Mixed Magical Arts Finals Tournament.
Registrant: Vernon Douglas
High School: Saint Anthony Magic and Runic Academy
Type: Rune User
All Fields Correct:
Yes/No
Selecting yes on the screen the receptionist quickly turns her head. “So you’re Vernon Douglas the second place holder from the Bastion tournament?”
“Yes I am, is there something wrong?”
“No, actually I need to tell you and your team here that they won’t need to participate in any of the bouts for the day today. Your group, based on prior scores, have qualified for passage to the semifinals. Today we are allowing all the other schools who did not get to participate in earlier tournaments a chance to participate. Your matches will begin tomorrow.”
“That’s great news!” Flint says with delight.
Marie blurts out, “Date Night!”
Ashley agrees, “What a great idea Marie, what do you think Emma?”
Emma agrees with the two other girls, “I think that’s a wonderful idea. We can all go together and have a night out on the town. They do say that New Atlantis is the most romantic city on Eden. I can show you all the hot spots in town.”
Vernon says, “Shouldn’t we take the time to relax and prepare for tomorrow.”
Marie quickly retorts, “Nope.”
“I’m going to go take a shower then and rest for tonight, it sounds like I’m going to need it.” Duke says and starts walking to the room.
“We will all meet here at 6:00 pm don’t be late.” Marie shouts toward Duke and he waves his hand in acknowledgment. “Also ladies, we need to go shopping. Emma can you show us where the mall is?”
“Sure.”
“It’s settled, let’s go!” Marie says while grabbing both Emma and Ashley by the arms, and starts to walk off. “You better be shaved and looking cute tonight Vernon!”
“I will, now go have fun Marie.”
***
Back in the hotel room, Vernon and Duke get a big grin across their faces and stare down Flint.
He gives them a look back. “Yes?”
“So... We’re going on a triple date tonight, which means Duke and I already have girlfriends. There’s only one single girl in the group. I guess that means that you’re going to be Emma’s date tonight?”
Flint stutters, “I… I never thought about that, I guess I will be.”
Duke says, “Vernon and I have seen you flirting with her the whole year, and she seems pretty interested in you too. So tell me how are you going to make your move?”
Flint says, “Move...what move?”
Vernon says “Come on Flint, don’t tell me you haven’t been thinking about kissing or making out with her.”
“No! I mean yes... But that... I just don’t know if I can do it.”
“It’s ok if you’re nervous we both were when we started. Duke over there had to be convinced it was even something worth his time before he started. All I am trying to say is just be yourself, and have confidence.”
Duke agrees, “Yea Flint, what he said.”
Flint rubs his hands together, “Alright guys, I guess I can try to do that.”
Vernon smiles, “Good, next we need to figure out how to get us split into different groups so we can have some alone time.”
***
All the girls gather into a transport and head over to the mall. On the trip they chat about where they would like to go for the evening. Emma suggests a few places where most of the school kids went to when she lived here. They pass by an advertisement on the highway about the Dome Fair. It was going on right now in conjunction with the MMA tournament.
“That would be perfect don’t you think girls?” Marie asks.
Ashley adds, “Yes that would, I haven’t been to a fair in years.”
Emma asks, “I’ve never been to one before, what is it?”
“Well you have carnival rides, games and the Ferris wheel.”
Emma says, “What is a Ferris wheel Marie?”
“It’s a small cabin that goes around in a circle with a bunch of other ones.”
Ashley jumps in, “Yes, it can be very romantic.” Ashley jumps in.
Marie says, “Then that sounds like just the place we need to go to get some quality time in with the boys.”
They pull up close to the clothing store and Marie swipes her HaLO to pay for the ride. Walking into the store all the girls are bombarded with ads and questions about what they are looking for. Marie turns on the group setting. The ads change over to a virtual assistant asking how they can help today. Marie answers by explaining the date they all have planned for later this evening. Several markers pop up across the store showing relevant clothing options.
To the right of the store they go and find some fancy casual clothes. Marie starts scanning the tags of a few sundresses she thinks that Vernon might like to see her in and then walks over to the mirrors. Scrolling through the clothing she picks a red dress first and her overlay displays it over her as if she is wearing the dress.
With the group setting turned on, the other girl’s overlays show Marie in this too.
Marie checks every angle, and asks the group, “So what do you girls think about this one?”
Ashley comments, “Vernon will like that one, it’s showing a lot of cleavage.”
“He probably would, you’re right,” Marie swipes her hand across a floating list of the dress she scanned to the next dress on the list. “And what about this one?”
It was a figure fitting empire waist dress that was white.
“Now that is more my style of dress.” Emma says. Marie grabs the dress from the list and throws it toward Emma. Her HaLO picks up the code and Emma is now in the white dress. “I didn’t know you could do that.”
“You must not have been shopping within a group before then huh?”
“My father kept me moving around from dome to dome a lot. I never really made any girl friends along the way.”
“Well you are our friend now, alright Emma.” Ashley says.
Emma smiles, “I’m glad to hear that, and this does look good on me."
Marie says excitedly, “Alright to commemorate this new friendship, I’ll get everyone's clothes today. I love shopping for my friends!”
