Chapter 79: Hello Brother

Chapter 79: Hello Brother

Location: Magicon Empire; Valterion Duchy; Valterion System; Nua; Alburgh; Valterion Mansion

At night I can’t stop thinking about what Mom said earlier… My possible return to the Estriduros Republic to grab Miss Baker. Together with my brother Adrian. More and more, I’m convinced that I do want to go… There are some answers I can get from her. Most importantly, why she did kidnap me and then why she helped me later at the academy.

All that thinking results in me not getting much sleep, so I’m feeling pretty miserable the next morning. I drag myself to the shower and not even Clara’s eagerness manages to cheer me up. I somehow make it to the dining room, and Mom only takes one look at me before she starts laughing.

“Oh dear, looks like you did an all-nighter.” I just scowl at her and sit down. “Here, you’re welcome, but don’t get addicted.”

Suddenly magic surrounds me, and I feel completely refreshed. “Huh?” It’s like I just drank the strongest coffee ever.

“That’s Refreshment for you,” Mom continues laughing while food starts floating in.

“Thanks, Mom, you’re the best!” I jump up again and hug her.

Next, we eat breakfast and after eating, Mom informs me that Maja was there earlier and wanted to talk to me. I wonder why she didn’t call me over S-57’s chip…

I thank her and walk over to the guest house. Like before, Steven greets me and lets me in. I ask him where Maja is, and he shows me her room. So now I’m standing before her door and knocking. It opens a second later and Maja smiles at me. “Hi Sara, come in.”

I hug her in greeting and then sit down on her bed. “Hey Maja, you wanted to talk to me?”

“Yeah…” She draws out the word and sits down on a chair opposite me. “It’s about the others leaving.”

Oh, okay… Does this affect her more than I thought? “Uh-huh, what about them?”

Now she looks a bit uncomfortable. “Well, I thought a lot about it those past days, and I think it’s best for me if I join the military as well.”

“WHAT?” I can’t stop my exclamation and look at her in disbelief.

“Yeah, I guessed you’d react this way, but please hear me out before you make your judgment.”

“No, no, no, wait. It’s not that I’m against your idea, you’re free to do whatever you want… It’s just that this is completely unexpected.” I shrug. “I just never imagined being without you.”

“Oh,” Maja is silent for a second. “Okay… It’s just that you will be visiting this fancy magical college with Lucy and Lydia, and I just don’t see myself there… I mean what can I do at a place like this? I’m not able to do magic on my own.”

“Huh, you’re right! That would be boring as hell,” I reply with wide eyes. I didn’t think about that at all.

“Exactly, that’s why I talked with Thomas, Shay, and Simon. Hell, I even talked with your mother and that was eye-opening.”

I raise an eyebrow in question. Mom didn’t mention this.

“While our friends join as Mage cadets, your mom offered me another option, which I found very intriguing.” She stops.

Don’t let me hang here, Maja… “Go on.”

She chuckles. “I’m going to join the command track. Your mom arranged that I’m going there as a normal person and hide my AI nature. I’ll learn all about commanding starships in a fleet and engagements.”

“Why would you need that knowledge? I mean you’re already pretty good with the Stargazer.”

With a short snort, she continues. “I see, you’re not planning so far ahead. What do you think you are going to do once you graduate? I give you a hint. Think of your brother.”

Oh… OOOHHH! My eyes go wide.

“Bingo,” Maja laughs. “We’re all pretty sure that you will spend a bit of time in the military as well. You’re too much of an asset. With my training, I will be able to function as the ship’s AI, while also taking over the duties as Captain or at least your second in command, leaving you more time to focus on the magical things.”

I jump up and hug her again. “That’s huge! You have to do this.”

Maja returns the hug, but when we release each other, she looks a bit uncomfortable.

“What’s wrong?”

“I… uhm, I’m already doing it. I handed in my application yesterday and they were so fast that I already have my acceptance letter. I have to leave the day after tomorrow If I want to arrive in time. The school is in the Armortec Duchy.”

