“Azalea!” The loud ringing of my name rang throughout the house.

I dug my head deeper into my pillows, hoping that I can just escape back into my dream world.

“Azalea Evgrist Sylviesta!” my mother’s voice rang around the house like I was living inside a copper bell, her pitch, intonation and intent surrounding me.

Clearly I was not going back to sleep, I looked at my door and detested it for once in my life. It used to be a door which opened me to a new family but now it felt more like the gateway to Dante's inferno.

“Ammngrhahh” I groaned into my pillow

“You do know that she’s going to come up here right” a voice intruded

“Not helping Eos, isn’t there like escape magic”

“Your Mom will most likely get more mad if you did that”

“Mmmmggphfhff” I groaned back into the pillow, “Say! Let’s run for a bit, let’s leave a note saying we went to the city, what is she going to do to chase us? I say we do it, you have enough knowledge about the world, I want to get out of here, you want to experience more, it’ll practically be a win-win. Plus! It’s entirely my own risk, you don’t even lose anything!!! It’s the perfect offer and you can test whether what you read in those books still stands today.”

Eos had a contemplative look, “You how I think about you right”

“Yeah, like a daughter or a grand-daughter” I replied back to him. He honestly took over the father figure after my Dad died in the accident. He was the closest thing I had to a loving father.

“Then I can respect your decisions, but I need to inform you of the consequences of such actions.”

“The consequences are away from here and I know my priorities. Maybe it’s irrational, but fuck it, can we just leave for a moment, say goodbye for a while, come back later when it’s better. Time heals all wounds, and time wounds all things too. I-I don’t want to see another person that enters that doorway standing in the footsteps of my father, of someone like you. That’s unbearable. I need to get out”

Eos threw the book in his hand, letting it dissolve in the air. He was still an apparition but he had more colour, vividness and realism. I let him use most of my ‘mana’ to keep his corporeal form here. A sly enchanting smile spread across his face, like that of a trickster and mischievous playboy helping the princess escape. His drapes became a regal blue, his skin gained texture, his eyes gained with a glint of wisdom, his hair grew glossy and black. He looked like a guy in his mid 20’s that came out of a beauty salon.

Snap. His hand still in the air he snapped and a rift opened. A purplish rift appeared next to him, as tall as him, and then with his hands that could touch he picked me up, placed me on his shoulders and then asked with a deep and rich tone, “You remember the spell I taught you?”

I nodded and then took my chubby little fingers, pointed it to the windows dn then recited the words, “Vlieris Crizz Nyctrum, Al Sierre”.

The windows buckled and opened with a large gust, it was audible from downstairs like it was an announcement. A small transparent version of me began to take form from the light. It was weaved together like how a spider weaves their slik together, and just like a spider’s silk this version of me had little to no details. It only had my approximate body size and colours but it was enough. “Sierre Nyress Kylut, Go” I whispered to the imaginary body.

I heard the footsteps of my Mom running upstairs, and then my little illusion jumped out of the window in the second story and at the peak of the jump, the door creaked open, Eos brought me through the portal, and my little illusion jumped out of the window. All in a single movement, all in a single moment, in a singular crescendo I succeeded in my first magic trick. The trick, to disappear.

I felt the temporal waves of space shift while Eos held me tight. It was like someone was pulling and stretching me but then in another moment as quick as Eos snapped I stopped feeling the pulling and instead I felt calmness. The sounds entered my ears, the business of the streets, the aura of the fresh fruits and vegetables, the grasp of Eos, holding onto me tightly, the sound of bustling crowds, the scent of this metal. It smelled like freshly cut metal if you’ve ever smelt that. A small tinge of burnt, like that of a fried circuit entered my nose, and I remembered yes. This was the smell of the city.

“Eos, can you put me down?”

Eos nodded and put me down. On his other hand he took out two cloaks. One for me, one for him. “Be careful, we can’t stay here too long.”

I nodded at him. Also! If you thought that a 7 year old jumping from the second story is dangerous, Muahahahahaha naive! Desperately naive! You still think within the standards of Earth! This is nothing like Earth! Why should a 7 year old dying by jumping from the second story be consistent on this planet? It isn’t! Apparently I’m super strong and durable.

