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The soft afternoon sun glinted brightly off the Pegasus-drawn carriage parked in front of the atelier. The bags had all been packed and loaded on, destination set, and all that remained now were the emotive farewells.
Qifrey was leaning out the window, already on board, his hand being ardently grabbed by both Tetia and Coco.
“Bye, Master Qifrey!” Coco called. “Safe travels!”
“We’ll miss you!” Tetia declared.
Coco nodded fervently. “We all will.”
Qifrey surveyed his surroundings. From his vantage point, he couldn’t even spot Richeh. Beldaruit sat in his chair, by the door, amused as always. Agott, arms crossed, stood next to him. She refused to say anything. She’d wanted to double check the seal on the underside of the carriage, but they hadn’t let her crawl around underneath it in case the Pegasus took fright and kicked. She avoided his gaze.
He smiled. “I’m sure you will. I’ll miss you all too.” Qifrey extricated his hand with a bemused smile, before closing the carriage window with finality.
“We’re only gone for a week.” Olruggio said, shaking his head before clambering into the other carriage door.
“Anything could happen in a week!” Tetia retorted.
“We’ll miss you too, Master Olly!” Coco called, but they’d shut the doors already and thus shut their ears to them.
“Richeh, come back from the front.” Beldaruit called.
Richeh was standing next to one of the two radiant Pegasus, staring into its face intently. “You are Richeh’s favourite.” She said, nodding again as she stroked the horse’s neck.
Eventually, when they all backed up, the Pegasus-drawn chariot dove up into the sky, leaving behind the atelier nestled in the hills. The four girls stood by the entryway, waving with decreasing vigour as the faces of their professors became less and less distinct. With Richeh’s streaming ribbons glinting and trailing from where they were attached to the back, it looked almost like a shooting star.
Beldaruit noticed a thoughtful frown on Coco’s face, and rested a hand on her shoulder. He was there in person, of course, and had made the case that whilst he was visiting anyway, he could stay a couple days at the atelier and look after the girls there.
Or so he had insisted as such, to get a sense for what his “unruly ex-apprentice” had been getting up to out here, to which the girls happily volunteered to be the tour guide. Qifrey had protested, complaining that the “senile old geezer” had no business poking around his business, but had been swayed by the excitement of the girls. Olruggio simply pointed to the myriad ‘keep out’ signs adorning his door once more.
“Where are they off to again?” Coco asked, turning to direct the question to Beldaruit.
“Up the Eastern coast, then inland through Mudrock Canyon range and across the plains.”
“I still wish I was allowed to go with them.” Coco sighed wistfully.
“I know, dear grand-apprentice. But you cannot.” He smiled down at her. “One day, I’m sure you will travel those roads yourself.”
Coco nodded dreamily. “I’d love that.”
They stared up into the sky again, to where the carriage became a mere retreating dot, before they turned to go back inside.
“Grandpapa, can I wear my pretty dress again? I loved the way it spun around.” Tetia asked, fists grasping the fabric of her skirt and swooshing them around in imitation.
Beldaruit laughed in delight. “Grandpapa, is it?”
“Please! I’m not over all the excitement yet.”
“Of course you can, Tetia.”
Richeh nodded. “Richeh wants to dress up too.”
“Will you wear your suit again, Agott?” Coco asked. “It was very dashing with the double-breasted waistcoat- most commissions we got back at the tailor’s shop were dresses, but there were some suits my mum made which-“ she fell abruptly quiet.
Agott, blushing, seemed moved to stunned silence by Coco’s questioning, but had a sudden rush to speak to fill the silence left by the mention of Coco’s mother.
“Maybe, if you want. I mean- that is. I think suits are cool.”
They all changed again with as much fanfare as last time. Now the attention was solely on them, they showed off to Beldaruit, who clapped his hands in delight before scribbling a spell down that brought lights to shine and shimmer across their impromptu catwalk.
What stole the show was a silly little seal, of Tetia’s invention, and Coco’s ardent assistance; a hem rowed with small air sigils in different directions that made the ring of the skirt constantly ruffle and splay with false wind. She’d had many moments with prototypes she’d altered before the real one, with too strong, or too unevenly balanced winds. Olruggio, an unwitting test subject, indulged her with an early prototype, and the gusts pulled and swayed around his ankles so much he tripped over, much to Qifrey’s endless laughter and Olly’s resultant chagrined blush.
Agott also proudly showed off the decorations she’d designed especially, of winding glowing animals of the kind she loved best, and they all paid rapt attention, nevermind that they’d all seen them the previous day, and in the first attempts Agott had failed to restrain herself from shyly showcasing in the weeks prior.
They then showed Beldaruit their other favourite seals, clamouring around his chair and sometimes up on his lap, before they raided Qifrey’s kitchen for the meals they knew he’d meticulously pre-cooked and stored in repetition cookpots for them.
While eating, Coco spilled water on Richeh’s skirt and got up with a start to run and fetch Olly’s water repelling link rings. She was halfway to his door before she remembered, backtracked to Qifrey’s room, and collected them from there instead.
