Chapter 218

218 Research And Development

Shock covered Skye’s face as she walked in through the doors. The building was as big as the palace, if not bigger. Massive ancient machinery was scattered all over the open first floor. Each wall was covered by smaller various things. The only obstructions coming from the over-sized pillars that held up the other couple floors above.

The first thing that caught her eye was the very first ancient machine she’d ever read about: the flying machine called an airplane. Skye had seen and read about them, so as she and Tidas walked around it, she started going off about the different parts. Everything from the wings and tail, to her guesses on how the engine worked.

Tidas smiled and nodded as he listened to his wife. He didn’t understand half of it, but loved how excited she was over it all. He asked a question here or there, but mostly he just listened to her rant. ‘She’s so cute when she gets worked up like this.’

As the Royal couple walked and talked, a man stood behind the closest pillar watching them. Tidas knew that someone was there, and who it was. Jakub probably came to see who was here and saw it was them. He most likely wanted to see what Skye’s knowledge base was before introducing himself.

They moved on from the biggest item there to the more random things. One wall was lined with all kinds of eating, drinking, and cooking utensils. Skye automatically lit up as she ran over to it.

“I’ve read about this! Tis called a thermos, and people used it to keep beverages in. Ye twist off the top, which is actually a cup, then twist off a kind of cork to pour the liquid into.”

Skye turned to face her husband; “Ye know that thick, black drink that Genie imported from the Fire Nation that ye didn’t like? Those black beans? Ancient people used to mostly keep that in it.”

Tidas’ expression went slightly sour; “It wasn’t so bad once you put sugar in it.. What I didn’t like was that my heart felt like it was going to explode if I didn’t go running for an hour.. And my stomach after..”

Tidas scrunched his face and shook slightly for dramatic effect as he recalled the ordeal. His antics sent Skye into a fit of laughter, causing her mirth to echo within the enormous room. The pleasant sound made Tidas chuckle along with her. Her laugh had always been the contagious kind.

.....

The memory she was referring to was from shortly before he’d left. Genie was giving Skye a lesson on extensive trade with other kingdoms. They were discussing the pros and cons of strictly trading within the same continent and kingdoms when Tidas had showed up unannounced. He listened in instead of interrupting because it was knowledge he could benefit from.

Skye had a contemplative look on her face as she spoke to her teacher and mentor; “Ye have told me how expensive it is to ship things overseas. Not to mention the high risks of piracy, the weather, or other random acts of fate.. How could the benefit outweigh the cost?”

Genie had chuckled at his adept pupil before replying; “Excellent points, Skye. Tidas, do you know the possible benefits?”

After a couple minutes of thinking, Tidas answered; “Well.. Because the items are so hard to come by or rare, their prices can be set extremely high. Even cheap, common bobbles from a foreign land would sell like golden idols here. The margin for profit could easily cover any lost ships or merchandise, although I feel bad for the shipmates in those scenarios. No amount of money is worth a life..”

Genie’s face beamed as he looked back and forth between the two young ones; “Correct! And I agree with you: no one should ever be able to put a price on a person.. On a happier note, I have a surprise for you two for a job well done..”

Like magic, Peggy came out into Skye’s courtyard where they were with a tray in her hands. The tray had three tea cups, a bowl of sugar, a container of cream, and a silver metal pot on it. The smell coming from is was strong, but oddly pleasant. Genie poured them each a cup except for Peggy. He had her try it already, and she hadn’t liked it at all.

“First, I want you two to taste it in it’s purest form. It’s extremely bitter, and extremely hot, so be careful.”

Tidas had hated it, but Skye didn’t mind it so much. She was already eyeing the sugar and cream, expecting it to taste better with a little dabbling. Genie snickered as he watched his student. Skye never was one to turn down trying a new food or drink.

Once he allowed them to add the sugar and cream, Skye had loved coffee. Tidas wound up needing to make it half cream, half coffee with a lot of sugar. Skye had always thought of the memory fondly anytime she drank it, until Tidas’ supposed death. She couldn’t drink if after that; it was too painful. When Genie left, only Lidia drank it, and only when she knew Skye wouldn’t be around. Her mother didn’t want the smell to dredge up memories for her.

Staring at Tidas as he laughed with her, Skye couldn’t resist wrapping her arms around him. All the nights she’d cried herself to sleep seemed so far away now, but she still remembered it. The pain was gone, but the trauma made her appreciate every moment she had with him.

