Five minutes turned into much more than that as the two teens watched the morning sun climb into the sky. Lucas didn’t know just how much longer they’d been watching the sunrise, but he knew that five minutes had long since passed.

  When the smell of breakfast cooking began to waft up to the roof from inside, Lucas knew that they’d stayed outside for far too long.

  “We should probably get down now,” He mumbled, looking down at the blonde curtain of hair covering his chest. “I think your mom is already making breakfast.”

  “Yeah, I can smell it too,” Fay replied.

  “What do you think our chances are that they think we’re still asleep in bed?”

  Lucas was not looking forward to dealing with Magnus if the man found out that he and Fay had spent the night sleeping together, even if nothing happened between them.

  “Zero. Definitely zero,” Fay replied immediately.

  Lucas blinked a few times from the quick response. “What makes you say that?”

  Rather than say anything, Fay just reached across Lucas’ chest and pointed off towards the side. When he followed her finger he spotted a large black cat sitting on the edge of the roof. It took him a moment to realize that it wasn’t just a normal cat, but Lucky, Lissa’s familiar. And those intelligent orange eyes were locked directly onto the two teens.

  “Oh…”

  “Yeah…”

  The cat lazily blinked at the pair and stared at them for a few more seconds before turning around and jumping down from the roof. If that wasn’t an obvious sign of Lissa wanting them to come down, then Lucas didn’t know what was.

  “I’m so fucked, aren’t I?” Lucas asked.

  He could feel Fay giggling against his chest as she nodded. “Maybe a little bit.”

  He sighed in the most exaggerated fashion that he could, drawing even more giggles from Fay.

  “Remember me.”

  That got Fay to really start laughing and she slowly pulled away from Lucas. Her silvery blonde hair fell like a curtain over her face, and Lucas couldn’t help staring a little as she pushed some of that hair aside to reveal a bright smile and those beautiful emerald eyes shining with amusement.

  “There’s no way that I could ever forget about you, Lucas.”

  Despite all the joking around, Lucas could feel his cheeks heating up just a bit when he saw the genuine emotions shining in the blonde’s eyes.

  “Thanks, Fay.”

  “Now come on,” She said as she offered him a hand. “Breakfast is probably ready and I’m starving.”

  Lucas gladly took the offered hand and let Fay haul him up to his feet along with the blanket the two had been using. Even though Lucas knew that he was going to get an earful from Magnus, he couldn’t say that he would have chosen any other way to spend the night.

  Though he might have tried to sneak himself and Fay back inside the house a bit earlier.

  Once the two got to the edge of the roof, Fay spent a second gathering the winds around them once again. But rather than jumping, she simply led Lucas to walk off the edge. The winds surrounding their legs and feet kept their descent slow and steady enough that Lucas didn’t even need to bend his knees when they touched down on the soft grass below.

  The moment that their feet touched the ground, a black blur rushed from the house and leapt at Lucas. He barely had enough time to brace himself before Dusk slammed into his chest, his arms quickly coming up to cradle the fox as she whined and yipped at him.

  “I think she wasn’t happy you were gone all night,” Fay giggled.

  The golden eyed glare he got from the little fox pretty much confirmed that idea. And if that wasn’t enough proof, Dusk nipping at his fingers as he pet her definitely showed some obvious annoyance. Lucas knew he’d be giving up some of his breakfast to make it up to the little glutton.

  “She’s definitely not,” He agreed.

  When they got inside Lucas was surprised that he wasn’t immediately threatened by an angry father. But when he saw the teasing grins that both husband and wife were wearing as they looked between the two teens, Lucas felt the dread creeping in.

  Both parents held off on any comments until the two had joined them at the table, a basic spread of eggs, bacon, and toast set out for them all to eat. Tentatively, Lucas took a plate and glanced between the two adults. He knew something was coming, he just didn’t know what. Lucas barely even noticed that his hands were shaking until he reached out to grab the salt and saw the container shaking in his grasp.

  “So…” Magnus slowly said. “How did you sleep, Lucas?”

  Both teens froze and Lucas went pale as a ghost. Magnus clearly knew what had happened, or at least had an idea. Lucas knew his time was running out, though, and tried to mask his panic behind a glass or orange juice.

  “So, should I be expecting grandkids anytime soon?”

  Then Lissa spoke up and Lucas nearly spat out the sip of orange juice he’d been drinking. He felt his cheeks heat up swiftly and knew that he was bright red. While he was left coughing and trying not to choke on his drink, Fay’s reaction was much louder.

  “MOM!” The blonde’s entire face had become red as an apple and her expression seemed to be stuck between mortification and anger directed at her mother.

  “So, is that a yes?” The older woman asked cheerily.

