Warm sunlight touched her skin and Cira opened her eyes with a sudden feeling of weightlessness. There was a shrill cry from her side and she watched Tawny fall.

“Careful now,” Cira lifted one palm and the girl steadied next to her, breathing heavily. “We don’t know what’s in there.”

This was the lowest Cira had been in ages. The sea wasn’t even a hundred feet beneath them.

“What the hell is this?!” Tawny frantically scanned the empty horizon, “Where are we?”

“We’re still on Green Pit, believe it or not,” Cira also took in the view. The world was bright, and it shimmered off the gentle waves as a breeze ran through her hair. A cirrocumulus smattering adorned the East of what was an otherwise cloudless sky. There wasn’t a spot of land in sight—not above, and certainly not below.

“I don’t understand… Have we not been transported somewhere?”

“Indeed, we have.” Cira let Aquon’s current meander and started investigating. “This would seem to be some manner of pocket realm. Not even I can conjure one bigger than my fist, and definitely not one big enough to fit an entire sky…”

Cira balked at the perfect blue beyond that grew deeper against the horizon. Despite her sight, this place gave her that same feeling of boundlessness she so swooned for. Every detail within from the salt in the air to the perfect waves below.

They weren’t perfect in the sense that they all looked immaculate, but that not a single one looked the same. Cira could tell it was really water and not some illusion, and it was deep. The waves looked real because they were real.

“Impossible…” Tawny stopped looking down and gained a grip on her fear, enough so as to retort with vast sarcasm, “Something you can’t do?”

“Oh, piss off, do you have any idea how incredible this place is? To make a bag of holding, one merely need increase the spatial density within an object. But a pocket realm—it’s like conjuring an entirely independent spatial plane. Then to fill it with an ocean and sky?!”

Stars twinkled in Cira’s eyes as they followed the path of dotted clouds.

“Hang on. My understanding of the spatial plane isn’t the best…” Tawny gave her a funny look, “But are you saying you can do that at all?”

“Any sorcerer worth their salt should—no I guess it is kind of an advanced technique. Like I said, the best I can do is an empty pocket realm the size of my fist, and it gets exponentially more difficult from there.” Cira urged with her head, despite the fact she was the only thing keeping Tawny aloft, and the two began drifting along. “Consider the world we usually live in the spatial realm. This is the most simple and accurate way I can put it. The aethereal realm is merely parallel and overlapping, but some beings who live in it are entirely unaware of the spatial realm, so I’ve read. But this place we’ve found ourselves in, in the center of Green Pit; it is not wrong to consider it an entirely separate world. Even the aethereal realm is cut off in this space. There are no leylines here. The only aether which exists is that which belongs to this world from its creation.”

“All… of it?” She started peering into the distance, as if she would see something. “Are there… vast skies to explore, and all kinds of islands out there…?”

“It would take me some time to find this realm’s extents, but I suspect it can’t be more than a few horizons deep. If I’m right though, there’s probably just one island here.”

The two shared a look and Tawny’s eyes went wide, “You mean… There’s no way the stories were true…”

“There was a compass, wasn’t there?” Cira shrugged, “It had to lead somewhere. At this point… I’m quite invested myself. I say it’s high time we reach the shores of Paradise, don’t you? If it’s really made of gold, I’ll let you take the first step and carve a statue in your likeness.”

“Tch.” She smirked, “You know Shores will just have Rictor make ten more of you the moment you leave, right? Do you even know which way we’re supposed to go? You said you couldn’t see the end of this place.”

“I’ve been in only three pocket realms of notable size in all my years,” Cira explained, “From what I’ve learned, they were all created with a series of deliberate brushstrokes, so to speak. If you can imagine the mana it takes to reshape Fount Salt, or manhandle ancient mages while causing spatial quakes beneath three pillars of relentless light, rebuild a palace, et cetera… The last few months of my work wouldn’t even come close to producing this place. Hardly a drop in the bucket.

“My point is, I would have to not only conjure an entire sea and sky to match, but stuff it inside something like a gem or weapon. To this realm’s creator’s credit, he had the benefit of using an entire lake, but its viability as a catalyst is what has been stumping me. There must be some secret I was forbidden from gazing upon deep blow its waters. This place is ridiculous… strange to say, but I’m curious if my dad could even make such a grand realm. I’d actually be relieved to find out he’s responsible here.”

“Impossible…” Tawny smirked a little snarkier, “Something your dad couldn’t do?”

“Oh, come on. If only you knew, that’s actually a much scarier concept than it seems.” Cira shook her head and watched the clouds approach slowly.

