A false life enchantment?

          Truvius couldn't shake the thought. Sure Káel was odd, suspicious even, but a soulless battle puppet?

          He paid Vera a quick glance, his fingers pressed with pain by the thick bags she'd asked him to hold for her. She thought it would be easier to catch Káel off guard than stalk him all day.

          Maybe she had a rope or two loose in her head.

          Truvius held in a sigh as she appraised a row of scarves, she'd bought five already, and he could hardly tell the difference between them all. Nonetheless she squished it into one of the already packed bags lining his arms, waving him over to a row of food stands.

          It really was no wonder why the nobles that recognised her never took to swarming her, her spending habits certainly reflected a kingdom in the hole for debt.

          "Want one?" Vera said, pointing at a clean row of juice filled glasses.

          Truvius frowned at the offer. He could feel a dry stick to his throat, but had been entirely immobilised by the chains of fashion Vera had dropped on him. 

          "They're really not that heavy," Vera sighed, slipping the vendor two coins before sticking her arms out for Truvius to drop her load on her. He took the chance at relief without a second thought, slipping the herd of leather totes onto her forearms and watching her drop to the ground with an audible grunt. 

          Cheeks flushed with embarrassment, she didn't let Truvius' deadened smile get to her, lifting the stack of loot with wobbling knees and sucking in a hard batch of breath to keep her ground. 

          With a grunting flex she shifted the straps closer to her elbows, grabbing her drink with a smirk. "See?"

          Truvius paid her a polite smile, grabbing his drink like a bundle of feathers as he suppressed a smile, knowing full well Vera couldn't lift her glass to her lips and was desperately trying to hide the fact. "Thanks, my arms were killing me. Want to go check on Káel?"

          Vera quickly nodded, waddling off towards Soren's shop as her bulging bags carved a path through the crowds of wandering students. By the time they had slipped into the right alley, Vera had lost her front of poised perfection, heaving in exhaustion from the blasting heat of the duo stars and her burning joints. 

          Truvius grabbed half her bags so she could finally go at her drink, she'd made it an impressive distance that he wasn't sure he could manage. But any pity was vanquished by the fact that she had quite literally brought the nuisance upon herself.

          With an audible sigh of relief, Vera swigged her drink, stashing the emptied glass to return to the vendor for half her slivs back. An action that surprised Truvius again, given the amount of money she'd wasted on flambouyant outfits when she herself had donned a less than classy pair of shorts and a baggy shirt.

          "So," she breathed, using the wall to lift herself and continue on their path. "What do you think he's doing in there?"

          Truvius lifted his gaze, paying their viny trail a tiny shrug. "Scheming?"

          "Obviously," Vera laughed, slowing for Truvius to pass her when she forgot which way to go. "If he's there of course."

          "Where else would he be?" Truvius replied, a disappointed smile thick on his lips as he zeroed on the last corner to Soren's shop. "We're his only friends, so he's not hanging out with anyone."

          "True," Vera said, her lips curving with the signature playful glint. "Maybe Soren's giving him orders from Alta Staar."

          Truvius  nodded along, taking an extra effort to widen his eyes in false realisation. Vera's theory was a skip and a half from sanity and although an invisible creature tailing his roommate was close to that spectrum, he knew one fact all too well.

          Káel was too much of a walking disaster for it all to be an act.

          He rounded the last corner, a delayed slap of surprise widening his eyes at the sight of a black dragon. He had been so used to them napping around Frigusilvrum and the quaint skirting village he'd called a temporary home that it took him a few seconds to realise the rarity of a sight in the Mauran region.

          It blinked at him, exasperation pricking its lips into a frown as it turned its head away in boredom. 

          Vera let the gasp die in her throat, strangely calm at the sight of the travel sized dragon as she immediately went for Soren's door. Truvius had caught a sense of realisation on his friend's face, as if she knew exactly why the dragon had chosen to nap there.

          As she tugged the door open her entire body went rigid, head tilted up to meet the gaze of a towering stranger. His mossy green eyes fell gently upon her, emotionless and unfamiliar to Truvius as he waited for the scene to unfold.

          The strange man dipped his head graciously as Vera took two steps back, squeezing a loose leather saddle through the door as he gave the girl a weak smile. "Thank you, Strylez."

          Truvius scrunched his brow, trying to catch Vera's gaze as she ignored him to pass into the shop. As soon as they came into the hug of Soren's cool shop, Káel was front and center to their view, clutching a roll of paper in his hands as he locked a wide eyed stare with Truvius.

