Ryan napped on the way to the Srentas estate on the Appalish Mountains, though he knew Tyler was skimming information related to their trip. It was only a three-hour drive from the Novar Family's main estate when taking the interstate, so there was no need to fly. By the time all was said and done, they would have likely taken just as much time for a trip with a plane as it would take to drive.

Sixteen minutes longer to perform the trip with a plane involved than to drive, according to his father.

There would be a total of ten people on the trip. Ryan and Tyler, then the two guards in the car they were in. There were another four guards, two in the car in front of them, two in the car behind them. An additional two servants would be present as well, to assist Ryan any time Tyler was absent for his vacation activities.

When Ryan wasn't napping during the trip, he contemplated informing Tyler about his ability to 'see' the elements. He had already swapped his water sense for earth. While he wanted to retain that one, air gave him a better visual of the shapes and locations of objects, and would make it easier for him to communicate with the elementals without being noticed.

No one would notice his air currents unless they moved into them, and those could be easily explained away by the air conditioning, people moving by, the wind around them, and more. Most people might notice if the air was cooler or warmer in a pocket, but they wouldn't pay much attention past that. Floating spots of water, on the other hand, made it obvious something was going on.

With how similar the elementals' languages were, it wouldn't be too difficult for him to adjust to using wind instead of water. As he thought about telling Tyler of his senses, he was also manipulating air in a few points as practice for the new communication method.

By the time they arrived at the resort, Ryan decided to not inform Tyler. At least, not for that reset, as long as he could help it. He would see if it became necessary to inform his servant. Chances were that he'd need to at some point, if he began communicating with the elementals regularly, but he would cross that hurdle if it became necessary to.

"What in the world?" The driver asked.

"Is everything alright?" Ryan asked as he sensed Tyler looking out the windows at something outside of Ryan's range.

The breaths of all three of the others changed, becoming a little more stiff and worried. Ryan was tempted to stretch out his empathy, but decided to wait to see what they said first.

"We're slowing down," Ryan said. "What's going on?"

"On either side of the road," Tyler answered as the car stopped. "There are elementals. A stone elemental on either side, then a fire elemental, then a stone, then a fire. Eight of them total, almost like a welcoming party."

Ryan suppressed a groan. Somehow, the elementals at the Mieria Islands had informed the ones at his new destination he would be visiting them. The fact that they were already waiting for him surprised him, though, as it was still his birthday. At least a day before he'd arrived at the islands.

"Keep going," Ryan instructed. "From what I've heard, elementals are strange creatures that do strange things, but are generally harmless. They're probably sleeping or something, but acknowledge that things pass through here regularly, and so wait off to the sides."

Grateful for his training in the original reset on the islands, Ryan stretched out his sense of fire, able to sustain three elemental senses for up to forty-three minutes.

A minute passed before the car began rolling forward again, keeping at a slow speed, and a minute later, the elementals entered his range of detection. The earth elementals first, a collection of floating rocks that shifted and changed form. The fire elementals came next, masses of fire that swirled and changed intensity in places, gaps in others.

What the elementals said as they passed confirmed to Ryan that they were expecting him.

"Welcome, Blind Mountain," the earth elementals greeted him.

"Welcome, Blind Inferno," the fire elementals greeted him.

"Thank you," Ryan responded with the four air nodes he'd created to practice with.

Then they were past the elementals, and the car picked up speed, pulling Ryan out of range before he could speak more. An opportunity would no doubt arise at some point, if the elementals were there to greet him.

"They seemed harmless to me," Ryan commented. "I don't get why you guys were so nervous about them."

"Ryan," he could hear the amusement in Tyler's voice. "They were floating masses of rocks and fire, an ever-shifting embodiment of their element. Trust me when I say that they were frightening. I've never seen an elemental before, and that… scared me."

"Just don't feed them," Ryan told him. "And you should be fine. If you feed them, they'll probably think you're a source of food, then follow you around forever. Sort of like a dog, I guess."

"I will keep that in mind, sir," Tyler responded. "We're about to pull into the parking lot."

