The two were walking down the middle of a busy street, admiring the buildings around. It was not the first time they visited the city, but it never ceased to amaze them.
The population of Rema was split into two species. While humans were the most common sighting, there were plenty of basil around.
Those basil had integrated pretty well into the society partly because they were not so different from humans. Their limbs were the same in number and shape, but they also had a reptile's tail that the Court of Rema decided not to categorize as a fifth limb, since it would often fall off and grow back.
Leo always felt tall walking beside the Basili, as the average Basili woman stood at only 150 centimeters and men were even shorter.
Their faces, while having mostly human features, were easily differentiated through the larger eyes complemented by a split pupil and a reptile-like nose and mouth.
Their color also stood out, as the scales they had in place of skin came in as many different shades as the human eye could distinguish. This is also why they were really successful in entertainment. Their shiny colors, complemented by their small bodies looked all the more spectacular while performing acrobatics.
"I never get tired of seeing what the Remans' hands can build!" said Giulia, but no answer came back from the boy next to her, who seemed lost in thought.
Saying that the residents built the city solely by hand was not completely accurate. While the predominant magical affinity across Rema was indeed related to water, there were plenty of other spells that the people had mastered while building this city.
It was a well-known fact that the entire world was made of energy, but being able to control this energy was conditioned by understanding of the element. To move a puddle, you had to formulate a clear image in your mind of where every drop would be at any point in time until you let go of it. A slight miscalculation could lead to the water splashing everywhere. Physics ruled the world of magic.
The same could be said for any other form of energy. That's why, the more dangerous the material, more intense training was necessary.
Hence why Giulia let out a small giggle when she noticed a wet, angry man walking around.
Leo was considered a young prodigy in his field. The average Reman would train his whole life to be able to pick up the water in a bucket and move it around slowly. Yet Leo somehow managed to complete that specific task by the age of nine, before his magic training even started. Nobody, not even he himself could explain where he had learned such good control from. All he could say when asked about it was: "I don't know. It just felt normal."
Still, power was never his goal. At his age, all he cared about was adventure and fun. Or at least that is what he thought, but his conviction had been put to the test lately by the girl in front of him, and Leo found himself more fascinated by her with time.
Even if he had been treating her the same for as long as he could remember, at night he found himself falling asleep thinking about her and about the days they spent together.
At times, his mind would wander and his gaze would fall on the young princess, looking at a friend's face but seeing something completely different that made his heart start beating faster and faster. This was also one of those times.
"Is there something on my face, Leo?"
"Ah! No…no. Sorry, I was just spacing out…"
On the soft lips he was staring at just moments before, a mischievous grin appeared as if to foretell the next replica.
"Oh? Spacing out looking at me? Why would a young boy like you look here, of all places?" she said teasingly while pointing at her lush lips.
"None of your business!" the boy said, flustered.
"Also, you're only one year older than me! Don't think you can tease me like that!" he added out of nowhere, making his insecurities all the more obvious.
A bell-like laugh was Giulia's response before her green eyes sparkled with a new idea.
"Come on, let's have some fun around here!"
Leo was expecting those words, but hearing them didn't bring him any joy. He knew what type of fun the girl was looking for, and it was the type that always got them in trouble.
*****
"And all the blame will fall on me, right? An awfully convenient prank you've planned there…"
"It won't! Come on, hurry! He's about to pass us. If anything happens, I'll apologize for the both of us."
"Ok, fine! If he catches us, I blame everything on you."
As he said that, Leo made a hand gesture and moved a puddle on the road, making the reflection look like there was a hole right where a man who was enjoying his walk was about to place his foot.
In an attempt to avoid the hole that magically appeared in front of him, the man twisted his body, and tried to find another spot to place his foot. To his surprise, the place he deemed safe initially became extremely slippery, and the man successfully failed the simple task of not falling into the canal next to him.
The boy who had caused all of this through his magic stood there as if turned to stone, contemplating the gravity of the prank he had just pulled on a complete stranger.
"Don't just stand there! Look! He saw us. Run!" Giulia said as she grabbed the boy by the hand.
"Run? You said you were going to apologize to him."
But Leo's protest had no effect on the girl who was already happily dragging him through the busy streets of the city, acting like their actions before were part of a harmless game.
That's how they spent most of their afternoon. By the time the sun was setting, half of the city was looking for the two rascals.
Giulia would make Leo do this every time they went to the city. She could not explain why, but she felt full of life when she ran around the city, hiding together with Leo, who would panic and protest at every new prank the girl came up with. The thrill of having her heart beat at such speeds was completely different from the boring daily life she would spend in the castle, where she had to look her best at every moment and act like a boring, apathetic young lady.
