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Kael wandered down the hallway to Laura's dorm room. The 'roo's toes pushed against the short navy carpet as he walked, making him wonder about how often the floors were cleaned. 'In a dorm, they're probably never clean enough.'

He placed a paw on the white concrete brick wall beside the white wolf's door. 'Damn Matt had to go and get himself hurt. No way I could ask Laura out now, not when we're all focused on him.' Shrugging his shoulders in defeat, the kangaroo pushed the wooden door open and hopped into Laura's room.

The white wolf had on paw on her round hips as she paced the room. She turned to Kael and shook her head slightly as he sat on a wooden stool near the wall, opposite her bed. He kept quiet as Laura continued her phone conversation.

"Yes, I know there are clients to think of. I'm sorry it's a problem, but my friend comes first. He was severely injured and his family is thousands of kilometers away. That hasn't changed in the past day." Laura took her paw off her hip and waved it in the air in a circle. "If worse comes to worse, pretend it's all part of the gig. Make them wait and want for more. I mean, I'm supposed to be in charge, right?"

Kael's eyebrows shot up as his tail thumped against the wall. Laura turned to him and put a finger to her mouth brusquely, signaling him to be quiet.

"Good, thank you. I really am sorry, and I'll keep in touch. Hopefully my friend recovers soon. Bye."

After pressing a button on her phone to hang up on the call, Laura flopped down onto her bed. "Seriously, hospitality is a pain in the ass, Kael," she sighed, sitting up and winking at the rotund 'roo.

"What the hell do you do for work, dudette?"

"Oh, nothing interesting, Kael. Trust me, you don't really care," the wolf flipped her long white hair behind her head and checked her alarm clock out of the corner of her eye. "It'll be my shift at the hospital soon."

The kangaroo bit his tongue lightly. 'Why does she always dodge that question? And why do I get the nagging feeling that I might be better off not knowing?'

Kael ran his fingers through his mop of black hair rather than voicing his question. "So I went and asked one of the physics profs about the whole Many Worlds Interpretation and magic thing."

"And?" Laura leaned in, her blue eyes peering into the 'roo's green.

"And I was laughed right out of the dude's office," Kael kicked the floor with one of his long feet. "Not that I really expected otherwise, but I really hope I don't get him as a prof next year, or if I do that he doesn't remember me."

"I'm sure it'll be fine, you're pretty smart Kael. You'll get it figured out." Swinging her own feet back to the floor from the bed, Laura pulled herself up. Kael watched as she puttered around the room, filling her backpack with textbooks, binders, and snacks.

"I wonder if Matt is really stuck in Ameranth, or if he's actually in some sort of coma?" the white wolf mused aloud. Kael stood up as well, moving to the door. "I mean, maybe he's not in a coma or stuck in Ameranth. Maybe he's just asleep?"

"It's been like thirty hours, Laura. He's not just asleep at this point." Kael frowned. "There has to be some way to bring him back here, some way to reach him." The kangaroo blanched a bit as a thought occurred to him, 'Other than carving messages into his skin, anyhow.'

Laura's head cocked to the side for just a moment before she threw on her backpack over her sleeveless blouse. "All right, Kael. I need to go, or I'll be late."

The white wolf attempted to push past the kangaroo, but Kael grabbed her quickly and pulled her into his arms, hugging her tight for but a moment. Laura's eyes went wide, but she hugged him back gently. Releasing his grip, Kael stepped back, allowing her out of her own room as he stared at his feet, his shaggy black hair covering his eyes. Laura quirked an eyebrow, then shook her head and left, leaving the kangaroo standing in her room.

* * * * *

Jay sat in the metal fold-out chair, his tail threaded through the space between the seat and the back and swaying slowly as the nurse checked Matt's IV. The doe gave the cougar a quick nod as she stood up straight and readjusted her lavender scrubs, apparently satisfied with the equipment.

Jay scooted closer again as the doe left, grabbing Matt's limp paw carefully. His husky was still asleep, completely unaware of the world around him as far as Jay could tell. Matt's bandages had been changed, and the cougar could see the white chest fur sticking out between them.

"Hey Matt," Jay started quietly, looking down at the paw he held. "My shift is almost over. Laura will be here soon. The past couple of days have been pretty crazy. I know I've been pretty quiet while I've been here, but I've been doing a lot of thinking."

The cougar sighed, leaning back again and playing with the earrings in his left ear. "I just, I don't know. It's stupid. The cops have been here, again and again, checking up on you. I'm afraid they'll take you away once you're awake. Thankfully they've let us stay with you, but I just finally got let into your world and I don't to be ripped out of it because the police want to detain you for trespassing or something. It's probably worse, since they keep coming back. They probably know." Jay leaned forward and kissed Matt's forehead softly, smoothing back the husky's blue hair and inhaling his sweet scent.

