Post by Andre Jenson on Feb 6, 2016 19:38:07 GMT -5
It was a Wednesday. A Wednesday in February, nothing important about that date at all, just a Wednesday. February the 3rd to be exact. Andre had nothing to do really. Everything he had planned for the week was already done. He had cleared out the swamp of no return, apparently Cyril the strange had left his iPhone in there when he got stuck in the last session and insisted that he got it back. AJ had also written a long campaign for the next session of Dungeons and Dragons as well as organising the grand melee tournament called “The Grande Melee” (He was never very good at naming things, not really.) He also managed to sell the rights to Kem Ball to ESPN and had tryouts for the first time for the Kem Dragoons. All in all it was a productive week.
Amy had a similar sort of week, she basically did everything AJ had done after AJ had done it. Just to make sure it was done right. She also arranged for the whole dry cleaning of the LARP gear that hadn't been cleaned in a few months, all 398 pieces of it. Including some very foul smelling cod pieces. She arranged for the Sea Life Centre of Kem to get another 39 animals in thanks to their new expansion and polished the Goliath statue on the bay of Kem. Her main bug bear this particular week though was “The Grande Melee” that AJ was “Organising.” He kept doing silly things while organising it, like inviting the Grand Wizard Steve Magichands who had been officially dead for 12 years. Or asking Clara the Wood Elf to bring snacks, when everyone knew she couldn't cook if her life depended on it. Silly mistakes that would mean the complete failure of “The Grande Melee” which she'd rename in a heartbeat if he let her. Maybe to something like “Tournament of Champions” or “The fields of Victory”. Maybe it was time for her to approach AJ with a suggestion she runs as his PA permanently with a better salary, rather than doing it ad hoc like she is now, for free. She put that thought out of her mind though when she received an email on the iPad she was holding. It was the card for the next WCF Slam.
“Crap” she thought to herself as she looked at it. Andre had just gotten off a demoralising loss to Kyle Kemp and , although he seemed to be OK about it, he did seem a little different since coming home that evening. She couldn't put her finger on it, but he seemed a little more sullen as of late and not the happy go lucky jovial person he usually was. Maybe his promise of standing up for all the kids that have been bullied and then losing affected him? Maybe he was brooding or felt sorry for himself because he couldn't apply himself. Who knows? He was so hard to read most of the time, that even he himself didn't know what to think of a situation by his own admission!
What she was looking at was a match type that Andre called “A mess of epic proportions from top to bottom.” Basically an every man for himself match between AJ and 8 others. It's a good job he had a grand melee set up to prepare for this, or maybe that's why he set it up? Does he even know he has this match at this point? After all she had the email now, but she didn't know when he got the information from the WCF intranet. He never told her these things, nor did he tell her about much, other than Kem business.
Most of the time, when she asked him about the WCF he changed the subject. Last time he started talking about the weather patterns of Eastern New Guinea and whether or not they ever had snow there. He had concluded that they hadn't and if he had time, he'd go there with some and let them see it. Another time, he went on a long meandering rant about how Warlocks got all the cool looking spells but in reality they were a bit pointless and all flash and no substance. Pointing out at least 45 different weaknesses in their arsenal and how he could easily beat one in a duel, even if he had 3 HP and only one spell in his spell book. It turns out if you have mage hand, you can beat anything apparently.
More concerning for her though, was that for the past 24 hours he was locked in his study, poring over old maps and documents, as if he was trying to find something. This was concerning because AJ had never spent 24 hours on thinking about anything. Usually he just thought of it then did it. Which is why the Sea Life Centre was here, which was why the Goliath statue was here. Hell, it's the reason Kem is here in the first place. 24 hours of thinking was very odd. Unless he'd fallen asleep in his study, which would explain it. He hadn't though, and that was the weird thing. He'd genuinely been working all this time, occasionally muttering things like “It has to be here, that's the only place it can be” followed minutes later by “Oh,that's a Walmart.”
