Zeph Malston: The Aether Mage

0Tara Alcott was lounging in the tea room of her mansion reading. The family resemblance was uncanny, as Ivy could pass as a miniature version of her mother. Ivy's eye color was the only exception. Her eyes were green, while Tara's were blue. It was a relaxing afternoon, aside from the occasional shout from her daughter's room. She smiled. Ivy always did have fun talking to Lili.     0

Tara and her husband, Narius, were both half-elves, each having one human parent and one elven parent. Sadly, both her husband's parents and her father passed away in the last war. The only other members of the Alcott family were Ivy and her big brother Colin. Relina Ashgrove, Tara's mother, and Ivy's grandmother stayed with the family as well.     

Relina was tutoring her granddaughter in spirit magic, and training the young girl to become a summoner. Recently, the girl's rate of improvement slowed down in the last few months. It was apparent that Ivy had grown complacent. Her ability was far above her peers nearby, but it wasn't much compared to a monster like her friend Lili.     

Relina was working on a way for Lili to go to school with her friend so that they'd develop some sort of rivalry. Unfortunately, Lili didn't even consider Ivy a challenge. Another shout from Ivy's room caught Relina's attention, so she made her way to the lounge. She asked Tara what was going on, and learned that she was video calling her friend.     

"Tara, I think we should transfer Ivy to the capital. Her skills won't grow here. She needs a challenge." Relina sat down next to her daughter. They could easily be mistaken for sisters. Both radiated an aura of elegance and had the appearance of beautiful young maidens with golden hair. It was the benefit of elven blood.     

"We've been over this mother." Tara sighed. "It would be fine if it was anywhere else. The situation in the capital is a little volatile right now." She put down her book and poured a cup of tea using the nearby tea set.     

"Will you make me one too?" Relina smiled at her daughter.     

Tara sighed again. "Here you go, mom." She handed Relina a cup of tea. "Why are you so adamant about pitting her up against Lili anyway?"     

"Ivy is strong for her age. She still practices and does everything I tell her to do, but she lacks passion. Her dream is to become the strongest spirit mage in the country. She needs a stronger motivation, something to fuel this desire, something to drive her forward. I think that developing a rivalry with Lili will push her."     

Tara sipped at her tea. "True, she does seem more spirited when they talk. I haven't heard her shout at anyone like that since Colin accidentally burnt her favorite dress. The poor boy still won't practice fire magic when she's around."     

The mother-daughter pair started reminiscing and telling funny stories about the children. During a pause in their storytelling, Ivy walked into the lounge. Tara and Relina stopped laughing and looked warmly at the little girl. There was something odd about her posture. She looked like she wanted to say something, but was hesitant to talk about it.     

Relina was the first to speak. "What's wrong Ivy? Did that little ice princess do something mean to you? You want me to go give her father a piece of my mind?"     

Ivy's eyes widened, causing Tara to chuckle. "No grandma, she didn't do anything. Well, she did, but it's not like you think." Ivy stopped trying to figure out how to talk about her first crush.     

Tara patted the seat next to her. "Come here, honey. You can tell us anything."     

Ivy sat next to her mother. She struggled to speak for a little while. Her mother and grandmother waited patiently. After a minute or so, Ivy finally mustered enough courage to speak about the boy that took her breath away.     

Tara and Relina were shocked. Wide grins spread across their face. Ivy was just being so cute. The little girl started telling them everything Lili told her about Zeph. Tara was paying more attention to her daughter's happy expressions than her words. Relina wished she had a camera to record her granddaughter. Then Ivy said something that caught Relina's attention.     

"Wait for a second dear." She interrupted her granddaughter.     

"Yes, grandma?"     

"You said that Lili considered Zeph her rival?"     

"Yes. Lili said that Zeph was really good at magic, and he could cast tier one spells. He was also really nice. When I cried, he tried to cheer me up." Ivy's.     