The rest of dinner passed without incident, unless you counted Agott’s scrutinising of Tetia’s slightly unevenly drawn fire spell as an incident, considering the commonality of these kinds of audits Agott passed on those around her.
Soon the girls grew tired, and Tetia insisted on being Beldaruit’s personal assistant in getting him situated in bed, though the clever manoeuvrings of the sealchair’s design did most of the work. Richeh watched attentively as well, though didn’t move much to help. She simply said she wanted to see what Riliphin counted among his duties.
The next day, a mini-Beldy chartered round the atelier with them. They gave him the official tour, from the kitchen and living room he’d already seen, to each of their study rooms and bedrooms. They passed the tower they said “Master Qifrey likes to brood in” to no further explanation, then crossed the bridge between ateliers and blatantly pushed past all keep out warnings into Olruggio’s study to show that off too.
The stairways all had new guard rails affectionately assembled by Olruggio in the face of Qifrey’s growing blindness. For the days when his vision fuzzed before him, and he needed a break from the stronger seals he’d etched on the clear lens of his glasses. It was partly why everything had been so rushed, for that little just-in-case he fretted over where he woke up with nothing at all save the tactile feel of Olly’s hand in his.
They then led him to the berry bushes outside, and down to the bridge near the road. Coco told him about a picnic they’d had out in the rain, dreamily recounting a time when everything had been new and unfamiliar, before all this had truly become home.
While returning back up to the house, passing through the fields and trees Qifrey liked to maintain, Richeh stopped suddenly and dropped to squat over the dirt.
The others stopped too, turning to look at her quizzically. “What’s the matter, Richeh?” Agott asked.
Richeh pointed down to the vegetable patch she was crouching beside. “These are ready.”
One by one, Tetia, Coco and Agott also leaned over to survey the patch. Brushbug peered so far forward off Tetia’s shoulder that he dropped down into the dirt with a squeak.
“You’re right,” Coco confirmed. “Master Qifrey said this plant grows little flowers above ground when it’s ready.”
“Some of the mountain apple bushes are also ripe.” Agott said, pointing towards them.
“Yeah! I remember Master Qifrey mentioning a few weeks back that some of the crops would be ready to harvest soon.” Tetia said. “He said it was the season for it.”
“We should gather them ourselves then.” Coco suggested. “We wouldn’t want them going bad, even though the pest-warding spells should stop any other critters from stealing them.”
“And then we can show him we can do it ourselves while he’s away.” Tetia agreed.
They all turned to look at Beldaruit for confirmation.
“You girls know how to?” He asked quizzically.
“It’s not that hard.” Agott said. “We can show you.”
And so, arms laden with the baskets, tools and spells they needed, they chattered amongst themselves while he manoeuvred his sealchair outside to join them.
They set to showing him how they did it; the colours each fruit should be before they were plucked, the best way to uproot each vegetable, the specific spells that were most useful. Beldaruit could see the lessons Qifrey had hidden behind the practical spells, more adept at identifying teaching methods for those than that of farm work. They put a basket in his lap that piled high with mountain apples their spells dutifully dropped in. Only one stray apple hit him square in the chest, accompanied by a soft “Ooof” from him and a profuse apology from Coco. Brushbug had settled on the arm of his chair, also taking an interest in watching them work, making little chirruping noises as if he was learning too.
Beldaruit tilted his head up, feeling the sun warm his face.
This was a different kind of life, out here. One he’d never had himself. One he hadn’t taught Qifrey. One he was happy to let the girls teach him, just as they’d taught him so many things in their sweet, unintentional way.
After they both tired of gardening and exhausted the crops they could gather, they returned back inside. Beldaruit suggested they try and cook something using their hard work, and they perked up at the idea.
While they ran off to clean themselves up, Beldaruit moved over to the kitchen. He tutted over the overstuffed cookbook, recognising some pages that had started as recipes Beldaruit had passed on, whenever his whims insisted on cooking with his apprentice rather than eating at the food court. It was important, he’d determined, that a witch learn an array of skills.
A younger Qifrey had grumbled and protested, but Beldaruit was firm. If he couldn’t put a stop altogether to the nights his son snuck out and travelled the surface world, then at least he could sway the substance of those repeated campfire meals. This was an unobtrusive way of conveying his worry, his care.
Nowadays, the cookbook grew past those initial pages, a labour of love, of crossed out ingredients, of annotations crawling over the space in both Qifrey and Olruggio’s handwriting, little memos that grew over the years that noted the list of each girl’s likes and dislikes as they arose. Beldaruit left those sacred pages be, instead tutting at how some of the recipes he’d passed down to Qifrey had been altered, endeavouring to teach the girls the proper way.
They decided on a variation of a moussaka that used plenty of their vegetables, as well as a sweet apple pastry for dessert.
The moussaka used layered fuzzbergine, zwirlcchini, carapace yams, and swordcarrots which they chopped and prepped together, along with crysanthonions which Beldaruit bravely volunteered to chop and ended up in tears. They raided Qifrey’s stores for the whirlfuzz tomatoes and frillram meat, and made the bechamel sauce out of buffashoal milk.
After that, they waited impatiently as their creation baked, and the moment it was done they hardly waited for it to cool down before it was plated up and in their mouths.
