1 New Life

As I exited the semi-busy train station, taking in the cool, summer night breeze I looked out at the station square that is still quite lively at 11 PM. Ignoring the other pedestrians walking in or out of the station, I looked across the open station square and at the tall concrete jungle that I am now surrounded by. Since it was already quite late in the evening, even the many restaurants and other storefronts were closed, leaving the only commercial locales open being those convenient stores and fast food restaurants, although, none of those are my destination.

With my wireless earbuds in my ear playing to me my music playlist, I pulled up the GPS on my phone and set my eyes in the direction that it pointed me in, through the station square and across the large road that surrounded the station square. However, just as I started walking, I thought that it would be best if I notified someone of my arrival. Scrolling through my short contact list on my phone, I soon found her number and called her.

As I waited for her to pick up, my eyes fell on the opened WcDonalds, and I began making my way over. The gentle breeze belonging to this late summer night was a true blessing as it blew by, cooling my back as it blew on the sweat that had formed due to this backpack that I was wearing.

"Hello," I said into the phone as the person answered. "Sorry, my flight was delayed," I said to her, explaining the reason for my late arrival.

"You must be tired from that traveling," the gentle and calm woman's voice responded, laced within it was a sense of fatigue. "First plane to the airport, then MagLev into the city, and then the metro... I'm sorry that I couldn't go pick you up."

"It's fine," I said to her as I entered the fast food restaurant and approached the cashier and began ordering.

"Are you getting food?" the woman I'm calling inquired.

"Yeah," I answered, speaking into the receiver in my wireless earbuds as I brought my phone out from my pocket and up to the scanner, allowing the funds to be deducted from my digital wallet.

"You must hungry," Loriana sighed apologetically. "Sorry, there's really not much at home right now..."

"It's fine," I said once again as I stepped off to the side and waited for my food. "I'm the one that will be staying at your place for a while, so don't consider me a guest. I'm the one that should be apologizing and thanking you for letting me stay with you."

"Don't mention it," Loriana answered. "I owe your father and your family a lot. You treated me like family when your father took me as his apprentice; I see you all like my real family... It's been almost...ten years now since he's passed."

"Ten years..." I sighed as I accepted the paper bag containing what I ordered from the cashier. "To be fair, I've never truly known him that well. I was only six..."

The two of us remained in silent for a while as I exited the restaurant and proceeded to follow the GPS on my phone to my new place of residents. The only sound audible were the ambiance sounds of cars driving and pedestrians walking by.

"How are you doing?" Loriana's voice finally broke the silence with a concerned voice.

"Just alright," I responded, glancing to my right and at the cars the zoomed by on the road.

"I know you're still recovering from your mother's passing," Loriana explained, mentioning my mother's passing just two weeks ago. "If you ever need anything, let me know. I'll do my best to get you what you need."

I let out a sigh, looking back on these two weeks where my life had changed drastically following my mother's death from this...mysterious illness that no doctor seemed to be able to explain. However...I assume that her passing is like a form of salvation for her, as she no longer has to suffer. The funeral was a small and private one, and Loriana offered to help settle any paperwork afterwards and offer me assistance. I suppose she was thinking of taking me in regardless, but me being diagnosed as a Caster when I was younger and being accepted to enroll in the Nocsinis Imperial Academy definitely helped make the process easier, as Loriana is a Professor there.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"Alright..." Loriana took a deep breath as she prepared to change the subject. "I've sent the keys to my place to your phone already."

"I've received it," I answered.

"Well, I just recently purchased this place, and the plan to have you move in was just recently made... The furniture for your room has yet to all arrive, namely, your bed," Loriana explained. "And it's already been a long day for you, so you can sleep on my bed tonight."

"Ugh..." I paused at this suggestion.

"I'll be back quite late tonight," Loriana explained. "The school year begins the day after tomorrow...and there's still somethings the faculty have to figure out. Don't worry, I'll be with you tomorrow. I have something that I must show you that...ten years ago, prior to your father's death, your father told me to."

"Ten years ago... I'm surprised you would still remember. What is it?" I asked as the tall residential tower came into view.

"Of course I would remember. It's...difficult to explain in its entirely on the phone," she answered.

"Guess I'll find out tomorrow then."

I approached the closed residential tower door and scanned my phone on the scanner to have the door open automatically for me. My first impression of the first floor lobby is that this place appeared extremely luxurious with its modern and sleek furnishing. In addition, right by the entrance was what appeared to be a front desk similar to that of a hotel. However, the staff at the desk appears to be security that monitors the scanner's reports and any suspicious behavior. I walked right past the staff and over towards the elevators.

"I'm entering the elevator now," I said as the elevator door soon opened.

"Alright," Loriana said. "Remember, my condo is on the forty-second floor."

"Got it," I said, lightly tapping the touch screen monitor in the elevator and then selecting the forty-second floor option. "The elevator doors are closing. I'll talk to you tomorrow then."

