ULTRAMagic Interlude BC - Chapter 27
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Ekaterina had an interesting idea the next day. What if she extended her ribbons into a sword? It was not something she planned to dedicate herself to and it was not perfect, but it was neat regardless. The execution of the idea ranged from several ribbons stacked on top of each other to two ribbons wound in a helix. Vlastimir thought the latter was fantastic and elected to try it himself with his own take on it. As the two practiced in the colosseum, they heard a train whistle in the distance.
“Hey, you don’t think that’s your parents, do you?” Ekaterina wondered.
Vlastimir looked towards the direction of the sound. “Hmm… they’d be a day early if it was.”
“Would you be ready if it were them?”
He paused. “Um, er… Let’s finish this up first. I’m getting the hang of this helix blade stuff.”
Over at Ironfire Station, Radovan was talking to some people when the train in question came pulling in, giving off one more whistle. “Duke Radovan to platform 2, Duke Radovan to platform 2” Mariya’s voice instructed over the intercoms.
“Ah, very good. If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen,” Radovan said as he left the conversation. At the platform was a locomotive, letting off steam as it cooled down from its long journey. The train and the carriages all had the look of being from outside The Unlight, despite its similarities to the steam engines the duke was used to.
Stepping out the first car was a tall, strong man (albeit shorter than Radovan). His eyes were a piercing red, his haircut was an executive contour, and he wore a black business suit with a red tie. He looked around the station, noticing who was approaching him. “Radovan, good to see you again.” Notably the man had a Romanian accent.
“Glad you could make it, Zoltan. I trust getting here wasn’t too much of a burden?” He asked as they shook hands.
“Well, we had to go off the beaten path to Ertheval, which is tricky given that you can only get there if Threrth blesses your journey and whatnot. Other than that, things went smoothly…”
“In truth he was actually fairly nervous due to this being his first trip to The Unlight,” A female voice with a Serbian accent pointed out. She had light, dirty blonde hair that went past her shoulders, aged blue eyes, and was only slightly shorter than Zoltan.
“Er, yeah” Zoltan replied with a slightly guilty chuckle. “Radovan, this is my wife, Morana.”
“Welcome to The Iron City, Morana. You too, Zoltan. I presume both of you want to see your son soon, correct?”
“Absolutely,” Zoltan answered. “My apologies for any inconvenience we may have caused…”
“Oh no, none at all. Vlastimir has been quite the gentleman during his stay here. He even assisted my children in defeating The Lich of Old…”
“He did what now!?” Both parents accidentally asked in unison.
Radovan gave a sympathetic laugh, as he knew they would be beside themselves once they heard the full story. “How about we head to the Raynot mansion so my wife and I can fill you in on what’s happened? We’ll even have tea and biscuits while we wait for Vlastimir to get ready.”
Roughly 10 minutes later, a messenger ran up to Vlastimir in the colosseum and handed him an envelope. “Mr. Dracul! A letter from his grace…”
“Oh… um, thank you.” He looked at it, feeling a tinge of anxiety and adrenaline.
“Well open it up,” Ekaterina encouraged. “It’s from Radovan after all.” She had a strong feeling as to what it was about.
Vlastimir read the letter and took a deep breath. “Yup, they’re here…”
Ekaterina smiled and began packing up their supplies. “Then let’s go see them.”
Shuffling around and kicking a few rocks here and there, Vlastimir nervously groaned. “Do we have to go right now?”
“Yes, it would be impolite not to. Besides, they’re your parents. You said you wanted to go home, didn’t you?”
“Damn it…” Vlastimir grunted. Traveling on his own was easier than the mix of emotions he was feeling at the moment.
Over at the Raynot mansion, Radovan and Rose were having an enjoyable time with their guests. “I must say, Morana, your son’s blood is quite fascinating,” Rose pointed out. “My eldest daughter’s husband, Corentin, has been discovering all sorts of incredible things about it.”
