(x) Irregular Magic

chapter 14 - on the streets of Mekto

The tele-stop whirred to a halt, dumping Mattie on her rear.

"Oof!"

Momentarily disoriented, Mattie sat on the ground and rubbed her back, groaning. Of all the mistakes to make...

"Please stand clear," a disembodied female voice boomed. Mattie covered her ears with her hands, wincing. The automated voice echoed about the station from sound-conducting crystals embedded into the walls. "Arriving."

Realizing she was about to be squished, Mattie leaped off the platform, blinking white and purple, and nearly falling down again. Afraid of being found, Mattie stuck to the chrome walls of the station, breathing heavily. If she had been a moment late, she would have been caught in the teleportation and collided with the arrivals. A brilliant violet flashed through the station, accompanied by a blaring siren. A gust of wind blew, whipping Mattie's hair into her face. She spat out her red locks, coughing. Moments later, half a dozen people materialized on the platform.

Arriving? Her brain slowly began to register what she was seeing.

Yellow Flower was too small a place for there to be both an Arrivals and a Departures station. It had to be a city, or somewhere busy enough to need both stations. She spotted a large sign that read "Mekto: Lower-Tarajen" in big black letters. In the next moment, the letters were replaced with "Arrivals Station." Heaving a sigh, Mattie dusted herself off and began towards the rotating doors that would lead outside.

"Please stand clear. Arriving," sounded the voice over the speakers. A breeze swept the inside of the station, along with the tell-tale purple flash of the tele-stops.

Inwardly, Mattie sighed and nibbled on the inside of her thumb, trying to decide what to do. It was pretty easy to understand what had happened.

Taking a tele-stop was just a matter of thinking of where you wanted to go and staying motionless. The psyche spells would have detected where Mattie wanted to go, and then directed the spatial spells which would teleport her.

It was a technique that took a couple tries to do right, but it was simple enough for even children to do. It was against the Magical Ordinances for children under the age of twelve to go on their own—precisely because of what she had just done. Mattie had prided herself on being able to use the tele-stop on her first try where it had taken Tara several times. Because she had been so preoccupied, the psyche spell hadn't detected the proper destination and instead took her to Mekto, where the woman had wanted to go.

What a mistake to make at such a crucial time.

Outside, Mattie found herself in a vaguely familiar busy street filled with the smells of roasting gumdeer and baking bread. All around her were the sounds of merchant stores and animals and the chatter of mages and nonmagicals alike. She had only been here a few times before but never on her own. This was Mekto, a bustling but not entirely legitimate business branch of lower-Tarajen. The woman who had used the tele-stop with her disappeared into the crowd of people.

At least the weather was nice. The sun warmed the back of her neck, but the slight breeze prevented her from sweating too much. Biting her lower lip in irritation, Mattie began down the street towards the Departures Station.

"Self-watering plant! You'll never have wilted flowers again!"

"Try the King's Feast All-In-One Food Capsule by Alisto Incorporated! A pack of thirty for a hundred Heliots—limited price!"

"Bargain-price tablets! Choose from seventy texture varieties!"

Annoying as it was to have to adjust her walking speed so she wouldn't bump into people, she was secretly glad she was invisible. The merchants here were relentless in trying to sell their goods. At least she wouldn't be stopped by them or smell any odd medicines.