The honeymoon seemed like years ago, although it had only been two months.
Zander was amazed by their entire honeymoon, as Sophie didn't just rent out their entire resort, but also renovated it, added 10 underwater rooms, which people entered and exited through a tubing system that did not harm the water.
There was only one of them at the time of the honeymoon. They stayed in one of those rooms, and Zander couldn't believe all the effort and touch Sophie put into the rooms.
They were about the size of a studio apartment, with one bathroom which had a toilet, sink and shower. It had a small living room with a TV with every channel and streaming service you could imagine. Then there was a kitchen with all the appliances, and a bedroom with a bed, tv, and controls to cover the room from the inside, to keep it dark for sleeping.
Sophie had approached Ella before the wedding about the expansion idea, to which she finally met Ella's husband, Jed. He was an architect and knew of a great, reliable construction and contractor team and they quickly got to work.
Over the last two months, the resort was receiving record revenue and they planned on expanding on the resort.
They then stayed in a new "Phoenix Honeymoon suite," and Sophie showed Zander the different types of honeymoon suites, the newly designed rooms that were finished, as well as a less expensive section.
He appreciated the less expensive section, as it spared no expense in making them.
They then enjoyed their weekend in SilverCrest, as neither of them had been outside of Harmonia. They didn't gamble much, as the thought of it just all seemed like a waste of money, but Sophie and Zander did enjoy blackjack a bit.
They were amazed at how many yellow and violet auras were around the casino, but thankfully there were many green ones as well.
Their hotel was amazing, but on their first night Zander had received a message from his system, "your mate is now in her fertility cycle, you are now able to conceive a child."
After talking about it, they both agreed they didn't want to risk having to make a choice if the system offered a yes or no option on conception of a child, nor did they want to risk having an actual child yet.
It didn't bother either of them, and they enjoyed the magic show put on at the Casino. They both giggled inside knowing how they were phoenixes, but the music, dancing, lighting and performance was truly a great experience.
When they had returned home they had gotten into a routine of school, training, and Zander explained to Sophie was probably at the young Phoenix stage, like he was.
To his surprise, no new evolution happened at level 15 and with all the training Sophie, Cyrus and Zander had done, with his daily quests, Zander was now Level 18.
"Name: Zander Elrod. Rank: Young Phoenix, level 18. 1,000/15,000 experience. Strength 16, Mana 16, Endurance 11, Agility 14, Stamina, 12. 210/210 health, 320/320 energy," the system reminded him.
During the honeymoon, he decided to put 5 stat points into mana, one to endurance, one to agility and one into strength. He then received one additional stat point for each category as he hit level 15 and used his level 16, 17 and 18 stat points into stamina and health.
He and Sophie began taking notes about the system in the secret room, which they showed and bound Cyrus not to talk about.
Zander also found that the switch on the long walls rotated 3 times. Where the map was, there was a map, a padded training wall, and finally information on Rebirth, Baxus and Braxus.
On the side with the notes from Leo with auras, there was a padded training wall, and on the third side were all the notes Zander's parents, Leo, and Luna jotted down with a circled, "Aisle 18, Row E, book 54, state incantation "I am worthy," to which Zander had Cyrus try first, where nothing happened.
He then had Sophie try, to which an "error, user has not been added to or detected by system," message popped up.
Finally Zander spoke the incantation and the shelves started to move horizontally with magic, until some sort of gateway was revealed.
"Congratulations, you have found an ancient teleporter of Solace. Secret quest complete: Find the gateway. Reward: Instant level up. You are now level 19. 0/25,000 experience,"
With some disappointment in his eyes, he explained to Sophie, via their bind he didn't get any stats, just a level up and no idea how to use this teleporter.
"Maybe it's the original book," Cyrus stated?
"That seems like a long shot but let's take a look," as Zander repeated the Incantation and the book shelves glowed and moved back into place.
The book was titled, "The New Earth," which was basically just a very short, elementary book about how the Earth used to exist in harmony, after many years of being different countries, etc and After Enlightenment caused 4 nations and 2 planets, Baxus and Braxus, which Theo formed on 3.28.00."
"Well that doesn't do us any good," Cyrus stated and Zander agreed.
However, Sophie was re-reading the book and asked Zander to flip the wall with auras, flip the wall with the map of the new world, and asked if she could take notes on the side his parents took notes on.
"Sure, you know you don't have to ask, we've been living together for three months and married for two, this home, this room, it's all yours too."
After Zander finished speaking, a glow came from Aisle 18, Row E, Book 54. Sophie went over and spoke the incantation and Zander's system pinged.
"Would you like to add Sophie Elrod to the list of the worthy?"
Without hesitation, he clicked yes and to Sophie's surprise, it worked. She quickly shut it, and noticed that when it spread back in, that the area with the teleporter didn't have an aisle. She rushed back to the board she was taking notes on and said, "I think I figured it out."
