Damien, Garrett, and Vanessa walked out of the Inn at noon the following day and headed for the Association, leaving Kastra and Alexa to look after Emily. They had planned on going yesterday to secure their place in a caravan as soon as possible but had been sabotaged by a peddler who'd been selling alcohol their last day inbound to Hathen.

Thus, they'd be getting out a day later than planned.

Garrett could have handled the plans himself, but Vanessa had a need to visit this branch, not to mention her discount, so they'd ultimately decided to wait until she was feeling better, which took until noon. She and Emily had drunk more than enough by themselves to leave the two slightly comatose all morning, and Vanessa still was looking quite haggard as she leaned on Damien while walking.

"Your wife will be the death of me someday," she said to Garrett, looking at his back as he led them down the street.

They had suggested they wait another day for her to feel better, but the Celestial had insisted they handle it now, not wanting to be the reason their trip was put on hold. She was holding her head with her free hand while glaring at everyone around her that made more than the slightest peep, which happened to be everybody on the road.

"You just need to get better at saying no to her, Vanessa. One of these days you'll let her convince you to do more than just wrestle around in the bed," Garrett replied back in a hushed tone.

Damien laughed as a bit of color returned to the Celestials face from a blush. Matters regarding Emily and himself always got the Ice Queen to show the emotions she hid beneath the surface. It was nice to be the cause of such a face every so often, and even better to see it.

The three continued down the road at a leisurely pace and eventually came upon their quarry. The large five-story building stood out among the many smaller shops in the area, contested for supremacy only by a building directly across the street from it.

"Combatant guild?" Damien asked, reading the sign the second building had above its door.

"It's a general guild of sorts. It takes in all new recruits and assigns them to a specialized group depending on their talent or persuasion," Garrett explained while stopping momentarily. "Unlike the mage guilds, the Combatant guilds work together and are much less elitist. It is the only real complaint I have about mages... they're all so cocky."

Garrett finished his explanation and the three continued onward again, entering the first large building.

Damien followed him through the front doors and wanted to turn right back around. It was like walking into a smoke lounge. Everywhere he looked, men and women were smoking pipes or other types of tobacco/opium. He couldn't tell and didn't know how to differentiate the smells precisely, but there were a plethora of different aromas all around him currently.

He did his best to ignore it and circulate clean air to his face utilizing air manipulation as Vanessa pointed to an open desk. Moving toward it, a man who was the opposite of what Damien had expected to work customer service at a guild of sorts greeted them without looking up from the paper he was busily scratching at. He looked comical in such a small chair.

About six foot five and two hundred and fifty pounds, the man looked like an absolute monster. He seemed like the type of guy you hired to make sure you were ok during a drug deal. Rough, scarred, bald, and ripped. He had dark tan skin and no weapon, not that he'd need one.

"What do you need?" the man asked in deep and gruff voice, perfectly completing the image Damien had concocted.

"We are looking to join a caravan to-"

"Other line," the man said, interrupting Garrett while still not looking up.

Garrett turned and looked at Vanessa with a, 'now what?' expression and she led Damien toward the desk.

"Caravan to Eleram, Haval."

Damien cringed at her icey tone.

The man stopped what he was doing and looked up, face lighting up to Damien's relief.

"Vanessa! It is grand to see you," he said, standing. "What brings you to-"

"Caravan, Haval. And stop yelling for the love of the gods," she said in an irate tone as Damien rubbed one of her wings, trying to soothe the Celestial.

"Oh come, surely y-"

"Haval."

The man held up his hands and took a step back. Clearly, he was of the large group of people who feared the Celestial.

It was strange. Damien had never seen the woman do anything really physically cruel to anyone, yet everyone seemed to fear her.

He shrugged off the line of thought. No one respected someone that widely without reason at least.

"Alright, alright. Caravan to Eleram..." the man said, beginning to leaf through the papers at his desk. "One leavin in a couple days, none sooner than that. We've got a smaller group of merchants headed in that direction tomorrow though, if you wanted to jump in with them?"

"That would be f-"

"No," Garrett interrupted.

