorus of ‘yes chef’ rang out as she scrambled down. Duncan for his part looked a bit grateful that he didn’t need to fry bacon without a timer. He was a terrible cook but he did try. His attempts were bad but at least it was pure incompetence and not intentional like some people in this kitchen.

Flavius came in followed by the former dishwasher just as they were getting into the groove of sandwich making while the servers tried to pacify the guests in the dining room. He sped over to the head chef. “Did we get hit with some magic Flavius?”

“It seems like there is extra hour in the day. It happened yesterday, did you not notice?”

She just blinked back at him. “I spend my entire off days sleeping. It’s the only time I get to truly sleep. Who do you take me for?” She was silent for a moment while she assembled a sandwich. “Does that mean dinner is delayed?”

Flavius let out a bracing breath as he shifted away from her slightly. “Corporate decided that we would simply have an extra hour for lunch then immediately begin dinner prep.”

Ember blinked a few times as her boss leaned even further away from her. “What Do You Mean An Extra Hour And Immediately To Lunch! Am I Getting Paid Extra!? Are You Paying My Staff More.”

He winced saying no before quickly backing out of the kitchen.

“I”VE HAD IT WITH THIS GARBAGE CORPORATION. WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY’RE MAKING ME WORK FOR FREE. FUCK THAT.” Ember set a platter of meat on the window. And just yelled out into the dining room, “You Can Make Your Own Sandwiches! Fully Customizable.” And she stormed off into the freezer saying something about inventory.

A ‘if you were a bread, what would you be?’

A ‘and the answer cannot be pancake’

J ‘… pancake. You?’ The true answer would likely be something unexpected and spicy that takes people off guard. Like a cheese croissant that has pepperjack cheese.

A ‘cake obviously’

J ‘cheater!’

A ‘like you didn’t cheat first. have you heard about the pod people?’

J ‘is that why you asked me about bread!? Atog! That’s a terrible quiz question.’

A ‘well I’m pretty sure that you are in fact you.’

J ‘how Can I be sURe YOU are yOU!’

A ‘I’m making a face at you. Sister mine.’

J ‘icky. Okay sure you are you. You would never call me that and a pod person would know.’

J ‘I can just feel you doing an overly elaborate bow.’

Jillian’s phone rang. Atog’s face appeared on screen as she answered. “Hey Ian. Did you find a job yet? Or are you still stuck in the hostel?”

She twisted the phone, flashing the camera over to the bunk beds across from her. “Yep. People are still weirded out by the,” gestures at crystals, “you know. And I’m not very good with interview. Had three of them, was told not to apply again.”

Atog made a sympathetic face. “Enough about me, what about you, did you find anything? Or manage to get gold transferred to this country’s currency.”

Luckily, the bard had more luck than she had, with his flute. They’d learned that one could play music in public and get coins and small bills for it. It wasn’t a sure thing or necessarily a lot of money, but it was more than he’d had before. He’d also gotten a few gold traded in a pawn shop. “I’ve actually gotten enough for a bus ticket. Not enough to get to you, but they said street music does better a couple cities over.”

“Finally putting your pockets in my pants. Or however the saying goes here.” Jillian poked her tongue out at his sibling trying badly to tease him. He just glared back before she asked, “hey, you’re caught up on that podcast, right? Are you baseline?”

Atog closed their eyes before answering, “yeah, I guess. Getting to play for people is nice, and most of my songs are brand new for people, so they tend to like them.”

“Fancy man. Glad the people are appreciating you. Maybe next city is even better.” They smiled at each other before hanging up.

Their whole life whenever something bad; they’d always gone home and could trust their family to be there. The emergency plan was always his mam and dad and Gran and all the others. He just wanted some comfort and comfort came from family, so Atog had to get to his sibling who was thousands of miles away.

A ‘Ive got to tell you about my acid trip’

Immediately, Jillian got a phone call where Atog told her about the following.

He bought the bus ticket as the sky was filled with yellow clouds. He boarded the greyhound which proceeded down the pretty empty road. It was his first his time in a vehicle in this world and much different than airship travel or horses. Atog’s forehead was pressed to the glass watching as rain began to fall and tracing the drops as they trickled down the window.

And then those drops started to sizzle. Atog jerked back not having expected the rain in the US to be literal acid… Apparently, no one else was expecting this either so it wasn’t normal here either. The bus driver went on the speaker telling everyone to be silent as he cranked up the volume on the radio. The announcer was explaining that the ph of the water was way too high.  By the time the driver found a gas station, the sizzling got worse and drips were starting to fall through the ceiling.

This was bad. Most the passengers were staying at the gas station, but Atog needed family. So, they went inside to ask about a map then headed out along a side road opening up the parasol.

He came across a farmhouse with twisting metal rising above the fields. The garage door connected to the house was open, so he ran inside. Bad idea, but the parasol was melting and he’d already had to cast a healing spell on himself.

As he caught his breath, the door opened to a woman with colorful hair holding a blow torch. They stared at each other for a moment before Atog said “I’m so sorry.”

Her partner came up behind her also blinking at the bard. “Did you walk here with just a parasol??”

It turns out the pair were a couple of scientists. They got engaged the year prior and were living their cottage core dreams while doing science in their barn. The twisting metal in the fields were creations that Cass was working on – she was a bit of an inventor.

