Chapter 10 Part 2

It took them the rest of the day to pack most of their things, but in the morning the three teens finish packing their things inside Christopher's pocket dimension and Heather passes Christopher and Haider a bag. "what's this sis?" Haider asks.

"remember that dad has been teaching me how to cook?" Heather says.

"yeah." Christopher answers.

"well, he said that I'm ready to be supplying our food for our trip." Heather says.

"so. Is this safe to eat?" Christopher says.

"ugh, why are you always so cynical? Yes, of course! Did you think dad would let me accidentally poison you two? I haven't made any mistakes in my cooking for years." Heather grunts.

"it's just that since the last time I ate your food, I've been careful to avoid it." Christopher explains.

"I trust our sister. Especially now. She may have trouble making her clothes, but she's a wiz around the kitchen." Haider attached his food to the rope on his waist.

"dude how do you look gayer than me?" Christopher teased.

"that's probably because I am you traumatised troll." Haider bites back.

"ahaha, that backfired on you, didn't it!" Heather chortles.

"shut up, heather! Let's just get going. We will be late for the cartridge." Christopher groans and places Heather's food behind his robe.

"heh, alright. How much stuff do you have behind that robe, anyway?" Heather asks.

"oh, nothing. It's how I hide my pocket dimension from strangers. I need to get stronger before I publicly say my attribute and affinity." Christopher pulls back his robe and pulls out a copper coin.

"oh, cool!" Haider says.

"I wish I could've known sooner, though. I mean, I get why. But it still would've been nice. Like Heather! You having multiple affinities is cool! They work so well together too. You're like the plant queen." Christopher says.

"I think that everyone knew that, though. The grown-ups, I mean. I have abnormal amounts of mana, remember? Having multiple affinities means nothing when you can't use your full power yet. Haider has the coolest magic. Pun intended. He can make anything he wants out of ice! It explains why our room is always cold too. Haider can't feel the cold at all." Heather says.

Haider makes a 1 inch3 block of ice, frost flows from His hand. "yeah, my power is pretty awesome." He says.

"wait when did you learn to make your runes invisible?" Christopher yells.

"oh, something this simple doesn't need runes. I just think it while pouring my mana to the spot I want to make it." Haider says.

"You have no idea how dangerous that is though, bro! if you just make that into a lance and learn to fire it forward, that could be devastating. It's small too, so it will be barely noticeable!" Christopher says.

"there he goes with that giant brain of his again. C'mon, we need to get going." Heather says.

"Nah, were good. The place is well within range to teleport to." Christopher says.

"excuse me? You can use advanced spatial magic already?" Haider asks.

"not really, I can only teleport about a quarter mile. Mastering the spatial movement spell is beyond me right now and I can barely use it without exhausting my mana." Christopher answers.

"wait, why risk it then?" Heather asks.

"dad never taught me any magic. Just trained me in meditation. I can refill my mana in about a day and a half right now." Christopher explains.

"Oh, I get it. You plan on recovering on the way to the capital, right?" Haider says.

"hit the nail right in the head!" Christopher praises.

"ok, teleport us to the tree line. Then you can't be caught using spatial magic." Heather says.

"you need to stop acting dumb Heather. You're smarter than you think." Christopher says.

"Just open the portal!" Haider yelled.

"uh. Right. On it" Christopher says.

Christopher pulls out his staff and points it in front of them. "this is fairly complex, so please don't bother me." The twins stay quiet upon his request. A galaxy purple spell circle consisting of 50 runes and 7 rune circles appears all the way along the staff. To begin with, the circles flickered. then moments later it became solid as Christopher intensified his focus. "not. Ready. Yet!" Christopher begins to sweat, his mana pool getting low. A few seconds later, Christopher releases a breath he had been holding and takes a few deep breaths before saying "portal."

All seven rune circles rush forward and join together just in front of the three, opening the portal. Before going through, Heather yells to the other side of the mansion. "dad! We're leaving now!" Heddwyn comes charging down the stairs of the foyer at the speed of sound, tears coming out his eyes like rivers.

"ah augh! Please don't leave!" Heddwyn slams into Haider and Heather with full force, knocking them to the ground.

"dad! Calm down. We aren't gonna be gone forever!" Heather yells, catching her breath.

"Yeah, and you can visit whenever you want!" Haider says.

"your right. Ill come visit in your first break!" Heddwyn sniffles.