They all agreed it tasted all the better having made it together.
After dinner, Beldaruit told them stories, twisting his illusions through his tales as if it was as easy as breathing for him. The stories were wide, fantastical, of magical feats and magical bravery, and of the cautions of the witches of old. The stories were real, personal, of Qifrey and Olruggio swaying home one day with new yet old tassels on their hats. A mirror to the time the girls thus recounted of them coming home from one of their conversations out in the fields. This time, with interlaced hands and a decision for their future fixed firmly in mind.
The third day of their adventures dawned summery again and the girls bounded with energy, fixing breakfast and even getting some morning study in before they thought to pester Beldaruit.
“I’m afraid I’m tired today, my lovelies.” He said with a wan smile, sitting up in bed.
He was for the time borrowing Qifrey’s room, and the girls had little trouble running around it and staying close to the atelier to not worry him. They knew people had good and bad days. They spent the afternoon in the care of Alaira while he rested.
Alaira and Euini had been staying in the area, which to Beldaruit and other polite company, meant ‘somehow found an inn nearby’, and to the girls meant they were staying as they now were accustomed to and liked, to sleep out in the wild on the plains.
They’d made their return to witch society when Alaira, after many months of fervent chase, had tracked that dastardly Brimmed Hat who had kidnapped Euini at his second test, and recovered him safe and sound. Or so it went. She was venerated, and Euini, now under the pointed cap and cloak of Alaira’s livery, still transformed into a scalewolf when desired.
Upon their return, Lord Beldaruit had offered Euini a make-up test similar to the one the girls had had in order to pass the second test. He’d shaken his head, saying he’d wait for next year and try again. Beldaruit had simply laughed, claimed he’d been bested by the little witch, and declared him to have passed for that surprise alone.
They’d thrown a little celebration for him, back at the atelier. They’d figured out some birthday or other fell soon before or after, and Tartah, Custas and Jujy had been invited too, quickly getting along with the markedly shyer Euini.
Qifrey sidled up to Alaira where she stood at the edge of the room. They both watched the kids run around, high off too much sugar and cake. Euini looked like himself; he was a kid for now, of course, but he was himself.
Qifrey had smiled in Alaira’s direction.
“Shut up.” She said quietly.
“I didn’t say anything!” He protested.
She gave him a look that said I know you, old friend.
Qifrey let her have her silence for a moment before he broke it. “I told you being a professor was the best job in the world.”
She turned to repeat her earlier protest, but Olruggio at that moment had inadvertently entered the fray of frenzied children, tripping over the carpet while trying to cross the room. He ended up sprawled on the floor, a fact that did not escape the notice of the entire room, which cracked up at his expense, and only worsened at his ensuing grouchy complaints.
Hiehart joined him on the floor, though only because he too was laughing - he’d also had too much sugar. Qifrey was the one who eventually took pity on Olruggio, helping him up and patting his back in soft, commiserative circles. Olruggio’s grumbling loosened at the sight of Qifrey’s smile.
Euini let out a giggle too at the proceedings, and Alaira felt pride well within her. Things would be alright.
But at the present time, Euini was in his wolf form again, as the girls had found a delightful game running around the fields with him, making up rules as they went. Over the course of the game his scales gradually flaked off, drifting in the wind, until all that remained was his soft black fur.
After running back home and wolfing down dinner they rushed back out again to sit out and watch the stars. Euini was large enough that they could all squish up and lean against his side, feeling the great movement of his breaths against their backs. Coco brought out some leftover cake she’d stolen from the kitchen and shared it round.
Richeh patted Euini’s fur idly while they all pointed out constellations in the sky. He was the first to fall asleep, his great snout drifting lower to the ground and tail swishing slightly, surrounded by the comfort of being among those that know you. When Tetia fell asleep too, Alaira took it upon herself to rouse and corral them back up to the atelier in a pack of sleepy yawns.
An illusory Beldaruit greeted them from the doorway, where he’d been squinting out into where dark sky met dark horizon. They apologised for the late hour and for worrying him, and promptly fell into their beds.
The next day they devoted to their studies. After days of activity, while fun, they found themselves itching to get back to it, minds buzzing with spells they’d half-conjured while out and about. Beldaruit smiled to learn this, glad his apprentice had instilled such a love for magic in them that they’d return to it even given free reign.
And so they settled into independent study in their shared work rooms. Richeh scrambled into one of her pots to sit amongst her things, craving a little pocket of quiet, save from the soft humming of Tetia drifting down from outside the pot. Agott and Coco sat opposite each other at their own desks, sharing a companionable silence.
Or, mostly silent, at least. After the third long, wistful, aimless sigh Coco let out, Agott couldn’t ignore it any longer and slammed her pen down on her paper. “What’s up?”
“Me? Oh- uh, sorry.” Coco smiled sheepishly, reaching to tuck a strand of hair behind her ears. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
Agott blushed a little at the voracity of her own overreaction, at how closely she’d been attending to the sighs of Coco as though they resonated with the strings of her own heart. “It’s fine, you didn’t, really. I was just curious.”
