C05-R07-3448 A.E - Afternoon
Ashport Tier 4 Manufacturing District—The Grays

The last of the delivery crew filed out of the apartment, bootsteps echoing against the newly tiled floor as the mana-pallet floated down the stairwell behind them. Kael leaned against the doorframe, watching them vanish into the street. He exhaled long and slow.

“Not bad,” he muttered.

Elira stood nearby, eyeing the stocked pantry with open wonder. A shelf full of dried grains and cured meats. A cabinet of spices. Jars of vegetables in neat rows. It looked like a shopfront. Not a dream—real. Hers.

“This is… more than I imagined,” she whispered, brushing her fingers over a sack of flour. Her expression was dazed, like she couldn’t trust her eyes.

Kael smiled faintly. “I didn’t want you or Sera going without ever again.”

Speaking of Sera, she was darting from room to room, opening drawers and cabinets, squealing softly when she found a whole drawer full of toiletries labeled with glowing sigils for freshness and fragrance. She popped her head around the corner, eyes wide.

Sera practically bounced on her heels. “Can we go out now?” she asked breathlessly. “Please? You said we would.”

Kael checked the time—just past three. Still daylight left. “Yeah,” he said, nodding. “Let’s go see the real Grays. But we’re not just browsing—we’re buying. Clothes, supplies, whatever you two need.”

Sera shrieked and ran to Elira, grabbing her hand. “Come on, Mom! Hurry!”

The air outside was warm and dry, laced with the scent of stone, blooming street-vines, and mana-reactive lantern oils. Downtown Grays was only a fifteen-minute walk, and with every step away from their apartment, Sera’s excitement grew louder. She skipped ahead of Kael and Elira, pointing at buildings, colorful street vendors, and murals made of glowing runes woven into the stone.

“Did you see that? Look! That flower moved!” she gasped, watching a mana-garden react to her presence. “It opened when I walked by!”

Kael grinned. “Yeah. They’re called whisperblooms. They bloom for kindness and close up for bad moods. They like you.”

Their first stop was Maison Marrin, a cozy boutique nestled along one of the Grays’ main walkways. The moment they stepped inside, the air turned cool and fragrant, filled with the scent of citrus and some delicate flower Kael couldn’t name.

Then came the music.

“I just want you for my own…
More than you could ever know…”

The singer’s voice was smooth and wistful, woven with charm and longing.

Sera's eyes lit up. “Whoa. What is this?”

“It’s an Ascension song,” Elira answered, smiling faintly. “Old religious holiday about Elandor the Ascendant. Though, playing it now feels early—it’s still eight cycles until Ascension Quartermoon.”

“I like it,” Sera said, twirling in the middle of the store, making her coat flare. “It’s so… happy.”

Kael found himself nodding. “Yeah. Catchy.”

“Make my wish come true…
All I want for Ascension is you—
You, baby!”

He chuckled under his breath. “Not bad. Not bad at all.”

Their second stop was Teller & Sons Clothiers, a small but well-kept shop nestled between a cafe and a postal node. Inside, the same Ascension music played, and every garment seemed impossibly clean and well-stitched.

A saleswoman greeted them with a bright smile and handed each of them a glowing strip of thread. “This will adjust to your measurements as you shop,” she said. “Just tap anything you like, and it’ll change size to match your band.”

Sera treated the whole thing like magic. She ran her fingers over the clothes and flinched every time one shimmered to her shape.

Kael stuck to basics—simple gray trousers, durable shirts, leather boots. Elira found a long teal dress that matched her eyes and picked out a satchel made of reinforced vine leather.

Sera returned with an outfit that made her look three years younger and five years happier: a light lavender tunic, soft leggings, and a bracelet with a hummingbird charm that responded to movement with a subtle shimmer.

Kael paid it all and scheduled it for delivery to their new home with his ArkSeal—no haggling, no secondhand bins, no whispered curses from shopkeepers watching their every move. Just a polite thank you and a warm smile.

They wandered from store to store after that, swept up in the sheer newness of it all—silken robes, enchanted scarves, boots that repelled water, cloaks that changed color in the rain. They stopped at Olvin’s Apothecary to stock up on soaps, salves, and the fancy hair elixirs Elira loved but had long gone without.

Every store played the same song.

Exactly the same.

“I just want you for my own…”

“Still?” Kael muttered, scratching his head.

“It’s probably just a marketing thing,” Elira offered. “Get people in the holiday spirit early.”

Sera was still humming along, no sign of fatigue in her eyes.

By the time they reached Silverline General, Kael was humming the hook without realizing it.

“...Make my wish come true…”

Elira smirked at him. “Told you it’s catchy.”

Kael groaned and rubbed his temples. “That’s how they get you.”

“All I want for Ascension is you—”

“Gods,” Kael muttered. “They’re still playing it.”

Sera joined in from behind him. “You, baby!”

He shot her a look. “You’re banned from singing that.”