I don’t think any of the pocket realms I’ve visited in the past have been this massive. Cira had been extending her sight since the moment they appeared. Who’s to say there’s not a gold island? Anyone capable of making this place probably feels the same way about that material as I do. Still, could Dad make a realm this large? I’d struggle to conjure a cubic league of water over the course of a month, let alone, well… this sea is impressive.

“So… are you simply heading towards the only thing in sight?” Tawny grossly oversimplified her sorcerous deduction.

“Naturally, there is more than just the clouds’ presence to see, or understand for that matter. Do you know nothing of the language of the sky?” Cira increased their speed at her blank stare, “The cirrocumulus purvey a bitter hope. Destined to fade away in the wind, their fleeting nature heralds imminent change, in the weather for instance. Alternatively, they can embody the yearning for change.”

“You just made that up, right?” Tawny asked, not amused at all.

“Certainly not. To become a sorcerer, you must come to understand the sky.” The clouds crept into the sky like a windswept sheet.

While Tawny had nothing to say, Cira took it as she was expecting to hear more about the subject. So, the knowledgeable sorcerer rambled on for a period of time about clouds and what they mean. Soon, the cirrocumulus had begun to break up and dotted the blue canvas overhead.

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Seeing the chance to change the subject, Tawny pointed at the waters, “I haven’t seen the sea in ages. It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Hey, it looks something’s breaking the waves. Do you think there’s land down there?”

There was still none in sight, but Cira already had eyes on what she was talking about. Like someone painted a gorgeous scape of waves then dragged their brush through it backwards.

“That’s not land,” Cira replied as the air cracked under the mana she gathered, “Get ready.”

A mountain sprouted from the sea, with a maw that reached for the sky. Unfortunately, sorcerer and apprentice were in the sky currently. Deep blue scales the size of a house and yellow bloodshot eyes far larger, the serpent breached the surface as fast as Cira would expect a snake to uncoil.

Its head formed a sharp but wide point like an arrowhead, and its body was as thick as an island. It never stopped emerging from the waves as a high-pitched barrage of clicks came from its throat. As if to swallow a monolithic rodent, the monster’s jaws had practically split from sea to sky.

This creature was as terrifying as any, and much larger than the dragon she encountered. Somehow though, it didn’t feel like it held even a fraction of the mana.

Tawny screamed and curled up, levitating in the air as she was, while Cira narrowed her gaze and turned her neck a few degrees down to meet the presumptuous beast head on.

“Arrogant old serpent,” It relaxed its jaw for a moment, seemingly to snap it open as an ambush predator might, and that’s when Cira disappeared. In the time it takes a single eyelash to flutter, space rippled beneath the water snake’s orbital cavity. Ordinarily Cira would proclaim her move, but it took significantly longer to boast than to destroy. “Begone.”

Her fist projected a vortex of aether like a spear from right pupil to left. Cira’s dark pirate coat rippled from the pressure as her radiant punch formed a vacuum of everything in between.

Her father spoke often of the organ housed in the skull, responsible for most things yet ultimately ambiguous. Cira suspected more about the brain resided in the forbidden archive, but her understanding was that it was more important than most.

She had also seen many snakes in Spatial Sight, and this serpent was no different, albeit a few magnitudes larger. More like a krait than anything, Cira actually expected the gargantuan monster to die when its most important organ was pierced, but it only started shrieking and writhing in torment. Like the sky had fallen, the sea felt an impact a mile long.

A massive ridge parted the waves when the serpent’s body hit the water. As it wriggled around turning the area into a maelstrom, Cira couldn’t help but feel bad. It disrupted a huge expanse of sea in its rampage, but looking at it now, it was reacting like an earth worm accidentally cut in half while tilling soil. Though its cries seemed to shake the heavens, it was a pretty regrettable experience altogether.

The body was monumental to the point that Cira even brought her and Tawny a little bit higher to stay safe, but the beast no longer seemed capable of detecting them.

Ordinarily when she was perceived, it was apparent. Especially so after her rebirth, but this beast was deep in frantic throes of some manner of brain injuries and emotions Cira could fathom neither of. Most certainly suffering, but would it be cruel to keep attacking or merciful? Regardless, it was no longer a threat and slowly sank to familiar depths as its rampage lost steam.

“What… was that creature?!” Tawny was hyperventilating, completely off guard to the horrors that may or may not await one in such a realm.

“Right. As I tried to tell you, details are important within a pocket realm.” Cira had talked her head off about cloud language but had strayed far from any practical topics—such as threats. “What we have just faced should be considered a guardian, and I’m actually surprised it’s not dead. Just goes to show I need to brush up on my reptilian anatomy. I must have inflicted some serious damage though.” They kept moving as the serpent disappeared behind them in its futile panic.

