Valterion: The Space/Arch? Mage

Location: Magicon Empire; Magicon System; Terra; Imperia; FBC

The end of the first year is within reach. When I return from the Courier assignment, the most stressful time of the year begins, and I have to study almost day and night.

My social interactions suffer because of it, and I'm primarily in my room and barely see my three roommates as they're also studying. One exam follows the other until they are finally done.

Now I'm just missing the practical evaluations in all my magic courses. They are scheduled for this week, starting with Utility magic on Tuesday and followed by Space magic on Thursday. After that, I'm done!

I'm not really fearful of those last two evaluations, as I have already mastered all the spells I have to show the professors. Especially Utility magic should be trivial, considering my true magical strength.

So I find myself with a lot of free time on Monday morning and stroll across campus. I'm not heading anywhere particular, so it comes as a surprise when Lisa suddenly crosses my path. We greet each other with a quick hug and then continue our stroll together.

After a while, Lisa looks at me and asks. "Where are we going?"

I look back at her in confusion. "I thought I was following you? I mean, I was just walking around."

She starts laughing. "Oh my, so we're two idiots following the other."

"It seems that way," I reply and join her laughter.

In the end, we stop at a food stall and grab something to eat, then we end up at the Gravity Ball fields and watch a few people playing. The college season is already over, and we finally received our trophy after the last game at the end of last week, although our championship was clear a few weeks earlier. I didn't even get to play in the last game because the coaches wanted to give the substitutes a chance too.

Anyway, after watching for a while, I say goodbye to Lisa and head back home. I chat a bit with Lucy and then go back to sleep.

This basically repeats itself over the following days, except for my two practical evaluations, which I ace both of. At least I think I aced them… I'll see as soon as we get our report cards next Wednesday. It's Friday now, so I still have to wait for a couple of days.

I can't even do something with my friends over the weekend, as they all have their final exam of the year on Monday or Tuesday. It's a bit annoying. I mean, what should I do?

Without anything else to do, I decide to give my brother a call. I lock the door to my room and cast the Video Call spell. Chris picks up quickly, and his face fills my vision. His hair looks a bit fuzzy, and he's sweating a bit. "Hi, Sara," he pants a greeting.

"Uhh, hi Chris… What are you doing?"

He takes a deep breath and clears a bit of sweat off his forehead. "I, uh, just returned from a run… What's up with your call?"

A run, sure… "Well, I'm bored and wanted to ask if we could eat lunch and talk or something… But I can call later if you're indisposed."

He shakes his head. "No, that's fine. I've got the time. Just give me half an hour to take a shower."

"Okay, see you later then. Your jump room?"

"Sure, just make yourself comfortable if I'm not ready when you arrive. See you then!"

We end the call, and I decide to take a shower too. Then, about 35 minutes later, I teleport to Chris's jump room. After exiting, I head for his living room and find him already sitting on the couch. He waves at me. "Hi Sara, it's been a while."

"True enough, you've been way too busy!" I sit down opposite him and we talk a bit more. While doing so, we also send out an order for some food, which we eat as soon as it arrives.

Then I finally ask the question that's been on my mind for a little while. "So, are you going to Earth too?"

He frowns a little. "No, unfortunately not… I'm too tied up here in the Magicon System. But Aria is going. She's been offered a supervisory role."

"A bummer… But nice for Aria. She'll definitely enjoy it, there's so much to see. She still doesn't know about me, right?"

He glares at me. "Sure, rub it in… But yeah, I've kept it quiet so far. She definitely noticed you though when you started going around with Lisa."

"Oh, does she have any suspicions?" I ask with genuine interest.

"No, none that I'm aware of," Chris shakes his head in response.

I lean back on my couch and think for a bit. My cover is becoming thinner by the day, and I don't plan on working too hard on keeping it alive at the moment. Hell, if we want to gain an advantage on Earth, I have to let the cat out of the bag anyway, at least for my team, which has become quite large, come to think of it.

"Do you think we should tell her?" I ask my brother.

He shrugs. "Honestly, it's your decision. But I would be lying that it doesn't bother me to keep you a secret from Aria."

Yep, that seals it. I don't want to get in the way of my brother's relationship, and who knows, maybe another insider on the supervisory team will bring me an advantage. Sure, I don't particularly care about the fame I can gain with winning the competition, and I'm sharing with Lisa anyway, but it would be embarrassing if I don't win and then get announced as the discoverer of Earth later. So, I do want to win after all!

I clear my throat and look back at Chris. "So, I'd say we tell her. Her parents know anyway."

He looks shocked but slowly nods. "Okay, if you're sure, I'll call her over. And thank you!"

