Nic stepped into the carriage behind Ordwell. On one side of the carriage, Aria was leaning against the wall, her eyes looking somewhere far away. Ordwell sat opposite of her, and yet she didn’t even seem to see him.
Nic instinctively sat next to Aria. He wasn’t trying to disturb her or interrupt whatever she was thinking about. Sitting next to her was the only place that Nic felt at peace currently. Just being near her helped him calm down and get through all of the emotions swirling around inside his head.
He wasn’t dumb. Nic knew that his recent silence and lack of outward emotions had worried those around him. The death of his father still lay heavy on his heart. He had been so close to finally getting some sort of common ground with the man. Nic had finally understood why his parents had been so adamant about him staying away from his family’s past. He was so close to being able to apologize to his father for being as stubborn as he had been. But also so close to showing his father what hope could look like. And it had been taken away from him before he even knew it.
Crying seemed like the obvious path that he should take. And Nic did cry nearly the entire night after he was told of his father's passing. Maybe he should have been more open about it in front of others.
They were all facing the same pain. That was what he told himself. It was for that reason that he decided to suck it up and try to act naturally in front of others. When he woke up, Aria had been doing something similar, or at least he thought she had been.
Somewhere along the way, his plan had failed. Instead of appearing collected as Aria had, Nic instead appeared distant at all times. All of this from the whirling emotions in his heart.
But when he was next to Aria, the whirling emotions simply faded. A maelstrom of pain, sorrow, more positive feelings like hope and joy, and many others that Nic himself could not identify. This maelstrom disappeared whenever he was by her.
The carriage began its journey towards Sanum while Nic had been thinking. Once it exited the town of Aric the road turned from stone to dirt and the carriage began the long, bumpy trek through the wooded forest.
The journey lasted less than a day. As the sun rose to its highest point in the sky, Ordwell began striking up conversations with Nic and Aria. They talked about many things to pass the time.
As the sun was nearing its crossing of the horizon, Nic began hearing voices outside of the carriage. He leaned over and peeked out of the window. In front of them was a mountain. The only mountain in the immediate area. On that mountain lay the oldest City-State, created mere months after the Irradiated Winter three hundred years past.
“We are arriving in Sanum, Nic. Remember, while you are here, you are Nic Healstry, not Nic Verilo, got it?” Ordwell sighed as he spoke, leaning back into his seat and closing his eyes.
“Yea, I understand.” A small noise escaped Nic’s stomach, quickly followed by a similar noise from Aria’s. They had stopped on the road to eat a quick meal but it had been hours since that stop. Both of them were growing hungry again.
“Hahaha! Once we get to my house, I’ll have the servants begin making us dinner.” Ordwell heartily laughed at the two noises coming from the young ones in the carriage. He opened his eyes, seemingly remembering something as he made a motion with his right hand in the air. “That’s right. Aria, Sarman and Yuuki should also be arriving at the house around the same time as us. I’m sure they will be glad to join us for dinner!”
“I see…” Nic looked between the two of them. The names weren’t familiar to him, but the people who had them clearly had some importance to Aria. Nic knew that Aria had left some friends behind when her family moved to Aric six years prior. If these were those friends, she should be happy to see them, and that’s all that Nic cared about. Though the face she had was one of worry instead of happiness.
“Ahahaha! Larry, catch!”
“No fair, I wasn’t ready!”
“It’s your fault for staring at the carriage like that!”
The sounds of two kids drew Nic back to the window. The field they were passing by was currently occupied by a group of young kids. They were throwing balls back and forth to each other in some kind of game that Nic didn’t know. Beyond them were fields as far as Nic could see. Many types of crops could be seen being grown across the horizon. Animals dotted the landscape quite frequently. In contrast to the number of buildings in the area.
“Is this also a part of Sanum?” Nic posed the question to Ordwell, who was staring at him.
“Yes, we're currently on the outskirts. Most of the people that live here are farmers. They collectively provide enough food for the entire rest of the city that lives on Mount Sanum.” Ordwell leaned over and pointed towards the mountain itself. “And before you ask, the Mountain was named after the city and not the other way. It used to have a different name before the Irradiated Winter… Before a city rested on top of it.”
“How far up the mountain do you live? I imagine as the leader of the city it is somewhere near the top?” Nic didn’t know how the city was laid out, but he could see that the buildings near the top were larger overall than those down the mountain.
“Near the top, yes. Though it isn’t the highest building. The ones at the very top consist of the Senate chambers, where my senate meets to discuss government issues, the Royal University, which you two will be attending in just over a month, and Sanum's police force headquarters.” Ordwell effortlessly offered Nic a detailed answer to his question.
