Arryn
The walk home from the abandoned warehouse was a long one, which left a lot of time for contemplation. I walked through the industrial district, seeing the heads of stone golems peeking over the high walls of the factories as they worked through the night. There were fewer holograms floating around here compared to deeper in the city, and the night sky was clear and beautiful. The streets were empty, and in the distance I could see the Clock Tower - towering over the other skyscrapers. It was nearly midnight.
I didn’t know what to think. On one hand, the fact that after so long I finally managed to use magic was thrilling. The countless books, tutors, dubious potions and advice I’d tried hadn’t made a difference at all, but now this random person shows up in my life and does the impossible. On the other hand, it feels like I’m getting into something really dangerous. My life has been incredibly stale so far, but safe.
My eyes moved down from the Clock Tower to the Horizon building. Just a few hours ago, I was ready to throw myself off of it. I didn’t have much going for me, not really. My friends had found it hard to include me when we were growing up, as nobody wanted to be stuck doing mundane activities like picnics or the beach when they could be racing their brooms or conjuring miniature familiars to battle. They were nice enough about it at first, but over time the connections faded away to nothing.
Working at Horizon wasn’t much to hang on for, either. I was apparently the best mundane Scribe they’d had in years, but I was still vastly outclassed by every new coworker that joined with the capability to manage dozens of animated quills at once. As my coworkers climbed the corporate ladder, I was left writing the same Shape Stone spell over and over in the stuffy basement of the building. I’d held on so long for their “Advanced Mana Infusion” package, but that did absolutely nothing. I didn’t even get to refund it.
As I moved out of the industrial district and started passing more shops and restaurants, I came to my decision. I had nothing to lose, and everything to gain. If everything went wrong, and I ended up being sent to some prison on a distant demiplane, that’s fine. I’d be better off than I was on that rooftop.
Though it was pretty late out, the streets in downtown Danmer were bustling with activity. I passed a Well of Wonders Emporium, selling all kinds of magical armour and trinkets. The blue and pink aesthetic was a bit tacky, in my opinion, and beneath the spiraling logo was their motto “Beyond Belief”. Two teens were messing around inside with an Endless Jug, pouring a ceaseless stream of water from it onto a Cleansing Stone, which absorbed the torrent of water without spilling a drop. A stern looking shopkeeper came over and roughly returned the objects to their shelves with a swish of her wand, and in another motion telekinetically picked up the troublemakers and dumped them outside.
Another storefront sported the black and orange of Brimstone, with their simple logo of an orange diamond on a plain black background. I could see some recruiters inside, talking to some novice mages. The walls were lined with expensive looking evokers - wands, staves, sceptres, even some more uncommon ones like swords, or some kind of orb. Where the wall wasn’t covered with weaponry, there were illusory screens depicting dashing young mages in black armour fighting in a blood-red jungle.
Eventually, I reached my destination. The Horizon downtown branch had white marble floors, walls, and ceilings. There wasn’t much furnishing, except for a single reception desk in the center of the room that seemed to be unmanned. In reality, the receptionist was sitting there invisible, since corporate loves the idea of it seeming like the staff are teleporting in at will. The room was softly lit by lights embedded in between the large marble tiles, and there was only one customer inside swiping through some projections on the wall. It seemed like he was headed to the Dwarven lands. Wouldn’t like to be paying for his trip…
I didn’t stop at the reception desk, instead heading straight for the door behind it.
“Hi Kelly, would you mind sending me to Ms. Joya’s apartment first? She was looking after Minion.”
A voice came from the chair behind the desk, shrill and raspy. “It’s Hinda, Ryn. Kelly’s out for her birthday.”
Ugh, here we go. I was really hoping it was Kelly tonight.
“You really ought to take better care of that cat. You can’t just leave it with that poor old widow whenever you like. You know when I left my husband, I wanted the company of real people, not animals. I hope you’re at least paying her for her time. Why don’t you go over and offer to help her clean up or something as thanks? I’m sure she’d like that. Do you want me to send her a message to ask?”
“Ah, well I’m about to go see her if you’d just put me through…”
“I’ve sent her a message. Really now, you must start to sort your own life out. You really can’t have me taking time out of my busy day to do favors for you like this. How are you going to find yourself a wife if you can’t even talk to your neighbour? Or take care of your cat? You’re getting to an age where you might want to start talking about having a couple real children instead of that-”
“Hinda, please. I’ve had a long day. Please send me through before I try to scale the walls of this building myself.”
“Tch. No need for the attitude.”
The white marble of the reception desk lit up briefly where her invisible hands touched them, and the door opened. I rushed inside before she could start another topic.
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Inside was a small room. It was 3 meters cubed exactly, with untextured white walls with strips of light running vertically up the walls. It was identical to 240 other rooms in this building, and countless others scattered at Horizon branches around the world. I walked across to the far wall and traced the specific pattern that linked to Ms. Joya’s room. Then, once I was standing in the circle at the center of the room, the light strips brightened to the point where I had to squint my eyes, and then it faded. The door opened once again, and instead of the Horizon lobby and Hinda waiting for me, there was a simple wooden door. I knocked, and after a few moments it swung open to reveal a cosy looking apartment..