I give him a thumbs-up. "Be right back." Then I teleport up to the Stargazer, to the disguise chamber in particular. I have to say, Clara is getting very good at guessing my intentions. I barely have to ask her for coordinates anymore. "Thanks, Clara, you're the best," I tell her when I enter the chamber.

"You're welcome," comes the reply in my ear. Then I start the process that turns me back into my real self.

I step back out and look at a nearby mirror. Soon! No more hiding then. I teleport back to Chris's jump room, and to make things more interesting, I cast a normal Disguise spell over my appearance to make me look like Sara Green again.

Chris is still in the living room and looks up when I enter. "Where have you been?" Suddenly, he frowns and looks a bit closer. Then he seems to realize and sucks in a sharp breath. "Oh, that's diabolical! Fine, I play along. Aria should be here in a few minutes."

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I sit down opposite him again and we wait. Chris tells me that she's got a Space core as her second class of magic, so it really shouldn't be long. He's right, of course, and I sense a flash of Space magic a few meters beside me. Probably the jump room.

Anyway, the door to the living room opens a minute later, and a tall blonde woman with the trademark piercing Axtendus eyes walks in. She doesn't seem to notice me, as she only has eyes for Chris.

"Hi honey, you called? Missed me, huh? You know it's still a few weeks until I'm gone, but sure, we can make the most of it." She seductively winks at him.

My brother's face turns beet red, and he clears his throat. "Aria, darling, we have a guest."

Now she blushes too and looks at me. "Ohh… Sorry about that." She walks over and offers me her hand. "I don't believe we've met yet. I'm Aria, Aria Axtendus. It's a pleasure to meet you."

I take her hand and we shake. I'm about to reply when a flicker of recognition goes through her eyes. "Wait, you're that Space Mage girl who made so many waves! Sara… Green, right?"

I barely manage a nod before she releases my hand and glances back at Chris. "What's she doing here?"

Chris scratches his head. "Well, uh, I helped her with that Junbun mess, and we stayed in contact afterward. I, uhm, told her that you'd be going to Earth as well and she wanted to meet you."

I open my mouth to finally say hi to her, but she's faster again. How does Chris manage? If this continues, I will never have the opportunity to talk.

"Then how did you lose her to the Song heir if you'd been in contact earlier? I mean a Space Mage of her caliber?"

Finally, I manage to get a sentence thrown in. "I'm right here, you know?"

Aria quickly looks back at me. "Sorry, Miss Green, one moment." She looks back at Chris. "Seriously, how did she slip through your fingers? I bet the Songs are laughing their asses off."

Chris glances at me and, upon seeing my weird and a bit annoyed expression, starts laughing. "If you'd let her speak rather than ripping me a new one, you'd understand. How about you take a closer look, huh?"

Aria frowns and turns back around. I school my expression and look at her innocently. She focuses harder and tilts her head. "Why am I sensing a spell around your whole body?"

I grin broadly. "I'm glad you asked!" I cancel the spell, and my Sara Green disguise drops.

Aria looks at me for a long moment. Her face goes through various expressions. Finally, she looks back at Chris. "Is this some kind of sick joke? Did you hire an actress to make fun of me? Why would you?"

That's not the reaction I expected. Chris clearly didn't either, as he squirms under her glare. "No, look closely, don't you see? Think twenty years ago?"

Aria's head slowly turns back to me, and she takes a hesitant step forward. Her gaze bores into me, and she's silent for a long while. "Don't tell me… This… Is this?"

Chris gets up and hugs her. "Yes, it is. Your little Sara has come home!"

The floodgates open, and tears stream down her cheeks. Then she rushes forward and hugs me fiercely. "I'm so sorry, Sara! I can't imagine what you've been through… But how?"

Now it's my turn to be confused. At least until Chris chimes in from the side. "Aria worked on Nua when you were little. She took care of you whenever she had the time, and our parents were busy."

Oh, now I feel bad for pranking her. "I'm sorry, I didn't know…"

"Don't worry about it," she whispers back. "I'm just glad that you're back. But tell me, where is all this Sara Green stuff coming from?"

I sigh. "It's a long story…" We sit back down, and I begin my tale.

Aria is a very nice person to be around. I hang out with her and my brother over the whole weekend and learn quite a lot about them both. Turns out they have been dating since she was working on Nua… They actually started a few months before I was taken, and therefore kept their relationship secret because my parents were completely devastated. After that, they never found the courage to tell their respective parents.

That has me breaking down in fits of laughter, and they both look at me in confusion. "You are worse than Adrian and Kira! Do you really think Mom and Dad are that dumb, Chris? They've known all along, and it's highly amusing to them how you try to keep it secret."

