Marcus…
Rather than wait until the next day came, he decided to go catch up with her. She had only left shortly before he had his conversation with his sister so she couldn’t be too far away.
He didn’t bother using his magic to go after her and stuck with running normally.
Her apartment wasn’t that far away from his own home but it was still far enough away that he was able to reach her before she could turn in for the night.
And there she was, right in front of him.
“Selene! Hold on a moment,” he called out to her.
She was mildly surprised to hear him as she turned around suddenly.
“Marcus?” She said before chuckling slightly, “Did you really run the whole way just to catch up with me?”
“Yeah, I did. I want to ask you something real quick,” he said and she slowed her walking speed for him.
He took a moment to look her over and thought that the clothes she was wearing were fine for a date.
She had a red and black plaid button up short sleeved shirt, worn out blue jeans, and the same shoes that she had copied from him when he first came to Erebus. Just something casual, nothing fancy.
“Alright, what did you want to ask me?”
“You remember how you told me that you’re pretty much forbidden from leaving the Duranell kingdom’s territory?” he asked her and she nodded with a curious expression.
“Well, I want you to ignore that for a day and come with me somewhere,” he said while smiling at the thought of it. He couldn’t really help himself as he smiled but Selene had an apprehensive look on her face about it.
“You want me to...disobey the orders of the King?” she asked him.
“Absolutely. I couldn’t care less what he thinks. Do you really want to be stuck in Duranell and never have the option to travel the world?” he asked her and he could see her resistance to the idea crumbling.
Her eyes looked away for a moment as she thought about it.
“Well...where would we even go? Where would you want to take me that would be close enough to Duranell so that we could make it back in time?”
He stepped into her line of sight and said, “I want to take you to Forrosa. I wasn’t there for very long but I think you would love it,” he said and her head jerked up to look at him in surprise.
“Forrosa?! But that’s all the way on the other side of the world! We’d never be able to make it there and back in time! I’ve never been there before so I can’t teleport us there. If you try to use your magic to jump all the way there, they would know I left and everyone would be after me,” she explained nervously.
He rested his hands on her shoulders as to calm her down and said, “Don’t worry about it. I know someone who can help us. Before I ask him though, I want to know if you want to go with me or not. Just one day with me in Forrosa. What do you say?”
He kept eye contact with her and it looked like she was having a hard time trying to decide.
“I...I don’t know. I’ve never gone anywhere outside of Duranell,” she said as she looked down.
“I know you haven’t, which is why I want to take you there. Aren’t you a little curious?”
“I...I am. I do want to go but…,” she couldn’t seem to finish the sentence.
He could tell that she only needed one more push to get her to agree.
“I promise that we’ll only be there for one day and then we’ll be back before tomorrow ends. You and I can enjoy all kinds of new foods and you’ll get to see things that will blow your mind,” he said to her and she looked up at him.
It seemed like she was about to say yes, but instead she asked, “Why do you want to bring me with you? Why don’t you bring your sister with you?”
Hearing that, Marcus struggled to come up with something to say that would brush that question away but he figured that Selene wouldn’t appreciate that, so he spoke honestly.
“Because I like you Selene. I want to bring you with me to Forrosa because I want you to go on a date with me,” he answered her and his breath was caught in his throat as he waited for her response.
Selene also seemed really caught off guard by his admission that she couldn’t seem to say anything. Her eyes widened and her cheeks were flushed red.
“Um…,” she tried to say and ended up looking away from him as maintaining eye contact with him was too much for her.
He laughed at her reaction and said, “Don’t think about it too much. I just want to spend some time with you. Is that too much for you?”
Hearing him laugh at her broke the tension and she was able to talk somewhat normally again.
“N-no! No, I mean...I guess it wouldn’t be much different from...how we normally act around each other,” she stammered.
“Only difference is that it will just be you and me,” he said and she started fidgeting with her hands.
“Yeah...I guess so,” she said.
“Selene?”
“Yes!” she said a little louder than normal.
“Do you want to go with me to Forrosa?”
She kept fidgeting with her hands for a moment before she answered, “Yes. I want to go with you.”
Selene…
Hearing her answer, Marcus smiled which made it feel like she had butterflies in her stomach. She had never felt this strange feeling before and wondered what it meant that he was...pursuing her in this way.
“Alright then. Let me just ask my friend if he’ll be able to take us there,” he said before stepping back and turning around.
“Its already nightfall and we’re going right now?” she asked.
“Of course. Its nighttime in Duranell but its daytime in Forrosa. We have a whole day ahead of us,” he said before he called out, “Hey Azazel. Can you hear me?”
