Chapter 11:
I am sorry
Constantine:
I woke up refreshed, and go about my morning routine. I just can’t be coherent before my morning coffee and breakfast. My hair is a mess, and I don’t bother to comb it, until I have had a bite to eat. My phone buzzes, just as I am about to get the coffee in the machine. I grumble, but see who it is at six in the morning.
It is Daniel. I wonder what he wants this early in the morning. Although, with the time difference, it might be noon on Earth. He sends me a video invite. I accept, and am faced with Daniel, who is holding a ball of light.
“Oh, no,” I place a hand over my mouth, and shake my head back and forth. What have I done? Have I endangered the entire Cosmos? Will it be just like it was back then, when the humans spread from a planet to a planet?
“You are not happy?” He asks, and I nod. I don’t have any words for him. What is with the shield? Hasn’t anyone recharged it recently?
“Well, I am happy,” he tells me, and makes a miniature figurine out of the light, that looks like a Naga. “I woke up at 3 in the morning, and practiced this. Soon, I might be able to travel between planets.”
“No, don’t,” I say, and he blinks at me.
“I won’t tell anyone what I can do,” he tells me. I gulp.
How can you even do it?
“I need to cut the call,” I say. I really need to check the status of the shield. The need to know when it was charged last is urgent.
“Wait,” he says, and dispels the light. “You can’t show me such a vibrant universe, and expect that I will stay on Earth, and not dare to dream!”
He rises his voice by the end. I blink at that. Now, I know why human baiting is thought of as crass, in most circles. I shouldn’t have tried it.
“I...” I begin, but he is already talking again.
“If I can do it, others can as well. If humanity is still living on Earth, despite our best efforts, then the Cosmos is safe,” he tells me with a sneer. My finger hovers over the X sign, needing to cut the call.
“You humans know no restraint,” I tell him, and it is the truth. They have never known it, and they never will.
“One day, I will come to Ursula 590,” he vows, and I begin to shake my head.
“Don’t call me again,” I say, but he snaps his fingers, and I can’t cut the call.
“I figured the secret behind magic,” he tells me, his eyes full of wonder. “It is in the desire of a person. Like words, you can’t see them, can’t smell them, but desires are powerful, and...”
I click on the species analysis on my phone, and run his image through. Soon, there is a text hovering over his head.
Mage-Human.
Home Planet-Earth.
If he is really human, then this could turn out badly.
I think, and then decide to bite the bullet. Earth is mana rich, despite the anti-magic shield. With so much magic floating around Daniel, it must be as easy to conjure things, as it is breathing. But if he were to come to Ursula 590...
I leave my phone on the table, and go to my living room. I have a teleport there. Nothing fancy, just for single person use. I use Daniel’s coordinates, which I have gotten from his phone days ago, and pour mana inside.
I wait, not daring to hope that the anti-magic shield will let a human slip through it, yet then, Daniel is in the capsule, and staring at me.
“I am sorry,” I tell him because I am. Ursula 590 is not a mana rich planet. It is one of the planets that were sucked dry by humanity, 100,000 years ago, and it is yet to recover. There is enough mana in the air to sustain life, but not enough to do magic, unless you were a really talented shaman.
“Sorry for what?” His voice comes from behind the glass. He looks around in wonder, but he also steals glances at me. At my tail, at my pajama clad chest. “You are real.”
I open the capsule, and he gets out. He takes in a deep breath, and a smile spreads on his face.
“I can breathe the air in here,” he tells me, and then chuckles. “I was afraid there for a second.”
“Many planets have oxygen,” I tell him. “This is your new home.”
He blinks at that.
“Excuse me?” He looks directly into my green eyes, and I nod at him.
“You couldn’t be allowed to spread the word to the humans, that they could do magic,” I tell him. Once again, I repeat myself. “I am sorry.”
“Can I go back?” He asks me. I shake my head.
“Ursula 590 simply doesn’t have the mana needed to send someone from here, to anywhere else. When I called you here, the capsule used the mana of Earth, to power itself up,” I explain. He nods.
“Can you summon my cat as well?” He asks, and I blink at him. “It is just that, he’ll starve to death, before someone decides to check up on me.”
“I think so,” I retype the coordinates, and select the cat from the dropdown menu. Soon, Daniel is holding Andrew, and peppering his ginger head with kisses.
“Do you see this, buddy? We are no longer back on boring Earth. We are in Snakelandia!” Daniel tells the cat, and I narrow my eyes.
“I beg your pardon?” I ask, ready for a fight.
“Isn’t Ursula 590 a planet with different snakes?” He asks me.
“We have spiders, and mammals as well. Plus, some varieties of lizards,” I tell him, and he smiles bashfully at me.
“Sorry, I won’t call Ursula 590 Snakelandia anymore,” he tells me, and then sits on the couch. “Do you keep that in here?”
He points at the teleport. I nod, and close the capsule. It turns into a coffee table. He looks between the coffee table, and me, with wide eyes.
“Wicked,” he says, and I smile. I am glad that it isn’t some sort of big shock for him, to be uprooted from Earth.
