The crashing of the waves at the base of the cliffs was like static to Lex, loud but easily tuned out, as she stood gazing out to the west. Sea birds circled overhead, calling out to one another in a cacophony that was much harder to ignore than the waves. The sun dimmed as it sank lower into the sky, turning from a glowing orange to a deep red that glittered on the top of the waves. Lex sighed, a small smile creeping across her lips as she wrapped her jacket tighter and the evening breeze began to turn cold. 

Color soon faded from the clouds as the sun disappeared over the horizon and the birds continued to squawk as they began to flock back to the rocky cliffs to bed down in their nests for the night. Turning, Lex caught sight of Aydin where he was sweeping debris out the front door of the abandoned cottage. He took no notice as he pushed the broom across the warped boards, clearing out dried leaves, twigs, and years of dust. From the chimney, a small plume of smoke was puffing and a warm hearth was suddenly a very enticing invitation. 

Aydin looked up from his sweeping as she approached, “It’s such a grand sight isn’t it. Makes you wonder where the sun goes every night, doesn’t it?” 

“Doesn’t the world just spin around?” 

“Spin?” he asked incredulously. “What, like a top?” 

Lex shrugged, “Yeah, more or less. Spins ‘round while it orbits.” 

“Why would it do that?” 

Now Lex was the one who was dumbfounded. “Why wouldn’t it? The earth is round, like a globe- a sphere. It spins while it travels around the sun in an orbit designated by the pull of gravity.” She pantomimed the motions of the sun and the earth with her hands while she explained. 

“Is that how your world works?” Aydin asked, genuine curiosity furrowed in his brow. 

“Yes, I-” Lex stopped short as she remembered she wasn’t in her world, but his. This wasn’t the earth she knew and the laws of science didn’t necessarily apply here. After all, Aydin could use magic and she had seen a real life unicorn not two weeks ago. “In my world. I guess I don’t really know how it works here.” 

Aydin chuckled as they sat down to warm themselves by the fire. “I don’t think anyone here really knows how it works. We know the stories of the gods, and I know better than anyone that most of them are true, at least in some part. But there’s no story about where the sun goes at night other than off to sleep.” 

Lex fidgeted with the iron poker while the logs cracked in the heat of the fire. “Aren’t you curious to find out?” 

“How would I do that?” 

“Has no one sailed around the world?” 

Aydin thought about it for a moment. “Not to my knowledge.”

“Then let’s get a boat and go on a trip.” 

“Where to?” 

“To find out,” Lex said as the firelight glittered in her eyes.