          Truvius squinted, allowing suspicion to bubble in his brain as his roommate fiddled with something in his pocket. 

          Káel was definitely scheming.

          He cracked a stiff smile, nodding respectfully at Soren before slowly approaching Káel. "We were wondering where you disappeared to."

          Káel waved the paper with a grin. "Just getting some dirt on Ray." His silvery eyes fell to the bags weighing on Truvius' arms. "You guys done?"

          "Yeah." Vera lifted up two leather bags filled with her loot. "Ready to go?"

          With a quick nod Káel closed the distance between him and Truvius, only stopped by Soren's voice that cut to their ears with a substantial ring of weight.

          "You make sure you only use that if you're in trouble." 

          Truvius watched as Káel fiddled with his pocket again, sealing his mouth as Káel paid the shopkeeper a confused smile and nodded, waving his farewells to pass Truvius out of the shop.

—————

          Káel pinched the silver whistle between his fingers, thin as a miniature flute and bound to a thread like chain of silver. The creepy stranger had gifted it to him, and through his mannerful upbringing, or fear of being stabbed, Káel had accepted it without a word, Locke's words playing through his head on repeat.

          If you find yourself or Puff in any sort of trouble, don't hesitate to use this.

          Did being kidnapped by an alien exchange student count as 'in trouble'?

          Káel sighed, stashing it in his pocket as Truvius wandered out of the study room. They locked gazes, the connection quickly dying as the two took more interest in the floor. 

          "That dirt on Ray-"

          Káel let out a sharp sigh before Truvius could finish, holding the roll of parchment out to him with a sour frown. "See for yourself."

          Truvius timidly grabbed it, unfurling the paper to flash a crisp flow of letter. It was an arrest report, copied by enchantment with the emblem of Listillvice plastered to the upper left corner. His brow scrunched as he skimmed the empty information columns, Ray's gender, age, and physical descriptions the only pieces presented in the copy, along with a small description of the 'arrest'.

          "Arrested under the suspicion of practicing dangerous lumience and the possession of strange artifacts. Suspect was discovered bordering Listillvice and lacked fluency until administered with a translator." His gaze drifted to the bottom of the page, 'cleared' boldly stamped to its foot, with one last lining of texts squished to the bottom. "Further documentation on the suspect has been transferred."

          He worked up a weak smile to greet Káel's deadpan glare.

          "How much did you pay for this?"

          "Doesn't matter," Káel sighed, snatching the paper and scrunching it into a ball. He went to throw it in the trash, pausing in confusion at how empty it was. 

          He had sworn it looked fuller than it was at the start of the day.

          "Something wrong?"

          Káel snapped his attention to Truvius, his roommate nervously working at his hands like he usually did when he tried to strike up conversations alone. "No..."

          Káel heaved out a sigh, ignoring Truvius' unusual silence as he scooped Puff up to leave, feeling his pocket for the Zodraic battery before reaching for the door. As his fingers brushed the handle, Truvius' voice cut into his ears like a living migraine.

          "Going somewhere?"

          He cracked the door open with a sigh, catching a glimpse of Phantom making a shooing motion at Truvius. Káel couldn't agree more, Truvius had stalked him all day, warranting the heavy coat of exhaustion he tossed to his roommate with an emptied smile.

          "Yeah. I get you're stalking me to make sure I'm not running into unicorns and crap, but can you take a break once in a while? Maybe hang out with all your friends for a day?"

          Truvius' smile immediately died, a wash of pain forcing Káel to hide the guilt that stabbed into his gut. The sentence sounded better in his head, but if it grounded Truvius for a few hours he'd leave it and make it up to his roommate later.

          Káel tossed him a quick smile, quickly snatching the opportunity to leave and begin his hunt for Ray.

—————

          Káel squeezed at the Zodraic battery in his pocket, a contagious smile threatening to break him down into a grinning mess at the thought. The thing in his pocket was one step closer to home. His boring old town was so close he could almost taste it.

          Even the person he'd found to lead him to Ray couldn't damper his spirits at the current moment.

          "So Noodles, what's got you smiling like an idiot?" Draven sneered, throwing his arm over the shorter teen as he walked him down an unfamiliar hallway. "Didn't think the thought of Ray would get you so happy."

          "It's not that," Káel replied. "He's just taking me home soon."

          Draven chuckled at Káel's response. "Still trustin' him on that? Huh?"

