Rise and Shine

Two days later

Garrick opens his eyes with significant discomfort as they feel heavy and achy like he hasn't opened them in months.

He was sure he had opened them, but all he saw was black. He attempts to move his arm and thankfully manages to do so with surprising ease; in fact, he feels better than ever. He shifts his weight this time, trying to sit up as what he thought was blindness was a Leighys wearing a top hat blocking his vision.

"Holy-what the fuck!" Garrick flounders, kicking his arms and legs, causing the Leighys to soar through the air. Garrick stands up, seeing hundreds of Leighys on the floor wearing different hats and staring at him. A sudden and indescribable pain hits Garrick's stomach as he collapses, clutching it. Less of a growl and more of a demand erupts from his stomach as it requires sustenance. As if right on cue, Kyra, too, wakes up and with much the same outcome, she sits up before eventually clutching her stomach in agony.

"AGRRGHH! What the fuck is happening?!!" Kyra painfully shouts, huddled over, punching the solid ground.

The door opens, and Lillian walks in.

"Ahh, you both are awake; you must be starving. A feast has been prepared in the dining hall, but I know you're in too much pain to move, so forgive the offence and indignity, but I'll use magic to carry you there."

The Leighys scuttle away into the walls as Lillian says a chant, and the two begin floating towards Lillian. 

"Y...ou!" Kyra eeks out.

"I..didn't..argh..mean-" Garrick tries to speak, but every breath is arduous and exhausting.

"Don't speak; it'll be too demanding on your bodies. All is forgiven between you two and our family. I also apologise for the way we treated you two; I was only thinking about protecting my family." Lillian says sternly but with a tinge of regret.

She walks through the hallways, again seeming endless, especially for Garrick and Kyra, who for every second seems like an hour but eventually make it to the dining room. Again, like much of the house, it has marble flooring and walls, but a large table that extends from one side of the room to the other that could easily seat fifty guests is all laid out with varying foods, all recently baked, the steam still billowing off them. Meetle sits waiting for them as Lillian sits them down in a chair and cancels her magic.

"You guys! I'm glad you're okay!" Meetle says to them gleefully but with a tear.

Without missing a beat, Garrick and Kyra begin to eat the food, ignoring any manners as if they are on autopilot.

"You're both eating. That is good. Those little fuzzballs in your room when you awoke are called Leighys', they caused your bodies to complete a month's worth of healing in just two days, but the downside is that now calorific stores are empty, a month's worth, to be exact, so you'll be eating much of this feast to replenish them." Lillian explains as they decimate the feast, barely able to breathe through stuffing their face. Meetle takes a piece of chicken leg and has a small nibble as food flies past his face.

"Ha..hah...I'll clean it up, Mom." Meetle tells Lillian, embarrassed.

"It's fine; I'll summon the cleaners once they are finished." Lillian replies.

After a few minutes of nonstop eating, Garrick and Kyra stop for a few moments to allow the food to settle.

"Do you remember much of our 'conflict' two days ago, either of you?" Lillian inquisitively asks the two.

"I remember you lanky fucks using magic against me. Too scared of hand-to-hand combat, huh?" Kyra taunts Lillian.

"Kyra! Don't antagonise her!" Meetle loudly chines in.

"It's fine. Under the circumstances, it's an acceptable reaction. What of you, Garrick? Do you remember using magic?" Lillian asks. 

"Yeah, when the door opened and accidentally summoning the ice." Garrick regretfully utters.

"Nothing else?" Lillian adds, looking at Garrick's eyes for a hint of deceit.

"No, why? What else did I do?" Garrick worryingly asks her

"You don't remember creating a null-magic sphere?" Lillian curiously asks.

"A what?" Kyra and Garrick confusedly ask simultaneously.

"So you use high-tier magic without even meaning to, peculiar...the coming days will be arduous, but we can-" Lillian speaks but is cut off by Garrick.

"I'm not staying; it's too dangerous for you all." Garrick sternly voices.

"And go where? If not for Araval and I, there would be four deaths at your hand two days ago; you'd be executed within the week for that in Volmyr. Do you really want to risk it happening to someone else?" Lillian firmly voices her disapproval of Garrick's potential departure.

"No, but..." Garrick quietly speaks.

"But what? I don't get a sense of purpose from you at all! You have such power at your disposal. If you only learned to wield it, think of the lives you could help." Lillian entices Garrick.

"I didn't ask for it!! My life was fine before: take a job, earn some coin, relax for a week, then do it again! Now I'm this fucking freak that can't sleep; I see that bastard Jarathus everywhere I go, and I can't control this fucked up power that rips me apart from the inside every time it goes off!! It's barely been over a month, and I'm exhausted every second of every goddam day. I shoulda stayed dead when Xzeralaki killed me."