Chapter 11:
I am sorry
Constantine:
I woke up refreshed, and go about my morning routine. I just can’t be coherent before my morning coffee and breakfast. My hair is a mess, and I don’t bother to comb it, until I have had a bite to eat. My phone buzzes, just as I am about to get the coffee in the machine. I grumble, but see who it is at six in the morning.
It is Daniel. I wonder what he wants this early in the morning. Although, with the time difference, it might be noon on Earth. He sends me a video invite. I accept, and am faced with Daniel, who is holding a ball of light.
“Oh, no,” I place a hand over my mouth, and shake my head back and forth. What have I done? Have I endangered the entire Cosmos? Will it be just like it was back then, when the humans spread from a planet to a planet?
“You are not happy?” He asks, and I nod. I don’t have any words for him. What is with the shield? Hasn’t anyone recharged it recently?
“Well, I am happy,” he tells me, and makes a miniature figurine out of the light, that looks like a Naga. “I woke up at 3 in the morning, and practiced this. Soon, I might be able to travel between planets.”
“No, don’t,” I say, and he blinks at me.
“I won’t tell anyone what I can do,” he tells me. I gulp.
How can you even do it?
“I need to cut the call,” I say. I really need to check the status of the shield. The need to know when it was charged last is urgent.
“Wait,” he says, and dispels the light. “You can’t show me such a vibrant universe, and expect that I will stay on Earth, and not dare to dream!”
He rises his voice by the end. I blink at that. Now, I know why human baiting is thought of as crass, in most circles. I shouldn’t have tried it.
“I...” I begin, but he is already talking again.
“If I can do it, others can as well. If humanity is still living on Earth, despite our best efforts, then the Cosmos is safe,” he tells me with a sneer. My finger hovers over the X sign, needing to cut the call.
“You humans know no restraint,” I tell him, and it is the truth. They have never known it, and they never will.
“One day, I will come to Ursula 590,” he vows, and I begin to shake my head.
“Don’t call me again,” I say, but he snaps his fingers, and I can’t cut the call.
“I figured the secret behind magic,” he tells me, his eyes full of wonder. “It is in the desire of a person. Like words, you can’t see them, can’t smell them, but desires are powerful, and...”
I click on the species analysis on my phone, and run his image through. Soon, there is a text hovering over his head.
Mage-Human.
Home Planet-Earth.
If he is really human, then this could turn out badly.
I think, and then decide to bite the bullet. Earth is mana rich, despite the anti-magic shield. With so much magic floating around Daniel, it must be as easy to conjure things, as it is breathing. But if he were to come to Ursula 590...
I leave my phone on the table, and go to my living room. I have a teleport there. Nothing fancy, just for single person use. I use Daniel’s coordinates, which I have gotten from his phone days ago, and pour mana inside.
I wait, not daring to hope that the anti-magic shield will let a human slip through it, yet then, Daniel is in the capsule, and staring at me.
“I am sorry,” I tell him because I am. Ursula 590 is not a mana rich planet. It is one of the planets that were sucked dry by humanity, 100,000 years ago, and it is yet to recover. There is enough mana in the air to sustain life, but not enough to do magic, unless you were a really talented shaman.
“Sorry for what?” His voice comes from behind the glass. He looks around in wonder, but he also steals glances at me. At my tail, at my pajama clad chest. “You are real.”
I open the capsule, and he gets out. He takes in a deep breath, and a smile spreads on his face.
“I can breathe the air in here,” he tells me, and then chuckles. “I was afraid there for a second.”
“Many planets have oxygen,” I tell him. “This is your new home.”
He blinks at that.
“Excuse me?” He looks directly into my green eyes, and I nod at him.
“You couldn’t be allowed to spread the word to the humans, that they could do magic,” I tell him. Once again, I repeat myself. “I am sorry.”
“Can I go back?” He asks me. I shake my head.
“Ursula 590 simply doesn’t have the mana needed to send someone from here, to anywhere else. When I called you here, the capsule used the mana of Earth, to power itself up,” I explain. He nods.
“Can you summon my cat as well?” He asks, and I blink at him. “It is just that, he’ll starve to death, before someone decides to check up on me.”
“I think so,” I retype the coordinates, and select the cat from the dropdown menu. Soon, Daniel is holding Andrew, and peppering his ginger head with kisses.
“Do you see this, buddy? We are no longer back on boring Earth. We are in Snakelandia!” Daniel tells the cat, and I narrow my eyes.
“I beg your pardon?” I ask, ready for a fight.
“Isn’t Ursula 590 a planet with different snakes?” He asks me.
“We have spiders, and mammals as well. Plus, some varieties of lizards,” I tell him, and he smiles bashfully at me.
“Sorry, I won’t call Ursula 590 Snakelandia anymore,” he tells me, and then sits on the couch. “Do you keep that in here?”
He points at the teleport. I nod, and close the capsule. It turns into a coffee table. He looks between the coffee table, and me, with wide eyes.
“Wicked,” he says, and I smile. I am glad that it isn’t some sort of big shock for him, to be uprooted from Earth.
