Wherever she's unexpected, it's night, and it's cold. That's not too much of a problem, though; there are plenty of lights around, and the road beneath the eight year old's feet is quite warm. The place is rather deserted, but the scenery's pretty. There are well cared for gardens, with some of the plants contained glowing subtly, and there are two moons perched delicately in the sky.

There looks to be some kind of doorway, there, freestanding. It is magic; the room through it has sunlight streaming in through a skylight. There are other doors in it, and they are similarly magical.

Oh, that's promising. It's not the nice bar, but it's something. Pen approaches the freestanding doorway inquisitively.

It is pretty nonthreatening! It could actually be a regular doorway, except for the fact that it goes to a place far away. And has nothing at all behind it but wall. A warm breeze floats through the door.

It behaves exactly like an ordinary door! Except now, she is in a room with a lot of magical doors to other places. It's noticeably warmer here.

She peers around at the additional doors in case any of them lead to the bar.

Not a one.

Rats. Well, where do they go?

Lots of places, it looks like. There's some sort of theme, though - bright, well shaded day, or well-lit, frigid night. One would think it'd just be the magic adjusting, but there are no inert lights where there is also sunlight, and no places for shade where there is night.

"Don't know language," sighs Pen. "Only Samarian and English and Edori and Callian."

"Thankfully I just needed to identify yours," says the man in Samarian. "Hello. You look very lost. Can I help?"

"So lost! Do you knowing how go Milliways? Jane put home if I go there asking her, but none of Jane here, no ones of Mommy or Daddy or sisters or anybody."

"I don't know of Milliways. Another plane, I assume? I might be able to find it, if you can specify it exactly enough, or have something from there."

"Milliways is nice bar! Is for going to new places, except did not bring any Jane," she jangles her bracelets; the light catches the opal embedded in her arm, "so cannot going back from this new place."

"Hm, going to new places," muses the man. "Sounds interesting. And somewhat dangerous. Jane... Sounds like a name, but you use it as a noun?"

"Jane her name," says Pen.

"And... If something of hers were here she could bring you back?" he guesses.

"A gem. Mommies have gems of Janes with them all time, but not me. So Jane can't putting me home."

"Ah." He'd comment on the bad design, but she likely knows already. He'll leave it. "Well, aiming for a bar's difficult, but I can try. Is there anything else I can use to find where you came from? I can trace genetics, if your mommies are related to you."

Pen giggles. "Mommy is related! Other Mommies don't know, maybe, probably sort of."

"Then I will look for the one mommy first, and try looking for the others, too, if that doesn't work," he says. "Would you like to come to my home for tea while I look?"

"Okay."

Sit. "Um? If she notice but not knowing who or why might be scary."

"Is she likely to turn me into a little smear of mage paste for scaring her?"

"No. If notice, finding out what happening first."

"Oh good. I do so like not being mage paste. Then with your permission, I'll try to scry her."

Nod nod.

"Atlantis?" guesses Pen dubiously.

"That my mommy," confirms Pen.

"Glad I found her, then," he says, and he dismisses the illusion. He rubs the bridge of his nose. "Good news. I know where she is. Bad news, she's - uh, likely too far away for me to just take you there myself. Mm. I might be able to work out how to send a message or something if you think she can get here on her own, but transportation would take a while."

"She talking Shell Bell maybe, who can do things for Milliways door," says Pen. "Maybe could be find me. But did not could find the ones Mommies who going awful Janebreaker world..."

Her no-named magical helper person nods. "Then I'll try for communication first, then, working together is sort of helpful for these sorts of things."

"Mmhm. Could putting me any world where a Jane? Also works. If they closer."

"Excellent idea. Which gem on your mother's person is Jane's?"

"One on one her bracelets. Nnnnnot sure which."

"She some of her in back yard there, some Downside some other places, why?"

"Wherever she is, I can't scry it. That's what that dramatic flinching was."

"Oh. Milliways kind of special world thing."

"They mostly all looking the same except one who not a her and my own one."

"Ah. Pity. No value in a description, then?"

"Maybe figuring which one from clothes or something."

"Tab," identifies Pen, peering at her.

"Well, she'll be the one we send the message to, then. When I work out how..."

"How do sending messages between worlds having no Jane? With Jane she bounce them. Not between worlds is just" [this thing.]

"Okay, make sense. How put it?"

"Uh, long story short, magic. But I'd need to talk to some people, call in some favors, it's - rather far away. I couldn't do it by myself."

"You have sharing magic?"

"Ah, no. If I have kids, they have it, but I can't get other people magic, unfortunately."

"Wishing it on maybe?"

"I don't know the specifics involved in making wishes, I wouldn't know. It'd be nice if you could, if leading towards causing a social upheaval."

"There bunches of magic that can wish on. Not all kind though."

"Well, that's useful. We'll see, I suppose."

"Mmhm. And the mommies put a Jane here probably!"

"I don't know what the result of that would be."

"Then can coming going here easy."

"Well, yes, but what would they do with the ability to get here easily? Just visit for tea and crumpets? Attempt to take over the world? Spruce up the place with magic and keep everything tidy? Invade?"

Pen giggles. "Sprucing! Isn't any one Mommy here to giving presents for doing it herself so maybe not as much."

"I see," he says. "Is there a good example of a world they spruced that I could look at?"

"All their ones but some have going longer than others. Ummmmmm Pattern had so long a time in Origin doing things while Jane break."

"What are the identifying characteristics of Pattern and Origin?"

"I will look for an empire on a ringed planet," he says. "Later, I mean. Not now. One thing at a time, I think."

"'Kay."

"Okay."

"Would you like to pick your room?"

"Mmkay. Need big bed for wings." Wingflap.

She is a small angel. She flops experimentally on the bed. "Okay," she says.

"Excellent. Tea's ready, as well."

"Tea!" She hops up.

"Sort of. Very intellectual, if you want to do anything with other planes at all. You can use brute force, but that costs more, whereas a more clever, mathy solution costs less. For already expensive stuff like planar transpotation... Brute force is somewhat impossible without a large group of mages."

Nod nod.

"I having three sisters. They older, I am littlest and have not any other ones of me only one Pen, but are two more Dars, one more Keziah, one more Ariel."

"I have only one sister. She's my twin," says the man who still hasn't given his name.

"Twins! There a one Mommy who having a twin." Pause. "Hey, what your name?"

"Am Pen," she says again. "Shorter for Peninnah. Is okay."

Pen says, "Bored."

"Well," asks Adarin reasonably, "What do you do for fun?"

"Flying singing reading talking to people playing games."

"Are there any of those that you'd like to do right now?"

"Whatever, but needing know where fly, and not to bother you singing talking playing, and have a book in language, to do whatever."

"I can take care of the flight later, but it'll take a little while. I don't believe I'll be bothered if you sing."

Pen amuses herself singing assorted pretty songs she knows by heart.

It is very cute.