Alya rubbed her chin with her left hand. “Um. Maybe Tahir?”
Orion sighed. “We were already in the middle of the First Temporal War, remember?”
“Oh right,” Alya said as though she had forgotten this detail. She shook her head. “Well if the Sybil have foreseen nothing then we shouldn't worry. Don't be so superstitious, Orion.”
Terra's gaze darted from Alya to Orion as she waited for a point to break into the conversation.
Orion gestured to Alya. “I'm not being superstitious, I'm being practical. If I had known you were getting another squire, I would have put the Second Cohort on alert.”
Alya grinned. “I'll prove you a fool. Care to make a wager?”
Orion raised an eyebrow.
Alya gestured with one hand. “I'll bet you five hundred years that nothing happens.”
Terra tilted her head, wondering how one gambled time.
Orion shook his head. “Oh come on, Alya. You know that's nothing to us. We both have more years than we know what to do with. How about this. If I'm right you'll wear that dress I like.”
Alya smiled. “An acceptable wager. But if I win then you'll take a week off work and we can go somewhere nice for a while.”
Orion hesitated as though a week off work was worth far more than five hundred years. “Fine,” he said at last.
“Hey!” Terra shouted, waving her arms during a brief lull in the conversation. Orion and Alya turned their attention to her. She cleared her throat before counting with her fingers. “Question one. How old are you both? Question two. Who's Aion? Question three. Who's Kairos? Question four. How do you gamble time? Question five ho–“
Orion looked at Alya. “Well. I see you have briefed her about as well as the rest of your squires. Have you ever considered actually explaining things to the people you drag through the Edge?”
Alya shrugged. “That's what the Academy is for. Besides, I only like to show them the interesting things, like how the shieldwatch works.”
Orion rubbed his brow. “Let me guess. You were just going to dump her at the Academy and leave?”
“So? Why does it matter? It's their job to train squires in the basics. Besides, I hate explaining things everyone should already know and I have no interest spending the next few months supervising her exercise.”
“Just like you. You blow through like a storm and leave someone else to clean up the mess.”
Terra's brow lowered. It was just like when her parents argued. She never got a word in with them either.
Alya glanced at Terra. “You're being awfully quiet.”
Terra shot Alya a baleful glare.
Alya raised an eyebrow. “What?”
Orion looked at his shieldwatch. “Well I'll go ahead and inform the others about the new squire.”
“No!” Alya said, turning to Orion. “I mean no. That's a bad idea.”
Orion paused.
Alya looked away. “I sometimes wonder if that's what drove Kairos away. People treated her like a savior figure.”
“But she was,” Orion said. “She saved this city, not to mention the rest of Time. There is a reason they call her the greatest of the Legendary Blades.”
“And the price she paid for that was loneliness and isolation,” Alya said, staring forlornly to the side. “You can't be friends with someone you worship.”
Orion regarded Terra while rubbing his chin. “Well I guess it would make things more complicated if everyone knew. Not to mention the endless Trial of Blades challengers she have to endure. Very well. I'll keep this between us and Consul Prometheus for now. Just be sure she knows that.”
Alya smiled. “Thanks, Orion.”
Orion turned to Terra. “What is your name?”
“Terra Mason, sir,” Terra said.
“Well, Terra Mason,” Orion said. “Just be sure to keep the identity of who you are squiring for a secret. If people knew you were Alya's squire, it would create a terrible commotion.”
Terra grimaced. “I paid attention to the conversation even if you two ignored me.”
Orion grinned. “Blunt. Very different from Kairos.”
“How did you know I was Alya's squire?” Terra asked.
“You look a little like her,” Orion said.
“Alya?” Terra asked.
“No. Kairos,” he said as he turned to leave. He looked over his shoulder before he exited. “I look forward to working with you, Tiro Mason, when the next calamity hits. And, Alya. I look forward to seeing you in that dress.”
∞
After Alya's argument with Orion, she brought Terra to customs to retrieve her bag and finish timeport processing before disappearing. Processing turned into a lengthy ordeal. Terra finished a physical exam before calling her parents on a terminal. After that she endured a lengthy interview with a psychologist which Terra thought an odd requirement. The interviewer said that these tests had something to do with the training at the Academy. With her exams and interviews done, they instructed her to pick up a shieldwatch.
Terra found the shieldwatch station guarded by a man in a similar uniform to Alya. After he checked with Minerva, he handed Terra a shieldwatch. She then thanked the man before leaving and wondered where to go next.
Terra turned the shieldwatch in her hands. A length of metal shorter than the forearm made up most of the shieldwatch with the glass face on one end while the other held an embossed infinity symbol. Its glass face glowed a faint blue color and functioned as a display screen. Two padded clamps under the device allowed it to attach to the top of the forearm. It was not as thick as Alya's shieldwatch who likely had a tougher military model.
“Clamp it on your off hand like a shield. It works better that way,” came Alya's voice from behind Terra.
Terra suppressed her instinct to jump and instead glared at Alya. “Do you always come and go as you please?”
Alya grinned. “If someone wants to buy that shieldwatch, don't sell it for anything. That device is far more valuable than any amount of gold, gems, money, or anything else they try to trade it for.”
