3.25 The Date III

3.25 The Date III

It was odd, visiting a park hanging thousands of feet into the air.

Despite being wrapped around a gigantic, dead tree trunk, the park was more or less the same as the ones Zoey knew back home. Lush green grass, simple pathways crisscrossing here and there, sparse trees, and even a decently sized pond.

The logistics behind all that—how they’d built a park in the sky—hurt Zoey’s head, but so did the logistics behind the entire city. How had the designers and constructors managed to create Treyhull? How did they bring supplies up? How had they gotten the millions of gallons—or whatever the quantity was—of water needed to fill the pond, much less the material for the rest of the enormous tree city?

With magic on their side. The exact applications, Zoey couldn’t guess at, but magic in any capacity would simplify pesky things like logistics.

As they completed the last leg of the trip to the park, Zoey chatted with Rosalie about her slowly returning memories—the bits and pieces she could glean, foggy as they were. She tried to be honest without revealing too much about her status as an inter-dimensional traveler ... or whatever Ephy had done to get her here. Zoey didn’t know if this was a different planet, or universe entirely, or whatever. Those were questions above her pay grade. Easy to ignore, and not especially important.

Mostly, she talked about her childhood memories and how she grew up. Rosalie seemed interested in trying to guess where she was from, using the tidbits Zoey described to her, but she mostly ended up perplexed—an inevitable result, seeing how the suburban lifestyle of someone from modern-day Earth didn’t match anywhere in this world.

It was freeing to discuss her history, even if Zoey didn’t—and sometimes couldn’t—go into real depth. Still, she painted a picture of her past, and what she’d been like, growing up. She talked a bit about family, but those bits were always the foggiest—the parts that Zoey might have an attachment to.

Because that had been Ephy’s intent: to scrub her brain of distractions. And it had worked, unnerving as the experience was. She was unsettled by how she couldn’t remember her parents’ or potential brother’s face, but it also meant Zoey wasn’t agonizing over homesickness. In fact, bizarre as her time in this new world had been, she actually, unequivocally, liked it here. And that was only mostly of the fault of Rosalie and Delta. The world itself was fascinating.

Zoey had scouted out the Eden’s Retreat Park with Maddy earlier in the day, so she knew where to lead them. The park was busy—it was a beautiful day out, and approaching evening, so of course it was—but not excessively so.

“It’s crazy they managed to build all this,” Zoey said, nodding, specifically, at the pond. They were strolling its edge, hand in hand, at a relaxed pace. The first order of business was feeding the ducks, but first they had to track the sneaky bastards down. Like Zoey had said, it was a big pond. “The buildings I can kind of wrap my head around, but half a lake? How?”

Rosalie hummed. “It must have been an undertaking,” she agreed. “Though hardly impossible. Inventories and laborer classes make projects like this rather less intimidating than you’d think. Mostly, I can’t help but think how wasteful it all is.”

“Wasteful?” Zoey asked, surprised. “Why?”

“All this for a park?” Rosalie shrugged. “Impractical, I suppose. A waste of resources.”

“Having somewhere nice to relax isn’t wasteful,” Zoey said. Rosalie really did have such an overly utilitarian perspective. “Look how pretty it is. It’s good for the soul. Cities need recreational areas like this. Though ... I get your point.” Even with magic aiding them, building a park in the sky—such an extensive feat. And there were several in Treyhull. Crazy.

“Plus,” Rosalie said. “It seems dangerous. This has to be one of the riskiest places in the city.”

Again, Zoey was taken off guard. “Dangerous? Why?” A second later, the answer came to her. “Monsters?” Sometimes she forgot about those.

“All this open air.” She scanned the sky, and Zoey couldn’t help but do the same. “It must be a headache keeping people safe. That’s why there’s so many guards.”

Zoey looked thoughtfully around the park. “There are more than usual, aren’t there?” She hadn’t noticed it until Rosalie had pointed it out. The green and blue uniforms of the Treyhull City Guard had become background noise to Zoey. She was used to seeing plenty of patrols, but there were even more than normal—by a significant amount. “How common are attacks, anyway? We haven’t seen one.”