Vanessa looked at him questioningly while Haval looked at him with pity, as if he'd signed his death wish.

"Fletch was saying there have been rumors of merchant convoys getting raided by Hellials living in the mountains lately," Garrett explained. "I doubt it's true, but I'd rather be safe."

"I definitely agree," Damien said, a little more hastily than he'd meant to. "Just, I'd rather be safe. They seem like bad news, safety in numbers, right Ness?"

Vanessa nodded after a few moments and Haval looked confused at her compliance.

"Right... then I'll add you to the list of people headed out with the caravan. With your status as a healer, your carriage and all in it won't be charged for protection. They depart the western gate in three days, around nine in the morning or an hour after sunrise, whichever is first. More than likely there will be some other folks headed to Eleram in it as well, so it'll let the lad there make a few friends," Haval explained, gesturing to Damien.

"Thanks."

With that curt thanks, Vanessa turned around, forcing Damien to turn in the process, and began hobbling toward the staircase leading up to the next floor.

"Hey Vanessa, if you have a couple of days mayb-"

"No," came the immediate interruption as she continued on her way.

Damien looked back at the man apologetically as he stumbled along next to her, seeing Haval slump back into his chair with a depressed smile, restarting whatever paperwork he'd been working on.

'If only she hadn't been hungover, he might have...'

Who was he kidding? He had no chance even if she were in a good mood.

Damien and company continued their stay in Hathen until the day to leave arrived, whereupon they all hopped in the carriage and headed for the western gate. It was a twenty-minute carriage ride from there Inn even though it was on the western side of the city. The streets were crowded, and the city was enormous.

They arrived at the meeting spot a bit early and found there were about five other carriages there waiting already. Garrett handled the greeting and within the hour their caravan had grown to eighteen different carriages, some decorated and obviously for personal use while others were plain like theirs.

No one got out to talk while waiting, and no one had been expected to due to the morning chill.

The trip began slowly and progressed just as slowly throughout the day with occasional stops to feed or water the many horses. Some of the personal carriages didn't own horses and were run by a mage of their family who was adept at manipulating whatever the wheels were made out of, whether it was wood, steel, or stone. It was seen as a sign of wealth not to need horses, and they flaunted it, though they still had to stop and rest with the rest while they took care of their animals.

During one of the breaks, Damien saw a Celestial girl about a year younger than Alexa come up to talk with her. Her name was Gianna and they'd known each other from the academy and before it. She was a member of one of the prominent families back on her home continent and had attended a number of the same parties that Alexa had before she'd moved in with Damien.

Every time they'd stop for a break, the girl would come over and catch up with her, prompting Damien to assume they were good friends. She had long blonde hair and a face with soft features, similar to his mothers, but younger. She was a little taller than Alexa, but not so much that you'd know unless they compared. Damien had only known because that's exactly what they had done.

The girl had introduced herself to him and his family but actively ignored them after exchanging greetings, even though they'd come into contact multiple times. Damien shrugged it off. Most Celestials he'd met acted oddly around Humans, he was beginning to suspect they weren't viewed as equals. If everyone from her homeland was going to be a supremacist asshole though, he had a feeling he might not like this academy as much as he'd hoped. Maybe he'd at least be able to make them see Humans weren't inferior. It wasn't even something he particularly wanted to do, but with more interactions being negative than positive...

He was beginning to believe it was futile to try and get along with them.

After another few hours, the carriages stopped to camp for the night. They set up their bedding and sleeping areas outside, and the girl came to sleep over by Alexa, disappointing Damien a bit. It was a bit chilly lately and he'd have liked to have his usual amazing blankets.

Surprisingly though, when he began to set his sleep area up elsewhere the girl called out to him with a smile.

"Why don't you sleep by us?"

'Strange.'

She'd basically ignored him all day yet now she'd invited him over to talk and even sleep next to them.

"That's alright, I'll let you guys catch up," he said, turning away and walking towards where Vanessa and his parents were setting up with Jasper.

Marci hadn't shown up since she had run off and Damien had wanted to go find her, but Kastra assured him she was okay. She'd find them if she wanted to in the future.

