I held my ale mere inches from my face, the foam pressing against my lips. I’m pretty sure I was in this position the entire time Madison was talking. Just as a take a sip, I hear an exasperated sigh from Avis.

  “The Church of Sirius?” He mutters, has gaze piercing into her. She gently nods but doesn’t say anything else. He mumbles it again, never once blinking. I look back and forth between the two of them, unsure of what is going on.

  Dardania’s eyes turn downward as the eyed her brother. After a short moment she stared down at the drink in front of her. I feel like I’m missing something huge here.

  “Are we talking summer camp or like Auschwitz?” I ask, the words getting stuck in my throat. I knew the answer to the question, but I had to ask anyway. Madison’s story made it abundantly clear what kind of place this way, but I was having trouble wrapping my head around it. I mean, I saw the line of sinners each holding their own label prior to arrive in Electra, so the story was beyond familiar to me. This world had magic and was basically a fantasy world, but did they really have concentration camps too?

  “Auschwitz, but I can’t say if it was truly as bad. People were cleansed, but still to this day I’m not entirely sure what that entailed. We were made to do menial tasks that served no purpose, and we were treated like nothing more than vermin. So, Auschwitz.” Madison took a large gulp of her drink, downing half of it in one go.

  “Look, it sucks, I won’t deny that. Like straight up out of a history book, sucks. But, those pedos in robes need to pay for what they have done. Rounding people up and cleansing them? It’s sick. An organization like this can’t continue to exist, so I won’t let it. I will destroy it. I will burn it down and ensure that no traces of it exist when I’m done.” The traumatized girl from mere moments ago has seemingly vanished. The person that sat opposite of me was the High Priestess, not just simply a girl. Her face was resolute and she reeked of power. If I were them, I’d be scared.

  “It’s not that simple.” Dardania says softly, but sternly. “The order’s reach is virtually limitless. Their power extends far beyond what any of us can imagine. There is only one place in the world that it’s limited. So, I’m not even sure…”

  Dardania trailed off, seemingly lost in thought.

  “I’m in.” Avis said.

  “What?” Dardania immediately perked up.

  “I’m in. I will hunt every single one of those bastards to every corner of this world. I won’t stop until they’re all dead.” Avis’s blood thirst was practically radiating off of him.

  “Avis—” Dardania began but immediately snapped her mouth shut.

  “I’m not looking for a party. I’m completely fine on my own.” Madison responded without blinking. She didn’t even seem to consider it for a second.

  “Well, doesn’t make a difference, I’m still helping.”

  “Fine, whatever.”

  “If my brother is helping, then so am I.” Dardania chugged her drink and slammed it down on the table.

  “Dee, no.”

  “Well, you can’t stop me Avis. If you’re going, then I’m going. Don’t argue with me.” Dardania stares down her brother who quickly lowers his gaze and caves in without any single argument.

  In that moment, everyone’s gaze turned towards me. No one said anything, they just all stared at me. Honestly, I didn’t know what to say. I just wanted to go home, I think. There wasn’t really anything left for me there, but I’ve been thrown into several life or death moments since coming here, which is definitely more dangerous than my life previously.

  “I— I just want to go home.” I whisper softly, lowering my head. I knew it wasn’t the answer anyone would want to hear.

  “Coward.” Avis spits at me. I snap my head up and stare him down.

  “I’m a privileged gay white man from Massachusetts, I’m not some superhero. I don’t know how to fight, I don’t know how to use magic, and I didn’t ask for this. I just want to go home to my comfy life. That’s it.”

  “I didn’t ask for this either!” Avis slams the table and stands up, knocking his drink over in the process. Every in the tavern stops and turns towards them. Avis stares me down, looking as though he wanted to jump across the table at me.

  No one said at word. No one, including me, probably knew what to say. I wasn’t sure what he was talking about, he hasn’t exactly been upfront with what is going on between him and Dardania. After a few moments, he took a deep breath and sat back down, turning his gaze away from me.

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  “Having another member of the Arcana could be helpful.” Madison said.

  “Really that bag of bones?” Avis growled, still not turning back towards me.

  “Look guys, I know this is clearly all royally fucked, but I don’t know how I can help. I— I can’t do anything. I’m nothing.” I lower my head. I genuinely don’t know how I could help.

  I’m just confused.

  I have the desire to return home, but I don’t really have anything left. No family, no real friends, nothing. My life basically was just me and my father prior to coming here and when he died, well there was nothing left for me. So why do I have such a desire to return home? Probably because it’s all I’ve ever known. This world is foreign, it’s scary. I’ve dreamed of worlds like this my entire life, wondering what kind of magic existed out in the universe, but seeing it in person. It’s terrifying. Downright terrifying.

  “Can you explain the Order of the Saint?” I ask. I didn’t know where to begin with this world, but maybe if I start there.