She started to grade the participants in the WCF match, which is something AJ had asked her to do for him. Grading them on the D&D scale, writing little notes in their bio, such as “Beaver, lost to him before while possessed by inter galactic pan dimensional beings with a penchant for violence against female time ladies.” AJ would look at these later and then devise a strategy, or not. Depending on his mood really. His strategy generally was something called “Wing it and hope for the best” which didn't really inspire her with much confidence.
Just as she had finished grading the competitors, AJ Burst into the room. Excitement etched all over his face, yet with an urgency she only ever saw when..... She closed her eyes, grimacing as realisation swept over her like a giant out of control wizard's broom. She knew this look, this was the look of AJ when he had a quest or a harebrained scheme that will only result in some weirdness happening on Kem, like when he had the idea to stage a random soap box car challenge for the LARP community of Kem to participate in, thus starting the ridiculousness that it the Red Bull Soap Box series that now has 10 races a year across the world. She dreaded to think of what was going to come out of his mouth this time.
“I've found it!” He almost yelled in excitement, clutching an old map in his hand while waving the other frantically.
“Found what?” She asked, almost reluctantly.
“The City! I've found the city!” He exclaimed in jubilation
This didn't help Amy, she had no idea what he was referring to, she looked at him with a blank face. “Back up, what are you talking about?” She asked.
AJ raised his eyebrows.
“What do you mean? You don't know about the city?” He asked, somewhat incredulously.
“No, if it hasn't escaped your notice, I've been too busy running things for you and being your secretary, PA, counsel and pretty much your wife for the past few months since Millie left, so I'm sorry I have no idea what you're talking about.” She said, rather more irritably than she had intended. “Here's your dossier on the WCF match you have this week by the way.” She dropped the dossier on the table and stared at AJ, who blinked.
“I, of course.” He said, rather taken aback by the sudden outburst. “I'm sorry My Lady, I have been too preoccupied lately with this discovery. Let's go through this shall we?” His voice was softer now and he sat down next to her, picking up the dossier that she'd written. She seemed a little more at ease with this and scooched up next to AJ while he read it, putting her head on his shoulder.
“Let us begin with my old foe Dustin Beaver.” He said while he read. He pointed at the scores she gave him which were a +2 for dexterity, intelligence and a +3 for charisma. The strength, constitution and wisdom scores were set at an even 0. In the margins, next to the note about his loss of the TV title there was a note saying “tenacious, very skilled and not to be trusted.” Followed by a number 3, signifying his threat in comparison to the other competitors. “Interesting.” He mused, “you noted him as threat number 3. Why is this?”
“Well, he's clearly talented.” She started, “cunning and skilled and has beaten you before. However, I don't think he's quite the level of Occulo or Punkin.”
AJ nodded. “I agree with that my Lady. Beaver is clearly skilled, but he defeated me while I was possessed and then joined the Beach House of Krew. Without them, where would he really be? I feel that it is time for that boy to climb out of their shadow and go alone, then see how he would be. Maybe he'd stand on his own, alas I fear he would fall and be back pretending to be a pop star.”
He then read the next on the list, which was Punkin. Amy had scribbled 0 for intelligence and wisdom, but a +2 for dexterity strength charisma and constitution, Again, next to this she had noted him as threat number 2.
“He's number 2 because he and Occulo are going to be the main threats here. His power and agility combined will be a massive obstacle for you to overcome. You'll have to be careful with him. Hopefully others will notice him and help.”
AJ thought about this for a moment before replying. “Agreed, my Lady. I shall have to roll well against this foe. I hope to use my natural charisma to forge an alliance! Together with our combined powers we shall defeat him!” He looked at the dossier again. “I also recognise this knave. Did he LARP with us once in the land of Somerset?”
Amy smiled. “Good memory, he was at one of our festivals. You defeated him in hand to hand I believe on that day. You will be victorious again.” She studied the document. “Who will you forge an alliance with?”
“It can only be Occulo, my Lady. He follows the path of light. Everyone else in this match is shrouded in darkness and evil. I for one have had my fill of consorting and with the dark forces.”
“But Occulo is your main threat here. How will you manage to treaty with him when it may come down to one of you winning this match?” Amy asked, somewhat concerned.
