Warning:

The next chapter might take a little longer to get together! I'm doing a pesky POV shift, and shortening a beast of a 4 part chapter.

In the meantime, enjoy! I know some of you absolutely ADORE Vera, so have a blast following her thought process.

(Spoiler alert, she will NOT be mauled by Molves, as they follow a strict code of conduct regarding the Health and Safety of their students)

           Skat.

          Vera froze at the doorway, registering the chalked circles before the dim lighting could even disturb her. She was expecting a ghost, or maybe even a secret hobby Káel was using the room for.

            Her lip twitched in a mix of fear and relent.

           This technically was a hobby.

          She paced herself, slowly closing her mouth when she realised it had been hanging and eyeing Káel with a shaking calm. "So... was this here when you...?" She stopped when Káel shook his head, a spike of irritation flaring from his grin. "Okay. So you-"

          Káel didn't even let her finish. "Yup."

          Vera's eye involuntarily twitched at the hint of power peppering Káel's tone, prompting her to bring her own set of false confidence to the skit. With a wicked grin she walked up to the circles of chalk, pretending to admire their details. "So..." she started, her smile growing ever so slightly as she still caught a lick of worry plaguing Káel. "What was it that you needed help with?"

          Káel sucked in a deep breath, flicking his gaze to the side yet again. "Alright, this is don't freak out part two."

          Vera nodded, watching him draw a shining metal rectangle from his pocket. 

          As if anything in this sad school could make her freak out.

          Káel fiddled with the piece of metal, brushing up against her shoulder to give her a view of his strange contraption. Like a window, it showed the floor, Vera narrowing her eyes to pick apart whatever enchantment he'd placed on the object. 

          "So this is a camera," Káel said, raising it to the wall as Vera craned her head behind it to stare at its black back. "It can capture moments of time by remembering lightwaves."

          "Uhuh..." Vera muttered, Káel's gibberish leaking through her ears while she fixed her gaze on the screen. Settling on it being some sort of useless glass view enchantment.

          Until he twisted the strange object to his left, and her heart stilled.

          Someone was standing there.

          Her breath hitched in her throat as she took a step back, completely ignoring Káel's escalating fear as she scanned the creature in the frame of his metal box. "What is that thing?"

          A cold chill stole the blood from her face as the crimson clad man folded his arms.

          Could he hear her?

          Káel watched her with dish eyes, firmly clutching his phone as he barely squeaked out his words. "Please don't freak out."

          "I'm not freaking out!" Vera snapped, a swell of pride drowning her fear as she tightly tucked her hands under her armpits, the lingering fear still squeezing at her shoulders as she couldn't tear her gaze from the man. "So is that... person, thing, whatever in that box? Or...?"

          She sucked in a sharp sigh as Káel didn't answer, instead staring her down with a flood of regret and pounding fear. Before she could go off on him however, his gaze softened, lumped and shaking like a pitiful child's as his fear twisted to weak plea. "He's my friend. Please. His name is Phantom... you can trust him."

          Her mouth twitched in mild disgust as she glanced at the man again.

          He had named it.

          She took another step back, her heart rattling her bones as she resisted the urge to run. 

          Or maybe she was trying to.

         A weight had gripped her feet, Vera suddenly finding her answer as she locked eyes with a fluffy white dragon, the same plea in Káel's eyes flowing through the dragon's. 

          She hadn't gathered all the facts.

          But did she want to?

          Vera collected herself enough to speak, a cold bite slipping from her lips. "What is he?" 

          "A novan..." Káel muttered, ready to jump her as a last resort if she took to booking it out of the room.

          Vera nodded to herself, every muscle in her body tensing at her next question. "From the war?"

          A spark of relief massaged her stiff shoulders as Káel shook his head.

          At least that was something to trust.

    —————    

          Káel worked at the third circle, regret still gnawing at his stomach as he shot Vera cautious glances. He should have tried harder to fool her, had her hate his guts for all he cared, anything was better than the sick feeling that now twisted in his stomach. 

          She didn't trust Phantom one bit, and if he didn't find a way to silence her, one of his worst nightmares would come to light.

          "So. We're not freeing the novan... right?" Vera spoke, oblivious to the fact that Phantom had been leaning against the wall beside her for the past hour. "Where did you even find that rock?"

          "In the room," Káel muttered, scratching at the last rune while his stomach clenched again. "We're not freeing him, but even if we were, he's my friend so I trust him."

          Vera hummed, bearing down on Káel with a blunt swing of judgement. "I can see why you didn't tell anyone. Truvius would die of fright if he knew a masked man was stalking you since the first day of school."