  “The Order of the Saint is the largest religious and political organization in the world. It has been around for several thousand years. You heard the mythological founding of the organization earlier, but no one really knows the truth apart from that. The organization itself consists of three tiers.” Dardania began. “At the top of the organization is the Saint, the current one is Saint Anthony. Directly beneath him is the Touched, there are six of them.”

  “The Touched?” I ask, “Sound sexual.”

  “No you idiot, Touched by the gods.” Avis finally spun around, his demeanor much calmer now.

  “Oh, I guess that makes sense.

  “I was saying, there are six of them. One for each of the elements earth, air, fire, and water. Then one for each life and death.”

  “They are pretty much akin to Cardinals, or generals. Well, I suppose they are bit of both actually.” Madison looked slightly confused as the tried to explain it.

  “I don’t know what a Cardinal is, but yes, they are pretty much Generals. As well as religious leaders, and enforcers. Wherever they go, they leave destruction in their wake. Directly beneath the Touched are the Blessed, they are the ones who oversee the day to day functionality of the Order as well as the ones who confer with the governments around the world. ”

  “Lastly,” Madison began, “Are the clerics, acolytes, and other small nobodies who basically do the grunt work for the Order, like massacring people in the camps. My goal is to take out the Saint.”

  “I’m in.” Avis repeated. Dardania shot him a dirty look.

  “The trouble is, how do we get to the Saint? Besides, once the Saint is killed another one will be chosen.”

  “Chosen?” I ask. Dardania nods.

  “No one knows how, but yes, chosen. The Order itself believes that when one dies, the next one is chosen by the gods. They choose whomever in the world is best suited for that position. The current Saint, Anthony, wasn’t even part of the Order prior to his being chosen. He was just some nobody until that day, but during his tenure he has dramatically increased political and economic power of the Order.”

  “As well as increased the number of Camps.” Madison added. Avis snorted.

  “I’m still in.” Avis smiled. He downed the rest of his ale, stood up, and put his foot the chair. He quickly pulled his knife off of his belt and placed it on the table. I don’t know what it was, but in that moment there was something appealing about him. He looked very knightly. The anger he had earlier when he announced his desire to help seemingly has warped into pure conviction. In this moment, he was a man who was willing to do whatever it took to achieve his goal.

  Though, I felt like he was one step away from saying, ‘You have my knife.’ and went all Lord of the Rings on us, but it never happened.

  “So. what exactly is your plan?” Dardania asking the obvious question. Madison stared at her like a deer in the headlights.

  “Um… Well… I don’t really have one, honestly.” Madison stumbled over her words. “I have went after them in every way I can think and yet I haven’t even made a dent.”

  Madison’s shoulders fell, her entire demeanor falling with it.

  “Well, I’m trying to find the Arcana and discover more information about Tabathia, perhaps we start there. If we can find more of them, then perhaps we will have enough power to confront them head on.” Dardania suggested, pulling the book on Tabathia out of her pocket and placing it on the table.

  “Granted all we have to go on is tales and religious mythology, which isn’t much at that.”

  “It’s a start.” Madison smiled gently, her mood slightly increasing.

  I still wasn’t sure how I fit into all of this.

  Sure, I could tag along and join the merry band of Arcana but I’m useless. I’m powerless, and I know nothing about this world.

  But, something was still nagging at the back of my mind. The fact that we are on Earth, well a different Earth but still Earth nonetheless. Secondly, the Arcana. As far as I can tell, it’s the exact same as the Major Arcana from a Tarot deck in our world. Madison also mentioned the Minor Arcana, which are the numbered cards and suits in the tarot as well. Why the weird crossover between these two worlds, what could that possibly mean? Also, I would have to be an idiot to not notice the surrounding cities are named after the Pleiades. First Maia, then Electra, and Taygete; those are at least the three that I have heard about so far.

  Honestly my curiosity alone is making me want to dig deeper into it. Though, is the answer to those questions worth my life? That I’m unsure of.

  I was so lost in thought that I didn’t notice that everyone had shifted their gazes towards me.

  “Well you hairless mole rat? What do you say?” Avis sneered at me, though there was a smirk on his face. He was so rude.

  “Say to what?”

  “Will you come with us? I know you don’t know magic, but I can teach you. Well, at least I can try.” Madison seemed unsure of herself.

  “I mean, I learned from just theory so it couldn’t be that hard to teach you? Right?”

  “Magic can be complicated actually. I was only able to learn Word Magic because of my affinity towards stories and language. Beyond that I was completely unable to use any other kind of magic at all. I was a resounding failure on every front.” Dardania explained.

  “Well… Um… We will figure it out then. So James, what do you say?” Madison asks again.

  I look to everyone as they continue to stare at me, awaiting an answer.

  I didn’t know what to do, but I knew that going home was probably impossible in all actuality, and I had nothing left there anyway. The least I could do is throw my life away on an adventure I suppose.

  “I guess I’m in.” I finally responded.

  Thus we became a party. One knife wielding guy, two magic users, and one useless gay twink. This is going to be the most unbalanced party in history. Wish us luck.