The carriage continued through the city. Nic saw many different kinds of Demi-Humans mingling around outside of the carriage alongside humans. When living in Aric, he had been able to count the number of different Demi-Humans he had seen on one hand. But now he could nearly as many as there were Humans. Elves of many different tribes mingled with Beast People as they bartered trades of food and clothes. Humans sat outside a small pub, drinking alongside Beast People with wings connected to their arms and Elves with fiery red hair. Kids with dog tails, elven ears, and many others ran throughout the street, playing all sorts of games.
As they got higher up the mountain, the crowds slowly dispersed. It didn’t take long from there for the carriage to come to a stop by a gate.
“We’re here. Welcome to your new home for the next year.” Ordwell offered his welcoming statement as he got out of the carriage. Standing to the side, he let Aria and Nic come to face the building in front of them.
Beyond the gate was a massive building, far greater than anything Nic had ever seen. It dwarfed the largest building in Aric, the farmhouses, by magnitudes. A garden spread between the gate and the entrance to the building itself. Situated on an incline that ran counter to the path, one side ran up while the other ran down. Of course, the path itself was flat, someone of such high status would never settle for anything less. On the side of the path that went up, red flowers bloomed periodically along the hedges. On the side that angled down, blue flowers grew more sporadically, growing more frequent the further away from the path they got. A tree was situated in the middle, its leaves still growing back from the last winter season.
Ordwell led Aria and Nic down the path, smiling as Nic looked at the gardens on either side of them. He had never seen any garden as large or as well-kept as this one.
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Deep golden rays of sunlight peeked over the mountain ridge, turning the pristine white marble columns lining the front of the large mansion, painting them a brilliant orange. The door that loomed in front of the group was made of majestic dark brown wood. It held a sheen that Nic had never seen any wood hold before.
A servant opened the door as Ordwell walked up the white stairs leading to it. Nic gasped slightly as he saw the inside of the mansion. Vibrant red carpets lined the floor, sitting atop wood the same color as the door they passed through. The walls were white, though they weren’t marble like the pillars outside. Extravagant chandeliers hung from the ceiling every few Mer, giving off light from the candles they held.
One wall was lined with tables, plants, and statues. Occasionally doors made of the same wood sat inlaid in the wall. Just from the entrance of the mansion, Nic could see nearly a dozen doors leading to other rooms.
The wall opposite was mostly full of windows. They led out into an inner courtyard inside of the mansion. While it was mostly an extension of the gardens seen out front, a single tree stood out immensely. Situated in the center of the inner courtyard was a large tree, unlike any Nic had ever seen. Its branches were full of small pink leaves.
“Oh, Yuuki’s tree has grown quite tall.” Aria saw the tree as well and commented on it.
“Yuuki’s tree?” Once again, Nic was hearing the name Yuuki.
“Ah, yes. Yuuki is another person living in this mansion. You should meet her tonight at dinner. As for the tree, she is originally from the Eastern country of Kyoku. This type of tree is native to that country. When she moved to Sanum, she brought a seed with her. That seed has grown into this tree.” Ordwell explained the situation to Nic as he led them down the corridor.
Near the end, he opened a set of double doors, leading Nic and Aria into a large room containing a long table. Food was already situated down it. More food than Nic had ever seen in one place. Maybe only the farmstead back in Aric had more food than this. Ordwell sat at the head of the table, motioning for Nic and Aria to sit on the left side of the table.
Aria confidently took her seat next to Ordwell and quickly grabbed some food off of the platters in the center of the table. The two of them, Aria and Ordwell, were used to this. At the very least Aria had been through it before and was comfortable with eating at a table this big, with this much food to choose from.
Nic hesitated. He reached out and put his hand on the chair but couldn’t bring himself to pull it out. He had caused the death of his father and Aria’s mother. Why should he be allowed to eat something like this?
“Nic, sit down and eat.” Aria had already filled her plate with an assortment of food and was beginning to put some on Nic’s plate. The smell of the plate wafted up. The pleasant smell caused Nic’s stomach to make noise again. Drawn in by his own body’s begging for food, Nic sat down and gingerly picked up a fork.
The main dish was pulled beef. There were potatoes, vegetables and a salad made up of many different types of greens accompanying it. It took only a single bite of the meat for Nic to fall in love with it. The meat seemed to melt in his mouth, releasing a wave of seasoned flavors that captured every taste bud of Nics. He quickly took another bite. Then one of each of the sides. With each bite, his face grew softer and softer as he let his worries fade into the recesses of his mind. Though he was too absorbed in his food to notice, Aria and Ordwell had passed each other a smile as they watched Nic eat.
“Mr. Chapman, is the restroom still in the same place?”
“It is. Try to be quick though, I believe Sarman and Yuuki should be getting here any minute.”
Aria got up and walked out of the room. Nic watched her go before turning back to his food, devouring even more of it in a short amount of time. He was about to reach for some more when the door to the room slammed open.