          "Yup, because if he doesn't, I won't stop my uncle from killing him," Káel retorted, frowning as Draven snickered at his response.

          "Your uncle's gonna be on a waiting list then." 

          Káel furrowed his brow, still stuck under Draven's hold as the came upon a thin corridor lavished with paintings and spotless pillars. Much like the route to Lady Samanthra's office, a royal blue carpet was tightly fitted to the marble flooring, permeating a scent torn between floral and sterile.

          Káel bit at his cheek as the luxurious path sank in.

          Where were they going?

          Draven stopped at the end of the hall, pointing right to a set of massive ebony doors, bare of a house emblem with an imposing shadow of power to their carved surfaces. "teachers quarters, never go that way." He then forcibly turned Káel's head left, an equally as large pair of thick, metal coated doors at the end of the hall. But these ones were engraved with two armoured maidens, their poised bodies embellished with silver and gold linings to bring out their flowy hair and shining armour as they stood facing one another like guards.

          "I didn't know Ray was the elite's mascot," Phantom cooed, chuckling to himself.

          Draven pulled his ID card out of his shirt, unlocking the towering set of doors with his black card and holding the massive obstacle for Káel and Puff to slip in. With a cocky smile he motioned to the expansive lobby they had landed themselves in. "Elite's quarters."

          Káel darted his gaze around the decorative space, his gaze lingering on the masses of plump furniture and avoiding the questioning looks of the elite's occupying them. His entire body flinched as he turned to face a strawberry haired woman, her arms folded across her chest as she stood two feet from Káel and Draven.

          "You, name," she ordered, pointing at Káel with a bite of hostility.

          "Káel...?"

          Without a need for permission she snatched the hard chain holding Káel's Id crystal, slipping it out to scan the silver card with a souring frown as her disappointed gaze drifted to Draven. "First year, huh?"

          "Yeah..." Káel timidly shot Draven a confused glance, cooking up a shaking smile for the hostile elite facing them. "I was just-"

          "Leaving? Good," she growled, snapping her fingers at the doors with a booming voice. "Make it hasty. No mixing dorms."

          "Someone sat on a timberthorn," Phantom muttered, his shoulders rising in surprise as Káel did anything but turn to leave.

          With the same timid smile he sifted through his pockets, forcing his voice to shake more than it needed to. "I was... I owe Ray some money and I wanted to get it to him as soon as he came back..." Relief washed over Káel as he felt a mass of coins still sitting in his butt pocket. "He said he'd charge extra if I didn't get it to him today..."

          The woman's face softened a little at the reasoning, still leaking a bite of irritation at Káel's intrusion. "Let's see it then."

          "Oh-ah... of course," Káel muttered, hastily grabbing the mound to display to the elite,  his face dropping in unison with hers at the sight.

          Two of the shiny bluish silver coins sat in his hand, along with a couple of gold ones, speckled with about a dozen normal ones he wished to be the only ones he'd grabbed. The girl's eyes twitched with shock, Draven pressing his face closer to squint at the mound and make sure he wasn't seeing things.

          In the frozen silence Phantom clapped his hands together, the sarcastic applause drilling into Káel's patience.

          With all the composure he had left, he calmly grabbed the two blueish silver coins and shoved them back in his pocket with a nervous laugh. "Sorry, not those ones."

          The woman opened her mouth to speak, struggling out her thoughts until she pulled one question together, eyes flickering with worry. "Is he threatening you?" 

          Káel shook his head, cringing as the elite looked down on him with an overflow of doubt. "Really, he isn't, and I didn't lose a bet... He... Uh... lent it to me!"

          "Lent it to you?"

          "Yeah I was going to buy a... Uh."

          Phantom leaned over to whisper into Káel's ear. "A sword."

          "Sword! But I didn't have enough, so he lent it to me," Káel blurted, growing relieved as the Elite's face softened.

          "Oh, well if that's the case, I can deliver it if you want."

          Káel shoved the money back in his pocket and chuckled. "I'd prefer to do it, so he can't make up some dumb excuse like he didn't get it."

          "Good point..." She squinted at Draven, sticking her arm out before the lanky giant could pass her with Káel. "Ten minutes for both of you." Her cold glare drilled harder into Draven's grin. "Do this again and it's a suspension."

          "Yes ma'am," he replied, pulling Káel along with a snicker.

          "You're getting better at lying, I'm so proud of you," Phantom cooed.

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Quality Quip #22:

'The world is such a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.'

~ Albert Einstein