***
Giggling and bags rustling wake Vernon up from his nap. Outside of his hotel door he can see the girls through the peephole display. Opening the door he catches the girl’s right before they go into their room.
He says, “Sounds like y’all had fun, where did y’all go?”
Marie says “We did, and we went clothes shopping. So no trying to peek at what we got understand!” She has a playful yet serious look on her face.
Vernon holds up his hands, “I promise, but I can’t promise for the other two still napping back here.”
Ashley asks, “Duke is still asleep?”
“He is, and so was I. I got woke up from all the giggling. It looks like Marie out did herself again.”
Marie huffs, “I did not!”
Emma adds, “Yea it was really fun to have some girlfriends to go shopping with for once.”
Vernon smiles, “That’s great. I guess I’ll let y’all get back to it, and I hear there is a fair going on right now.”
“Yes there is and it would be perfect to go to.”
“Alright then Marie it’s settled. I’ll tell the guys once they wake up.”
“Looking forward to it!” Marie says excitedly, and Vernon nods turning around and going back into the room.
Time moves quickly, and before he realizes it Vernon has to change into the only set of extra clothes he brought with him. Duke and Flint are getting ready in the bathroom cleaning their teeth and getting their hair ready. There is a small twinge of anticipation for tonight in his gut. This will be the first official date that he and Marie had been on. They had been together for a while but they never really had the chance to just go on a date. Eith
er her parents got in the way, dance team, or some other activity they were involved in stopped them. Not tonight, this was going to be a night worth remembering.
22
Vernon and the boys meet the girls in the lobby. While they are waiting on a taxi to take them to the fair grounds. Vernon can't take his eyes of Marie. Her body fills out every inch, and curve of the red dress she has on. He also can't help but glance at her cleavage with the low v neck line. Marie keeps directing Vernon back to her face, and tells him to quick making a fool of himself.
The transport pulls up, and they all pile into the van like vehicle. Looking out past the dome all Vernon could make out is darkness as he settles into his seat. He grabs onto Marie's hand and she smiles at him. He returns the smile, and stares into the darkness. Flickers of light are in the distance and faint.
Flint asks, “What’s going on outside the dome?”
Emma smiles, “It’s the light fish. They start up every night like this once winter gets close. After the sun goes down. The females light up to attract other light fish.”
Vernon says, “It looks awesome. Like fireworks in the water.”
Emma agrees, “It’s the only thing I miss about living here, but only happens around this time of year. This was one of the reasons that I was so excited to be coming here.”
The van pulls into a line for the front entrance to the fairgrounds, and it’s a standstill. Emma gets the idea that they could walk the rest of the way, and everyone agrees. An admission booth is at the front entrance, with a woman there scanning everyone that enters. She’s dressed up like a bellhop with a green clown wig, welcoming everyone to the fair.
Vernon goes through the scanner and gets a notification with three tickets into his digital wallet. The hostess tells the group they each get three, and more can be purchased. Each attraction will have a ticket cost, as do the concessions.
Emma insists on riding the Ferris Wheel first. No one disagrees, so they all head toward the center of the fairgrounds. The tournament had not ended yet, so the crowd wasn’t there yet. There was still a short wait for the Ferris Wheel, which was the popular attraction. Vernon talked about how happy he was with this last year. He left out a few things his parents told him, but the group knew everything else. Marie agreed, and shared how happy she was with changing over from the dance team. She misses the dancing, but the competition here with MMA was better. Duke and Ashley talk about how they couldn’t see the group any different, and are glad about how no one else in school wanted to be on the team with Vernon as the captain. Then Duke jokes about how horrible a captain Vernon is.
The line dwindles away, and they all pile into one cart. Emma's face lights up at all the lights and activities of the fair that she can see. She leans over Flint to look out the window and Vernon sees his face turn red. Emma turns to Flint, flipping her hair back behind her ear, asking him if he likes the view. Vernon watches Flint turn three different shades of red, stuttering out a yes. Everyone else bursts into laughter, and Emma quickly sits back into her seat, her face flushed.
With the Ferris Wheel ride over they head for the carnival games. Vernon, Duke, and Flint all line up to try the ring toss. Each line up, and each get three shots a piece. To their surprise, not one ring lands on the cups. The girls all decide to take a turn. Ashley lands all three of her rings, picking out a giant pink bunny, forcing Duke to carry it.
As they walk past the hall of mirrors, Vernon sees the girls give each other a look and nod. Emma pulls Flint into the hall of mirrors, Ashley grabs Duke’s arm pulling him towards the arcade, and Marie just stands there smiling. He looks in both directions, and sees everyone heading in opposite directions.
Vernon looks to Marie, “So Marie...” Before he can finish his sentence, Marie is at his lips. Vernon laughs in surprise. “I was getting ready to split the group up myself, but looks like you beat me to it.”
“I did.” She says with a smile.
“Marie, I'm sorry this took so long. All the training and no fun. Then one weekend we both had off, Flint needed help to pass a class or he couldn’t participate.”
