Earth

Adventurer’s Guild HQ, Ottawa

August 16, 2019

18:40 EDT

There were many black SUVs in the parking lot so I was glad the headlights turned on when I hit the unlock button on the key fob. Escorting Tessa over to it, I opened the passenger door for her before walking around to the other side. After starting it up I got my first surprise of the evening; there weren’t any gauges above the steering wheel, instead, a holographic display was projected against the windshield. The display didn’t obstruct my vision whatsoever, but it did display everything I needed to know.

The next surprise came when I put the SUV in reverse; I was about to turn in my seat to look behind me to see where I was going when I saw the holographic display change out of the corner of my eye. Looking back at the front windshield, I could see what was behind us as if it was in front of us.

“Huh. This is new,” I said while backing out of the parking spot.

“What’s that?” Tessa asked.

“This vehicle is the first I’ve seen with this sort of thing,” I replied, gesturing to the display as I put it back in drive. As I pulled forward I saw another identical SUV begin to follow us. Tessa saw what I was looking at and she looked back.

“A bit lighter than I’m used to, but that’s our security for tonight. Back on Veria we had a lead car and a follow car, though ours actually flew. As for the display, it’s standard on all vehicles everywhere I’ve been. Well, besides here, of course. My dad wasn’t satisfied with the transportation we had when we got here, so he had this built, along with a few others.”

“It’s not that light,” I chuckled. “Abi is a couple of kilometers above us right now, so she’ll make sure we aren’t disturbed.”

“Good. So where are we going? You didn’t give me any clues, so I had a couple of outfits ready.”

“A restaurant called Lone Star. They’re a steakhouse well known for their fajitas. We’ve been eating there somewhat regularly since I was a kid, so I figured you would enjoy it. It may not be what you’re used to, but I think you’ll like it. Getting all dressed up would be a little out of place, and a dress or skirt isn’t conducive to what I have planned afterwards.”

“And what might that be?”

“It’s a surprise!”

“Alright, keep me in suspense,” she laughed. “What are fajitas, anyways? I’ve heard the term but don’t think I’ve had any. I don’t even know what they look like.”

“Ah, they’re something that originated from Mexico or Texas, I’m not exactly sure which, though. Basically, it’s a type of thin flatbread, called a tortilla, which you fill with steak or other types of meat, along with vegetables and a number of other toppings. It’s always served on a hot iron skillet.”

“I think I had something like that from the cafeteria. It was a thin bread shaped in a U and had beef on the bottom with cheese and vegetables stacked on top.”

“A taco,” I answered when she described it. “It’s something similar that also originates from Mexico, though is a bit different. You’ll see what I mean, soon.”

We continued chatting for another fifteen minutes or so, when we finally made it to the restaurant. As we pulled into the parking lot, I could see that the place was as busy as ever, people coming from and heading into the restaurant regularly. After parking, we got out and headed inside.

There were a number of parties waiting to be seated, but luckily I had planned ahead.

“Good evening. We have a 19:00 reservation for tonight. You should find it under the name Jonathan Stevens,” I told the hostess when she got back to her station.

“Good evening! One moment please,” she said typing on her keyboard before looking back up soon after. “There is a reservation for a Jonathan Stevens. Can I see your ID please?”

I nodded, quickly taking my phone out of my inventory and handing it over to her. She plugged it into a socket and then nodded a few seconds later, handing it back.

“Welcome, Jonathan! A party of two, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, follow me, please,” she said, grabbing a few menus and leading us through the restaurant. She led us all the way to the back wall before gesturing to the booth. “Here you are! Make sure to plug your phone into the socket against the wall, which will alert Elisa. She’ll be taking care of the two of you tonight.”

“Thank you,” Tessa and I said, sliding into the booth opposite of one another.

“You’re welcome! Have a wonderful evening!” the hostess said, leaving us alone.

“So this is Lone Star, huh? It definitely smells very good in here.”

“Yup. I’ve always loved this place. Well, except on my birthdays when I was a kid,” I chuckled plugging my phone into the socket that was installed at every table or booth. “If your waitress knows its your birthday, she’ll go tell all the other waiters or waitresses, and then they’ll wheel over this thing that is supposed to look like a bull, along with a cowboy hat. They get you to sit on the makeshift bull with the hat on, and then proceed to sing happy birthday. I thought it was incredibly embarrassing.”

“I can imagine,” she giggled before her face became serious. “That’s not going to happen tonight, is it?”