"I didn't know anything about why you were holding yourself back from me. I thought maybe you were afraid, or not out, or just flaky." He snorted, shaking his head. "Turns out it was a lot more involved than that. And now I'm neck deep in it too. It scares the crap out of me, but I'm still happy, you know? The fur that I...the fur that I love is a hero! Or will be. Straight out of a fantasy novel. You'd better wake up soon Matt, and don't let furs like the cops here push you away from me. I'll be here for you, like I know you're there for me."

"I wonder if I'll ever be so lucky."

Jay's head snapped up at the sing-song voice at the door. "How long were you standing there, Laura?" he asked the white wolf with the grin on her muzzle.

"Since around 'I just finally got let into your world.'" Laura moved over to Jay and gave the cougar a gentle hug after setting her bag down beside his chair. "You're a good fur, Jay Richardson. Matt's incredibly lucky to have you."

"Funny, I feel lucky having Matt."

"Well, then you're both lucky." Laura stepped back, letting Jay get out of the chair. "Did he ever tell you I tried to ask him out at the beginning of the school year?"

Crossing his arms over his white muscle shirt, Jay cocked his head at the white wolf. "Actually, no. Wait, didn't you two know each other for years?"

Laura laughed, "Yes! I know, and I had no clue. He was in my room talking to me about how noisy his neighbors were at night, back in September. I had a crush on him for years, but I figured, hey, it's college, why not turn that leaf and get more out of my shell?" The white wolf shrugged and rubbed the dyed stripes on her arm. "So I ask him, point-blank, if he wanted to go for dinner and dancing. Poor clueless guy, he said something about the cafeteria serving meatloaf, and I had to correct him. That I wanted to go out for dinner and dancing." Laura leaned towards the cougar with each word, emphasizing them. "I think he panicked. He just held his mouth open and stared at me, kinda like a fish. Took him a second to kick start himself again, but when he did, he had just blurted out that he couldn't dance. Turned and ran right into the closed door." She shrugged wryly and giggled at the memory. "He didn't actually tell me the real reason until a couple weeks later."

"Huh, he's a terrible liar, how did you not figure it out earlier?"

"Wishful thinking." The white wolf flashed a toothy grin at the cougar. "But you're his first real boyfriend."

Jay's eyebrows shot up as his ears twitched. "Really? He's never mentioned that."

Laura nodded. "It's true, as far as I can tell. Oh, he's had a few dates, and I don't think he's entirely...inexperienced." The white wolf saw Jay's ears flush red with that statement and her smile grew even wider. "But you're his first big emotional connection outside of friends and family. You might be slightly younger, but I get the feeling that you're probably worldlier than he is when it comes to dating and sex. Just keep that in mind."

Jay nodded, his paw firmly attached to his earrings again, feeling the studs under his pads. "Yeah, I figured. I don't want to fuck this up, Laura. Matt's awesome." The cougar wandered over to the television that was hanging from the wall and grabbed his own book bag from the seat below it. "So what's going to happen if the worlds really are merging?"

"There's a curve ball," Laura stated as she sat down in the seat Jay had vacated. "I don't know. There're furs in both worlds that have no idea about the other. Ameranth sounds like it's medieval, where we have all this technology," she swept one arm around the room, "But they have magic. What about existing buildings and geography, on both sides? How will our religions take the actual existence of magic, or Ameranth's deities, which sound a lot more concrete and involved than our own? Or politics?"

"Wow, yeah, I didn't even think about half of that." The cougar was still playing with one ear, his tail swaying with his thoughts. He grimaced. "I was also thinking about us. And Matt. The cops and who knows who else saw that demon, and at least the furs in the helicopters saw magic in use. Heck, everyone saw when Matt," Jay's breath hitched, "When Matt almost fell off the building and floated right back." The cougar lowered his voice and leaned towards Laura, "I'm honestly not sure why we haven't been questioned yet. We were there too, and it's pretty obvious we're connected to Matt."

"I don't know, Jay. I don't think there's much we can do here. If Matt wakes up,"

"When. When Matt wakes up," Jay corrected firmly.

Laura grinned at the cougar and nodded, "When Matt wakes up we'll have to play it by ear. I'm sure the police will interrogate him. Hopefully we can be there to help him."

"I will be," Jay declared as he left the room, waving goodbye to the white wolf.

* * * * *

"Again."