Azazel...? Why does that name sound familiar…?
In seconds, a man with red hair, hollowed yellow eyes, and wearing a black suit appeared out of a red plume of smoke.
“Of course. What can I help with?” Azazel answered.
“Any chance you could take Selene and I to Alken?”
Azazel looked Selene up and down, as if sizing her up, and gave her an appreciative look. He then gave Marcus a sideways glance and a small smile, as if he knew what this was about.
“Of course I can. Although, I’m a little surprised that you can’t simply transport yourself there instantly,” he said.
“I haven’t figured it out yet,” Marcus admitted.
“Then perhaps I will teach you how someday,” Azazel offered.
Then it hit her.
“H-h-hold on! You’re Azazel?! As in, the Patron God of Forrosa, Azazel?”
Azazel then looked at Marcus as if expecting him to answer for him, but Marcus simply shrugged.
He then looked at Selene and said, “I will not claim the title of Patron God of Forrosa. The true lord of Forrosa is the God of Wrath. I am merely a mediary between our lord and Forrosa.”
“B-but...you answered Marcus when he called out to you,” Selene stammered nervously.
Azazel then looked at Marcus, once again expecting him to answer.
“The king of Forrosa and I have a business partnership. Azazel is...extending his help with any small favors I might need,” Marcus answered.
Selene still couldn’t process the shock of what was happening.
“This is still a pretty big deal for you to have someone of his status at your beck and call,” Selene said and to her surprise, Azazel had a look of pride on his face while Marcus looked at her as if she just said something incredibly rude.
“Really, its not a big deal. I plan to repay the King and Azazel whenever I get the chance. Just calm down,” he said as he tried to reassure her.
Selene looked at the two of them, unsure of how to handle things.
She then asked Azazel, “Are you sure this isn’t a problem? Helping us with...our date?”
Azazel then bowed his head to her and said, “It would be my pleasure.”
Marcus then held his arm out to her and although she hesitated at first, she threaded her arm through his and let him lead.
“I’ll be sure to come and retrieve you both when you are finished,” Azazel said before holding up his hand, “Both of you enjoy yourselves.”
With those last few words, he snapped his fingers and a plume of red smoke surrounded them both.
Selene closed her eyes and clung onto Marcus’s arm, unsure of what was happening.
In moments, a different kind of sound reached her ears.
Selene opened her eyes and her mouth hung open in wonder as she beheld the great city of Alken. Azazel had transported them to just on the other side of the main gate within the city.
“Its amazing isn’t it?” Marcus asked.
“I...I have no words…,” Selene said as her mouth hung open in shock at Alken’s majesty. From gazing up at its massive walls, to watching as the carriages that floated above the ground drove past her, to gazing up at the massive tower that rose high above the clouds.
“This...this is Alken…? I’ve...heard some stories about it but they always seemed too…,” she couldn’t even come up with the words.
“Too fantastical? Yeah...you can imagine my shock when I first came here too. Come on, let me show you around,” he said as lead her forward with her arm still threaded through his own.
Marcus decided that the first wall of Alken wasn’t worth looking around since he described it as ‘an industrial assembly line nightmare’ and the two of them moved on to the next wall of the city.
As soon as they moved past the second wall, it was as if it were an entirely different city. Alken’s multiple sections, separated only by its massive walls, served different roles within the city. Past the first wall with the business area was a large spread of neighborhoods. No matter where she looked, it seemed like it was nothing but full sized houses for families to live in peace.
As children walked past her, playing games and overall just messing around, only occasionally would they glance at her with a mild look of surprise but none of them seemed scare of her. For the few that did stare at her longer than the others, it seemed that it was because of her unusual red and white hair.
“No one is...afraid of me here,” Selene said muttered.
Marcus heard what she said and replied, “That’s because no one here knows who you are or what your past was like. There are no rumors being spread about you here. You’re free to talk to people without the fear of them treating you badly because of rumors.”
She looked around at all the happy families around her enjoying their lives without a care in the world that she was standing among them and a heartwarming sensation overcame her.
The sensation of entering a community that did not demonize her was something she realized deep down that she had wanted ever since she was a child.
“Selene?”
“Hm? Yes?” Selene answered, with a somewhat distracted expression.
He gave her a satisfied smile and said, “Come on. There’s more for us to do. Follow me.”
She gladly followed after him as they went past the third wall and into a massive park area. The expansive and neatly trimmed lawn stretched on for several miles and even seemed to stretch beyond her vision as it encircled the next walls of Alken. As her eyes traced over the area, she could spot various cafes, restaurants, and taverns. The parks that she spotted had playground equipment built to look like small wooden castles, and there were even some strange mechanical contraptions bigger than houses.
