Chapter 111: Suitors
Location: Magicon Empire; Magicon System; Terra; Imperia; FBC
Saturday arrives quickly, and I enjoy a nice breakfast with my roommates in one of the countless cafés on campus. They all had some cool stuff happening during their courses on Friday, and I share my experiences with the Gravity Ball tryouts as well.
We talk so much, that it’s almost noon when we leave the café. Alina leaves in a hurry, telling us she has to run some errands in the city. That leaves me with Lucy and Lydia.
“What are your plans for today?” I ask them.
Lydia shrugs while Lucy starts grinning like a madwoman. “Well, I’m guessing you want to visit Benson Moon, right?”
“I do, yes…”
Lucy suddenly grins even more. “Do you think anyone would complain if I, or better we would join you?” She indicates Lydia at the end whose eyes go very wide and her jaw drops.
I shrug. “I don’t think so. You know about me anyway. Let me check real quick.”
Who is best to call? Probably Vic. I cast a quick Communication spell and reach out to her. The spell connects quickly after.
“Hey Sara, did you miss me?” I grin when I hear Vic’s happy voice.
“Hi, Vic! I wanted to ask you something and maybe come by for a visit later depending on your answer.”
“Oh? Do tell.”
“Well, you know about Lucy and Lydia, right? They asked me if they could join me on the moon. I didn’t know, so here I am asking you.”
I hear her laughing. “Good thing you asked, instead of just teleporting. Access to the moon is very restricted as you should know. Let me check…”
She goes silent, and I turn back to the two girls. “Just a moment.” They both nod, their faces full of anticipation.
Vic comes back. “That’s surprising… But I think Amelia or someone else in power pulled a few strings. Both Lucy and Lydia are allowed on the moon as long as they are with you.”
A big grin finds its way on my face. “That’s great, thanks, Vic! We see you soon.”
I cut the connection and relay the good news to the two girls. They are very excited, and we decide to jump up there as soon as we’ve changed our clothes. Therefore, I teleport us back to our room and we all change into something a little fancier.
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Location: Magicon Empire; Magicon System; Benson Moon
We arrive in the good old jump room, I’ve arrived at the previous times I visited the moon, and I immediately step into the nearby disguise chamber to change back to my true self again.
When I step out, Lydia tilts her head. “Wow, you look so different. I almost forgot your real looks over the past month,” she winks at me.
I ignore her, as the door in the back opens at just this moment to reveal a smiling Vic. “Hey cousin,” she shouts, and I rush over to hug her.
“Hi Vic,” I greet her and introduce Lucy and Lydia after we separate.
Vic leads us out of the building, and we walk a bit across the moon. Unfortunately, we’re currently on the side not facing the planet, so we can’t look down on Terra. It doesn’t matter, as we find enough things to talk about.
My friends hit off great with Vic, and as Grandma Amelia trusts her with everything, we can also sit down and talk about our trip to The Empire. Vic is very excited about how well Lucy handled the Stargazer’s shields against the pirates and tells Lydia that she would make a great diplomat with her communication skills.
Before we know it, it’s noon and Vic starts grinning broadly. “Are you hungry? I’ve got a surprise for you.”
As if it was waiting for this question, my stomach starts to rumble, and everyone looks at me. “What?”
Lucy just snorts. “Of course, you perk up when there is food.”
“Rude,” I reply. “But yeah, food sounds great. What do you have in mind, Vic?”
“Oh, you’ll see. Can you lend me a hand?”
She sends me a set of coordinates, and Clara confirms that they are still on the moon. I shrug and start casting a Teleportation spell. “Sure, everyone ready?”
When everyone agrees, I trigger the spell, and we vanish. Then we are somewhere else. I don’t recognize the place, but the big window shows Terra deep below us. We’re now on the other side of the moon!
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Vic immediately walks toward the fridge and takes out a few frozen pizzas. She throws them in the oven and then uses her Telekinesis to float over five fresh plates. After that, she beckons us to sit down at the table.
“Why five plates? Are you expecting someone else?” Lydia asks while we all take our seats.
“Yeah, that’s the surprise. Just a few more minutes, then you’ll see.”
I start grinning, as I can guess just who will visit us. I don’t tell the others though. Instead, I ask Vic something else. “Is this your apartment, Vic?”
“Yes, pretty nice, huh?”
“Absolutely! You’ve got a nice view.”
“Thanks, I’m going to miss it when I join you on the trip to Earth.”
That has both Lucy’s and Lydia’s gaze snap to the two of us.
“She’s joining us?”
“You’re coming with us?”
They ask at the same time.
Vic nods. “Yeah, but I’m going to be something like a referee to keep you in line,” she winks. “That means that we can’t be too familiar with each other… At least not in the beginning.”
They deflate a little, but the mood is saved by the finished pizza. It smells delicious despite not being freshly made. Vic serves us when the doorbell rings.
“I’m getting it,” I call out and get up. When I open the door, I find Grandma Amelia standing there. Hah, I knew it! I immediately hug her, then we both step back inside.
I will cherish what follows forever. My friends’ reactions are just so adorable. They both sit there open-mouthed and lost for words. Grandma Amelia with her chill self, calms them down soon after and we all have a nice lunch. Lucy and Lydia mostly stare with stars in their eyes, but they manage to talk later on as well. Grandma Amelia doesn’t have that much time, but we make the best of it. When she is gone, Lydia explodes.