She was surprised by this, but also felt a bit of pride. “Oh, I see. Well, I hope it hasn’t been too much trouble…”
Rose chuckled to herself, not wanting to mention the explosion. “A few hiccups here and there, but nothing he can’t handle.”
“If I may, I must concede that there is some worry about bringing our boy home,” Zoltan stated. “Obviously he can handle himself, but that doesn’t change the fact that corruption and thuggery run rampant back home. Not to contradict our visit, but he does seem safer here. 2020 was a challenging year and the problems have only piled on since then.”
“Understandable, Zoltan,” Radovan replied. “I think it’s safe to say the battle against The Lich of Old cemented his moral fiber, so I wouldn’t worry about that. Plus, it seems like his mentor, Gostislav, taught him some valuable lessons. And not to further your concern, but things aren’t perfect here either. Milosh is still running amok in Shadowland after all.”
“Ha, then perhaps I should pop over to Shadowland to…” Zoltan’s keen senses picked up some noise outside the lounge doors.
Vlastimir was standing there, hesitating to open the door. “Oh boy, he’s already heard me…”
“Then go inside, dear,” Ekaterina insisted with a giggle.
“Er, how about you go inside first?”
Her expression switched to mild irritation. “No, they’re your parents,” she said with emphasis in her voice.
He was desperate to find an excuse to stall. “Oh hey, real quickly; look at this painting. It’s…”
From inside the room the four heard a loud “Okay, that’s it!” The doors swung open followed by Vlastimir being shoved into the room. Time slowed to a crawl for the Dracul’s as their eyes met for the first time in a while.
Zoltan got up with the biggest smile and went to Vlastimir to hug him. “Vlastimir, my boy…”
“Dad…” Vlastimir felt an incredible warmth that he could not articulate. At that moment, it felt like everything he had been through had built up to this.
Morana got up next, looking as if she was about to cry. “Vlastimir?”
He let go of his father and immediately hugged her. “Long time no see, mom…”
Morana burst into tears, apologizing profusely for everything. It ranged from her parenting to his childhood, to the incident, to not being able to find him until now. Given that everything was being laid out for all to hear, one had to wonder what Vlastimir’s thoughts were. Truthfully he did not care about the past. He had been away from his parents for longer than they had him. Deep down he just wanted to be with them again. Vlastimir’s life could never go back to normal, but that was not going to stop him from trying.
After a minute and a half of consoling, they all sat down. “Alright, I’m good now…” Morana admitted before blowing her nose.
“So, mom, I helped save the Cosmos,” Vlastimir humbly boasted, sitting between Rose and Ekaterina.
Zoltan chuckled. “So dear, does that answer your ultimate weapon question?”
She laughed and shook her head. “In all my crazy pursuits and experiments, I’d never thought I’d give birth to such a great hero.”
Vlastimir blushed. “Oh, mom, dad? I… I have a girlfriend now.” He put his arm around her. “This is Ekaterina.”
She got up to introduce herself. “Hi, I’m Ekaterina Susanne Moore…” Her left leg twitched a little as she was a bit nervous.
Zoltan and Morana got up, with the former shaking her hand first. “A pleasure to meet you, lass. Radovan told us about you.”
Morana followed. “Same. I must say, what gorgeous hair you have.”
Ekaterina giggled. “Thank you.”
“Moore, I’m familiar with that name,” Zoltan began to recall. “My mentor, Abraham, knew a Moore…”
Ekaterina had a memory come back to her, giving her a look of regret. “Jedediah Moore?”
“Yeah, an oil tycoon that owed him money…”
She facepalmed. “That was my father.”
Zoltan looked at her with surprise. “You don’t say. Well don’t worry, Ekaterina. It’s in the past. Abe won’t hold it against you…” He then had a realization. “Boy, your girl is older than you, ha!”
Vlastimir gave him a look that Zoltan knew the meaning of. “Really dad?”
