Night slowly faded from the skyline, the first rays of sunlight breaking through to herald the arrival of a new day.
Back home, Maverick spent the first day simply lazing about the house, meanwhile telling his mother and sister everything that really happened these past few weeks straight from the source... which of course, was himself.
Father Caesar returned home only after sunset, looking like a man who needed the break yesterday. Then at long last, a rare family dinner unfolded, everyone gathered at the table together, something the whole family had been missing more than any of them cared to admit.
Another thing worth savouring was getting some proper sleep. Not that Maverick was particularly tired, but there was something to be said for his own home, his own room, and his own bed. He wasn't quite sure when he drifted off, when he opened his eyes again, light was already creeping in from the other side of his window curtains, soft birdsong drifting in alongside it, and he could already tell it was shaping up to be a perfect morning.
He pulled himself up out of bed, crossed to the window, and drew the curtains aside, letting the morning sun spill freely into the room. Behind him, the bed had already made itself up neatly, thank Mother Magic.
After a quick shower and a few minutes of getting ready, he stood before the long mirror and smiled at his reflection. Nothing's changed, still looking the same as he did five years ago when the system awakened.
Same height, just as handsome — cough, cough... just a perfectly objective observation.
He turned around and walked toward the door. Alas, thinking he had nothing important on his plate was a luxury he couldn't afford. Who told him to go sticking his nose into everything happening around the world?
The smell of breakfast reached him before he even made it halfway down the stairs. Bacon filled the air, mixed with something sweeter. Pancakes, perhaps, or toast with far too much butter. The entire living room was filled with that warm, familiar scent that could only come from his mother's kitchen.
Following the aroma, he found his entire family already gathered together, comfortably settled in as though no time at all had passed since the last morning they had all sat together.
His mother stood at the stove, humming softly under her breath as she worked. Sarah was sitting at the dining table, her chin propped on one hand, her eyes lazily fixed on the small television in the corner. Michael's newspaper was lying open in front of him, though his attention was also on the television. He was sitting exactly where he always did, in exactly the same chair he always occupied.
They turned toward the sound of him walking down the stairs, then stopped whatever they were doing and simply stared at him as though an alien had just walked into the room.
"What?" He arched a brow at their strange looks.
"Honey, you're…"
"…ripped." Sarah finished the thought for her adoptive mother, looking him up and down several times.
"I was going to say I didn't expect to see you in a tank top of all things." Mother Caesar chuckled under her breath. "Although, she's not wrong." She waved the utensil up and down in his direction.
He looked down at himself as well. He was indeed wearing a tank top, fitted and black, paired with matching black pants. There was a reason for that, and he glanced toward Sarah.
"Did you forget asking me to train you with your powers first thing this morning?"
He walked over to her and dropped into the chair beside her, scooping a few nuts from her bowl and tossing some into his mouth.
"I..."
"You forgot, didn't you." Maverick poked her forehead. "After breakfast, I'm taking you to Uncle Ed's island."
Across from them, Michael lowered the newspaper, set it aside, and looked over at Maverick. "Isn't she still too young to be putting herself through that kind of training?"
Sarah rolled her eyes at him. "I'm fourteen, Dad."
"Give it a rest, Michael." Ariel came over balancing two plates along one arm before setting them down on the table. "I'd feel a great deal better knowing she can protect herself."
"Protect her exactly from whom?"
Michael reached for one of the plates, only for Ariel to smack his hand away before he could touch it. She took a few pieces of bacon herself and placed them onto his plate instead.
"From big, evil bad guys, coveting my powers," Sarah chimed in, borrowing some vocabulary she had picked up from Maverick over the past couple of years, a small chuckle accompanying them.
"They'd have to be some very stupid bad guys, then." A small smile found Michael as well.
"Don't underestimate the stupidity of people, Dad." Maverick also chuckled. "Sooner or later people are going to find out she carries the X gene, and the world isn't exactly short on idiots willing to target even the Prime Minister's own family."
"So I'm the deterrent, then." Michael arched one eyebrow at him. "Not you… the super wizard."
"Speaking of which." Ariel sat down beside Michael, having finished distributing the bacon to everyone. "Do you know what they're calling you now?"
"What?" Maverick tilted his head.
Ariel gestured briefly toward the television with a nod. "The Wizard King." A teasing smile touched her lips. "Half the papers have already crowned you the monarch of the magical world."
Maverick's mouth fell half open. He genuinely hadn't heard about that particular scandal. "You're joking..."
"Nope." Sarah said around a mouthful of food, then swallowed and let out a small laugh. "My friends at school certainly think so, at least."
Maverick turned toward her. "Your... school?"
Sarah hummed, nodding without quite looking up. "Everyone knows you're my brother now."
"How?" Maverick turned to Michael instead.
It was Michael's turn to roll his eyes. "Did you think the papers wouldn't dig up every last thing about you? The only reason we haven't had a swarm of paparazzi camped on our doorstep is that this family was already high profile enough to begin with."
"For once, I'm glad he's the Prime Minister." Ariel nodded along.
"Are you saying you'd rather I weren't?" Michael turned to his wife, mock offended.
"I'm saying I'd rather we were a quiet family."
"Wait, wait, wait, can we back up here a moment." Maverick waved his fork. "What else is the news saying about me?"
Ariel adopted a thoughtful expression. "Oh, you know. Wizard King, Crown Prince, all that sort of thing… if you want the truly outrageous version, apparently you're a spy planted by your father and the Queen, meant to bring the magical world under royal control."