I chuckled, shaking my head. “Not to us, though it could happen with another group. They got tired of people claiming it was someone’s birthday when it actually wasn’t, so they require ID to be shown.”

“Good--” she began to replied when the waitress, Elisa, arrived.

“Good evening! How are the two of you doing tonight?”

“Very good, thanks for asking,” Tessa said. “And you?”

“I’m doing awesome! Now how about we get your drinks sorted, do keep in mind that alcohol is off limits as you are underage,” she said after a glance at the tablet she was carrying.

“Pepsi for me, without any ice, please.”

“Certainly. And for you, miss?”

“Umm… iced tea, if you have it, I guess?” Tessa replied.

“We do,” Elisa nodded, tapping on her tablet. “Alright, I’ll be back in a few minutes with your drinks, and then I’ll take your order.”

“Thank you,” I nodded.

After Elisa left, I looked back to Tessa. “Next time she’s back, she’ll probably ask if we want a starter. Look through the menu and let me know if you want any of the starters. I’ll probably order some onion rings, myself.”

Nodding she grabbed the menus that we had ignored at this point and began reading all of the starters. After a minute or so, she looked back up shaking her head. “There isn’t really anything I would like to try, though I’ll probably steal some of your onion rings,” she smiled.

“Fine with me, they’re meant to be shared, anyways. How about looking at the desserts, see if there is something there you might like.”

She flipped over the menu and began looking over the things there, her eyebrow raising when she came across one of them. “Texas-Fried Ice Cream? Is that ice cream that is dropped in oil?”

“Yup, I’ve had it a few times when I managed to still be a little hungry after dinner. The ice cream is kept very, very cold, so it doesn’t melt while the coating of corn flakes hardens.”

“Sounds interesting, maybe I’ll try it.”

As she put the menu back down, Elisa returned with our drinks, and a complimentary dish filled with tortilla chips and salsa.

“Pepsi with no ice for you, and here is your iced tea,” she said, placing our drinks in front of us, followed by the dish being placed between us. “Are you ready to order?”

“Yes,” I answered. “We’ll be going with fajitas, but I’d like to get onion rings as a starter as well.”

“Sure,” she said tapping on her tablet once more before looking back up. “So what type of meat would you like for your fajitas?”

“I think we’ll go with a half-pound of grilled steak and a half-pound of grilled chicken.”

“Perfect, and sides to go along with the fajitas? You get two.”

I nodded, “Can we get guacamole and then the tomatillo salsa?”

“Certainly. Alright, I’ll be back shortly with your starter, and everything else in twenty minutes or so. If you need me for any reason, tap the button on your phone and I’ll be here as soon as possible.”

“Thank you.”

“So what’s this?” Tessa asked, pointing at the dish in the middle of the table.

“Ah, salsa and chips. Try it,” I said, grabbing one of the tortilla chips and dipping it in the salsa before popping it into my mouth.

Tessa did the same, but smelled the salsa before taking a little bite. After tasting it, she took a bigger bite. We proceeded to demolish the small dish of tortilla chips just before Elisa got back with the onion rings.

“Here you are. Do you need anything else?”

“I think we’re good for now, thank you.”

“Perfect! I’ll be back with your meal shortly.”

Elisa had barely left when Tessa reached over and snatched an onion ring and quickly took a bit out of it. “So good…” she said between bites.

I laughed, grabbing an onion ring of my own and then sliding the plate to the middle of the table so we could both snack on them.

“I think I like finger foods more than I do the usual stuff my parents and I usually eat,” Tessa said while reaching for another onion ring. “Before we came here it was always a personal chef doing the cooking, or a multi-course meal when having dinner at an event, or when we had company over. Pizza is an absolute revelation.”

“Finger foods are very good, I agree. Though if not for football and my increased metabolism, I’d probably be pretty fat with how much of that stuff I eat. Luckily dungeon delving is a good alternative to football, otherwise I would have to dedicate some time to actually working out.”

“Football? What’s that?”

“A very popular sport, especially in America. Simply, it involves two teams alternating playing offense and defense to try to earn the most points. To earn points, you have to bring an egg-shaped ball to the opposing team’s end zone and score a touchdown. There are a few other ways you can earn points, but usually the team that scores the most touchdowns will be the team that wins. Mason and I were both on our high school team.”

“There isn’t anything like that back home. The main source of entertainment is gladiatorial combat. There wasn’t a day where no fights were going on.”

“Oh really? Perhaps I’ll have to start a few leagues when we go back. Gladiatorial matches seems like it would be fun, but also seems like it would get boring after a while.”