“Haha, fair point.”
“Curiously, when were you born, Ekaterina?” Morana inquired.
“June 6th, 1900.”
“Oh, my goodness, she’s even older than me!” Everyone laughed.
Zoltan stroked his chin. “So, Ekaterina, what are you into, hobby-wise? Your father didn’t force you into oil, did he?”
“Well, he tried to, but things went south… after I got out of The Dark Grand Desert, I resolved to become an artist like I originally wanted to be.”
“Sublime. You are going to love my mother then. She does all sorts of artwork that would give the Romans a run for their money.”
“Very good,” Radovan said as he got up. “Not to interrupt the reunion, but would you like it if I went and fetched Blood-Wraith and the others?”
“Certainly, Radovan,” Zoltan replied.
“Very well then. Rose, perhaps a change of scenery is in order?”
She nodded. “Agreed. Bring everyone to the gardens when you’re ready.”
“Will do,” he replied as he left.
Rose led everyone else to the back yard and to the main garden. Morana was utterly amazed by the flowers. “Oh my, Rose, are some of these from The Great Flower Plains?”
“Yes indeed. It was a treacherous journey, but I managed.”
“I wanted to go there so badly, but I had my search to take care of first.”
“Why didn’t you, mom?” Vlastimir wondered. “No use driving yourself crazy if you couldn’t find me.”
“Well, Vlastimir, I wasn’t just going to leave you alone out in the Unlight expanse.”
“Fair, fair. You know? I think I sensed you a couple of times. It was hard to call given the various dragons flying around the Unlight though.”
Morana clenched her fist. “I knew I was close to you that one time…” She then took a deep breath, releasing her pent up frustrations. “Oh, dear? Your academy friends are going to want to visit you when we get back. Especially Mable since she was hounding me to find you.”
Vlastimir laughed. “Why am I not surprised?”
“Mable?” Ekaterina asked. “Who’s Mable?”
“Mable Acheson,” Zoltan answered. “She went to academy with Vlastimir and helped him get out of his shell. She’s a real firecracker with her scythe devil, Evan.”
“Scythe devil? Is she a necromancer?”
Zoltan nodded. “Indeed, and a good one at that.”
Ekaterina looked at Vlastimir. “Just what kind of academy did you go to?”
“The Hermetic Academy of Mages… magic… mages… You know what? We just call it the Hermetic Academy. Anyways, It’s run by Asclepius, son of Hermes. Me, Mable, Mortis Kidd, and Taro Miyazaki went there to learn magic and alchemy. Oh! Mom, dad? Is Professor Frankenstein still teaching there?” They nodded.
Ekaterina gave Vlastimir an amused look. “Let me guess, Victor Frankenstein?” He nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, what next?! Is Daivd Livesey the school doctor?” They all laughed.
“No sweetie, I was the school doctor,” Morana assured.
“Don’t worry, Ekaterina, Treasure Island is just a story back home,” Zoltan clarified.
Rose chuckled. “Sounds like quite the academy to attend. Had I known, I may have sent Kresimira and Dragoslava to attend for a semester or two.”
Morana sighed. “Given my obsessions back then, it’s probably for the best that they didn’t attend” she said with a hint of regret in her voice.
Vlastimir then realized something very important that he had been forgetting for a long time. “OH! Mom, how’s Will doing?”
“Another academy friend?” Ekaterina asked. He nodded.
“Ah, him… well long story short, he had his memory suppressed and was sent off to live a normal life. He was a mess after the incident. Although recently, according to Zoltan, he’s gotten back into magic and his memory is coming back… kind of. He’s gotten back together with Faustus, so there’s that.”
Zoltan laughed. “I typically run into Will at the Liger Brigade where he’s a Private First Class. Despite all of the hullabaloo over the years, he’s still the Will you remember.”
“Yes!” Vlastimir said with a fist pump. That revelation made him very happy.