          "Yeah. That, and you guys would just tell on me and get him killed." Káel finished the final line, his mouth stretched into a bitter frown as he got up and clapped the white chalk off his palms. "I guess I'll see if that dragon city they were going to send Puff off to likes novans enough not to kill them on sight."

          Vera let out an awkward sigh as Káel passed her. In the hour that had passed, she had collected her thoughts, knowing full well she had trusted a creature in a similar stance. 

          She had once stood in his shoes.

          But she also knew the treachery of Novans.

          Vera eyed Káel as he stood in one of the chalked circles, defeat weighing heavy on his shoulders while he pulled Phantom's rock out of his pocket.

          "Relax," Vera said, smiling at the irritated glare Káel lifted to her. "I won't tell anyone." She grimaced as Káel's hope grew a little too bright in his eyes, lifting her finger in warning. "Unless he does something to call for it."

          She felt a little tingle of warmth as Káel smiled, averting her gaze to the ancient ritual he'd laboured over. 

          "Now what do you want me to do?"

          Káel lifted Phantom's rock with a new spring of energy. "Stand in the circle I just drew. I'll handle the rest."

    —————    

          Káel finished the final lines, a crack of energy weighing on the room as the zapping bubble before them whitened with a thick cloud of mist. Unlike before, it didn't peak, ripping at every ounce of energy Káel had while the ringing air ripped into his eardrums. He barely resisted the urge to drop Phantom's rock and clog his ears, watching Vera and Puff, who had the luxury, with gritted teeth as he squeezed his eyes shut.

          And then everything stilled.

          The static energy flattened, a burst of bone chilling air blasting the room with a shattering crack as the bubble broke, casting the room into a thick and smokey fog. Káel cracked his eyes open, coughing at the bitter tang in the air as he approached the source of Phantom's enthusiastic cheers.

          "It worked!" Phantom cried again, bounding in circles around the small battery as he threw his arms up. "We didn't explode Káel! We're alive!"   

          A thin sheet of white mist still lingered on the floor, shrouding the small Zodraic battery as Káel crouched to inspect it. The crystal was gone, with one shining battery nestled to the ground.

          Káel held his hand over the battery to check its warmth before picking it up, its ice cold surface kissing his palm with a surprising weight.

          "Did we fix it?" Vera whispered, peering over Káel's shoulder to see for herself.

          "Yeah, I think so."

          "What is it though?"

          Káel stiffened, meeting Vera's emerald eyes with a nervous smile. "Just a... battery Ray asked me to make. For my return trip." 

          Vera's lips twitched with a spark of pity as she took a wall to rest against, watching Káel bounce the battery between his palms with a contagious smile of success. "You still trust that guy, don't you?"

          Káel chuckled. "Well, he is my only hope." 

          Vera nodded, watching the ceiling as he sat down next to her. "It's weird. I didn't think he was the type to ask for help."

          "Aren't you a first year?"

          Vera gave Káel dumbfounded look. "I'm in your class, aren't I?"

          Káel shrugged. "Yeah, but you seem to know Ray pretty well."

          "That's cause of my sister, they've been friends for awhile. I barely know that idiot."

          "You know more about him than I do, and I got kidnapped by him," Káel replied, attempting to make a joke out of his statement, but any mention of Ray's mysterious decision to kidnap Káel always put a gloom in his tone.

          Vera nodded awkwardly. "I don't think lady Samanthra even knows why he did that... Or how he found you in the first place... Or anything really..."

          "How does he get away with this stuff?" Káel growled, trying to wrap his head around the entirety of Ray's basic existence. "Back in my world they'd throw him in jail... Or at least fine him."

          "Lumi does that too. I'm about as lost as you are surrounding his lack of severe punishments, all I know is he's weird." She bit her lip. "Really weird."

          "Do you know anything else? Like where he's from? Why he's as hard as a rock?" Káel caught a hesitant look from Vera.

          She paused, contemplating the answer she was about to give. "You showed me the room... And your... friend." Her lips curved into a soft smile. "So maybe I'll tell you a secret or two."

          Káel lit up at her compliance, scooching closer to get an ear on some gossip. "Wait, you know where he's from?"

          "Sort of, it's not a lot to go off of, but you'll still have to promise not to tell anyone I told you this..." She gave him a playful grin. "Especially my sister."

          Káel smiled mischievously. "Deal."