Matt rolled his eyes at the dark jaguar and stepped forward. Thirty meters away stood a group of wooden crates, blackened but otherwise unharmed. The husky touched the red gem on his staff and pointed the weapon at the pile of crates. A streak of red light shot from tip of the staff and slammed into the crates, ballooning into a ball of fire that enveloped them. The flames dissipated almost immediately, however, and the crates were still standing. Mildly more scorched, but unmoved.

"Fire on its own can be damaging and distracting, but in combat it's rarely immediately deadly," Kazar intoned, moving up beside the husky. "Skin can burn and bubble, clothes and fur can smolder and even catch fire themselves."

Kazar reached over to Matt's staff and gripped the wooden rod around the ruby embedded in it. The dark jaguar's yellow eyes narrowed as he pointed at the crates. A laser of red shot from his paw and barreled into the crates, exploding with a boom that vibrated right through Matt. When the smoke and fire cleared a few seconds later, the crates had been scattered around the stone courtyard.

"But even a fireball is more than fire. Apply pressure using wind to increase the concussive force to feed the fire, knock your opponent off his feet, and give you precious time to line up another spell. Again."

The jaguar's ears flicked as he waved a paw, the wind picking up the crates and stacking them. Matt growled his impatience, then closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He reached for the red gem on his staff, but this time left his thumb on the topaz as he slid his paw up. Pointing his weapon at the crates, he fired a bullet of red light and felt it explode against the crates. When the fireball had cleared, the crates had toppled over.

"Excellent. Weak, but perfectly executed. As usual, power will come with practice." Kazar walked over to the crates and picked them up by paw, piling them by the wall. "That will be it for myself. I have research that must be conducted on a timely basis, or my experiments will be ruined. Feel free to continue practicing in the courtyard, or use the academy's library. I've let the faculty know that you are effectively enrolled here temporarily."

Matt nodded, exhausted from practicing magic all morning. The husky sat down on a stone bench nearby as Kazar walked off the academy grounds into the street and out of Matt's vision.

Matt wearily looked around at the academy grounds. According to Rhisanth and Kazar, this was the premier mage academy in all of Easthaven, and given that the country's government was run by mages, that was saying a lot. The academy was huge, with approximately fifteen buildings of various sizes - mostly large - made of black brick that seemed to shine in the sunlight. The grounds themselves were immaculately curated, with pristine white stone walls and a massive courtyard filled with hedges, benches, and practice areas. Flagstones were embedded in the ground, creating pictures of various landscapes and creatures under foot. Matt's bench was nearby an image of a sun being eclipsed by a purple moon.

A shadow fell over the husky, blocking his light and causing him to look up.

"Matt?" a white-robed cougar asked excitedly, a book under one arm and a smile under his pert nose. His muzzle was accentuated with two strips of brown fur that looked almost like a mustache.

'Jay? No, Jason!' Matt smiled at the cougar, a little slowly but sincerely. "Hello, Jason. It's good to see you again!"

Jason sat beside the husky, setting his book down on his lap before turning to Matt. "I wondered if I was ever going to see you again. After you saved that family's pup, you just collapsed and then disappeared while I was holding you. The entire village was terrified."

'He really does look identical to Jay. It's like when I saw Rhisanth on Earth. It's like there are a bunch of body doubles running around both worlds. I wonder if mine is running around here.'

"Oh, sorry about that," Matt said sheepishly, running his paw through his blue hair. The husky had to stop himself from staring at the cougar and consciously tried to look at the artwork below their feet. "I, uh, am not from around here. I haven't really figured out how I get from place to place, to be honest."

"That sounds...complicated," Jason said with a flick of his ears.

"It probably is. So what brings you here? Easthaven is a fair distance from your village, right?" Matt mentally kicked himself. 'I need to actually study a map of this place sometime.'

"In a completely different country, actually," the cougar corrected. He grinned at the grey-blue husky. "I came here after realizing that I didn't actually know enough magic to be that helpful to my village. I have you to thank for that, actually."

"Wait, what?"

"I saw how you just walked into that burning house, you saved the pup and kept yourself and the child safe from the demon. I couldn't do that."

Matt shook his head slowly. "But you had to save me in the end. I probably would've been hurt or even killed in that fall." A moment passed before the husky realized he was staring at the cougar's face again. Jason coughed a little and stood up, holding his book in front of his chest.

"Well, I have class. Turns out that I have some talent with magic, so they took me in without any tuition. I have to make sure I take advantage of it and not slack off. Goodbye, Matt." Jason smiled and dipped his head in farewell before turning and walking towards the cluster of buildings across the courtyard.

