Miss Varias and her invitees stood outside the door, waiting expectantly for her to do something. “So… what are we waiting for?” Hezago asked, impatient.
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The others had packed their suitcases, with Veronica’s being rather monstrous with whatever she had in there, which forced her to lag a little behind.
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The Queen, a wand appearing in her hand, casted a spell, pointing at a space ahead of her. A trace of light appeared in front of it, and then swirled and brightened to form a portal swirling stupendously fast. They, by Miss Varias’s command, then walked into it, surrounded by colourful swirling light.
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"This is the portal realm, which can only be accessed by casting the portal spell verbally, or for those who are gifted, mentally. To enter this realm, you must say the words, 'Aurora Portalis'. When successful entry to this realm has been achieved, you may either speak or understand your destination, and you may be taken there.” Very fundamental magic, Hezago already knew all that.
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She continued. “As for us, we will be taken to Micheltonava Square, where you will enter the station and be off on your way." She Said, and as soon as she uttered the last 'y' they were already at The Grand Square, and according to her, under it.
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They stumbled, or much rather, fell, into a grand plaza that had a spiffingly grand fountain in the centre. "Welcome to the central station of the Vonellia Express!" Miss Varias announced. "Follow me, then!" Miss Varias announced, leading them towards the fountain, and stepping straight through it.
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Huh. Hezago thought. It’s been a while since I've seen magic used like that. Evadin and Veronica were, however, shocked. “Did she just walk through a fountain?” Was their thought process. Nonetheless, after a moment of deliberation, they decided that following was the best thing to do.
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And so they did! And when they arrived, they found themselves at the other side of the fountain where Miss Varias was waiting, and rather impatiently at that. "Took you long enough," she muttered. "Anyway," she continued, "As your guide, I am afraid I am only that much, your guide. So here is where I'll have to leave you." She continued, "I trust you all to go get tickets of your own, yes?" They all nodded in response. "Good". And with that she fell through a portal beneath her, leaving them there.
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Just as she did, a young lady named Helena came up to them. If you’re asking how he knew her name? Her name tag said so. She led them over to a ticket station of some sort, which they paid at and then sent them on their way. They each received a ticket and were soon sent off to the station.
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Walking into the station, they found a very small blue tank engine at the head of the train, with absolutely no smoke coming out of its funnel. This was, understandably, a bit confusing for those who knew not of magical engineering, as small engines were not known for pulling incredibly large weights, especially one as large as the Vonellia Academy’s.
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Stretching as far as the eye could see, the train kept on going, and if you looked out of the tunnel, you’d see its end go sharply upward, and keep on going, no end in sight.
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On the subject of the train pulling this load, they were more commonly used for shunting in the olden days, so seeing this elsewhere was rather improbable. "Getting to school's gonna take a while." Hezago muttered, observing the length of the train. "I've got to agree with you there, to be honest." Zack replied, but they proceeded to board the train anyway.
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They found themselves in a magnificent-ish hall of portals, perhaps longer than the train itself, but who cares, magic makes relatively no sense anyways. Then out of nowhere, a lady in a tux appeared with a box of pamphlets in her hands. A bit startled by this, the two stumbled backward (the others vanished off somewhere) and nearly fell to the ground if not for the very poofy armchairs that had just appeared out of nowhere. Adjusting themselves and standing up, they found the lady standing there, smiling.
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"Hello, and welcome aboard the Vonellia Express!"
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However obvious that was, they continued on anyway. "Take these," she said, handing them a pamphlet." It will help you find your way through our labyrinth of portals. If you get lost though, we will not bother to look for you." She said, her smile faltering.
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Wow.
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Not very nice.
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The lady then waved her goodbyes and sent them off on their way down a brightly lit most likely endless hallway, promptly disappearing herself. Upon opening the pamphlet, they were disappointed to see a scroll of irrelevant information. It listed thousands and thousands of portals, but not where they were and how to get there, and the hall itself was not much help either. Portals upon portals seemed to go on endlessly down the hall, with their names nowhere to be seen.
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They had walked for a while before Hezago spoke. "I don’t think we’ll be able to find the-" He was then interrupted. "But it may surprise you that you already have." Said a disembodied voice, who’s information proved baffling. "To your left, darling." And so they turned. "Thank you, I guess." Hezago said, and they stepped through the portal. What greeted them wasn't as much of a surprise as what they had seen earlier. A rather luxurious ‘living room’ with another room, a kitchen, and a restroom. A desirable arrangement of technology followed, with how they even managed to fit it all remaining unknown.
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Soon after they unpacked, the TV flicked on.
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"Hello and welcome to the Vonellia Express!" The cheery voice boomed into a bright room filled with silence. "As you know, you are on the rails to the academy, but really, you ain't. Why? (Nobody had asked, but anyway) Well, this trip will consist of travelling the world, just before we arrive at the establishment. All the information mentioned here will also be on your pamphlets, but we decided that we ought to tell you about our schedule before we take off. I mean as we take off.
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“First, we will be travelling to the Havanan sector of The CNA, East Cuba, of which you shall be given time to get your necessary school supplies, after which we will be on your way to our next destination, Panama City, Panama, CNA.
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“We will adore the local culture and history for about 30 minutes, and then we will be off on our way to Rio, United Kingdom! We will stay there for about two hours and thirty minutes, and then be on our way!
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“Please do mind that at each of these stations, we will be picking up passengers, and therefore might need some extra time. If you were expecting a quick trip to school, think otherwise.
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“We will then head north toward the European Commonwealth, where we will be visiting their most populous cities, Paris and Bern. We will be staying there for thirty minutes and an hour respectively.
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“Once done, we will leave for Lagos City, New Ivory, in which we will be staying for about two hours, and then be on our way to Deli, New Deli.
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“We shall remain for about an hour, and then head for what is approximately the halfway point in our journey, Shanghai. We will stay for about an hour and thirty minutes, and then leave for Tokyo, N. Japan, CNA, where we will stay for thirty minutes.
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“We’ll then head for Singapore, CNA, in which we will stay for an hour.
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“To Sydney, New Angland we proceed, of which we will take a break for thirty minutes. Thereafter, we’ll go to Honolulu, CNA, for thirty minutes before leaving toward the City of Worth-Dallas, our final destination.”
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Well, that was a lot to take in. Turns out they were about to travel all around the world and back, in what was supposedly a flying train. But for worse or for better, there was nothing they could do, as the train was already taking off, as with a chug and a huff, they skyrocketed off the tracks and zoomed into the sky.
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What a lovely view that was.169Please respect copyright.PENANARwVkrKKPjc