-----Grady-----

Noah and I stayed on the party floor. We danced. He was nice, but either he wasn't very good at it or these Magai people had really weird moves.

I was dancing with a legislator from another country on another planet. I did not expect to do this on a school night.

Obviously I could make my way through the crowd better than anyone here. I could see everyone a mile around me. I saw some pretty nasty things going on. Most of it was dancing, but also that.

I didn't see her though. I was enjoying dancing with Noah. He was trying to translate all the song titles to me but he was breathless from dancing. I was laughing.

My sight came back all of a sudden. I stopped dancing. A black bag went over my head, and then a blow to my neck knocked me out.

I also didn't expect that on a school night.

-----Carlos-----

We all woke up in at the same moment from our sleeping pods.

Stacey changed clothes and so did the rest of us. I was in a white t-shirt now and forest green joggers. Stacey was wearing a pencil skirt now and I didn't understand what the point was.

"Is that how you dress on Earth?" Logan asked.

"It's how I wish I dressed," Stacey scoffed.

Jozeey rolled his eyes and Stacey gave him a nasty look.

Logan escorted us to the cafeteria. I didn't know what really was safe for me to try so I stuck to a nice bowl of cinnamon oatmeal.

"Where's Grady?" Sabine asked suddenly.

"She stayed behind I think," Dania replied, "She was at the party with Noah."

"Ooh, Noah," Sabine made kissy faces.

"And she hasn't come back?" Jozeey fretted.

"She's with Noah, she should be fine," I responded.

"All students, the train leaves to the Atlantis Free Market at 8. Please, make your way to the station," Andrelos announced.

"As you know, Atlantis is a very ancient and technologically conservative city," Andrelos announced over the intercom, "King Neptune LXIII and the Conch Congress refuse to accept outside technology and allow only the use of magic to achieve what the rest of the Empire has achieved. Please respect Atlantis law and leave all devices on the train. This portion of the trip is sponsored by Dynacorp, so please show your gratitude to Triumvir Wilma Bell."

Dania, intrigued by the so-called Dynacorp, asked the Statusin about the corporation.

"Dynacorp is a company owned by Triumvir Wilma Ivonne Bell. It produces about fifty five percent of everything on the market on Montressor and its only major competitors are Intrepid of Oona, Hexacorp of Gantolei, and Reichsand-Snow of the Eibran Shadowrealm. It is responsible for a plethora of magic-tech innovations such as the Sky Grid and the mass transport systems. It is the founder of the Dynamic Party and has 4 percent power in the Millennium Chamber."

We boarded the train again and arrived in Atlantis. Underwater.

Stacey pointed that out to Logan.

"The city is equipped with enchantments to allow you to breathe and to protect you from the pressure. You'll be fine," He waved her off.

We passed a thin magical membrane as we got off the train. It kept the water from getting in.

I walked onto the platform of the station and it was as if nothing. I mean there was water all around me, but I wasn't wet. I could move like normal as if there weren't tons of pressure on my body.

"I'm calling bullshit! This is too much," Sabine exclaimed.

"It's magic," I responded simply.

We walked through the underwater city towards the Free Market. There were no cars since everyone who lived here could kinda swim. Mostly it was seakin and merpeople.

Logan scolded me when I said mermaid instead of siren because that's sexist.

The seakin were a lot less human looking than the sirens. They were fish who could speak and who had sentience. They were uninterested in us.

We arrived at the Free Market and I saw it was a lot like the Mexican flea markets back at home. It was a lot of stands with a whole lot of stuff to be sold.

"Why isn't it just called the Market?" Dania asked, "Why is it 'Free?'"

Logan tried to come up with an answer that made sense, "The rest of the Empire is kinda based on giveaways. Most of the stuff you'll ever want you already have access to. Most of the other nations in the Empire signed that law a few centuries ago. Atlantis was kinda completely against that and so they're still capitalistic," He shuddered at the thought, "The King says it's a tradition they're not willing to give up."

"So we're not gonna be able to buy anything, huh? We don't have any money," Stacey looked deflated.

"Actually, the way that it works is that for additional luxuries like imported goods or services that only Dynacorp can supply, you get a small allowance. Of course if you work you get more money but most jobs were phased out by tech and magic a long time ago. I know it's different than Earth, but bear with me. I can buy you guys some things. I'm guessing you're not on the payroll yet."

"Ha!" Sabine laughed somewhat bitterly, "Everything is capitalism back home, dude. We don't mind."

Jozeey didn't even get the whole explanation. He ran in ahead of us and we lost him in the crowd.

We went in and searched for a while. There were undersea fashion stands, food stands, magic charms stands, all sorts of things.

I was mesmerized by one particular magic stand.

"What's that?" I asked the clerk and pointed at a metallic band embedded with a living, iridescent material.

The blue-skinned siren man—who was shirtless and muscular, but that may have been part of their natural attraction charms—spoke words that I couldn't hear.

"Here," Logan said as he tapped the back of my neck.

"It's a loveluck charm," He explained again, "It activates but only when it wants to. You know how these things are, emotion magic is unpredictable. That's five hundred crowns."

"I want it," I told Logan.

"Dude, that's like—" he did math in his head, "seven thousand credits! That's more than I'll have in a year!"

"Oh."

"If you let me work some magic on you," the man bargained, "I'll let you keep it. It's been on the shelf for years no one wants to mess with it."

"Carlos, this is a whole lot of stuff telling you to back out," Dania pointed out.

"But come on," I didn't like her in the eye because I would back out if I did, "What kind of magic?"

"I want to do charmed tattoo spells for humans but I need practice. It's nothing experimental or even permanent if you don't want, but I just need to work on human skin. Tourist season starts with your visit and I am not prepared at all."

"Go for it."

"A tattoo, Carlos?!" Dania yelled.

"Cool, I want one, too," Sabine stood behind me.

"Just sit over here. Swim over."

I pushed myself off the ground and swam into his stand over the table. He had a chair and I sat in it.

"What do you want? Visualize it. It'll be a weak forcefield charm, but you have to choose the image," he said.

"Okay, go," I said as I pulled my shirt up. I pointed as best as I could to the center of my bare back.

I didn't see what he was doing, but it burned like hell. I was yelling my head off.

"Level up!" Sabine yelled at me and cackled.

"I'm trying!" I yelled through the pain.

"Wow," he said, "It wasn't supposed to burn but I think that's your fault for choosing a moving image."

"I paid in pain, then," I groaned.

"The forcefield charm didn't even adhere to the tattoo—"

I interrupted him, "It's fine, dude. A tattoo is good enough."

Dania leaned in to look, "You pretentious prick!" She yelled, "It's just a black dot!"

"It's oscillating, sweetie," I retorted.

"Don't 'sweetie' me, you're the one with a lame tattoo now,"

The man gestured for me to take the charm. I grabbed it and swam back out.

"My turn. I'm gonna need some privacy, you guys. Thanks for the idea, Carlos," she swam in and pulled a curtain of darkness on all four sides of the stand. I think she left an opening at the top for the light to come in.

Then I could hear her screaming and swearing.

After a few minutes she calmed down and the curtain came down.

Her eyes were marked with an unmoving superhero-type mask. The rest of her body was covered in slithering lines of varying thicknesses. They made their way in and out of her clothes.

"Sabine—" Dania was speechless.

"I'm fine. This is great," She looked at her arms and legs. Her shorts showed off the lines on her legs, too.

"About that charm," the man said, "It's a bracelet. Once you put it on it dissipates and integrates into your aura. When the time is right, it'll choose to act. Have a good day, and sorry about the shield. It worked for her."