“It can be,” she nodded. “They’re always bringing new talent in, and the leaderboard matches are always a big draw. Everyone tunes in when one of the top one hundred are facing off against each other. I think it’s been three years since the last time anyone challenged the champion.”

“Now that sounds interesting. Enough about that, though. I know your dad was working, but what were you doing ‘back home’?”

“Mom was always home, but a lot of my time was spent at the academy. Schooling there is intense, and there isn’t as much time off as there is here. The academy runs year round, so the time you have off really depends on what courses you’re taking. I think I had somewhere around six months of time off in the fourteen years I went to school there.”

“That is intense. Six months off in fourteen years? I can’t imagine that. We always had July and August off, along with a number of shorter breaks throughout the year. What were you studying, by the way?”

“Oh, a number of things. There was the required stuff like math and physics, but also electives like engineering and theoretical physics. I spent my last two years there studying nothing but business. While my dad won’t be retiring anytime soon, he does want me to help out with the business.”

“Business, huh? No interest in adventuring?”

“I have some interest in it, but none of my friends back home were. All of them were daughters of politicians or rich businessmen, so except in a few cases, all of them were set for life. I couldn’t find a team, and didn’t want to go solo, so I haven’t really attempted it yet. I do have a number of abilities I have been leveling up, like various shield spells and Teleport. My dad wanted me to be able to escape if I needed to.”

“You should talk to my sisters. Perhaps they’d be interested in forming a team with you.”

“I’ll think about it. They’ve been pretty busy the last few days, so I’m not sure they’ll have time for it, though.”

“I think that’ll die down soon. They’ve been working with Abi and Selalea the last few days getting everything ready. As soon as we get back they’ll probably have a bunch of spare time, at least until we head back.”

She nodded and I saw movement in the corner of my eye, looking over I saw Elisa balancing the large tray, the contents of which were still steaming. She set up a little stand beside our table and placed the tray on it. So she would have room to place everything, I slide the now-empty plate closer to the wall, and moved my drink over to that side as well.

“Thank you,” she said, placing the steaming iron skillet in the middle of the table before unloading everything else onto the table, picking up the tray, and folding up the stand she was using. “Can I get the two of you anything else?”

I looked over at Tessa’s drink to see that she still had more than half before looking back up to Elisa. “Can I get a refill, please?” I asked, lifting my cup up, which had about a fourth remaining.

“Sure, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Thank you.”

“So how do we eat this?” Tessa asked when Elisa had left.

“I’ll show you,” I replied reaching over to the container the tortilla shells were in. Grabbing one, I bid her to do the same. “Alright, so there are a bunch of things you can put in a fajita, before you load it with meat and vegetables from the skillet. There is cheese, sour cream, guacamole, beans, lettice, tomatillo salsa, rice, and regular salsa, I believe,” I listed, pointing each of them out and I said their name. I would suggest taking your fork and trying a tiny bit of each before you put it in a fajita and realize you don’t like it.”

She nodded and did exactly that, while I started putting together my first fajita. I had long since become a pro at putting them together, and in just over a minute I was taking my first bite. Elisa had come with my drink and gone with that time, and Tessa had finished trying everything by the time I finished my first one.

“I like it all,” she said as I reached for my second tortilla shell.

“Alright, I like to spread out any of the things that can be spread out on the bottom, and then place stuff like cheese, rice and beans on top of that, followed by the meat and vegetables last. There is steak and chicken, along with onion, green peppers and red bell peppers,” I said pointing to each. “When you’re done with your first one, let me know and I’ll tell you how to close it.

She nodded once again, and got started on her first fajita while I started loading up my second. When I was done, I looked over and it seemed like she had put literally everything on her first one. Fortunately the tortilla shell looked big enough, so she would be able to close it. She looked up when she was done, and I nodded.

“Alright, watch me.” I folded up the bottom of my fajita, followed by one side and then the other, waiting at each step until she had done the same. “That’s it. Just make sure to hold it securely, and you may want to hold it at the bottom just to make sure nothing falls out.”

“Okay.” Picking up her fajita, she looked at it before taking her first bite. I could have sworn I heard a little moan and when I looked up her eyes were closed while she slowly chewed. “It’s so good!” she said when she opened her eyes, immediately taking another bite.

There wasn’t a lot of talking involved while we ate, as both of us were thoroughly enjoying the meal. Elisa did come back a few times to check on us, one of those times coming back with a refill for Tessa, while also bringing another container filled with tortilla shells, and a couple of refills for the sides we had already gone through. By the time we were done, there wasn’t a crumb left on the skillet, and there was very little of the sides remaining.

