Reaching a familiar hillside, Athos only had a moment to revel in the sight of the flourishing Oenus before gravity began to reassert itself on the hulking metal vehicle and the three, five it you were getting technical, passengers. The experimental vehicle got a surprising amount of air coming over the rise he and Walter flew down all those year ago, and Emily did quite the job of proving how loud she could get. Athos gave her a run for her money as the ground came rushing up to meet them, but he just couldn’t match the ability of a teenaged girl to scream.

For all of the work Sally put into the car, the ground was still stronger than anything the Tinker-turned-Factotum could make at the moment. Even mythic shock absorbers and a near legendary suspension system still weren’t up for such an impact as bodies jerked against the seat belts and their integrity displays updated.

Athos Aramis - Damage Received - 99% Integrity Remaining

Sally Aramis - Damage Received - 96% Integrity Remaining

Emily Queen - Damage Received - 92% Integrity Remaining

Well, it could have been worse

“Careful,” Athos warned, but it was already far too late for warnings.

Taking a hand from the wheel, Sally waved him off with a smile plastered on her face. Never taking her eyes from the road, the woman somehow managed to flick his nose as she laughed.

“Wuss.”

“Again!” Emily cried, looking back over her shoulder at the last rise before the river valley. “I want to do it again, Sissy!”

Sally grinned all the wider. “See! Even Emma had fun. Let’s hope they take after my side of the family.”

Athos looked from Emily’s manic grin to Sally’s matching eagerness to feed it, and a fear for his own sanity crept into his thoughts.

Maybe he hadn’t thought the whole marriage thing through, but a smile bloomed on his face seeing the way Sally smiled. At least, it bloomed until her grin grew like a manic’s.

“Here we go!”

Athos looked at her, confused, as Emily cheered.

“Go! Go! Go!”

“Sally?”

Sally ignore the question. “You heard the girl!”

Soon, they were picking up speed once more, approaching the last hillside before Sally reached down, flipped a switch, and the entire machine launched itself into the air.

For just a moment, the group was airborne, careening through the sky like birds before the descent began.

Sally and Emily screamed. Fear and excitement indistinguishable from one another as Athos held onto his ass, never once doubting that Sally knew exactly what she was doing.

Sally looked over at him for just a moment, and her smiled dimmed just so as she reached over to flip another switch near the first.

“You’re no fun, Athos. You know that? If you really loved me, you could at least act scared.”

The world jerked for a moment, much less violently than the last, and the entire vehicle slowed to a crawl compared to the speed they’d been falling. Looking out the back, Athos saw the parachutes deployed from the sides of the wagon and just kept smiling.

“Love you, too.”

She leaned over and kissed his cheek with only a bit of catcalling from Emily.

No, he’d thought it through.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Once they reached the ground and began driving again, the rest of the trip was quick as the walls of Oenus came hurtling forward, and the brakes engaged before they could enter the city proper.

Stopping on a dime and jerking the group forward once more, the newly minted car came to a silent stop in front of the city wall in the grass off the path.

Clicking a few buttons and flipping the ignition off, Sally turned to her cohorts. “Everyone out, or you’re going into my inventory with the vehicle.”

“With the Athos,” Emily corrected with a grin.

“We are not calling it that,” Athos staunchly defended.

There wasn’t even a moment hesitation.

“Too late,” Sally grinned as she finished unbuckling. “Now out before Athos becomes part of the Athos.”

He had no intention of risking becoming part of his new namesake and relented for the moment. Once they had all unbuckled themselves, the field around the cabin collapsed, letting the two get out while Sally opened a new screen on the Athos.

With a few deft movements of her hand, the vehicle vanished, leaving a smiling Sally standing where it had once been. Her glow was nearly doubled as she ran to Athos, grinning like she hadn’t a care in the world. “It worked!”

Emily looked confused.

Of course, it had worked.

Why wouldn’t it work?

It was made to work, wasn’t it?

For all Emily’s confusion, Athos beamed. “We knew it would. You designed it, after all.”