Kyra and Meetle stare in silence while Lillian has a worried look on her face.

"Lalrin, dear, you never told me that name before." Lillian worryingly conveys.

"Jarathus? I was sure I did; I didn't go into too much detail Gar-" Meetle speaks, but Lillian cuts him off.

"No, Xzeralaki. Why didn't you tell me it was her looking for the primordial artefacts?" Lillian raises her voice, becoming more distressed with each passing second.

"Sorry, I must've forgotten; it's a lot of information to remember." Meetle dejectedly apologises.

"Why is that name important?" Garrick's hunger is all forgotten as his mind is focused on who that woman is and why she has Lillian so unsettled.

"Because someone looking for Primordial artefacts is no concern, but Xzeralaki looking for them is trouble on a cataclysmic scale." Lillian speaks loud and with alarm in her tone.

"Who is she?" Garrick adds, interested to know more.

"An expelled high mage from the Academy. She worked with the military, predominantly the Archnobles, on many occasions. She was eventually considered detrimental to the goals of The Sovereignty, which was isolating powerful items and artefacts and either sealing or destroying them. This isn't good at all. Finish eating and meet in the hallway. Araval has set up something for you three." Lillian speaks with a level of intimidation and worry that even Meelte hasn't seen before.

"I'm finished already. What is it?" Garrick voices as he begins to stand up.

"No! You eat until you are full. I will be waiting." Lillian commands as she takes her leave.

"I don't think your boring life is attainable again; whether you like it or not, you're stuck with us." Kyra laughs, showing the food stuck in her teeth. Garrick turns to the other side, seeing Meetle smiling and waving.

"...Fuck...." Garrick says with a sigh.

After fifteen minutes of Garrick and Kyra engorging themselves, more than 3/4 of the food is gone with Meetle staring in disbelief at the sheer quantity they consumed.

"This...was the greatest...meal...ever." kyra tiredly says through deep breaths.

Garrick points toward Kyra and simply nods.

"Uhh...that was something anyway. How about we go see what Dad has set up for us?" Meetle asks with intrigue.

They all stand up and walk to the door.

"That's another thing. What's going on with you and your parents?" Kyra curiously asks.

"What do you mean?" Meetle curiously retorts.

"Meetle...you're either the ugliest midget elf I've ever seen or you're adopted." Kyra bluntly voices.

"Ohh, right, sorry. Yes, I was adopted when I was a baby by them. I don't remember much of my biological parents, but they're my parents, and I'll always consider them as such." Meetle lovingly says with a smile on his face.

"It's better to be wanted and chosen than unwanted and reluctantly kept." Kyra mutters under her breath.

"You mean something by that?" Garrick questions.

Garrick opens the door.

"It's nothing. Let's just stay on task." Kyra quickly tries to brush off the question and move on to something else.

'"Ahh, you're done, excellent." Lillian says, her worrying face gone and a smile left in its place. 

Several ghostly butlers without legs float into the room and start clearing the table.

"Those the previous guests you've killed." Kyra jokingly chuckles.

"Kyra!" Meetle loudly voices with embarrassment.

Lillian chuckles slightly. "It's called 'ghostly apparitions'. You'll learn about it In due course. Now follow me; Araval is waiting."

They begin walking down the hallway, following Lillian.

"In due course? Kyra whispers to Garrick, who just shrugs but keeps his attention on Lillian attentively. Eventually, they make it to a large wall spanning thirty feet wide and twenty feet high, covered in a beautiful mural. The mural consists of a flowing golden field with sparkling redwood trees in the distance with vines twisting around each other in the shape of an arch. 

"A painting?" Kyra asks, bored and disapproving.

Lillian extends her hand and says, "Oskal". The vines on the mural come alive as they move and twist into each other more as the arch glows and disappears into dust, leaving behind a space into a room inside.

"About time, dear. Now, son and friends, I've worked on this for many months and decided it would be best to finish the design for you three. This is a cosmic portal; think of it as a house within a house. Tiny and discrete but inside large enough for any desire." Araval eagerly informs them.

"Wait, this is just a door on a wall? It doesn't actually go anywhere?" Garrick confusedly asks.

"Exactly. It's a static door, but when hidden, it is just a mural on a wall with nothing behind it. This will be your sleeping chambers for the foreseeable future and, most importantly, your training area; we don't want any potential accidents spilling out onto our garden again." Araval chuckles. 

"You'll learn to wield magic and how to fight in all its glory in there." Lillian adds, standing behind the party.

The candles behind Araval light up, showing a large hexagon chamber with an ever-expanding roof and an endless supply of books.

"Welcome to the Sanctum!" Araval enthusiastically roars.

End chapter