“Thanks for bringing me here, this food was amazing. I might have to get my dad’s personal chef to come here and see if he can’t replicate it.”

“It’s not too difficult, though these guys are very good at making it. The tortilla shells were freshly made too, there is a machine that churns them out. Any room left for dessert?”

“Unfortunately not, but I do want to try that ice cream. Do you think we could get one to go?”

“We can ask. They sell these little containers with the Preservation enchantment to keep food fresh and hot or cold, for those who want take out, rather than eating in.”

“Awesome, thank you.”

I nodded. “You may not have noticed, but there are fajitas already put together in the cafeteria. I actually had some a few days ago. They weren’t as good as these ones, but they were pretty good nonetheless.”

“You’re right, I didn’t notice. I did have something for breakfast a few days ago that looked similar to a fajita. It had eggs and cheese, along with some other stuff inside, and it was quite a bit bigger. I ate one and I was full.”

“Ah, a breakfast burrito, another favorite of mine.”

Elisa returned to the table before we could continue our conversation and began stacking the plates and other dishes on top of each other to be brought to the kitchen. “Will that be all?” she asked while she was gathering everything.

“We’re both full, but she wanted to try the Texas-Fried Ice Cream. Is it possible that we get that to go?”

“Sure!” she said with a nod. “I will need to add another 3 credits to your order for a take out box if you want it to stay cold, however.”

“That’s fine,” I nodded.

“Okay, I’ll be back with it in a few minutes, and then we’ll take care of your bill.”

“Thank you,” I said as she turned to walk away.

“Where are the bathrooms?” Tessa asked.

“Right there,” I said, pointing at the doors behind her.

“Thanks. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

I nodded as she got up. I don’t know if it was my imagination or what, but it seemed like there was more of a sway in her steps than I had seen previously.

Elisa came back with the box containing dessert, and began finalizing the bill for dinner. When she was done, she handed me her tablet and I looked over everything before giving her a generous tip and hitting the confirm button. A chime came from my phone, and I reached over and pressed my thumb on the screen. A confirmation chime came from Elisa’s tablet, so I handed it back to her.

“Thank you for visiting Lone Star tonight, and thank you for the tip,” she said after she had glanced at the tablet for a second.

“You’re welcome. Thank you for the excellent service,” I replied, reaching over and unplugging my phone from the socket it was plugged into.

“Not a problem,” she said cheerily, turning and walking away, just as Tessa came out of the bathroom.

I got up and handed her the box with dessert in it.

“I’d better go to the bathroom before we leave as well. Be back in a minute or two.”

She nodded and I walked past her to the men’s bathroom. After relieving myself and washing my hands, I met back up with her and we left the restaurant. As we walked towards the SUV, I saw two men and a woman walking back to the SUV that had followed us here. They piled in and then the driver of the SUV backed up, waiting for us.

I hit the button to unlock the SUV and we both got in, Tessa putting the dessert on the floor between her legs where it wouldn’t slide all over the place. Starting it up, I backed out of our parking spot and began driving to our next stop.

“So are you going to tell me where we’re going now, or is it still a secret?”

“A secret,” I said, glancing over to her with a smile. “We’ll be there in fifteen minutes or so.”

We got to know each other a little better on the way, both of us taking turns asking each other questions. Before we knew it, I was pulling into the arena next to one of my old schools. It was a pretty unassuming building, and as a new arrival, I knew she wouldn’t have a clue what the building housed. The parking lot was pretty empty, there only being a few cars parked, that being understandable as I had rented the arena for two hours. I parked as close as I could and shut off the SUV.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“You’ll see in a few minutes, let’s go. You can leave the ice cream in here, it should be fine for a few hours in that box,” I said, opening my door and stepping out. When she closed her door I hit the button to lock the SUV and we headed inside the building.

“Ooh, that’s cold,” she said crossing her arms in front of her.

“Oh, right. Did you bring the sweater like I asked? You’ll probably want to wear it in here.”

Nodding, a sweater appeared in her hands. It was one that zipped up, so she quickly put it on and zipped it all the way up. A moment or so after she put on her sweater, she noticed the rink in the middle of the large building, though the boards and the glass were between us and the ice.

“Is that--”

“Ice, yup,” I said, interrupting her.

“Why is there ice inside of a building?

“Ah, you see, while football is very popular in America, it isn’t as popular here. Instead, we have another sport that happens on rinks that look exactly like this. It’s the off-season, otherwise I would’ve taken you to see a game, but alas, this will have to do. Come, I need to go talk to someone and then we can go out on it.”

