Cael smiled as they sat down at an empty table with his lunch, “I can see where you get your height.”

She chuckled as she sat down at the table and set her lunch on the table. “My dad’s whole family other than Alisa are giants.”

“Not your mom then?”

Alex shook her head. “She’s my dad’s cousin, well cousin’s daughter. Mom had to do some stuff for work today or she would have been here too.”

“Ah, cool. So how long have you been taking classes?”

“Pretty much as long as I can remember. My mom was on a self defense kick when I was little so I ended up taking classes with her. She doesn’t have much time for it anymore but I found that I liked it so I stuck with it. What about you?”

“I’ve only been working on it a few years but I enjoy it.” He started working on eating his salad. He was a little hungry but he didn’t want to eat too much considering he still had to show off his forms in less than an hour.

“That’s cool… So what do you do for fun?”

He finished chewing his bite of salad. “Other than martial arts?”

“Yep.”

“Video games, running, exploring and catching movies with my sister.”

“Older or younger?” She asked curiously.

“She’s a year younger.” He took another bite of his salad.

“What’s she like?”

He worked on chewing his bite of salad as he tried to figure out the best way to describe Ivy to someone that didn’t know her. “Take a fashion model and a computer club president and toss them in an industrial sized blender and then take a look at the giddy fourteen year old pushing the button on the blender and you have my sister.”

Alex laughed, “She sounds amusing.”

He smiled slightly as he shrugged. “She has her moments. Any siblings?”

“Nope, I used to have an imaginary sister when I was little but I don’t actually have a real sister.”

He grinned. “There are upsides and downsides.”

She laughed, “I can imagine.”

‘What else can I ask without causing her to think I’m being weird. Come on Cael… let’s see, videogames should be safe enough.’ He asked, “So what’s your favorite video game?”

“I’ve got a couple.”

0o0o0

Abby smiled brightly as she stepped out of the shadows near the shiny black stone bookstore and put her hands over Alex’s sunglasses as she exited the building. “Guess who?”

Alex was glad that Abby hadn‘t changed her voice or anything otherwise she might have elbowed her girlfriend in the face or something. “A cute girl that needs a spanking?”

Abby giggled as she took her hands off of Alex‘s face, “Maybe later. Early Monday mornings aren‘t the best for spankings.”  

“Right…” Alex replied with amusement. “I’d wondered when I would find you.” She set her bag of books on the ground and used the other hand to adjust her sunglasses as she looked around at the various other people walking around campus. They had decided that going early would beat the crowds and for the most part it had worked through there were still a few students wandering around trying to either talk to professors or get supplies before the rush.

Abby frowned as she stood on her tippy toes so that she could kiss her girlfriend and found that she wasn‘t quite tall enough, “A little help?”

Alex smiled as she bent down so that so that she could kiss Abby on the lips. She enjoyed the kiss for a couple of seconds then broke it off before they got carried away. “I could get used to that…” She stopped as she saw a teenager on the other side of the street walking a large dog sized miniature purple dragon on a leash. “I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to that…”

Abby tried not to chuckle as she looked at where her friend was staring, “The half naked guys or the miniature dragon?”

Alex hadn’t thought that the boy wearing shorts without a t-shirt was strange as it was Hawaii after all but she hadn’t really expected to see a dragon on a leash while grabbing her books. “The dragon…”

“You’ll get used to it…” Abby stared as a pretty girl walked by in nothing more than a pair of color changing bikini bottoms. “Or not…” Her eyes followed the girl with her gaze until she walked around the corner and out of sight. “Okay… I think we need to take you shopping.”

Alex rolled her eyes, she had been to enough nudist beaches over the years with her mother and Alisa that she was more interested in the mostly invisible kitten that had been riding the girl‘s shoulder than she was checking out the girl‘s admittedly nice assets. “I could totally go for an invisible cat, can I get those at the pet store?”

Abby frowned as she scanned the path ahead of them. “Invisible cat?”

“Never mind…” Alex trailed off as a girl on a broomstick soared past. “You’ve got to be kidding me… Please tell me that people don‘t actually ride those things?”

