They reluctantly trailed Jabali and the others back through the streets. There seemed to be a ton of people about, despite the heat pressing down more, now that it was late morning. Large groups of teens walked by, Zyn recognizing Raimugi Senzakou and Mernao Rulek from school. Several vendors waited along the dirt sidewalks, the strong smell of roasted vegetables and fresh fruit washing over them as they walked.

“Get your eclipse glasses over here!” called a loud voice.

Zyn snapped their gaze to the sky, almost forgetting all about the solar event to take place. They squinted as they glanced up at the sun and moon briefly—the two would soon be overlapping!

“Come on, kiddos!” Jabali called, ushering them to the vendor. “We’ll be able to see the eclipse better with these.”

He bought five pairs of glasses, which they put on. They then continued to Cool Coffee, as they were close by now. Zyn kept looking up at the sky, not wanting to miss the eclipse; they stumbled over their feet multiple times, but didn’t notice nor care.

They reached Cool Coffee, and C3 was already waiting outside. In fact, Marsh and the other employee were outside too, no longer serving a long line of customers. It seemed like the entire population of Vinetown was gazing at the sky in eager expectation, packed on the streets. Sweat and heat mixed together to create an unpleasant smell in the air; Ren was soon muttering for her wand to give them a fresh breeze.

Jabali handed C3 the extra pair of sunglasses, so he wouldn’t need to shield his eyes with his hand. C3 thanked him briefly before resuming a quiet watch. 

“It’s happening!” a kid cried out several feet away.

Zyn fidgeted, a thrill of energy flowing through them as they stared at the sky. The moon was now covering part of the sun, the light becoming both dim and bright. Though they wore the glasses, they still squinted, ignoring the tears springing into their eyes from the strain. 

Very, very slowly, the moon continued to shield the sun. The sun’s rays were quite visible behind the moon, even as it was entirely blocked out. Zyn could feel their heart pounding in their chest, though they weren’t sure why. 

Then, they remembered their father’s warning, of Chaocat showing up. Zyn lowered their eyes to the crowded streets. There was hardly any movement, most people standing like statues. A light breeze ruffled plants and several banners, but nothing else stirred. Zyn scanned the audience for a while longer, but once it was clear there was no threat, they returned their gaze to the sun and the moon.

The moon was gradually passing on, the sun starting to appear. The minutes ticked by slowly. As the sun was nearly visible once more, people began moving again, the trance broken as they resumed their activities. Zyn kept their gaze on the eclipse though, holding their breath as the moon finally passed over completely, revealing the bright sun in its entirety.

“That was so cool!” Zyn breathed.

“It was okay,” C3 muttered in reply.

Zyn raised an eyebrow at him. “Okay? We don’t see eclipses that often!”

“I’ve seen plenty,” C3 said with a shrug. “It was nothing fancy. Certainly not something to stop for.”

Zyn snorted. “You’re ridiculous!”

“I thought you’d be more interested in eclipses, C3,” Ren said, stepping forward to join the conversation. “After all, eclipses are a big spiritual event and—”

“I am no longer interested in spirits,” C3 said shortly. 

Zyn and Ren exchanged a glance.

“It was incredulous to ever be so invested in such matters,” he continued. 

“Oh,” Ren stated, her tone surprised.

“I’ve been spending the summer studying plants,” C3 went on. “I have been trying to figure out how much water a bristled col—”

“Aren’t we supposed to be going to the game center?” Zyn asked Jabali loudly, not interested in C3’s newest hobby.

Jabali, who had been chatting with a bored-looking Sarala, beamed at them and nodded eagerly. “C’mon!”

Jabali put their bags of clothes in the back room of the coffee shop first, then led the way along the roads. He pointed out different buildings as they went, but Zyn didn’t pay much attention to his words; they hardly ever focused on tour guides. They were too busy taking in the sights and smells, trying to catch snatches of conversation. 

They passed a small bookstore, where people used air magic to summon books. They went by a large building that was labeled as the Magic-Charging Center; the workers were about to check air-net connections for the city before going to their next client, who needed fire enchantments strengthened for their lighting. They passed a small farm, multiple magicians working together to plant and water food, the strong scent of damp soil present as they walked.

Nobody was talking about the eclipse, despite everyone stopping to stare at it. Zyn frowned as they pondered that, but shrugged it off and went back to looking around the city. They certainly missed traveling to different regions.

