The Everlasting City

The Everlasting City

Chapter: 17

Sniffy, Richard and Kyle appeared outside a big city in the middle of the forest. They stood in front of the tallest walls they had ever seen. The walls went towards the clouds and were about 30 m tall. Behind them was a normal looking forest and right next to them was a really big metal gate that allowed entry into the city.

Not many people could be seen and the gate had no guards controlling people. Following Kyle with stunned faces, they saw the whole city in all its glory after they passed the gate.

Inside could be found all kinds of houses. Big small and normal looking houses, but even mansion types were seen a couple of times. A bit further inside the city stood towers and in the middle of it was a castle that looked much bigger than even Hogwarts.

This city was not a normal one. The style of it was wholly different from every other city Richard and Sniffy had ever seen. For example: On the left side of the street stood a tent on green grass and next were a few trees planted. Next to it stood some kind of pyramidic house on loose sand that was everywhere on this patch of land, but the sand did not leave the borderline of the plot.

Adjacent to the pyramidic styled home, could be seen a little jungle with animals chilling in it and in the middle of it could be seen some rooftops.

The whole thing looked completely ridiculous. There were styles of every century and of every continent and religion. The Tower farther away was surrounded by green plants and right in the middle part of the city stood a giant tree with a wooden tree house on it.

Kyle loved their expression and introduced them to the city in a proud manner.

"Welcome to the Everlasting City. In here live all kinds of people and vampires are here since ages ago. Because Vampires don´t age, they built houses in the styles they liked and knew from "home" at the time they lived their first decade. It somehow became a tradition to build everything that looked great and followed the taste of the one living there.

Therefore, there are houses and buildings here from every culture ever seen on this planet. We are really proud of the diversity of it.

By the way, this city not only got its name randomly, but from the fact that it faced many attacks throughout the centuries, but nobody could ever break through into it. You see, it has the best defensive formation available and till now, no one could breach it. There were many attempts, even with help on the inside but they all got wiped out in the end.

Also, one of the best things is. In this city is almost every kind of food available. There are quite a few restaurants that I need you to try out."

Kyle explained with excitement in his tone, while he introduced his home to Richard and Sniffy.

Richard and Sniffy were awed at the sight of this whole city. They saw the wall up close and could not fathom how this city needed it, when it had formations covering it. It could be that the walls are a proof for its long standing period.

Richard recalled that cities in the middle ages had all walls surrounding it. Maybe it was built in memory of these times.

By looks of it, it was much bigger than an average city. They could not even see the end of it.

A bit farther to the left could be seen a river winding its path through the city. After hearing a strange bird cry, Richard and company looked up and found some flying animals with people on their backs soaring in the sky.

It was much more than a normal city. It was a city full of magic and everything. Everywhere you looked could be found something magical. In the middle of the streets were seen brooms cleaning the street, parchment could be seen flying around. Some houses were even shrinking themselves for some odd reason.

"Grmmmmlllll"

Anyway, it was almost time for dinner on this sunny day and some stomach grumbling could be heard from our company of three. Therefore, Kyle led them through the city towards a great building that looked like a Christian cathedral.

Except, there were flying books all around the tower. It looked like some kind of swarm and was strangely similar to a flock of birds.

Kyle pointed towards it and said to them:

"This is, if you have not already guessed it, our library. Our ancestors found it funny to enchant it this way to let it look livelier. The books flying around are the copies of the books which are currently borrowed and not available and split everywhere inside this city. If you want to check out what books are borrowed you can go to any wall of the library and tap it with your magical wand or focus. Just channel some magic into it and you can view a list of books that you are able to borrow.

You can give it a try if you want, but there are some rules to follow:

You can only borrow a book if you are a resident in this city. Two, you can read whatever you want inside it. Third, no book can get out of the city. Everyone who tried had their hands cut off by the magical formation that is linked with the whole city in an unknown manner.

We are one community and if one wants to steal something than It will be better not from this city."

