They arrive at the city’s entrance in the early evening as the sun dips below the horizon. Emily gently shakes Juliana, waking her up as the car’s engine turns off and they come to a halt before the towering city wall.

“We’re here,” she says gently as Juliana lifts her head and wipes the crust from her eyes.

“Okay,” Juliana responds with a yawn. “I’ll go talk to the guards.”

“Do you need company?”

Juliana lightly shakes her head as she stands up and places a kiss on Emily’s cheek. She steps up to the door and flashes a confident smile over her shoulder.

“I’ll be fine. It’s just an identity check as a precaution,” she says as she slips out of the vehicle.

Emily nods and remains seated, watching through the window as Juliana approaches the guards. She talks to them, with a friendly smile, for a few minutes and, after a few familiar procedures, checking her mana just like they did with Oscar on their last return to Chroni, she walks back over to the car calmly.

“It’s all sorted. Please head for Southern Edge Station,” she says to the driver on the way past before climbing into the passenger compartment again.

Juliana settles back down against Emily as the car engine rumbles to life again, carrying them further into the city. They fall silent again as the car rolls along, only waking their other sleeping companions when the door to the heavy-duty station elevator comes into view.

They leave the car, thanking the driver before joining a few wealthy-looking merchants and filing into the elevator to rise into the upper layers of the city. They step out of the elevator just in time to see a train roll into the station, and head straight for the noble’s compartment at the front.

Only one of the booths is filled, holding a few mages Emily doesn’t recognise that barely spare them a second glance as they pass, so they quickly grab an empty one and settle down for the last leg of their trip back.

“Do you guys have any plans now that we’re back?” Emily asks as they wait for the train to move, keeping Tom from drifting off again as he rests his head against the window.

“Sleeping in a real bed,” he grumbles, the exhaustion of the long trip weighing on him heavily.

Emily chuckles, and everybody else nods, agreeing with the sentiment of his words.

“I’m thinking about going home for a bit,” Dante says thoughtfully, drawing his friends’ curiosity. “I haven’t been back in a little over four years now, so I was thinking I should go visit.”

“You haven’t visited your family in four years?” Juliana asks with slight disbelief.

“Yeah.” Dante nods, tilting his head in slight confusion. “That’s normal, isn’t it? When did you last visit home?”

“Ah, about two years ago,” Juliana admits shamefully. “I haven’t gone back to visit since Emi came to The Dome. I’ve talked to my parents a few times, but they encouraged me to stay here since I’m improving now.”

“They didn’t hold high hopes for you?” Dante asks with a teasing grin.

“Not really,” Juliana says with a shrug, leaning into Emily’s side more. “If it wasn’t for Emi, I’d still be skipping my boring theory lessons, and they knew that. In fact, the last time I went back, I asked if I could just stay home. But, Dad told me to stay in The Dome at least until I reached second circle, since it would be shameful for a member of the family not to. I’m glad I did, but I think I may be heading home for good soon.”

She turns her face into Emily’s neck, and Dante gets the message to stop pushing, quickly turning his focus to the others instead. They spend the short train journey discussing plans for the next week. Tom falls asleep against the window, not joining in with the conversation, but Hester mentions plans for them to visit home again soon when Dante asks her.

As they approach The Dome’s station, their conversation dies down as they prepare to move, everyone excited to get a proper night’s rest. Hester wakes her brother by wrapping her hand in a thin layer of water and pressing it to the back of his neck, making him jump awake with fright and giving the rest of them a good laugh.

The train slides to a halt and they quickly disembark, walking through the quiet station and out along a suspended gangway, with the members of the other occupied booth, to re-enter the city’s magical hub. The quiet entry corridor echoing their steps brings Emily an odd sense of comfort as she bathes in the familiar magical light leading their way.

It’s strange, but I think I’ll miss this place a little once I leave.

She glances sideways at Juliana, walking hand in hand with her, and smiles a sad smile.

Maybe more than a little bit.