Sally blushed, but Emily piped up. “Why are you surprised it worked?”

Athos grinned. “Because Sally doesn’t like to let others test her designs, and the Wild Lands don’t quite have roads down yet that are safe enough to travel like this.”

The wheels began turning as Emily’s face paled. “Wait…”

“You weren’t in any danger, Grape,” Sally said, breaking her embrace to hug the life out of her little sister. “There was no chance of it exploding, just of the axles not responding to the engine’s force, or the steering wheel not directing the Athos in time, or the wheel’s locking if the turn radius got too tight.” She continued, ticking off a variety of issues that might have gone wrong.

“Everything else lined up with 96% compatibility.”

“What was the steering, then?”

“Eh…” Sally’s hands moving up and down as if weighing the options. “55% but the test run proved that was way off. I didn’t feel more than a five percent draw in either direction. It was near perfect.” Her eyes gleamed with a dragon’s light at the thought of her brand new baby machine. “We’re going to make so much money…”

Emily did not share her sister’s excitement about the experiment and paled. To her credit, she eventually smiled and hugged her sister. “If you weren’t pregnant, my sister, or bigger than me, I’d smack you.”

Sally looked taken aback and hugged her all the tighter. “What are sisters for?”

“Experimentation, apparently,” Emily gasped as her sister tightened her hug.

Athos laughed and turned to look at the gates a few feet away, where a few people looked upon them with studious eyes. The ruckus from within seeming no worse for it though. Within moments, the few onlookers seemed satisfied with the activity. Some even recognized the two and called out greetings before they went back inside.

When the girls finished hugging out their differences, which was when Emily cried uncle and Sally finally let go before her core data got damaged, the three began their slow stroll into the city proper.

The walls, Athos noted, did two things for the festivities.

The first was that it protected those inside from anything that would wish them harm which was nothing during the duration of the festival.

The second was more important. The walls bounced the cacophony of music and crowds back in and upward, making the festival sound all that much louder and more boisterous than it should have been.

Either way, the sight of Oenus during the Days of Peace was one to remember.

Never had Athos seen the city so packed!

People were packed in wall to wall along with dryads and other Wildkin, stretching from what was once the market district for as far as they eye could see.

Vendors were set up selling food of all kinds, copies of Ella’s favorite sound based Wildkin minions, the Tuners, were belting out all kinds of music from his world and other, more distinctly Inciperian, tunes. Oldies from the 2000s, ancients from the 1900s and before, heavy metal, techno, classical, pop, and more bellowed through the air unabated. All the genres seemed to be represented, and all were as clear as a bell as soon as one focused on it. It didn’t help the noise when some drunken Inciperians began requesting classical rock like Freebird and Sandstorm.

As if to attack all the senses at once, the smells of spiced apples, mulled wines, and hot chocolate wafted through the air as thick as the echoed sounds. The more succulent smells of meats and sauces of all kinds joined them a step later as the group moved further into the throngs.

Athos relished it, navigating his way to the first stand they came across.

Sally decidedly did not as her nausea debuff kicked in and nearly knocked her off her feet with the all too appetizing sound of her retching.

Thankfully, Inciperians couldn’t throw up, but Athos knew from experience that perk was no joke and turned his attention to Sally, picking her up as if she weighed nothing and holding her like the bride she’d been.

“You’re strong!” Emily realized as her uncle didn’t even break stride.

“Yep,” the man smiled. “Carrying three people is hard work, but I’m used to carrying groups.”

Sally groaned at his attempt at a joke. “That was embarrassing, Athos.”

The Alchemical Vanguard smiled and kept walking. “When you feel like walking again, I can always put you down.”

“No, no. It would be rude to deny you the joy of carrying your lovely wife. Carry on, Athos,” Sally explained, glad to take the weight off. So, she made herself a little more comfortable, resting her head on his shoulder as they walked.

Athos decided then that food could wait for the moment. First, he needed them to find an old friend…

Then, they would gorge themselves on the free food when Sally felt better.