          "Good. My sister found him on the outskirts of our ki- my homeland, three years ago," Vera started, Káel's undivided attention fueling her motivation to spill the beans. "She didn't go into detail, but she said he looked like he'd been beaten up by a pack of dragons, and along with practically being in the middle of nowhere, he didn't know a lot, or speak for that matter."

          Káel's face dropped to concern. "What was your sister doing in the middle of nowhere?"

          "That's the weird part," Vera replied, her expression turning to disturbed concern. "There was a strange light in the forest bordering Latos, and the townspeople were afraid it may have been a Nomad dragon... So she was sent out with a party of soldiers to scout the area."

          "And she found Ray?"

          Vera nodded. "Sitting there, completely alone."

          "And...?"

          "She arrested him and took him with her for questioning... My father wasn't too pleased about that part."

          "I wouldn't be either," Phantom cooed.

          Vera frowned, watching the floor as her facts ran out on the blond. "That's all I know about him though, I didn't see him much until my father dumped him off here."

          "Yeah, don't worry, that's plenty," Káel replied, suddenly getting even more of an alien vibe from Ray. "I'll figure it out someday... Hopefully."

          "And I'll help you," Vera added with a mischievous grin.

          Káel watched Puff drool all over the floor in a well earned nap, his lips curving as he felt an urge to seal Phantom's safety. "I'm happy you didn't run away."

          "Please," Vera scoffed. "It didn't even cross my mind."

          Káel breathed out a laugh. "I thought I'd made a mistake for a minute."

          "It would have been, if I hadn't trusted worse things during the war." She shifted into a more comfortable position, directing her gaze to the left where she suspected Phantom was lingering. "I think Phantom's cool. I don't trust him - at all." She shrugged with a spice of tough luck as Káel's smile died. "But he's cool."

          "I'll take that as a compliment," Phantom replied, bowing courteously to an unaware Vera.

    —————    

          Evening came and Truvius sat in the study room, skimming over his notes and a few pages of his friend's strange textbooks.

          He was doing his best to appear busy, masking his true motivation that he patiently waited to accomplish. What he truly wished for was to hear the door to their room close, which meant Káel was gone and he was able to collect more pages to the ever growing stack of one sided conversations.

          He heard movement in the main room, causing him to attentively listen to what was happening. He listened as Káel moved around the room, calling Puff to follow him, ending with the awaited door slam.

          Truvius waited in the heavy silence, pressing his ear up against the study room door to listen for even the slightest noise. Minutes passed, and he finally concluded the coast was clear.

          Carefully opening the study room door, he ensured the only noise was a soft swish, and the ever so quiet thumps as he tip toed across the hard floor. Eyes focused on his desired target, he quickly came to the waste basket and grabbed five scrunched up balls of paper. 

          Success.

          Truvius quickly escaped back to the privacy of the study room, where he carefully unfolded each ball of paper, splaying them across the desk to order them.

          He read over the letters scribbled across what he assumed to be the first one. 

When should I give the battery to Ray? 

          A battery? He thought, going through a list of every sort of battery it could have been. This was the first direct mention he'd made of someone too, did Ray know something?

          Truvius looked at the other papers. 

I was thinking tomorrow, and no she can't come, remember? Who knows how Blondie would react. 

          Blondie? Was he still talking about Ray? Truvius squinted, his mind twisting at the mention of a 'she' now.

          Truvius skimmed the other three pages, they were mostly covered in small talk he couldn't get any good information out of, but there was one last sentence that caught his eye. 

Yeah I know, I'll go there tomorrow to get it off.

          There? Where was there, who was she? And what was Káel secretly doing with Ray, a person he clearly still had a grudge against? Had they figured out a way to get him back to Earth?

          Truvius stared in contemplation, grabbing the small bundle of previous pages from behind the desk and flipping through them. Káel was without a doubt talking to someone. 

          Or something.

          Grabbing a piece of paper from the bottom of his collection, he skimmed over the notes he'd made. He knew who Zalius was after studying up on him, but failed to see the connections, or how Káel knew about him, and who was the Red Phantom? Was he the super powered novan? Was that the thing following him? Truvius hoped that wasn't the case, but he couldn't draw many conclusions other than that. It didn't make much sense, and the drawing with the person holding up a Ceptrum to a strange path with triangles made it more confusing, and what was this battery that needed charging?

          Holding his own up to the paper he made some new notes, Ray Blondie? Her? There? And with that he went back to studying. He was going to figure this out, even if he had to follow Káel the whole day tomorrow.

Don't forget to:

COMMENT/CRITIQUE/(VOTE IF YOU WANT)

Quality Quip #19:

'Some people are like clouds, when they disappear it's a brighter day.'

~ Anon