Next: Chapter 28
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Master Post - Patreon
Ekaterina had an interesting idea the next day. What if she extended her ribbons into a sword? It was not something she planned to dedicate herself to and it was not perfect, but it was neat regardless. The execution of the idea ranged from several ribbons stacked on top of each other to two ribbons wound in a helix. Vlastimir thought the latter was fantastic and elected to try it himself with his own take on it. As the two practiced in the colosseum, they heard a train whistle in the distance.
“Hey, you don’t think that’s your parents, do you?” Ekaterina wondered.
Vlastimir looked towards the direction of the sound. “Hmm… they’d be a day early if it was.”
“Would you be ready if it were them?”
He paused. “Um, er… Let’s finish this up first. I’m getting the hang of this helix blade stuff.”
Over at Ironfire Station, Radovan was talking to some people when the train in question came pulling in, giving off one more whistle. “Duke Radovan to platform 2, Duke Radovan to platform 2” Mariya’s voice instructed over the intercoms.
“Ah, very good. If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen,” Radovan said as he left the conversation. At the platform was a locomotive, letting off steam as it cooled down from its long journey. The train and the carriages all had the look of being from outside The Unlight, despite its similarities to the steam engines the duke was used to.
Stepping out the first car was a tall, strong man (albeit shorter than Radovan). His eyes were a piercing red, his haircut was an executive contour, and he wore a black business suit with a red tie. He looked around the station, noticing who was approaching him. “Radovan, good to see you again.” Notably the man had a Romanian accent.
“Glad you could make it, Zoltan. I trust getting here wasn’t too much of a burden?” He asked as they shook hands.
“Well, we had to go off the beaten path to Ertheval, which is tricky given that you can only get there if Threrth blesses your journey and whatnot. Other than that, things went smoothly…”
“In truth he was actually fairly nervous due to this being his first trip to The Unlight,” A female voice with a Serbian accent pointed out. She had light, dirty blonde hair that went past her shoulders, aged blue eyes, and was only slightly shorter than Zoltan.
“Er, yeah” Zoltan replied with a slightly guilty chuckle. “Radovan, this is my wife, Morana.”
“Welcome to The Iron City, Morana. You too, Zoltan. I presume both of you want to see your son soon, correct?”
“Absolutely,” Zoltan answered. “My apologies for any inconvenience we may have caused…”
“Oh no, none at all. Vlastimir has been quite the gentleman during his stay here. He even assisted my children in defeating The Lich of Old…”
“He did what now!?” Both parents accidentally asked in unison.
Radovan gave a sympathetic laugh, as he knew they would be beside themselves once they heard the full story. “How about we head to the Raynot mansion so my wife and I can fill you in on what’s happened? We’ll even have tea and biscuits while we wait for Vlastimir to get ready.”
Roughly 10 minutes later, a messenger ran up to Vlastimir in the colosseum and handed him an envelope. “Mr. Dracul! A letter from his grace…”
“Oh… um, thank you.” He looked at it, feeling a tinge of anxiety and adrenaline.
“Well open it up,” Ekaterina encouraged. “It’s from Radovan after all.” She had a strong feeling as to what it was about.
Vlastimir read the letter and took a deep breath. “Yup, they’re here…”
Ekaterina smiled and began packing up their supplies. “Then let’s go see them.”
Shuffling around and kicking a few rocks here and there, Vlastimir nervously groaned. “Do we have to go right now?”
“Yes, it would be impolite not to. Besides, they’re your parents. You said you wanted to go home, didn’t you?”
“Damn it…” Vlastimir grunted. Traveling on his own was easier than the mix of emotions he was feeling at the moment.
Over at the Raynot mansion, Radovan and Rose were having an enjoyable time with their guests. “I must say, Morana, your son’s blood is quite fascinating,” Rose pointed out. “My eldest daughter’s husband, Corentin, has been discovering all sorts of incredible things about it.”