They invited Atog inside where they fed him the apple pie that had just finished cooling and settled in to chat. Cass had slipped that morning and had spranged her ankle, so Atog explained that he had magic that could heal her. Both looked very exited at the mention of magic and watched enwrapped as Atog cast a cure wounds on Cass.

Turns out, Calia had gained magic at some point since her world went crazy and was experimenting with it. Atog did magic with her and showed off some spells (which she videoed to keep practicing later) while Cass sat in the barn welding metal together to create a metal parasol that should hold up under the acid.

They waved Atog off with better directions to the next town and an extra slice of pie.

At the end of the story, Jillian was just head in hands, “Atog. Aaaatog. This is just like Shady Guy! What do you mean you walking into a scary house knowingly!??”

J ‘ATOG’

J ‘I FOUND SOME WILD SHIT’

A ‘what did you do?’

J ‘well, I got arrested, but that’s not relevant.’

A ‘Jilliannnnnnn’

J ‘I missed home right. So, I went in the underground tunnels. It’s a mix of the subway and the sewer system and like old tunnels from the 1800s or whatever. And it was dark and dank and not as nice as our catacombs’

A ‘most cities don’t let you go in the underground. Including ours! You’re only allowed cause you’re my brother.’

J ‘yeah, I’ve realized that! Moving on’

J ‘the important bit is what was in the sewers!’

J ‘ATOG there were alligators!’

J ‘any way, I got caught because the city already knew about the alligators and had sent rats with camera’s down there! I did catch some of the rats, but they seemed like pet rats, so I let them go after having catch and chase game.’

J ‘Also, I spend all my money on the fine I owed the city, so I’m still stuck in NYC.’

Atog just stared at his phone. This wasn’t unexpected. His sibling never had any money and had wracked up more fines in Vale than anyone else. One fine in this realm after all this time was honestly impressive. He pulled up venmo and sent her some money. If she was out, she’d need more to keep paying for the hostel. While Jillian could sleep in the streets in Vale, that was her hometown and she knew where was safe. That wasn’t the case with NYC and it was apparently getting colder at night.

A ’I sent you your hostel money for the night. How is the job search’

J ‘Not great, but I’ve been spending the days in the New York Public Library. I talked to some of the librarians and they helped me get a resume and things. Plus, they’re letting me volunteer! I get to shelve books and work with some of the programs they have.’

He smiled at the message. Sure, it would be better if she was getting paid. But at the end of the day, he was making enough with playing on street corners and in parks to keep them both off the streets. Really Atog just liked Jillian to be happy.

He’d rather be happy together, but she was trying to find work, and who knows volunteering at the library was good networking. In the very least, it would keep her out of the sewers and apparently the alligators.

Whatever is up with those.

Atog sat on the edge of the fountain eating his cheese sandwich and counting the tips he had received. He finally had enough for another bus ticket which was good because most people who went through the park had already heard him play. Being able to switch between flute and violin helped, but those were the only two instruments he had on him when he and Jillian had been sucked into this universe.

It was a lovely park even if the grass was kind of brittle. He scrolled through his phone looking at bus tickets and googling the places to try and gage if he could earn money busking there. It might be a good idea to try to find something with steadier pay, but he liked getting to play on the streets. Watching people who looked like they were having a bad day look up and give a smile.

It was their job after all. The funeral business was all about being respectful and giving comfort. The world was going haywire and everyone was stressed and scared. It made Atog feel proud to be able to calm people down some even if it was only briefly.

Sometimes he felt like he wasn’t worthy of the family name, wanting to prove himself. He wasn’t like some of the relatives that joined when they were older, the only thing Atog had done to be in his family was be a baby in a plague pit. It was so random him becoming heir to the family. It might be easier if he was just a casual relative, but instead he was going to leave the family in the future. And being stuck in a different universe made it even harder to prove he was worth the family name.

They finished the sandwich and glanced around. There were a few other people sitting on benches in the park eating or scrolling on their phones. A woman holding tight to a kid’s hand as he played hop scotch. Another kid quietly playing in the sand pit while two adults stood close by. No one was smiling.

He picked up the flute and put it to his lips. Beginning to play a fast tune from one of the Disney movies kids all seemed to enjoy. He was hoping if the two kids recognized it, they’d be excited and that feeling could spread. As the music went on, he tossed a bit of magic in, to sooth the emotions of those around him. He can’t stop the confusion that the people were experiencing as their first brushes with a magical world, but he could try for a couple minutes respite.

The elderly man eating a cold sandwich started bouncing a leg along to the song.

The little kid in the sandbox waved the parents in to join and they started making a sand mountain with pebble decorations.

A couple walking by did a little spinning dance as they walked.

Hop scotch mom was convinced to take a turn jumping through the boxes.

Atog’s phone buzzed in their pocket with a text from Jillian, ‘old lady tipped me five dollars for helping her find something. And one of the parents can’t make her shift waiting tables tonight, so I’m working it!’

A person walked past him mouthing the words to the song Atog played.

It wasn’t the same as what his family did, and it wasn’t like home. Atog still missed working with the dead and the grieving, but these people were grieving too – grieving the normal lives they had before magic seeped into their world.

Atog was talented and was able to bring a bit of relief to those who needed a break.