Coco smiled, facing Agott and resting her head against one of her fists that was braced against her desk through her elbow, her cheek squished up slightly. “It’s nothing much, really, I was just thinking about where Master Olly and Master Qifrey are going, and I know Beldaruit said I would go there some day, I just can’t bear waiting.” She threw her arms out expansively. “There’s just so much to this country, and as a witch it feels so close, like it’s just within reach…” she reached a palm out to mimic the motion, then closed it on empty air. “And yet I still can’t reach for it quite yet. I just worry sometimes, and I know it’s irrational, and Master Qifrey won’t let them take my magic from me. But what if I don’t…”
Agott listened attentively, turning over Coco’s words in her mind. She stewed through it, sorting things out in her careful way. “Well, there’s only one thing to do about that. We’ll go see all that now.”
Coco’s eyes widened. “What? But I-“
“We,” Agott said grandly, standing up as she did, “are going to take you on the best country wide tour you’ll ever get. Better than even our Masters’ one.”
“But what about-“
“And, we will do it before they even get back.” Agott reached out to grasp Coco’s hand. “Come on, we need Tetia and Richeh’s help.”
It didn’t take long to explain Agott’s plan, and soon all three girls were nodding their excited agreement.
Beldaruit in the meantime had been enjoying the relative quiet, as he snooped around a few choice areas the girls had shown him earlier on their tour, but he heard a gradual increase in chattering excitement from upstairs. They must be working on a good one.
His incessant, still childlike curiosity reared its head, but he refrained from directly meddling. As much as was possible for him, at least. He brought them tea and snacks, and tried to catch a glimpse of what they were working on, all gathered in the centre of Tetia and Richeh’s work room. But they keenly deflected his idle questions. When they eventually visited the living room he waited for them to approach him, only to have his interest piqued even more when they dragged out the heavy atlas of maps and images from the bookcase and brought it back up to their room.
Even at dinner they proved inscrutable, simply rushing through eating and running back upstairs to get back to it. He had to remind them a few times before they agreed to go to bed. Darn these girls! Surely they could humble the curiosity of their loving Grandpapa?
By the following day when they continued their secretive spellwork with no signs of stopping, his interest shifted slightly, more towards worry. That was because he could’ve sworn they’d started packing.
They came to the kitchen, huddling around Qifrey’s meticulous cupboard of stored food and nodding as they grabbed some, then shaking their heads as he asked if they were hungry. They stole blankets from the living room, raided the linen cupboard, and fetched the spare suitcases their masters hadn’t needed for their trip. And stranger things, too, like measuring the dining room chairs, or coming down to simply stare at the living room before returning back upstairs shaking their heads.
Beldaruit remembered when he had his own little rascal who would run and get into trouble without another word. The spikes of fear he’d get every time he saw him preparing a bag or huddled in hushed conversation with his ever-present co-conspirator for just slightly too long.
But he knew Qifrey. He understood how his son operated, and even though it broke his heart sometimes, he knew the best thing he could do for him was to never try and control him. He kept loose boundaries on purpose, tried to simply be a safe place for Qifrey to return to. He had known Qifrey would pursue the Brimmed Hats regardless of Beldaruit’s dissuasion.
But these girls were different. For starters, as much as he adored them, they weren’t his apprentices. He was responsible for them and would never let Qifrey down like that - though heavens knows he had in the past. He’d seen how his son cared for these four girls like nothing else - with the ubiquitous exception of Olruggio, of course.
It was half a day of fretting before he eventually broached the question at lunch. Tetia, in between mouthfuls of food, had looked suddenly struck by a particular idea and had turned to whisper in Agott’s ear, to which the other girl had nodded slowly and whispered back. Beldaruit had steepled his hands in front of him before asking, “Girls, what in heavens name are you planning?” He couldn’t keep the smallest tinge of exasperation from seeping into his voice.
Tetia froze like a shocked brushbug. Coco and Richeh immediately looked away from him. Agott met his eyes and explained, measuredly, “It’s a secret.”
“I’ve gathered that much,” he smiled gently. “But I’d prefer to know the nature of the secret, just so I know you won’t be in danger.”
“It’s not dangerous, I promise.” Coco ensured.
“I appreciate that. But I still would prefer to know. Magic can end up being dangerous despite the best of intentions. Or, if you’re planning on leaving the atelier, for instance, I would need to tell your masters.”
Tetia’s eyes widened. “Oh, no! We aren’t doing anything like that, we…”
The girls looked between each other for a moment, assessing, before eventually they seemed to come to a wordless consensus. Coco was the one to explain. “We’ve been planning a giant spell - a series of spells, really. We wanted to go to all the places Master Qifrey and Master Olruggio are going, and we know we can’t yet. So we wanted to pretend we could.”
“So…” Beldaruit was still confused.
“Illusion magic.” Agott confirmed. “We weren’t going to actually go anywhere, we just wanted to make it feel more accurate.”
Beldaruit found himself laughing in relief. “Oh, that’s really all? And here I’d worked it all up in my brain because I thought you’d started packing your things.”
“Of course not!” Tetia sounded appalled. “You can’t have a stay in a luxurious hotel without blankets and snacks! Besides, we needed different outfits for different weather.” She pointed out as if it was obvious.