After struggling, Terra clamped it on her left forearm.
Alya tapped her chin with her index finger. “There was something I was supposed to tell you. Now what was it? Something about an accident?”
Terra raised an eyebrow as Alya thought.
After a moment, Alya shrugged. “I suppose it's not important. Forward unto eternity, Terra. I will see you in a few weeks.”
Terra's eyes widened. “Wait! What about lodging? What about food? How do I get to this Academy?”
Alya rolled her eyes. “I will not count the seconds for you. You made the choice to come here, so work through these problems yourself. As for the Academy, just be your usual stubborn self and they should let you in eventually.”
With that, Alya turned and walked away, leaving Terra in an empty hallway of the timeport.
Terra scowled. Orion was right. Alya had just abandoned her.
After a long sigh, Terra made her way out of the timeport to get her bearings. The city lights flickered on as darkness fell and already a few of the brighter stars shown in the sky.
Terra walked to an overlook that showed a view of the city in the distance. She could see why they built the main gate here. The first thing that any newcomer to the city saw after stepping through the gate was a full view of the city center. With darkness settling in, Terra could see the lights of the city in the distance.
Darkness had cloaked the pearl colors while blue lights lit up the city like a glowing sapphire. Buildings in the distance shone like jewels in the night that reflected on the waters of the more scenic areas. The sight took Terra's breath away. Terra almost didn't hear the person approaching behind her.
Chapter VI
Saturn City
Saturn City is the greatest civilization in history. We say this without boasting. It is the closest humanity will ever get to a utopia. The city's only flaw is that life here is near perfect enough to
remove all desire for change.
-Consul Prometheus
Terra turned to see a young woman. She was taller than Terra by a few inches with tan skin similar in tone to Alya's and the other city natives.
“Would you perpend,” She said in an airy tone, “relocation to an adjacent space?”
“What?” Terra asked, raising an eyebrow. Terra inspected the woman. Her straight sleek hair was a lighter shade of brown and reached below her shoulders. Terra couldn't help but feel jealous of the woman's slender body, long legs, and flawless skin. The glow of youth made Terra guess their girl's age a few years older than her, though Terra didn't want to make assumptions about age here.
“As I am a cartographer of the crepuscle sky, this has made me seek vantages such as this to give me a vista,” she said, continuing in her ethereal tone. In her ears were the same device Alya had given Terra when she had arrived at the timeport, though Terra wondered if it was working right. Over one shoulder the woman wore a white shawl with silver edging and embroidered in intricate sinuous designs. A silver broach with a sapphire center held the shawl in place near her neck. The shawl dipped down below her waist to the top of a knee length white dress.
Terra's brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“In shadows, the stars can–”
“Get to the point!” Terra said, scowling.
The woman cringed at Terra's outburst. “I just wanted you to move,” she said, her eyes watery.
Terra's expression softened. Perhaps her mother was right and she needed to be less blunt. “Sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just lost right now.”
The woman relaxed her pose. “Do you need directions? Minerva can provide those.”
Terra sighed. “I feel so out of place here. I don't even know what Minerva is. This is the first time I have time traveled.”
“What is your home time?”
“Twenty first century United States.”
“Oh. You must be here to join the Aeon Legion.”
“How did you guess?”
“If I remember correctly, the Americans were a warrior culture. They loved war so much that they declared it against concepts like poverty, drugs, and terror when there was no one else to fight.”
“Why do you want to go to that overlook so bad?”
“I came to observe the movements of the astral bodies in the evening skies,” she said as her airy tone returned.
“I think you just said that you were stargazing, but I'm not sure. Why are you so indirect?”
The woman maintained an aloof air while looking at Terra. “That is a direct untactful question. In answer to your query, my statements are indirect by necessity. Others here take apart my words so I must spend them carefully. Why are you so direct?”
“I don't mean to be blunt. People never seem to take me seriously so I'm direct. I'm frustrated right now since I just got to the city today and I'm tired, hungry, and without a place to stay,” Terra said, sighing. “My name is Terra. What's your name?”
She looked at Terra again while her expression remained unreadable. “I am Delphia, a native to the city.”
“Oh,” Terra said, looking at Delphia's hair. “Then why isn't your hair sil–”
“Silver is the color of condescension!” Delphia said as she crossed her arms and looked away.
Terra's brow furrowed.
Delphia turned to Terra and moved closer. “Well I hope you have not judged our city based on a few cruel citizens. They delight in criticizing those younger than them, but I assure you we are not all like that. To prove it, allow me to help you.”
“You don't have to.”
A slight smiled curled Delphia's lips. She moved closer, standing right next to Terra. “To use my knowledge to aid others is something I seldom experience. Are you hungry?”
Terra nodded while taking a step back. She hadn't eaten since she arrived. “Actually do you know a cheap place to rent a room for the night?”
Delphia tilted her head. “Cheap?”
“You know. A place that won't cost a lot of money?”
Delphia raised an eyebrow. “Money? What's that?”
Terra sighed. “Never mind. Is there a place where I can spend the night?”