Richard and Sniffy could only marvel at this sight and could look around everywhere with glee in their eyes. Naturally they went up to the next wall of the biggest library they had ever seen. Standing in front of it, they looked not bigger than ants in front of all its glory.

They then touched the wall and put some magic onto their hands. The next second, they saw a list come into being in front of their eyes. It was a magical sight and could only be described like a see-through sheet of paper in front of their eyes. On it could be found a list of books that was currently unavailable and a name was found next to each book.

Richard was thinking when he saw this.

'Ah, the existing reason for this list must be that you can check who has the book borrowed and how long he has left to return it. Really a nice feature. I can´t even fathom how that enchantment works. I hope that I will be able to look into it in the future.'

He then looked through the book titles for a while and was stunned that he had not heard of most of them. Richard was quite proud of his reading ability and checked out most of the books in diagon alley and had read quite a few. But just the list of borrowed books was seemingly endless and he marveled at the scope of this library.

Scanning through it for a few minutes, he then got his hand of the wall and the list vanished. He turned around and found Richard conversing with Sniffy and saw them waiting for him.

The trio then got back onto track on went on to their destination for a nice meal.

Meanwhile, Richard got back into his thoughts.

'This looks like the most awesome magical city.

I was wondering why there never appeared magical cities in the books. Only a few settlements were mentioned there. Why not built a magical city where every magical being could live and nobody would have to hide inside their own homes?

Here you can live with many other magical people in harmony and don't have to worry about some statute of secrecy and to be found out by muggles.

I never understood why the Weasleys, Lovegoods and Diggorys lived outside some muggle settlement and had almost no contact with other magical families.

The problem could have been the second war. After that they were treated as blood traitors, but even then, almost every magical family, I have ever read about, was living somewhere out of the way.

And most purebloods would live only with their small families inside a big mansion alone in the woods.

This city looks so much more amazing than diagon alley, it has its own charm and culture. People can use magic in a much bigger scope then to be huddled together inside diagon alley.' Thought Richard as they walked through the city.

The trio was walking on the main street, left and right were shops placed to buy all kind of things. It looked like some kind of strip mall.

There were stores of every kind. It was like diagon alley but looked not lost in the last century. Yes, there were some buildings that looked like from the last century but they were pepped up with flying lights flying around and some other gimmicks.

You could see inside the stores through big windows and outside of it could be seen some strange things like for example: In the windows of a cloth store could be seen clothes floating around in a manner that they looked like a person and they acted like they had some kind of contest with each other like and which one looked better. It was quite spectacular.

Sniffy was staring at it with wide eyes and when she saw some customer in it, that found a piece of clothing he seemed to want, she followed him with her eyes. Said person then got in front of a big mirror and the clothes in his hands vanished instantly and appeared on the body of the customer. It really was quite the show.

Meanwhile, Richard was captivated by another shop on the other side. There were runes placed all over the place. Through the windows could be seen some weird cases sitting on a pedestal also with runes all over it.

It looked like they were protecting the top of the pedestal with some kind of see through shield. Beside it could be seen another pedestal but this had no shield over it but a dark cloud which was full of lightning that was seen occasionally.

The whole shop was stuffed full with these runes and when Richard focused at them a for bit longer, he saw them moving towards other places or even reforming themselves.

Overhead the pedestals, he saw some flying carpets. They flew around the top of the shop in every possible color imaginable. On some of them were seen some runes knitted into it, but they could only be seen because the maker of the carpet wanted them to be seen.

Kyle had a smile on his face while he looked at the two newcomers and at their stunned behavior.

He loved the look of people who were coming into this city for the first time. He had not had much time to see things like that. He could only start to laugh at their stunned faces.

"Hahahaha, you should be able to see the look on yourself. I really want to see what you will look like when you see the really marvelous cities of the magical world. Our little city here is nothing more than a shadow of them, if it would be placed beside the 3 gigantic cities.