She giggled and ducked behind a mannequin wearing a glittering holiday vest.

By the time they stepped into Marni’s Hearth for dinner, dusk was settling in. The street lamps outside flickered on one by one, lighting their way like stars in neat rows.

The inside of the restaurant was warm and glowing, busy but not chaotic. They were led to a table near the hearth, where a fire crackled quietly. The waitress greeted them, took their orders, and departed—and the soft melody began playing again through unseen speakers.

“Make my wish come true…”

“No,” Kael said flatly.

“Please, not again,” Elira whispered, setting down her menu.

Even Sera was visibly wincing. “Maybe just this last time?”

“All I want for Ascension is you—”

Kael leaned over the table. “I’m putting out a bounty for that singer. First person to bring me their voice box gets a Gold Mark.”

“I thought you said it was catchy,” Elira said with a raised eyebrow.

“Catchy and evil aren’t mutually exclusive.”

Their food arrived—roasted poultry, creamy starches, and a thick, sweet cider—and for a while, the music faded into the background, replaced by the clinking of cutlery and easy laughter.

Kael picked at his food, his gaze distant.

“Mom,” he said quietly, voice low beneath the ambient chatter and ever-repeating “All I want for Ascension is you…” in the background. “Can I ask you something a little… odd?”

She glanced up from her plate. “Of course.”

He leaned in slightly. “What do you know about… traits? Pocket dimensions? Stuff like mana, aura, prana, force, ki… chakra? Have you ever heard of a talent that could create a universe?”

Elira blinked, brows slowly lifting. “That’s quite the spread of questions.”

“I came across some writings,” Kael said quickly. “Old stuff. Some of the words just stuck with me. Thought I’d ask.”

She sipped her cider thoughtfully. “Well… I’ve never heard of a talent that could create a pocket dimension, let alone a universe. Theoretically, that would be beyond S-rank—SSS, maybe even mythical-tier. I mean… creation itself? That’s godstuff.”

Kael nodded slowly, concealing his spike of unease.

“As for pocket dimensions,” Elira continued, “I’ve read about them in school. Mostly theory—like wormholes and black holes. Space-bending stuff. But the study of talents changed everything. Once people confirmed some S-rank talent holders could create spatial tears or blink between locations, the science community developed warp gate technology. That’s real now—used by the Empire of Solana and the capital. But it’s still absurdly rare. Expensive. Guarded.”

“What about mana?” Kael asked.

Her eyes brightened. “That I know intimately. Mana’s the highest-quality energy we’ve ever discovered. It can power everything—technology, talents, even military-grade enchantments. It’s one of the most valuable resources on Celestria. Ashport was built above a leyline, you know. Not a big one, but enough to matter.”

“What about the others?” Kael pressed gently. “Aura, prana, ki, force… chakra?”

She frowned, shaking her head. “No… none of those ring a bell. Are you sure you didn’t find some fiction book? Sounds like old philosophical junk—like the kind monks debate in caves somewhere.”

Kael shrugged with a casual smile. “Could be. Just sounded interesting.”

Elira’s eyes lingered on him a moment longer, searching. But she didn’t press.

Instead, she set her fork down and folded her hands in front of her plate. “Kael… I just want to say thank you.”

He blinked. “For what?”

“For saving us.” Her voice was steady, but her eyes were full. “When Tharan vanished, I lost everything—my husband, our fortune, my health. I dragged you and Sera down into the pits with me. Into Brinewatch. And I’ve hated myself every day for it.”

“Mom—”

“Let me finish,” she said gently. “You brought us out. You did what I couldn’t. I used to feel shame for what we lost… but now, when I look at you, I feel pride. Because you're my son. And you did the impossible.”

Kael swallowed hard. The words, the weight of them, carved a warm ache in his chest. He didn’t know what to say.

So he just said, “I’m glad I could.”

Elira reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “You always were special, Kael. Maybe Tharan knew that. Maybe that’s why he vanished—so you could become what you were meant to.”

Kael didn’t answer.

But for the rest of the meal, he couldn’t stop thinking about how real his pocket dimension was… and how far from theory it truly had become. But no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find anything about it in his ArkSeal, and now even his mom didn't know anything despite her advanced education.

When they returned home, tired and stuffed, Elira collapsed on the couch with a deep sigh. Sera vanished into her new room, only to pop out a minute later wearing one of her new dresses, twirling in the hallway mirror.

Kael stepped into the kitchen to put away their leftovers and found himself softly muttering under his breath:

“All I want for Ascension is you…”

He froze.

“No,” he whispered to himself. “It’s begun.”

From the living room, Elira’s voice drifted over the sound of Sera laughing: “Kael, if you start singing that again, I’m going to go hide in my room.”

Kael shook his head, chuckling. He grabbed a glass of water, looked around the warm apartment, and finally let out a long breath.

Yeah. This is a good life. Even with the song.