Chương 15: Chapter 14

The trolley rumbled along the track. The view of one side's windows was dominated by the black wall, while the other showed the same urban sea Cal had seen on his arrival. A slight jerk indicated a change in direction, and the wall faded from view as the vehicle traveled into the city. It was now the weekend, and Cal, along with his two companions, was taking a trip to the city. True to Alice's word, there had been another option than walking all those steps.

At the western end of the Academy lay the station that was responsible for most of the movement to and from the city. The cart sported two rows of booth seats on either side, with a narrow alley to walk by. The booths were made of dark wood, and the seats a red leather, a familiar motif. It wasn't the best use of space, even if the group had plenty at the moment. The Junior year students were not allowed to travel without a guardian, so that limited the number of current customers.

That would change on the return when it carried all the Senior students moving back into the dorms this weekend. That would be a future hurdle; for now, he needed to survive the next couple of hours. He tuned out the chatter beside him, focusing on the city instead. It passed quickly underneath them as they continued their descent. The engine that pushed them was silent, allowing the life of the city to reach his ears. Horns, laughter, and yelling all mixed in a confusing melody.

He sat with his legs crossed, a raised foot bobbing up and down. A bird flew past the window. Cal wished he could join it—to just fly around carefree all day. Reflecting on his encounter, he'd realized his actual mistake. Magic shells were considered the bridge between the two branches of magic. The middle ground of using it internally or externally. It followed that common practice was to use it as a sort of way station for the magic leaving your body before employing it for manifestations.

Common practice did not account for the sheer quantity of magic his shell had contained. Even so, that hadn't been the problem. It was that controlling it required the entirety of his concentration. So much so that he hadn't noticed one of his better skills biting him in the ass. Cal had always been a miser, and if an opponent was going to sloppily throw good magic at him, he'd gladly wrestle control of it. It was so drilled into him at this point that no input was required, simply second nature.

The Spirit, for all its power, had surprisingly piss-poor control of the magic it wielded. Cal had stolen a lot. More than he should have. It intermingled with his already overflowing shell, and the results were predictable. He was thankful the Spirit had managed to knock him out of it. Otherwise, he was liable to grant the Board's wish in record time. How it accomplished that was a mystery. It didn't feel like any magic he'd ever encountered. Perhaps it was something unique to Spirits?

He hoped not to come to blows with it again, but it was something to watch out for going forward. Lost in his thoughts, he nearly missed their arrival. Following his companions outside, he was met with an orderly but tightly packed crowd waiting to replace them. His group wasted no time circling around them. As they passed through, Cal noticed display boards showing a long list of arrival and departure times. The station he was at wasn't a hub; it was simply the one dedicated to serving the Academy's needs.

If he ever needed to travel elsewhere, he'd have to connect to the main station and go from there. He didn't imagine he'd be using it for city travel, but in the event he had to travel outside for some reason, it'd be useful to know. They left the congested station, coming out into the light. He was greeted by a large square buzzing with activity. At the side was a large line of automobiles disembarking passengers.

The rest of the area held pedestrians who walked in all directions with wide steps, destinations in mind. The borders of the square had shops of various kinds. Eateries, clothing, souvenirs, there wasn't a consistent theme Cal could pin down. At the center, a shining statue of gold stood prominently. The subject had a palm raised to the sky, a lit flame flickering. Its face enraptured Cal. It wasn't the features; they didn't look too different from other statues he'd seen in the past.

Despite this, there was a certain feeling the artist had managed to convey; the figure looked forlorn but resolute. Tearing his eyes away, they drifted down towards the plaque on the pedestal. From this distance, he could tell it had been a later addition. Fingers snapped in front of his face.

"Helloooo, anyone home in there?" Lily nudged Alice.

"You really dug him out from the boonies, didn't ya?"

"Enough teasing, Lily." Alice moved past both of them and set off in a certain direction.

"Come, we have much to do." Cal spared another glance at the statue and then felt a tug on his sleeve as Lily pulled him to catch up to Alice.

"If you're that curious, it's the twenty-first Emperor. He rose to power during the Fall and was responsible for the defense of the city." He yanked his arm free and shot her an annoyed look.

"What?" She batted her eyes at him as they continued to walk.

"Afraid more pictures will leak on the forums? Oh, whatever will we do?" She said in a dramatic tone, holding the back of her hand to her forehead.

"In my defense." Cal grumbled to show his irritation.

"You both put out a PR statement for the last time something like that happened."

"This and that are different," Lily said matter of factly.