I also want to see them one day, but I only have gotten to know them from hearing stories of my father. He said that I need to be a lot stronger to even be made aware of the place where they are.

But right now, we should focus on the present issue. I am starving right know, lets hurry up.

I will show you the best restaurant in this whole city."

Said Kyle and then went forward in a certain direction where the tree house was located.

Richard was completely stumped when he heard the words of Kyle and could not even imagine how the 3 giant cities would look like. He then fell into his thoughts. 'If there really are 3 bigger and more marvelous cities out there, then I will definitely see them one day.

But this city alone is this amazing, diagon alley cannot even be compared to it at all. There is not even something to compare to. Its like you would want to compare an ant with the moon. That's not working.

And this really looks like a city that the world of Harry Potter should have. There were never details about anything else besides Britain and the 2 other magical schools in Europe.

But since there was no mentioning of these cities inside the books, then there could also exist much greater magical schools.

Hogwarts was really an amazing school a decade ago, but it should have declined somehow in the last few years. Dumbledore changed it a lot and cut some major subjects from the curriculum. Then is also the problem of the cursed teacher position, that doesn´t help either.

Why did Dumbledore never do anything about the curse that Voldemort casted on this position? It should not be like he did not have the power to find it and erase it. He has control of the wards in Hogwarts, or should have the control of the wards. It should be an easy thing to do to him. Could it really be, that he is getting old?

The curse cannot be that strong or else Voldemort would have just cursed every person he wanted to die a gruesome death and they would have all died like that. There should be no such magic like an invincible magic.

Everything has its nemesis or counter spell. But it is a bit strange that Kyle earlier mentioned, that he knew not too much about wizards. There should be plenty in this city to let it look this magical.'

Richard thought this and asked Kyle about it." Kyle, you did say that this city has not much wizards and witches that come by here, therefore you don't know much about them, but how does it seem that there is magic all over the place? There should be many wizards around?"

Kyle listened to Richard and said after a bit of thinking and realizing something." It should look like it yeah, but there really are not many wizards and witches around. This community consist more of magical creatures and we vampires the majority of its population.

In here live many turned Wizards, that means they are now both vampires and wizards. They did not lose their magic when they were turned but they lost the ability to strengthen their magic. Therefore, they can only get stronger while training with their physical bodies but have no way to work on their magic.

Some opened some shops here to turn their hobbies into work and some shops are from foreign vampires that live in different parts of the world but have a shop here to represent them. They also need a shop to get them the permission to be a resident in here which in turn brings them a lot of benefits.

Most of these shops are automated and because there are no thieves inside this city, this system flourishes well.

Every now and then, there occur some fights or there is someone new trying to steal something but the people that are responsible for that are easily taken care of by the guards of the city. I do hope that you two will never have the chance to meet them. Because that would mean you did ignore a rule and they come for you. Nobody know how they look, it´s just that the rule breaking people disappear when they do so and are found later in a state befitting of their crime. Some people have forgotten who they are, some have turned into some beast hybrid thing. The worst one is to vanish completely. Nobody knows what happened to them, the only thing known is that you don't break the rules if this city.

But let´s not talk about this any longer, we are here, let's go up." Said Kyle in a grave tone when he remembered what had happened to some of the law-breaking people.

They stood in front the giant tree and followed Kyle onto a big leaf of the giant tree, which took off immediately and got them off the ground and towards the tree house.

Slightly shocked at this sight, but Richard was able to calm down easily and they floated up the tree on nothing but this green leaf. Sniffy was able to calm down in no time and marveled alongside Richard at this new feeling.

Richard looked down and saw the ground getting further and further away and thought. 'Good grief this is high and we are not even halfway up yet. I do wonder what would happen if someone falls down from this leaf? There must be some contingencies to it, I at least hope there are.'

The tree was one of the biggest trees that existed on this planet and could grow up to 1 km in height, but this one was relatively young and was only able to reach 200 m in height.