“I shall simply have to roll well and hope for the best I'm afraid. As you have marked here. He has a +3 in Wisdom and Intelligence, he will see the sense in working together to rid ourselves of foes. Darkness will surround us, we'll need to work together to merely survive. Then, when the darkness gives way to only light, we shall see which is the better man through the glory of battle!” AJ was standing at this point, causing Amy to fall over on the sofa when her chest shaped cushion disappeared.
He pointed to the window. “Out yonder there are clouds gathering, when clouds gather we are descended into darkness, into chaos. We don't know what will happen. Does it bring rain? Do they bring snow? Does it even snow in Eastern New Guinea? I do not know! What I do know is that behind those clouds are the rays of light we must hold dear! The rays of light that are eternal and welcoming. We must be those rays of light! Between us we must prevail! One of us will win this match and vanquish. I can promise you this!”
Amy sat up again. “What about the others, AJ? What about Benson? Starr? Wolfram? Atreyu? Young?”
AJ looked back at her, nodding once, deeply, you know, the type of nod that Teal'c does in SG-1 all the time.
“Quite. What about them?” AJ replied. “We all know Benson is a loose cannon, a lunatic so to speak. Starr is a veteran in the wrestling community. He is also a rising star in the WCF so he has much to prove, thus he could be dangerous. I disagree with your assessment of him being 7 on the threat count however. I believe him to be at least 4 or 5. People with a point to prove can conclude to be very dangerous people. Jordan Wolfram is young and powerful, with a massive +4 on strength! But being young and powerful also makes you naïve and prone to errors. We can exploit this, as long as we keep up our +3 in wisdom and possibly take with us the belt of cunning.”
AJ checked the dossier one more time
“Then there is Adam Young. Nothing can be said about this foe that has not been confirmed already. He claims that he is a sick one. However I have battled really sick foes. Do you remember the Necromancer of Port Shame Amy?”
Amy shuddered at this. She remembered him, she remembered him well. The necromancer of port shame was an evil wizard who AJ and Amy fought with their party one year in a campaign created by one of AJ's more twisted friends. The sick part of the necromancer was that he lured children away from their homes, like the pied piper, locked them in a basement where he kept them chained and turned them into savage creatures with brutal torture techniques including in at least 1 instance rape. Once the children reached adulthood, his carefully laid plans meant they were at the height of their ferocity. This is when he sacrificed them with a ceremonial blade across the throat and raised them from the dead to serve him in death as savage undead creatures. Eventually, they managed to beat him and rescue some of the children who could be rescued. The majority of them were too far gone to be rescued and committed suicide upon being freed. Mainly due to a low roll from Puny Elfling.
“Yes” she muttered. “Not that have a choice.”
“Adam Young is a kitten compared to that.” He paused for a minute, thinking. “Am I missing anyone?”
Amy shook her head, “no, I don't think so.” She suddenly jumped in excitement while she remembered. “OH! YEAH! Atreyu!”
“Does the fact that Atreyu is in this match and we both forgot about that cad's existence tell you anything about him? It tells me that he is just another name in the darkness. He is dangerous, mainly because he is a part of the evil forces that wish to overwhelm us. Nothing more.”
“I understand, so your strategy is to try to ally with Occulo and then battle him honourably when the others are beaten?” Asked Amy, just so she could understand correctly what AJ was saying.
“That is my best strategum, I believe. Yes.” Replied AJ. He sat down again next to Amy on the couch.
“I agree,” she finally said after a long pause. “I believe if you were to try to win this alone then you would be overwhelmed if the others make any alliances. Of course, if Occulo disagrees with the alliance, then what?
AJ smiled at her. “My Lady, then I sprout some wings and do what I can.”
Amy chuckled at this. “Wing it indeed, that works too.” She looked at the map that AJ had originally brought into the room.
“What is this anyway, my Lord? You have been quite excited about this.”
AJ looked at the paper, sitting on the table and put his arm around Amy, bringing her to his chest again. She felt warm and content about this simple act.
“Have you ever heard of the City of Forliasa?” He asked Amy when she had finished getting herself comfortable.