Abby shrugged. “They’re a lot like bikes, if it’s a nice day and you’re in a place that’s away from mundanes they're sort of fun. Mostly people do it as a joke. They got really popular a couple of years ago when a certain movie came out…”

“I remember, kids waving useless wands around like crazy people.”

Abby shrugged. “And before that it was flying bikes.”

“At least those blend in and you can ride them normally when there are mundanes around.” Alex glanced at Abby’s purple cloth purse, she knew the inside was larger than it should be by a fair amount so it might already have Abby's textbooks but figured she'd ask anyways. “Have you picked up your books already?”

Abby nodded. “I grabbed them yesterday.”

“In that case, let's wander around a bit.” Alex grinned as she started walking down the street looking at the various people and shops.

“Sounds good.” Abby hummed to herself as she glanced around and followed Alex. Even at eight in the morning there were still a fair number of students wandering around. “Did you get the classes you wanted?”

Alex stopped and stared as she walked around the corner of a building and noticed a large fountain in the middle of a plaza that was sending multicolored water thirty feet into the air. “Wow… that’s insane. Please tell me we’ll learn how to do that in enchanting.”

Abby laughed as her friend ignored her question and stared at the rather impressive fountain. “That and more, the fountain probably has more spells on it than just the color changing enchantments.”

Alex asked, “Like a clean water spell and one to pump it?”

“Probably, I think I remember seeing a book on it at the library…” She reached out and lightly grabbed Alex’s hand to keep her from rushing back to the bookstore. “We can always swing back by the bookstore later.”

Alex mock pouted. “Fine, what were you saying before I got distracted?”

Abby snickered. “I was asking if you got all of your classes.”

“Mostly, I got everything I wanted but then I noticed that I could fit in a combat magic class if I took Self Defense 201 rather than the entry level class. So, a couple of phone calls later and I’m in second year martial arts instead of first and I get to take a combat class as well.”

“As if you aren’t scary enough.” Abby stuck her tongue out at Alex.

“The best part is that they teach you how to use magic to boost your combat ability in the second year martial arts class rather than just relying on our natural defenses.”

Abby’s voice was filled with amusement when she replied, “Yes, I know.”

Alex scowled. “I feel like I’m back in elementary school again, there are so many things that I don‘t know… that I wasn‘t told.”

Abby reached out and pulled Alex into a one armed hug. “Ah cheer up, at least this means that we’ll have the same martial arts class. Besides, I’ve got an entertaining project that I need some help with if you’re feeling up to it.”

“Oh?” Alex blinked as she saw a man in his late teens walk out of a building with a large purple and white Saint Bernard like dog on a leash. 'Cute dog.'

“Yeah, I’ve been looking forward to carving a pocket realm for a while…” Abby trailed off as the dog morphed into a teenage girl with purple and white hair that was wearing the dog leash, a short black skirt and a purple t-shirt with black letters that read, 'Bad doggie!' on the back of the shirt. “Neat.”

Alex shook her head as the 'couple' headed off down the sidewalk. “Just when I think I'm starting to get a handle on things.”

Abby laughed. “I'm still trying to wrap my head around the magical world. Anyways, as I saying, I could use some help with a project.”

“Before I agree to anything, what would I need to do?” Alex asked curiously.

“Just help with the power requirement.”

“How much power is required?” Alex asked suspiciously.

Abby grinned as she pulled a folded up white cloth out of the pocket of her shorts. “According to my calculations we need at least three people to create what I’m planning, that is if we take a couple of shortcuts…” She unfolded the cloth to show Alex.

Alex warily glanced over the white cloth covered in black ink drawings. Whenever Abby mentioned shortcuts she got the urge to run and hide. It wasn’t cowardice, it was just that years of experience had taught her that Abby often let her enthusiasm get the better of her. It took her a couple of seconds to realize that the designs formed a map of part of a fantasy town. Off to the edge of the cloth were a bunch of diagrams that probably had to do with building the realm though she wasn’t sure. She wasn’t used to seeing magical formulas written down on cloth. Mostly if she needed to write something out she wrote it out on notebook paper or used her computer. She made a mental note to check on why Abby was using cloth instead of notebook paper for her spell recipe. “I don’t suppose you’ll let me actually crack my textbook before we attempt this crazy plan of yours?”