"Something as small as a picture could be easily taken out of context or faked." Sure, he just expected them to blow it out of proportion like the last one.

"Lily is not entirely wrong. We were responding to the public display and not the pictures themselves." Alice contributed now that they walked in one group.

"I do appreciate the prudence in notifying me." He'd regretted doing so, given how insufferable Lily had been since. The street they now traveled was unexpected. Given the age of the city, small windy roads wouldn't be out of place. Instead, it was plenty wide and mostly straight. Well-kept polished stone made the path, and street lamps hung in front of the storefronts they passed. It didn't smell either. At least it didn't reek of human excrement and garbage.

For a city of this size, that spoke of a complex sewer system and trash collection service. He didn't care about the latter; however, the former added to the potential of a subterranean level. He already suspected the presence of a vast one; these types of cities tended to be built on the remains of the old. Do that for a few generations, and suddenly there could be a vast network of tunnels and structures with no one the wiser. A perfect breeding ground for cultists and other Ne'er-do-wells.

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. He put the thought of those ilks out of his mind for now, looking at the people up here instead. They matched the space. All were properly groomed and dressed. A pair of uniformed soldiers moved to the side as they passed, offering his group a respectful nod. The pair were not alone in that; nobody was gawking at them, but there was an invisible bubble that all the other pedestrians avoided.

He was accustomed to similar actions; only here it didn't seem to be entirely motivated by fear. They weren't in their Academy uniforms, so Cal wondered how they'd been identified as nobles in the first place. He didn't think their clothes were that different from the others; maybe they all had some sort of sixth sense about it. Alice and Lily turned into one of the shops. He hesitated but ultimately entered. There would be time later to slip away.

The only other occupants were the mannequins adorned in different styles; conspicuously, there was a lack of clothing racks for a store that supposedly sold them.

"Lady Ardere and Lady Arcutien." A woman walked out from the back. Her purple hair had streaks of grey and was put into a bob, various pin needles sticking out of it. She was dressed in a patchwork robe. Rather than look shoddy, the robe somehow gave a sense of elegance.

"I'm honored you've chosen to patronize my establishment once more." Her eyes turned to him and he shifted uncomfortably.

"And Mr. Ardere, a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Miss Plusier and will be taking care of you today." She finished with a curtsy. Cal turned around, ready to walk out, only to find Lily already in his path with crossed arms and a smirk laced with ill intent.

"Please forgive my brother's behavior." Alice's voice was heard behind him.

"He is still adjusting to the intricacies of nobility." Reluctantly, Cal turned around to see Miss Plusier was still examining him.

"Not to worry." She said with a strange smile. It almost came off as manic to him, but that couldn't be right.

"The Lady of House Ardere has told me all I need to know." She clapped and hangers flew out from the back room carrying articles of clothing.

"Let's get started. Shall we?" — The hells were an odd place. He'd had the misfortune of visiting once, and while he couldn't put a finger on what was wrong, it was evident something was. If he had to describe it, he'd say it was a feeling of up being down, down being left. The disorientation wasn't helped by the vindictive and malicious company. Then there were the demons, who, as a rule, were extremely territorial, generally unpleasant, and took offense to their very being.

If that wasn't enough, he'd even had to do some babysitting. 3/10 worst vacation he'd ever gone on. By the twelfth outfit he was thrust into, he'd started to look back on it fondly. At least when someone tried to stab him, he returned the favor. And Miss Plusier WAS trying to stab him. No matter how much Lily called him a baby, there was no reason that much force needed to be used on those needles. His suffering was not in vain, as he did walk out with a new wardrobe.

It was Claire being generous again, under the guise of it not being appropriate for a member of House Ardere to have such a limited clothing selection. He was under the impression the trunks they'd sent with him here were enough, but as he was learning, nobles had dubious standards. Once he was sorted, he'd naively believed they to be done. He'd forgotten about his companions who underwent the same treatment, albeit with much less stabbing and complaints. Small mercies, they didn't ask for his opinion on anything.

At one point he attempted to sneak out but found the lock wouldn't budge. He opted to sit in a corner and wait rather than commit property damage. There had been enough of that lately. With time, he was finally released back into the city, and they had lunch in a private room. For being a house in dire straits, the family threw money around easily enough. How much was thrown was difficult to determine, as he'd never seen or heard prices being discussed.

Not that knowing that would help much when he didn't have any scale for how much things were worth in this country. You'd think that would be included in the primer. Lunch proved to be only an intermission; once concluded, they were back at it, though the focus had shifted entirely to the girls' shopping needs. He used the word needs generously. Cal was dragged from shop to shop. With no understanding of why they bothered to keep him around.