“Oh, you should have told me, girls!” Beldaruit smiled in mirth. “You know how fond I am of this kind of magic.”
“We know.” Richeh said. “That’s why we wanted to do it without you, so we could show you what we would make of these spells. Our way of doing it.”
“Mmmm, of course. Every storyteller has their own way of weaving their stories. I would never seek to overwrite your stories, but if you need guidance, don’t hesitate to ask.”
Tetia and Coco, the ruse finally broken, physically vibrated with excitement. They nonetheless held themselves back, until Richeh tilted her head in consideration. “Perhaps… we can show you some of what we’ve done so far?”
They didn’t need to be told twice. The girls ran upstairs, and after a while of deliberation in which Beldaruit had half convinced himself they wouldn’t return, they dragged a large sheet of paper into the kitchen.
They spread it across the kitchen bench and he leaned in, eyes following over the multilayered spell. Most of it was tacked together, with smaller pieces of paper pasted over past mistakes. Still, he grasped the general flow of it from decades of pouring over things like this. It was impressive; more complex than most of the ones he tended to use, constructed of many different smaller spells connecting with particular time-bound mechanics.
“What are these?” He pointed to a series of small water generating spells embedded within one of the larger illusion spells. The placement was weird; if you wanted to conjure the illusion of water, you would use it as a sign to control the shape the illusion would take. But here it was a sigil. There were many of these little inconsistencies throughout the design, little spells for air or warmth, such that he erred away from simply labelling it a mistake.
“An illusion isn’t much without the feeling of wind on your face.” Agott said simply.
“Or the spray of water as you canoe across the rapids!” Tetia continued.
“I see!” Beldaruit clapped his hands in delight. “You’re thinking beyond the visual, into the multi-sensory. Very clever, girls!”
They preened at the praise, then proceeded to point out other little quirks of their spellwork they were proud of. The rest of the day passed in a blur as they perfected their spells. Beldaruit shooed them up to bed before they fell asleep on the floor, despite their protests. He assured them it was flawless as it was, suppressing a few of his suggestions they had not asked for. This was their spell, after all.
And then, the sixth day of their masters’ week away arrived. This was it, their last chance to execute their plan - tomorrow their masters would be returning, so it had to be today.
But they were ready. Their spell was ready. Or, more correctly, their series of spells. The girls headed outside after scarfing down breakfast, and Agott brought out the first sheet of paper.
“So, what’s the first location on the list?” Beldaruit asked.
“This one was more a proof of concept, so it’s relatively simple.” Agott said, laying the spell out on the grass and closing the ring.
A landscape spilled out ahead of them. Golden sands stretched out, meeting a deep ocean with waves that flowed up onto the sand. A beach. Sounds emerged as well in complement, the gentle rush of water over sand, the caw of distant seabirds.
“Mmmm!” Tetia exclaimed delightedly. “This is the life!” She spun around in a circle, before plonking herself down to sit on the false sand.
“Don’t bother trying to go up to the water, it’ll just fuzz into smoke.” Agott cautioned them. “Again, this one’s just-”
“Shhh.” Coco said, waving a hand in front of Agott’s face that actually worked to shut her up. “What matters is it’s pretty. And tranquil.”
She sat down decidedly next to Tetia, stretching her feet out in front of her as she smiled at the view. Agott stood for a little while, blinking at the waves, before she sat down too.
Richeh and Beldaruit had wandered closer to the water, walking along the coast and peering down into the sand to point out the small glimmers of shining shells Richeh had made. They eventually wandered back to the other three, in time to watch a small flock of sea-speckled dragons fly over the ocean far out from shore, tails dropping lazily into the water and kicking up spray.
They all watched in awe as they soared past, fading into the distance of the manufactured sky.
“There’s a dragon sanctuary near here, just further up the coast.” Tetia said excitedly.
“Spoilers.” Richeh protested.
“I never said we were going there!” She said petulantly. “The one we’re visiting is a hatchery not a sanctuary anyway.” She pointed a finger corresponding to each word, as if to enunciate the difference.
“Hm? Isn’t it the next stop?” Coco asked.
“No, next is the City of Rising Streams since that’s also on the coast. The dragon hatchery is further inland.” Tetia answered.
“The City of Rising Streams?” Beldaruit asked, intrigued.
“See, now you’re spoiling it.” Richeh pouted.
“Whatever! We’ve seen the beach now, and I got tired of it when we made a few versions to practice anyway. Can’t we go to the city now?”
“Yes,” Richeh agreed, “I want to sail the streams.”
And with that, they all went back inside, leaving Beldaruit amused, still staring out at the gentle waves. The beach had kept them for a while, but wasn’t entertaining enough, apparently.
He sketched out a quick spell on the drawing pad he kept permanently by his side. Around him, each of the elements of the girls’ spell transformed, from the water, the sky, to the sand and its glimmering shells. Small dragon-like creatures curled themselves out of the very fabric of the landscape. One by one, they took to the skies - the real skies - until nothing remained.
By the time he walked back through the door, he found the room completely transformed already.