“Sure, I hear there is a decent ice cream shop around here somewhere. You can give the book a look see while we get something to eat.”

Alex wondered what was going to go wrong with Abby’s project this time. “Who are we going to get to be our third?”

Abby grinned, “Whoever is around that we can trust.”

“I’m not saying I agree but I’m willing to hear your crazy plan if you get me ice cream.”

Abby grinned as they headed off in the direction of the ice cream parlor.   

0o0o0

Thirty minutes, two chocolate sundaes and a bunch of skimming through her new aether control textbook later and Alex was fairly sure that she might have part of a clue what Abby needed her help with. “So let me get this straight, you’re going to get around some of the energy requirements by stealing a couple of your family’s magical batteries and draining them to help fuel the realm creation process.”

Abby tried to look innocent and failed, “Steal is such a horrible word, I’m planning on borrowing a couple of the family batteries… I totally intend to return them in a couple of days refilled and everything. If dad didn’t want me to have access to them he should have locked them up,” she muttered, “better…”

“So you’re going with a bound design for the general layout of the town but an open design for the people and monsters?”

“More or less yes. This is where the cutting corners bit comes in. By binding the general structures we can make sure we have the shops and buildings we need but by leaving the contents to chance we save some energy.”

“How much are we saving?” Alex asked curiously.

“Not that much because we’re leaving it semi constrained by the nature of the shops. We’re leaving the monsters open to chance and our subconscious so that we get more energy out of them when we beat them to fuel the cost of the shopkeepers…”

Alex looked Abby’s notes over again. “I can understand that it‘s like some sort of power up in a video game. But I’m not sure I like the idea of creating a realm that isn’t claimed. The book implies that it isn’t worth the savings not to claim it. What if someone beats us to it somehow then we have wasted our time and energy for nothing.”

Abby fidgeted as she looked at the piece of cloth with her calculations on it. “It all comes down to energy cost. I’m not sure how much energy it’s going to take to actually build the small realm. I just know that the more energy we have to pump into the realm the more amazing it will be.”

“I’m still not sure this is the greatest idea but as long as we get some recharge time between creating the realm and exploring it we should be fine…” Alex trailed off as she realized that something was nagging her about the symbols.  

Abby missed her friend’s frown in her excitement, “That’s the spirit. I bet we can use the lab at the school, my brother used to use it all the time.”

Alex shook off her discomfort, “Who are we using for a third?”

“Let’s wander around a bit and see if we run into anyone that’s willing to help for some money. If we can find a fourth or fifth person then that would rock.”

“I still think this is a bad idea…”

Abby shook her head. “I’m not going to spend all summer sitting at home when I could be exploring and having fun with my girlfriend.”

“I would feel better if we found someone to check over your calculations before we actually tested this out.” Alex sighed in relief when Abby didn’t look hurt or upset at her for wanting to get her work checked over. “I trust you but it’s not like you’re an expert on creating realms.”

Abby smiled as she thought about her older brother’s stories from school about creating realms, “There should be someone at the realm center that can have look over the calculations.”

“Realm center? What’s that?”

“It’s a student run market for realms.”

“So you’re saying you can buy realms?” Alex asked curiously.

“Sure, if you’ve got the money. Mostly people trade or buy access to realms. For example, Mom has a doorknob that takes her to a full service spa. She pays a small yearly fee for the service.”

“That sounds relaxing,” Alex admitted.

“Yep. Let’s go.”

Alex chuckled as she gathered her stuff and followed her friend. It was strange to see so many examples of what she could only assume were magical flora. She spotted a tree that had pale purple fruit shaped like lemons. If the fruit hadn’t been glowing softly then she might have just assumed that it was some strange island lemon that she hadn’t seen or heard of before. She was fairly sure that some of the plants that lined the black stone paths were normal island plants but it was hard to tell as there was so much magic in the air that sensing anything as small as a magical flower was problematic at least without walking over to it and touching it. “Everything looks so clean.”