She nodded and then turned and started following me. It didn’t take long to find the manager, he was sitting in his office doing what looked like paper work. I knocked on the doorframe and he looked up.

“Can I help you, young man?”

“Yes. I rented the ice from 20:00 to 22:00. Sorry we’re a little late, we were at dinner and it took us a while to get here when we were done.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it. It’s your money, not mine,” he chuckled. “You can head out onto the surface whenever you like.”

“Thank you,” I said, turning around and walking back to the rink with Tessa in tow and moving over to the stands.

“Alright, take a seat and remove your shoes,” I told Tessa.

“My shoes? Why?” she asked while doing what I said.

“Shoes don’t work particularly well on ice, so people came up with something that works a lot better,” I said, taking a pair of white figure skates out of my inventory and holding them out to her.

“Are those boots with knives attached to the bottom?”

“Pretty much,” I laughed. “C’mon, I’ll help you put them on. Your mom told me what size your feet are, so I had someone pick these up for you. They should fit.”

I loosened the laces to the first skate and was about to hold it so she could put her foot in it when I saw the socks she was wearing. Ankle socks and skates do not mix. Luckily I also had a pair of long, thick socks picked up as well.

“Oh, you’ll need to put these on as well,” I said, the two socks appearing in my hand. “If you don’t want blisters, that is.”

She quickly removed her socks with them disappearing into thin air, before putting on the long ones that rose about halfway up her leg. As soon as they were both on, I held out the left skate so she could insert her foot. After she verified that it wasn’t too big, or too small, I tied it up and then moved onto the second one. When I was done, she walked around the rubber-coated floor to get used to them while I put on my own skates.

Once I was suited up, I put on my own sweater and then led her over to one of the entrances to get onto the ice. After stepping on, I skated around a little to test the ice and then skated back over to where Tessa was standing and held out my hands.

“Grab onto my hands and then step onto the ice. I’ll make sure you don’t fall.”

Nodding, she grabbed hold and then stepped onto the ice, with me keeping us both steady.

“Now, I want you to keep both of your feet straight. I’m going to skate us around the rink so you can get a feel for it, and then you can try, alright?”

“Fine with me,” she nodded.

“Okay, here we go,” I said, beginning to skate backwards while pulling her along.

While I had played football in the fall and spring, I played hockey in the winter, so skating backwards was as easy as skating forwards. We did two full circuits of the rink without Tessa so much as stumbling before she was ready to try on her own.

“Alright, I’m going to stay in front of you while skating backwards, if you feel like you’re going to fall, reach out and I’ll catch you. When you’re ready, push off with one of your back feet while keeping the other one straight.”

“Okay,” she said, pushing off with her right foot almost immediately.

I backed up while holding my hands out in front of me, ready to grab her, but she didn’t have the trouble that I thought she would. We did another two full circuits of the without any issue.

“You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”

“Nope!” she replied immediately. “I have done something similar, though this is rather crude compared to that. Hover skates are a pretty popular way for kids to get around on Veria. It’s difficult to find a kid that doesn’t have a pair in their dimensional storage, and they’re quick and easy to put on and take off. You don’t even need to take your shoes off to put them on, though you can if you want to.”

“Aww, and here I was thinking I was showing you something new.”

“It is new to me,” she laughed. “Veria is a pretty warm planet, with the only cold areas being the poles and mountain peaks. I don’t think anyone there had thought to strap a knife to their foot to skate on ice, simply because there isn’t that much of it. It may happen on other Pygmaean planets, but not on Veria.”

“Alright, let’s speed up a bit then,” I said, speeding up the rate at which I was backing up.

She didn’t have any trouble keeping up with me, pushing off harder and harder as I did the same. After a few more circuits, I spun around and fell in beside her while reaching out with my hand. She grabbed onto it and we skated around while holding hands.

“So what is that sport you were talking about? The one popular here?”

“It’s called hockey, and it is very popular here and around the world where it gets cold enough for ponds and lakes to freeze during the winter. I’ve never skated on either, but there is the Rideau Canal that freezes over during the winter, allowing people to skate, as long as it’s cold enough. Hockey was created a long time ago, though modern hockey is comprised of twenty players on each team, with each team being allowed to have up to six players on the ice at any given time; three forwards, two defensemen, and one goaltender.”

