<Jesse's POV>

I'm still surprised that Lukas came and followed me, but it's not important now. He has a point, too. He almost always does.

"What do you want here?" I ask. Something seems off about Ruby, and I can't figure out what.

She shrugs, revealing a strange marking on her jacket shoulder. An orange circle topped with red flames, over the word "Cintamani".

"The same as anyone; safety, shelter, maybe more people. Now, it's safety in numbers, not alone as before, no matter what anyone wishes."

I nod. "Can we trust you?"

"Depends. Do you think you can?" Ruby answers lightly.

"I'm not sure." I answer, truthfully. That's what's unnerving me about her. I can't tell if I can trust her or not.

"Good. Stay that way. You will live longer." She nods and stands, careful not to disturb the sleeping boys, and walks over to me. "You want to know if you can trust me?" She asks as she halts in front of me.

I nod. "Yeah. Why?"

She grabs my hand and presses two fingers against my wrist.

~Lukas's POV~

I'm standing right next to Jesse when she starts screaming, and I clap my hands over my ears and screw my eyes shut. When the screams die down, I slowly begin to open them again. Both the girls' eyes are closed, but with very different expressions. Ruby seems simply focused on a mental struggle, and Jesse has pain etched across her face. If it's a battle, it's clear who's winning.

Jesse shudders and collapses, breathing heavily, and I grab her under her arms, wrapping mine around her chest. Ruby just opens her eyes and mutters, "That was new."

"New?! You nearly killed her!" I cry, not caring who heard. "What was that? Some sort of mental attack or something?!"

"I just showed her why she can trust me. I've never seen someone react like that to a transfer before..." she trails off, clearly lost in thought.

"A transfer?" I ask. I have to admit, I'm curious. Even though this... "transfer" thing nearly killed Jesse, it sounds interesting.

"Well, I call it a transfer. Not sure what anyone else calls it." She shrugs. "It's where I show specific thoughts and memories to a person if I touch them in a certain way. Like this," she says, pressing a spot on her left wrist with her pointer and middle fingers.

"That's crazy," I say. Then my focus returns to Jesse. "Will she be okay?"

"She should be. No one's died of a transfer. Not one of mine anyways," she adds. "And I don't know anyone else who can transfer. So...yeah, probably."

"Helpful." I mutter, then feel Jesse shifting. "So, we can trust you and your friends?" I ask.

She nods, once. Straight to the point.

"Good. Wake them, and have them follow me. We need to get back to the others."

She nods again and shakes the boys awake. They wake quickly, and with only a few words from Ruby, understand the situation. I carefully shift Jesse onto my back, holding her gently by her forearms the way she had carried Petra back up after defeating PAMA, and we begin heading back up to the others.

<Jesse's POV>

Memories are flashing through my mind. People and places I have never seen are bouncing around my head, seizing my attention for brief spans of time, while all I can do is watch.

An image of a dark green book with a portrait of a light green head reminiscent of a horse's, but covered in scales and horns, with the golden word Inheritance beneath it.

A girl with greenish blue markings around her eyes leaping across a large lake, then shooting streams of water from her hands at a younger version of Ruby, laughing all the while.

The Founder, Isa, and an older Ruby, bowing to each other, then drawing swords, entering a dance of blades, as the Eversource, Benedict, looked on.

A young Harper and Ruby, sitting together and tinkering with a small cube I recognize as the little PAMA from the painting in Harper's lab.

A small group of people, all around Ruby's age, with different markings all across their bodies, playing a strange game where they grabbed each others' hands with their eyes closed and tried to untangle into a circle. The only boy, with a pale yellow spiral on his forehead, lifted his arm and spun Ruby beneath it, then saying something as she spun back, and everyone burst into laughter, including her.

That particular memory seems almost familiar, and I don't quite know why. But it is quickly swept away and replaced by another memory.

---------------------------------------------

After many more memories, the flood recedes, and I am returned to myself. I open one eye. Everything is blurry, but I can make out two people. One says something, and the other replies. I can't hear their voices. Why can't I hear them?

I can feel warmth around my hand. I lift my head, just barely, but the movement causes pain to ripple from my head down my back, and I groan.

The warmth grips tighter, and I recognize it now. It feels like a hand, holding my own. My eyes close, but I squeeze the hand, then pass out.

~Lukas's POV~

I look at Ruby. She presses two fingers against her temple, then says, quietly, "I think I passed all my memories to her, instead of just the ones I wanted to send. I think that's why she's taking so long to recover."

"Has that happened before?" I ask. "Passing all your memories to someone?"

She shakes her head. "No, but that doesn't mean it's not possible. So anything could happen."

I press Jesse's hand against my chest, hoping she'll be okay. But she's beyond mortal hope now. She's in the hands of luck, and her own strength.

I can only hope it's enough.

"Where did you get your transfer powers, anyway?" I ask, trying to distract myself from worrying. "Are you born with them, on your world?"

She shakes her head with a quiet laugh, drawing attention from the new boys. I still haven't figured out their names yet.

"No," she says, closing her eyes. "A few years ago, by my reckoning, everyone on my world woke up with strange markings. We discovered that they gave us special powers, after one of my friends accidentally transformed himself into a chicken. He managed to turn back, but..." she trails off, smiling at the memory.