Ryan waited for the car to be parked, then for Tyler to open his door. He unbuckled himself and exited as the other staff exited, taking luggage out of the cars as well. Tyler led Ryan inside, a pair of guards following them rather than assisting with the luggage.

The mage pulled in his elemental senses to cover only around seven feet in each direction, mostly because there were more than a few people moving about and he wanted to focus on the arrival and check-in.

"Welcome to the Srentas Mountain Resort," a woman greeted them.

Ryan sensed the magnificent desk she sat at, with its smooth edges and high front, allowing guests to sign things without bending over. It wrapped around her, a wall behind her with a couple of small gaps to either side to allow her to enter and exit. She sat on a stool, with a pair of computer monitors in front of her.

"Hello," Tyler stepped up to the counter. "I'm Tyler Novaranamis, and this is Ryan Novar. We should be expected."

"Indeed," she said. "If you could wait just a few minutes, Mr. Srentas will be here shortly."

"Mr. Srentas?" Ryan asked. "Father said Eric wasn't here right now."

"My apologies," she said. "I was referring to his son, Michael. He's currently staying with us while attending college in the nearby town."

"Michael's here?" Ryan asked as he sensed his servant relaxing a little. "It's been awhile since we've spoken."

Michael Srentas was one of the few people outside of his father's close circle who knew Ryan in-person. He was a few months older than Ryan, and had visited with his father during a meeting their fathers were having when they were seven.

They originally weren't supposed to meet, but Ryan had slipped away from his mother in curiosity of the meeting. After getting lost trying to find it, he'd stumbled across Michael. Being seven, the other child didn't take long to adjust to a blind person after being told Ryan couldn't see, and led Ryan to where the meeting was taking place, having been on his way as well.

While they didn't meet in-person often due to Michael's own duties and life, they did talk at least every few months, Michael visiting when his father did. Ryan did know that Michael was attending college, but hadn't been aware of where it was.

"Ryan!" The deep voice of his semi-friend called out. "Welcome! When I heard you were coming, I had to ask Father if he was sure he'd not gone senile!"

They weren't exactly friends, with how rarely they spoke, and Ryan didn't know him well enough to trust him, but he did appreciate having someone who acted friendly and genuinely had no issue with his situation.

"Hello, Michael," Ryan smiled, turning to face the direction of his acquaintance. "I wanted to gift my servant something for his birthday and his loyalty. Plus, I wanted to get out of the estate, and this gives me an excuse to. I think my father realized that, which might be why he hastened it."

"Happy birthday," Michael told him. "And I can see you wanting to get out for an extended period of time. Being stuck in the same house every day must be killer."

"It is," Ryan said as Michael entered his range.

Michael had a bulky build, unlike his own or Tyler's leaner forms. He remembered upon noticing the man's muscles that Michael worked out regularly, but hadn't realized just the effect they had. It wasn't something he'd thought about before, but it did remind him of his guards' builds. There for strength, despite magic being quite useful.

His guards' builds were meant to intimidate, which worked despite all of those they were there to intimidate being capable of magic as well. Something left over from the old ways of humanity, before magic came to the world.

"Come," Michael approached the counter and took a couple of thin cards from the receptionist. "I'll take you up to your room. You have one of our exclusive suites, your father stayed in it last time he visited us. Your guards have the rooms near you, they can get their keys from the desk."

Michael began walking, and Tyler guided Ryan as they walked. The room was on the third floor of the lodge, but Michael said Ryan's father had assured them that wasn't a problem.

"It isn't," Ryan said. "I can handle stairs okay, and Father said you have an elevator. He'd mentioned this to me before calling, to make sure I would have a decent room if I were okay with it."

"That's good, then," Michael said. "We'll take the elevator."

They entered the elevator, where a man stood a little inside.

"Third floor," Michael said, and the man touched something on the wall of the elevator beside the door.

To Ryan, it seemed like a small impression of an unknown material set into the metal, but he was able to quickly guess it was a button based on the metal wiring behind it and the fact that the elevator began to move once the doors closed. When the elevator stopped, they exited, and Michael led them to their suite.