The City of Rising Streams was a witch city, one of the largest outside the hall itself. It sat low near the water level, and a series of canals cut through it like streets. The city was built on an incline, however, piling itself up on a hill, and the canals continued weaving up and across the streets.
Thus, it was a city where the water flowed upstream.
Spells controlled the water flow strictly, directing it across and up the levels in some streams, and down in others, allowing objects and people to traverse the hill with ease, catching rides on the gondolas that bobbed with the water.
Where they stood was near one of these canals, looking up at the impossibly high summit of the city above them. The atelier walls had turned into the fronts of various stores, the door behind him fuzzing and snapping into the illusion as soon as he closed it. Illusory water ran through the center of the room, towards where the fireplace had been, which now became the impossible stretch of the dazzling city.
The girls had dragged over four of the kitchen chairs, lining them up in two rows where the carpet had been, which here appeared on top of the canal. Agott was attaching a small sheet of paper to each chair, and each transformed and melded into what looked like parts of a gondola as the seal was completed. Over by the wall, Coco and Tetia had tacked up the spell, and were discussing something intently between themselves.
Gaining his attention with a wide wave, Agott gestured him over to the center of the room. “Come here, line up with us so we can go in the gondola.”
Beldaruit obediently obliged, moving his sealchair behind the line of chairs, and Agott attached the same spell to the side of the horns. It took on the same appearance as the others.
Tetia was the first to sit down, claiming one of the two front seats. Richeh chose one in the second row, followed by Agott, who glanced between the seats before deferring to Coco and letting her have the front row. Then, Richeh finished a final circle in a chain of spells.
And with that, several things happened at once. The gondola below them shuddered to life, shaking as if with sudden motion. The illusion around them seemed to shift, scrolling towards them as if it were moving- no… as if they were moving, with the forced perspective granted by the world moving relative to them.
Tetia clapped her hands in delight. “It’s working!” She exclaimed, and Coco grabbed ahold of her shoulder in excitement. Brushbug squeaked in surprise at the movement, clinging on closer to Richeh’s dress, and Richeh grabbed him to hold him secure.
They soon gained speed, the water below them rushing as the illusion changed direction. They started to climb up the mountainous canal in front of them. A wind picked up, bringing with it sprays of water. The wind blew through Beldaruit’s hair, splaying it out behind him in a wide arc.
The girls and Beldaruit alike cheered and yelled as the gondola rocketed through the canal streets, shops and people passing in a blur. The path climbed higher, twisted sideways through alleys, cascaded down a level to a main canal before climbing again. With it, the gondola felt as though it tilted, shuddering with each swift turn or rapid incline.
Eventually, they reached the top of the winding city paths, which evened out into a manufactured reservoir that served as a dead end for the canals that climbed no higher. They drifted a while, staring around at the city below them as they regained their calm. The illusion stayed for a short time, before it wisped away, playing out the course of its commands and leaving the five of them on chairs in their living room.
Beldaruit applauded enthusiastically. “That was wonderful! Well done girls! It was a perfect illusion!“
“It really was! It felt just like being in the city.” Coco agreed, twisting in her chair to see the others, despite the fact she was no longer bound to stay in it by any metric.
“The views and surroundings were spectacular.” Beldaruit mused. “It’s more complicated to render people sometimes, so it was a clever fix to reduce effort by putting them only in the background.”
“That was me.” Agott admitted.
“Well, your attention to detail really made the scene come together.”
“It was also tricky getting the illusion to simulate our movement by getting it to scroll past instead.” Tetia commented.
“I think it turned out very realistic!”
“Oh, and I was the one who controlled the wind and water spells.” Coco said.
“It was a masterful extra touch!”
They all turned to Richeh, who took a dramatic stance and gestured towards the gondola. “I made the gondola shake.”
“Which made us truly live the scene!” Beldaruit beamed with pride at all the girls. “All in all, I’m sure it was even better than the real thing!”
“I think so!” Coco affirmed. “At the very least, we didn’t know how powerful their water streams were, so we kinda went all out…”
“It’s more fun that way.” Richeh agreed.
“There’s no point committing too much to realism if it causes you to lose the point.” Tetia added wisely.
The next place they visited was, of course, the dragon hatchery. A giant domed enclosure where dragons learned to fly for the first time, cared for by their human trainers. One room contained an array of eggs, smooth shells an array of colours and some glowing with internal light. The girls had used the excuse to draw dozens of illusory baby dragons that flew around them, flapping their tiny wings and letting out tiny chirps.
Outside in their fields, they settled themselves down to eat the packed lunch they’d put together. Here, outside the main hatchery, adolescent dragons were being trained, and they watched them soar around the domed building.
Brushbug, seeing them eating, decided it was about right he sniffed out some food for himself. They caught him trying to lick some of the ink of their spell, and had to hurriedly stop him before he damaged the illusion. He was easily kept at bay when a dragon flew close by, and he took fright and scurried to hide behind Agott.
They enjoyed watching the dragons flit about, pointing out specific breeds of dragon they recognised and the little differences between them. Of course, they couldn’t touch the illusory creatures, but when Coco pointed out that that meant their lunch was safe from being stolen, they didn’t mind so much.
