It was apparent that the Agarthians held no regard for us as a species, and I wondered why they were bothering with the portal. In self-interest, I didn’t ask.

Persephoenix spearheaded the way through the crowd, tilting her head slightly to speak over her shoulder. “The great Z’eus has permitted your presence in key areas around Agartha,” she said, making ‘permitted’ sound like it should be replaced with ‘reluctantly allowed.’ “Once the tour is complete, we will show you to your lodgings so you may rest for the portal creation tomorrow. We understand that it is a difficult task for your kind, and if necessary, we will allow you to stay a second night.”

“We will take you through small areas of our extensive library, marketplace, learning center, and preservation areas, as well as our public temples,” unlike his wife, Ninelithe’s head stayed focused forward as he spoke, unwilling to acknowledge our presence any more than he had to.

“Thank you,” we acknowledged through gritted teeth.

The novelty of the city was almost not worth the apparent distaste the Agarthians had for us ‘human mages.’ Almost.

As we made our way through the city, it also became apparent that, in some aspects, humanity wasn’t as far behind Agartha as its citizens would have liked us to believe. The Agarthian train station was similar to ours in construction and layout, though it was far larger than any station I’d seen, with multiple levels for each of the different color-coded connections. There were no maps on the walls or train tickets, and Ninelithe responded when asked that Agarthians ‘had no need’ for these things.

The trains were bottlenosed and hovered above the rails, looking and acting like richer, more expensive versions of the bullet trains used in other countries.

Ninelithe and Persephoenix led us to a rear car, and the metal doors swooshed shut behind us as we stepped onto the soft, green-carpeted floors of a private car. It was huge, easily three times the size of my apartment. Artificial sunlight drifted in through the day sky-patterned stained glass ceiling constructing the roof, landing on the potted plants placed throughout the rooms in the interior. The bottom floor was one large room with plush chairs, floor cushions, and coffee tables. A wooden railing surrounded the loft area, but the lumps and ridges of headboards and bedframes were visible over the top of the railing. Molded wood beams supported most of the loft, its stairs were pressed up against the wall that was the rear of the car. Four dark wooden doors stuck out from beneath the extra-wide stairs.

Our guides gestured to two sets of long tunics hanging unobtrusively on either side of the door.

“More suitable clothes are available if you wish to change,” they ‘offered.’

Cove glanced at me and raised an eyebrow. I shrugged, and we both stepped forward, reaching for a set on either side. We hefted the hangers off of the hooks, folding the clothes over our arms.

“Where may we change?” Cove asked hesitantly.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“The restrooms,” Persephoenix suggested helpfully.

“Right. And, uh, where are they?”

If Ninelithe was human, there was no doubt in my mind he would have rolled his eyes at the question. As it was, he answered as if we were stupid for not realizing it. “The doors beneath the stairs.”

He hissed something unintelligible to Persephoenix, who laughed as I shut the wooden door behind me. They were insufferable beings.

The bathrooms were spacious and, thankfully, remarkably similar to human restrooms. Unlike the opulence that had followed us since the entryway, they were comparatively simple and clean. A single marble slab comprised the floor, and a porcelain toilet stood in the corner. The sink was perhaps the most unique part of the room, a false-flowery fountain that cascaded into a pool that drained at the bottom.

The clothes they provided were simple in structure and elaborately decorated. The pants were soft and slightly loose, colored a deep red with an elastic band keeping them aloft. The top was a shimmering red, orange, and yellow tunic with three-quarter sleeves that stopped just below my elbow. The sleeves were slitted and pinned at the top and elbow by sewn-on golden medallions engraved with the spaciotemporal magic circle. A shining golden robe completed the combo, and I tied it to hang around my hips, pulling the loose tunic in close.

A mirror hung off the door to the restroom, allowing me to take stock of my appearance. Rather than kill the faint tint of red in my hair, which usually happened when I wore red, the tunic and pants brought it out. The effect was replicated in my brown eyes, and they almost appeared red in the light. Now that they were on, it was easy to tell the clothes themselves had been inspired by flames.

Unwilling to face our guides by myself, I waited until I was certain Cove had left the restroom next to me before exiting.

I stepped out, earning appreciative looks from Persephoenix and Ninelithe. “The robes suit you well,” Persephoenix commented, eying them critically.

“They are very comfortable,” I admitted, admiring how soft, light, and cool the robes felt against my skin. “Thank you.”

“We have no need to recycle your clothes, so you may take them as a gift when you leave,” Ninelithe said, turning back to Persephoenix in an apparent dismissal.

I paced past them to where Cove sat in a plush purple chair with a head against a window. His backpack was placed on top of the table next to him, a hand holding it in place.

Where my clothes had been inspired by fire, his were by water and ice. His pants were a deep ocean blue, and his tunic was a shining gradient of lighter blues. He’d tied his silver belt around his hips as well, pushing the knot off to the side. Unlike my clothes, however, his did not have sleeves and draped loosely over his shoulders, revealing the solid muscle beneath. His silver necklace, containing his mage registration, hung around his neck, fully visible beneath the dipped neck of his tunic.

I dropped into the chair across from him, earning a greeting glance as we both turned our attention to view out the window.

The train moved at a dizzying speed, but it only revealed the sheer expanse of the ‘city’ of Agartha.

Unsure of our supervisors' hearing range, neither Cove nor I spoke aloud during the short trip to our first destination, only shooting each other a silent exchange of ‘Can you believe these guys?’ ‘They look at us like we’re specks of dirt.’ and question, ‘Why are they bothering?’

We were still trying to come up with an answer to the last question.

As we approached the expansive bottom tier, the train continued downwards, dipping into a tunnel beneath the moat. The closer we got to the center, the larger it looked, towering so high above the tip couldn’t be seen from the windows.

Ninelithe and Persephoenix led us through another grand station to our first destination.