"Are you sure? Alexa said it was harder to sleep for her if you guys weren't togeth-"

"Gianna!" Alexa cried out while covering the girl's mouth.

Damien smirked and shook his head while completing his set up of his bedding, laying in it with Kastra as they dozed off.

The same situation happened almost every day after, and he'd caught Gianna staring at him more than once. About halfway through the trip, she came over when Alexa was gone.

"Hey Damien, got a sec?" she asked.

"Yeah sure," he responded skeptically. "Alexa isn't over here right now though, she went off with Vanessa."

It wasn't that the girl was particularly creepy or anything, just that she seemed to have two modes. One where she ignored him and one where she was overly friendly. It was... strange to him.

"No, I was looking for you. I wanted... I wanted to apologize. I know I come off rude sometimes. My uh, Aunt and Uncle don't like Humans too much and if I get caught by them being... well nice to you, I'll get a talking to..." she said, trailing off.

"Oh," he said.

'That's a surprise. She came to apologize. Also, the people she's with are cunts. Noted.'

It was strange being on this side of racism and Damien wasn't exactly sure how to react to it.

"Won't you get in trouble if they see you now?" he asked.

"Na, I'll just say I'm looking for Lexi," she said.

That answer made sense, but also confused him.

'Am I supposed to be offended or...'

"Ah. Ok. Well, thanks. I think," he said, trailing off. "You don't mind Humans?"

"Nope. My dad is more progressive," she responded.

They both stood there awkwardly for a moment before Gianna spoke up again, rekindling the conversation.

"You know it's pretty nice she doesn't have to watch what she says and does when her Aunt is around. Her mom, Petrina, would probably lose her mind at how close you two are."

"Yeah. Well, it's not like Humans are savages," he said with a laugh.

Gianna laughed a little nervously and clutched her arm while looking slightly down. It looked sad to Damien, and just a bit lonely.

"Well, I'm gonna head back. Have a good night," she said, turning around.

"Hey," he called out, causing her to turn around. "Thanks, I mean it. You should ride with us tomorrow if your Aunt and Uncle will let you. They won't be at the school, so it might be nice to make another friend."

Her wings seemed to perk up slightly as the girl herself smiled a bit.

"I'll do that," she said, walking away.

Damien turned back around and walked to where his dad and mom were cuddling by the fire and joined them, knees pulled close and hands out.

Maybe not all Celestials from Hylyu would be pricks.

The trip continued and before everyone knew it, they were crossing the international border and arriving at the academy. It was about ten days before the new year would arrive, giving all the children and others in the convoy plenty of time to get tested and placed for the new semester, or get rejected.

Gianna had indeed come to spend more time with them over the next few weeks and ended up being relatively pleasant. The girl knew about Alexa's past, and Damien had grilled her for information on it. Apparently, her aggressive side came from her mother who had always been a bit of a domineering type over their father. According to her, Alexa had changed a lot when they first reconnected in the academy, and even more so now. She was beginning to explain her theory on what had done it when Alexa wrapped her hands around the girl's mouth and begged her not to say more.

The Caravan hadn't encountered any problems along the trip, credit to the scouts and protective detail, and his family would be more than safe returning to Hathen via teleportation. Damien had been a bit worried when his dad had mentioned the Hellial rumors, but luckily they weren't targetted.

Damien wished he could have practiced with his swords, but never had the opportunity to. He didn't exactly want to reveal how adept he was with lightning just yet, so he needed to wait until he had his own private quarters in the Academy. Kastra should be able to set up some Fae warding around the grounds to prevent prying eyes.

Instead, he practiced his other elements the entire trip with Garrett, Vanessa, and Alexa as usual. His father in particular had been a good tutor to Damien over the years and helped prepare him for his first year at the academy the most, showing him the proper way to utilize his mana over the different elements and the best ways to counter attacks with each.

On a positive note, Damien had been able to see his favorite view since coming to this world again. As their carriage crested a rather large hill by Eleram, they were given a panoramic view of the mountains behind them, the plains to their sides, and the endless, vast, sparkling ocean that spread out before them.