Watching the cougar, Matt stood up himself and stretched. 'Ugh, I made that so awkward. But I should talk to Rhisanth about that whole body double thing. This is too strange to be a coincidence at this point. I don't really know where to find him, though. Maybe I'll ask him or Kazar next time I see them.'

Matt walked towards the gates to the city proper. 'Might as well go back to the inn and get some sleep. Today's been exhausting all around. Who knows how long I'll have before things get nuts again.'

* * * * *

The white wolf continuously tapped her pencil against the edge of her textbook, her nose scrunched up in concentration. When she stopped tapping to write down the answer to the exercise, the rhythmic noise continued, but from the doorway rather than her. She brushed aside her white bangs with her free paw and smiled at the kangaroo as he walked in the room.

"Hey Laura," Kael whispered. "I'm here to send you home. I brought Matt a visitor, too."

Behind the rotund 'roo came a massive moose. He was nearly seven feet with his antlers, ducking as he entered the room, and quite muscular to boot. Dressed in a black kilt with a brown vest that nearly matched the color of his short fur, Laura was immediately smitten. She made sure to give the male her flashiest smile.

"Oh, hey there Kael. Who's the handsome guy?" She stood up to greet the moose, who gave her a perfunctory nod before turning his attention to Matt. Her bubble burst as soon as she saw how tender the moose was as he gently stroked the husky's arm. 'Of course he's gay. All the good looking guys are taken or gay.'

Kael cleared his throat, clearly picking up on the flirting mishap before Laura had. "This is Chris. He's a classmate of Matt's."

"Hi," he said quietly, his attention still on the comatose husky. After a few moments of awkward silence, he looked up and smiled at the white wolf. "You must be Laura. Matt's talked about you a lot." His voice was deliberate, but still low. "I can watch Matt for a bit, if you two would like."

Kael had started to shake his head, but Laura interrupted before the 'roo could voice his objections. "That's nice of you, but we wouldn't want to put you out. We have a deal with the police where the three of us can watch Matt. Getting that changed on short notice might be a bit difficult," the white wolf fibbed. "But perhaps you can watch him for a minute while Kael and I grab some coffee down the hall."

The moose nodded slowly, a frown on his long muzzle. Laura took the opportunity to grab Kael's arm and pull the 'roo into the corridor past the current officer on duty, who was napping on the job. The lynx was snoring softly in the chair.

"Uh, you know the dude's gay, right?" Kael asked, his voice quiet so that Chris couldn't overhear their conversation.

Laura rolled her eyes and bared her fangs. "Yes, thank you Captain Obvious. Not like I didn't pick up on it when he started pawing at Matt's arm," she huffed, her ears flat against her head as she walked towards the lounge.

"So, we actually getting coffee, dudette? 'Cause I could probably use some for my shift."

Laura nodded, "Sure. Listen, I think something is seriously wrong with Matt."

Kael stopped and looked at white wolf, thumping his thick tail on the linoleum floor. "Why's that?"

"You know how in his normal narcoleptic attacks he's always moving around a lot? Twitching, moaning, yelling, and so on? Well I've seen none of that. Jay said he hadn't seen Matt move at all as well."

"So you think the dude's actually full out comatose?" Kael stroked his black goatee in thought, staring at the ceiling. They continued to the lounge, where the coffee makers were situated. There were very few furs around at midnight, most having gone home to sleep. "So why haven't we heard from Matt's parents? I mean, I know he doesn't get along with them, but I don't think they hate him."

Laura rubbed the black stripes dyed into her arm and looked at her feet.

"You didn't call them, did you?"

The white wolf bit her lip and shook her head, avoiding Kael's gaze. "No, I didn't. And even if Matt's parents did show up, what happens then? They try and take over one of our shifts, Matt gets injured in Ameranth, and then what?"

"I..." Kael started, then closed his eyes and sighed. "You're right. Man, what a pain. But we're going to have to tell them soon. I mean, if they haven't already figured out something is strange by the news. I've also told the library about what happened, since Matt's missing work."

The pair had reached the coffee machines, and Kael was stuffing a dollar into it when a high-pitched wail sounded in the building. The few furs in the lounge looked up with worry as an announcement came on.

"We have multiple code silvers. I repeat, we have multiple code silvers. This is not a drill."

"What's a code silver?" a basset hound wearing too much lipstick asked no one.

Laura and Kael looked at each other and began to run back to Matt's room. As they left the lounge, they overheard a doctor ushering people out of the lounge. "We must find a secure room and barricade ourselves for safety. Come with me, folks."

The last statement from the fur in charge chilled Laura to the bone. "Code silver means the building is under attack."