It turned out we had traveled to the high house for nothing. On the bright side, we were able to get in touch with Guinny, and Kiki invited her to the guild.

Maya waited patiently while we made arrangements in guild chat. When we finished, I turned to her and said, “Thanks for reminding us about the guild. That saved a lot of time. We still need to find the rest of the villagers from Hudholm to make sure they didn’t get split up like Guinny and her father did.”

Maya nodded. “It will be done. In the meantime, I invite you to stay here for a few days. You did travel all this way after all. There are a few things I want to tell you about. Will the two of you please consider staying?”

Kalli gave me a nervous glance. While I could tell that she was uneasy, I sort of wanted to ask a few questions myself. I don’t know about this, Mel. We hardly know her.

I think I want to stay. There is so much that we don’t know about my bloodline. Maya might even know who my father is. Don’t worry. I can send you back.

Kalli bit her lip and shook her head. No! If you’re staying, then so am I.

Still feeling bad about making Kalli stay, I replied to Maya. “We will stay for a while. I wanted to talk to you more anyway.”

A small smile tugged at Maya’s lip. “Excellent. Scuawk, please prepare the VIP suite for our esteemed guests.”

“Yes, My Lord.” Scuawk acknowledged, hammering at her console furiously.

“Come this way.” Maya motioned to the passage behind her. “I’d like to give the two of you a tour on our way to the guest wing. I can only imagine what you’ve seen on Gaia so far but I’ll bet some of the things we do here will still impress you.”

“As a Pyromancer, you should appreciate our artificial heat source.” Maya winked at Kalli when we walked through a glass tube overlooking the central vent of the volcano.

I stared uneasily into the lava bubbling hundreds of feet beneath us. “You made this? The volcano wasn’t here first?”

Maya laughed. “Heaven’s no. Wouldn’t that be convenient, a volcano appearing precisely where we want it? Also, natural volcanoes are way too unpredictable. We control everything here.”

Kalli pressed her hands up against the glass to get a better view. She obviously didn’t have the same problem with heights that I did. “How did you make a volcano?”

“Magic,” Maya said, snapping her fingers for emphasis. “We know where the lava is and how it moves. It was a simple matter of making a hole and controlling the pressure. Too little results in not enough energy for our needs and too much means we blow up. We employ a full team of Geomancers to regulate it.”

“What else do you have?” I asked, eager to get off of the bridge.

Maya smirked at my question. “You want to see some toys, don’t you? Very well. I’ll show you my private collection.”

From there, we didn’t stop as much to sightsee. Maya walked with purpose through marble-lined halls with elegant designs on the walls. She said nothing as she hurried to guide us to our destination, leaving Kalli and me to chat in private.

Do you think we should make a volcano in Celestea? I bet Joe can rig it to give the entire queendom electricity.

Kalli hesitated for a second before shaking her head. That’s a disaster waiting to happen. They need a whole team of Geomancers here to control it. You heard Maya. If we do it wrong, I can see a volcano destroying everything.

She had a point. My philosophy usually was to blow it up and ask questions later. It was something I needed to work on.

On the surface, a volcano looked like such an easy thing to create. The high house also had the advantage of being the most sophisticated place I’d seen on Gaia. It even had air conditioning.

Eventually, we ended up in a long hall that reminded me of a fancy hotel. Every room had a number and a strange device on the doorknob that pulsed with light. Maya noticed me looking at it and said, “That’s a mana reader. If a room is coded to you, nobody else but you can enter. Go ahead. Try it.”

I reached out and grabbed the glowing handle. Something in the cool metal tugged at my mana, drawing it from my palm.

ERROR: UNKNOWN MANA

THE OWNER OF THIS ROOM HAS BEEN NOTIFIED

Maya smiled as I recoiled. “As you can see, it’s very secure. Don’t worry about the system message. I’ve already informed the occupant of what happened.”

“Thanks, I think,” I replied, rubbing my hand where the door had drawn out my mana. “Did you do that to discourage me from trying to open any doors?”

“Very perceptive,” Maya smirked as she started down the hall again. “Truth be told, these rooms are mostly just living quarters for guests and lesser families. Come, let me show you what your life will be like someday.”

At the end of the hall was another cluster of glass tubes. Maya stood under the scanner and one of the tubes opened up. “This leads to my villa. It’s on the other side of the volcano and has a view of the sea.”

The instant we entered the tube, we were shot sideways in an arc that passed beneath several of the other structures built into the volcano. Just when I thought I was going to be sick again, we were there.

From the platform we arrived on, Maya’s villa towered above us while waves crashed against a rocky shore far below. Multiple stories tall, the entrance was lined with pure white Roman columns that spanned the entire building. As Maya strutted to the door, several topless male servants ran out and knelt along the path.

Maya laughed when she saw the shocked expression on Kalli’s face. She nodded at the unspoken question and said, “Yes. They are servants and yes that’s what I use them for. Don’t get me wrong, they all signed up for the job and enjoy their lot in life. If you don’t believe me, you are free to ask them.”

Kalli huffed and did her best not to look at any of the servants. “No. I’m fine. I don’t need to talk to them.”

She added another more private message for me. You aren’t allowed to have servants. Not ever!

The thought of servants reminded me of the man from my dream for some odd reason. I couldn’t help but compare the shirtless men to the women standing beside the man on the throne.

Don’t worry. I’ll never want anyone like that. You’re the only girl for me.

A smile appeared on her face as she replied. Good.