Tara's eyebrow twitched, and Relina smirked. "And why were you crying, honey?" Tara teased her daughter.     

Ivy blushed furiously and began to tell them how Lili introduced her to Zeph. Tara and Relina held in their laughter to spare the girl's feelings. The two loved romance novels and were really enjoying the beginnings of Ivy's first love story. Ivy asked them if she should call Zeph soon, or if she should wait a day. Tara and Relina were more than happy to give Ivy romantic advice. Eventually, the conversation came to an end and Ivy excused herself from the room.     

Relina looked at Tara, "It's so cute isn't it?"     

"It is. This must be how you felt when I had my first crush." Tara's smile spread wide across her face.     

An interesting thought occurred to Relina and she decided to share it with her daughter. "Tara dear?"     

"Yes, mother?"     

"You said it would be fine if it wasn't in the capital," Relina smirked.     

"I don't know mom. That sounds a little drastic. It's just her first crush after all."     

"It's not just her first crush. You heard her. Zeph's strong, probably stronger than Lili. If she wants to pursue the boy, she'll have to step up her game. This is the drive that I was talking about." Relina grew excited. "Think about it. She'll get stronger. She'll be near one of her best friends and she'll be able to pursue her first love."     

"It seems like you're really stretching here mom. We can't just move her from her school and home all the way to another duchy." Tara was worried about Ivy's heart being broken.     

"Asperitus is one of the most peaceful places in the country. Come on honey, it will be good for her." Relina almost pleaded.     

"Don't think I'm not on to you mom. This isn't just about Ivy's love story is it?" Tara's eyebrows furrowed.     

Relina's eyes wandered to the side. "I don't know what you're talking about."     

"Well then if Ivy does want to go to school in Asperitus, I'll go with her. You can stay here and help Narius and Colin."     

"No!" Relina stood up quickly. After realizing what she did, she coughed into her hand and composed herself. "I mean you shouldn't leave your husband and son here. I can take Ivy to Asperitus."     

"I knew it." Tara smiled triumphantly. "You want to go to Asperitus because Eli's there. You want to use Ivy as an excuse to get close to the Malstons so you can meet Eli again."     

Relina blushed bright red. "I'm not even going to dignify that with a response." She left the room in a huff.     

Tara chuckled. "I didn't even ask a question. Why would I need a response?" She heard a different door open.     

Her husband walked into the room. Tara looked into her husband's beautiful green eyes. Narius was tall, handsome, and looked much younger than he should. The two of them looked like they were in their mid-twenties. He walked up behind the couch and leaned over to kiss the top of her head. She reached her palm up. His hand met hers, and he placed it against his cheek.     

"Hello, darling." He rested his chin on her head.     

"How long were you listening?" She tilted her head back so they could look at each other.     

"Since Ivy explained how Lili introduced her to Zeph." He laughed as he remembered his daughter's embarrassment.     

"That's odd. I thought that you'd be a tad bit upset that your little girls growing up and getting interested in boys." Tara teased her husband.     

Narius sighed. "I must admit I'm a little sad, but I can't force her to stay a child. Some of the other nobles have already expressed interest in arranged marriages with their children. I would much rather see her pursue her own love than bother her with those idiots." There was an edge to his tone as he spoke about the other nobles.     

"So would I. What do you think? Should we send her?" Tara pulled her husband closer, touching their cheeks together.     

"I think we should. If not for Ivy, then for your mother. She's kept that torch burning for a long time."     

"Very well, I'll let you make the calls." She kissed Narius on the cheek.     

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Bernard took Zeph, Lili, Ronan, Bianca, Semara, Alex, and Keva on a trip into the city. They traveled into the upscale part of Asperitus and arrived at a beautiful mansion. It was two stories tall, had a large beautiful yard, and a modern design. Large glass walls with reflective surfaces lined the front of the building.     

Zeph looked at his grandfather. "What are we doing here?"     