This time, the two miscalculated the route they would use to escape and ended up running past the workshop of a very capable builder. The lady was so proficient in magic that she lifted a wall right in front of the two, stopping them both.
Looking at Leo, who was frozen solid at the sight of the fast-approaching crowd, Giulia understood that it was her time to save the situation. She quickly gathered the water lying around and used it to lift the two of them up and over the wall, but she was not as proficient at using magic, so she ended up splashing the dirty water all over her pink dress as they landed. No matter, it was not the time to worry about it.
The two of them had to hurry if they wanted to escape the angry mob, so they swiftly ran towards the outskirts of Merlobasso.
*****
After being dragged around for a while, Leo finally built enough courage to look at Giulia, and to his surprise, he saw the girl smiling as if she had completely forgotten that she was angry at him just half a day ago.
When they finally stopped, they were already at the foot of the mountain overlooking the vast city.
The large sea of buildings was contrasting the even vaster ocean that was stretching beyond the horizon. It made Leo think about just how many individual lives were being lived in this cramped space. He was not one for crowded places; he preferred living in silence and seeing only the few people he was close to. On the other hand, Giulia, as a princess who spent most of her time in a big and empty castle, seemed to enjoy the bustling city and the crowds that came with it.
As a general architectural rule, Rema focused on fitting as many buildings as possible in the space it had available while also keeping the number of floors as modest as possible. As such, the houses were all built close to one another. This led to people getting used quickly to being in close proximity to each other, and of course, this warmed the hearts of the population. It was hard not to make friends while walking through any big city of Rema, but in the capital of Merlobasso, this stood especially true.
Merlobasso was also a place where a lot of magical geniuses fond by liquids would gather, as the streets here consisted of open water canals. The affinity for water magic that the citizens of Rema were proud of made it easy for the more talented ones to show off and use their skills of traveling around the city by using the water beneath their feet to move themselves from one place to another.
*****
After a day spent running around the city, the two friends were now sitting at the edge of a cliff overlooking Merlobasso, the city of water. The sun was casting its orange light upon both sky and water, creating a subtle contrast between the two.
The view complemented the dress Giulia wore almost perfectly, if not for the stains of dirty water earned as a badge of shame during their escape.
"If only there was a way to clean it… Mother is going to kill me! The wind beating on this wet dress also makes me feel cold. I think it is time we go back."
"Why? It's the first time we've gotten this far from the city. Look how beautiful it is! To think such a big city is nothing compared to what surrounds it."
"Don't you think it's scary?" the girl asked as she snuggled up next to Leo.
"Scary? Maybe. But isn't it exciting? So many unknown places we could venture to. Imagine how much of the world we will be able to explore when we are older!"
At the implication that they will still have such outings even in the years to come, Giulia's heart skipped a beat, but she was able to keep herself composed thanks to all the years she spent learning etiquette from her mother.
"Maybe… If I don't catch a cold and pass out right here, that is," she said as she pushed her body more and more into Leo's in desperate search of shelter from the wind.
Suddenly, the water soaked in the dress started floating out of the fabric, leaving it as dry and clean as it was when they went out of the mansion.
"Really? Couldn't you have done that when I was panicking?" the girl pouted as she reproved the boy who was lending her a hand.
The boy did not answer. He did not ignore her on purpose, but he was too captivated by the landscape in front of him to speak. After noticing this, the girl let out a sigh, and with a smile on her face, placed her head on the shoulder of the younger boy.
"Say… You said something about growing older. When we are adults, will you…"
Giulia paused for a second is if to gather more courage.
"Will you take up the Conti name? What say you?"
"Huh? I already have a noble name of my own. You have your own brothers. Why do I have to take care of both our names?"
The girl didn't answer. She was not mad. If anything, she was more amazed at how dense this boy could be.
She decided to skip this subject for now, and instead, she just called him an idiot in a low voice.
Shortly after, the exhausted girl fell asleep. Upon noticing, Leo decided to let her rest until the sun completely set. Then, he would take her back home. That gave them about 15 minutes to lay in silence.
When the last ray of light started sinking into the ocean, Leo took out of his pocket a lamp consisting of a lesser fire spirit trapped in a glass jar and tried to wake Giulia up.
To his surprise, when he turned towards the girl, everything in front of his eyes turned dark. The next thing he heard was a loud scream from the girl. Immediately after, he felt a kick in his ribs from an unknown foot.
"We got 'em, Boss!"