“Where are we going now?” Selene asked.
“I want to check out those rides over there,” he said as he pointed to a large metal mechanical object that looked like a massive pendulum. At the bottom of the pendulum, seats were attached to the bottom of it and bars were fixed above the seats.
As Selene squinted her eyes, she realized that people were being loaded onto the pendulum.
“What are they doing?” Selene asked confused.
Marcus chuckled and said, “You’ll see. Just watch.”
After a little while of waiting for everyone to be loaded into their own seat, the person controlling the pendulum walked over to a metal box and begun infusing his spiritual energy into it. As he did, the large pendulum began to move on its own as it swayed from side to side.
It wasn’t until it swung so far the other end did she hear screaming and shouting which freaked her out.
“What is happening to them?!” Selene exclaimed in a panic but Marcus simply smiled.
“We actually have these in my world too. Its something that people ride for fun,” he said and when she looked at her and noticed her expression, he laughed even harder, “Oh don’t worry. They aren’t screaming because they are hurt. Scared? Maybe, but most of them are having fun.”
“Why would someone want to get on that thing if they were scared?” She asked.
“Maybe because someone dared them to or because they were called a coward if they couldn’t handle it. Either way, it doesn’t matter. We’re going on next,” he said and she stared at him as if he were crazy.
He looked back at her and said, “What? You’ve faced off against dragons and even a god before, yet this is what scares you?”
Now that he mentioned it, she really didn’t have any reason to be afraid of it. It was just that hearing those people scream startled her.
“Okay...I guess I’ll trust you,” she said and he had an excited expression on his face.
As they moved up in the line, she noticed that he looked more excited to be here than she had ever seen him before.
“You’re really looking forward to this aren’t you?” she asked.
“Of course I am. This is the closest I’ll ever get to experience what my world is like in this one,” he said and she had a feeling that it really was such an important moment for him.
Without realizing it, she squeezed his arm that she was still clinging to a little harder. He turned his head to look at her and said, “I hope you’re ready.”
Once it was their turn to get on, the operator took one look at them and said, “Stop! Hold on a moment.”
“Is something wrong?” Marcus asked him.
“Yes. I need to place a temporary curse mark on your hands to limit how much spiritual energy your bodies release just so that you don’t accidentally break the ride if you get scared.”
“Oh! Yeah, of course,” Marcus said, understanding the situation, but then he stopped the operator.
“Actually, I think you’ll have to let me apply it on her for you. I doubt you have the energy necessary to limit her,” he said. The operator rolled his eyes but showed Marcus the curse mark pattern for him to use. Marcus paid the toll for both of them and was handed an ink stamp.
Marcus held his hand out for her and she gave hers to him. He firmly pressed the ink stamp against the back of her hand and infused an incredible amount of spiritual energy into it. As he did, she could feel the hold on her spiritual energy drop so significantly that she actually felt vulnerable.
Marcus then looked her in the eyes and said, “Don’t worry. If you ever feel that you’re in any real danger, just know that your armor will always protect you, and you’ll be fine.”
She nodded nervously and watched as he placed the curse mark on himself.
The operator then walked them over to their seats and the two of them jumped on. As soon as the bars were lowered over them, locking them in place.
She looked around nervously and Marcus called out to her.
“Selene, its alright. Just enjoy the ride. I promise you, you’re not in any danger,” he said and his assuring voice calmed her down slightly.
She decided to just wait until it started up.
As soon as the operator infused his magic into the controls, the metal floor ramp underneath their feet pulled itself apart and collapsed so that the pendulum could swing properly. When she watched it collapse, she pulled in her legs instinctively as she didn’t like the feeling of her feet dangling over the edge.
When the ride really started to move, she felt a mild rush of adrenaline that she only ever felt whenever she was traveling through the air or when she was fighting a powerful enemy.
It swayed from side to side ever so slightly and she had to admit to herself, it was kind of fun.
She looked over at Marcus and could see him grinning from ear to ear. Seeing him like that, she couldn’t help but smile back at him.
However, when the ride started to swing even further back than normal, her body tensed up.
“Oh no. Oh no no no no!” She said repeatedly as it rose higher then ever, almost flipping the entire way around. It then fell back the other way at such speed that she squeezed the metal bar tightly. With her magic sealed, she couldn’t teleport away and she couldn’t break out of her seat. She couldn’t even dent the bar no matter how tightly she squeezed it.