Aria's eyes widen. "So that's why my own parents always seem to be so amused. They know too! Damn…"

Other than that, we order some nice food and watch different movies over the days. Aria is obviously very interested in all things Earth after she learns that I was the one to rediscover the planet. I tease her with a few things, but mostly tell her to wait and see. The one thing I do tell her is that the Axtendus company there is probably completely destroyed, as far as I was able to see back then. This leaves her a bit sulky, and Chris has to brighten her mood.

That said, now it's finally Wednesday, and the first year is coming to a close. I wake up to a notification on my interface asking me and every other first-year student to come to the basement of building 03, where we had our Introductory lessons almost a year ago.

So after showering, I meet my three roommates in the living room of our dorm. "Did you get the same message as I did?" I ask them upon entering the room.

Lucy gives me a nod while continuing to eat. The other two voice their affirmations as well.

"Cool, then are you ready to go? I want some nice seats and not all the way in the back."

"Sure, just let me finish this, then I'm good to go," Lucy replies.

Ten minutes later, we're on our way over to building 03. We take the stairs down again because the elevators are completely crowded. Looks like we weren't the only ones to come early.

Anyway, we find some nice seats about halfway up the stands and wait for the room to fill up. We shamelessly reserve the seats left and right of us and send Tim, Nick, Dave, and the other archaeologists a message. They arrive shortly after, and Kylie asks if we know what all this is about. I can only shrug in response, and everyone else is none the wiser, too.

The doors close behind the last student to enter about twenty minutes later. I notice that while the stands are still packed, they are not as packed as they were at the start of the year. Guess a few people dropped out…

I look back down at the stage and catch the flicker of Space magic right before Headmaster Benson arrives with a purple flash.

"Welcome, students, and congratulations on completing your first year here at FBC!" His voice drones through the room and makes every conversation die down.

"You're probably asking yourselves why we invited you to come here again instead of just sending you your reports as we always do. Well… The answer is simple. This year is special! And while one event certainly overshadows everything else, let's not forget the other magnificent things that happened this year."

He pauses for dramatic effect before continuing. "Now, without further ado, please welcome this year's Gravity Ball champions to the stage!"

He starts calling out names, and I notice familiar faces making their way down toward Headmaster Benson. Lydia nudges my shoulder. "What are you waiting for, Sara? That's your accomplishment! The headmaster has already called your name."

That shakes me out of my stupor, and I quickly walk down as well. I didn't expect to be honored again for our triumph, so that's why my mind blanked a little just now. I end up right in the middle between Alec and Drew. Frieda, Amanda, John, and Gary are next to them.

Another purple flash, and our two coaches appear on the stage next to the headmaster. He shakes their hands and then continues to shake ours, saying congratulations every time.

Then he addresses the crowd again. "I present to you our champions! Not only did they manage to win the league for the first time in 27 years, no, they also managed to win against our rivals from RMA before the biggest crowd a college match has seen in more than a hundred years!"

The cheers are deafening and last for almost five minutes. After that, we get another set of medals and pose together with the headmaster and the coaches for a few pictures. Then we return to our seats, and the headmaster continues to honor other students.

Even Nick gets called down with a few others because their research group apparently made some minor breakthroughs in hyperspace research. That reminds me that I really have to talk with him about my own experiences!

Other than that, nothing is too interesting until the headmaster brings up the final topic. "Now there is only one thing missing, and you all can guess what this is about, so if the students on the list behind me would please come down to me on the stage." He waves a hand, and a projection comes alive.

It doesn't take long until I find my own name and the names of the people left and right of me. If it wasn't obvious before, now it is. In total, there are almost a hundred names on the list. Compared to the number of people in here, it's a pitifully small number, but it's still bigger than I expected. I guess the whole Earth Adventure is bigger than I imagined if that's the average number every college is sending.

We line up on the stage, and Headmaster Benson's words drone through the room again. "Earth, the cradle of humanity, has been rediscovered. Our birthplace is back in sight. The Emperor, in his endless wisdom, turned it into an opportunity for our youth to grow. Our best and brightest students of the year have been selected to represent our college on the greatest expedition that The Empire has ever seen. Please give them the send-off they deserve!"

If I thought the cheers earlier were deafening, this is a whole other level! I almost feel my eardrums pop with all the noise. When everything dies down, the headmaster turns to us. "Make us proud," he whispers before addressing the whole room again. "And with that, today's assembly is concluded. You'll find your report cards in your inbox, and I wish you a nice holiday!"

He vanishes.

I've made it! My first year at FBC is done, and I feel like I'm barely getting started. Also, is it weird that I can't wait for the holidays to end already?