The next morning it was time to travel to the capital. Sebastian was carrying my bags out to the velociter, while I ate breakfast with my family.
“Are you kids all ready to go?” Lenora asked between bites.
“I can’t speak for Fey, but I’m not a kid,” Kyla fussed.
“I’m older than you,” I reminded her, to which she rolled her eyes and took another bite of her food.
Titus cleared his throat. “Let’s not start the day off bickering.”
Lenora added, “even when you’re thirty, you’ll still be my kids.”
Kyla grumbled something under her breath, but I couldn’t make it out.
“The vehicles are both ready,” Sebastian announced.
Kyla perked up immediately. “I’m done eating, so let me know when it’s time to leave.” She’d only eaten half her food, but ran off before Lenora could protest.
I finished my second plate before scarfing down the un-bitten pieces of my sister's food, and an apple from a basket on the table.
As I was getting up from the table Lenora instructed, “Fey, could you let Emilia know it’s time to go?”
I froze. “Emilia is coming with us?” I asked hoping that she wasn’t.
Lenora nodded. “Some parts of the SAFE zone are still dangerous, you know that.”
“Yea, but why does Emilia need to come? You'll be there right? There shouldn’t be anything we need her for.”
“I’m out of practice, Fey. It’s just a precaution anyway. We probably won’t have any trouble, but better to be safe.”
Out of practice was an understatement. Thinking back I couldn’t recall ever seeing her use magic. Titus used magic for everything including household chores, but not Lenora. “Fine.” This wasn’t an argument I was going to win and most likely it wasn’t Lenora’s idea to bring Emilia along. The two of them didn’t like each other which was probably why I was asked to be the messenger.
I called Emilia on my comm and relayed the message, then grabbed my sword from my room and hurried to the velociter.
Titus had already left in one of the hovering machines. Emilia was waiting next to the remaining vehicle which made me think that Lenora and Kyla were already inside.
“Is that the special blade your dad had made for you?” Emilia asked.
Realizing she’d never seen it before I held out the haft and nodded. It looked like a plain little tube, but it was actually a very unique relic. It wasn’t the same as a spirit relic; actually it worked using the same technology that powered the velociter.
Emilia took the hilt from my hand and gave it a cursory examination before handing back. “How do you use it?” she asked, looking somewhat underwhelmed.
“Well it’s not customizable like other magic auxiliary devices, but if you press here…” I pressed on a nearly imperceptible button. A small magic crystal, hidden inside the haft, started to release its energy at a steady pace.
A sky blue blade of pure magical energy thrummed to life. It certainly wasn’t fancy, but my father had demonstrated its effectiveness on an old and malfunctioning velociter. The blade split metal without any resistance, and I assumed it would work similarly against any material lacking in magical defenses.
“Wow, that’s a nice toy,” Kyla exclaimed as she came out of the house. “Have a look at mine.”
Pulling a CAD from a clip that dangled from her belt loops, Kyla activated the device. The handle of a scythe extended in both directions from the small device. The blade was longer than she was tall.
Kyla never did anything halfway, so of course she had to properly display her skills. With practiced steps, she spun the large weapon around herself, then finished with a dramatic slash.
She probably didn’t intend to slice the support pillars holding the pergola above the porch. When the roof started to fall she panicked and shrieked. The CAD deactivated and Kyla curled into a ball.
If she’d remained calm then she could’ve saved herself. Instead, Emilia burst into action, using chantless spells like it was child’s play. First she zoomed across the fifty foot gap between us and appeared next to my sister, then she fired several small fire balls at the falling roof above them to break up the debris, and finally she used a burst of wind to blow away the loose rubble. The roof landed in heaps around them, and Kyla stopped trembling.
“That was way too close,” I breathed in relief after seeing that Kyla was safe. “You should really be more careful.”
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Frustrated, she shot back, “be more careful? I just almost died, Fey. How exactly is that comment helpful?”
The ride to the capital was much shorter than I expected it to be. I knew velociters were fast, but this was my first time taking a cross country trip.