Abby glanced around at the freshly washed black stone buildings and walkways. “It is a magic city… what did you expect?”

Alex wasn’t actually sure what she expected. Their high school hadn’t been nearly this impressive but that could have just been because the principal hadn’t wanted to overwhelm people. The college campus on the other hand almost screamed ‘I am magic, hear me roar.’ The main building was a massive six story building made with the same shiny black stone that all of the other buildings in town were made with. Interestingly enough each floor had a balcony and entrance to accommodate the people that wanted to fly to the floor they needed without taking the stairs. A few students were doing just that either by their own powers of flight or with a broomstick. “This is going to take some getting used to.”

Abby snickered as they walked into the aether department. “A bit.”

Alex was rather amused when they walked into the lobby and saw the collection of tables where several upperclassmen were apparently peddling various types of realms or services. She looked over the chaotic mess with some amusement. There were a number of people wearing magical t-shirts that shifted through various messages or designs. One group of students were wearing shirts that advertised their realm construction group. There were also dozens of other students hanging around chatting with the people behind the tables or each other. “Is it always this busy?”

A girl of average height with long straight purple hair turned to look at Alex and Abby. Her eyes were hidden behind a pair of blue and red tinted sunglasses. Her shirt and shorts had dark colored flames on them that moved and changed colors slowly. “Depends on the time of year but there are always at least a couple of people hanging out. Most of us are just trying to make some deals while the new blood is here.”

Abby grinned as she recognized the girl from her brother’s pictures. “You’re Dark Flame, right?”

The girl reached up and tapped her sunglasses on the frame. “I’ve been called that yes. Let’s see, dark brown hair, inability to sense your magic, same general look… I’m going to have to go with Raven‘s sister, Abby. Am I right?”

Abby smiled, “That would be me.”

Dark Flame glanced between Alex and Abby. “So what brings you here?”

Abby glanced at Alex. “My friend doesn’t trust my math and well my brother said you were one of the best he knows at realm creation.”

She chuckled as she looked Alex over. “Smart girl. Interesting…” She shook her head then looked back at Abby. “How’s Raven doing anyways? I would have thought I would have seen him today.”

While the other two were talking Alex wondered what the girl’s magical glasses did. ‘I really need to read my enchanting book sooner than later,’ she thought.

Abby shrugged. “He’s helping Mom out with some last minute work.”

“Ah, say no more. I’ll give you the friends and family rate if you want me to look over your calculations.”

Abby nodded, “Sure, how much?”

“Twenty dollars for a quick look and one hundred an hour if I have to crunch the numbers.”

For prices like that Alex wondered what the non family or friends rate was.

Abby handed over the folded up map with the diagrams and calculations written on it. “Let’s start with a quick look.”

Dark Flame took the map and examined it. “At least your writing is better than Raven’s… He has other talents though…” she trailed off with a smirk.

Abby pulled her wallet out and handed her a slightly wrinkled twenty. “Here, I don‘t want to know about my brother’s other talents.”

“Thanks.” She pocketed the money, “I see a couple of issues at a glance, you’re not capping the monsters’ power level and you don’t have the symbol for personal safety on here. I realize that it saves energy but it’s a dangerous combination.”

Alex frowned as she thought about fighting monsters that wanted her dead rather than just unconscious like the monsters the school had used for training over the years. “How much energy does not including those symbols save?”

“A decent amount and the safety symbol isn’t perfect, I’ve been known to not put it on some of my work but I typically cap the monsters in that case so that I’m not fighting something that I can’t defeat.”

“How dangerous is it?” Alex asked warily.

“That depends on how good you are at combat. Anyways, I see the symbol for protection from disease so that’s good. Too many people forget that one and come down with something horrible because their minds wandered while they were creating their pocket world. Plus it’s rather cheap energy wise so you would be stupid to ignore it. Without crunching the numbers it looks like it could work, you’ve obviously spent a bit of time on this.”