“Hockey is a very fast-paced game, and as such there will be people coming off the ice to rest, allowing another teammate to take their place. There aren’t any nets in place right now here, but there would be one placed at either end, manned by the goaltender. Their sole job is to keep the puck out of the net, which isn’t easy with how small it is.”

“The role defensemen have played has changed over the years. It used to be that they just tried to prevent the other team from scoring, while the more modern defenseman needs to be more skilled, and be able to provide some offense, while still being effective at defending. Forwards on the other hand, haven’t really changed at all in the way they play, though they are a lot more skilled than they were even twenty years ago. Their main job, though not their only job, is to score on the other team’s goalie.”

“Sounds complicated,” she said when I was done describing it.

“It is, but it’s my favorite sport. The other four most popular sports are football, soccer, baseball and basketball, though not in that order. Hockey is actually probably ranked fifth in terms of popularity, as it is so much more expensive to get into than the other sports, like basketball, where all you need is a good pair of shoes.”

“I have no idea what any of those are,” she said with a giggle.

“Eh, it’s not important,” I said with my own laugh. “I just really like hockey, the speed, the skill level involved, just everything about it. It’s also the sport that is most random out of the five I listed, as anything than happen on any given night. In a sport like basketball, a couple of players can have a profound effect on a game, while that isn’t consistently possible in hockey. Don’t even get me started on baseball. I’d rather watch paint dry than watch that boring sport.”

She laughed again and we switched to another topic while we skated around the rink, just enjoying each other’s company. We ended up skating for about an hour or so before calling it quits, even though we still had forty minutes or so of time reserved. We changed back to our shoes, letting her keep the skates, before letting the manager know we were leaving early. We were the last group for the night, so that would let him leave early, after he resurfaced the rink.

I didn’t have anything else planned, and Tessa didn’t want to go anywhere else, so we headed back to the HQ so we could get back to the base. After parking the SUV in the parking lot, I waved to the security team and then led Tessa inside the building. A few minutes later we appeared in the lobby, and I was surprised to see that my friends parents were sitting on couches talking to my parents.

[Hey, mom, where are my friends?] I sent.

[Back already, huh? I believe they’re in the cafeteria. The meeting went a little a little long, so they didn’t get to eat until now. Your sisters are there, too.]

[Alright, thanks.]

“My friends are in the cafeteria. I’m going to see what they’re up to, if you want to join me.”

“Sure! We still have this to eat, afterall,” she said, holding up the container that our dessert was in.

“True, alright c’mon.”

We didn’t get more than ten feet or so before there was a pop and Vixa appeared in front of me. I bent down to pick her up and then we continued walking.

“I don’t think the two of you have been introduced. Tessa, this is Vixa. Vixa, meet Tessa.”

“Aww, what a cutie. Hello, Vixa!” Tessa said reaching over to pet Vixa’s head. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a white Phenidae before. Usually they come in darker colors.”

“She’s a one of a kind. I can’t remember it, but I was told that I found her on the palace grounds when I was around three years old. There was no sign of her parents, so my mother looked after her until she was old enough to eat solid food. After that, she followed me around everywhere. She was put in stasis when we fled Nedovis, and remained in stasis until early Tuesday morning.”

“Why was she left in stasis for so long?” Tessa asked. “Weren’t you taken out of stasis fifteen years ago?”

“Around fifteen years ago, yeah. I imagine that she was kept in stasis because we lived in the city while I went to school. It would have been odd if an animal that no one has seen before was spotted, and then teleported away.”

“True,” Tessa agreed. “I guess your parents could’ve said that they found it in a dungeon, but then that would require proof of some sort.”

We arrived at the cafeteria and spotted my friends right away. I saw that there were exactly three empty places, one for me, one for Tessa, and one for Vixa. Tessa went over to grab a couple of spoons, while I walked over.

“Hello, everyone,” I said, sitting down next to Aleena. “You’re released already, I see.”

“Yup! You’re are back earlier than expected.”

Nodding, I said, “We had dinner and then went skating. Neither of us wanted to go anywhere else, so we decided to come back here.”

“Oh. Where is she?”

“Right here,” Tessa replied as she walked behind Aleena and myself, before sitting next to me and placing the box in front of her.

“Oh. I thought he’d driven you off already. I was thinking that Alexis, Lucille and I would have to kick his ass,” she said with a grin.

“Nope, it was a very enjoyable evening. Dinner was so good.”

“Oh? Where’d he take you?” Aleena asked.

“Lone Star,” Mason replied before Tessa could.

“I’ve been there, nice place, good food. I’m assuming the two of you had fajitas?”

