The Innkeeper

Velma led the two teenagers into the manor and after providing a quick summary of everything they offered, she quickly took them to the Gift shop. Since Velma was giving the tour, Gerard was behind the counter awaiting his customers patiently. The gift shop was small, and with only 11 items on display the shop looked almost empty but each of the items was very eye-catching.

Ayesha and Haris looked at the items with interest, and were amazed when a description of each item appeared directly in their minds when they focused on them. The Babys candy and Zombie cores were dismissed by them directly. The Golden Key, however, attracted their attention immediately. A key that let them enter the Inn as they pleased, from anywhere in the universe, was exactly what the duo needed to organize their secret reunions at the Inn. Without any hesitation Ayesha bought two keys and gave one to Haris. Instead of paying with a credit card, as the guests before her had been doing, she opened up her purse and took out a jade bottle. She opened the top and with a dripper took out a single drop of a clear liquid from the bottle. Before she could explain what the liquid was, the single drop mysteriously disappeared from the dripper.

Gerard smiled and said, “Your payment has been accepted, but you have a remaining credit balance of around 10,000MP. Would you like to keep the credit for further purchases or would you like your change?”

“You can keep it for now,” Ayesha said, putting the jade bottle along with her Golden Key back._.

“Hey Ayesha look at this,” Haris said with excitement in his eyes. He was looking at a pair of prosthetic wings. In the display case their size had been reduced so they didn’t attract too much attention, but once Haris learned what they did he was enamored. Ayesha looked not at the wings but at the silly, excited boy – her gaze soft and loving.

“We’ll take two of those as well,” she said, pointing at the wings. Once she received the wings in card form the two lovers looked at everything else the Gift Shop had to offer. Botlam Dew, one of the most popular items and Lex’s personal favorite, was dismissed by the kids as none of them were hurt and didn’t really have a need for it. The Serene whistle, the item that helps with taming beasts, aroused some interest but not enough to purchase. The Whistle of Bathelona, however, attracted Ayesha’s interest and she bought it for herself.

The Whistle of Bathelona was a one of a kind item that summoned a wisp named Bathelona, which was a popular pet for children in the Jotun system – at least that’s what the description said. Haris bought the Saturn Cake, but with his credit card instead of using Ayesha’s tab, and put the cake that had been turned into a card for convenience into his pocket.

With that they had seen everything in the Gift shop and left the manor excitedly.

“Can we explore the rest on our own?” Haris asked Velma.

“Of course, please enjoy yourselves. If you need me at any time, you only need to call out my name and I will appear by your side.”

“Thanks, we will,” Haris said politely. He turned to Ayesha who handed him a pair of Icarus’ wings and he quickly attached them on his back. Putting them on was easy, all he had to do was touch his back to them and they would automatically attach themselves. They linked themselves to his mind so he could control them seamlessly, and before you knew it the pair was ready to take flight.

The pair looked at each other and smiled. They were feeling slightly nervous but also extremely excited. They were gonna take each other’s hand before taking off, but Velma suggested they get a hang of flying before trying something like that. It would be embarrassing if they crashed into each other right at take off. Ayesha stuck her tongue out and then took off. The speed of her ascent was phenomenal, and it was as if she had spent her entire life flying. Haris took off as well, chasing after her as if they were playing a game of tag. The two young lovers soared through the sky, grinning and smiling as they chased after one another. The two were quickly joined by a pandemonium of parrots who flew around them gazing curiously at the two new giant birds.

Ayesha laughed as she saw the parrots flying around her, and she started leading them around. They did barrel rolls and nose dives, experimenting as their skill in flight grew. The sounds of laughter filled the Inn and Helen, who was sitting in a lawn chair with a rabbit in her lap, looked up to see what looked like two humans with wings flying around, playing in the air. Her jaw dropped in shock as she tried to absorb what she was seeing. The two kids were too far away for her to see properly, so she could not tell that what was on their backs were prosthetics. She imagined that these were visitors from somewhere else in the universe who looked like angels.

Hugo, who was still with Will, heard the sound of laughter as well and came out to investigate. He was taken aback when he saw two kids flying in the air, but not as much as Helen. He already accepted that the Inn was a magical place, so he would not be surprised even if he saw stranger things. Right now what he wanted to do was to continue cultivating, but it was important he be there when Will recovered so returned to the RP room.

When the two kids were done playing in the air, they started flying over the Inn grounds, admiring the scenery, hand in hand. Holding hands in the air was MUCH harder than they had imagined as their wings kept colliding, but ultimately they got the timing and rhythm required to do so.

From the air the Inn looked very simple, yet beautiful. There were only two significant landmarks that attracted their interest. The hills, covered in a field of flowers which gave off a feeling of seclusion and serenity. The Meditation room on top of the hill looked interesting as well. The second landmark was the forest. The two flew towards the forest and were interested when they saw a clearing in the center, but for some reason as they started to fly towards the clearing they would always diverge. It was strange, all they had to do was fly straight, but somehow whenever they got close to the middle they would turn away without realizing and somehow wind up at the exit. After trying a couple of times, the kids gave up and started looking for a nice spot for a picnic.

They chose a spot underneath the shade of a tree and the two kids, exhausted from their adventure, sat down side by side. Haris took out a card from his pocket and summoned the cake. Ayesha called Velma, who brought them a blanket, some plates, utensils and drinks. The two kids had never tasted such freedom before, and would remember this relatively simple day for the rest of their lives. Velma, who left the two kids to enjoy each other’s company, kept looking out towards them – hoping that the kids would call her so she could hear more of their cheesy lines.

*****

Lex sighed as he stepped out the skyscraper, feeling tired. As one could imagine, his interview did not go too well. He was unable to answer why he was covered in blood, why he registered so many weapons under his name, why he bought so much tactical gear or what his relationship with Marlo was. To be honest, even he started to think of himself as a suspicious character after realizing how much information they had on him. He thought he was being sneaky, but there was a very clear trail of all his activities. Of course, there was no proof he had done anything wrong or unlawful otherwise Bluebird would have called him in for questioning the way they had taken in Matilda, but Lex did not know that.

The interviewers did not reject him outright, but only said that they would contact him after reviewing his profile, but he was under no delusion that he would be able to get in. If he had been paying attention, he would have been clued in on how his interview was going to go right at the beginning. After all, his three interviewers had introduced themselves as Irrelevant Character A, Irrelevant Character B and Irrelevant Character C. For some reason he had casually accepted their names, as if there was no obvious fourth wall being broken right there.

“So what are you going to do now?” asked Mary, with a concerned look.

“Well, I’m a little disappointed, but there’s an even easier solution than looking for someone else. I’ll just live at the Inn. Who says I need a home on Earth? I can just come back whenever I need to do something. This way, no one will ever be able to track me.”

Mary nodded, as if she liked his answer. Lex grinned to himself, and then disappeared.