“That. Was. So. Cool! Oh my god. Thank you, Vic. I’ve never imagined meeting the Empress, hell I never even imagined seeing her back at my home. The Empire was so far away… And now I’ve eaten lunch with her! It’s crazy, wow!”
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Location: Magicon Empire; Magicon System; Terra; Imperia; FBC
We return to our dorm room a few hours later. All in all, it was one of the best days here at college so far. I really like to see my friends so happy. They both grab me in a hug and thank me again. “Hey, chill! I can’t breathe,” gasp out, and they hug me with a little less force.
We step back out into the common room and find Alina sitting on the couch. She’s got a thunderous expression on her face, and some of our good mood is washed away.
“Alina, what’s wrong?” Lydia asks with concern in her voice.
We sit down around her and wait patiently for her reply. She takes a deep breath and sighs.
“It’s my parents…” She looks at me. “I told you a while ago about their plans for me… And well, now that I’ve settled in at college, they made their first move.”
Oh!
Did her parents arrange a marriage?
Shit! And I promised her it wouldn’t happen. How could I know this would happen that fast? What am I going to do now? Should I…?
Alina continues. “They made me visit multiple suitors today! I didn’t even know before I met the first one. Send me a message that I have to deliver a small package for them. Then the door opens, and some guy welcomes me with a smile, telling me it’s nice to finally meet me…”
She gets angrier the more she talks. “The worst is, he wasn’t even bad. We had a good time and then he suddenly pulled out some contract and started talking about marriage and company things… I left and called my parents. They just told me to stop whining and do my duty. That’s not how I expected things to go at all. My parents were always so nice…”
Tears start streaming down her face and Lydia hugs her. She starts sobbing. “I always knew this would happen… But not like this. I thought my parents loved me. Why would they do it that way? Why didn’t they wait for longer or at least tell me in person?”
She stops, and Lydia does her best to comfort her. This is worse than I feared. What’s wrong with her parents? Why would they rush things that much? I mean college barely started. There is still enough time…
Oh!
It has to be about Earth! While we’re not officially on any list for Earth, Grandma Amelia confirmed it for me, and I relayed it to the others under the guise that Tim would pull strings.
I wait till Alina composes herself again. Then I lean over and hug her as well. “I’m sorry, Alina. I didn’t think it would happen that fast… Have you told your parents about Earth? I mean that you’ll be going there?”
Alina looks up. “Yeah, I did. They were so happy for me. Why do you ask?”
I sigh, my suspicions confirmed. “I think your parents rushed things because of that. You’re one of the few people who can visit Earth. Can you imagine how prestigious that is?”
Alina’s face goes through various expressions. It starts with disbelief, mixed with a good portion of anger. In the end realization dawns and she slumps down again. “Fuck me! That’s why the first guy was the son of a Count. My parents aim for bigger fish now… And I messed up by leaving. What am I going to do now? My parents aren’t going to stop, are they?”
I shake my head. “No, from what I’ve heard probably not…”
I promised her. Should I tell her? We’ll be spending a lot of time together… But can I trust her?
Alina looks resigned. Lucy and Lydia try to cheer her up. “Hey Alina, stop,” Lucy says. “It’s not the end of the world. There is still time. You’re not engaged yet.”
“Lucy’s right. We’ll find a way to fix this,” Lydia joins in.
Lucy leans over to me and whispers. “Can you fix this?”
I whisper back. “Maybe, but it would mean telling her. I’m not sure. I have to ask Grandma Amelia first.”
Lucy sighs in relief. “Do that, please. Lydia and I will distract her,” she turns back to Alina. “I think we should eat out. Maybe that will settle you a bit. Hey, Sara, you said you had coupons for almost everywhere, right?”
Ah, now I get what she’s doing. While they get ready for the restaurant and maybe even take a shuttle, I have time to call Grandma Amelia.
“I do. Wait a second, I’ll send you one. Let’s meet up there, I’ll need to check something real quick.”
I send her the coupon to the fanciest restaurant inside the entertainment tower. It’s right at the top and probably costs an arm and a leg, but who cares? Then I get back into my room, cast a Communication spell, and connect to Grandma Amelia. I hope she’s got time.
“Sara? What’s up, do you miss me already?” The spell connects and Grandma Amelia greets me with a cheerful voice.
“Hi, Grandma Amelia. I always miss you. But that’s not why I’m calling… I learned from my roommate that her parents want to arrange a marriage for her. She’s not happy at all about it… I promised her a while ago that I would help her. But now her parents try to marry her off much faster than I expected. Probably because of the trip to Earth. I still want to help her, but the only way I can think of is to tell her who I am and put her under my wing or something.”
Grandma Amelia is silent for a moment. “You know that arranging marriages is common practice throughout The Empire, right? There’s nothing wrong with it.”
“Yeah, I know,” I reply. “But Alina doesn’t want to. She said she wants to fall in love and marry someone she likes in the future. I think she’s allowed to have that choice at least.”
“True enough. I won’t stop you from telling her. It’s your decision. But I’m guessing that’s not why you called me.”
“No, it’s not. I’ve already decided to tell her. But I want you to check her out first. I’ve been reckless in the past and I want to change that. I want to know if she is really trustworthy.”
I almost hear Grandma Amelia’s smile. “You’ve come to the right person then. Can you have Clara send me a few details about her? I should be able to tell you my results in about an hour or something.”
“That’s perfect, thanks, Grandma Amelia!”