7 in 3

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Iota 

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The pain from earlier wakes me up again, but before I can open my eyes, I hear talking. Deep laughter fills my ears, causing fear to well up in my gut. When I open my eyes I see a large mustached man sitting near me. In terror I try to back away, but I don’t get far before I hit something solid. Panicking, I feel the safe, comforting cold filling my chest. White mist drifts from my skin and I ready myself, but I’m stopped by a yell. 

“Iota, stop!” 

The girl from earlier! I turn my head to see the boy and girl sitting beside me, calm and unworried. 

I don’t understand. Without dropping my guard, I ask them, “What’s going on!?” My voice squeaks a bit, which makes me blush a little. 

The boy looks at the startled man, while the girl looks at me. “We got lost and this man helped us. His name is Cleave, and it’s alright here," She gives me a reassuring smile. 

I start shaking as the adrenaline leaves my body, the cold seeping back into my chest until it vanishes. Relaxing a bit, I look at the man. “Hello, my name is Iota." I give a small bow with my head. “Thank you for helping us." 

Raucous laughter shakes the space we’re in, calling the cold to my chest again. Looking at me, the man laughs some more.“Boy, you’re pretty funny, going from threatening me to thanking me so fast. And with that strange white magic. Interesting folks I’ve found myself." He gestures to me and the boy and girl. “Between the two of you, you nearly outnumber all the oddities I’ve seen in my many years put together." 

Glancing between the siblings and the man, I ask, “Two? Aren’t there three of us, sir?” 

The man laughs again, almost coming to tears.“You mean this lad doesn’t even know your situation?” he asks the siblings.

They nod.“We’ve only met this kid once, in combat with bandits, he left immediately after," The girl’s eyes lock with mine, making me blush again. “I don’t think he knows his own situation." 

Panicked by her words, I almost shout, “What do you mean? My situation? What situation?” 

She looks at me flatly, unprovoked. “You’re sharing that body with at least two others, when you fell asleep a different boy woke up. He was a different height and age than you. That’s why that shirt is tied around your waist instead of the shorts on the floor," Her words shoot out like icicles, each new concept only deepening my confusion. With an icy gaze, she continues, “You also probably have no memories from before you beat the snot out of that bandit."

That's not right, I can remember… Nothing. She’s right, I can’t remember anything. My heart falls as the truth starts to sink in. I feel a large hand touch my shoulder. Startled by the sudden warmth, I look over. 

“It’s alright, bud, you’re safe now. I don’t plan on doing anything bad to you folks. When we get into town I’m going to bring you to my estate. Try to figure out how we can cover up this stuff to make it easier for you both." He looks over at the duo. “The two of you are going to be a problem for sure, any kind of magic sensor is going to freak out scanning you. No registering at any guilds, no large market transactions. I’m not sure what to do about it." The portly man rubs the back of his head. “I’ll figure something out." 

I eye the man closely, trying to somehow sense any deception. Giving up, I look up at the ceiling of the space we’re in. Small whispers reach my ears, slowly getting louder, until I can hear them faintly, but clearly. 

“That is good man," a childish voice whispers. “He don’t wanna hurt you." Silence reigns as the whispers stop. I glance at the man, who is lost in his own thoughts. 

Looking over at the duo, I tilt my head slightly. “If that’s my situation, what’s yours? You’ve also never told me your names." 

Two pairs of eyes stare me down as they answer curtly, “I’m Zenith, our situation is actually my situation." Both of them say the exact same thing as one. “These bodies only have one person that they share, me." The two people clap at exactly the same time with a shared smile. “Does that explain things?” 

Staring at them, I struggle to believe them. “Can I test it?” 

My begging makes their faces fall and they both give me annoyed looks. “Sure," the boy says reluctantly. 

Focusing on my hand, I feel the coldness spread out of my chest. The familiar white mist rises off my body, and I close my eyes. Countless vague shapes swirl around in a maelstrom of mist inside of me. I reach out my hand, trying to get someone's attention. I don’t have to wait long before a small hand grabs my finger. White, slow-moving smoke starts to become more defined, eventually forming the shape of a young child.