Oh. That’s quick.

I nod slowly. “Wow, I didn’t expect that… But I won’t hold you back. You have to message me as often as possible, though!”

Now it’s Maja who initiates the hug. “Oh, I absolutely will. And thank you, Sara!”

After that, we leave Maja’s room and join the others. We spend the rest of the day talking about random things and Maja tells the others about her plans and her departure. Thomas chimes in and says that he and the other two will leave there as well.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

In the end, it’s Ronja’s idea that saves the mood which went a bit downhill after all those declarations of leaving. We’re having a big Goodbye Dinner tomorrow!

----------------------------------------

The dinner was a full success, Mom and Steven joined us as well, and even Dad managed to teleport here for thirty minutes or something. I didn’t think I could be fuller after those burgers, but boy was I wrong. The dinner was on another level!

We ate, cheered, and danced. All in all, we had a very good time. It was one of the best nights in my entire life!

Now though, comes the sad part. Maja, Thomas, Shay, and Simon are leaving. Their shuttle is already waiting, and we all say our tearful goodbyes and promise each other to stay in contact.

Then they board the shuttle, and it leaves. I wave for a long time and even cry a bit until Lydia puts an arm around me. “Hey, relax, they’re not leaving for forever and you’re a strong Space Mage. You can grab your ship whenever you want and jump there.”

She’s right! That reminds me that I still have to learn the Starship Jump spell. Especially for my possible trip with Adrian. Oh shoot, without Maja, I’m screwed! There is no way that S-57 can work with the distances I’m now able to jump. I shelf that for later though. I don’t want to upset Lydia. I smile at her. “Thanks, Lydia.”

“You’re welcome. Now we should probably return to the house and continue with our magic training… I don’t want to be a complete noob when we enroll at college.”

I grimace. “About that…” I wave over the others to break the news. “My brother Adrian arrives in a few days, then I’ll join him on a short trip back to the Estriduros Republic. We have to get a person who was involved in my kidnapping. I’ll be back in about a month though.”

From the weird expressions on my friends’ faces, they don’t like that idea very much. “Are you crazy?” Jack asks, and the others pretty much blurt out the same.

I lift my hands in defense. “Hear me out. I just have to know… I was kidnapped for a reason… I mean why else would they try to block my magic, and this woman at the academy is our first clue.”

Lucy sighs. “Fine… But be careful. I’ll kill you if you get yourself collared again.”

That makes me laugh and cheers everyone up again. “Don’t worry, I don’t think Mom would let me go unprotected. I guess Adrian is quite powerful, and Mom said he’ll bring his flagship right from the frontlines.”

That calms them down a bit. I sigh in relief.

----------------------------------------

Five days full of training later, it’s finally time. Today, Adrian should arrive. At least that’s what Mom told me before she had to leave for something urgent that came up. When she left, I finally got to see her squad of bodyguards who returned from their vacation. It was funny to see them scold Mom for sending them all away at the same time. Mom even looked a bit embarrassed. That made me laugh even harder until one of the scowls was directed in my direction. That shut me up pretty quickly. Those guards do pack a magical punch!

I’m currently sitting in my room and packing my last things. Suddenly, the room's speakers activate, and Clara startles me. “Why are you so broody?”

“That obvious? Shoot!”

“Yeah, so what is it?”

“It’s just that Adrian will be here shortly, but I’m going to be so useless along the trip. I only have S-57 to calculate jumps and as much as I like him, he’s still only for Novice Space Mages…”

“Oh, right… Maja already left.” She’s silent for a moment. “Hmm, I guess you could take me…”

“What? You’re a jump AI? But… But why are you only here in the mansion?”

Clara sighs. “It’s a long story… I’m the backup copy of your grandfather’s AI. I received updates till it ended, and the Worldender Ship exploded. That almost made me snap and I didn’t want to get close to a starship ever again.”