“No,” she replied, genuinely at a loss to where this name had come from.
“Well, legend has it, there is a City called Forliasa, it's an ancient city, older than any records began. Some have speculated that this city is the first city that humanity ever founded.”
“I see.”
“Well, the city has been lost for centuries. I have been conversing with many guilds across the globe in the hope to find this city, mainly out of curiosity. I am intrigued to see what such an ancient city will look like and hold. The problem is, as I have already said, it is lost.”
“Did it not appear on any maps?”
“Not as such.” AJ sighed. “The city.” He pondered his next words carefully, for at least 30 seconds before he continued. “It moves.”
“It moves? Do you mean the people in it move and found the city elsewhere?” Amy asked with confused look upon her face.
“You see, from what I and the others have discovered, mages inhabited the city. They got into some sort of quarrel with a city that was founded nearby, something about the pools of magic that they had access to interfering with the drinking water. A war broke out, so the mages decided they had enough and didn't want any truck with the fight. So upped and moved.”
“The mages moved out then?”
“No. They enchanted the city and moved it instead. Now it can't be found. Whenever anyone gets close to it, the city just buggers off. Throughout history it has been sometimes chartered in places and appeared on maps, but they were few and far between. Most of the time, when it's found it disappears before anyone even gets the chance to tell anyone else. It has vanished without a trace now for the past 400 years.”
“AJ.” Said Amy
“Yes?”
“Ever heard of satellites?”
“Yes. That's one of the things we've been using to try and find the city. Consecutive directors of NASA have been involved in trying to find this city. This is why we had the moon landings, apparently the city was on there for a point in the 60s. Satellites are used all the time, but it is just not seen from space.”
“But you think you've found it now?”
AJ smiled again.
“I believe so. There is a small anomaly on the maps at a certain location that indicates that the city may be there, or possibly underground. We just have to find the right time and place to try and approach it. If the city thinks we know where it is, it'll disappear.”
“AJ.”
“Amy.”
“That's probably one of the most mental things I've ever heard.” She said calmly. “But I think I believe you. Where is it?”
“Apparently it's in London somewhere.” Said AJ.
Amy laughed. “That's Diagon Ally, from Harry Potter!” She punched him on the arm playfully.
AJ wasn't playing though. “We're going to London after slam next week. We'll see.” He said matter of factly.
Amy snuggled into his arms a little more.
“You do tell the best stories though, I'll give you that.”
Amy had a similar sort of week, she basically did everything AJ had done after AJ had done it. Just to make sure it was done right. She also arranged for the whole dry cleaning of the LARP gear that hadn't been cleaned in a few months, all 398 pieces of it. Including some very foul smelling cod pieces. She arranged for the Sea Life Centre of Kem to get another 39 animals in thanks to their new expansion and polished the Goliath statue on the bay of Kem. Her main bug bear this particular week though was “The Grande Melee” that AJ was “Organising.” He kept doing silly things while organising it, like inviting the Grand Wizard Steve Magichands who had been officially dead for 12 years. Or asking Clara the Wood Elf to bring snacks, when everyone knew she couldn't cook if her life depended on it. Silly mistakes that would mean the complete failure of “The Grande Melee” which she'd rename in a heartbeat if he let her. Maybe to something like “Tournament of Champions” or “The fields of Victory”. Maybe it was time for her to approach AJ with a suggestion she runs as his PA permanently with a better salary, rather than doing it ad hoc like she is now, for free. She put that thought out of her mind though when she received an email on the iPad she was holding. It was the card for the next WCF Slam.
“Crap” she thought to herself as she looked at it. Andre had just gotten off a demoralising loss to Kyle Kemp and , although he seemed to be OK about it, he did seem a little different since coming home that evening. She couldn't put her finger on it, but he seemed a little more sullen as of late and not the happy go lucky jovial person he usually was. Maybe his promise of standing up for all the kids that have been bullied and then losing affected him? Maybe he was brooding or felt sorry for himself because he couldn't apply himself. Who knows? He was so hard to read most of the time, that even he himself didn't know what to think of a situation by his own admission!