Speaking to the small thing, I ask, “Could you go over to my friend, the boy across from me? You only have to go in him for a minute, and then you can come back.” A suggestion of a smile breaks out over the lumpy face of the child-shaped cloud. Letting go of my hand, the child disappears. I open my eyes and look at the boy opposite me as the cold withdraws back into my heart. His eyes widen, and white mist floats off his skin. Hearing a laugh from Cleave, I look at the girl, who has also started to smoke. 

“Wow!” I squeak. “You really are one person." 

Giving me a death glare, Zenith smirks. “Told you so." The duo high five each other, causing another round of chuckles to roll out of the man next to me. The mist pulls towards me slightly and begins to fade. I  feel a prick of cold in my chest that soon vanishes. 

Cleave’s large hand claps me on the back.“Now, how the hell you do that, boy? First you glow with spooky smoke, but then you make them smoke too! Can you manipulate smoke, kid?” As he peppers me with questions, the man never loses his warm smile. 

I want to tell him, but I don’t really know what I did. I try to explain.“I closed my eyes, and there were many things. I reached out, and one of those things took my hand. It was smoke that shaped itself like a small kid. I asked it to go into Zenith for a moment, and then come back to me. Then it did." I meet Cleave’s eyes, hoping my explanation is enough. 

He holds his chin, thinking. “Ya know, that reminds me of when I was a small lad. I was in my family’s home late at night -" he smiles broadly, “sneaking out, of course - when I saw something like what you just said walking down the hall." Eyes widening, he grins at me. “Ya think it was a ghost? Maybe those things in you are ghosts too!” He claps with a laugh. “But who knows, maybe they’re air elementals or something." 

I stare at the floor. Cleave’s idea does sound pretty convincing. At least, I can’t think of anything better to explain it. 

The rythmic thumping of the thing we’re in changes into a clacking and clicking sound. Mildly startled, I look at the faces of the adults. Confused looks cover Zenith’s faces, while Cleave holds on to his apparently customary smile. 

“We's in town, kids!” he shouts. “Not long now and we’ll be home. Well, home for me, temporary home for you two." With a hint of mischief in his smile, he opens the door behind him to reveal a daunting sight.

Through the small doorway I see the tops of thatched roofs, somehow below the road. The city stretches beyond our view from the small door. Zenith looks at Cleave, who has a cheeky grin. “This is a town?” he asks the colorfully dressed man with a raised brow. 

“Yes, why?” 

“This is clearly a city, Cleave, it’s massive," 

Cleave looks genuinely confused as he glances out the door before turning back to Zenith. “This is massive? Wornsbirth is a smaller town, though. The capital is at least fifty miles ‘round. This town is barely twenty! Capital also has ten tiers, there's only two here!" He stares at Zenith with a furrowed brow. “Even if you lost your memories, why would this seem large to you? I don’t know of anywhere with towns much smaller than this." 

Cleave is interrupted by Zenith. “What’s a tier?” she asks. 

The large man runs his hand over his mouth, shocked. “Ya know, I’ll explain that later. We’ve about arrived." Moments later the room shakes, then lurches forward. Cleave hops out of the still open door. “C’mon kids, let's go inside." 

Zenith quickly jumps down after him. Moving to the doorway, I look out and am shocked. The so-called room I had been in was some sort of cart, being pulled by a massive and disgusting creature. That is not what shocked me, though, the massive house behind the creature is the really awe-worthy sight. A tall, square-ish building with slanted tile roofs looms over the three of us. Stretching at least four stories tall, nothing should be anywhere near taller than it. Behind the huge building, however, is a glowing, sky blue crystal that towers over the house. My mouth agape, I look at Cleave. 

Giving me a hefty pat on the back, he laughs. “What? Never seen a townheart before?”