The Gemini Age: Book One

[1-2] Welcome to the City - Part Two

    In their initial design as a relaxing diversion rather than a means of transportation, trains served to deliver to the denizens of the expanding cities the choicest sights and sounds of the vibrant countryside. Two pairs of Cold souls would alternate heaving the train's bulky frame over the gravel-strewn trails. Their specific course varied depending on the route most desired by the pleasure-seekers onboard, which in these parts often took the train through the sweeping valleys and glittering lakes of the Pentland Hills. Now, trains rattled along ribbons of electrified rail, automatically veering away from the impressive height of the peaks soaring over the land. The curves of the Hills lay undisturbed, save for the occasional rustle of a family of adventurous rodents or the calls of migrating waterfowl.

    Jade yawned as she leaned into the windowsill beside her seat. The train from Lancaster to Edinburgh was by no means the longest journey she had ever made, but the heated carriages on main line trains never failed to lull her into the soup-like haze between waking and sleeping. Her hands tried to retreat into the long sleeves of her navy-blue sports top as she nestled in the furthest corner of her seat, but the shirt fit too slimly to entertain her plan to disappear inside of it and fall asleep. Sighing, Jade sat up straight, slipped her thumbs through the holes in her sleeves, and reached for her bag, a small yet surprisingly spacious leather satchel propped between her legs. Finished in chestnut brown, it hid in the table's shade among her dark blue skinny jeans and black Chelsea boots. 

    Before she opened the bag, she heard her phone vibrating with glee inside the main pocket. With a smile, she unhooked it from its charger and answered. "Mum!" she said as her smile widened, partly from affection, but also from the scattered pairs of eyes that spun to meet her face as she spoke. Jade double-checked her seat number, and triple-checked that carriage B was not marked out as a quiet carriage. "Did you see my text? I'm on the train, I was going to call you when I arrived in the city."

    "Oh, sweetheart, you should know that I'll always check on you anyway! After all, it's not every day your only child ups and leaves you," her mother answered, her smile somehow beaming through her contact photo on Jade's screen. Though a loving and gentle person at heart, Elinah Swift was a worrier whose mind was quick to foreground any and all concerns she may have about her daughter. It was a habit Jade's father used to link to her city upbringing. Can't live Lancaster life on London time, he would say from behind the steam of his morning tea whenever she would regard her watch with a knitted brow.

    Jade glanced at the pair of empty seats in front of her, not bothering to look at the other empty seat beside her. The handful of passengers that had stirred at the beginning of the conversation had returned to their phone screens and e-readers, much to her relief. "Mum, it's only a train ride away, and I'll be sure to come visit!" She settled her gaze back on her reflection in the window. Her deep brown hair wanted to pour in waves over her shoulders, but whenever she ventured out in public, she made sure to gather it into a loose yet tidy ponytail with a subtle black bobble. A thin lock of hair fell past her cyan eyes, stubbornly returning no matter how many times she drew it away. "It's like all those people on your programmes say - I'm moving out of the house, not your life."

    Her mother choked a sob down the phone. "I know, sweetheart. It's just...your father would've loved to see this day." A sniff followed, and Jade covered her mouth to hide the sad smile that formed at the sound of her mother's welling tears. "Wallace was so proud when we found out you were Tempered. He couldn't stop smiling all the way back from the wellspring! Even before we got home, he was explaining exactly what he'd teach you, how he'd do it, even where would be best for you to learn."

    "Really?" Memories of her early years were a blur, but they all possessed a clear sense of wonder, complete with the unbounded chaos that brought. The magic lessons from her father were not exceptions to this rule. "I always thought he was making it up on the spot. He had me weed and wash the patio about a dozen times to learn 'discipline', but I think he just didn't want to do it himself."