She gracefully landed a backflip and spun toward her teacher, finishing with a bow. Around her was a large cylindrical room with tan walls and stained glass windows that stretched across one side, and though the sun didn’t currently shine through them, they still revealed a sprawling, colorful city. At the opposite end of the room, there was a dressing room with a door to the left.
“I’m not sure if I’ve seen better from you before, Maya,” her teacher, Beatrice, responded with a smile. She was an old woman in her sixties, though she still wore bright dresses as if she were a girl Maya’s age.
“Thank you, Beatrice!” Maya responded with a delighted smile. “What’s next for today?”
“There’s no need. You’re already twenty minutes past what you’re supposed to be practicing.”
“I am? I must have been too engrossed. Am I free to go?”
“Of course. I must ask though, do you have plans? You never seem to have any dull moments.”
Maya nodded as she began stretching to ease her muscles out of the routine. “Not exactly. Cassius is on duty until around dinnertime, so we can’t go on any dates. Maybe I’ll do some research if I can.”
Beatrice gave her a look somewhere between sternness and worry.
“I know I’m not supposed to,” Maya responded. “But really, what else am I supposed to do in my free time?”
“I would recommend something that won’t get you into trouble with your father.”
Maya groaned.
“I’m just trying to look out for you... see you tomorrow, Maya.”
“Goodbye, Beatrice.”
Once Beatrice left the room, Maya stopped stretching out of spite and walked over to the dressing room to change. She quickly removed her tight dress, exchanging it for a heavier but looser purple dress, putting it on with the help of a mirror. The skirt was slitted at the sides of her hips, with a white cloth beneath—she had always wondered why people had gone to such great lengths to cover their legs, but then presented their chests in a way she thought unnecessary.
She pushed the thought aside and gingerly put on her necklace from Cassius. “Alette, how does my back look?” Maya asked as she watched a Banshee appear behind her. It wore tattered, bland clothes and spoke with a raspy voice.
“What’s the point of this when the details of the dress are in the front?” she groaned.
“Just check, please. Without any profanity.”
“Your butt looks just as covered as usual.”
“Alette! I said—”
“I didn’t curse. Ass is very different from butt.”
“And there it is! First off, I said my back, not my backside. And second, stop finding excuses to use vulgar language.”
“I wasn’t.”
“I hate it that you’re honest every time you say that.”
She shrugged. “Your back looks fine, by the way. What’s everyone’s problem with anything below the belly button, anyway? You women go around with your arms and chests on display like it’s a museum, but suddenly it’s a crime to show your damn ankles.”
“Stop cursing, Alette. But I was actually just thinking about that,” Maya said as she held her right arm out in front of her. She looked at the tattered black lines that ran up her dominant arm and all the way to her dominant right eye. “I get that most dresses are often sleeveless for showing off Ethereons, but I still can’t figure out the... chest part.”
“How many times have we had this conversation?”
“Too many,” Maya said as she began gathering the blue streaks in her hair. “We’d have it a lot less if you stopped commenting on my body.”
“You ask me to every time.”
“I ask about my dress, not my body.”
“Hmph... I guess you’re right.”
Maya held back a sigh and began braiding each of the blue streaks in her hair while letting the blonde majority fall behind her back. After the meticulous work, she walked up to the mirror and examined her soft face, checking for any obscurities. Other than her freckles, Ethereon lines, and out-of-place brown eyes—she wished they were blue to match her hair—nothing was out of the ordinary, though it felt like her face had started to become blurry.
When she pulled away again to double-check the black lace that ran up her stomach and chest, Alette had dematerialized. She smiled at herself one last time in the mirror, walked out of the dressing room, and headed toward the door. As she exited the room, she was instantly bathed in a soft red light from the stained glass that lined the walls. The light bounced off the polished quartz floors and arches that lined the walkways. Cut gemstones—ruby, citrine, topaz, and more—decorated the arches, each one at least half a foot long or wide; they helped to dye the light even more colors, creating a warm atmosphere even in winter.
Maya walked up to the glass and took a look at the city, her home. She was only on the third floor of the castle, but that put her high enough up to see the sprawling houses. Different sections were painted bright colors, and the homes stretched out hundreds of feet before being stopped by a grand, tall white wall that served to protect Soleil City. On the right of the city was a calm lake that stretched out of view, farther up the coast, and had boats docked along the shore. This beautiful city was where she had grown up her entire life, exploring every nook and cranny except for the wall—it was off limits, though she had of course been out of the city a few times before.
She smiled and then continued walking around the hallway until she reached a long, spiraling set of stairs. Her steps down were muffled by the heavy red carpet along the stairs, helping to keep the room quiet. Maya reached the bottom and breathed in that crisp, cozy air that every library had, which served as her favorite smell in the whole world. The library was dim in the center where she was, and a hearth crackled from somewhere behind her. Intricately crafted shelves stretched to the ceiling and had an indent across that top that allowed ladders to be rolled across.
