Chapter 1 WELCOME TO VELMORA
If Ivy had known the enchanted train would literally vanish mid-track just to reappear on a flying bridge, she probably wouldn't have eaten that extra-sweet levitation muffin for breakfast.
But too late. Her stomach was doing loop-the-loops while the magical city of Velmora rolled into the view, glowing like a neon fever dream. Floating towers shimmered in the afternoon sun, magical creature zipped between buildings, spell darted through the air like dragonflies. Somewhere down below, a subway track twisted itself into a knot and untied again.
She pressed her face to the glass window of Carriage 5, eyes wide as the city Velmora bloomed beneath her - floating towers, rainbow-lit rivers, broom highways, and magical traffic cops who looked like they hadn't slept in decades.
"This is insane," she whispered.
The older woman beside her didn't look up from her levitating newspaper, "It's Tuesday, dear."
When the train stopped midair with an elegant ping, Ivy stepped out into the Grand Sky Station, holding her suitcase in one hand and a leather-bound orientation guide in the other. Her boots clicked on the glowing crystal floor.
She took a deep breath, grinning.
"Okay Ivy, you made it. You're here, you're in the big leagues now."
The Arcane Research Institute - the most prestigious magical center in the modern world. And she, Ivy Astra, freshly twenty and still unsure if her hair color counter as technically magical, was going to be an intern.
Until she immediately got lost. Fifteen minutes in, she was pretty sure she'd circled the same floating food cart three times. She tried to follow her guide, but the enchanted map kept fluttering shut on her face, like it had personal beef with her.
"East Sector, East Sector..." she muttered, dodging a fire-breathing pigeon.
A sign nearby read:
! CAUTION: MAGIC MILDLY UNSTABLE IN THIS AREA.
! DO NOT OPEN A RANDOM DOORS.
! IF YOU TURN INTO A FROG, REMAIN CALM.
"Great, totally calming" Ivy said.
She spun in the place, trying to find someone who looked semi-competent and crashed into someone instead.
"Ah! Sorry! I didn't see you-" she yelped, stumbling back.
Neither did he, apparently, because he'd been staring into a floating screen of blueprints hovering in front of him, muttering to himself.
He looked up slowly, tall, broad-shouldered, dark hair that did not come from a stylist, unless the stylist was a thunderstorm. Eye like steel: sharp, cold, and definitely judging her.
He looked at her suitcase, then her badge, and then her.
"You're standing inside a restricted spell design," he said, monotone.
Ivy blinked.
"Okay, well, you're walking with your head inside a spell. Maybe you should look where you're going." he sighed like she personally ruined his afternoon.
"I was calibrating it, your presence disrupted the projection."
"You mean bumping into me ruined your floating science doodle?" she said.
"It's not a doodle. It's a multi-layered enchantment grid-"
"Oh stars. You're one of those, aren't you?" she interrupted, grinning," Hi, I'm Ivy, Intern, just arrived, you are...?"
He paused, reluctantly, "Ronan."
Ronan, of course he looked like a Ronan.
"Well, Ronan is your enchanted doodle supposed to flicker like that?" Ivy said brushing off her coat.
His eyes snapped to the blueprint - and sure enough, the lines were glitching. Blinking in and out like a dying firefly.
"Step back, you destabilized the core thread," he said quickly.
"I didn't touch anything -" but it was too late. The blueprint sparked- then burst
BOOM.
A puff of purple smoke exploded between them, throwing Ivy flat on her back. Her guidebook went flying. Glittery dust floated in the air like confetti. Somewhere nearby, a streetlamp meowed.
Ronan staggered back, covered in soot and sparkles. His expression: pure murder.
Ivy lay there a moment, blinking in the sky.
"Well, at least I made an impression," she said, coughing.
He didn't laugh, not even a smirk.
She stood, dusting herself off. Her curls were full of glitter. "Okay, look. You walk into me. Your magic doodle self-destructed and now we both look like we got sneezed on by a party dragon. Maybe let's call it a draw?"
"I don't do draws," he said flatly.
"Ah, so you're like, undefeated in awkward first impressions?"
He stared at her.
Then, to her surprise he reached down, picked up her guidebook, and handed it to her.
Ivy blinked. "Thanks?"
You're going the wrong way," he added, turning on his heel. "The Institute is north, past the Skybridge. Try not to explode anything else."
"Wow," she said, watching him go. "I can see the joy radiating off you."
He raised a hand without turning back. "It's not joy, it's patience. Slowly dying."
Ivy stood there, glittery, slightly smoky, and 100% annoyed and weirdly intrigued.
So that was Ronan.
Her first real interaction in Velmora - and it ended in mild combustion.
"Internship's off to the stellar start," she muttered, adjusting her bag. Then, with a sigh and a grin she couldn't quite hide, she followed the floating sign that read:
-> ARCANE RESEARCH INSTITUTE - THIS WAY TO MAGIC, MADNESS, AND MAYBE PAYCHECKS.
To be continued.......