At last, Jabali came to a stop outside the four-story game center, one of the largest buildings in the city. Jabali opened the wooden door for them, then trailed the group of teens inside. The room was breezy, thanks to the air cooler. They walked up to a front desk across from the door. Zyn could see multiple doors beyond the desk, each labeled as a different activity. There were ball games, hover boats, escape rooms, obstacle courses, and more!

“What would y’all like to do?” Jabali asked the teens cheerfully.

“Let’s do the hover boats,” Zyn suggested, as none of the others spoke.

“Sure, sure!”

Jabali turned to the person at the desk, going over details of pricing and how many people would be playing the game. Once that was settled, the person handed Jabali five green tokens, which Jabali then passed out for each of them.

“Let’s go!” he boomed.

He went towards one of the doors on the left, which led to some stairs that went up to the next floors. However, they didn’t get off at any of the levels. They kept climbing until reaching the final door, which led to the roof.

“Looks like we’re gonna be outside!” Jabali chuckled, pointing with a broad finger as they entered the humid atmosphere once more.

A majority of the roof was set up like a ring with a tall wall around it. The only way in and out of the ring was through a narrow walkway, which was too small for a boat to squeeze through. That was where a small line had formed, and where Jabali led the teens.

In the ring itself, there were several boats flying through the air. There were three teams, recognizable by what color the padded rowboats were painted: red, green, and yellow. The wheelless boats were enchanted to fly, but only a few feet off the ground at most, so nobody was able to lift the boat out of the ring entirely. Of course, Zyn was quite sure that anybody with air magic was able to make the boat fly off, but that was probably why the manager at this game was taking wands away.

They watched the current game of hover boats. The objective of the game was to knock out both opposing teams. Sometimes, two teams would pair together to chase one team off, before turning on one another. 

Zyn watched as the red and green boats worked together to knock out the yellow boats. But one of the green boats soon attacked the red boats, knocking them from the game as well. The game was soon over, with the green team winning.

Zyn fidgeted excitedly as they neared the back of the line. The people who had already been waiting were the next to go in.

“How many in your group?” the manager asked Jabali.

“Five,” Jabali replied.

“We need one more to go with this lot here, if any of you wanted to join,” the manager said, jerking a thumb at the group heading through the narrow walkway for the boats.

“I’ll go,” Jabali said, passing the manager his token.

Jabali then bustled off, swiftly catching up to the group ahead of him. He got in a yellow boat, then the game began, each of the boats flying towards each other at a less-than-rapid pace. The teens’ game-watching was soon interrupted.

“What are you doing in Vinetown?” C3 asked abruptly. “Where is your father?”

Zyn sighed and didn’t bother to reply. Just ignore him…

When neither twin responded, C3 pressed, “Are we going to be attending school this year?”

“Why wouldn’t we?” Ren asked.

{Don’t answer him!} Zyn said, keeping their mouth firmly shut so C3 wouldn’t suspect telepathic communication.

“With what happened last year, and how your father is clearly not with you right now but instead left you with his friend…it makes me suspicious,” C3 growled. “I will not have my magical education taken away from me.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Ren said.

“Have more spirits attacked the school?” he asked in a quiet voice.

“No…”

{Stop talking to him.} Zyn urged.

C3 frowned at the quiet twins, then tried Sarala. “You know what’s happening, don’t you? You live at the school, like they do. You’re their cousin or some sort of relative, right?”

“No,” Sarala uttered simply.

“No to both questions? Either way, why is school not going to start in August?” C3 asked.

“What?” Zyn and Ren exclaimed in unison, frowning at the boy.

“Don’t act like I am stupid!” jeered C3. “All of us have received air-mail about summer break being extended. School is set to start in September now instead—if it is still happening. Why is this?”

Zyn glanced at Ren. {What’s he going on about? Dad would have told us if school was starting later! And why would it be starting later?}

{Maybe because Dad’s still looking for Chaocat? Maybe he wants to find out where they are and if they’ll attack again before he opens the school?}

{But that could take ages!} Zyn pointed out. {What if Dad never finds them? Is school just never going to resume?}

C3 continued to look irritated as he waited for a response. “Well? Why are we unable to attend school at the usual time?”

The twins were luckily saved from responding as the game manager suddenly approached. 

“You ready?” they asked. “This game is just about done!”

The four teens nodded and passed over their tokens. They went down the walkway, their footsteps loud in the narrow space. The boats in the ring landed with soft thuds on the ground, then the people got off and left, chatting excitedly about the game.