When they finished their food, they prepared the next sheet of paper, excited for the next piece of scenery.
This one was a relatively simple one. A wide plain stretched in front of them, a scraggly pebble field hemmed in by towering walls of striated orange-red rock. Emerging from the plateau were two tall pillars of natural stone, unconnected to the walls, as though they were set aside from the rest. A gentle breeze drifted across the plains, swirling around them.
Richeh had mainly worked on this portion. Agott suspected the rocks looked a little more glimmery than they should in person, but she didn’t comment.
“I don’t really understand the appeal of this one. I mean, it’s kinda pretty, but there are nicer looking rocks.” Coco professed. “Why did Master Qifrey and Master Olruggio want to come here again?”
“Because it’s not about the rocks being pretty, it’s the most romantic place in Zozah!” Beldaruit said. He recognised the location from a book he’d read, though he’d never been in person.
“How’s that?” Coco inquired.
“Come on. I’ll show you.” Richeh said, losing patience. She grabbed Coco’s hand, then Agott’s, moving them to stand in very specific spots that mirrored the position of the pillars. She then lifted and placed their hands in each other’s.
Coco blushed lightly, and Agott was staunchly looking away. “What’s this for?” Agott asked.
“Just listen.” Richeh said, then moved over to the spell paper, completing one of the rings. Drifting over from the rock pillars came a soft, sweet sound. It built gradually, starting at a low pitch then gradually vaulting higher, as if reverberating through a grand cathedral. The melody was lilting, echoing through harmonies and doubling impossibly back on itself, though it seemed to shift between two main strands of continuous pitch.
“The book described a legend about this place.” Richeh commented. “It says two lovers on opposite sides of a conflict were fated to remain apart. But after a lot of hardship, they were finally able to stand together on this plain. They were so happy they sang a duet, their voices synchronising and harmonising with one another. And the universe listened to their song and gave their love the strong foundations of stone. So they still stand here today, side by side for centuries, singing their duet. The song is heard by any lovers who stand like they do, who resonate with their desire to be side by side for eternity.”
Coco and Agott stood speechless, looking at the pillars. Agott shifted her head around, staring at Coco instead for a time as the melody filtered around them, before she cut her gaze back to the illusion.
Tetia gasped and widened her eyes, bringing two clasped hands up to her face as she glanced rapidly between the two of them. Beldaruit smiled, shaking his head subtly at her. She held back her comments.
Coco finally broke the silence. “That’s beautiful… does it really work like that in person?”
“It’s about the way the wind moves as it funnels between the two pillars. It echoes through the pockmarks and caverns on each rock face, bouncing back between the two…” Beldaruit stopped himself. “But yes, it’s magic. Magic made by nature.”
“I saw you draw those sound rings, Richeh, but I assumed they were like the other ones for the other places - just general nature sounds.” Agott mused. “I never thought it would be that lovely.”
Richeh pulled her hair together in her hands, covering her face a little. “It’s probably not the same as it would be in person. But it’s what I thought it would sound like from what the book described.”
“Even if it’s different to this in person, what you made is beautiful, Richeh.” Beldaruit said, and Richeh nodded.
Eventually the last spell was brought out, Agott and Coco untangling their hands with embarrassed smiles as they moved to help. They debated briefly whether to cast this one inside or outside - they wanted the open space, but they worried about getting the lighting just right. Inside won out, so they stretched out the paper on the living room rug and closed the final seal with one big flourish.
The walls of the atelier disappeared, a vista of distant fields billowing out in all directions. Flower stalks sprung up around them, a gentle breeze tossing their leaves, though each stalk ending in a closed bud.
The sun glowed low in the sky, nearing the horizon, and Beldaruit agreed they’d probably been right to cast indoors, to avoid the clash with the real sun that still tracked midway through the sky.
The girls settled down to lie in amongst the flowers, watching the sky slowly dim and start to streak pink and orange. As it did, the flowers among them started to open up. It happened gradually, buds slowly unfurling and splaying their golden petals, blooming one by one and turning their bright faces towards the sunset. Gradually, the whole field was painted a bright shade of gold, reflecting in shimmering hues the reds the sun cast across the clouds.
This particular field was special for this - for these beautiful flowers that only bloomed once each day, lasting the duration of sunset before closing up again. And it was always a marvellous sight.
Laying together on the rug, the girls watched their surroundings with awe, captivated even as the flowers started to close. They stayed like this even as the spell faded around them, and the stalks of flowers became their familiar living room floor.
Beldaruit had sat apart from them, surveying the scene with a soft smile. He noticed as they lay there that their eyes were drooping, growing tired with the simulated evening, even though it was only late afternoon.
“I have an idea.” He said, drawing pad already in hand. “What’s a holiday without a fancy hotel to return to, after all?”
Lavish walls sprang up around them, plush with over-the-top opulence he just knew Qifrey and Olruggio would never actually stay in. He coaxed the girls to pile pillows and blankets on the floor, a tangible equivalent of a hotel bed, and they were all too happy to maintain the collective illusion. Brushbug plucked across the floor, before curling up on a pillow with them. Beldaruit left them all to it, where they nestled into easy dreams. They were asleep by the time his illusion faded again.
