Jamie woke up in their bed to a massive rumbling sound, upon waking up, it wasn’t just a sound it was a feeling, shaking every bone in their body. Fearing an earthquake they quickly ducked under their bed.
After a half an hour of staying there while everything on the shelves or hung up on the wall has shaken loose to the floor, Jamie heard something other than the rumbling; voices screaming outside from the main road.
Jamie quickly decided that even though the room was shaking, the fact nothing has fallen or crashed in the last few minutes, that it just might be safe enough to go outside. They donned some clothes that had shaken out of the closet and crawled their way out of the front door.
A few were standing, looking around, but many could only watch as massive marble columns appeared around the lower parts of the mountain. Curving around the side of the massive rock they traced its outline on the forest around it.
“What the absolute…” Jamie was cut off as they looked down from the side of the mountain they call home as the entirety of the massive rock lurched upward.
It was not gentle, the massive, heaving pile of earth kept pushing, jumping off of the ground. Shaking everyone on the mountain much worse than it had been before when it must have been pushing those pillars out of the earth. After the sixth or seventh jump, the mountain stopped shaking entirely.
Jamie watched in shock, amazement, and mild horror as the floor just outside of the range of the massive pillars fell away. Getting smaller and smaller…
“Whew, glad that’s over.” Billy Joe said just to the left of Jamie, her voice thick with an Appalachian accent it was only obtainable by someone who lived in a mountain-town.
Jamie looked at her, their face drained of all color, looking near ghastly as they told her, “L-Look down.”
Jamie grabbed Billy Joe’s shirt collar making sure she wouldn’t fall as she did. All sound coming from the frightened girl stopped.
Jamie gazed at her with a far away look in their eyes, still in shock. “I need you to go get the mayor.”
There wasn’t much conversation after that as Billy Joe ran off like hellfire was on her heels. Jamie just watched as the surrounding forest got farther and farther away from the base of the mountain, cutting them off from the outside world. After the mayor got there and looked over the side of the mountain along with Jamie, he called a meeting in an hour, deciding to gather as many people as possible before making any decisions in the small newly reopened town.
As Jamie walked into the small town hall alongside Billy Joe they both sat near the back before being ushered up to the front by the mayor’s aid. There were only forty five people in the room, the entire adult population of Barthell, a small town reinvigorated by the early 2030’s push for more “back to nature” living. What was once a ghost town with a pleasant museum became the seed of a new city, and most importantly, a community.
"I know things have been tough for the last five years.” Mayor Darnell began, “And I know that the return of magic a few months ago rocked the whole damn world…” As the mayor paused hushed whispers filled the room as those not in the know guessed about what this could possibly be.
Raising a hand, Darnell waited until the room was quiet, surprisingly the room died down in the span of ten seconds and he continued. “Before I continue, I would like to begin this by saying Jerome my younger brother has been running around the edges of our fair town and has found something interesting. There is a portal on three of the roads coming into town, It appears it is safe to pass through them and you will appear on the road where it was before if you climb, drive, or walk through them.”
A tall, well built woman loudly asks from her seat, “And why would we need these portals?”
Darnell raised his hand and waited politely again as silence drifted back over the room. “That’s exactly what I’m getting at Clarice, it appears that this morning's quake was not what we thought it was. What I can only call a ‘Mountain Quake’ separated us from the ground. We have begun floating in the air not a far distance from where we came loose.”
Another loud wave of discussion washed over the small town hall, Clarice the butcher speaking up again. “A-And what are you going to do about it? Are we safe? Will we just fall out of the sky to our doom?” She seemed to be keeping a hold of herself but concern and fear were evident in the strong woman’s voice.
Darnell didn’t even have to raise his hand, the entire room was laser focused on his response. The man smiled at them all, a half-hearted gesture of reassurance. “From what we can tell with our telescope, the entire mountain range has taken off, not just ours. There are other floating islands, we saw two come close like they would impact each other, but some force seemed to just… bounce them apart.