“We’ve been in Treyhull two days. They’re common, but not so much you’ll see one every outing.” She shrugged. “Not that I know for sure. I’m hardly an expert on Treyhull’s monster conditions. But the Fractures in general are a chaotic place, so it can’t be all that uncommon.”

Zoey chewed on that for a few moments. “I’m surprised so many people come here, despite that.” Zoey knew why—for the profit that came with supporting wayfarers—but even so. Were things bad up in Haven? The people here didn’t seem especially desperate, so surely not.

“Haven has its own issues,” Rosalie said. “I suppose from a larger perspective, risk of monster attack isn’t such a deterrent. I’m the wrong person to ask.”

They walked for a few moments, Zoey considering her words. She hadn’t really thought about the Fractures’—and Haven’s—big picture. Considering her mission in this world, she really should start doing so more. But that would come later. She was on a date. She shook the thoughts away.

Zoey gave her a pointed look. “Well, some people don’t seem to mind it.” She made it clear who the ‘some’ referred to.

Rosalie’s cheeks colored, but she ignored the accusation. “Anyway,” Rosalie said. “It’s fine if you’re not some prodigy. You don’t need to become an expert spellcaster in two weeks. You just need to learn a few defensive spells, so if something slips me, you’ll be fine.”

“That’s the plan.”

The sun beat down with a gentle warmth. The air was starting to cool, but it was still bright and hot out, only a few scattered clouds providing shade. Pressed so close to her, Rosalie’s scent was distracting. She’d worn a floral perfume that made it hard to think. Though, Zoey would’ve found it hard to think just having Rosalie pressed into her.

“Near the end, I think I was getting close to ice armor not fizzling,” Zoey said. “So, if that’s a good pace ...” she shrugged. “Then yeah, it went well. But I wouldn’t know.”

“I don’t, either,” Rosalie admitted. “I’m not a mage. But new spells take time to learn, and especially your first few. I know that much.”

“It gets easier with each one?”

“So I’ve been told.”

Zoey thought about that. “Your family’s all warriors, then?” Er, what was the role Rosalie sorted herself under? “Lancers?” Classes that had an equal mix of defense and offense.

“Elodie uses a sword. The rest of us, spears. So, yes—all warriors, more or less. Not all lancers.”

“More or less?”

“Well,” Rosalie said. “Classes can’t be sorted so simply.” She shrugged, as if a full explanation would be too tangential to get into.

“I wonder if my arcana rune will advance as fast as my other two,” Zoey said. “I figure it hasn’t yet because I’ve barely used it.” Mostly, it had been her two lewder runes that she’d used to aid Delta and Rosalie. “But now, maybe it will?” Now that she was training. Advancement didn’t come only through shards—though it was the fastest way.

“I’d assume so.” Rosalie leaned off Zoey, abruptly, spotting something. She shaded her eyes and peered across the pond. “Ah.” She pointed. “There they are.”

Zoey failed to see what she was pointing at. “I’ll take your word for it.” A second later, she realized why Rosalie had spotted them so easily. “Advancements give you better eyesight, don’t they?”

“Better everything,” Rosalie said idly. “Haven’t you noticed? You’re technically second advancement, now. Each rune’s advancement gives passive benefits.”

“Right.” She thought about it. Heavy objects had felt lighter, recently, and maybe she could see and hear more sharply than before. “It’s not super noticeable, but yeah. I think so.”

“It’s mild at first. And more pronounced for me. I’m a physical fighter. My senses are more integral to my class, so I get more.”

“I’m jealous. Super strength and reflexes.”

“And I,” Rosalie said amusedly, “would like to conjure walls of ice from thin air. But we get what we get.”

That was fair. Magic was nothing to sneeze at. But super strength would’ve been pretty amazing. Specifically, for some less-than-appropriate reasons. Zoey would like to be able to toss Rosalie around like she weighed nothing. It would make certain activities ... more fun.

Their lackadaisical pace picked up, the two of them having identified their prey. The ducks came into view.