He was so proud of his dear grand-apprentices; they were so darn clever they surprised even him sometimes. They would be the brightest witches he knew one day, and were well on their way. Qifrey had done so very well with them.
It wasn’t long after Beldaruit left the living room when, unexpectedly, a knock sounded at the door. Beldaruit frowned, hoping it wasn’t loud enough to wake the girls, making his way over to the door and pulling it open.
Qifrey stood in the doorway, hat tucked under his arm and a hand still poised to knock.
“Hey,” he said with a wave.
“Qifrey!” Beldaruit blinked at the unexpected sight. “Oh, you’re back early.” Olruggio was still over by the carriage, nodding genially as he talked to the carriage driver. Their bags were unloaded, stacked up next to him.
“Yeah, we decided to push through and come back early to surprise you guys.” Qifrey said. “So… surprise!”
“You missed us that much?”
“We missed our bed.” Qifrey attested. “And the girls. Don’t flatter yourself though.”
“I’m sure you missed me plenty.” Beldaruit waved him off.
Qifrey seemed to realise that only Beldaruit had answered the door, and a slightly bewildered look overcame his face. “Speaking of… Where are my girls?”
Beldaruit lifted a finger to his lips and Qifrey followed the soft clopping of his sealchair through to the living room. There, Qifrey was treated to the sight of all four of them in a heap on the living room floor.
“They wore themselves out.” Beldaruit smiled.
Qifrey hissed. “Have you been working them to the bone?”
“Hey! Don’t be mean. They just had too much fun.”
“And why is the living room such a mess?”
“Ah, well… because it’s a hotel?”
Qifrey gave him a long-suffering look, as if, surprisingly, he hadn’t spent their entire holiday longing to come home to face Beldaruit’s usual cryptic dramatics.
The front door clicked closed, and Qifrey took the willing distraction to go over to Olruggio and fuss over their bags, chiding him for bringing them in by himself.
Olruggio gave Beldaruit a genial smile and entreated him to a cup of tea, always trying to keep the peace. While he set to boiling the water, Beldaruit directed his sealchair over next to where Qifrey sat at the kitchen counter, and started recounting a short version of their adventures over the past few days.
“You were worried about them running away?” Qifrey’s mouth twisted, as if unsure whether to find the notion funny or alarming.
“No, no. My imagination just gets carried away sometimes! There was never any real danger, and I’d never let them seriously run away.”
“There better not have been.” Qifrey grumbled.
Olruggio finished pouring the tea. He rested a hand on Qifrey’s shoulder as he set down the mug for him. The hand drifted down to rest on his arm as he took the seat next to him. Qifrey tilted his head towards him. His posture relaxed, and a smile formed on his lips.
Beldaruit felt pride well within him. He hefted a dramatic sigh, raising a hand up to his face. “Oh, you two. You’re going to make me weep. I’m just so happy-“
Qifrey whipped back around, pointing a lecturing finger at him. “No! No, you, stop that! We had quite enough of that from you last week! I can’t-“
“Master Qifrey?” A small voice emerged from the kitchen doorway. All three of them spun around to look. A sleepy Coco stood there, scrubbing her face with an arm. “You guys are back?”
Qifrey’s expression brightened immediately and he stood to move over to her. “Coco! Sorry, did I wake you?”
“No, that’s okay.” Coco yawned through her words. “Is it tomorrow already?”
“No, we just missed you all so much we came back early.” Qifrey knelt next to her, opening his arms, and Coco happily threw herself into a hug.
The next to wake up after a little while was Richeh, who came into the kitchen, padding straight past Qifrey and Olruggio without batting an eye, aiming for one of the pastries they’d baked the other day. She had it in her hand and halfway to her mouth before she slowly spun around, finally registering that their presence was supposed to be unexpected. She abandoned the pastry in favour of squeezing each of her professors in turn in a death grip.
The next two were soon to join them, and soon Olruggio had heated up the kettle again for more tea. They settled in the living room again, Qifrey begrudgingly accepting the mess as the girls encircled them, peppering them with questions.
“How were the singing towers?” Coco asked.
“Oh, and the City of Rising Streams? Did you catch a gondola?” Tetia demanded.
“What about the sunset field?” Agott inquired.
“Did you visit the beach?” Beldaruit questioned.
“How about the dragon’s nest? Did they let you pet them?” Richeh implored.
“Alright, alright. One question at a time.” Qifrey smiled patiently, although he directed a look at Beldaruit that clearly read “not you, too,” and Beldaruit rankled at the double standard.
The questions returned, of course, at a slower pace this time, and Qifrey took care to answer them all, smiling softly at their enthusiasm. Olruggio interjected sometimes with his own input, but he mostly left it to Qifrey as brushbug grumpily demanded the attention from Olly that he’d been cruelly denied all week.
After their questions had run dry, the girls suitably regaled by their adventures, they sat in thought for a while. Slowly, they looked between each other. Qifrey and Olruggio watched with bemused puzzlement.
They eventually reached a consensus with a final nod.
“Ours was better.”