She was surprised by this, but also felt a bit of pride. “Oh, I see. Well, I hope it hasn’t been too much trouble…”
Rose chuckled to herself, not wanting to mention the explosion. “A few hiccups here and there, but nothing he can’t handle.”
“If I may, I must concede that there is some worry about bringing our boy home,” Zoltan stated. “Obviously he can handle himself, but that doesn’t change the fact that corruption and thuggery run rampant back home. Not to contradict our visit, but he does seem safer here. 2020 was a challenging year and the problems have only piled on since then.”
“Understandable, Zoltan,” Radovan replied. “I think it’s safe to say the battle against The Lich of Old cemented his moral fiber, so I wouldn’t worry about that. Plus, it seems like his mentor, Gostislav, taught him some valuable lessons. And not to further your concern, but things aren’t perfect here either. Milosh is still running amok in Shadowland after all.”
“Ha, then perhaps I should pop over to Shadowland to…” Zoltan’s keen senses picked up some noise outside the lounge doors.
Vlastimir was standing there, hesitating to open the door. “Oh boy, he’s already heard me…”
“Then go inside, dear,” Ekaterina insisted with a giggle.
“Er, how about you go inside first?”
Her expression switched to mild irritation. “No, they’re your parents,” she said with emphasis in her voice.
He was desperate to find an excuse to stall. “Oh hey, real quickly; look at this painting. It’s…”
From inside the room the four heard a loud “Okay, that’s it!” The doors swung open followed by Vlastimir being shoved into the room. Time slowed to a crawl for the Dracul’s as their eyes met for the first time in a while.
Zoltan got up with the biggest smile and went to Vlastimir to hug him. “Vlastimir, my boy…”
“Dad…” Vlastimir felt an incredible warmth that he could not articulate. At that moment, it felt like everything he had been through had built up to this.
Morana got up next, looking as if she was about to cry. “Vlastimir?”
He let go of his father and immediately hugged her. “Long time no see, mom…”
Morana burst into tears, apologizing profusely for everything. It ranged from her parenting to his childhood, to the incident, to not being able to find him until now. Given that everything was being laid out for all to hear, one had to wonder what Vlastimir’s thoughts were. Truthfully he did not care about the past. He had been away from his parents for longer than they had him. Deep down he just wanted to be with them again. Vlastimir’s life could never go back to normal, but that was not going to stop him from trying.
After a minute and a half of consoling, they all sat down. “Alright, I’m good now…” Morana admitted before blowing her nose.
“So, mom, I helped save the Cosmos,” Vlastimir humbly boasted, sitting between Rose and Ekaterina.
Zoltan chuckled. “So dear, does that answer your ultimate weapon question?”
She laughed and shook her head. “In all my crazy pursuits and experiments, I’d never thought I’d give birth to such a great hero.”
Vlastimir blushed. “Oh, mom, dad? I… I have a girlfriend now.” He put his arm around her. “This is Ekaterina.”
She got up to introduce herself. “Hi, I’m Ekaterina Susanne Moore…” Her left leg twitched a little as she was a bit nervous.
Zoltan and Morana got up, with the former shaking her hand first. “A pleasure to meet you, lass. Radovan told us about you.”
Morana followed. “Same. I must say, what gorgeous hair you have.”
Ekaterina giggled. “Thank you.”
“Moore, I’m familiar with that name,” Zoltan began to recall. “My mentor, Abraham, knew a Moore…”
Ekaterina had a memory come back to her, giving her a look of regret. “Jedediah Moore?”
“Yeah, an oil tycoon that owed him money…”
She facepalmed. “That was my father.”
Zoltan looked at her with surprise. “You don’t say. Well don’t worry, Ekaterina. It’s in the past. Abe won’t hold it against you…” He then had a realization. “Boy, your girl is older than you, ha!”
Vlastimir gave him a look that Zoltan knew the meaning of. “Really dad?”