“Oh… I’m so sorry, Clara. But if you go with me, it’ll get you inside a starship.”

“Yeah, I know… But you’ve been through so much as well, and I don’t want to let you hang. I… I’ll try my best. It’s time for me to get back into the saddle.” She says the last part with so much conviction that it doesn’t leave room for anything else.

“Okay, how do we do this? And thanks, Clara. I really appreciate this.”

“I lead you to my chip. Just exchange me with S-57. I’ll leave a few learning routines behind. Who knows, maybe he has a talent for managing a house?”

That makes me laugh and my broody mood is washed away. I follow Clara’s directions and she leads me to a small cabinet where her chip is located. It’s beautiful. The form curves around my ear as well, and the whole exterior is covered with dark green gemstones that match my hair perfectly. I quickly exchange the chips and then hear Clara’s voice in my head.

“Perfect, that worked out. Holy hell, your magic runs smoothly. Are you ready? Adrian’s ship just arrived in the system. I’d say we surprise him before I get cold feet.”

A set of coordinates locks in and I feel like I just have to concentrate a tiny bit to jump away. Clara somehow even managed to form most of the Teleportation spell. And I mean Teleportation, not Personal Teleportation I’ve used before. I can’t even do that spell on my own yet. I’ve just started learning it. And still, Clara did it. That’s crazy!

“Woah, hold on, Clara. I have to say goodbye first and how did you manage that spell? I don’t even know how to do it on my own!”

Oh, right,” she sounds a bit embarrassed. “Old habits, I guess. As for the Teleportation spell… You have to learn it as soon as possible. It’s so much better than the other one. I’ll help you along the way, don’t worry.”

Another set of coordinates locks in and this time I feel the destination nearby. The guesthouse. Again, the Teleportation spell almost forms on its own and I decide to trust Clara. I form the last bits as I’ve seen in the spell guide and Clara tells me it’s correct. Then I trigger the spell and appear inside the guesthouse, where I startle everyone in the living room. Even If it’s instant teleportation, it still feels faster. And it takes less power! Clara is right. This spell is so much better.

“Hey guys, I just wanted to say goodbye. Adrian is here and I have to leave.”

They compose themselves and we do a group hug. “Take care, Sara,” Lydia says.

“Always,” I reply before triggering the spell again. Clara sure is efficient.

I get a small glimpse of Adrian’s starship with Space Sense before I appear right in the middle of the bridge. One word: Gigantic!

My appearance startles the whole bridge crew and a lot of them start casting spells. The red-haired young man next to me, in what I guess is the Captain’s chair, jumps to his feet in surprise and chokes on his coffee.

Before the spells are finished casting, a male voice sounds through the overhead speaker. “Everyone, stand down!”

Everyone complies and the man next to me manages to stop coughing. I grin at him. “Hello, brother.”

“What the fuck!” He exclaims in response. And I laugh despite his swearing. “What are you doing here? Mom told me to pick you up at the mansion.”

Before I can reply, Clara takes over the bridge’s speakers. “Well, let’s say I got a bit overeager.”

“What the hell? Clara? You… But you don’t? Am I going crazy?” He sits back down with a groan. “This is too much. I’m losing it!”

I put my hand on his shoulder. “Sorry about that… We both thought it would be fun to just jump here.”

He takes a deep breath and then looks up at me. He starts to chuckle. “Ah, don’t worry. I just didn’t expect you to appear next to me suddenly.” He stands up and suddenly I’m hugged tightly. “Nice to meet you, little sis,” he whispers in my ear.

He steps back and turns to his bridge crew. “Alright, change of plans. We don’t have to fly to the planet anymore… Lieutenant Gibson, get us to the wormhole, I’m back shortly for the jump.”

A young man nods eagerly and gets to work. I guess that’s Lieutenant Gibson. Adrian turns back to me. “Follow me, we have a lot to talk about.”