"It has two bedrooms," Michael informed them as he gave them a tour. "In addition to the shared bathroom and the small kitchen. There's a closet in each room as well as the main room. There's a list of places which deliver here, along with their phone numbers. Menus for them can be found in the table by the door. If you need room service for anything – towels, meals, new menus, service men or women, sheets, blankets, pillows, anything, just use the phone on the table by the door. You may not be part of our Family, but the Novars are still family to us."

"Thank you," Ryan said. "How are your studies going?"

"They are going well," Michael answered as Ryan decided the bedroom they were in would be his for the stay.

"My stuff can go in here once it's brought up," Ryan told Tyler as he began walking around the room. "What are you studying?"

"I'm looking at a degree in arts," Michael answered. "As you know, I've enjoyed painting since I was little."

"I've enjoyed gazing upon those beauties you've made," Ryan nodded, eliciting laughter from the other man. "I-oof!"

He had misjudged his steps and walked into the chest at the foot of the large bed, banging his knee against it.

"Ow, that hurts," he said.

"Are you okay?" Tyler was at his side in an instant.

"I'm fine," Ryan answered. "You didn't tell me the room came with furniture that jumped out at you, Michael."

"That's complimentary," Michael responded. "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine," Ryan felt the chest with one hand as he held his knee with his other, then sat on the offending piece of furniture. "Just need to take the weight off for a minute. I remember hearing you had a painting in a gallery?"

"Yes," Michael said. "I've been doing paintings of the elementals lately, and my father contacted a gallery we're friendly with. He had a few words with them, and they accepted one of my pieces. The gallery makes it sound like it's doing better than it is, but that's to be expected. They're a little scared of us."

"How's it actually doing?" Ryan asked.

"Not bad," Michael answered as Ryan stretched his leg out, wincing a little. "Do you need an ice pack or something?"

"No," Ryan answered. "I'll be fine in just a minute, it's not the first time I've banged into something. Tyler wanted to guide me to make sure I didn't walk into anything, but I told him before we left to let me do that for at least the rooms we're staying in. The bruise will be my badge of shame. Or pain of shame."

"Alright," Michael said, and Ryan noticed him turning to face Tyler. "Want me to show you where the first-aid kit is in here? It has those fancy ice packs that work by breaking a small thing inside, then shaking them a little."

"Thank you," Tyler said, and the two left the room.

Ryan expanded his range out and followed their movements, amused by how quickly he was ignored. He understood it, though. They were both worried because he'd hurt himself trying to be independent. It was just further proof to him that he needed to work on figuring out distances with his senses, especially when using one he wasn't used to running.

While they were out there, Ryan's other staff brought their luggage up, and Tyler moved those into their rooms as Michael rejoined Ryan.

"Where do you paint at?" Ryan asked. "When painting the elementals?"

"Various places," Michael answered. "I was hoping to get a painting of the eight who were at the road, but they'll probably depart before I get down there. It's not common for them to stay still like that for so long."

"How long were they doing it for?" Ryan asked.

"Around six hours," Michael answered. "I was doing other stuff up until a few minutes before you arrived."

"That stinks," Ryan said. "You're right, they probably won't be there much longer."

If they were still there – chances were high that the elementals left after greeting Ryan.

"Yeah," Michael answered. "I paint them around the resort and outside of it. There are around twenty total elementals, I think. I'm not entirely sure, since they seem to be the same to me, but that's my best estimate."

"I'm not asking for your next trip," Ryan said. "As I want Tyler to enjoy his vacation, but perhaps sometime while we're here, you could take us with you for one of the sessions? It might bore Tyler, but I'm curious. If it's not a bother for you to take us, and possibly explain things from time to time. It would be the first time I've gotten to be around someone while they're painting."

"I can do that," Michael told him, then scoffed. "Where are my manners? I"m a terrible host. You must be hungry after your trip. Do you want food?"

"Some food would be wonderful, thanks," Ryan said. "Then I think I'm going to sleep."