“You could ask my mother if you can stay at my home. She loves to have guests over and she would probably allow you to stay in the guest room until the Academy training starts.”
“Really?”
“Oh yes. Saturnians are rather fond of new companionship. They are very centenarian so they like to have new guests to converse with.”
Terra wondered what centenarian meant while Delphia gazed at her shieldwatch before typing on a holographic disc projected above the face. A moment later, Delphia turned to Terra. “She is interested in meeting you. Let's go to the Convivium to meet my mother.”
“The what?” Terra asked, now wondering what a Convivium was.
“Delphia,” came a voice behind her.
Terra turned to see a handsome man approach. He had a well toned body with beautiful eyes and could have been a model if he wished.
Delphia turned to Terra. “I apologize. Let me address this small detail.”
“My friends are waiting for us,” he said with a grin.
Delphia looked away from the man. “I am sorry, but I have committed to another engagement.”
“What?” the man asked.
Delphia spoke in her usual ethereal tone without a hint of emotion. “I am afraid I must terminate our romantic involvement for now on account of numerous minor details too superfluous to warrant citation.” She then turned to led Terra away from the confused young man.
“Wait,” Terra said after they were out of sight of the young man. “Did you just dump him?”
Delphia shrugged. “He stuttered a little, and his eyes were a rather off shade of blue.”
Terra wondered how Delphia could be so casual about leaving such an attractive man.
Delphia smiled and grabbed Terra's hand.
Terra shook her hand loose. “Delphia, no offense, but I am not into that.”
Delphia tilted her head. “Into what?”
Terra rubbed her forehead while trying to think of a graceful way to explain it Delphia.
“Minerva,” Delphia said. “Explain please.”
Minerva spoke from Delphia's shieldwatch. “The act of holding hands in Terra's culture is a symbol of romantic involvement. In addition, same sex romantic relationships are considered taboo in her culture.”
Delphia faced Terra. “Well in Saturn City, Terra Mason, holding hands is a sign of friendship. And since you are in Saturn City then you should do as we Saturnians do.”
Delphia grabbed Terra's hand and led her to a large sidewalk sized glowing line on the ground. When they stepped on the line their surroundings faded out before fading into a new view.
“What is going on?” Terra asked as the surroundings faded again only to be replaced again.
Delphia pointed to the tall city buildings in the background. Terra watched it fade out to be replaced by a similar view of the city except closer. She then pointed to the glowing line they stood on like a neon sidewalk. “It is called a fadeline. This allows the people of the city to move from zone to zone quickly. Faster than horses. Safer than vehicles.”
As the center of the city drew closer, she learned that bigger fadelines took one further away than smaller fadelines, which faded into shorter distances. Delphia grabbed Terra's hand again and led her off the fadeline when she spotted an icon on the ground labeled VI.
“Where are we now?” Terra ask as Delphia walked off the fadeline. The smell food filled the air along with the rumblings of a large gathering of people and music.
“This is the Convivium in zone six.”
“What's the Convivium?” Terra asked.
“It's the recreational zone. Many gather here every night to celebrate.”
“Celebrate what?” Terra asked, looking at a sizable crowd of pe
ople both leaving and entering the area, all with silver hair. These people wore more varied dress than the uniformed staff at the timeport. They all appeared in their mid twenties with no children or elderly in sight.
Delphia considered for a moment before leading Terra again. “I guess they are celebrating being in Saturn City. Festivities are held here every night.”
Terra continued to gaze as Delphia led her through the crowd. They passed many buildings with some hosting foods belonging to specific cultures and time periods though Terra did not recognize them all. Other buildings were bars or what she assumed to be night clubs.
There were other attractions. She passed several bands playing in open areas or on stages. Other places hosted numerous crafts and hobbies, too many for Terra to count. Many things she only barely recognized; a group playing a kind of sport, a couple dueling with strange holographic creatures like a video game, onlookers watching a holographic play, and a person on stage reciting poetry.
“How many zones are there?”
“Twelve in total. Four residential zones, a park, a preserve, the timeport, the prison facility Tartarus, and a few other areas. This is the most popular zone.”
After leaving a large crowd, Delphia found a quiet spot next to a lake that reflected the lights of the city. They sat at an empty table. After Terra sat, Delphia scooted closer which caused Terra to shift back. Terra looked around to see that most Saturnians stood or sat close to one another.
“Mother said she would meet us here,” Delphia said while holding her shieldwatch hand out, palm facing up. She touched the glass face of her shieldwatch with her other hand and a ring formed above her open palm. As it circled, it left a dish of steaming hot food in its wake.
Terra narrowed her gaze, staring at the plate. “How did you do that?”
“Were you not instructed on how to use the shieldwatch before entering the city?”
“No. I was pretty much deserted here with no explanation about anything.”
Delphia grabbed Terra's shieldwatch arm and moved it in front of her. She then touched its face and dragged a holographic disc from it. “This is called a holoface.” she said while sliding it in front of Terra. The disc shaped holoface had a thin border on the edge with twelve small buttons arranged like numerals on a clock. The center of the disc displayed a list of food categories.
Aeon Legion: Labyrinth Page 7
