Mom just led us down the street before flicking her hand towards a side-street and it…rippled with this swirl of magic as she walked through it, I was right beside/behind her and Dad was to Mom’s side as we walked through the archway. There was something about this that reminded me of when I was a kid, and we’d go out; that level of lightness and fun was just not something I had felt in ages.

              As we walked through it, there was this intense vertigo feeling before I stumbled forward a little and I was standing in that impossible looking magical city that I had only seen the images of that Mom showed me. The sounds of the city had exploded outwards as I stepped into a city many times over larger than where I had just been. I’m guessing we were in whatever the mirror of Russian Hill was, but the hill we were on was far larger and far taller than Russian Hill, entirely covered in this spiral patterned road lined on the inner edge with pastel and vibrantly colored townhouses, but as the city sprawled out for as far as I could see in all directions: there was city, there was color, there was light, people and all sorts of sounds and elements that showed just how much life was there.

              The Gossamer Bay was far larger than San Francisco Bay, it spread out further than I could see, the waves churning and swirling in nearly black dark blue, frothy whitecaps visible as the waves swept and roiled, the Harmony Gate Bridge glowing softly in the afternoon daylight, the sky was clearer and more colorful than I was used to, but there seemed to be a dark cloud that was centered…right overhead me.

              “Come on, we’ve got some places to hit up” Mom said stepping forward as her entire form lifted and her feet left the ground

              “You can fly?” I asked

              “You can do” she laughed as she held her hands out, “Think about being one with the air, think of your feet lifting off the ground” she said as I took her hands, I thought about that as I breathed deeply as I felt the wind kick up around and swirl around me before…my feet left the ground making me laugh. I looked back at Dad who just smiled, Mom just swirled a hand towards him, and magenta flames coiled out before spreading forming a pair of wings off Dad’s back as he lifted off the ground as well.

              It was honestly…one of the best days the three of us have had together in a long, long time: as one could easily guess, because of Mom’s job, days where it’s the three of us being able to go out and do something together as a family were very few and far between. I don’t know when the three of us were able to just go out and have fun and kind of…explore the city, late time the three of us were able to go out and explore was probably when I was a kid and still learning to navigate the city I lived in, but because I’m much older than I would have been as a kid, it just…felt more fun.

              “Here we are” Mom said walking over, three of her four hands occupied by these large ice cream cones, they had those bubbly waffle cones and ice cream adorned with all sorts of little things like the one she had for herself had shards of mango, cookie sticks, what looked like maybe boba pearls and things of that sort, Dad’s had a full peanut butter cup and a toasted marshmallow and those chocolate filled tube cookies in it as she handed me mine which had a purple toned waffle with white and yellow ice cream, a scoop of red bean paste, coconut jelly, pandan cookies and generally everything that’s in halo-halo, but as an ice cream cone. The three of us were sitting on a bench overlooking the area of Pearlbay that was the mirror of where we life, but whereas Russian Hill is for the most part covered in buildings and houses, the hill in Pearlbay called Crow’s Nest Hill, there was just a swath of districts that were named after boat parts.

              “There it is!” Dad called out as he pointed out, “See those beams of light” he added gesturing towards this collection of pillars of light going straight upwards: a bright yellow, bright green, bright blue, bright red and bright, pure white.

              “What district is the school in?” I asked

              “Ah, it’s down in Figurehead Corner, right off the end of the bridge.” Mom said, “Immaculate view of the surf…and of Undertow.”

              “Undertow?” I asked as I leaned around trying to see through the mass of skyscrapers to see more of the school, but distance met with the thickness of the city made it pretty much impossible to see any more than I already could.

              “It’s a district of the city that is built underwater for everyone of more aquatic races; hippocamp, krakens, merfolk, nereid, naiad, sires, selkies, shen, triton, anyone who is associated with water…sometimes people who are associated with fresh water have a little difficulty in sea-water, but they usually can easily adapt.” She explained, “Well, you want to attend next year?” she asked

              I paused a little as I looked out over the city, listening to the sound of music, traffic, people and city mixed with this deep, heavy underlayer of the sound of the churning surf and wind. I looked over at my Mom as she waited for my answer.

              “…Please” I asked quietly