What she was looking at was a match type that Andre called “A mess of epic proportions from top to bottom.” Basically an every man for himself match between AJ and 8 others. It's a good job he had a grand melee set up to prepare for this, or maybe that's why he set it up? Does he even know he has this match at this point? After all she had the email now, but she didn't know when he got the information from the WCF intranet. He never told her these things, nor did he tell her about much, other than Kem business.
Most of the time, when she asked him about the WCF he changed the subject. Last time he started talking about the weather patterns of Eastern New Guinea and whether or not they ever had snow there. He had concluded that they hadn't and if he had time, he'd go there with some and let them see it. Another time, he went on a long meandering rant about how Warlocks got all the cool looking spells but in reality they were a bit pointless and all flash and no substance. Pointing out at least 45 different weaknesses in their arsenal and how he could easily beat one in a duel, even if he had 3 HP and only one spell in his spell book. It turns out if you have mage hand, you can beat anything apparently.
More concerning for her though, was that for the past 24 hours he was locked in his study, poring over old maps and documents, as if he was trying to find something. This was concerning because AJ had never spent 24 hours on thinking about anything. Usually he just thought of it then did it. Which is why the Sea Life Centre was here, which was why the Goliath statue was here. Hell, it's the reason Kem is here in the first place. 24 hours of thinking was very odd. Unless he'd fallen asleep in his study, which would explain it. He hadn't though, and that was the weird thing. He'd genuinely been working all this time, occasionally muttering things like “It has to be here, that's the only place it can be” followed minutes later by “Oh,that's a Walmart.”
She started to grade the participants in the WCF match, which is something AJ had asked her to do for him. Grading them on the D&D scale, writing little notes in their bio, such as “Beaver, lost to him before while possessed by inter galactic pan dimensional beings with a penchant for violence against female time ladies.” AJ would look at these later and then devise a strategy, or not. Depending on his mood really. His strategy generally was something called “Wing it and hope for the best” which didn't really inspire her with much confidence.
Just as she had finished grading the competitors, AJ Burst into the room. Excitement etched all over his face, yet with an urgency she only ever saw when..... She closed her eyes, grimacing as realisation swept over her like a giant out of control wizard's broom. She knew this look, this was the look of AJ when he had a quest or a harebrained scheme that will only result in some weirdness happening on Kem, like when he had the idea to stage a random soap box car challenge for the LARP community of Kem to participate in, thus starting the ridiculousness that it the Red Bull Soap Box series that now has 10 races a year across the world. She dreaded to think of what was going to come out of his mouth this time.
“I've found it!” He almost yelled in excitement, clutching an old map in his hand while waving the other frantically.
“Found what?” She asked, almost reluctantly.
“The City! I've found the city!” He exclaimed in jubilation
This didn't help Amy, she had no idea what he was referring to, she looked at him with a blank face. “Back up, what are you talking about?” She asked.
AJ raised his eyebrows.
“What do you mean? You don't know about the city?” He asked, somewhat incredulously.
“No, if it hasn't escaped your notice, I've been too busy running things for you and being your secretary, PA, counsel and pretty much your wife for the past few months since Millie left, so I'm sorry I have no idea what you're talking about.” She said, rather more irritably than she had intended. “Here's your dossier on the WCF match you have this week by the way.” She dropped the dossier on the table and stared at AJ, who blinked.
“I, of course.” He said, rather taken aback by the sudden outburst. “I'm sorry My Lady, I have been too preoccupied lately with this discovery. Let's go through this shall we?” His voice was softer now and he sat down next to her, picking up the dossier that she'd written. She seemed a little more at ease with this and scooched up next to AJ while he read it, putting her head on his shoulder.
“Let us begin with my old foe Dustin Beaver.” He said while he read. He pointed at the scores she gave him which were a +2 for dexterity, intelligence and a +3 for charisma. The strength, constitution and wisdom scores were set at an even 0. In the margins, next to the note about his loss of the TV title there was a note saying “tenacious, very skilled and not to be trusted.” Followed by a number 3, signifying his threat in comparison to the other competitors. “Interesting.” He mused, “you noted him as threat number 3. Why is this?”