Maya considered taking a stop here for a moment, just to check if they had a single book that hadn’t been here for a while. She walked forward and let her fingers trace the intricate woodwork of the shelves without touching a single leathery spine. She started to navigate her way through the shelves with ease, not ever hesitating on the route she needed to take. Once she reached the shelf where the book should have been, she saw it wasn’t there.
A sigh escaped her. “He always does this...” Maya whispered. Thankfully, it didn’t change her plans for today.
“Does what?” asked a passing librarian. She was short and wore a simple black dress with some white accents.
“My father. He always borrows books from here that he believes I’ll use for research.”
“Ah... would you happen to be Maya Mystere?”
“Yes. May I ask why?”
The librarian nodded with an amused smile. “Lord Mystere was just through here earlier. I would have kept the books out of his reach for a long time if I knew why he took them so often. Now that I know your predicament, I’ll be sure to help.”
“Thank you very much,” Maya beamed. “I have to be on my way though. Have a good afternoon.”
“You as well.”
Maya left the library, still smiling. She went down the last flight of stairs and stopped in front of a painting. When nobody was looking, she opened it and climbed into a small corridor that put her outside, amid a crowd. She began worming her way through the ever-present crowd in this area, which some liked to call the Market Area, while others called it the Entertainment District, though it was a bit of both. Commoners and nobles alike gathered in this massive area around the castle for a multitude of reasons, from getting food at high-end taverns to watching a play.
She was careful not to rip her dress, though as more people noticed her, they moved out of her way. Above her were long strings of pennants that weren’t just for show. They helped guide people through the city, with different colors having different meanings. As she was shorter than most people, they especially helped her make her way through crowds like this, which, when a person was this close to the castle, were common at all times of the year.
Once she spotted a string of pink pennants, she followed them through the crowd, up until she reached a point where they hung on her house. She noticed a long object next to her door and smiled, hoping it would be what she had ordered almost a month ago. She rushed to grab it, not fully trusting the patrolling knights and Dualaraties to keep track of every little thing.
“Finally! I’ve been waiting forever!” Maya spoke to herself as she opened her door.
Alette appeared on the inside of the house. “For what?”
“You don’t remember?”
“No,” Alette said as Maya walked through her and up the stairs behind her. “Was I supposed to?”
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“No, but—” she grimaced as the object bumped into a painting a few steps above her. “Good thing that didn’t fall...”
“But...?”
“I assumed you would. You wouldn’t stop cursing all night after I bought it.”
“Oh. It’s the damn spear, isn’t it?” Alette asked as she followed Maya through the hallway and into her room.
“Exactly!” she said as she closed her door. “Also, there are two, not just one.”
“So it’s finally time to go on that delusional adventure you’ve wanted all this time?”
“Not quite. But I can at least start learning how to use it,” Maya responded as she placed the spears on her bed and began unlacing the front of her dress. “Ah, much better. Now I can breathe freely.”
“At least you aren’t wearing rags like me.”
“Those ‘rags’ seem fun and easy to wear. They also don’t crush your chest.”
“Your clothes only do that cuz you’ve got such a big chest,” Alette said as she floated into Maya’s closet.
“Stop saying weird stuff. And no, they’re tight for all girls.”
“Fine, maybe you have a point,” Alette said. She turned as Maya opened the closet. “But not with the modesty argument.”
“Why not?” Maya asked as she carefully hung her dress up.
“Cuz one moment you tell me to stop saying weird stuff, and the next moment you’re completely undressed in front of me.”
“Alette! If you didn’t bring it up, it wouldn’t be a problem at all! First of all, I’m not fully... uh, undressed. And second, I’m just comfortable around you. That’s all.”
Alette pondered that for a moment as Maya dug through a wooden trunk tucked away in the closet. “So you're implying do this around Cassius when I’m not watching?”
Maya gasped. “Of course not!”
“Well you seem comfortable around him, so...”
Maya gasped. “That’s your only reason?”
“Yeah.”
“How...” Maya asked as she looked up and rubbed her temples. “How can you be so oblivious to modesty.”
Alette shrugged. Maya shook her head in disbelief and pulled on a simple white shirt that she tucked under brown trousers. Then, she slipped on boots that weren’t nearly as fancy as her other boots, and finally, she slipped on her navy-blue cloak. She walked over to the mirror to check her outfit, checking that nothing seemed too ‘proper.’
“Alette, is my shirt see-through?” Maya asked.
“I don’t think so. Is that shirt new?”
“I stole it from Cassius a few days ago.”
“Poor guy.”
“No, he’s not. Ready to go?” Maya said as she picked up the packaged spears from her bed.
“Aren’t you gonna open them?”