"Can you show me yours?" I ask. She nods and pulls up her jacket sleeves, revealing two lavender dots on her right wrist, but not her left.

"They showed up in all sorts of places. Some people didn't know where they were unless someone told them." She gestured to the back of her neck, pulling her sleeves back down. "Each color and pattern represents a different ability. Each ability is unique, but the scholars were able to categorize them into general categories."

I check Jesse's pulse; it's quiet, but there. It suddenly speeds up, as though she's afraid, but calms again.

"What categories?" I ask. "If they're all different, how are they categorized?"

She shrugs. "Brown and green markings are animal and nature powers. Depending on the shade, blue is water or air powers. Red and orange are heat powers, like fire. Yellow heightens normal abilities. Metallic colors like silver and gold are metal powers. Paler colors are light, and darker colors with darkness. Purple and pink are other abilities. Something like that."

"And if it's like bluish green or something?" I ask.

"Whichever color is more dominant is the color of the power," she answers. Then she gasps slightly and points to my hand.

I had pulled off my gauntlets earlier, and on the back of my left hand, a curved purple teardrop had appeared while we were talking. It isn't just purple, I realize; it's a gradient, from a pink-tinged top to a dark violet end.

"I've never seen a gradient before," she says quietly. "So the powers have entered your world."

<Jesse's POV>

The hand is still clasped around my own. I struggle awake, blinking my eyes open. With the sun rising in front of the temple, I turn my head and see Lukas sleeping next to me. He's not wearing his armor or his jacket.

It takes me a moment to realize that there's something soft under my head, and another to connect the pieces. Lukas gave me his jacket as a kind of pillow. My cheeks warm. He's never taken off his jacket, not so far as I can remember.

I gently pull my hand out from his, unfold the jacket, and drape it over Lukas, then stand and look at the others. They're all asleep.

Then I notice Ruby's team, next to the map. The boys are asleep, but Ruby is sitting next to them, watching me.

I walk over unsteadily and sit down next to her. She immediately starts talking.

"Look, I'm sorry I did that transfer, okay? I sent all my memories over, instead of just the ones I wanted to. That's never happened to me before, not ever, and I had no idea it was possible-"

"Hey, it's okay," I say. "I get that you weren't trying to kill me. But next time, please tell people what you're going to do."

She visibly loosens. "Okay. Good." Then she twists her left hand over her chest. "Atra esterni ono thelduin, Jesse."

"Atta who-what?" I ask, confused.

"May the stars watch over you," she translates. "It's a greeting, and a sort-of goodbye, as well as a blessing, from a book I read. Inheritance. You saw that, right?"

"I think I did." She nods, revealing the long scar across her face. "Where did that come from?" I ask, pointing to it. "The scar?"

Ruby touches it, then grimaces. "I got into a fight." She clearly doesn't want to say more, and I'm fine with that. I'll find the memory eventually. I hope.

Maybe not.

My train of thought changes. "Why can you do that? The...transfer? Is it related to your scar?"

She shakes her head. "No, not really. I explained it to your - Lukas. Everyone just got special powers one day, with these markings. You saw them in the memories."

The memory of the laughing group comes back to me. "Yeah. Do you know why?"

"No, but I think the powers have arrived here as well." She gestures to Lukas, and we walk closer. I spot a strange purple marking on his hand.

"Is this-" I begin, tracing the marking.

"Yes. We're not sure what he can do now yet. I've never seen gradients like this before."

He stirs, blinking. "Hey," he says, seeing me. "You're awake?"

~Lukas's POV~

She's finally awake!

Jesse answers, "No, you're hallucinating." I grin, pulling on my jacket, and stand up.

"You doing okay?" I ask.

"You mean, after finding out we've been gone from home for twenty years, being knocked out by someone else's memories, and waking up to find out that one of my best friends has superpowers?" She looks down at her feet. "Fine, I guess."

"Fair enough," Ruby responds. "Look, your friends are waking up."

We head over to where they're waking. Petra sees us first, and waves. A gradient orange-to-red flame shimmers on her cheek.

"Who's the new guy?" She asks.

"Ruby," Ruby replies. "You?"

"My name's Petra." They shake hands, and I notice that Ruby makes sure not to touch her wrist.

"That's Ivor, and Harper," I say, pointing to the older two. Harper has a gold-to-silver circle with small cubes poking out of it around one eye, and Ivor has several green-to-blue lines emerging from the collar of his robes.

She nods. "My friends are Sammy and William," she says, gesturing to black-hair and blond-hair, respectively. I can't see either of their markings yet. Speaking of which, I don't see Jesse's, either. That worries me.

After introducing Ivor and Harper to the newcomers, I say, "We need to find where Axel and Olivia are now. Jesse, is the amulet still fixed to the old Order?"

"Yeah, it is," she answers. "And I don't know how to change it. I have ideas, but they require us all to be together to work."

"And it's possible that Axel and Olivia have gone somewhere else while we were looking for home." Petra adds. "Maybe we should split up. That way, we can cover more ground."

"A good plan," Harper agrees. "And we'll meet back up here in ten days, okay? No matter what."

"Yes. No matter what happens. Ten days, we'll wait for another three, and then we'll assume anyone who doesn't arrive is dead. Good?"

We all agree.