"Alright," Loriana answered. "Sleep well tonight. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

The soft elevator music playing in the background as the clean elevator quickly made its way up the y'all residential tower was actually quite soothing, acting almost as if a lullaby. Although I am tired, I probably will not go to bed until later in the night.

I exited the elevator once the door opened. Then, I made my way up to the closed dark wood door to the right of the elevator in the hallway with sconce lights lining the walls. Bringing my phone up to the scanner by the door handle, the door quickly registered the keys on my phone and unlocked the locks, allowing me to enter the condo.

The interior of the condo was as I had imagined it to be when I first saw the residential tower. I had never expected that I will be living in a luxury condo nor did I expect Loriana to be able to afford such a place by herself, but the reality is there in front of me.

Immediately greeting me was the beautiful nighttime view of the city from the large pane windows that spanned the length and height of the wall right behind the living room area. The curtains were neatly tied to the side, and I assume that it must be able to be remote controlled as in the House Remote app Loriana had instructed me to download, there was an option for the curtains.

Awed and shocked by this amazing view of the city, I quickly removed my backpack, placed it on the ground and rushed over to the windows to take in the view. Since I was high enough, I could even see the Helliger River and the skyline of the Lumina District just across it. This view alone, I assume, must be worth a lot of money. Let alone the furnishing in this condo and it's great location.

I turned around and once again focused my attention on this luxury condo. The kitchen was rather spacious with a great emphasis on a modern design with its dark marble counter tops. In the kitchen, there were the usual appliances such as an electric stove, a smart refrigerator, oven, sink, and such that one would expect to find. In addition, there was a mini bar as well.

Just across from the open kitchen was the living room, with a black, L-shaped couch and a modern-looking coffee table with colors that matched the black couch and square rug underneath. As for the television, it was a large one hundred inch flat screen monitor framed on the wall at a level perfectly suited for viewing.

This is...rather extravagant. I know that Academy Professors earn a lot, but I never expected it to be at this level. My family must have been more modest with how we had spent our money in the past as I do not recall ever seeing such luxury. However, I believe that might also have to do with the fact that we moved away from this mega city when my father died, so we didn't have a need for such extravagance.

Immediately upon entering, the central air conditioning unit that had been keeping the house at a comfortable temperature was awoken, humming every so gently as it began pumping in more cold air. With the circulating air, the pleasant scent of the condo interior were brought to my attention as it seems to have a soothing effect. To the right of the front door was a short hallway where the bedrooms branched off of. After doing a quick scouting, there seems to be three bedrooms in total, with Loriana obviously occupying the master bedroom. As she had explained earlier, the only room that has all its furniture is the master bedroom. In the room that is set to become mine, there were two large boxes. These boxes contained everything that I had wanted to bring with me so I had them shipped here beforehand.

After I was done exploring for the bit, I returned to recover my backpack from the floor in the living room and brought it to my room before setting it on the floor. Once there, I retrieved my laptop and my tablet from it as these were the only things I need before I were to set up my desktop. However, I do not need them for now, so I simply placed them next to me on the dining table.

I sat down and turned on the television using my phone and simply watched a rerun of one of the more popular variety shows as I ate the burger that I had purchased.

After finishing the quick meal, I decided that I would take a shower tonight before I head to Loriana's room and use my tablet to stream videos before sleeping. Therefore, I grabbed my towel and my set of indoor clothing, a black T-shirt and shorts, before I made my way into the bathroom.

The bathroom was also quite spacious like the rest of the house. There is a room just outside of the bathing room containing a bathroom counter with two sinks as well as a large mirror. In the bathing area, there was a separate area for showering and bathing. In addition, there is a large window that one can control the window blinds to cover with a simple command either on my phone or using the touchscreen monitor by the door.

If it was any other night, I probably would bathe as well, but I am simply too tired and would prefer a quick shower so that I can retreat to bed. After my quick shower, I dried myself and changed into my comfortable indoor clothes. I dropped off my dirty clothes in the empty hamper just outside the bathing room before I quickly retrieved my tablet and entered Loriana's room.

Loriana's room was furnished in a cozy manner, with dark painted walls that accessorized the warm colored lighting that Loriana had selected. In addition, there was a pleasant aroma. If one were to not turn on the overhead ceiling lights or simply kept them on dim, the warm, orange light from the lamps sitting atop the nightstands would provide a warm and cozy and almost moody ambiance.

Since Loriana had directed me to sleep on her bed tonight, I decided that I should simply take her up on that offer and not think too much. I climbed onto her king size bed, snuggling myself underneath the bed covers with my tablet resting on top of the covers streaming a video while my hands held it steady. As I breathed in, I could smell the Loriana's lingering scent from her bed. It was a wonderful and pleasant smell, one that I find extremely calming and easy to sleep to.