“No. I don’t want to have to carry them around in public. I’d get too many stares.”
Alette grunted as she followed Maya to her window. Maya opened it and hopped down without a second thought, though she held the spears carefully. She landed in a clothing-filled cart she had placed there a long time ago, quickly hopped out, and began making her way to the edge of the city. It had almost become a daily commute at this point, though she was lucky she lived so close to the southernmost edge of the city.
After about half an hour of walking, she reached her destination: a thin nook between two houses. It led to a little opening between the massive wall just in front of her and the two houses behind her. She walked forward until she heard a wooden creak beneath her feet, and then bent down and lifted the grass-covered trapdoor. She dropped down, awkwardly holding her spears in hand, into a stone corridor with an almost unnoticeable blue glow to it. The trap door closed above just as Alette appeared beside her once again.
“Accelero Melody,” Maya said.
Alette did as asked, and began humming an upbeat tune. Maya lifted her sleeve up as her Ethereon began to glow a light blue, the same color as her streaks of hair. She smiled in excitement and walked forward at a much quicker pace, thanks to Alette’s Spell. She used her Ethereon’s light to help her find the torch lying on the ground, which she propped against the wall. She lit it with some flint and steel, and it made the room glow a dim orange, but that wasn’t exactly what she wanted, so she grabbed the torch and moved its flame against a metal brazier on the wall.
It lit up in a blue blaze, along with the brazier across from it. Then, more braziers lit up with blue flames along the corridor’s wall like dominoes. They raced into a room at the end of the corridor, and traveled around its circumference, fully lighting the room and everything in it. Maya blew out her orange torch as she walked into the next room, filled with desks and empty bookshelves.
“That never gets old,” Maya said.
“Same with trying to figure out the room size,” Alette said. “You still haven’t made a hypothesis as to why the top of this room should mess with the ground above?”
“Well other than calling it a pocket and knowing it has some connection to Acujutu, do you have any ideas?”
“Nah. Was just wondering.”
Maya walked to the center of the room and placed down the spears wrapped in cloth. “All right. I can finally open these,” she said as she excitedly placed a finger on it.
Alette sighed at the sight of two blue spears. “Wait. How come one’s longer than the other?”
“This one’s longer than me because it’s just a normal spear. And the other is shorter than me so I can use it with one hand if I ever have to—or if I’m in a tight corridor.”
“They both seem way too heavy...”
“They actually aren’t. Yes, there’s some steel, but it’s only ten percent. It gives it the right weight, while the Moonsteel acts as the actual weapon.”
“You had the weight distribution as close as you could get to a flag, right?”
“They tried to tell me a scythe would’ve been better but...”
“Damn. You don’t have enough coolness for that.”
Maya ignored the honest comment as she moved the longer spear off to one side of the room and took her cloak off. Then, she picked up the short spear and tried spinning it with one hand, and found it to be balanced just as she’d hoped. Alette watched, mesmerized, as Maya danced around gracefully with the spear, as if fighting was the same as dancing. It even looked easy.
“You’ve really been dancing almost your whole life?” Alette asked.
“Yeah. Why?”
“Feels like you improved a ton since you summoned me a few months back. Even your teacher says the same stuff.”
Maya blushed and stopped her dance. “Well, my chances to travel the world and do research finally increased. So... it’s like you started pushing me to become a master dancer so I can finally be free from at least that.”
“I’m that compelling?”
“Not in the normal way. Anyway, could you tell if my... improvised fighting looked good enough?”
“Hm. Well, I can cover your weak spots if we’re up against rogues, but against humans, you’re a little too open in the back, and down toward your legs,” Alette said as she crouched and gestured to Maya’s legs.
“Got it, thank you. Now, we—” Alette cursed as Maya’s spear sliced open her hand as she turned. “I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”
“Ow... damn it, it hurts pretty bad, but I’m fine,” Alette said as dark blue blood seeped from her hand. “How’d that even cut me?”
“I’m... really not sure,” Maya responded as she pointed her spear away from Alette. “Oh! It fits perfectly with a hypothesis I had! That this room—”
The pair both grunted as the floor shook just slightly. Behind Alette, a pedestal rose from the ground in tiers, the last of which tilted toward the two. The pedestal had two blue semicircles on it as if it had been a circle that was cut in half horizontally. It rose a few feet above the ground, and then stopped, along with the slight tremors. Maya looked at it with wide eyes, mesmerized by its sudden appearance.
“I think my blood is magical,” Alette said.
“Wh—wait, what?!” Maya tried to look at Alette and the pedestal at the same time.
“My blood dripped onto the ground and then that appeared.”
Maya walked past Alette, careful to keep her spear away from her, and examined the pedestal. Alette turned and examined it as well while cradling her hand, watching with an uncaring gaze as Maya’s fingers traced the curved patterns on the pedestal. Then, before Alette could object, Maya pressed one of the two buttons... and nothing happened.