“FATHER!” Nic looked up as a male voice boomed through the room. He heard a small sigh from the other side and looked over to see Ordwell slightly shaking his head. Looking back at the man who had entered, Nic saw a younger version of Ordwell. Much younger. Nic thought that he was around the same age as the man. Even his outfit was similar to Ordwell’s. He was wearing a black suit that had yellow highlights, mainly on the emblem emblazoned on the shoulders of it. The suit jack was unbuttoned, showing a white button-up shirt and a free-flowing red tie around his neck.
“Sarman, wait! We shouldn’t…” Behind the man, who seemed to be the Sarman that Ordwell kept mentioning, was a woman wearing the same outfit, though she also had a small beanie on top of her head, covering the top of it. She had long, straight, black hair that seemed to almost glow purple. She also had purple eyes it seemed, although she was far enough away that Nic couldn’t be sure. Considering that the man was Sarman, Nic assumed this woman was the Yuuki that he had been hearing paired with him.
“No, Yuuki. Father, I don’t mind you having people transfer into the school. I don’t mind you having them live here. But don’t you DARE think you have the right to force the school to put them into our team! Yuuki and I have been a team of two so far, and we will continue to do-” Sarman was cut off by the sound of Ordwell’s chair sliding back.
“Sarman, this is Nic, he is one of the two people joining your team at the university,” Ordwell motioned to Nic, who was now staring at Ordwell, his mouth agape. “Nic, this is my son, Sarman. And the girl beside him is Yuuki. She’s the one who brought that tree in the courtyard.”
“Um… Hello?” Nic offered his greeting only to find himself sweating as Sarman glared at him. Anger filled his eyes as he slowly walked over to Nic. A sinister smile appeared on his face as Sarman put his hand on Nic’s shoulder. The second it made contact, Nic’s shoulder began to sear, causing him to cry out in pain.
Sarman picked Nic up by his shoulder and threw him towards the door. Nic landed on his side and tumbled a bit before coming to a stop. His shoulder was screaming in pain, and as he looked at it, he saw his shirt burn through completely, the edges of the new hole seared black. And his shoulder itself was bright pinkish red and hurt just being exposed to the air around him.
“Fine then, Father. I hear that he was the reason S-012 became a City-State, correct? In that case, his magic should be in the upper class.” Nic shook his head at Sarman’s statement. His wind magic was lower class, maybe middle at best, and he couldn’t reveal the fact that he could absorb or purify Irradiation.
“Sarman, don’t!” Ordwell seemed to know what his son was about to do and tried to stop him.
“I’ll accept you and your friend on the team,” Nic watched as the hand that Sarman had thrown him with, burst into flames. They jumped up his arm, curling around it. The room grew exponentially hotter, causing Nic to sweat even more. “All you have to do,” As he continued to speak, the flames covering his hand grew. They lengthened until Sarman held a spear made entirely of fire in his hands. “Stop this.” The flames turned a brilliant blue as Sarman lifted the spear and threw it.
Nic couldn’t do anything to stop it. He simply closed his eyes and felt the heat come closer. Was this his punishment for getting others killed? Was it his punishment for striving to change his bloodline's future? Should he have just done what his father wanted him to do?
The flames grew closer and closer. His skin grew hotter and hotter. The end was upon him. The heat was ever-present.
Until it wasn’t. In an instant, the air cooled down to its normal temperature. Nic could still hear the flames. He wasn’t dead. Not yet.
Nic opened his eyes. In front of him, Aria stood, holding the flaming spear at bay in front of her outstretched hands. Winds whipped throughout the room, cooling it down. The windows in the back of it rattled as they were pounded with winds from within. The only place in the room where the winds weren’t going was the flaming spear. In fact, they seemed to all be intentionally avoiding it.
“Flames only burn,” As Aria spoke, the flames that made the spear slowly started to dissipate. “If there is oxygen for them to burn.” With that line, the spear completely disappeared. It was only as the flames were extinguished that Nic realized what Aria had done. He knew that she had great control over air because of her magic, but he hadn’t realized that she had grown adept enough to completely remove the air from a place in space. With the spear gone, the raging winds died down.
“Aria…”
“Ar…ia…?”
“Aria!?”
Three people exclaimed Aria’s name at the same time, and the fourth person, Ordwell simply sighed loudly. Sarman and Yuuki were both questioning that the girl in front of them was the same person they had been close with years prior. Of course, Aria barely recognized either of them herself in the first instance. It had been six years and all three of them had grown and changed immensely in that time.
“And if you so much as singe a single hair on Nic, I will personally hunt you down Sarman.” Leaving her past friend with a single threat, Aria turned around and helped Nic to his feet. Supporting his body, she led him out of the dining hall. Getting help from one of the servants, the two of them eventually found the room that was designated as theirs. Once there, Aria sat Nic down on one of the beds and began to look at his shoulder.