He wasn't even a bag mule; all of their purchases were getting shipped to the dorms directly. He tried to entertain himself by looking for a souvenir. The list of people he was willing to get one for was small. From there, one person was clearly more deserving than the rest. He wouldn't go as far as to say Gerald and he were friends. They were cordial with one another, and while that was better than he could say of most, it wasn't enough to go out of his way for the man.

What did earn him the consideration was his job. In Cal's personal opinion, it was the hardest job in the whole of the Federation. Being Millie's handler. Of course, who handled who was a fiercely debated topic. Cal didn't know what the man liked, which was a bit of a roadblock. Currently, he was leaning towards getting him a bunch of coffee beans. Sadly, the stores they visited didn't cater to that, most of them being some form of accessory or beauty product establishment.

He toyed with the idea of getting some concealer to hide the dark circles that seemed a permanent feature on Gerald's face. It might get Millie to stop calling the poor man Panda. Unfortunately, he didn't know the dude's natural skin color that well. His search helped but did not negate the mind-numbing boredom that came with shopping. Silver linings, the trip did have the unexpected benefit of acclimatizing him to this 'new' environment.

It had been a long time since he'd been in such an active and dense urban environment; the Academy itself was the busiest place he'd been this life, but it was mitigated by half the student body having yet to arrive. Still, more than once he regretted leaving his phone behind; browsing the forums would have given him a better way to pass the time. Funnily, that ended up being the reason he noticed the shift that occurred when Lily tapped Alice on the shoulder and nodded her head in a certain direction.

Alice stiffened, and Cal followed their gazes toward a pair of young men heading in their direction. They were easy to spot, given the uniforms they wore. The one in the lead had neatly combed dark blue hair and walked with sure steps. He had similar trappings as Alice and Lily. The other's uniform matched closer to Cal's. His head, covered with a mop of gray hair, bobbed up and down as he struggled to keep up with the other boy. His hands moved wildly as he tried to convey something.

He noticed the temperature start to rise. Lily grabbed them both by the wrist, using her strength to haul them down a side street. He let it happen, somewhat curious as to what could provoke such a reaction from Alice. Other than himself. Lily led them both down several streets until they crossed a dessert storefront. Wordlessly, she released them and bolted inside, soon returning with both hands occupied. She held one out to Alice, who took the offering, tearing into it.

A startling sight for someone so concerned with her image. Lily was about to bite into her own before remembering his existence. She broke hers in half, offering one side to him. He received it without comment, biting into it. It was good, some type of meringues. They ate in silence. He read the mood and decided to break it.

"So anyone going to explain what that was about?" He asked while wiping the remains of his dessert on his jacket. Alice's eyes narrowed at his action, but Lily was the one to respond.

"A spineless worm and leech." She gave an unlady-like snort.

"While I'd love nothing more than for you to give them the same treatment as the prince, they fall under the 'just walk the other way' category I told you about before." Alice visibly bristled, the ends of her hair curling upwards. She paused, closing her eyes and taking a breath. With a sedate pace, she produced a handkerchief from somewhere and wiped her hands.

"Marcus Procellae is a respected member of the student body and nobility." Her words felt artificial, recited.

"Less can be said about his companion." The handkerchief was lit in an instant, and its ashes were carried away by the wind.

"Lily is correct; it's best to avoid them as we've done." Procellae, that was the duke family that had frozen the Ardere out, wasn't it? If so, her reaction made sense.

"I fear the day has soured and we've already accomplished our task," Alice spoke, her voice still carrying some edge to it.

"Let us return then; we cannot be certain how long the wait for a place on the transport will take." Lily placed a hand on her friend's shoulder and gave a short squeeze. They both turned towards the direction of the Academy.

"You two go ahead." Cal had other plans.

"I'm going to do some exploring on my own."

"I think not." Alice's hair whipped out as she faced him.

"Mother would be furious if she found I left you unattended in the city."

"About that." He had humored them enough today.

"I don't care." He exploded in a burst of speed, greater than he used against her before but not to the extent he'd used against the prince. As he pulled away, he saw Lily's eyes track him. She made no move to stop him. He traveled along the rooftops, taking care not to damage any of them. He heard no cries in the distance; they must have not wanted to cause a scene. More of a scene, that is, the rush of wind with his departure must have caused some.

Well, wind was better than relying on pure force and ripping up the road. Now to find some Zor Melon fruit.