“As for falling, I don’t think so, while I’ll need to call for some help; I don’t think we’ll be killed so easily. The pillars seem to have writing on them, old and faded, I can only assume this is some of the blasted magic. They were probably there far longer than anyone living in this area, and the portals make me think that this area is genuinely meant as a safe place to live if it has such ready-made connections.” The man’s logic seemed to calm down the majority of the room, a lot of breaths people were holding simultaneously escaped everyone’s lips.
Darnell continued before someone else asked a question, “I have already made a call to the federal govt. They should be sending a magic specialist to come give us the details. Until then, I have been told that anyone who wants to leave now, may do so as the portals seem stable and without ill-effect.”
Roughly five people from different seats all got up at this point and left. Everyone else sat patiently, waiting on Darnell's words. Jamie was no different, however, they just could not contain their curiosity. “So uhm… does this mean we live on a literal flying island now? Does that mean there’s more magic or whatever around us?”
Darnell nodded slowly, “Yeah, those of us who’ve already learned to see mana can tell it’s becoming more dense in the area. My own running theory is… well that the land is returning to what it was before the Sundering. When I brought up the pillars to the big wigs they all seemed to agree, which let me tell ya’ll don’t happen often.”
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A loud yell of approval could be heard from a majority of the room as two more people left, leaving only thirty-eight. Word of magically enhanced areas becoming tourist spots and ways to bring in extra revenue had already enamored the small town.
That no-name town near the grand canyon was rolling in it now. A few of them had no doubt secretly been hoping for this, the call of adventure lighting a flame in the hearts of those who seek it out.
Darnell raised his hand again, signaling everyone to quiet down. “Now, everyone, please tidy everything up, secure items you think need securing. I am told the expert will be here tomorrow. We’re getting the very best so everyone, please give them a good impression of us.” The mayor half-joked, then continued, “it’s not every day a being from thousands of years in the past visits your town.”
Jamie sighed as Darnell called the meeting to a close, Billy Joe nearly jumping out of her seat the second the ending gavel hit the wood signaling no new news for the day.
“Now I bet you’re real glad you took that house.” Billy Joe elbowed Jamie’s side lightly, referring to Jamie’s dirt-cheap home they had bought when they came here four years ago. The four room home had only been in the few thousands of dollars and it had a quite prestigious view… of a paper factory. Well, that was the old view, now there was the beautiful yet terrifying visage of looking out over the rocky expanse… and seeing a several hundred foot drop.
“Well, not really, I’m kinda afraid of heights, to be honest,” Jamie said sheepishly. “I’m almost afraid the entire thing will fall off the mountain with me in it.”
Billy joe laughed and slapped her friend on their back, making Jamie jump forward a little bit while walking. “I’ll sure up your foundation, been watching those late-night government approved seminars on basic mana use. Turns out I have a real knack for the earth stuff, your house will be so stable by the time I’m done that if this mountain turns upside down it’ll still be stuck on.”
Jamie’s mind was filled with images of the mountain pulling aileron rolls and nearly hurled. “Yeah, Yeah, honestly though after you do that I may just sell it, move more into town.”
Billy Joe nodded, “I understand, especially since ‘into town’ is a bit of a new concept eh? We kinda just lived where we wanted around here…”
Jamie nodded with a smile on their face, “Besides, Auntie Christia has been wanting me to take over the shop, she’s looking into retirement soon.”
“I know it’s your day off Jamie but, considering everything, shouldn’t we go look in on her?” Billy joe asked kindly, her own grandmother having passed recently so the thought of the elderly woman alone during all of this insanity was grating on her.
Jamie piqued up, “I don’t see why not.”
The two walked into the middle of town, or at least what everyone in the area referred to as ‘town’. In reality it was just a few buildings south of the town hall. A small clinic close to the hall for a doctor, a general store. Two warehouses, one for the general store, and the other for the cold-food store. The ancient buildings in the town created before the “superstore” boom that nearly ended the world in the 020’s.