***

The next morning, Emily slips out of bed at the crack of dawn. She gently places a kiss on Juliana’s cheek, smiling as her girlfriend pulls in a pillow to replace her, before quietly getting dressed.

With her armour, boots, and Claws prepared, leaving the Spitter in her belt, she moves to the door. Placing her palm flat against it, Emily closes her eyes and pushes her mana into it. She quickly feels out the runes making up the enchantment engraved into it, before attributing her mana with space and charging the connections around the activation rune with her mark. With a light pulse to the activation rune, the door fades out of place as usual, but her mark remains.

Good. Jules should still be able to get out.

Emily takes off down the corridor as the door appears back in place. She leaves The Dome and boards a train heading towards the airship docks. Sitting alone in her compartment, she watches the city through the window, admiring the way the early morning light pours between the towers of metal and mist surrounding her.

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I wonder if they took inspiration from The Glade?

She calmly steps off the train after it slides into the extravagant station connected to the docks, taking in the vast hall around her to figure out where to go next. She scans through the crowd of people, busily shuffling about their business despite the early hour.

There’s more people here than before, despite it being so early.

Looking around, Emily notices several details she ignored on her last visit when she was far more interested in the trains themselves than the station. The wall she entered through upon her first arrival to Chroni is lined with doorways, varying in size from small, single-person pathways down to hangars up to wide channels leading further into the city’s wall. There are several guards stationed along the wall watching the doorways, all of them a mix of first and second circle mages, judging by the mana signatures Emily can sense.

I guess it makes sense that they’d station some of their stronger guards at the city’s main entrance. I can even feel a few third circles nearby.

She turns around, glancing at one of the doors she feels a stronger signature behind, marked with ‘staff only’. Continuing past it, she sees the far wall is lined with shops: some take the form of open holes in the wall offering mouth-watering food, the scent of which Emily can faintly detect under the stench of metal, oil, and coal filling the room; the others are enclosed with wide windows displaying their wares to draw in the passing pedestrians.

Emily turns back to the exit wall, leaving the platform as she tries to locate the staff desks where she can ask about the coming departures. She spots her target down one of the largest channels leaving the main hall and quickly weaves through the crowd, barely brushing against the surrounding people as she nimbly slips past them.

However, as she steps into the wide hallway, she feels a hand reaching for her shoulder from behind. Instantly, she spins around, her hand flashing up to clasp the unknown assailant’s wrist before they can make contact with her. Emily looks at the surprised face of the man who has approached her, and quickly adopts a similar expression.

“Anton?” she asks in slight disbelief, taking in the short man and the familiar rat’s nest on his head.

“Hey, Emily!” he greets, wincing slightly as she releases his wrist. “It’s been a while. Have you put on some muscle?”

“Clearly more than you,” she scoffs, looking over his greasy overalls covering his scrawny frame with a look of disdain.

Anton laughs, and Emily immediately breaks into a grin.

“It’s good to see you again, kid. How’s the big city treating you?”

“Well enough,” Emily says, rolling her eyes at his use of Angela’s nickname for her. “You say that as if I’m from a small city.”

“Haha, fair point. So, what are you doing here? Heading somewhere?”

“I was going to check when there’s a ship next heading to Eimdon. I want to go visit my sister,” she responds, watching his reaction closely.

“Really?” he asks, his friendly smile unwavering. “We’re heading by there on one of our routine cargo runs in a few days. You can catch a ride with us if you want.”

“That would be perfect, thank you! Are you taking anything interesting back? Any guarded cargo?” she asks with a mischievous grin, prodding for more information.

“No, no. Nothing like that. We’re just taking some standard textiles, minerals, and preserved food. We can make a fair profit by selling simple stuff from Chroni to desert-locked cities: there are always people there willing to pay for things from far afield.”

“What a shame,” Emily responds, relaxed now she knows the Mandragos are not involved in the trip. “Doesn’t sound like there’s anything fun to take even if no one’s protecting it.”

“Maybe I should have Tony stand guard after all,” Anton says, narrowing his eyes in mock caution.

