I opened my eyes.
Purple sky. Not sunset purple. Wrong purple. The kind that made my brain immediately start arguing with itself about whether I was still on the same planet.
And two moons.
Two.
Side by side like someone had copy-pasted the first one and forgotten to delete the draft. Both full. Both impossibly detailed. I could see craters on the closer one and some kind of atmospheric shimmer around the farther one and my brain was very calmly informing me that this was not how moons worked.
"What the hell," I said.
"Yeah Veilgate's got a whole vibe going on." The voice came from above me. "First time seeing the double moon setup? It freaks everyone out. Chat loves watching newbies figure it out."
I shifted my focus down from the sky.
Pink hair. That was the first thing. Not natural pink like some people's hair catches light weird. Actual pink. Bright pink that faded into something close to hot pink at the ends, pulled up into this high ponytail that had one piece sticking straight up like it was asking a question the rest of her hair wasn't interested in answering.
Purple eyes. Same color family as the sky, different enough to be its own statement. Round glasses perched on her nose, not the practical kind, the kind that said she'd spent money on frames. She held them in one hand instead of wearing them, which seemed like a choice.
Curves. Okay. Yeah. The kind that made her armor fit in ways armor probably wasn't designed for and she absolutely knew it. Dark plates with these glowing purple runes etched in, tight enough that I could see exactly where the armor ended and she began. A crop top situation under the chest piece. Skirt that would be criminally short in any context except apparently this one. Thigh-highs. Boots. Some kind of chain belt with a pentagram buckle that I was ninety percent sure was decorative.
She was kneeling next to me with this expression that sat somewhere between concerned and entertained.
"So," she said. Her voice had energy, the kind that suggested she was performing even when no one was watching. "Why'd you awaken so late? This is the Awakening area. Everyone shows up here like, immediately after the ceremony. You're hours behind schedule."
I blinked at her.
"Did you faint from excitement?" Her grin got wider. "Oh my god that would be amazing. Chat, what do you think? New awakened passes out from the rush and wakes up six hours later?"
She looked slightly to the left of my face. Talking to something I couldn't see.
Chat.
Oh.
"You're streaming this," I said.
"Obviously." She gestured at something clipped to her collar. Small device. Eye-shaped. Glowing faint blue. "CassiaLive, eighty-four hundred followers, thank you for noticing."
"Yeah I got knocked out," I said. Not a lie. The hand. The light. The roof splitting open. All technically knockouts. "Where am I?"
"Veilgate City!" She spread her arms like she was presenting a prize. "The city of dreams and nightmares alike! Where fortunes are made and idiots die broke! My name's Cassia, nice to meet ya!"
I sat up. My head didn't explode. Good start.
"Wait." I looked at her. Then at the sky. Then at the two moons that were definitely still there and definitely still wrong. "I'm in Veilgate?"
"Uh yeah, that's literally what I just said, dude." She tilted her head. "You hit your head or something?"
The laugh started small. Just a breath. Then it got bigger. I couldn't stop it. My shoulders shook and I put my face in my hands and laughed harder, the sound coming out rough and uncontrolled and I didn't care.
Veilgate.
I was in Veilgate.
The city you could only reach if you were Awakened. The city that required a license the stone had just told me I couldn't earn. The city that was supposed to be on the other side of a door I wasn't allowed through.
I was here anyway.
"Chat he's losing it." Cassia leaned closer to her Eye device. "New guy wakes up, finds out where he is, immediately goes crazy. This is peak content. Should I be worried? I feel like I should be worried."
I dropped my hands. Looked at her. Still laughing.
"I'm great," I said. "Never better. Best night of my life actually."
"Okay so definitely concussed." She stood up, brushing dust off her skirt. "Well this has been fun but I've got a Floor One run scheduled and Chat's already complaining about the lack of action content, so."
"Right." I got my feet under me. Stood. The ground was solid. Real. "Thanks for waking me up. See ya."
I made it three steps before she called after me.
"Wait!"
I stopped. Turned.
She jogged over, ponytail bouncing. "My interview!"
"Your what."
"Interview! For the stream!" She gestured at the Eye. "I always interview new Awakened for the channel. It's like, my thing. Twenty questions, gets great engagement, Chat loves it. You look interesting. Weird, but interesting. That plays well."
I looked at her. She looked back with this expression that was half genuine excitement and half calculation, like she was already editing the footage in her head.
"What's in it for me?" I asked.
"Exposure! You'll be on my channel! Eighty-four hundred people!"
"Pass."
"Wait wait wait." She stepped in front of me. Close enough that I could smell something floral. Perfume probably. "Okay what if I sweeten the deal. You do the interview, I'll give you the newbie rundown. Where to get gear, where not to get gear, which brokers aren't complete scammers, how to not die immediately on Floor One. That's worth like, at least three Beast Cores of information."
"I don't know what a Beast Core is worth."
"Exactly! You need me!"
She wasn't wrong. I'd gotten into Veilgate through a method that I was sixty percent sure wasn't standard procedure and my total knowledge of how this city worked was approximately zero. Having a guide, even a guide who was clearly using me for content, was better than wandering around looking lost.
Also.
The alternative was figuring it out alone. And I'd spent the last two hours on a roof convinced my future had ended. Now I was standing under two moons in the one city I wasn't supposed to reach, and a girl with pink hair was offering me information in exchange for twenty questions.
I could do twenty questions.
"Fine," I said.
"Yes!" She clapped. "Okay. Chat we're doing this. New awakened interview, live, unscripted, pure content." She adjusted the Eye on her collar, angling it to catch both of us.
"Alright. First question. What's your name?"