Yote Diamondback visits 7 nostalgic hotspots

Yote Diamondback and Quinn Cozens live in different worlds and in two completely different genres. But those worlds overlap.

Aurora Village is a near-carbon copy of Wintersville, Ohio. Something I’ve repeated so many times. In many ways, Yote Diamondback (Arcane Elemental Academy) sees the same exact thing Quinn Cozens (Beyond the Lost) used to see. Except that there’s a magical academy there in Yote’s world.

If you put Xadis (Yote’s world) and Earth (Quinn’s world) side by side, they wouldn’t resemble each other. The only caveat? Aurora and Wintersville would be sister villages.

That means Yote sees what Quinn longs for. Quinn, living in a post-apocalyptic America, can never have his hometown back. But it lives on in another world through Yote, and seven items stand out.

1 – That old store on Main

Before his personal training empire took off, Quinn bagged groceries and stocked produce at an old store on Main Street. He hated going to work, but loved opening the back doors to catch the evening fading into night as pink and orange streaks decorated the sky. Below, the treetops shimmered under the setting sun.

Out front, he’d watch the sun sink beneath the water tower, church, school, and the numerous mom-and-pop businesses that better resembled residential homes. Nothing grounded Quinn more.

In Arcane, Yote experiences the same. She’s no employee in that old store. Nor does she visit frequently. Still, she catches the view and even sneaks out back to see exactly what Quinn saw worlds away.

2 – That home away from home

Residential areas line the edge of town. When one turns onto a road with a church and a school next to one another, and a funeral home after that, they’ll treat their eyes to an unforgettable overhead view of hundreds of rooftops across five different neighborhoods.

Driving down a steep hill and making a right at its base, they’ll find a home that Quinn dubbed his “home away from home.” It’s where his fondest memories reside. Something those who read Beyond the Lost Horizon will experience.

Yote’s taking a trip into that same house. There’s a single occupant there who she must visit. One who holds an answer to a question she has.

3 – That old, winding backroad

Just outside Wintersville, there’s a road that leads to an airpark. Drive past the airpark, and it leads to a valley with a creek flowing toward the Ohio River a few miles away. It’s the one location Quinn does end up on in Beyond the Lost Horizon as he attempts to reach a lake house that the paternal side of his family owned for generations.

The circumstances Quinn is under, though, aren’t ideal. But Yote’s are different. She ventured outside Aurora Village before, but her mind’s blown by what she sees on the other end of this valley.

4 – That crown jewel of a water tower

Quinn considers Wintersville his hometown. But he grew up outside of it, on the adjacent hill. Still, when growing up, he’d gaze to the southwest, where that crown jewel of a water tower overlooking Wintersville stood. That view also grounded him.

Yote Diamondback passes that same water tower daily in Aurora. It doesn’t boast the same anchor of significance to her as it does to Quinn, but Yote’s quick to notice something: That water tower is visible no matter where she is in Aurora. It’s that village’s centerpiece.

5 – That stunning view from Overlook

There’s a region in Wintersville called Overlook Hills. And wow, at the apex, Wintersville and neighboring Steubenville look like those Christmas villages (even when there’s no snow on the ground) with little matchbox cars zooming this way and that.

Quinn used to drive up that way when he had time, even when he hated small-town life, and gaze into the two towns before shifting his sights toward the horizon. The treetops of the wild woodlands loomed, completing a relaxing scene.

For Yote, it’s the perfect place for two teens to share a romantic moment. If you read The Arcane Prophecy, you’ll end up asking this critical question: Who’s she going on a date there with in the next novel?

6 – That old, abandoned drive-in

There are 300 drive-ins in America as I write this, and Wintersville had one for decades before it finally closed down when Quinn was 20. That place was a go-to during Quinn’s youth and teenage years. Like Overlook, it was a staple in his life, even if he desired to leave the area once upon a time.

Once the drive-in closed during Quinn’s late teenage years, he started missing it immediately. Memories of late-night flicks from childhood to adolescence flooded through him, and it was yet another link to his past dusted.

Fortunately for Yote, that’s not the case. In Aurora, that old drive-in’s alive and well, still playing movies even as home entertainment provides a more cost-effective and convenient alternative. That special date in Overlook I mentioned in the previous section might just end up at the nearby drive-in.

7 – That perfect little restaurant

Yote visits this restaurant early in The Arcane Prophecy. Called La Casa Dello, think of it as an authentic, made-from-scratch Italian outlet. In Xadis, there’s no such thing as Italy, but that doesn’t mean mouth-watering Italian cuisine doesn’t exist.

La Casa Dello might charge more money than your average restaurant. But who cares? The food quality and service is outta this world.

And in Quinn’s world, he never missed a chance to eat at that perfect little place. Plus, it offered even more breathtaking views of the countryside, given its location right on the edge of Main.

Bonus – That old, rundown mall

No matter what Quinn felt about the Wintersville/Steubenville area, he craved that old, rundown mall back when it had stores in it. Hell, it once had a bookstore, a movie theater, four anchor stores, an electronic store, a supplement store, restaurants galore, pretzel and ice cream stands, and a joke store.

By the time Quinn hit his late twenties, the place was almost empty. Foot traffic slowed to a crawl, and the floor was no longer flat and smooth. Watermarks on the ceiling suggested mold. And the place was about two-thirds empty.

As you may’ve guessed, that mall’s alive and well in Yote’s world. So much, that it’s a replica of what Quinn enjoyed when he was in middle school and during his early days of high school.

It won’t appear in The Arcane Prophecy, but it’ll make an appearance. Check out the first three chapters now, and get to know Yote Diamondback. You might just find out why she’d find a small town Quinn once hated before he started loving it so exquisite before she even sets foot in the place.