Zander and Cyrus looked at each other in confusion.
Seeing they were confused, Sophie went over her notes and explained everything as she wrote a combination down as she went. When she was finished, she circled it.
"I thought it had to be a riddle or code or something, so first I wrote down the basics, 1 original earth, the blessed 5, and I remember a phrase in the book, 'it took over a billion human years before humankind reached Harmony, to which the Father rested, only to awake early to bless all the souls on Earth and a new era began, After Enlightenment. AE: Aisle starts with A and it was in row E,'
She pointed to the first half of her logic and asked, "do you follow?"
Both of them looked at each other confused and Zander said, "not yet, but keep going my love."
"Ok, so when time restarted, there were now only 4 members of the Blessed, not five, and the book number was 54. As she pointed to AE54 which she had written down. Then it stated Baxus and Braxus, the two new planets created on the new era's date, 3.28.00, which is also Zander's birthday, to which his protection spell lasts to 18, you have AE54B328. Let's go see if there's an Aisle 54, Row B, book 328," Sophie said with a big smile.
The three of them sprinted over and Sophie pulled out the book, "a history of phoenixes," which they read together.
About halfway through the book, it had a page which had absolutely nothing to do with phoenixes, and said, 'if you'd like to take a leap of faith, simply state your name, age, and reason for travel."
"How in the world did you figure that out?" Cyrus asked.
"Look at the entire board, there are clues listed there as well," Sophie said and when they all went back and looked, Zander just stood in amazement as to how she picked up a pattern the other two had missed.
"Seems like our school got the top student wrong, you're amazing I love you!" Zander said with a kiss.
The three of them walked back to Aisle 18, Row E, book 54, and Zander said I am worthy, and the teleporter room opened again.
"My name is Zander Elrod, I am 17 years old and wish to travel," the teleporter reacted by scanning everyone in the room, and they felt a weird sort of magic go through them.
In his Mother's voice, he heard, "when you are 18, bring the love of your life and any you feel worthy in your heart, and you will be able to access our teleportation network, setup by the Father of Solace."
A panel appeared next to the teleporter.
The panel looked pretty basic for how amazing the magic was, and it had a list with a directory of sorts with different buttons next to where it would take them.
"1: SilverCrest castle, basement floor. 2: SilverCrest capital, abandoned house. 3: Nalthis, abandoned house in the southern region, 4: Nalthis, capital city, inside an apartment complex, 5: Nalthis castle, "no longer available,". 6: Phantom's Keep, the outskirts: inside a cave 1 mile from the top of the continent. Danger. Be prepared. Snow, ice, no way of travel for miles. Nearest town 20 miles. Using magic will give you away."
Underneath the panel were numbers, like an elevator, and when Zander clicked one it said, "error, user is not 18."
He sighed and asked what the other two were thinking.
"Has Nalthis aligned with Phantoms' keep or did the teleporter just break? Also, will these other panels have this location as well?" Cyrus asked the group.
None of them had any idea. The three were burnt out for the day. Cyrus went home as Zander and Sophie ordered take out and enjoyed a movie, next to the new fireplace they purchased to keep themselves warm.
They had both noticed that they quite enjoyed warm temperatures and were glad summer was coming. For any other family, the AC would be blasting as it was 85 degrees Fahrenheit, but for Zander and Sophie, it felt a bit chilly.
"Hey did you happen to learn anything else about phoenixes and have you still not gotten a period?" Zander politely asked.
"I still haven't got one, Scarlett says it must be a Sophie thing. The Phoenix book was pretty basic, but it did say they are creatures of solitude until they mate, which explains why you don't have a ton of friends. It also said we prefer being in warm climates and cold climates can cause problems for a phoenix's health, Sophie finished explaining.
"That just makes me not want to go to Phantoms keep north even more, but I wonder why Haven exists and what's up with Nalthis? I think this summer we should find Haven, what do you think?" Zander asked.
"Only if you do something for me first," Sophie playfully said.
"You know I'd do anything for you, my love," Zander explained.
"Good, now stand up and shoot three fireballs at me," Sophie demanded, in a confident tone, "and don't hold back,"
Zander's face did a good job masking his internal fear of hurting her.
Ok, not what I was expecting but k, 3, 2, 1," and Zander shot out three fireballs in rapid succession.
To his surprise, Sophie had fully transformed and ate one of the fireballs, stopped the other one with her wing and flung it into her mouth and with the one she caught with her hand, she tossed it in her mouth like a snack and changed back into her human form, fully naked.
She let out a few burps and let out a giant smile, "that felt really good and I'm getting better at controlling my Phoenix powers. thanks for all the training babe!" Sophie said with a kiss as she walked upstairs, turned around and said "well I didn't burn a set of clothes and get all energized up for nothing are you coming?" she said with a wink.
Zander smiled and laughed, "you're cute when you burp. I think that's the first time I've ever heard you burp. You don't have to ask me twice."