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Embracing her back, Tidas told her that he loved her as he added a kiss to top of her head. She beamed back as she repeated the phrase to him, then leaned up on her tiptoes to plant a sweet, quick kiss on his lips.

“You guys are adorable together. Relationship goals right there,” Jakub stated as he came around from one of the pillars.

“Skye smiled brightly at him; “Thank you for the compliment. It was nice of you to come out from the shadows to say.”

The comment did not match her cheery voice or outer appearance, making Tidas chuckle again. He should’ve figured Skye had sensed him as well. She’d done an incredible job at suppressing her magic when she’d snuck up on him before lunch. Her growth and ability to read and control her magic astounded him every time.

Jakub looked a little unsettled by Skye’s comment, but continued anyway; “Sorry about that.. I wanted to see if you knew about anything in here before I introduced myself. I’m Jakub Yeager, at your service.”

Skye knew exactly who he was; most did. He was the genius Shepherd that Magnus sent straight to the R&D Department at age seventeen. He was responsible for reinventing ancient machines like the generators and the electrical system that ran throughout the palace. He was also responsible for the light poles that were slowly replacing the oil ones.

“Hello, I’m Skye Moonstone,” she replied as she curtsied, which looked a bit silly without a dress on.

“Pleasure to meet you. And you don’t need to stand on ceremony with me; talk freely. I know you prefer the commoner’s tongue. Tidas talks about you often.”

“Oh?” Skye turned towards her husband with an impish grin; “Does he now?”

Not missing a beat, Tidas smiled and nodded; “Aye, I do.”

Skye sighed heavily, but kept a smile on her face; “Ye know, ye take all the fun out of teasin’ ye when ye do that.”

Tidas quirked an eyebrow and grinned cheekily; “Do what?”

Skye narrowed her eyes at him playfully; “Ye know what ye do, husband.. Don’t play dumb.”

Watching Tidas put his arms up in defeat with a smile, Jakub chuckled at their banter. He normally didn’t care to see couples acting so cutesy, but these two were genuine with their affection for each other. Which made it bearable.

After a bit of talking, the group moved around looking at various displays. Skye and Jakub constantly went off on tangents together about certain items and their possible future applications. There was an item that looked like a small black metal box. Jakub found out that when electricity was introduced, a kind of flap popped out. It looked like an item was meant to be put into it, but they weren’t sure what.

The object intrigued them greatly, causing a rather lengthy discussion about what it’s use could’ve been. Skye could’ve sworn that she’d read somewhere about a little black box that showed moving pictures and sound over a monitor, but she wasn’t sure. The thought had sparked their vivid exchange, and kept them going back and forth for a solid twenty minutes just on the one item.

An hour later, Tidas had finally managed to get them down the two flights of stairs to the floor solely controlled by Jakub. He had inventions scattered everywhere. From tiny household-use ones, to ancient vehicles being designed for military use. As they walked through, Skye marveled at it all. She couldn’t believe he had done so much in such a short amount of time.

“This is Amazin’! I can’t believe you’ve done all this yer self,” Skye said as her head darted back and forth.

Jakub straightened his back with a cocky grin on his face; “Well, not to brag but I did. Everything in this room was designed by me. I did have to have help to make some of them operational, though.. It’s actually why I requested your husband bring you here..”

Jakub looked nervous, which made Skye grin. It was silly for him to feel guilty using her husband to get her here. According to Tidas, they saw each other every few days. Asking him versus sending an official request to the palace saved Jakub from quite a bit of waiting and paperwork. This way, they could also take their time and chat.

Skye was staring at him with a tiny smile on her face; “And why did ye want me husband to bring me here? Do ye need help with somethin’?”

Jakub shook his head in the positive; “Aye. I’m working on an item that helps with agricultural cultivation, but I need to infuse Earth and Water magic into it. The two mages that usually help me haven’t been available lately, and it’s putting my projections behind. Can you help me please?”

Skye bit down on the tip of her thumb as she contemplated. ‘If I help him, not only could I learn more about Unison magic, but he might let me tinker a bit me self.. Oh! Maybe he’ll help me make that snow-packing contraption I thought of before!’

Locking eyes with him, Skye replied confidently; “Aye, I’ll help ye so long as ye understand that I barely know how to use Unison magic, and I want to look at all yer other projects that Ima allowed to. Oh! And I want to pitch some ideas of me own as well. If you can agree to that, then it’s a deal.”

Jakub smiled broadly as he stuck his hand out to shake on their agreement; “I think we’re gonna get along very well, princess! Now let’s go and see if we can avoid blowing ourselves up, haha!”