“In the first place,” Cira continued, “No one would create a pocket realm this vast if it weren’t important. We may find something much more significant than gold, and thus, we have just met one of its guardians. I’ll let you take the next one.”

Cira brought them closer to the waves to see the sun’s shimmer and Tawny’s eyes glazed over.

___

Just what is this monster… What is Jimbo’s fascination with her?

“That creature before… The only one that could compare is Undina.” I said, “How did you defeat it so easily?”

Cira smirked, not paying even the slightest respect to the miles-long serpent. She may as well have slapped it away.

“Its presence was intimidating, but did you not notice how little mana it had? I do believe it was an overgrown torrential basilisk. Probably getting on in the years. Do you notice how the clouds have become darker?” Huh… The weather is turning, I guess. “Such a beast would typically not give up so easily within its own territory, and they are said to be a formidable calamity beneath heavy rains. That’s why I had to defeat it quickly. Defeat is a strong word though. Instead of killing it, I only managed to severely cripple it, but at least enough to get it to stop bothering us. With any pocket realm, there is a chance that guardian was someone’s pet, so I feel pretty bad about it.”

“That’s… not my question.” The so-called cirrocumulus clouds had naturally faded in the last few hours but grew darker under the serpent’s influence which seem to have revitalized them. Even I was surprised the serpent wasn’t dead despite its size. Her punch could have shattered an island, but Cira made it sound much less serious than I expected. I guess the serpent realized its defeat and decided to give up completely. Looking back, it writhed around as a simple worm would. They can only feel, right? I heard that once when I was a kid. Perhaps the serpent was crippled so, cursed to drift the seas like a hapless jellyfish, the beast whose maw could swallow Lost Cloud… Did the one who teaches me sorcery… did my master not condemn it to oblivion with a single punch? “Master…” I swallowed my pride. “Please teach me how to become a sorcerer like you.”

I couldn’t help it if Jimbo talked about her all the time. Hopefully once she left, he would stop. But… I couldn’t help but feel the same way in this moment. Perhaps I was always jealous, and I never really understood the things he said about her absurd accomplishments, but she dismissed the serpent as if she had something else on her mind and somewhere to be. If I couldn’t achieve my own goals regardless of circumstance, for what do I even train my aura?

“Master?” The girl’s blonde hair shone in the warm sun like it were light itself. Her trivial smirk even made me a little embarrassed about my attitude. “Since when are you such a devoted student?” She chuckled, as if making fun of me, “Of all people, I’ll be severely disappointed if you start worshipping me now. If you have something to say, speak clearly so that we may continue our expedition.”

Were my eyes closed, I would have thought that tone belonged to someone at the Flyin’ Dutchess. Unfortunately, they weren’t, but her friendly words had me questioning my entire perception of her.

Her voice was playful, but serious, and I felt for a brief moment that it could not be mistaken how Cira the sorcerer felt.

I learned a lot about what the weather meant, but little about how it worked. The cirrocumulus smattering had quickly turned into a field of gray mist in the sky above as we dared to follow it.

“Master Cira… I want to be stronger. Stronger than anyone on Lost Cl—I mean Acher. That beast you slapped away could turn Acher to rubble… I just… I want that power.”

She gabbled nonsense about the greater good here and there, and I figured my selfish desires would cause her to renounce me, but I couldn’t leave them unsaid.

She chuckled, “The sorcerous punch comes from the heart. Your will condensed. Your path, however, must be carefully crafted. Do not forget your desires in your quest for power, lest you become a hollow shell of what you ever wanted to be…”

I seriously don’t understand this girl… She came out of nowhere and she treats every problem that ever was like it’s trivial at best, but… seeing her with her aura returned, it’s as if the sky couldn’t bother her if it tried. I’m glad she isn’t still made I tried to hit her with a fireball.

The sun had dulled beneath the storm’s cover. Day didn’t feel to have changed, but the sky was much darker. I could feel the moisture in the air, mucking up the wind. On one hand, I thought I should constantly be ready for a gruesome death after the snake incident, but on the other, I could feel my master’s indomitable presence bearing over all which existed in this space—at least as far as my eyes can see.

“Master… I mean, Cira.” That’s what she wants to hear, right? “The sorcerous path, as you call it… Can I walk it as you have?”

I thought that I heard thunder in the distance, in the path Cira chose for us within this realm.

“You can walk whatever path you wish.” She rolled backwards so that she crossed her arms, lounging on her back in the air as we moved the opposite direction. “But can you walk it yourself? That’s all that matters.”

Suddenly, I felt very heavy and the wind picked up.