  Fay sputtered and Lucas tried to sink into his seat as he wished for the ground to swallow him up.

  “It wasn’t like that!” Fay shouted. “We went up to the roof to look at the stars and we fell asleep, that’s all!”

  Lissa sighed “Oh well. There’s always next time.”

  As Magnus began laughing and Fay let out a quiet little squeak of embarrassment, Lucas couldn’t help but wish that he’d been met with anger and threats instead of the relentless teasing.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Eventually, Lissa and Magnus took mercy on the two heavily embarrassed teens and stopped teasing them. From there breakfast became business as normal, for the most part. Lucas had to give up most of his bacon before Dusk seemed to finally forgive him, much to the amusement of everyone else at the table.

  “So, what’s the plan for today, Lucas? Heading over to Granny Wren’s today?” Magnus asked as he took a bite of his toast.

  “I-”

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  “Lucas is coming into town with me today so I can show him around Helstrum. He’s only seen a little bit and I wanted to show him all the shops.”

  Fay interrupted Lucas before he could even start saying anything and he was left looking confused and unsure of what to even say.

  “I am?” He asked.

  “Yes, you are,” Fay replied, her tone firm. “You need the day off, remember?”

  Their conversation the previous night came back to him and Lucas was left with a choice. He could keep pushing himself like he had been and ignore Fay’s request, or he could go with her and spend a day not training.

  In the end, it was those emerald green eyes full of worry and concern that made Lucas’ choice obvious.

  “I guess you’re right, yeah.”

  Magnus and Lissa shared a small smile on the other side of the table, but Lucas’ attention was on the bright, relieved grin that Fay sent him. He may have wanted to continue training, but when he saw that smile he knew he’d made the right choice.

  “Perfect! I’m going to go wash up and get changed. Soon as I’m done we can go,” Fay chirped as she finished her meal. With a small application of her magic, she moved in a blur and vanished from the room, leaving her empty plate resting in the sink.

  “I should probably go get dressed,” Lucas said to the two adults as he finished his own meal. Dusk hopped out of his lap as he went to stand, but he was stopped when Lissa reached out towards him.

  “Wait a moment,” She said softly as the two shared a look.

  “If this is about last night, I swear nothing happened,” Lucas quickly blurted out.

  Magnus and Lissa both chuckled, but the woman shook her head.

  “No, it’s not about that.”

  “If you’re going out and seeing the sights around Helstrum, Fay will be bringing you through the second ring. We want you to take this,” Magnus said as he tossed Lucas a small bag.

  The sound of coins jingling within the little bag was impossible to miss as he caught it. And a quick look within revealed that the bag was full of gold coins.

  “Fay’s birthday is in three days,” The older man pointed out. “We realized that you don’t really have any money or a way to earn any here, so we’re giving you enough so that you can get her a nice gift.”

  “She’s not expecting anything from you, but I’m sure Fay will be very happy if she gets a gift from you on her birthday. You clearly mean a lot to her, Lucas,” Lissa added.

  It took a moment for Lucas to remember what he’d been told about how the currency worked in the magical world. A copper coin was equal to a single dollar, a silver coin was equal to a ten-dollar bill, and a gold coin was worth a hundred dollars. And when Lucas counted the coins within the bag, he was stunned to find that he’d been given ten gold coins.

  A thousand dollars, just to buy a gift for his friend. And her parents were just trusting him with that money.

  “Try not to use it all,” Magnus spoke up as he saw Lucas starting to say something. “But make sure to get something nice for Fay. And don’t even think about trying to pay us back for that. That’s so you can get Fay something nice and we won’t be letting you back in the house if that pouch is still full by the time you get back.”

  “... Thank you?”

  Lucas accepted the pouch, stuffing it into his pocket as he slowly left the room unsure how to feel. He’d been given more than enough money to get Fay a good gift, but he also felt like it was too much. It wasn’t like he could give it back even if he wanted to, though. Magnus had made it clear that he was expected to get a gift.

  Getting dressed didn’t take long, and Lucas was glad to see that he could easily stuff the small pouch in the pocket of his jeans to keep it hidden. Now he just had to figure out what would be a good gift for his friend.

  “Hey. Are you ready to go?”

  Fay’s voice jolted Lucas out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see the blonde waiting for him. She was wearing a simple pair of jeans and a cute black long-sleeved shirt for the day. The clothes were a lot more casual than her usual outfit, which he’d learned was made to be easy to fight in. Looking at her, Lucas never would be able to guess that she was anything but a normal girl. It really made him wonder just how many people he’d met back home who might have had magic.

  “Yeah, I’m ready,” He quickly agreed.

