Finally Topher got out of bed, got dressed, and walked downstairs to the kitchen and fixed himself a bowl of oatmeal. He was halfway through his meal when he heard the familiar knocking at his door. He stood up, opened the door, and was nearly knocked to the ground by Cynthia who hugged him tightly.
"I'm so glad your alright! You're alright, aren't you? That was an amazing thing you did!"
"Can you get off me?" Topher asked, pushing her away. Behind her, he could see Almyra waiting patiently. She stepped forward and handed him a new shirt like the one he had on the other day.
"Here," She said. "I said I'd replace it, didn't I?
"Yeah, thanks," he said, taking the shirt with a faint smile.
"Thats not all," Almyra added. "I've got a surprise in store for you."
"What?" Topher asked impatiently.
"How is it a surprise if I just told you? Now come on. I don't want to miss the trolley." Topher grabbed his satchel, shut the door behind him, and walked with the girls down the street to the nearest trolley stop. They waited several minutes before the trolley finally arrived. Topher took the seat in the very back next to the window. Cynthia and Almyra took the seats next to his. Topher vacantly watched the various buildings pass them by.
"Did you hear the new Ninian Nethersole play is coming to town?" Cynthia asked them.
"Really?!" Almyra replied. "I've been wanting to see it for ages!"
"It's showing at the end of the month. Alyssa told me about it. Her father's one of the producers bringing it over, and she said she could get free tickets."
"Ohhh, the actor who plays Letchford is so handsome," Almyra swooned. "I'd give my arm to meet him."
"So I take it you want to go?"
"Of course!"
"How 'bout you, Topher?"
"Sure." Topher answered absent mindedly, not bothering to look over. Almyra and Cynthia exchanged worried glances.
"Do you want to talk about what happened?" Cynthia asked.
"No, I don't." He said.
"Are you sure? You've barely spoken all d-"
"I'm fine!" Topher snapped.
Neither Cynthia nor Almyra said anything more. They sat there in awkward silence. Cynthia stared down at her feet, twiddling her thumbs. The quiet was broken by soft sobbing. Salty tears dripped down Topher's cheeks. Almyra and Cynthia didn't know if they should comfort him, or if he wanted them to leave him be.
"I c-couldn't protect you..." Topher wept. "I couldn't p-protect myself..." Cynthia scooted closer to him, put her arm around him and rubbed his back gently. "If...If it weren't for you and the Trinierang...I'd be dead...And who knows what he would've done to you..."
"Topher..." Almyra called. His sorrow reflected in her eyes. "You're not perfect. You did what you could. No one expects you to save us."
"I do!" Topher shouted. "All those books I read...All the hours I practiced...It wasn't enough...You just don't understand. When I was in school, I used to get beat up a lot. One time, I had this friend who stood up for me. I was being picked on, and he fought them off for me...He was strong, and I felt so weak... I wanted to be just like him...I just, I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. Either of you."
"Don't fret about it," Cynthia said, resting Topher's head against her shoulder. "We aren't going anywhere." She brushed her fingers through his solf black hair. It soothed him, made him feel safe.
"I just...I don't know what to do..." Topher said.
"Topher, there's nothing you could've done," Almyra told him. "And you're not weak. Morris needed two men and a sword to stand a chance against you. You're ten times the man he is. Besides, atleast you don't have pubic hairs growing out of your chin." Topher gave a slight chuckle. Almyra always seemed to have just the right words to cheer him up. "Look, we're almost there," she said looking out the window. "I guarantee this will lift your spirits." The trolley turned right and drove for a few more blocks before stopping. "This is it," Almyra said as she walked towards the trolley's exit. Topher wiped his tears off on his arm, and stood up to follow before Cynthia stopped him.
"Are you feeling better now?" She asked.
"Not really. But I will eventually."
"Time heals all wounds, mate. And if you need to talk some more, I'll listen."
"Thanks," he said, and the two of them followed after Almyra. They walked together past run down warehouses and empty alleyways until Topher could hear the loud noise of revving engines, and he finally realized that they were almost at the edge of town near the city's port. They turned another corner, and Topher could see airships of all sizes getting ready for take off, a few of them having already done so.
"That's the big surprise?" Topher asked. "I watch the airships' departure every year. It's nothing new."
"Not the airships," Almyra replied. "We're renting those!" She pointed into the sky between two airships where what seemed like four large birds were flying. Topher squinted his eyes, and could tell that the birds were much larger than anything he'd ever seen, then he noticed that despite their wings, they were very much human shaped.
"We're getting flugopters?!" Almyra nodded. "How can you afford that?"
"Mum gave it to me. As a thank you for yesterday."
"That's great!" He said excitedly, and he ran towards the rental shop. Almyra and Cynthia ran off after him. Almyra went to the front desk and paid for the flugopters, and after a short speech from the owner on how to operate them, they were busy strapping into thick metal backpacks.
They walked onto a platform attached to a wall that reached far in the sky where an older couple were waiting with a small boy, all of them were wearing goggles. Cynthia leaned against the railing. The platform burst out a puff of steam, made a cranking noise and climbed up the wall. It took a few minutes for the platform to reach its highest point where it stopped. The family next to them jumped off the platform, disappearing from sight before the reappeared with metallic wings protruding from their backs. The three of them pushed goggles over their eyes. Topher looked down the platform nervously.
"Are you sure this is safe?" He asked.
"Come on. Don't be a coward," Almyra said. Cynthia and her jumped off and reappeared like the family before. Topher tip-toed towards the edge, took in a deep gulp, closed his eyes, and dropped off. He felt the wind rush past his skin and let out a girlish high-pitched scream, pulling on the cord on his chest. Gears whirred from his back, extending into giant wings that caught him from his fall. Topher opened his eyes, noticing he had stopped falling, and was now gliding smoothly through the air. He saw Cynthia and Almyra above him, and grabbed the handles at his side to make the wings flap. Around him airships were now leaving the port, slowly rising in the sky. A large one was just beginning to gain speed, and he dropped through the sky to become level with it. Through the windows of the ship he could see fancy looking wallpaper and furniture, and he knew at once it was a cruise ship instead of a merchant one. A girl a bit younger than him saw him through one of the windows and wave. He rose up again next to where Cynthia was. Almyra spun in a loop farther ahead of them then came back. Topher spent a few moments watching all the airships leaving before he heard Cynthia calling to him.
"We're going to dive!" She yelled, but the wind brushing past him blocked out most of the sound.
"What?!" He yelled back.
"We're going to dive!" This time Topher could make out the word dive as the two of them shot straight for the ground. Topher followed. Almyra spun wildly around in a barrel roll. They were several hundred yards above the ground when Topher pulled out of the dive. Cynthia stopped a few yards after him, but Almyra kept going until she got so close, it seemed like she was going to crash before pulling back.
They flew around for hours, watching ships and birds go by, and trying different manuevers in the air before they decided to call it a day.
"Whooo!" Topher shouted, landing with a thud. "That was amazing!" He pulled the cord on his side that sucked the wings back into the flugopter as the other two landed.
"Glad you enjoyed it," Almyra said smiling. "Did that cheer you up any?"
"Loads." They took the flugopters off and returned them to the shop, and headed towards the trolly station.
"Excuse me, young man!" called a voice at Topher. He turned around towards a man rushing towards him, waving his arm. He looked older than Topher by at least a decade, but that didn't stop him from being almost a foot shorter than him. He wore a spotless grey business suit indicating his social status, but his hair black and ragged, reaching past his chin. "Do you think you could do a job for me?" He asked, finally reaching them. "I could really use someone like you.
