Vistus

“A long time ago, there was only one region on Vistus.

“People all lived together with dragons and beasts. Those with magic and those without coexisted, though not peacefully. Magic users far outnumbered those who could not control any element. There was tension between not only them, but between the dragons inhabiting the land with them.

“So one dragon named Vacerus decided to take action. He was a mighty creature, with a tail so thick it could flatten the earth and wings so large they could blot out the sun. He was patient and benevolent, but even he had his limits. He could not stand the fighting, so he split the land into three regions, hoping the space would quell the turmoil on Vistus.

“A smaller flying dragon decided to live with the inhabitants of one island and named it the Havran region. A powerful earthbound dragon lived with the people of Nemon. As for Vacerus, he lived in the region we now call Tananshia.

“Each region grew in its own way. The people of Havran learned from the flying dragon, practising and taking pride in their magic. The dragon watched over them until her death, confident that her people would look after Havran.

“However as time went on, more and more people were born without magic ability in Nemon. They blamed the earthbound dragon, accusing him of absorbing all the mana in the region and leaving none for its other residents. In an attempt to solve this problem, they killed the dragon. Nothing changed, so they decided to put their other skills to use, and technology became the necessity of Nemon.

“As for Tananshia, it grew at a faster rate than the other regions. Shaping the land had taken its toll on Vacerus. His energy spent, he died soon after the formation of Tananshia. The people of this region learned to put their differences aside after realising why Vacerus had split the land. Once those without magical ability accepted their position, they worked together with magic users to create a thriving land. This was the ultimate wish of the mighty dragon, and they were happy to have fulfilled it.

“And that is the story of Vistus and its three regions.”

Fericeus smiled at his enraptured audience. The white wolf man stood up and dusted himself off, brushing his long turquoise hair from his face. “I hope you enjoyed that tale, my friends.”

Laerya nodded slowly. Back when she had attended school, she had been given a history lesson regarding the formation of the three regions. But of course, as any youngster is wont to do in class, she was not paying the slightest bit of attention. Yet when Feri spoke, she listened in awe. There was something about the wolf that commanded total respect.

“That’s all I have time for today,” Fericeus said with an apologetic dip of his head. His audience moaned audibly, but not too loudly. They were in a library after all. “If you are interested, I may come back next week with another story to tell.”

Laerya sat with a group of children, all of whom nodded eagerly at Feri’s proposal. She chuckled at their enthusiasm. She got to listen to Feri whenever she wished. These kids weren’t as lucky.

“I should be getting back home.” Fericeus gestured to Lae with a flick of his tail and the purple rabbit girl hopped up to join him. “I’ll see you all next week, hopefully!”

Fericeus left a chorus of ‘goodbyes’ behind him as he exited the library, Laerya following after him. She snickered as he waved back at the children and the two of them began walking through the streets of Blackstone city. “You love the attention, don’t you?” she asked him with a smirk.

“I will not deny that it’s nice every once in a while,” Fericeus replied, his green eyes glancing back at Laerya. “But that isn’t why I tell my stories.”

“Are you hoping to pass on your knowledge to the next generation?” Lae said. “Perhaps you should’ve been a teacher.”

Fericeus nodded thoughtfully. “If I wasn’t making so much money at my current job, I think I really would be a teacher, actually.”

“What do you do again?” Laerya frowned. “Whenever I see you you’re holed up in your room looking at books. The only time you ever go out is to buy food and visit the library.”

“I work from home,” Fericeus replied. He had a faint smirk on his face. “I get paid to look at those books, you know.”

Laerya made a face. “Sounds boring.” She couldn’t imagine anything worse than studying to make money. Before she set off to be a traveller she had almost died trying to pass her exams at school. Or that was what it felt like, anyway. It hadn’t been that long since she’d left school, around three years or so, but she had to work harder than those who wanted to continue on to further education. To be a traveller was to reject the schooling system, and Tananshia’s law only let you do that if they deemed you educated enough to leave. “I can’t believe I had to study for an exam that would let me travel the world, and you’re doing stuff like that all the time.”

“What, studying?” Fericeus’s ear twitched. “Contrary to what you might think, I enjoy my job. I wouldn’t slave away at it if I wasn’t fond of it.”

“Actually, what I can’t believe is that Kiyake’s doing it too.” Laerya made a face again. “She’s even more fidgety than me yet she spends half her time with her nose in a book. It’s weird.”

Fericeus and Laerya paused at a crossing, waiting for cars to pass by. Luckily there weren’t that many of them today, as this was generally a day of leisure for many of Blackstone city’s residents. Most people were off work and enjoying some quiet time at home. And on such a sunny day as this, Lae suspected that lots of people had gone out of the city to enjoy the weather. The fields just outside the city were usually a popular spot during warm, sunny spells.

“I think it’s good,” Fericeus replied. “The youth of today should spend their time learning.”

“Wow, calm down, grandpa.” Laerya chuckled. “You’re like twenty-something, you’re still part of ‘the youth of today’. You got no place telling us younger kids what we should be doing.” She looked up at the clear blue sky. “Personally I think we should spend our time outside, especially on a day like today.”