Ms. Joya seemed to be in a war of aesthetics with the minimalist lobby downstairs, as the small space was absolutely crammed with things. Dozens of houseplants and lamps, books on every surface, various ornaments, baubles, and trinkets on shelves or in some cases hanging from the ceiling. Amongst all the chaos was the smiling, stooped form of Ms. Joya herself, wrapped in a fleece blanket. Perched on her shoulder was Minion, purring as he nuzzled into her perm. If he missed me, he didn’t show it.
“Ryn, my darling boy. Back so soon? I thought you were off on a work trip?”
I felt bad about lying to Ms. Joya, but I’d feel worse about leaving Minion on his own if tonight had gone differently.
“Ah, uhm, last minute cancellation. I’m back now.”
“Oh well, never mind. I was quite looking forward to some quality time with Minnie here.” she said, petting Minion affectionately. Judging by the half-empty bag of cat treats on the side table, he’d been plenty spoiled already. “Would you like to come in for some tea?”
I wanted to find a way to politely refuse, but she was already channeling some mana into the rune on the kettle. Within moments, steam started rising out of the nozzle, so I gave up and decided to sit down.
“Hilda sent a message.” she said, tapping her temple. “Please don’t try and clean my apartment, you’ll probably start an avalanche.”
“I promise I won’t. But instead as thanks, feel free to stop by whenever you like to see Minion. You know my pattern for the teleporter, right? I’m sure he’d be happy to see you.”
“Ahh, I won’t intrude.” she said, setting down a pair of mismatched mugs of milky tea. “So, tell me - how did the highly-acclaimed Advanced Mana Infusion thing go?”
“It, er…” I started as she leaned in, smiling. Her beady eyes peeked over the thick frames of her glasses. “It was a huge success. I managed to levitate an apple on the first try.”
“Ohh! That’s wonderful Ryn!” she beamed, reaching across the table to give my arm a supportive squeeze. The sudden movement disturbed Minion on her shoulder, who hopped off to rub himself against my feet below the table instead. I took that as his own sign of support. “I always knew you had it in you, and I’m so happy you’ve found something that works.”
“I appreciate that. I’m excited to see what else I can do tomorrow.”
“My, I remember my school days. Seems a lifetime ago, before all that business with the Elves. Did you know Brimstone was an adventurer’s guild back then? They used to go digging around in the ruins within the Scarlet Woods for old magical artifacts and treasures. Nothing like the gung-ho military they have now.”
“You used to work for Horizon too, right?” She hadn’t mentioned it, but you only got one of these company-owned apartments if you did.
“Yes, yes… I was a detainer, in fact. Portal Polly was my nickname back then.”
“A detainer? I can’t imagine you capturing rogue mages.” The shriveled old woman wrapped in a blanket didn’t give much of an officer of the law vibe.
“Oh, back in the day I was the real deal, you know? Half the stories from back then are still classified.” she said, gazing thoughtfully into her tea.
There was a moment while we reflected on this, and I decided to try my luck.
“Did you ever detain any Wild Mages back in the day?” I asked.
Her thoughtful face turned serious. “The less said about those the better. Most of my callouts with Wild Magic were poor kids trying to break the rules to cheat at school or make a quick buck. Very rarely did we have to capture anyone who was a danger to anyone more than themselves.”
A pit formed in my stomach as she spoke. Was I just like those kids, playing with powers I couldn’t handle?
“But I wouldn’t worry about that dearie. There haven’t been reports of Wild Mages in decades. I don’t have connections like I used to, but they used to be all over the papers.” she smiled, taking a sip of her tea.
“Ah, that’s… a relief.”
“Anyway, I didn’t invite you in to talk about scary things like that. Would you like something to eat?”
“That’s very kind of you Ms. Joya, but Minion and I better get back home.”
Minion seemed to protest the idea by wandering off deeper into the mass of houseplants and stacked books. I got up from the table and picked up the bag of cat treats, the rustling of which brought him running right back.
“No worries at all dear. I was about to head to bed soon anyway. Do stop by again and tell me about the magic you’ve been learning, yes?”
I smiled, picking up my cat. “Of course.”
After saying our goodbyes, I stepped out of her apartment and into the plain white room again. I drew a different pattern on the wall and was teleported outside of my apartment. Like Ms. Joya’s, my place was a mess. Unlike hers, it wasn’t in a cute, cosy way. Plastic food wrappers cluttered the floor, books and scraps of papers were piled in haphazard mounds on my desk, leaving only a small space actually usable. Dishes piled high in the sink, and my bed was just a tangled mess of sheets. The lights were off, and the room was lit by the city lights coming in through the floor to ceiling windows that covered the entire back wall. There were blinds for those, but I hadn’t fixed them after Minion had gotten tangled up in them a month or so ago.
I set Minion down, who went to go climb to his spot atop the mound of papers, and sighed deeply. I still needed to decipher what Ron was talking about earlier, but first I needed to sort this place out. I hung up my coat, flicked on the lights, and began to get my life back together.