If you had a body that can work as a shock absorber then a 7 year old jumping from a second story wouldn’t be a problem! Common sense works differently in different worlds, duh!! I put on the cloak that was as light as a feather, and walked outside the alleyway we were in. This was a staple place that Eos and I used to sneak out on. We would come here to eat the food when we got hungry, when there was nothing to read, when we were bored, when the house outside the city got too boring.

I sneaked out holding Eos’ hand whose face was also covered by a cloak. Walking out of the alleyway the scenery of the city came into view. It was a floating city to saya the least, a city where people had wings on their bodies and the buildings and shops levitated. I looked around, amazed as always, this city was Ergion, the city of chains.

It was called the city of chains because from this perspective, the buildings were getting pulled to the sky and there were numerous large chains which chained them to the ground. It looked like someone took a bunch of pillars, attached them to chains and then hung the world upside down letting the chains fall and took a picture of it upside down. This was the city that I was living in. The reason for it was because all the inhabitants could fly, and they weren’t as ‘human’ as you might’ve thought.

They were more like insects than anything else, thin, frail, elegant and tough. When I first saw them, they remiminded me of insect people, like the ones you saw on the TV. I was frighten scared, clinging to Eos because I was scared they were going to lay eggs in me or some weird shit. Suprisingly though, they’re pretty much as average as humans. Which is relieving abut I also was kinda excited to look at them. They are different than humans though in particular aspects., they have 2 pair of wings on their backs and most of them look like stick insects with 4 arms and 2 legs, they had long antennas that curved outwards in a very low curve, they had jaws that could bite, and they had a much smaller amount of null: type energy within them. But what they lacked in individual prowess they succeeded by their sheer numbers. This chained city in the sky made skyscrapers lok pitiful in comparison. They spoke not through their tongues (Because they didn’t have any) but through their type: null energy by producing certain sounds that nearby insects with antennas could receive, or they put on scents to determine certain things.

If we humans relied on our vision to see the world, to know when there is a stop sign, to know when we’re driving through a school zone or when we’re about to hit a wall, these people used pheromones and scents to see the world. To notice what’s around them they see the world differently than we do, which is an advantage for us.

Walking around with this cloak makes us practically invisible to the normal eye and lets us sneak around the entire city without too much problems. Hehe, it’s one of our hidden practicalities! Usually people would have natural pheromones to them so people could identify them and take note, but were on a secret mission today! We’re going to a small little spot that’s a bit restricted and a whole ton of fun.

“Eos, do you remember the way”

A relaxed confident smile appeared underneath his cloak, “We’re almost there Aze,keep close, it’s easy to get lost here”

“Yup!” IThe bug people flew around us more often than not, they were quick and fast, transportation wasn’t as necessary here because flight and pheromones made it much easier to fly at disproportionately fast speeds. Well, now that I think about it, it’s quite rude to call them bug people, their real names are Lycriods and they’re quite cool!

I followed Eos across the city holding his hand as the fluttering of wings surrounded us. It wasn’t a capital city which was why the race diversity isn’t as great here, and most Lycriods prefer living here rather than the city. We kept walking, the shadows of these granite pillars towered over us, the chains holding them to the ground in a way that defied every law of physics.

Eos pulled on my hand a bit, I looked up and saw his face and a large pillar that was above us. From this perspective it felt like the empire state building was about to crush on me. The shadow made the entire ground dark, it looked like a staff of titans floating in the air a couple stories before touching the ground.

This was actually the church! There was a church here! I guess religion appears where there is suffering, and suffering is universal. The first part was by Eos, the second one is by John Green. Something, something, suffering is universal, that’s what all religions are bound by, but Eos also said that religion is different on different worlds.

In this world, religion is bound by the sense of civil duty rather than the feeling of fidelity. Nuns, priests, paladins and amazing priestesses! Where were they! My imagination, ruined, shattered and I’m left with crumbs. Where was the plot point where I was about to overthrow the corrupt pope? Where people are left in positions of power that corrupts them, and I come in to save the day and have a harem of knights waiting for me!

This clearly wasn’t it, but it did have something I was looking forward to. Books! Endless concordiums of books. You see, although religion wasn’t exactly the same as on Earth, they had an erroneously long history which contains some of the largest libraries of knowledge.