Fericeus and Laerya crossed the road and continued walking past the city’s tall buildings, now relatively close to Feri’s house. The wolf glanced at her. “Are you suggesting something?”

“Yeah. Is it okay if me and Kiyake go out today?” Lae asked. “I mean, I dunno why I have to ask your permission, you’re not her dad or anything...”

“You don’t have to, but it’s appreciated.” Fericeus nodded. “My assistant is valuable. I need to know when she’s not going to be around to help out.”

“We won’t be long. I just wanna enjoy the sunshine with a friend for a while.”

“Fair enough.”

The two of them were slowly approaching Fericeus’s home. They left the bustling city and entered a street lined with large houses, all with immaculate front gardens and pristine patterns adorning the walls. Some of the gardens were maintained by Earth users, and it was easy to see which houses belonged to such people. Not that the other gardens looked any less impressive; to Laerya, they were all amazing in their own way.

Feri’s house was no different from the others, though he paid a gardener to look after his plants, so he did give off the impression of an Earth user. A row of purple flowers lining the walls was the trademark of Feri’s property; or at least, Lae considered them to be as such. She had planted those flowers herself when she was younger. She could see them now in the distance.

However before she could take another step forward Feri grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to stop. “What?” she muttered, irritated at the rough gesture. When she saw Feri’s eyes narrowed and his ears pricked, she knew something was wrong. Her annoyance forgotten, she looked behind the wolf and perked her own ears up to pick up any strange noises. Since she was a rabbit, she could detect sounds that he might miss.

“Is anyone there?” Fericeus mumbled. He didn’t turn his head, his piercing gaze staring straight past Laerya.

“I don’t hear anything out of the ordinary.” Laerya strained her ears to catch the sound of footsteps, but she couldn’t even pick that up. She and Fericeus were standing alone in the street.

“Maybe they’ve realised...” Fericeus’s voice was barely above a whisper. “They know that we can sense something.”

“You mean you can.” If Feri hadn’t stopped her, Laerya would have continued walking as normal. She prided herself on her sharp senses, but she couldn’t pick up this strange presence her friend was feeling. It was annoying.

After a moment, Feri’s grip on Lae’s shoulder relaxed and he continued walking. “Whoever it is, they’re gone now,” he reported, his voice returning to its normal volume. He raised his head high, as if daring the stranger to come back. He wouldn’t say it, but Lae could tell this odd presence was affecting him strongly.

This wasn’t the first time it had happened. Just before Laerya had returned to Blackstone to visit Fericeus, he had been feeling a strange presence every now and then. He couldn’t detect it when he was at home, but whenever he left the house, he picked something up.

“I felt this at the library, too,” he said suddenly, his green eyes boring into Lae. “As I was telling the story.”

Laerya blinked slowly. There was no reason to suspect the presence put anyone in danger, but with how seriously Feri was taking it, she couldn’t help but treat it with suspicion too. “Do you think they’re dangerous?”

“I’m not sure. I can definitely feel power from them.” Fericeus stood at the front door of his house, though he looked around the neighbourhood before opening the door. The sounds of vehicles rumbling and voices chatting in the distance told Laerya that there was no danger now. “I know they are a magic user of some kind.”

“Maybe it’s a student hoping to learn from you?” Lae suggested, eager to lighten the mood with a grin. “I mean, it’s not like your skills are a big secret or anything.”

“Perhaps...” Feri’s subdued tone told Laerya that he wasn’t convinced. He shook his head and opened the door, entering the house. Lae followed after him and took one last look at the peaceful neighbourhood before closing the door with a frown.

The inside of Fericeus’s house wasn’t anything special, at least according to this street’s standards. It did have a second floor with a few bedrooms, and the dining room felt more like a small dining hall at times with the amount of guests he had over, but otherwise it was unremarkable. Laerya followed Feri to the living room where they found a small cat girl with light brown fur idly watching the television, which itself was fairly modest. It was clear Feri didn’t spend that much time surfing the channels.

The cat looked up from the TV and immediately bounced up from the chair when she saw Lae and Feri, her curly green hair springing to life. “Yay, you guys are back!” Her voice was naturally high-pitched, but in her excitement her exclamation came out as a squeak.

Laerya chuckled. “Yeah, we are.”

“Did the kids listen to Feri’s story?” the cat girl hopped close to Laerya, her brown eyes wide with expectation.

“They were all amazed.” Lae nodded. “Feri coulda started telling them about how magic works and they still would’ve been interested.”

“Well, I think that’s pretty interesting anyway.”

“You would.” Laerya had never been that interested in magic. She wasn’t even sure if she was a magic user or not. Usually people discovered their abilities at a younger age, but Lae had never even tried to find hers out. Travelling the world had been a more important goal to strive for at the time.

“Oh, hold on.” The cat girl stepped back from Lae and looked at Feri. “You got spooked again.”

Feri blinked. “And how would you know that, Kiyake?”

“Please.” Kiyake giggled behind her white paw. “That rigid posture says it all. You’re normally not that loose anyway, but today you’re just like, wow! Totally statue-like!”

“Statuesque,” Fericeus amended.

“That’s the one.”