The peninsula that Eleram was on wasn't particularly wide, probably no more than fifteen miles, but it ran further into the ocean than Damien had expected the first time he'd seen it and was covered in a forest that was densely populated by dangerous creatures, some there originally, and some put there on purpose.

There was only one road cutting through the trees, and that was the main road they were on. It was warded extensively to keep the monsters in the forest at bay along with activatable, weaponized wards, making it the only surefire safe way deeper into the territory, and a veritable minefield for invaders. It was one of the many features that made the academy so defensible.

The Empire had attempted to invade them more than once a few hundred years ago during a time of war and it was a complete and utter failure, resulting in catastrophic losses for the Human's side, while Eleram hadn't lost more than ten mages of their own due to overconfidence. If they had followed orders, it would have been a flawless victory.

Finally, after a few days of camping as they traveled further through the ominous forest, they entered a break in the trees and saw a vast field about seven miles long and twelve wide, white beaches taking up the remaining space on either side. The fields grew a large assortment of fruits and vegetables along with grain for the entirety of the academy, supplying their food needs along with the forest's beasts. On the far side of these fields, the walls of the academy finally came into view while the peaks of the many buildings behind it shown like beacons, the sun reflecting majestically off their white marble roofs.

The Caravan rolled through the fields and up to the walls before they were let in and the group began to travel through a town. The road was made of stone and the entire town had a sewage system, gutters lining the slanted road to prevent water from pooling up. Sidewalks adorned the sides of the roads and there was no open-air market selling food. In place of that, shops that kept their food indoors and cool were employed, like a grocery store back on Earth.

Eleram was the most sophisticated country in the world and only the Dwarves in the north were anywhere close to competing.

Many merchant carriages began to split off from the group once they'd entered the grounds, headed their own way to buy, sell, or otherwise barter with the inhabitants. Eleram was a country unto itself, and though it seemed more like a small town than anything, it supplied itself wholly without the need for imports, but still traded with the outside world. However, in the event the world fell down around them, they would be able to stand tall just fine to continue their endless pursuit of magic.

"Are you going to give Gallion a heads up now that we are here?" Damien asked, nudging Alexa with his elbow as they traveled through the many Victorian style buildings.

"Good idea," she said.

Damien watched as she crafted the message, taking two minutes to weave the words into a ball of orange mana before instilling in it its purpose: to travel to Gallion's mana signature.

Messaging magic worked similar to other magics, if just a little bit more confusing to learn. You gave it a destination, and then based on how much fuel you gave it, it either made it or didn't. You wouldn't know either way.

It was relatively easy to send short messages distances spanning twenty miles, but beyond that and with more words, it began to get more complicated.

The message sped off into the air as the two watched it go, Alexa with a neutral expression and Damien with excitement. He was here to learn things exactly like that. He'd never figured out messaging, gravity, teleportation, shifting, speed... any many other types of magic, but that's what schooling was for. To teach you things you otherwise couldn't learn on your own.

Today was the day.

Vanessa watched on with a small amount of pride as Damien, Alexa, and Kastra began to grab their things off their carriage and pile it up. The Duflos girl and her caretakers came over to them with their bags, Gianna having bonded more with Alexa and Damien than Vanessa had expected. If she recalled, she and Alexa hadn't gotten along that well back in the day, but time seemed to change things slightly.

Damien finished first, having packed less, and helped Alexa finish grabbing things. When they both finished, they came back to where all three of them stood.

"You've got everything you need?" Garrett asked, first to speak.

"Yep. I've got enough to get me by and plenty of coin to buy whatever I want until the year starts," the boy responded as Alexa walked up to her for a hug.

Vanessa was never a fan of goodbyes, and that's exactly what this felt like as she held her niece. The girl had grown into a magnificent woman over the years; she'd miss spending the fall months with her. Perhaps Vanessa would come visit the children anyway.

"And if you get kicked out for your age?" Garrett followed up his first question with another.

"Plenty to teleport back to Hathen. From there I'll be able to get home just fine too," Damien responded.

"Sweety are you sure you don't want us to stay until you find out?" Emily asked, barely keeping it together.