“Haha, fair point.”
“Curiously, when were you born, Ekaterina?” Morana inquired.
“June 6th, 1900.”
“Oh, my goodness, she’s even older than me!” Everyone laughed.
Zoltan stroked his chin. “So, Ekaterina, what are you into, hobby-wise? Your father didn’t force you into oil, did he?”
“Well, he tried to, but things went south… after I got out of The Dark Grand Desert, I resolved to become an artist like I originally wanted to be.”
“Sublime. You are going to love my mother then. She does all sorts of artwork that would give the Romans a run for their money.”
“Very good,” Radovan said as he got up. “Not to interrupt the reunion, but would you like it if I went and fetched Blood-Wraith and the others?”
“Certainly, Radovan,” Zoltan replied.
“Very well then. Rose, perhaps a change of scenery is in order?”
She nodded. “Agreed. Bring everyone to the gardens when you’re ready.”
“Will do,” he replied as he left.
Rose led everyone else to the back yard and to the main garden. Morana was utterly amazed by the flowers. “Oh my, Rose, are some of these from The Great Flower Plains?”
“Yes indeed. It was a treacherous journey, but I managed.”
“I wanted to go there so badly, but I had my search to take care of first.”
“Why didn’t you, mom?” Vlastimir wondered. “No use driving yourself crazy if you couldn’t find me.”
“Well, Vlastimir, I wasn’t just going to leave you alone out in the Unlight expanse.”
“Fair, fair. You know? I think I sensed you a couple of times. It was hard to call given the various dragons flying around the Unlight though.”
Morana clenched her fist. “I knew I was close to you that one time…” She then took a deep breath, releasing her pent up frustrations. “Oh, dear? Your academy friends are going to want to visit you when we get back. Especially Mable since she was hounding me to find you.”
Vlastimir laughed. “Why am I not surprised?”
“Mable?” Ekaterina asked. “Who’s Mable?”
“Mable Acheson,” Zoltan answered. “She went to academy with Vlastimir and helped him get out of his shell. She’s a real firecracker with her scythe devil, Evan.”
“Scythe devil? Is she a necromancer?”
Zoltan nodded. “Indeed, and a good one at that.”
Ekaterina looked at Vlastimir. “Just what kind of academy did you go to?”
“The Hermetic Academy of Mages… magic… mages… You know what? We just call it the Hermetic Academy. Anyways, It’s run by Asclepius, son of Hermes. Me, Mable, Mortis Kidd, and Taro Miyazaki went there to learn magic and alchemy. Oh! Mom, dad? Is Professor Frankenstein still teaching there?” They nodded.
Ekaterina gave Vlastimir an amused look. “Let me guess, Victor Frankenstein?” He nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, what next?! Is Daivd Livesey the school doctor?” They all laughed.
“No sweetie, I was the school doctor,” Morana assured.
“Don’t worry, Ekaterina, Treasure Island is just a story back home,” Zoltan clarified.
Rose chuckled. “Sounds like quite the academy to attend. Had I known, I may have sent Kresimira and Dragoslava to attend for a semester or two.”
Morana sighed. “Given my obsessions back then, it’s probably for the best that they didn’t attend” she said with a hint of regret in her voice.
Vlastimir then realized something very important that he had been forgetting for a long time. “OH! Mom, how’s Will doing?”
“Another academy friend?” Ekaterina asked. He nodded.
“Ah, him… well long story short, he had his memory suppressed and was sent off to live a normal life. He was a mess after the incident. Although recently, according to Zoltan, he’s gotten back into magic and his memory is coming back… kind of. He’s gotten back together with Faustus, so there’s that.”
Zoltan laughed. “I typically run into Will at the Liger Brigade where he’s a Private First Class. Despite all of the hullabaloo over the years, he’s still the Will you remember.”
“Yes!” Vlastimir said with a fist pump. That revelation made him very happy.
Next: Chapter 28
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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