21 City

" So Ruben" Mr Fan began " this girl is your?..."

Izzy looked at Ruben he looked at her as if looking for an answer.

Without a second thought Izzy smiled " He's my big brother" she said.

Mr Fan looked in Ruben's direction and Ruben caught off guard by her answer, nodded.

Soon enough, Izzy, Ruben and Mr Fan set off. Ruben carried Izzy as only he and Mr Fan could fly, of course, so could Theonymphi but of course they would not expose him.

Izzy held tightly onto Ruben afraid to open her eyes. Flying for her had always been done in an enclosed aeroplane. Never once had she thought that she'd be flying unprotected in the sky.

' Hey girl, stop being such a wimp' Theonymphi chastised her and Izzy wanted to smack him.

She opened one of her eyes and was overcome with wonder at the landscape below her. Bellow the hills were a deep green, they flew over rivers and even some villages. All while Izzy was fascinated this world had a burst of colours that could put nature on Earth to shame.

She saw tall flowers that were as big as a building, they sparkled in the sunlight and Izzy eyes remained wide. The rivers were clear that even from the sky you could see the bottom, the birds in the sky were fascinating. Some of their wings were speckled with a kind of glimmer and some birds had very elongated twirly tails.

Rueben and Mr Fan took no notice of their surroundings, but Ruben was aware of Izzy's over-excitement. He internally sighed, thinking that she must've grown up incredibly sheltered.

When they arrived at the Cifidel Kingdom, Izzy let out a little squeal. She was back in civilisation. Her smile was wide as she thought that there would be no more murderous forests and creatures lurking in the dark.

The layout of the kingdom was very westernised, with brick-laden roads and houses, with chimneys. People walked about in the busy streets and Ruben followed Mr Fan in landing in an empty street.

" We will walk from here," he said flapping the sleeve of his robe and walking ahead and Ruben and Izzy looked at each other and followed along.

Theonymphi was complaining as they walked through the streets.

' Argh, there's too many humans here for my liking. Huff, I already made an exception by allowing that Cursed One around but now this is too much!'

Izzy rolled her eyes and ignored him. The walked through an alley and came out into a market street. People were everywhere and as a city girl, Izzy felt more comfortable. She had no qualms with nature, but when things try to kill you more than once, it was enough to make her never want to see nature again.

Izzy followed closely behind Ruben so as not to get lost. She was pushed and almost fell as the people walked without regard for anyone but themselves.

The people inside the market were very well dressed, Izzy could see that their clothes were made from fine fabrics. Most were accompanied by an entourage of people, carrying boxes and bags of things.

" It's twenty gold sir" Izzy walked passed what could be described as a rich young master whilst following Ruben.

" Twenty gold, that's cheap" she heard the man say. Izzy had no knowledge of how money worked in this world but she guessed that twenty gold was no small sum.

As she walked along feeling slightly suffocated by the number of people in the market. Izzy finally saw a tall building as they walked. It was built like a tower with a pointed edge masked by the clouds. The tower was large and Izzy walked along to see a large gate and guards standing by the gate. They walked passed a few kids in uniform and Izzy thought they must be part of the academy.

The kids glanced in their direction, their eyes skimmed over her and then fell onto Mr Fan and Ruben.

They ran up, it was a group of two girls and three boys. They bowed and said " Greeting Professor Fan", the old man nodded and continued walking all while the girls ogled Ruben.

Izzy noticed this and smiled, of course, it was the typical reaction of any young girl to a good-looking man. She too had sometimes been blinded by Ruben's beauty but never let it get to her.

As the group walked off, Mr Fan stood at the gate flashed some kind of card and the guards opened the gate. They walked in after him and Izzy looked around.

" Welcome to The Great Academy of Cifidel" Mr Fan made his introduction stretching out his arms.

Izzy's eyebrows raised. This academy was more like a paradise. There was a French-like garden at the entrance with a big fountain in the middle. The fountain had a marble statue of a man that Izzy stared at.

She walked along with her mouth slightly open.

The tower was connected to some other smaller buildings that all had a mythical design to them. They entered through one of the smaller buildings and into a hallway.

There were other blue-robed people walking about and Mr Fan brought Ruben over to a couple of men.

" Oh Fan, who is this?" One of them said.

He had a sharp face with saggy cheeks and Izzy thought he looked like a typical cartoon villain.

Mr Fan beamed and placed his hand on Ruben's shoulder.

" This, my fellows is Ruben and guess what" he boasted while some of the other teachers feigned interest and Izzy caught one of them roll his eyes.

" He is a level 50 at the tender age of twenty-three" ...

The old men's faces remained still as their eyes glued themselves to Ruben. Some of their eyes looked as if they were about to pop out and roll around on the floor.

" H-how?" The man who had first inquired about Ruben stuttered.

Mr Fan gave a cheeky grin, " He is a talent of the century. And I found him and brought him here so that he could be of use to our great academy" he said putting emphasis on the ' I'.

Izzy stood behind for the group watching the whole scene. Mr Fan was truly boasting like Ruben was some diamond in the rough.

The other teachers had sour looks on their faces and they fake congratulated Mr Fan. All while hiding their envy.

" Come," Mr Fan said with a large smile " I am going to introduce you to the principal", Mr Fan led Ruben up a flight of stairs and Izzy walked behind still looking around.

The entire building was like walking into a castle. Every part was meticulously designed and Izzy admired the workmanship, as she had once aspired to be an architect like her father.

As they came to a large wooden door Izzy made to walk in too, when Mr Fan held out his arm stopping her.

" Sorry, you will have to wait outside," he said and shut the door in her face.

Izzy's expression remained frozen staring at the dark wooden door.

' Ha ha ha' Theonymphi laughed and she narrowed her eyes.