“Mhmm,” Tessa replied, opening the box in and taking out the dish that was inside. “It was different than I’m used to, and I might have my dad send over his personal chef to try it and see if he can replicate it. It would be something different to eat.”

“Might have to bring some cows along to make that happen, unless you have something similar,” Ben said.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if my dad is working on something like that already. You wouldn’t believe how much money he made when he was able to acquire some coffee beans and orange seeds after they were introduced on Nedovis and other Scyftan planets. People were paying a ridiculous amount of credits for even a small amount of the stuff.

“Wait, there is coffee and oranges in Scyftan space? How did they get there? And what is that?” Alexis asked, pointing at the bowl that Tessa had slid between us while handing me one of the spoons.

“Texas-Fried Ice Cream,” she replied, taking her spoon and breaking the cornflake outer shell. “I was full after dinner, but I wanted to try this, so we got one to go. The seeds for both coffee and oranges were brought by the science team that was on Earth when the second group arrived, carrying you, your sisters and Jonathan. They meant to bring other seeds with them when they departed, but they got left behind, apparently.”

When she was done talking, she spooned some of the ice cream with the cornflake outer shell into her mouth, trying it.

“Not bad,” she said, quickly getting another spoonful.

“Well, that’s just not fair,” Anja said with a smile. “Where’s our desert, Jonathan?”

I shrugged and got my own spoonful of ice cream, while Alexis got up and ran over to the buffet line. She went behind the counter and soon disappeared. She was back a couple of minutes later, with a man following her. She led him around the table until he could see the ice cream in the bowl.

“Ah, deep-fried ice cream. I’m familiar with it.”

“Can you make it?” Alexis asked.

“Sure,” he nodded. “I’ll have to lower the temperature of the ice cream we have using a frost spell, so it won’t be quite as good as if it was cooled naturally, but I can do it. I assume you’ll all want one?” he asked.

There were nods all around the table, in fact, I think I even saw Vixa give a little nod out of the corner of my eye.

“I think Vixa wants one too,” I said looking up to the man. “Can you make a smaller one for her?”

He nodded. “I’ll have them sent out when they’re ready. Shouldn’t take more than ten minutes or so,” he said, turning to walk back to the kitchens.

“Awesome! Thanks, Mr. Burton!” Alexis called out to him.

“You’re welcome, Princess,” he called back without turning.

“Princess, huh?” I asked when Alexis sat back down.

“What? Just because you don’t like being called ‘King’ doesn’t mean I don’t like being called ‘Princess!’”

“Why is that, by the way?” Anja asked. “What’s wrong with people calling you ‘King’ or ‘milord’ or ‘sire?’”

“Nothing, really. It’s just that until five days ago I thought I was a regular person. Then I find out that not only am I an alien, but that I am the king of said aliens. To then have people bowing before me is just a little disconcerting.”

“Well, better get used to it,” Tessa said from my right. “While you may be able to get the Spectres and other Scyftans on this base to stop bowing before you, you won’t be able to do that with the general population.”

“I know, but the less people doing that, the better. Anyways, on to another topic; do the three of you plan on delving into dungeons?” I asked, looking to Aleena, Lucille and Alexis.

“We were going to shortly after you guys did,” Aleena said. “This stuff with the dragons is keeping us too busy for that right now, though. Gabriel put us in charge while he works on finalizing the training program for crewmembers for the new fleet. We’re planning on visiting one of the low level dungeons on Veria while we’re there. Why do you ask?”

“I’m looking for a team,” Tessa answered. “I was wondering if--”

“Absolutely! We’d love to have you!”

“Well, that was easy,” I said, looking at Tessa, who simply nodded and went back to her dessert. Looking back over to my friends, I asked, “So what did your parents decide? Are you guys coming to Veria after we drop off the dragons?”

“They took it rather well, considering,” Ben answered. “Our parents collectively agreed that we could go, if they could come along. Both my mom and dad have a bunch of vacation time they’ve been saving, and what better option is there than taking a vacation to multiple alien worlds?”

“Same with my mom,” Mason said. “She has at least a month and a half in vacation time she has accumulated over the years. Her boss is an asshole though, so if he says she can’t go, she’ll just quit. She doesn’t want to miss an opportunity like this.”

“What about your dad?” Tessa asked.

“Don’t know, I’ve never met the man, if you can call him one. He split when my mom told him she was pregnant.”

“Oh. Sorry, I didn’t know.”

“It’s no biggie.”