On a map the space between my home and the capital was so vast that I imagined the journey would take more than a day. Instead, once we were out of Sordiev, it only took a few hours to cross the grasslands. We saw some grazing herds, and watched a team of adventurers slay a leatherback, but there was nothing else worth mentioning until the first glimpse of twelve massive towers broke the horizon.
“They weren’t kidding when they said the towers reach the heavens,” Kyla gaped with wide eyes.
“It must have taken giants to build that,” I added.
Ky scoffed, “yea… or magic.” Then she rolled her eyes as if this should’ve been the obvious conclusion.
She was right. Giants weren’t real anyway.
The closer we got the more massive and majestic the building appeared.
Sky Haven university was the pinnacle of architecture and the purpose of our move to the capital city. Its twelve impressive towers were so tall that they could be seen for several minutes before the rest of the city came into view.
“The towers are certainly impressive, but they are only one pearl of the capital’s many jewels,” my mother quietly added to the conversation.
“You’ve been here before?” I gasped, trying to recall the last time she’d left the house.
“Of course, I graduated from Sky Haven a few years before you were born.”
Kyla was already giggling before she said, “Fey, remember that old photo album?” I knew the one. At the sight of her quivering grin, my thoughts immediately landed on one picture. It was the only picture in the whole album worth seeing.
“Of course, I remember,” I smiled as I recalled finding the data stick labeled Sky Haven Memories. “Whatever happened to that goofy picture of you and your old Castle Game squad?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Lenora said while looking away from us.
“I know you remember. It was the one from right after your team won the national tournament. There were two big guys behind you and a geeky little girl to your right. She had humongous glasses. I’m pretty sure you were between her and another girl. I remember it because you were like a giant next to your teammates, but you were the only one on the team not looking at the camera. Your mouth was hanging open and—”
“It had been two days since I’d had a proper meal and someone happened to walk by with a tray of sweet jerky and baked apples. I’m surprised the rest of the team wasn’t focused on the food as well,” Lenora shouted.
Kyla and I both laughed, but Lenora got quiet and started watching the monitors that showed what was happening outside. Emilia had been quiet the entire way, but I caught her holding a hand in front of her mouth trying, but failing, to hide her amusement.
Our pace had slowed dramatically since entering the city, but soon we came to a large iron gate with the family crest at its center. As if sensing our arrival the gate opened on its own, then closed behind us. A short distance down the driveway was a charging dock where the velociter parked and replenished its mana. When the machine was no longer hovering, we stepped out to admire… or rather to scrutinize our new house.
“It’s kinda small,” Ky complained. “I thought you said this would be like a home away from home.”
“That doesn’t mean it’ll be the same size; besides, this house is more than twice as expensive as our house in the country,” Lenora replied.
“Seriously? But it’s less than half the size,” I mumbled as we shuffled into the foyer. “Even the ceilings are lower. It almost feels like— wait, what are those?”
Upon entering I noticed that this house was nothing like the one we lived in. There were little screens on just about every wall, presumably to control different features of the house. Curious, I stepped over to the nearest panel and began pressing buttons experimentally.
Within a few seconds the entryway and living space had transformed into a lush forest oasis. Part of the floor retracted to reveal an actual pond, and water poured from the ceiling into a hidden drain, forming a curtain that separated the living space from the entryway. As light from a large window passed through the water it separated into every color on the visible spectrum. An arch rose up out of the floor to allow us dry passage through the waterfall, and creatures of all kinds appeared inside the living room.
The trees, birds, insects, and beasts scattered about the living room were obviously only projections, but they appeared completely authentic. Some appeared to drink from the pond while others simply passed through the space and disappeared once out of view. The floor panels flipped over to create an uneven rocky terrain. The rocks were covered in moss and sparse grass grew between the stones.
Our house back home simply couldn’t compare. I didn’t even know houses like this existed, and there were still many other settings to play around with. I didn’t bother experimenting anymore just yet because I was much more interested in deciding which room would be mine. I knew Kyla was probably thinking the same.
I briefly made eye contact with my sister, then we both took off, racing to explore the house and lay dibs on any space or interesting items we came across.
“Hey! Don’t start— nevermind, just be at the dinner table by six or you won’t eat,” Lenora shouted after us.