Shards: Intro- Part 1 (old)

Chapter Three: The Encounter

Gemini

Hvergelmir, Norse Regions, North Atlantis
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It is said that outside humanity speaks of our existence through legends tracing back to the Great Frays. But they see Norse and Greek aspects as separate. When in fact, we've been quite close since antiquity. Remnants of both cultures exist in harmony on Atlantis. In fact, the Norse had the resources needed to cross the Northern Atlantic Ocean without being seen.

Every liner had to rendezvous over Hvergelmir; the vast sea in the middle of Asgard's region of Atlantis. I stayed awake on the ships deck until 2 o'clock; when all 20 liners were in sight. They all lined up over the water. I watched in awe as every ship behind us lined up in near perfect alignment. The Dreamscape was always second in line behind The Sapphire.

From there, we followed the pride of the Sky fleet towards Asgard; The Floating city. Asgard was just as big as Feigmonton. It's buildings were platted with precious metals. Three massive 5,000 feet tall and 100 feet wide columns held the city in the air. The old tree of Yggdrasil was visible from the top deck from far out. It sat 15 miles north of the city yet was still visible from such a long distance. I've seen pictures of it, but never in real life. I could only imagine how it looked up close.

Fireworks from the city's residents littered the skies and dimmed the stars. There were 20 yellow circles in the sky next to the floating city. They were meant to provide counterveils throughout the journey across the ocean. That meant that the sights were about to be over. I stayed up for 3 hours after leaving on the top deck of the ship. I hadn't even bothered to see my cabin yet, and I was getting pretty exhausted.

I was handed a room designation card on my way in: Deck 12, Aft section, 1268. The journey there made me quickly learn how crowded skyliners would be on journeys. I was lucky it was only one night.

The door to my cabin automatically opened for me; revealing a small group of other students talking across the room. "Finally," I heard. The only bed left was the one in the middle. No window view, and all the other beds were facing me.
A brown haired girl jumped off her top bunk, and glanced at a paper on the wall next to me.

"You must be.....Gemini?" She asked.
"Yup, that's me." My mouth felt dry from all the wind blowing in my face.
"Well, there's our last roommate," another voice said behind me.

The source was a burly looking Elve boy sitting on his bottom bunk.
"Hi, I'm Derik," he said with a yawn.
"I'm Rachel," came a tired, feminine voice from the top bunk. The only thing she showed was a raised hand.
"And I'm Grace," the brown haired girl said with an open palm. I shook it.
"Nice to meet you guys."

Grace grabbed the paper off the wall and began studying it.
"So, you get the middle bed. Is that ok?"
"Yes, ya, I'm good with wherever." My voice was really clogged. "Sorry." I coughed a few times to clear my throat.
"It's all good," Grace responded in a monotone voice. "Anyway, here's the schedule and rule form."
I was handed the paper and a pen. Basically, the rules were to not use magic while on board. Then again, no expedition leaves Atlantis with people who know magic. That only applies to the return journey, so I guess the rule book was practically negligible.

I signed my name. "Where do I put this now?" I asked. But Grace was already in bed. Yawning, she just told me to put it outside the room. When I came back in, the lights were out.
"Wait, do we need any pjs?" I asked in a whisper.
"No, it's a Four hour journey until we land," Derek's voice responded. "Its best just to sleep as much as we can. They tell me a 7 hour sleep is important before your first day, and we're hours short enough as it is....so......*yawn*......just go to sleep."