Abby replied, “A couple of months.”

Alex sighed in frustration. “First I’ve heard of it, I’m beginning to think that bloodline magic users get way more perks.”

Dark Flame blinked in surprise. “You’re a first generation mage?”

“Yeah… why?”

Dark Flame shifted uncomfortably. “I’m just rather surprised, you have the hidden magic gift. It isn’t a very common blood gift even amongst the older families no matter what they would like you to believe.”

“Huh?” Alex asked curiously.

“There are some magical items that can conceal a person’s magical ability but nothing that works nearly as well as most of the blood gifts for it. A lot of the older families like to pretend that they’re more impressive than they are so they use magical items to pretend to be better than they are.”

Abby snorted. “Welcome to darker side of the magical world.”

Dark Flame shrugged. “Abby’s family and the principal are the only other people I know that actually have the hidden magic blood gift.” The corner of her mouth lifted up in amusement as she asked, “Are you sure you aren‘t related to Abby?”

Abby shook her head. “I’m pretty sure that she isn’t. I can sense my family’s magic just fine but I can’t sense Alex’s magic at all unless it has a visible effect.”

Alex looked between Dark Flame and Abby. “So there are different types of hidden magic blood gifts then?”

Abby shrugged. “Yeah, we should probably get you a book on blood gifts before we leave today.”

“That would be nice.” Alex glanced over the crowd of students then back at Dark Flame. “So, if we’re going to go ahead with Abby’s project do you have any suggestions on who to recruit to help?”

“That depends, how much money do you have to toss at this project?” Dark Flame looked at Abby curiously.

Abby said, “I plan to use it for a second home and a research base for years so I don‘t mind tossing some money at it. I’ve got a thousand dollars on me and I could get another nineteen or so from home.”

Alex shook her head. “I don’t think another nineteen dollars will pay for that much help.”

“No, another nineteen thousand…” Abby trailed off as she noticed the weird look Alex was giving her.

Alex stared at her friend in surprise for a couple of seconds as she tried to come up with a response. “Ah…” She knew her allowance was decent but even with it at a hundred a month it would take her almost a year to come up with a thousand dollars. “What did you sell?”

Abby snickered. “You know I do car restoration for one of my folks’ businesses. I’ve been saving for a while and I got some of that for graduating with straight A’s.”

Alex frowned as she thought back to the fact that all she had scored for repairing her dad’s car was a couple of sets of new school clothes that he probably would have bought her anyways. “I think I got robbed when I repaired dad’s car.”

Abby laughed. “Probably.”

Dark Flame chuckled. “For twenty thousand you should be able to get the whole computer game recreation club onboard. That gets us about forty people.”

Alex wondered how that would affect things. “How is that going to alter the plans?”

Dark Flame glanced at the map again. “The monsters will be harder and there will be more of them but considering that she has the monsters tied to the arena the rest of town should be safe enough to explore. I rather like that part of the plan. Do you have access to Raven’s stock of mana batteries?”

Abby shrugged. “I’ll call and see if I can borrow them. I might see about asking Mom if I can borrow some of the family’s mana batteries as well.”

Alex raised an eyebrow knowing that Abby had already ‘borrowed’ a number of mana batteries.

Dark Flame said, “That means that we’ll have plenty of energy to work with… I’m going to want to crunch the numbers personally but I like what I’ve seen so far. It shouldn’t take more than an hour to go through the calculations and recruit the club. Leave the map and Alex with me and go get the rest of the money and the batteries and I’ll show Alex how to work through the numbers while you collect stuff.”

Abby said, “That sounds good.”

“You’ll also want to bring enough material to build the doorway out of.”

“I’ve got that covered as well,” Abby replied with amusement.

Dark Flame said, “Just thought I would check.”

Alex was happy to have someone checking over Abby’s work. She trusted her friend but didn’t want to have things go horribly wrong. “I’ll see you when you get back.”

“Stay out of trouble.” Abby gave Alex a hug then left so that she could collect the supplies she needed.