"I'll be fine, mom. If you stay, I'll have an out. I don't want them to think I came here with half-assed intentions," he said, moving forward and hugging his mom.

Emily began to sniffle while tears fell from her eyes when he hugged her, doing her best to keep herself smiling. It looked hilarious and sad all at the same time. How she managed to be so cute in everything she did, Vanessa didn't know.

Damien stood taller than both Emily and her now by almost a head. He had his fathers genes in him and was becoming a fine man. In a year or so, his facial hair should even begin to grow in. By then, he'd be indistinguishable age-wise from anyone below one hundred.

"Don't you let him get away from you, now," she whispered into her niece's ear as they hugged.

Alexa looked up at her surprised before looking away, embarrassed.

"You know we cant-"

"Screw the families rules, girl. If you don't, I will," Vanessa declared seriously, getting a look of horror from Alexa.

"You wouldn't," she said.

"Test me. He'll be more handsome than his father and without the personality faults. He's my type. Why should I prioritize the values of a family that cares not for me over this one," Vanessa said with a wink while gesturing to the four in a group hug with her wing.

Alexa held a thoughtful and confused look on her face, prompting Vanessa to laugh and kiss her. Her niece would find her way someday, Vanessa just hoped it wasn't at a point in time she'd regret not finding it sooner. She'd had a rule in place on herself and Emily to stay out of it these past years, but maybe a little push here was exactly what she needed.

.

Alexa moved out of her arms and went to give her second parents hugs. Emily broke down completely as Alexa gave her a big, final hug and Garrett pat both his girls' heads.

Damien came up to Vanessa as she watched on and wrapped his arms around her with a small chuckle.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"You just seem so much less intimidating when you're smaller than me. I don't know why people are so afraid of you, you big ball of heavenly softness," he responded with a cheeky grin.

Vanessa laughed and responded, "Keep it up and you'll find out. Don't think you're safe just because you're going to be far away. I can always take more time off to come put you in your place."

"That might not be so bad, I'll miss you after all," he said, pulling away from the hug.

"Oh? A masochist, then?"

She smiled at him. Like his mother, he wasn't put off at all by her usual attitude. She'd miss him as well.

"Take care of her, please," she finally requested.

"I will."

"And don't let her get away from you," she added.

Two pushes might not be breaking her rules too much...

"She couldn't if she tried," Damien replied with a grin.

After a quick kiss, the man turned away from her and walked over to pry Emily off of Alexa, who kept trying to cling to her daughter, as their new friend made her way over and they all began to talk.

Garrett moved back toward Vanessa, dragging Emily who was both clinging to his side and fighting to get back to the two, eyes bright red. The Duflos girl's Aunt and Uncle had already hopped back in their carriage and were headed back to town to the teleportation matrix, most likely.

They all watched Damien pick up his share and some of Alexa's bags as well, preparing to go through the gate of the academy to the temporary guest quarters as the girl protested. He shrugged off her complaints, and she looked away, a slight smile on her face from being spoiled.

"You realize you'll be related to me soon at this rate, right?" Garrett said with the same cheeky grin as his son.

"That wouldn't be the worst thing to happen in the world. Just too bad I won't be able to have him for myself," Vanessa answered absently as the boy they'd met a few years back came jogging up to the trio and Kastra.

"Lexi you cute thing, glad to have you back. Kastra, you're beautiful as ever. And Damien. Damien Damien Damien. ALWAYS a pleasure to see you," the boy said, pausing to leer up and down at Damien. "Fine. Wine."

The kids smiled and greeted him back until his face fell, noticing the fourth member of the group.

"Damien, Alexa, I didn't know you rescued strays," he said, smiling widely again but glaring daggers at the girl.

Vanessa snorted loudly, holding back the full-fledged laugh that wanted to make itself known as Garrett did his best to hold a straight face. Emily was oblivious, mumbling something into Garrett's shirt about replacements. They turned and hopped into their own carriage, getting out of there before what just happened got worse.

That was definitely not their problem.

Damien's life would definitely be interesting here, that was for sure.