Her face was scrunched up while she was bracing herself for the impact that never came as they missed the ground below, swinging high the other way around.
She looked over at Marcus again and he was actually cackling.
The pendulum then swung so high that it was just about to tip to the other side, with Selene and Marcus hanging upside down.
She then heard Marcus grunting, as if preparing himself for when they were about to fall.
It then fell the other way and she felt the terrifying sensation of weightlessness and heard as Marcus shouted, “NnnnnggggYEAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”
Her scream was caught in her throat as the pendulum fell and a rush of adrenaline, more intense than anything she had ever felt, and completely out of her control, coursed through her.
The pendulum then began to slow down as it began to flip the other way again.
The feeling of weightlessness of being upside down happened once again and this time she didn’t feel afraid of it. She embraced it and shouted alongside Marcus as they fell with the pendulum.
When the ride was over, her hair was a mess as the air had tossed it all over the place.
Marcus was laughing as he was trying to help her untangle the mess and once they had fixed it, he made an obsidian hair-clip for her to keep it from getting messy again.
“That ride we just got off, we have one just like it on Terra but its called the Revolution 360. A lot of these rides actually are almost exactly like the ones on my world,” he said.
“People in your world are able to make things like this?”
“Oh yeah, but we don’t use magic. Its a lot more complicated. What other rides do you want to go on?” she asked.
She looked around and her eyes laid on a strange disc-like ride, almost like a giant bowl with a lid on top of it.
“What’s that one called?” she asked as she pointed to it. Marcus followed her finger and when he saw it, he groaned.
“I hate that one. Its called the Gravitron. Every time I tried to ride it, it always made me feel horrible afterwards,” he said and they both decided not to go on it.
Her eyes then landed on a ride that looked like a pants zipper. She pointed at it and said, “What’s that ride that looks like a pants zipper? What’s it called?”
He chuckled and said, “That’s actually what we call it. The Zipper.”
She laughed as well at the ridiculous name and said, “I want to go on that one next.”
Over the next several hours the two of them went on many different rides, sometimes even going back to ones they went on before.
After that, the two of them started to get hungry and they found a nice restaurant that served food similar to what Marcus called ‘Chinese food’. Strips of beef and chopped broccoli with sauce over rice.
“I never had rice before. Its really...heavy,” she said and he nodded in agreement.
“Its good though, right?” he asked and she agreed through a mouth full of food.
He watched her enjoy her food after he had already finished, but then his eyes drifted out to look over the city. He had a somewhat wistful expression on his face.
“Is something wrong?” she asked after swallowing.
“No. Nothing’s really wrong...its just that I put so much effort into making a house for my sister and I...but coming back here, I wonder if I made the right choice,” he said.
“You really like it here, don’t you?” she asked.
“I do. I really really do,” he said.
He sat like that for a moment, staring up at the massive tower in the center of the kingdom. It then looked like he got a new idea as he got up from his seat, walked over to the waiter, paid for both their meals, and came back to their table.
“You almost finished? I have one last place to take you,” he said.
She then hurriedly scarfed down the last of the food, nearly choking on all the rice, and got up from her seat to follow him.
“Where are we going now?” she asked.
He then raised his arm and pointed up at the tower.
“There,” he said.
“Wait, hold on. I heard that the tower of Alken is reserved for the royals or dignitaries,” she said.
“And you are correct. Its also reserved for when the population of Alken needs to escape from Alken to Velken. However, in a way, I am a dignitary of Alken,” he said.
Selene tilted her head in confusion as she asked, “You are? How?”
“You remember how I told you that I went to Forrosa and established a business relationship with the king? That would count as me becoming a dignitary of Alken. I work directly with the king and with Azazel,” he said.
“Oh…,” she said, impressed, “Its really shocking how fast you were able to pull all of this off.”
“Well, I wouldn’t be able to without Ruvick introducing me to King Razel and Azazel vouching for my offer. If not for them, it would have been a lot more difficult to make an appealing offer. Now, aside from that! You and I are going to see the very top of the tower. Hopefully they still have my room reserved up there for us.”
“For...us?” Selene stammered.
“Yeah. Don’t you want to spend the night here?” Marcus asked.
“Well...I guess so,” she said and the two of them made their way to the tower. On the way, they passed by the museums past the fourth wall. Her eyes lingered on the many statues, paintings, and inventions on display.
When they left the fourth section of the city and past the fifth wall where the nobility and soldiers lived, she noticed that many of the soldiers were wearing armor similar to her own.
“Wow...that didn’t take long,” Marcus muttered as he took notice of it too.