Coming to a stop atop the tree, they got down from the leaf and stepped onto a wooden platform. In the middle of the platform stood a giant house made out of wood. It was 4 stories high and on every level was one balcony on each side of the building.

The balcony had many tables and chairs on it, many were already occupied and lively chatter could be heard all over. On top of the last level was much more space than below on the other levels.

Our trio headed towards the stairs after getting into the building. Inside could also be seen many tables and chairs but not many people were sitting there. Most of the people could be seen sitting outside in the sun. The inside should only be occupied after the sun set and its getting colder.

Kyle said while they were walking towards the stairs.

" Welcome to the best restaurant of the Everlasting City. This is "The Mortals Heaven" here you can eat the best meals from all over the world. It has almost everything on its menu and the chefs are the best of the best.

Let's go and head upstairs. The view from up there is something else entirely."

They got up to the last level and it was a floor without any ceiling or wall attached to it and they could see the whole city in all its glory.

Sitting down on a table that was placed on the outmost edge, to have a mesmerizing view of their surroundings, they then had a look at the whole city.

A few moments after they took their seats, a waitress came to take their orders and she seemed to know Kyle when she saw him and said to him with a smile on her face.

"Nice to see you again here prince Night, I thought you would be gone for a few more days and we have not expected to meet you here so soon again.

You have told me that you would have a look at Rome?" The waitress spoke to Kyle in a familiar tone while she handed out a glass of water. Giving them the water, she eyed the two newcomers with curiosity in her eyes.

It was not every day that there could be seen some newcomers in this city and every one of them has to be invited inside. Otherwise, they would never be able to find their way inside this city even if they wanted. Also, not everyone could invite someone in. There were strict rules in place and nobody was keen on breaking them.

Kyle received his glass of water and answered back with a smile on his face." Thanks Rosa, can we just say that I missed the food here and came back early? I also met these two new friends which I invited inside and need to let them experience the amazing meals you have to offer here.

And we have the special menu for three please. Thank you."

Rosa done with getting the order said back to Kyle." Of course, tree specialties coming right up away."

Seeing her leave, Richard then said. "What is the specialty? And it looks like you are being known quite well here. You should eat here often?"

Kyle got a little embarrassed at this and said." Hahaha yes, you could say that. I have not too much to do, so I find myself here more often than not when I am bored.

The view here is amazing and you definitely must see it at night. Nothing can describe the beauty of the stars and the sound of the tree when it dances in the wind.

And the specialty dish consists a little bit of everything that tastes amazing together from all over the world. If you want to try everything, then it is the best.

After we are done here, I will show you to some nice hotel where you can stay for your trip here and then we will have to separate until tomorrow.

I need to make a report to my father and explain to him what has happened, but right now let's enjoy our meal."

Kyle got to the end of his sentence and right after that, Rosa came back with 3 trays floating behind her.

She placed them in front of our trio and wished them a good meal and then went back to do her work.

Hearing Kyles last words, Richard was not to surprised and knew that Kyle would need to report the happenings back to his parents.

But not thinking about it any longer he got fascinated at the feast he saw on his plate.

There he found many delicacies from all over the world and some which he had not even seen before. The smell was so amazing that he wished the other two a nice meal and got to start on it, while looking around to see the city in all its glory.

The city was much bigger than they had seen from down there and could only marvel at this place. The end of the city was not in sight and it was curious how they got to the middle part of the city in almost no time at all. The walls were almost not to be seen from up here in the distance and they covered this distance far too fast.

Anyway, done with their ravishing meal and thinking that they all could now die in the next moment and regret nothing at all, they just relaxed on their chairs, because they were not able to move. Except for Kyle who seemed to be not any different, even after the whole meal which could have filled at least two people.

Richard and Sniffy were having trouble eating it completely down to the last scrap, but because the taste was much better than they could ever have imagined, they ate everything somehow.

They now reclined back in their chairs and were content with everything and glad that they had helped Kyle.