Ch-9 The Bank Of Vestalis

Jasper hangs his head down dejectedly. Although he was very excited about coming into contact with magic and all of his fantasies coming true, he was know uncertain about his future. Before Jennifer 'kidnapped' him he had a very normal life with a certain and definite future.

Yes, in his normal life he always craved about something special happening to him but those were just a child fantasies who did not really expect something special happen to him. It was just a way for him to escape reality for some moments. But now his fantasies had become the real deal and he was scared of it .

On top of that Jennifer just informed him that they were going to be in Vestalis only for only 3 days. He thought that there would be some stability in this journey but he had to leave Vestalis without ever even getting to know about it. This fact make him even more uncertain and anxious about his future.

However, Jasper shakes his head and in the end and removes all these depressing thoughts while somehow gathering his courage," I do not know where we will be going next so I want to at least enjoy roaming in Vestalis as much as possible."

Although Jennifer had been looking ahead while Jasper was having these depressing thoughts. Jasper thoughts were not hidden from Jennifer because she had gone through a similar phase as did most of the young children of the Blue World when introduced to this world of magic.

But Jennifer did not comfort Jasper because she understood that Jaspers path was going to be much more difficult than hers and courage was born only when a person overcomes their depressing thoughts. She hoped that the small courage Jasper develops before the real difficulty started could help him in his time of need.

"OK"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'The Bank of Vestalis' was one of the top rated architectural delights in terms of design and rightly so '

The top of or the roof of the bank was somewhat similar to the top of pyramids he had seen when his family had once visited Egypt. Below the roof were long pillars supporting the roof as if they were shouldering the heaviest peak of the world. The pillars were arranged to form a square and the whole building was in pristine white colour. On the roof of the bank just before entering the bank people could read 'THE BANK OF VESTALIS' written on it.

Jasper and Jennifer quietly enter the bank and find the smallest queue to wait in. After waiting for 5 minutes Jasper could no longer stand it," Why are we waiting in a queue ,Jennifer? I thought that you had a very important position, so these queue should not obstruct you ,right? How about using that card from before."

"Well you thought wrong. I don't really have any important position and I am sure that you have seen enough spy movies to know the importance of keeping a low profile."

Jasper immediately realizes that Jennifer did not want to cause a big commotion and attract the attention of someone. It made him realize that this mission given to Jennifer might be more important than he had thought.

After another 10 minutes they finally reach the receptionist and Jasper hears Jennifer say," Jennifer Pierce has arrived."

Jasper felt weird hearing Jennifer's statement because to him it sounded like some kind of decree. On the other hand the receptionist looked lost for some moments before she started nodding her head vigorously and called someone.

"Sir, Miss Jennifer has arrived , should i ask her to wait and check her thoroughly?"

"There will be no need for that, just send her to my office."

"Yes, Sir. But there is also someone tagging along with her ,should I ask him to stay back ?"

After a brief silence of about 10 seconds

"How does the stranger beside Jennifer look?"

"Sir, he seems totally average definitely not someone who should be beside a young maiden like Miss Jennifer."

"Hmm, what about his approximate age?"

"Near 18 years."

"Its fine, send both of them."

"Yes Sir, as you wish."

The receptionist talks ends her call and puts the magic phone down.

"Please go to the 20th floor ,Madam and Young Sir."

The siblings started walking towards the elevator after the receptionist confirmed their passage. While waiting for the elevator to reach ground floor ,Jasper looked at his surroundings and marvelled at the gorgeous decorations and designs of the interior of the bank.

There was a chandelier at the center of the room albeit switched off right now. Jasper could imagine a scene where at night all the lights except the chandelier were switched off. The chandelier's light would fill this hall , the lighting and its shadows would be a sight to behold. Then there was also the waterfall just below the chandelier. The light of the chandelier would fall on the waterfall and bring the waterfall in full attention. At the waterfall with the constant pouring of water would be a mesmerizing sight with the occasional splash sounds coming from it.

While Jasper was imagining about these things the elevator arrived and both of them climbed on it.

Even after entering the elevator Jasper kept imagining about the waterfall and chandelier until his eyes fell on the elevator keyboard on which numbers were rapidly increasing 10,11,12.....,20. After the keypad reached the number 20 it stopped changing numbers however the elevator did not stop and instead kept going up.

" Why is the lift not stopping when we have already passed the 20th floor, right?"

"I told you before didn't I, I am on a secret mission which no one must know or find out about and the suggestion of the receptionist was to throw off any prying eyes who might be interested in this affair. Our real goal is the last floor."

After hearing this from Jennifer, Jasper starts contemplating,

'Jennifer is on secret mission which means there are people or organizations who are trying to find her and she is hiding from them. Telling the floor they were going when the public was in a listening distance would definitely alert the hidden enemies and not at all announcing would also be considered suspicious and has a high chance of attracting their attention. So the best way is to go to a floor and leave the lift and then use the stairs to reach the last floor. '

"I see, but how come the elevator not register that its moving up?"

"My dear Jasper , do not forget that we are in a world of magic and controlling a simple mechanism is a child's play. On top of that this elevator is in complete control of the person we are going up to meet."

Jasper realizes that there must be a powerful magician in the top floor for him to control hack the mechanism of a elevator. He got excited thinking about meeting a cool person who would showcase some magic spells and tricks.

" So, who are we going to be meeting?"

"Does it matter, you would not know his name even if i told you."

"So its a male we are meeting, then."

Jennifer makes a oh expression with her mouth before shaking her head and chuckling lightly," Just remember that no matter what he asks stay polite to him and when he asks you a question speak only the truth."

Jasper did not understand what she was trying to get at by telling something like that but none the less he nodded his head in conformation. There was actually some important details Jennifer did not tell Jasper in fear that he would not be able to understand them and instead make him scared since they were really spooky.

The last floor of the bank where the siblings were going was not somewhere people could just tread upon. Heck, it would be a big surprise if they were even able to see it and so most of the people who ever thought about the Bank of Vestalis did not know about it and instead assumed that the second last floor was the last floor.

The Bank of Vestalis had about 60 floors and they had just passed the 20th floor so Jasper assumed that they had a long way going up but after finishing his chat with Jennifer he was surprised to know that they were crossing the 50th floor. The speed of the elevator surprised him because he felt that it was moving faster than before but it could also be said that the elevator received so little turbulence that was close to negligent that it was one of the most smoothest elevator rides in his life. Most probably it was his own delusion due to the comfort. Jasper did not have to wait long before the elevator reached the 59th floor and he became alert and ready to meet the mysterious person Jennifer had talked about.

But how was he supposed to know that he was going to be encountering one of the rarest spells of Arcane World!!!

His confusion started when the elevator did not decelerate on the 59th floor and reached the 60th floor but still did not show any signs of stopping. On top of that Jennifer choose this moment to stand close to him and hold his hand. He could not understand why her sudden action and then the only thing in Jasper's mind was the soft and smooth texture of Jennifer's hand. It was so smooth that Jasper was reminded of the deluxe cushioned pillow he always slept in.

But all of this confusion turned into terror when he looked upwards because there was actually a dark hole about the size of the elevator and the elevator was at a speed where it would definitely be sucked into it. All Jasper could muster was

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"