The interior of the building was just as glamorous as Lavender’s house. The major difference was that everything was white. From the carpet to the textures on the walls, there was no color. Maya shrugged and explained. “My magic has a lot to do with the color white. It became something of a theme. You have heard I am called The White Lady, right?”

“That’s right. You’re a shimmer mage.” I said, remembering her class from when I inspected her when we first met. “What does that mean exactly?”

“Oh my.” Maya looked away, acting bashful. “Way to call a lady out. Just kidding. I suppose a demonstration is in order.”

She guided us to a large room with a circular mat in the middle, reminding me of a karate dojo. Stepping into the circle, she said, “Don’t blink. You’ll miss it.”

I tried my best not to blink, which is notoriously hard when you actively try not to do it. A white foggy haze formed around Maya which made my eyes begin to water. I wasn’t sure if I blinked or not but moments later, Maya had vanished.

Suddenly, I felt a chilling sensation run up and down my spine as a high-pitched voice came from nowhere. “That is called Shimmer Frost.”

Judging from the feeling I shared through my connection with Kalli, the spell had hit her as well. She shivered and spun, looking for her attacker. Then the air around us crackled and I felt like I was standing beside an oven. Maya appeared in front of me and announced, “That was Shimmer Friction. I can do more than that but I don’t want to hurt you. There are also other applications of my magic that aren’t attacks but I can tell you about that another time. You wanted to see some toys, right? Follow me.”

As we walked, Kalli and I chatted silently.

How did she do that? Do you think I can Shimmer?

Kalli giggled and shook her head. I don’t know? Can you?

The truth was, I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t see her or her mana. I just felt the effects of it. There had to be something in the name, Shimmer. Or perhaps it had something to do with the haze she left behind when she vanished. It was like a mirage or some kind of optical illusion.

The room Maya led us to was filled with pedestals that reminded me of the artifact museum back on Earth or the pedestal where I found the ring in my dream. Each one had a placard describing what was on it.

I bypassed that and went to inspect the first one.

Item:

Crown of the Eternal King

Components

Gold, Platinum, Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire, Cursed Mana

Item Rank:

S

Item Level:

50

Item Owner:

Halifax

Maya walked up behind me as I looked at the gaudy crown. “That one has the hidden effect of making its wearer immortal. The only problem is that it also comes with a curse. Whoever wears this crown will constantly find themselves fighting to defend it. They usually die quick painful deaths.”

I started toward another pedestal when Maya stopped me. “No. Come over here and check these.”

Item:

??? ??? ?? ??????

Components

Mana ???

Item Rank:

S

Item Level:

1

Item Owner:

???

The item looked a lot like a torch but the flame was frozen. I exchanged a glance with my sister and asked, “What is it?”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure. A lot of artifacts only respond when they recognize a master. I’d offer to let you try to claim one but then I’d have to charge you if it took to you.”

I looked down at the ring on my finger and wondered if I was going to get a bill from the man in my dream. Maya noticed my gaze and asked, “Do you mind telling me where you found that? I noticed you have a few artifacts of your own. Do you collect them as I do?”

Shaking my head, I tried to explain. “Actually, I just sort of stumbled on these by accident. The armor is from a museum back on Earth. It said it belonged to M and I touched it. Now it won’t come off. The ring is another story. I sort of found it, but I don’t remember where.”

The truth was that I didn’t know where but it felt dangerous to tell Maya about the man in my dream. She nodded quietly as I explained before continuing the tour.

It turned out that Maya had seven relics that weren’t a part of the system, though none of them recognized her as owner. At one point, she reached out and gently touched my ring, whispering, “How did you get it to choose you?”

I pulled my hand back, trying to think about what happened when I encountered the relics for the first time. “Have you tried imbuing it with your mana?”

Maya gave me a puzzled look. “How do you mean?”

“You know.” I struggled to find the right words. “Push your mana into it. I know you absorb traits by, um, you know, doing it, but it’s also possible to probe things and people with your mana.”

After laughing at my nervous response, Maya rubbed her chin and asked, “Do you mind if I try it on you?”

Kalli stepped between us. “I don’t know if I’m comfortable with that. Especially out here at your, um, house. Why don’t you practice on one of your servants?”

Maya laughed at the way Kalli said servant and turned to face her. “What would I possibly gain from that? Doing so would be like probing a rock. True, they make excellent eye candy but that is about all they’re good for. I’m sure you understand. You must be surrounded by people who wish to please you that have nothing of value to offer.”

Kalli glared at the white lady. “Everyone has something to offer! How can you look down on people who love you? Or do you force them to be here?”

Maya sighed, smoothing her robe methodically. “I mean no disrespect and I apologize if it comes off that way. I was merely making an observation that the unawakened have a certain role in life and it’s our responsibility to make their lives better and not the other way around.”

Kalli suddenly turned her attention to me. At first, I wondered what I had done to upset my girlfriend but then I realized that I was excited to see what my sister’s mana felt like and Kalli had noticed.

Maya must have sensed the shift because she said, “Look, Kalli, may I call you that? Would it make you feel better if I tried it on you instead? I am sure Melvin can tell me what to do.”

Kalli backed away and I could feel how nervous she was to suddenly be on the spot. “It’s Kalliphae, and, um, I don’t know. Only Melvin has ever…”

I rushed over to Kalli, placing myself between her and Maya. “Look, we can do this some other time. Perhaps we can see that room you promised us now?”

Not to be deterred, Maya motioned to one of the relics. “What if I allow one of you to try to claim one of my treasures as payment?”

Kalli’s eyes sparkled as she wandered over to a dark corner of the room. “What about this one?”