Before that conversation to be continued, someone came over from the kitchen carrying a tray with a bunch of bowls on top of it. Placing the tray on the edge of the table, she began placing bowls in front of everyone, saving Vixa, who had her front paws on the table and tails going crazy, for last.

“Enjoy, everyone,” she said, turning to head back to the kitchen.

We all thanked the woman as she walked away, including Vixa who gave a little yip.

I slid my bowl between myself and Tessa in case she wanted some, before looking back up to my friends. “I wanna get back into the dungeon nice and early tomorrow. We’ve got tomorrow and Sunday to level up some more, since we'll be starting training on Monday. It’ll be the last chance we have before we depart in a week.”

“When do you want to leave?” Sonja asked. “At around 07:00?”

“Sounds good to me. I’ll see if Zaszi or Zogyr can open up a portal so we can get there a bit quicker.”

“Cool. Our parents said that we can stay in our rooms here, so it will be nice not having to come a bit earlier.”

“You can say that again,” Mason said, his mouth half-full of ice cream.

“Cool. Our parents said--”

I think he tried to say ‘I didn’t mean that literally!’, though all we heard we mumbles as he had shoveled another spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. We all burst into laughter before finalizing our plans and finishing our dessert. Mr. Burton’s version was even better than the one Lone Star served, and that was with him using some sort of frost spell to freeze the ice cream. If it was this good now, I couldn’t imagine how good it would be if the ice cream was frozen the proper way. Vixa especially seemed to enjoy it, finishing it faster than anyone else did.

We wanted to get an early start in the morning, so when all of us were done, we headed to our rooms. Tessa asked me to escort her back to our room, so after stacking our dirty dishes onto all of the other ones, Vixa and I did just that.

“I had a great time tonight,” she said. “The dinner was amazing, and skating was fun. I’m sorry it wasn’t an experience that was as new to me as you were hoping.”

“It’s alright, at least I was able to treat you to one new experience. So, when do you want to go out again? There won’t really be enough time next Friday since we’ll be leaving that night.”

“I was thinking about that. How about we wait until we get to Veria? You treated me to something new tonight, so I’ll treat you to something new one of the nights when we’re there.”

“Sounds good to me,” I agreed.

“Perfect,” she said.

There was a moment of silence before I leaned forward to place a kiss on her lips, and was surprised when my lips were met with an open mouth and a probing tongue. I reciprocated the kiss and we were getting quite into it when there was a barking coming from our feet. We separated and looked down to Vixa who was staring up at us.

“I think she wants a kiss as well,” I told Tessa with a grin.

“Oh she does, does she?” she asked, bending down to pick Vixa up. She proceeded to give Vixa a series of kisses on the top of her head before passing her over to me. “Good night, Jonathan, good night, Vixa,” she said while pulsing the door with mana, causing it to open.

“Good night, Tessa,” I replied, while Vixa yipped. I was about to turn and head to my own room when I remembered something. “Oh, what do you want me to do with that key fob to the SUV?”

“It’s yours,” she said with a smile. “The thing might look like a regular vehicle, but it’s built like a tank, with enough security measures to protect you for a minute or two if you get attacked. He wanted you to have it in case you get attacked again. If you were driving your truck, it would be way too easy for someone to get to you.”

“I see. I guess I’ll have to thank him next time I see him. I’ll let you go, now. See you in the morning.”

“Good night,” she replied, closing the door to her room.

“Alright, what do you say the two of us get some sleep, huh?”

She let out a soft little bark and then I gently placed her on the floor.

“Let’s teleport there, it’ll--”

I shook my head and laughed at her teleporting away before I could finish. I teleported to my room and let myself in, already seeing Vixa over at her water bowl getting a quick drink of water. Getting undressed I made my way to the bathroom to take a quick shower before crawling into bed.

I was about to turn off the lights and go to sleep when I remembered the alarm. Reaching over to the nightstand, I picked up the manual to look at the alarm settings. After about two minutes I found the one for volume and then called out to the room. “Alarm set 06:30. Alarm volume ten percent.”

There were two confirmation sounds one right after the other, which meant that both commands were recognized and followed. After placing the manual back on the nightstand, I looked around for Vixa. I found her lying on her bed cleaning herself.

“Vixa, I lowered the volume of the alarm, but it may not wake me up in the morning. Can you wake me up when it goes off?”

She looked up when I began talking to her, and made a noise that sounded like a chirp before turning back and continuing to clean herself.

I guess I would know how intelligent she actually is in the morning. Either she would wake me up by barking or licking my face, or I would be awoken by banging on the door.