  “Then let’s go!”

  Once again Lucas found himself getting pulled along as Fay dragged him out of the house.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  It was a few hours later when Lucas and Fay found themselves wandering through the markets of Helstrum’s second ring. The two had spent the last couple hours with Fay showing Lucas around, pointing out the homes of some people that he’d met such as the gate guards and Sasha’s house along with a variety of reliable shops and delicious food spots. There were some lower quality spots as well, but Fay made sure to point them out so that Lucas would be able to avoid them.

  After walking through the town for a couple hours, Lucas was starting to understand why Fay loved the place so much.

  They started in the third ring, full of houses and the occasional shop or business. It was an area that really made the town feel like it was a big community. People were quick to wave at or greet Lucas or Fay as they passed each time they spotted someone. The third ring just had a comfortable, warm feel to it that made Lucas feel right at home.

  The second ring, on the other hand, was much busier close to the middle of the day. With most of the businesses located within the second ring, including Wren’s shop, it was a bustling spot during the day. When they’d gotten to the markets, Fay insisted that they stop and buy something.

  “Here, try this!”

  As Fay handed him a familiar looking fruit, it took Lucas a second to recognize the apple-like object.

  “Isn’t this a blood apple?” He asked as he turned the fruit over in his hands.

  Like the last time he’d seen one, the fruit was shaped almost exactly like a normal apple, but the skin was pale white while the fruit’s stem was crimson red. It felt softer in his hands than a normal apple would, as well.

  “Yup! Have you had one already?” Fay asked as she paid the price for a bag of the apples. It was only a few copper coins for the bag, but each transaction gave Lucas a bit more of an idea of how things were priced on the magical side of the portals.

  “Not yet. Your mom was planning to get some next time I went shopping with her,” Lucas explained.

  “Well now you don’t have to wait. Go ahead, try it!”

  Fay was quite insistent, and Lucas was pretty curious about the strange apple. With her eagerly watching, the teen shrugged and took a bite. He was unprepared for the large amount of juice to fill his mouth, though, and some managed to trickle down his chin while he quickly tried to lick it up. His mouth was filled with the taste of the sweet fruit, tasting almost like a combination of a perfectly ripe plum and a crisp apple.

  And when he looked down at the fruit, suddenly the name made far more sense. The flesh of the blood apple was, like its name, blood red and it was very juicy. Combined with the inner color, that juice looked a lot like blood as it dripped onto his hand. It was a strange fruit, but he could understand the appeal.

  “Well?” Fay asked expectantly.

  “It’s really good. Mind if I carry that bag?” Lucas replied, asking a completely ‘innocent’ question.

  “No way!” Fay laughed. “These are mine!”

  The two laughed as they continued to walk through the market. Fay was taking her time, but she had explained that the end goal of the trip was to take Lucas to some of the more shopping-heavy areas of the second ring where just about any goods could be found.

  Particularly, she was taking Lucas to the shops that sold magic items.

  Along the way, he spotted various businesses that made it hard to believe that the world around him was magical and not a normal town. Butcher’s shops, toy stores, restaurants of all kinds, and even bakeries were common sights. The last one held Lucas’ attention for far longer than he’d be willing to admit and brought up some memories of Lily back home. He didn’t want to explain when Fay had to pull him away after he’d stood staring at the bakery for a while.

  But along with the normal stores were some that made the magical nature of the world much more obvious. Stores that sold weapons, armors, enchanted items, runic items, and so much more. Even the most basic of shops drew Lucas' attention, because every single shop and store that he saw in the second ring either clearly displayed genuine magical items of some kind, or were using magic in their shops.

  Hilariously, the simplest answer to almost every question of ‘how does this work’, always boiled down to one word. Magic. Magic was what let the people on the other side of the portals live their lives with just as much comfort as people back home could.

  “I think you’re going to really love this place,” Fay said as she tugged Lucas along.

  “Where are we going now?” He asked with a laugh.

  “The one shop in town that has just about everything magical. Most shops tend to specialize and offer specific stuff like weapons, armor, hunting gear, and more, but Jack offers a little bit of everything. Well, almost everything. The only thing that he doesn’t sell is weapons,” Fay explained. “I can’t think of a better place to show you than that.”

  There wasn’t much more that Fay had to say to get Lucas’ attention and he was soon jogging along beside her as she led the way.

  It didn’t take too much longer before they got to the destination, a large brick and mortar building around the size of a small warehouse. Windows lined the front of the building, showing off everything from gleaming rings and camping gear to durable looking sacks and bags. Lucas was so busy staring at it all that he barely caught the name of the shop as Fay pulled him in through the open doors.

  ‘Jack’s General Goods’

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~