118 First stop—Earth

By the time Talia and Cedric made it out to the front entrance, a small group had formed. There were attendants pushing carts full of luggage as well as family members standing by to wish them all a safe journey.

The former king Cyrus Blaxtone was standing next to his Royal Consort Athena. King Jero was also present alongside the High Priestess Sibyl to see Talia off.

Alongside the family group, Andre and Vander stood to one side, chatting to each other in quiet tones.

"Wow. Looks like the entire clan is here." Talia laughed.

"We are your family. Of course we will be here for you." Athena smiled.

"Now, don't forget to do a mirror scry visual as soon as you get to Earth. You still remember how to do it, right?"

"Yes, Mother." Talia nodded. "I'll do a quick scry visual as soon as we pass through the portals. I hope it works in between portals."

"It does, and it's very important to remain in touch with me." Sibyl took a deep breath. "It's not that I want to keep tabs on you. I just want to make sure you can contact me if you need help."

"Feel free to reach out to me as well." Athena reached out to touch Talia. "My son is with you and I would love to know that he is also well."

Talia assured both sets of parents that she would do her job as the group's only communications expert as well as the only medically-trained person to handle any health emergencies.

This seemed to reassure everyone although truth be told, neither the werewolves Cedric and Andre nor the vampire Vander would need much of any medical assistance.

After the requisite last hugs and kisses had been given, the four of them got into the carriage and was driven off to the train station.

Since everything had been prepared in advance for the traveling quad, it did not take long before they reached the Farian station.

From the carriage, Talia looked out onto the train that was waiting for them to embark.

"Goodness! I didn't realize there would only be six cars on this train." Talia looked about as they boarded the lounge car.

Vander grinned. "This is a special trip. There are only four passengers. Since Andre was a last-minute addition, he has to share a car with me, while you and Cedric share a car. That leaves one car for the train staff, this dining/lounge car, and of course, the locomotive engine."

Andre chuckled. "We could have gotten eight cars so that each of us would have our own space, but two cars got eliminated."

"So what changed that?" Talia asked.

"Well, after talking it through with everyone, we all realized Cedric was never going to be in his car and would instead, be bunking in with you the entire time."

"Damn straight." Cedric raised an eyebrow. "Wherever my wife is, that's where I will be. And besides, eliminating two extra cars that no one needed would allow us to travel much quicker."

Talia smiled at Vander and Andre. "I hope the two of you will be comfortable sharing a single car."

Andre burst out laughing. "We're guys. We don't need that much space to crash for the night."

As they bantered back and forth over trivialities, the train began rolling away from Farian Station.

Once they were truly on their way, several attendants moved about the lounge car pushing carts filled with drinks and snacks.

"So tell me," Andre placed his drink back on the table. "Do we have a plan we are supposed to be carrying out or is this a fly by the seat of our pants endeavor?"

Vander scratched his head. "I don't think we've actually discussed anything like a well-formulated plan."

Cedric took a sip of his wine. "Well, getting to Earth is the easy part. This train will take us through the tunnel and back into New Orleans."

"But then what comes next? How do we get from Earth to Avalia?" Vander mused out loud.

Talia looked up. "Once we reach New Orleans, we have to go to Alexandrite to meet up with someone who will help us get through to dragon world."

"Alexandrite? That doesn't sound like any Earth world that I am aware of…" Cedric frowned.

"That's not surprising. Alexandrite is a place that is shielded from human eyes by a group of witches and wizards. My great aunt lives there. Her name is Chloe Belladonna."

"Chloe Belladonna…the name doesn't ring a bell at all." Cedric shook his head.

"That's not surprising. She's been gone for a very long time. When she left, my mother was not even born yet."

"No wonder we don't know anything about her." Andre rubbed his jaw. "I'm just glad you know of her."

"Yes, I had a chance to speak to her one time, as I was practicing how to scry visuals from a mirror." Talia admitted. "She is very beautiful. Very glamorous."

"Where is she currently living?"

"She is currently staying at the castle in Alexandrite with her son Michael. She also has a daughter named Nana."

Talia pursed her lips. "Nana would be my cousin. She's a princess. From what I heard, she married three men."

Andre and Vander looked at each other. Then they looked at her.

"Three men?"

"Yes. Two of them are identical twins and the other is some random prince." She shook her head. "But from what I heard, he died in the middle of a battle."

"Interesting. So that means on Earth, a woman can have more than one husband"?

Talia shrugged. "Not where I lived, but apparently this is accepted norms in Alexandrite."

"Very progressive!" Andre whistled.

"Don't get too excited." Cedric informed drily. "We're not going to be there long enough for you men to tap into that option."

"We need to get in and out as quickly as we can." A voice called out from the entrance to the lounge car.

Talia's eyes widened.

"Tarot!" She yelled as she jumped up from her chair and ran towards her brother.

"What are you doing here?"

Tarot grinned. "I couldn't let you leave alone. You are still so new and green with witchcraft, I was afraid you would get in trouble."

"How did you get on the train?"

His eyes were mischievous.

"I snuck onboard while no one was looking."

"Your mother is not going to be happy that you ran away from home to join the circus." Cedric drily informed him.

Tarot laughed. "I left a message for her. And anyway, I will do a scry-visual as soon as we reach our first destination."

First stop—Earth.