“Nothing slips past you, then.” Feri sighed and sat down on a nearby chair.

“Nope!” Kiyake shook her head vigorously. “I’m the ultimate detective. I can see anything and everything...”

Lae sat down on another chair, glancing briefly at the TV before turning her attention to the window looking out into the back garden. The sunlight light peeked through the windowpanes, giving the living room a warm glow. She knew she would have to go out soon if she wanted to enjoy the weather, but her earlier comment got her thinking. She liked to think she was knowledgeable; certainly not to Feri’s extent or even Kiyake’s, but she was pretty worldly. That was something that came from her years of travelling. But there was a rather prominent gap in her knowledge, and it might be the reason why she couldn’t pick up the strange presence outside while Fericeus could.

She knew next to nothing about magic, or her own magic capabilities. Her parents were not magic users, but her great grandfather was an Air user. There was a chance she had some hint of ability in her. Maybe she should try pursuing it? After all, there was no harm in trying something new.

Lae listened as Feri told Kiyake about the strange presence, though this was something the cat girl had heard about before. After all, she was Feri’s assistant; she was closer to him than even Laerya was. Kiyake was quite young, with Laerya being a year older, yet she was helping a fairly well-known researcher and was quite well off, even living in Feri’s house. If Laerya cared about wealth, she would’ve been jealous.

“Maybe I should start going outside with you to see if I can sense anything,” Kiyake suggested once Feri finished explaining. “I mean, I’m really bored staying here alone anyway.”

“I don’t see why not.” Fericeus shrugged. “You can hold your own if it comes to a fight.” Kiyake beamed at that. “I don’t think it will, but you can’t be too careful.”

“You might be getting just a bit too cautious,” Lae said. “Why would anyone want to hurt you, Feri?”

Fericeus blinked as he looked at her. He paused, simply staring at the purple rabbit. If Lae wasn’t used to long silences from him, she might have been uncomfortable. “I’m not sure,” he said after a moment. “But as I said, you can never be too careful.”

Laerya sighed in defeat. Fericeus could be a bit paranoid every now and then. That was to be expected of a researcher who kept himself busy in his house all the time.

“I should probably get back to my studies now,” Fericeus said, running a hand through his long hair. “Space travel isn’t going to advance much if nobody’s learning about it.”

“You’re studying space travel now?” Lae blinked in surprise. She wasn’t even aware that anyone was working on it. The news never reported much about space.

“Peacekeepers’ tasked me with it.” Fericeus stood up. “They’ve given me quite a few books to plough through. I think they’re hoping I’ll have some sort of breakthrough for them.”

“This seems more like something Jovi would look into,” Lae said, smiling as she remembered her nerdy bat friend. “He’s nuts about space. He’d leap at the chance to design some sort of spacecraft.”

“He can’t do that until we’ve learned more...” Fericeus sighed. “That’s why I must leave you two alone now and work. Kiyake, could I ask you to check on the crystal balls? Make sure they’re all in working order.”

Kiyake stood to attention. “I’m on it.”

“Wait.” Laerya held her hand up. “Feri, I had an idea. Not about space travel, sorry.”

Fericeus’s eyebrows quirked up. “Go on?”

“I mean, it’s more about me, an idea for me, okay that sounds kinda selfish now actually...”

Fericeus smiled. “Go on.”

“Can you teach me magic?”

Now that Feri said he had to go study something else, Laerya thought her request was completely out of line. She couldn’t take up his time, yet she was asking anyway. “How rude,” her mother would have said to her.

To her relief, Feri didn’t scold her. In fact, his raised eyebrows told her he was rather interested in her idea. That was a surprise. “I would,” he began slowly, “but...”

His hesitation was enough. “No, it’s okay.” Lae shook her head immediately. “You’re super busy with the space stuff. Ignore me.”

“Don’t turn your idea down so quickly.” Fericeus put a finger to his chin in thought. “I won’t be able to teach you anything at the moment, but I know someone who might be able to assist you...”

“You’re keen on me learning magic?” Lae found herself strangely excited at the prospect.

“I think there’s nothing wrong with you broadening your horizons a bit.” Feri nodded slowly. “I’ll arrange something with a friend of mine. Have you ever heard of Greenglade, in Havran?”

Lae searched her memory for the name, but nothing came up. Of all the regions, Havran was the one she explored the least, possibly because of its close ties to magic. She sometimes felt out of her depth when magic came into play; this would be the perfect chance to fix that. “...No,” she said eventually.

“That’s where you’ll be going. Greenglade is home to many magic users. It will be good for you to at least visit them once.” Fericeus nodded again, clearly pleased with this turn of events. “I can’t let you go alone, though. The trip will require you to cross the sea, and even though I know you’re more than capable of handling yourself, I want someone to accompany you. Is that okay?”

Laerya bit her lip. If Fericeus was suggesting she needed a companion, then Greenglade was more dangerous than he let on. But she didn’t mind having company. She was a solo traveller, but she enjoyed having a friend tag along from time to time. “That’s fine,” she said. Though now she wondered who Feri would ask to go with her. Who was up to the task?

Fericeus took a crystal ball from the shelf in the living room. “Let’s see if Akorri is busy...”