It was the most stable world power because they had a God backing them! Although Eos says that in the literal definition of God it might be true and might not be true. Eos says a lot of weird shit, sometimes they’re really deep and profound, sometimes they feel like he’s spitting out bs.

He says that a God needs to fulfill the conditions of existing beyond the current plane, our 3D plane to be considered as supernatural. They also look at life differently, so it’s quite weird for extra dimensional planar beings to govern a world, but not entirely impossible. In any case, this was the concordium of knowledge!

A prerequisite for being in this city is flight. Eos and I flew up to one of the openings on this large pillar of granite. As I flew closer and closer with Eos the ground departed and my heart dropped. This was still as scary as ever, it felt like I was being pulled into the sky with strings, and I’m constantly worried that the strings might break at any moment. Looking down the ground became smaller and wider while the pillar expanded to fit my range of vision. It soon was in front of me, and I could barely see the curve on this pillar. Instead I saw a magnificent wall that was as large as 3 city blocks back on my world. It was huge, majestic and quite frightening.

We flew inside and I am still blown away by how modern it looked. Several other Lycriods flew inside and began to walk around to their preferred destinations. The ground was smooth with a black kind of metal that resembled obsidian while the lighting seemed to resemble a London style lighting system. With light poles every couple of meters. It appears that the insects prefer a dim lighting system. There were words on the wall with arrows, signs! Yes I can practice my reading!

“Vrierfrieder ->”

“<- Mostriuque”

“Zylierndier ->”

I had no fucking clue. “Eos?” I tugged on his cloak.

“Yes?” he responded

“Do you remember which way was the library?”

He smiled gently and then held my hand and brought me to the left, “The library is the fourth door down on your right if you’ve forgotten.”

“It seems that you’re not coming with me,” I pouted. Uncle Eos usually comes with me.

“I’ll be a little bit late, I want to meet with someone in this place”

“Hmpf, okay. Don’t be late, and if you’re going out with a cute girl tell her I said hi” Ahahahahahah.

He had a pissed off look on his face, the perfect look! “I’m too old to be chasing love again”

“Well see you Uncle!”

“See you Aza”

Uncle disappeared and I was left to my own devices. There was another reason I liked the library. I walked down the hall letting the dim lights surround me. I entered the library and there was another lady at the desk. She had long purple tinted hair and from this height I can see she wore golden rimmed glasses which made her look intelligent.

“Hey!” I blurted out catching the women’s attention.

She looked over and I saw her purple pupils met my own. She was a pretty lady, and not an insect. She looked much more like me, much more human than this city had to offer. The insects had their own way of communicating with each other although they could choose to communicate with Tarhquis (The hard language).

“Azalea!” She yelped pleasantly, “It's so good to see you here. Which post-doctorate book do you want to indulge in today?” She exited her desk to say greet me at eye level. I was still small, and she’s well, Mom sized.

“Nah! I just want to chat!”

“Well that’s a change of pace. What’s up?”

“My Mom brought a guy home, and I just want to vent about it to someone!”

“That sounds tough. This sounds like it’ll be a conversation best served over some hot coffee and marshmallows.”

I nodded in agreement. This lady was Iris, she’s the librarian here and also the main historian. She’s a source of history for those who govern this place and also a really sweet lady. Eos is knowledgeable but venting to him is different then venting to someone with a regular lifespan. It just isn’t the same! He understands it, but he doesn’t really understand it. Iris was different though! She could feel my pain in a way that Eos can’t, not saying he’s bad. He’s the best! But different people, different strengths. Eos taught me that too.

She entered a room which was a small meeting room with windows that had a rocky frame and a tinted glass. Inside was a small table with two chairs. I crawled up to the chair which was more like a sofa and stared at the little oak coffee table in front of us. Iris lef the room, leaving me alone for a bit and then came back with two white cups of hot chocolate with marshmallows inside. I’m not sure how she managed to grasp this flavour, but once I told her about this drink that I ‘dreamt’ about she found a way to make it. Drinking it felt like I was home once again.

I took a sip from the coffee and chewed on the little marshmallows there.

“So tell me everything from the beginning” Iris asked.

I took another bigger sip.