“Well, he's clearly talented.” She started, “cunning and skilled and has beaten you before. However, I don't think he's quite the level of Occulo or Punkin.”
AJ nodded. “I agree with that my Lady. Beaver is clearly skilled, but he defeated me while I was possessed and then joined the Beach House of Krew. Without them, where would he really be? I feel that it is time for that boy to climb out of their shadow and go alone, then see how he would be. Maybe he'd stand on his own, alas I fear he would fall and be back pretending to be a pop star.”
He then read the next on the list, which was Punkin. Amy had scribbled 0 for intelligence and wisdom, but a +2 for dexterity strength charisma and constitution, Again, next to this she had noted him as threat number 2.
“He's number 2 because he and Occulo are going to be the main threats here. His power and agility combined will be a massive obstacle for you to overcome. You'll have to be careful with him. Hopefully others will notice him and help.”
AJ thought about this for a moment before replying. “Agreed, my Lady. I shall have to roll well against this foe. I hope to use my natural charisma to forge an alliance! Together with our combined powers we shall defeat him!” He looked at the dossier again. “I also recognise this knave. Did he LARP with us once in the land of Somerset?”
Amy smiled. “Good memory, he was at one of our festivals. You defeated him in hand to hand I believe on that day. You will be victorious again.” She studied the document. “Who will you forge an alliance with?”
“It can only be Occulo, my Lady. He follows the path of light. Everyone else in this match is shrouded in darkness and evil. I for one have had my fill of consorting and with the dark forces.”
“But Occulo is your main threat here. How will you manage to treaty with him when it may come down to one of you winning this match?” Amy asked, somewhat concerned.
“I shall simply have to roll well and hope for the best I'm afraid. As you have marked here. He has a +3 in Wisdom and Intelligence, he will see the sense in working together to rid ourselves of foes. Darkness will surround us, we'll need to work together to merely survive. Then, when the darkness gives way to only light, we shall see which is the better man through the glory of battle!” AJ was standing at this point, causing Amy to fall over on the sofa when her chest shaped cushion disappeared.
He pointed to the window. “Out yonder there are clouds gathering, when clouds gather we are descended into darkness, into chaos. We don't know what will happen. Does it bring rain? Do they bring snow? Does it even snow in Eastern New Guinea? I do not know! What I do know is that behind those clouds are the rays of light we must hold dear! The rays of light that are eternal and welcoming. We must be those rays of light! Between us we must prevail! One of us will win this match and vanquish. I can promise you this!”
Amy sat up again. “What about the others, AJ? What about Benson? Starr? Wolfram? Atreyu? Young?”
AJ looked back at her, nodding once, deeply, you know, the type of nod that Teal'c does in SG-1 all the time.
“Quite. What about them?” AJ replied. “We all know Benson is a loose cannon, a lunatic so to speak. Starr is a veteran in the wrestling community. He is also a rising star in the WCF so he has much to prove, thus he could be dangerous. I disagree with your assessment of him being 7 on the threat count however. I believe him to be at least 4 or 5. People with a point to prove can conclude to be very dangerous people. Jordan Wolfram is young and powerful, with a massive +4 on strength! But being young and powerful also makes you naïve and prone to errors. We can exploit this, as long as we keep up our +3 in wisdom and possibly take with us the belt of cunning.”
AJ checked the dossier one more time
“Then there is Adam Young. Nothing can be said about this foe that has not been confirmed already. He claims that he is a sick one. However I have battled really sick foes. Do you remember the Necromancer of Port Shame Amy?”
Amy shuddered at this. She remembered him, she remembered him well. The necromancer of port shame was an evil wizard who AJ and Amy fought with their party one year in a campaign created by one of AJ's more twisted friends. The sick part of the necromancer was that he lured children away from their homes, like the pied piper, locked them in a basement where he kept them chained and turned them into savage creatures with brutal torture techniques including in at least 1 instance rape. Once the children reached adulthood, his carefully laid plans meant they were at the height of their ferocity. This is when he sacrificed them with a ceremonial blade across the throat and raised them from the dead to serve him in death as savage undead creatures. Eventually, they managed to beat him and rescue some of the children who could be rescued. The majority of them were too far gone to be rescued and committed suicide upon being freed. Mainly due to a low roll from Puny Elfling.