However, the last building near the center of the town was an old antiques shop named “Savvy Scavengers, odds and ends for the discerning mind.” The owner is an old woman, she appeared in town a year and a half ago, renovating the small building and turning the second floor into a home. Just past the town hall, one could find anything from VHS tapes to lost treasures of forgotten peoples.
As Jamie stepped in from the dirt road outside a bell rung as they opened the door. “Heya Auntie Christia, it’s me an Billy Joe.”
A short elderly woman appeared from behind a stack of books, the shop in more disarray than normal. Charts lined the tables as the elderly woman becons the two of them in. “Come, Come, I am nearing a breakthrough, both of you, take a book.”
She came over to the front door, grabbing them both and pushing them into deep, soft comfy chairs and handing them each a book. “Read! Find anything you can about the wandering mountains!”
Jamie spoke up first, “Wandering mountains? Is that what’s going on?”
Auntie Christia moved quickly, getting very close to their face, her nose two inches from theirs. Jamie could smell the old woman’s breath, sugary and slightly rancid, like she had dessert before bed and didn’t brush,“SHHHHHHHHHH! Talk later, read now.” The woman began rambling, negating her own words. “By my research and calculations, it’s not over yet! Well, the flying bit is, I’ll tell ya, that was a surprise this morning, wait… no…. Anyway.”
She pulled a dining chair over, spinning it around and spreading her legs, sitting in it like a father getting ready to give a child some ‘important talk.’ “Magic is returning, finding the little nooks and crannies it once upheld in ancient times. I cannot tell the difference between what will soon be fact, and what is fiction. However, it seems to follow some sort of logic.”
Auntie Christia took off her reading glasses, placing them on Jamies face with a massive grin. “Alright apprentice, what’s the difference?” Jamie blinked, the thick bifocals making it hard to see anything more than color splotches where dressers and shelves used to be. It didn’t clear up until they looked upward, their eyes adjusting to the different glass half on top.
Jamie looked around, splotches of blue, green, black, and brilliant white shown all around the room, like they’re just a glob of colored oil in a massive pool of water. “Wh-what’s that? Why are there… pools? Pools of color all over the place? It’s like when you shake up water and oil and it starts to begin settling.”
Auntie Christia took the glasses and put them back on. “That… started happening about five minutes after the quakes stopped. These are one hundred and fifty year old reading glasses, I use them to keep my eyes from tiring, and now… now I think they let me see the mana.”
Billy Joe looked shocked but quickly recovered, smiling at the both of them. “FINALLY! Every time I go to the doctor they tell me those colors are all in my head.”
Both Jamie and Auntie looked at her with a confused glance and she continued. “Well, you know I've been going out of town to see a specialist? Well for the last month I've been seeing colors like Jamie just described.” Billy Joe beamed, finally finding an explanation for the weird goings on.
“Well, that could be quite useful girl, I’ll have to speak with you later. Anyway, from my research, and just looking at things around my shop, I can see mana settling, finding the oldest things it can to bind itself to, my glasses must have fit that criteria.” The excitement seems gone from the old woman’s tone, more exhausted than exuberant anymore. “I-I want to study these changes, no, I NEED to, as an academic, a scholar, and as an antiquities dealer.”
Jamie looked at her and sighed, knowing what was coming next, “let me guess, it’s time for me to take over here at the shop?” They let out a sigh, having been asked by the woman seven times in the last two weeks.
“Huh? Oh, that’s your choice, truthfully I was holding out for you to make the right one. But you don’t have to. Either you take over, or the shop will be closed, I've never felt this giddy about research before. So much to learn, so much to rediscover, these are secrets lost to humanity for generations!” She nearly squealed at the last bit, her eagerness showing.
Jamie sighed and smiled at her, “Promise to help if I need it? I’m not a master scavenger like you are mam, I just don’t know certain things yet.”
The older woman beamed a smile at them and winked, “That’s just half the fun, truthfully, I think I'm right back at square one with you.”
None of the three humans noticed a long thin line of red mana slowly funnel into a small old mining lantern.