"It's nothing new..." Michael added. "Just noise.... the papers spread ridiculous rumours over every little thing..."
Maverick let out a small exhale, and seeing his expression, Ariel couldn't help but chuckle again. "On the other hand," she said to him, "the major newspapers, you know, the ones people actually read and take seriously, have been treating us rather well. You especially…"
"…I can't wait." Maverick reached for the cup of orange juice sitting in front of him, smiling tiredly.
"…a fairly detailed account of your childhood years." Ariel continued. "Some of your high schoolmates were interviewed, and later, from your college…"
"They didn't make me look too bad, did they?"
Ariel shrugged, smiling. "Apparently, you were very quiet…" She made a small gesture with her fingers.
Maverick made a mental note to read through all those interviews. High school, he sighed, and college too. He had friends, of course, from both school and college, but ever since his world turned magical, he had all but forgotten about them.
The newspapers had apparently been digging quite deeply into his past and his family during the last two weeks while he was wrapping things up at Hogwarts.
But then again, what his father said wasn't wrong, it was only a matter of time before the newspapers came sniffing around.
"Hold on a sec…" Michael suddenly interrupted, raising the remote and turning up the volume on the television.
Maverick, his mother, and Sarah also turned to look, a breaking news animation was playing on the screen.
"...We have just received breaking news from the United Nations. The Chagos Archipelago comprising around sixty islands in the Indian Ocean, and the remote, uninhabited St Kilda archipelago off the Scottish coast, have both officially been designated as territories belonging to the International Confederation of Wizards…"
"…representatives from the ICW and the United Nations are still meeting inside the United Nations Headquarters, however, we have confirmation that the agreements has now been formally ratified. The Government of Mauritius which holds sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago, and the British Crown which holds sovereignty over the St Kilda archipelago have both formally signed the agreement, while the United Nations has passed the required resolution, officially recognising the agreement on behalf of all parties involved…"
"…this comes only three days after the International Confederation of Wizards officially approved plans for two metropolitan cities that will be open to the public, cities that will also function as strategic centres for cooperation between the two civilisations, facilitating joint initiatives across a range of sectors. And following this latest development we can safely guess exactly where these two cities will be established."
The reporter paused briefly before setting the breaking news aside and turning her attention back to the camera.
"We don't yet have confirmation on when construction is expected to begin. Both archipelagos are understood to contain existing settlements, perhaps some local communities or administrative infrastructure. How these existing populations or facilities will be incorporated into, relocated, or otherwise affected by the planned development remains unclear. We'll bring you further details as soon as they become available. What we do know, however, is that both sites are planned to become large metropolitan centres, serving not only as residential hubs for the magical population, but potentially as major tourist destinations open to visitors from around the world."
"From what we've learned about our new neighbours over the past two weeks, the majority of the magical population appears to live in isolated communities, separated from the outside world by magical barriers. Each country apparently maintains its own magical community, while only a relatively small number of them live openly among us..."
"These two new locations, however, are expected to be different, rather than remaining closed to the outside world, they are expected to be open to everyone, albeit under appropriate regulations, giving people from the non-magical world the opportunity to experience magical society and culture firsthand. And this may well be the first time in recorded history that the magical world has chosen to open its communities to the non-magical population on such an unprecedented scale. Needless to say, I, for one, cannot wait—"
Michael turned the volume back down.
"The Chagos Archipelago?" Ariel touched her chin and paused to think.
"It's some small islands located near the Maldives, roughly five hundred kilometres to the south," Maverick answered.
"I'm guessing that was your idea?" She arched an eyebrow at him.
Maverick nodded. "But the Kilda Archipelago was proposed by the Queen. You know, she wanted to keep at least one location in the UK."
Although Maverick had spent the past two weeks at Hogwarts, the great engine that was the ICW had not stopped for a single day. He had been kept informed of everything that was happening, from the latest developments to every change being made.
"And the plan is to turn those two locations into two massive metropolis?" Ariel pressed.
"Sort of." Maverick nodded again. "There'll be residential areas, but the main purpose is to establish two major economic and commercial hubs. Hospitals, trade centres, financial districts, tourism, research facilities, and all sorts of other infrastructure. Basically, places where our two worlds can do business."
Ariel's eyes gleamed with sudden interest as she leaned forward, causing one of Maverick's eyes to twitch. He could already guess where this conversation was heading.
Sure enough: "And I'm guessing you already have a piece of land lined up for yourself?"
"The deals were barely finalized, Mom. Everything's still on the drawing board."
Ariel didn't back down and leaned even closer.
"Alright, alright." Maverick raised one hand in resignation. "You're right. I've already secured some prime real estate in both locations for us."
He hadn't, yet. But he would.
Those two locations would become major global hotspots within a matter of years, quite possibly the most valuable real estate on the planet, and it doesn't need a genius to work that much out.
Demand for so much as a scrap of land there would skyrocket, every square inch worth its weight in gold, if not more. In fact, bidding had already begun, or so Maverick was aware, not from individuals, but from countries, each vying to lease a piece of land for themselves.
And he, the architect, would be the biggest idiot not to secure a slice of that pie for himself.
"That's my boy." Ariel chuckled, giving a small nod of approval. Michael, meanwhile, could only sigh at his wife's behaviour.
"Where were we, then?" Maverick still wanted to know what the news had been going on about. Everything else he had been following closely enough. The only thing he was out of touch with these last two weeks had been the news itself.
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