"that won't be till spring, dad." Christopher says, finally catching his breath from his spell.

"no! please don't leave me!" Heddwyn cries.

"we got to go! The portal won't stay open for much longer! Secure him to the wall or something!" Christopher yelled.

"sorry dad!" Haider blasts Heddwyn with an ice spell, freezing him in place.

Heather and Haider get up and jump through the portal and Heddwyn breaks free.

"ah! Shit!" Christopher tries running through the portal, but Heddwyn catches him by the ankle.

"don't leave me alone!" Heddwyn cried.

"let me go dad!" Christopher makes a tiny physical spatial attack and jabs it into Heddwyn's arm, loosing his grip.

"sorry dad! We will write, I promise." Christopher jumps through and the portal instantly closes behind him.

"I almost thought you wouldn't make it! What happened?" Haider asks.

"our stupid father grabbed my ankle!" Christopher yells.

"hay you don't need to be so mean. He loves us." Heather says.

"oh my god Heather, even I cringed at that." Haider says.

"I know how he feels, but he could have killed me just now. He broke your ice with no effort!" Christopher says.

"you're kidding. I put all I had into that." Haider says.

"not kidding. but put a pin in that. We need to get to the road. We don't want to miss the carriage." Christopher says.

The three leave their forest home and the sun blinds them as they step onto the road. A carriage comes barrelling towards them from up the north road. It stops right in front of them.

(narrator) it's Kate again! Somehow, she looks exactly the same. She's 28 now, right? I need to know her skincare routine. Not that I have skin, mind you. I don't think I've aged since I was born. argh, I gotta stop telling you this stuff!

"are you Kate?" Heather asks.

"that I am. I'm guessing you're my client. You three look familiar. What's your names?" Kate asks.

"my name is Heather Longstaff. This is my brother." Kate cut her off, screeching.

"holy shit! Your Heddwyn's kids! I was with Engilram eight years ago. Do you remember me?" Kate yells.

"uh, not even a little." Heather says.

"not at all babes!" Haider says.

"I was sick then so no." Christopher says coldly.

Kate's smile disappears. "I guess I'm just that forgettable, huh? No point on dwelling on it now. So, my clients are Heather Longstaff, Haider Longstaff and Christopher N-ewman. Question Chrissy boy. Why didn't you take Heddwyn's last name?" Kate says, looking down at her client book.

"because I like Newman? What kind of shit question is that?" Christopher replies.

"is he always this much of a dick?" Kate asks, looking at the other two.

"I'm right here!" Christopher bites.

"shut your face. I wasn't talking to you. If you're gonna talk to me like shit, I'll talk to you the same. Little boy." Kate scolds.

"shit, sorry." Christopher says sarcastically.

"yeah. Ever since Sister Helga died, he's had a deep distrust with people he doesn't know. I think you calling him Chrissy set him off. Please don't take it personally. Once he gets to know you, he'll be fine. He respects you for dishing it back though, so you two really hit it off, ma'am." Haider says.

"noted, also drop the ma'am. Just call me Kate. Get in. It's a long trip to the capital." Kate says.

Heather nods and rides in front with Kate while the boys sit in the back.

They head off to the capital and halfway through, Haider asks a strange question. "when was the last time you upgraded your carriage Kate?"

"hah. I haven't changed it since I bought it hen! It's been loyal to me for ten years." Kate replied.

"what would be your dream carriage?" Haider asks.

"oh, that's easy. The fancy magic carriage 5. It costs about fourteen gold pieces, though. Ive never even seen that much gold before. So, it would be impossible for me to get." Kate fantasises.

"are you sure about that?" Haider says.

"what do you mean by that lad?" Kate questions.

"Christopher, can you give me my coin purse, please?" Haider says.

Kate looks at Heather, concerned. Heather just smiles back at her.

"here, it costs 14 gold, right? You deserve the upgrade." Haider says, holding out the gold to Kate.

"oh, no I can't take that Haider." Kate says.

"just take it. You've been wasting your money on maintenance for this thing. And those two horses need feeding too. If you buy that carriage, you won't ever need to do that again. Your horses can finally retire." Haider says.

"I can't take that. It's too much!" Kate says.

"just take it! When Haider decides to do something nice, he won't ever budge on changing his decision." Christopher bites.

Kate looks at Christopher and back at Haider. She hesitantly takes the money. "thank you Haider. That's so nice of you!" Kate says.