It's a quiet Friday afternoon, quite an ordinary one for most; you, though, have been nervously pacing around your apartment for the last 10 minutes, prepared to leave for the weekend.

A few weeks ago, you found out about a raffle in which the winner would get a weekend-long set of one-on-one magic training sessions, with the instructor being a world-renowned arcanist. You'd only been studying magic for a few months before that, but it was specifically noted that one of any skill level could be chosen, so you decided that you might as well enter. You weren't expecting to win, of course - who ever does? - and had honestly forgotten about it, and yet there you were on the morning a winner was chosen, looking though the mail and seeing a very special envelope...

After more aimless pacing, drinking some water despite not really feeling thirsty, and looking yet again at the information you have about the visit (not necessarily in that order), a glance at your watch indicates that it's 4-o'-clock. This is the time you had decided to leave by, so that's what you do, heading out and catching some public transportation to a portal.

The location for the magic training is quite a unique one; for one thing, it's in a set of separate dimensions which have only existed for a few years, and for another, the magic aspect is very prominent, with the entire country being comprised of collections of sky islands, as if it were some fantasy video game brought to life. This nation, known as the Nimbus Republic, was founded by the very same individual that you would soon be learning from. Most could only access it through special offices, rather like combinations of border stations and embassies, where portals to matching offices in the Republic could be set up.

You get to a station, and walk the last couple hundred meters or so to the office. Once inside, you're greeted cheerily by an Absol from behind a counter to the right of the room, angled slightly towards the entrance. "Good afternoon, and welcome to the 62nd Nimbus Portal Office! What can I do for you?"

You approach the counter. "I'm just visiting over the weekend... this letter has the details-" You start to explain, before getting interrupted by the Absol the moment he gets a look at the piece of paper.

"Woah- you're the one whose name showed up in that announcement? Congratulations!" He seems astounded to be meeting you, despite the fact that you're the lucky one... after a moment, he catches himself and clears his throat, looking a bit flustered. "Right, so, uh... you're getting transported to one of the capital provinces; you're a new visitor, so you wouldn't usually get access, but there's an exception for this, of course. So... you need a visitor's card..." The Absol holds up a paw, and just above it, light gathers and eventually condenses into a small rectangular form.

While he adds some information to the card, you take a moment to look around the room: smooth, off-white stone walls seemingly carved out of one massive rock, a dark slate gray floor so shiny it could almost be used as a mirror, and mahogany used very prominently in furniture and even some quaint wooden pillars against the walls. The area as a whole seems fancy, but not in an overbearing way - more like that one set of kind grandparents that happen to be rich? On the opposite side of the room, there's another counter with a Simisear behind it, managing some paperwork, and in the middle, right on the other side from where you entered, there's a slightly short hallway to another room. The Absol gets your attention, and after having you confirming some further information to add to the card, he hands it over to you. "Alright, you're all set to go; you can head through the middle hallway," he says while gesturing to it, the air at the entrance shimmering momentarily before going clear again - a sign of a magical ward being lifted. "Have a good weekend!"

"Thanks, and you too!" You walk through the hallway, and soon emerge into a room with a few notable differences from the last one; it's circular, the floor is made of smaller, near-black stones (still perfectly smooth, though), with a multicolored ring about 8 feet in diameter in the center, and the center of the ceiling is open, the circle being slightly larger than the ring below - you assume there's a barrier just above to keep rain or anything else from getting in. You're approached by an Alolan Ninetales, to whom you present the same information as before; she congratulates you, informs you that you'll be taken almost directly to where you'll meet the arcanist, and wishes you a pleasant stay before opening a portal in the center of the room. You thank her as well, and promptly step through the circle of rippling inky darkness.

Emerging on the other side of the portal, you see a lively town square, on a rather warm sky island with a few clouds overhead. A look around the horizon quickly shows an absolutely massive object in the distance, tall enough that it gives the illusion that it could fall on you on any moment... a building?- ...no, some kind of palm tree? As quite a few questions bounce around in your head - how do clouds exist here? what's with that massive tree? there's no sun in sight, so where's the light coming from? - you spot the café that you would be picked up at. You realize that there's still some 20 minutes until that happens, though; getting a portal to here was a lot quicker than you expected, so now you're wondering what to do with this extra time...

---- voting closed ----

1) Have a look around - 20 minutes is a decent amount of time, exploring this strange city for a bit should be fun! (3 votes, 27%)

2) Wait at the café - what if you get sidetracked and are late to meet one of the most powerful individuals in the world? That'd be beyond awkward; you'd much rather play it safe... (8 votes, 73%)