Aerixsaber

The delivery office isn't too far from my apartment building.  If I took a direct route, I could be there within ten minutes; if I used the rooftops, I could probably be there in five.  However, familiarity breeds stagnation, so I always do what I can to make my trip more interesting.  I got a good running start, then sprang up at a street light ahead of me.  The enchantment on my shoes isn't strong enough for me to jump all the way to the top, but it gives a good enough start to let me use the momentum to help me clamber up to the top of the light.  A moving truck rolled under the light, and I figured that if I was gonna take a random route,

It all started like any other day.  I was yanked out of a peaceful sleep by the 5:15 train screaming past my window.  I buried my head under my pillow until my apartment stopped shaking.  Once it did, I let out a sigh as I debated whether or not I could just lie there a little longer, comforted by the soft embrace of my bed and blankets.  As much as I wanted to, I couldn't stay.  The next train would be coming by soon, and there wasn't anything I could do to sleep through that noise.  I sat up and stretched, then straightened out the oversized t-shirt I wore to bed most nights as I absentmindedly looked out the window. It was my city, Azure

Lucas woke up in a hospital bed, covered in bandages and wearing a cast on his arm.  He winced with pain as he looked over to the side to see Simon sitting by the window.  He had a couple of bandages on his face, but he somehow found a way to make it look good. "Oh hey, look who's up!"  Simon said as he noticed Lucas looking around.  "How you feeling, buddy?" "...like I got the crap beaten out of me by a life force sucking she-devil.  How about you?"  Lucas asked. "Well, not great, but considering death was a very real possibility for a while there, I'm calling it a net gain,"  Simon said with a smile and a shrug. "How long was I out?" "

Meanwhile, across the hall, Stephanie was in her room, looking through some of the boxes that she still hadn't unpacked in the corner of her room.  It took her quite a while, but eventually she found a simple white box tucked away behind some of her enchanting supplies.  She remembered when her father had given it to her just before she left for college, and had explained to her that it was a family heirloom that had been passed down through their family for generations, from artificer to artificer.  She unhooked the simple silver clasp at the front of the box and opened it up to reveal a small silver ring embedded into a soft pillow that too

Lucas was back at his dorm room, lazily sprawled across his beanbag chair, reading a comic book.  Just as he turned the page to see whether the robot or the zombie had won the clash, he heard a knock at his door.  Lucas tossed the book onto his desk as he stood up, then walked over to the door and opened it up to see Stephanie, Kitty, and Professor Mackenzie standing there. "Hey, Kitty!"  Lucas greeted enthusiastically.  It took him a moment to see that the others were there as well.  "So, what's going on?  I didn't see you at the arcade for long after you showed up, Professor..."  he asked. "Do you know where Simon is?"  Professor Mackenzi

"I swear to the gods, one of these days we're going to run into somebody else who can see us,"  Joseph muttered. "Joseph—not now.  You've had centuries to get used to the idea of normal people not seeing you, I don't need to hear you complaining about it at every turn,"  Kitty snapped back. "Who are you talking to?!"  Stephanie asked, more than a little worried for Kitty's sanity.  Kitty took a deep breath, knowing that her explanation was going to take some time. "Okay, from the top:  you remember reading about the Fiend Wars back in high school Interplanar History?"  Kitty asked. "Y...yeah.  Some researchers were trying to make a b

After a quick trip across town, Kitty and Stephanie arrived at Kitty's apartment.  Even though no one was around, Kitty continued to look around cautiously, as she had been since they had left Trent's apartment building. "Kitty?"  Stephanie said timidly, trying to get her attention.  Kitty turned to face her, but she didn't say anything.  Stephanie took a deep breath, and tried to collect herself.  "I think I've been more than patient enough.  What is going on around here?" "It wasn't supposed to be like this..."  Kitty muttered to herself, rubbing at her temple with her index and middle fingers, like she was getting a headache. "What wasn

Lucas sat at Stephanie's desk, absent-mindedly looking at his PDA while Stephanie angrily paced back and forth across the small room. "Seriously, Steph—are you gonna be all right?"  Lucas asked, more than a little worried.  Stephanie stopped, and took a deep breath before speaking. "...yeah.  It's just...she's just like the girls that gave me such a hard time back in high school, only worse.  I was kind of hoping that college would be at least a little different..."  she said. "Well, I hate to break it to you, but there's always going to be some people that never grow out of that high school phase.  It's not going to help any to dwell

After he was done with his cold shower, Lucas got dressed and walked back into Stephanie's room, still drying his hair with the towel. "So...what's going on?"  Stephanie asked, confused. "Well, Simon's girlfriend just came on to me..."  Lucas explained.  Stephanie's eyes widened. "Are you sure?  I mean, maybe you just misunderstood..."  she started. "She was waiting in my room, wearing lingerie that might as well have been painted on,"  Lucas said as he tossed the towel back into the bathroom. "Okay, well, maybe she was waiting for Simon,"  Stephanie reasoned. "...and then she nearly pinned me against my bed as she ran her hands all ove

After spending most of the morning tinkering with some of his projects in the robotics lab, Lucas returned to the dorm to spend the rest of his Saturday the way the gods intended:  playing video games and reading comic books.  As he reached into his pocket to retrieve his key, he grabbed the doorknob and noticed that the door was unlocked.  Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Guess Simon wasn't as serious about working today as he said..."  he said to himself as he opened the door.  "Hey Simon, I thought you were gonna go see Doc Thomas..."  Lucas stopped mid-sentence when he realized that it wasn't Simon who was already in the room, but Alice, leanin