“Yes” she muttered. “Not that have a choice.”
“Adam Young is a kitten compared to that.” He paused for a minute, thinking. “Am I missing anyone?”
Amy shook her head, “no, I don't think so.” She suddenly jumped in excitement while she remembered. “OH! YEAH! Atreyu!”
“Does the fact that Atreyu is in this match and we both forgot about that cad's existence tell you anything about him? It tells me that he is just another name in the darkness. He is dangerous, mainly because he is a part of the evil forces that wish to overwhelm us. Nothing more.”
“I understand, so your strategy is to try to ally with Occulo and then battle him honourably when the others are beaten?” Asked Amy, just so she could understand correctly what AJ was saying.
“That is my best strategum, I believe. Yes.” Replied AJ. He sat down again next to Amy on the couch.
“I agree,” she finally said after a long pause. “I believe if you were to try to win this alone then you would be overwhelmed if the others make any alliances. Of course, if Occulo disagrees with the alliance, then what?
AJ smiled at her. “My Lady, then I sprout some wings and do what I can.”
Amy chuckled at this. “Wing it indeed, that works too.” She looked at the map that AJ had originally brought into the room.
“What is this anyway, my Lord? You have been quite excited about this.”
AJ looked at the paper, sitting on the table and put his arm around Amy, bringing her to his chest again. She felt warm and content about this simple act.
“Have you ever heard of the City of Forliasa?” He asked Amy when she had finished getting herself comfortable.
“No,” she replied, genuinely at a loss to where this name had come from.
“Well, legend has it, there is a City called Forliasa, it's an ancient city, older than any records began. Some have speculated that this city is the first city that humanity ever founded.”
“I see.”
“Well, the city has been lost for centuries. I have been conversing with many guilds across the globe in the hope to find this city, mainly out of curiosity. I am intrigued to see what such an ancient city will look like and hold. The problem is, as I have already said, it is lost.”
“Did it not appear on any maps?”
“Not as such.” AJ sighed. “The city.” He pondered his next words carefully, for at least 30 seconds before he continued. “It moves.”
“It moves? Do you mean the people in it move and found the city elsewhere?” Amy asked with confused look upon her face.
“You see, from what I and the others have discovered, mages inhabited the city. They got into some sort of quarrel with a city that was founded nearby, something about the pools of magic that they had access to interfering with the drinking water. A war broke out, so the mages decided they had enough and didn't want any truck with the fight. So upped and moved.”
“The mages moved out then?”
“No. They enchanted the city and moved it instead. Now it can't be found. Whenever anyone gets close to it, the city just buggers off. Throughout history it has been sometimes chartered in places and appeared on maps, but they were few and far between. Most of the time, when it's found it disappears before anyone even gets the chance to tell anyone else. It has vanished without a trace now for the past 400 years.”
“AJ.” Said Amy
“Yes?”
“Ever heard of satellites?”
“Yes. That's one of the things we've been using to try and find the city. Consecutive directors of NASA have been involved in trying to find this city. This is why we had the moon landings, apparently the city was on there for a point in the 60s. Satellites are used all the time, but it is just not seen from space.”
“But you think you've found it now?”
AJ smiled again.
“I believe so. There is a small anomaly on the maps at a certain location that indicates that the city may be there, or possibly underground. We just have to find the right time and place to try and approach it. If the city thinks we know where it is, it'll disappear.”
“AJ.”
“Amy.”
“That's probably one of the most mental things I've ever heard.” She said calmly. “But I think I believe you. Where is it?”
“Apparently it's in London somewhere.” Said AJ.
Amy laughed. “That's Diagon Ally, from Harry Potter!” She punched him on the arm playfully.
AJ wasn't playing though. “We're going to London after slam next week. We'll see.” He said matter of factly.
Amy snuggled into his arms a little more.
“You do tell the best stories though, I'll give you that.”