“Like that big softy would ever stop me! Anyway, when will we be leaving?”

“We’ve planned for 8 am in four day’s time. I’m not sure which hangar we’ll be in, we may get moved around between now and then, so I’ll come meet you at the train.”

“Got it. I’m looking forward to being on Calypso again.”

“Of course you are! No one can resist our beautiful ship!” Anton beams with pride as he waves goodbye and starts off into the crowd again.

Four days to finish my business in The Dome. Not long now. I’ll see you soon, Anna.

***

Emily returns to The Dome and heads straight to the information hub to gather materials. She purchases a small collection of items, from sandworm bile to rockthawn sap, before returning to her room.

She walks in through the still unlocked door, finding Juliana still fast asleep, clutching a pillow tightly. Chuckling silently, Emily removes the remnants of her tampering from the door, re-engaging the magical lock, before moving to the workbench in the middle of the room.

She quietly sets up her equipment for potion creation and prepares her materials. The morning passes quickly as Emily pours her focus into the complicated brew, mixing pieces from almost a dozen different creatures and plants in a delicate process that fills the room with the sound of bubbling water and a warm, earthy fragrance.

It’s midday by the time she finally pours the contents of her cauldron into three small glass vials. The viscous, dark-brown liquid fills them all to the brim before running dry, and Emily’s focus is finally broken by a voice behind her.

“Can you even put a cork in those?”

She turns around and sees Juliana sitting up in bed, her chin resting on the pillow still in her arms, watching intently.

“Not yet,” Emily says, flashing her a smile and gesturing for her to come over.

Emily turns back to the workbench, as Juliana crawls out of bed, and picks up three fingertip-sized, white-spotted, green seeds, resting in a bath of murky, sand-coloured liquid.

“Earth Drops were named after the final form the potion takes when you add these little things, mycorium seeds soaked in earthworm bile,” Emily explains, holding out the seeds for Juliana to see.

“Those horrible vines are used for Earth Drops?” Juliana asks in surprise, taking one of the seeds from Emily’s hand and holding it up to inspect. “No wonder we were told to be careful not to step on their seed pods.”

“The vines themselves don’t get used that much, only for a few poisons as far as I’m aware. But the seeds are very useful. Depending on how you treat them, they can react with potions in some interesting ways. Drop that one into one of the vials and watch,” Emily says, stepping aside to allow Juliana access to the potions.

Nodding, Juliana raises the seed above a vial and drops it in, watching it vanish into the opaque liquid within. Instantly, the brew starts to quiver, forming a small vortex around the seed as it falls to the bottom. The water level lowers slowly as the reaction continues, and Emily reaches over to place a cork on the top just as it hits halfway.

The moment the airflow into the vial stops, the water level freezes, and the mixture shifts in colour until it’s a translucent light brown, revealing the seed within. The seed has grown to twice its original size and transformed into a faintly glowing brown orb.

“Woah!” Juliana exclaims, staring at the vial in wonder.

“Impressive, right? It’s my first time seeing the reaction too,” Emily admits as she drops the other two seeds into their vials.

“Very!” Juliana agrees with an enthusiastic nod before turning to Emily and wrapping her arms around her waist. “Are you done now? We should probably head to lunch soon.”

“Yeah, I’m ready,” Emily says as she corks the vials with one hand, the other resting around Juliana. “More ready than you in fact. Unless you plan on going dressed like that?”

Juliana blushes at Emily’s teasing smile, pulling back a little and glancing down at her nightgown.

“This is your fault,” she grumbles, looking back up with an adorable pout. “If you weren’t so pretty when you’re focused I would have gotten dressed ages ago.”

“Ha,” Emily laughs before wrapping her other arm around her girlfriend and pulling her in for a kiss.

“Go get dressed while I clean up then,” Emily says after they separate. “Unless I look too good while doing that too. Then you’re welcome to keep watching.”

Juliana sticks out her tongue and turns around, walking towards the bathroom. Emily chuckles as she does, but a pang of sadness quickly dampens her mood.

We only have four days left.