Bernard walked in front of everyone and spread his arms wide open. "Welcome to my grandson's new mansion."     

Several of the people in the group shouted, "What!"     

"What do you mean my new mansion? What's going on?" Zeph eyebrow twitched. "You never said anything about a mansion."     

"Of course not, it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you." Bernard laughed. Everyone except Alex, Keva, and Eli were standing mouth agape.     

Zeph pinched the ridge of his nose. "What's going on."     

Bernard saw that everyone wasn't in a playful mood. "Fine, you spoil-sports. I bought this mansion for several reasons. The first one is so that Zeph wouldn't have to take an hour-long car ride to get to school. I also started up a new company to research some of the new ideas that Zeph and I came up with. It's a fifteen-minute drive from here, so I can get to work pretty quickly."     

"What about the Malston Estate?" Bianca chimed in.     

"Oh, we can live there on weekends or whenever we want. I just thought that we would start coming into the city more often, so I decided to get us a place here. Alex and Eli worked on it in secret. They hired several people and interior decorators. We can move in right now if we want."     

Zeph was still trying to come to terms with the new information. "I just got used to living in the mansion, and now you get another one."     

"Yup, but this one is in your name. Technically, it's your mansion." Bernard lightly punched Zeph's shoulder, then got everyone else's attention. "Come on everyone."     

They all followed Bernard into the mansion grounds. They walked through the large front yard and looked at the decorative flower patches. There was a small waterfall leading to a pond on the left side of the grounds. When they arrived at the front door, Bernard brought out his tablet and tapped it a few times. The front door opened     

"Go ahead Ronan, why don't you go inside first. That way I can demonstrate the registration process to everyone." Bernard waved his friend over.     

"Sure." Ronan walked to the front and tried to cross the threshold. A large transparent wave of energy knocked him back off the porch and entrapped him in a translucent bubble.     

Bernard smirked. "Now we know what happens to an unregistered trespasser. One by one, I need you to pour your magic power onto this metal plate on the front door. That way it will register you as a resident of the house." They all looked toward Ronan. He was asleep and floating in a bubble. "Don't worry about him, it'll wear off in a little while. I'll bring him inside when we're done," Bernard assured them with a large grin on his face.     

Everyone hesitated. Zeph stepped forward since no one else wanted to and took Rin off his shoulder. He placed her paw against the metal plate. There was a light musical chime, indicating she was registered. The kitten went inside and nothing bad happened so Zeph went next. When he walked through the door, a soothing female voice greeted him. "Welcome home Zeph."     

"Like it. I decided to hire a contractor to put in an artificial intelligence system and make it a smart home." Bernard stood proudly as he registered everyone else. A few of them rolled their eyes.     

They walked around the mansion, checking the layout. Unlike the mansion at the estate, this one was decorated with the most modern appliances and furniture. Rin was already laying in a recliner purring happily. Zeph called her and went to look for his room on the second floor. The kitten jumped on his shoulder while he was climbing up the stairs.     

When he looked through the second floor, he saw his name on a door. He opened it and saw a huge bedroom. A large CV projector was connected to a computer on the western wall. There were a desk and a workstation on the eastern wall. A couple of two-seat couches were positioned in the center of the room, and a king-sized canopy bed was placed against the center back wall. A door on the eastern wall led into a walk-in closet, and at the end of the closet was another door that led to a personal bathroom with a large bathtub.     

After checking his room, Zeph made his way back downstairs and entered the kitchen. He grabbed a soda, milk and a small bowl. Setting Rin down on the counter with a bowl, he poured her some milk. Taking a drink from his citrus soda, he asked Rin, "What do you think Rin?"     

"Nyew." She replied with a cute little meow.     

"Me too." He leaned back against the counter and looked out the glass wall. The backyard had a large pool. "Hey, we can go swimming later." Zeph sent a wry smile to the kitten.     

"Nyow." Rin shook her head, causing Zeph to laugh.     

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