Marie grabs Vernon’s hand, “I know but we are here now and we are free for the rest of the evening.”
Vernon smiles, “So where do you want to go, now that you have me to yourself?”
“Well. This is the most romantic city on Eden. I have always wanted to ride the submarine around the city.”
“My wish is your command.”
There are a few people waiting for the next submarine to arrive. Vernon looks around at all the people walking around. He’s never been to anything like this before, in real life. There have been a few virtual fairs he went to on a game, but this feels different. Marie squeezes his hand, and he turns to her. There isn’t anywhere else he would want to be right now.
A message is playing on the overhead speakers that he starts to pay attention to. ‘It has been here since the city first opened. The submarine is covered in the same material used to create the dome, which is how we are able have a clear hull. Your ride will be here shortly, and please make sure to keep an eye on all personal belongings.’
Marie is a ball of excitement. Vernon can't help but have a smirk on his face because of it. Their submarine arrives, and they climb in. There is a row down the middle of the craft, with seats back to back. The chairs themselves are cushioned, and the whole side that you are looking out is clear. Sitting within the submarine is more comfortable than Vernon expected. As they get further from the dome the inside light gives off a blue tint. The announcer begins talking, assuring people that the best side of the tour is the side they aren’t sitting on.
***
Flint is surrounded by himself within the mirror maze, and has lost Emma. He cries out for her and there is no answer. He goes into his overlay menu, and looks through the different options to help him get out of the maze. He doesn’t have any luck, and raising his hands to feel his way out. He slowly begins to make his way through.
Emma is on the second floor of the hall of mirrors, and is able to watch Flint fumble through the maze. She tries to keep herself from giggling too much as she waits for him to catch up.
Ashley and Duke are in line for an overlay game called Earth Explored. It is an overlay experience called a HaLO Dive. It allows people from Eden to explore Earth before they left. All the senses are replaced in the brain by the HaLO to make it feel like they are really there. Siting in the seats it syncs the chair to their HaLO. As the game turns on, a cascade of tiny squares fills up their vision. Each square filled in reveals Earth more and more, with the feeling of the ground beneath their feet, and smells of an open field.
This is Duke’s first experience with a HaLO dive. He had played games before, but nothing that added smells and tactile feedback.
Duke asks, “So Ashley, how does this all work?”
“It’s simple, if you want to move, you move. Try to think of this as a real place and the avatar is you.”
“Alright, here goes nothing.”
***
The submarine docks with Vernon and Marie hand in hand. There was all types of fish and purposely placed debris for an entertaining ride. The walk back to the main section of the fairgrounds was crowded, but he didn’t mind. Marie just kept a tighter grip to him, which he liked. Vernon see two girls running and jumping around all over the place, yelling out someone's name. One of them spots Vernon and comes running over. The girl has dirty blond hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. Her face was beautiful, and she had an hourglass figure. Vernon had never seen her before.
“Eve here he is, I found him!” Says one of the girls, prying her way between Marie and Vernon. Eve erupts from the crowd, and makes Vernon look quickly back between the two. The first girl and Eve are twins.
Eve says looking at her sister, “Good job Britney.” Then turns to Vernon, “What’s the deal leaving us like that in the house of mirrors. You said you would treat us with some food since we’ve been doing so well. You know
we don’t get out much, and you said you’d come with us.”
Vernon says confused, “I’m sorry but I don’t think I’m the guy you’re looking for. My name is Vernon and this is my girlfriend Marie.”
Marie quickly pulls him toward her, and out of Britney’s hands.
Marie protectively says in a sassy tone, “And who might you girls be?”
Eve says, “Us, we are looking for Adonis. He was walking this way and looks just like him.”
A man walks out from the shadows with his hands full of carnival food. He is slightly taller than Vernon, but has twice the muscle build, with buzzed black hair, and striking blue eyes. Vernon has a familiar feeling. Like he has seen this guy before, but he looks much older than he does.
“There you girls are. I thought I told you to stay at the house of mirrors.” He says in a gruff tone.
“Adonis!” the girls say in unison.
“Leave these people alone and come with me.”
Britney says, “You should really look at this guy, he looks just like you.”
“Eve, Brittany I said come.” His tone gets more gravel in it.
They say in unison, waving to Marie and Vernon, “Alright, see ya!”
Marie wraps herself around Vernon’s arm and asks, “Who were those people?”
“I have no clue, but I feel like I know that guy.”
23
Vernon wakes to the sound of an alarm going off in his head. The display next to the bed is blinking. Vernon taps the screen, and Coach Hill appears on the display.
“Hey, it's time to get up and get moving. The tournament is about to start in an hour and we still have to get everyone checked."
Vernon says still half asleep, “We’re all getting up right now.”
Duke hops out of bed and starts to shake Flint awake. He still won’t wake up so Duke decides to get a glass of water and splash him in the face with it. Flint’s head is soaked, and he slowly sits up. “Dad I’m up, I’m up… Wait Duke, how’d you know to wake me up with water?”
Cypher Theorem Series Box Set: Books 1-3, The Zero Class, Shadow Moon, Dragon Fire: A Science Fiction Fantasy Page 15
