-Callia-
Joana spent the rest of the day showing me around the various locations in the tower, introducing me to the various facilities she was particularly familiar with. Places like the cafeteria, library, and meditation hall, but perhaps most relevant to me were the training grounds for paladin aspirants. I still wasn’t sure if becoming a fully fledged paladin was something I planned on, but of all the locations shared with me, it looked like the most fun. Every morning started with a group prayer time directly followed by an hour of mana suppression practice. This was the only mandatory activity, money still held value even in the citadel, and various jobs were available en masse, like public service agents connecting to the community. However, the paths mentioned by the paladin on my way in seemed to be the most prevalent with a considerable institutional push. Better quarters, potential for leadership roles, and extensive training so long as I put in the time to become a paladin or a priest was willing to become my mentor. Still, a considerable portion of the tour was Joana showing me all the available work I could apply for.
At the end of the tour, Joana brought me back to my room and, at my urging, showed me her room. I was curious how someone who had lived a life in the citadel lived. The straw mat had a wooden frame, and a small cabinet containing all her worldly possessions left me very unimpressed, but she enthusiastically bragged about how she managed to get the furniture at premium prices. I wanted to see her reaction to my “travel” gear, but I also felt it would be a bit mean. Seeing her brag about a wooden cabinet gave a whole different perspective to the multistory house Callen and I had made as kids. I mentally made a note to give Joana some of my goodies when it was time to leave.
Joana, having completed the tour, wished me luck in adjusting and left to return to her job as a gatehouse attendant. With that, I was left alone to fully settle into my new quarters. Having extensive practice setting up suitable living arrangements was easy. In fact, I was more interested in getting to know some of the neighbors. While Joana didn’t explicitly say this was a female-only dorm, she did mention something about sisters when referring to the other rooms on the floor. I grabbed a couple of fruits from the void and started knocking on doors. At first nobody responded, but about halfway through, a small girl with puffy eyes opened the door. I knelt down low and gave a welcoming smile.
“Hello, I’m Callia. Would you like some fruit?” Looking into the room, I noticed a similar barren interior designed for one resident. Her sad expression eased slightly as the offering piqued her interest. She carefully examined it but didn’t say anything, clearly interested in the fruit but hesitant to accept. “I just arrived earlier today, and I’m getting familiar. Did something happen that made you upset?” She carefully reached forward, accepting the fruit before opening the door enough for me to enter.
“Mommy said it was rude to keep guests outside. . .” Taking that as an invitation, I slowly walked in, followed alongside her as she took a seat on the balcony with her legs dangling over the side. I moved down, sitting next to her. “I’m Lisie. I've only been here for a month, but I was missing home. I don’t normally cry, so don’t tell others. They would think it's their fault. They’re nice, but it's hard to adjust, and I don't want them to worry.” I nodded in understanding while bending over to help her peel back the skin of her fruit.
“I live in the northernmost town in the kingdom. I met the paladins during my trip to the capital. I didn’t really even know about the citadel before then.” I felt a trace of warmth as Lisie hummed in delight while eating the fruit. I gently rubbed her hair and enjoyed the panicked resistance she put up as I felt the sadness fading from her. “How did you get the trait? My circumstances were a bit special, so I’m unfamiliar with how others get it.” The girl took a moment to recompose herself before launching into her story.
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She was from Ciaphas City. Something her friends did for fun was play make-believe, pretending to be the Great Queen Karia when she beat up the royals to protect her people. However, a traveling merchant's guard overheard and reacted violently. He tried to cut her brother for mocking the prince. The guards were fighting to restrain the man because they saw the incident breaking out, but he broke free from them. Lisie barely managed to push her brother to safety but was caught instead. She shivered and started struggling to speak as she described watching her intestines spill out and the world going dark while the man tried to escape. Only to wake up in her bed at home unharmed at the beginning of the day with her little brother barging into the room demanding they play. She saw the man who had killed her at the market and decided to lead her brother to somewhere else for the day. A week later paladins showed up with a weird twisted husk on a leash that was trying to attack her and declared she was a chosen.
I took a moment to digest what I had just heard while Lisie eagerly helped herself to the rest of her fruit. Whether it was time travel, prophecy, or just a coincidence, even thinking about the circumstances she shared felt extraordinary. I looked up towards the ceiling of the citadel, taking in the sheer size of the building. If that's the kind of event that brings someone here, and it happened enough to fill the entire building. I just shook my head trying to comprehend the enormity of it. I just took a moment to recall the presence I had met that had saved Callen. I quietly took a moment to thank them. I wasn’t sure if it was God or some supernatural being, but whoever put in the effort to save a cute little kid like Lisie deserved thanks.
“Hey big sister, I shared my miracle; now share yours!” I gave a smile as I began putting together where to begin.
"Well, it all began when I ambushed the son of Queen Karia." A mischievous smirk reached my lips as a startled gasp escaped my new friend's mouth.
Jet Boosters
Callen clung on tightly to the bed of the truck as it bounced wildly over vegetation. Nixie didn’t want to waste a moment putting him to work adding all the extra features he never thought she needed but also hoped he would never personally experience. He carefully steadied himself as he added the final touches on his latest addition. Pulling back from the edge and into the truck bed, he let out a sigh of relief. While reviewing Nixie’s idea book, they had swapped stories of how the elf invasion had gone. The moment Callen mentioned his brief experience launching into the sky with his experimental rocket backpack, Nixie interrupted him. It was a simple demand to add similar boosters to her truck. Callen knew he would regret it later, but Nixie was willing to threaten stopping the truck until he complied, so he acquiesced.
The truck had been fortified against the usual monsters that tried to interfere with travel, and with Eldraine City having been vacant for some time, the usual roadside ambush monsters had migrated in search of new targets. This meant the normal day-long trips were being covered in the timeframe of hours instead of days. They had left the forest and passed the ruins of Portten on the first day. After everything, it was a heartbreaking sight to see the city he had previously saved quiet and devoid of life. It had become just another ruin, but he didn’t have Nixie stop and instead insisted on going faster. Even supplying his own mana to boost the vehicle. Every day delayed was a chance that the devastation might overrun another city or town.
Driving through the night and into the next day got them past Eldraine City and onto the road south. The whole time Callen clung to the back of the truck, installing rocket booster runes. He quietly toned down the effects. Using rocket-grade boosters on a truck seemed like a one-way trip. As much as Nixie was starting to become a speed demon, she didn’t need to turn herself into a pancake.