“You designed their armor didn’t you?”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t expecting them to replicate it so many times in such a short amount of time,” he said.
As they started making their way to the tower they were stopped by a soldier who stood in their way.
“Halt! What are you two doing in this area?” he asked them.
“We’re going into that tower up there,” Marcus said honestly.
Hearing that, the soldier tensed up and his brows furrowed. His hand rested on the pommel of his sword but did not draw it.
“What’s your authorization for being allowed into the tower? Do you have any papers waving your entry inside?”
“My name is Marcus Wright. I’m a dignitary working closely with King Razel. If you haven’t heard of me, then perhaps I should go get a written letter of introduction from Champion Frosk...or maybe I should get one from Azazel himself,” he said, which left the soldier confused.
“I have heard of your name in passing conversation from Frosk but...what further evidence can you provide that you are a dignitary working with the king?”
“I designed that armor you’re wearing along with hers,” Marcus said as he gestured to Selene.
Picking up the obvious hint to play along, Selene manifested her armor and surprised the soldier.
“Y-you designed this?” the soldier asked.
“And forged it,” Marcus confirmed.
The soldier looked at the both of them, still hesitant to believe them but then sighed.
“What is this exactly? Is this a date?” he asked.
“Yes,” Marcus said honestly, without skipping a beat.
Both Selene and the soldier turned to stare at him as if he were an idiot, as if not expecting him to be bluntly honest.
The soldier then let out an exasperated sigh and said, “As long as you don’t cause any trouble, I don’t see any reason why you can’t go up. Enjoy yourselves, but just know that the royal family’s levels are off limits. You can go to any floor above or below them, but you cannot go to their floors.”
“Understood,” Marcus said gratefully.
The soldier let them walk inside and once they reached the lift, Selene asked, “What was that about you being a dignitary?”
“By definition, I am one. Although its probably not in writing. I’ll have to thank Frosk for spreading my name around,” he said.
Marcus pressed the button for the highest floor and they waited until in the lift in silence.
For as tall as the tower was, it didn’t take long for them to reach the top.
“With how high the elevation is, I’m sure the air will be pretty thin so be careful,” he said as they stepped outside.
“You’ve never been up here?” she asked, minding his warning and being careful about her breathing.
“No. I’ve been in the tower but I haven’t been to the top until now,” he said as he leaned against a metal railing.
She stood next to him and her eyes took in the vast landscape below.
She tried not to gasp yet she couldn’t help but be amazed by the view of Alken below.
On the left side of Alken was a wide range of forest covered hills and snow tipped mountains beyond that. Where Alken rested, a vast grassy plains and farmland. On the far right of Alken there lied the shore and the Faraam Ocean beyond that.
“Its...beautiful...,” she said, her words coming out slowly as the thin air started getting to her.
“Are you okay?” Marcus asked.
“I’m...fine...it’s just the thin air and...I’m a little tired,” she said.
“Alright then. We can turn in for the night,” he said as they walked back into the lift and made their way down to the floor where his room was.
Marcus...
It was only when they weren’t too much farther away from his room did she started to look really drowsy.
“Do you want me to go ask if I can get a second bed or…,” he asked.
“It doesn’t matter to me,” she said as they walked inside and she sat on the bed.
A realization seemed to cross her mind as she suddenly looked more awake and nervous as she asked him, “Is this...the part where we...sleep together?”
Hearing that, it took him a moment to process what she had just asked him.
“Huh…? Oh...Oh! No! No, just normal sleeping. I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet. Its why I asked if I should get a second bed,” he said and she looked more at ease.
“I see...no. Its fine I guess,” she said as she took her shoes off.
She then took off her jeans and crawled underneath the covers wearing nothing but her plaid shirt and underwear.
She then turned to him and asked, “When are you going to sleep?”
Distracted by the fact that Selene was going to share a bed with him, he hesitated to answer.
“Uh...I’ll sleep in a moment. Why don’t you sleep first. I need a moment to think,” he said.
“Alright…,” she said before she got comfortable. In just a short moment, she fell asleep.
He turned to look at her and noticed her smiling in her sleep. He then turned to look out the window to see the view outside.
He sighed and quietly said, “Is it really okay for me to move on from my life like this?”
He spent over an hour looking outside while thinking about all the things he had done in his old life...and what he had left behind.
All of that was interrupted when he heard Selene mumble in her sleep, “Mmm….M-Marcus…”
He decided to swallow his fear and move on from thinking about what he left behind.
He crawled into bed next to her, took a moment to enjoy the peaceful look on her face, and fell asleep.