“Idiot. Stop going around touching every damn thing like you’re invulnerable,” Alette said.
“I was curious. And it didn’t do anything.”
“Hey, how come you’re not at all concerned with this massive cut on my hand, but as soon as anyone gets a tiny scrape, you’re all over them?” Alette said.
“Hm...”
“Maya? Ugh, Maya!”
Maya jumped. “What?! What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. Can I know what you’re thinking?”
“On which topic?” Maya asked. Alette stared back, confused. “With your hand, or with this... terminal?”
“Explain both.”
“Well, with your injury, I can basically confirm that this place really is a pocket between Acujutu and Verinth. We aren’t completely in Verinth, since Moonsteel and Sunsteel can’t hurt Dualaraties there, and we aren’t completely in Acujutu since I’m here, yet you can still be hurt by my weapon.”
Alette nodded along to get Maya to continue.
“With the button, we just need to figure out how to activate it. And once we do that, a doorway should open up,” Maya said.
“How do you know that?”
“Oh. I never explained, did I? If you look at the floor from the ceiling, you’ll see the moon partially behind the sun. That’s supposed to mean something is a doorway.”
“Not even gonna ask how that was figured out,” Alette said as she floated up and looked at the floor, noting the pattern. “Why not try one of my Spells?”
“A researcher figured it out. Also, we’ve done that.”
“You get way too defeated over this damn research stuff. We haven’t tried that since the pedestal appeared.”
“Oh! You’re so smart! Come down here,” Maya said.
“Which one?”
“We’ll use the strongest one just to be safe. Use Mortalis Aria—the whole thing, not just the scream.”
Alette cleared her throat and began singing a song. High-pitched notes rang out in quick succession, creating a song that brought a feeling of tensity and dread. As the song went on, small, blue triangular shards began to appear on the floor, and before Maya could back away, they shattered upward in an explosion. She gasped and belatedly covered her eyes, though she didn’t feel anything at all.
Alette’s song ended, and she looked at Maya. “It was a complete illusion. They pass through both of us.”
“Oh,” Maya said as she let her arms fall. “Look! The buttons are glowing now!”
“Hey, don’t touch the—great,” Alette said as she watched Maya push one of the buttons. The room shook for just a moment, and then the floor began descending.
“Alette, finally! A breakthrough! Two in a single day!”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
Maya gasped. “Wait, my spear!” She said as she ran to the edge of the elevator to grab it just in time.
“I’m more concerned about where we’re going, exactly.”
“Yet you still speak with the most bored tone possible. Just be happy about this, please?”
“It’s cool, but it won’t convince your father to let you go wherever you want and explore the world.”
Maya sighed and let the topic drop. The elevator continued its descent, but not a single thought of worry entered her mind about the unknown. After all, there were an infinite number of secrets that could be down here. An endless number of hypotheses that she could write and publish. It felt to Maya like the elevator was descending much too slowly, though it only took a few minutes of waiting before a wave of cool air hit her hands and seeped through her clothes. The walls, lit by lanterns with more blue fire, ended abruptly, and a dark abyss replaced them.
“I... wow. I can’t see anything, but I can just tell this place is... titanic. An entire cavern,” Maya said as she listened to her words echo.
“It sounds like a good place to sing. These echoes could make it really creepy, too.”
A few moments later, the elevator stopped abruptly, causing Maya to stumble. The presence of the lone blue flame at the center of the elevator activated a path of flames forward, illuminating a stone pathway. Pillars on either side of the pathway seemed to appear, one after another until they stopped beside a large doorway that stretched up into the darkness.
Maya stepped forward, amazed. “This architecture is huge...! And so intricate, too!”
“Wait. I don’t want you stepping off this elevator or touching anything until I have a map of this place. Give me a second,” Alette said as she began chirping in different directions. “Well... my echolocation says it’s safe.”
Maya smiled and stepped off the elevator slowly, wary of traps. Nothing happened, and so she continued on the pathway, her boots creating echoes that rang out in the cavern. She passed the pillars, deciding that she’d examine them more closely at a different time. They seemed formidable with their endless inscribed artworks, but the doorway interested Maya more.
“Thirteen pillars,” Maya noted. “Lucky number.”
“Well, this place is under Soleil,” Alette said. “Hey, there’s another terminal. It probably opens the door.”
“Right, thanks,” Maya said as she looked up at the door. “It’s the doorway symbol again.”
“It’s way more obvious this time.”
Maya nodded in agreement before setting down her shorter spear on the ground. She walked up to the terminal and examined it; it had the same designs as the other, but it had only one button, already glowing. She ignored that and pressed it down, causing the room to shake a considerable amount. The doors opened out, revealing a Minotaur on the other side.
“Run!” Alette yelled.