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Rock's group had found a small house for sale, after searching for an hour. "Who knew that finding a small house would be so hard?" asked Tabor.

"Well, most black mages like to be flashy," said Min as they walked in. "How nice, it's already furnished. And it's all black. Even the kitchen is black."

"Duh," came an annoyed female voice from the doorway. They all turned around, and saw Caitlin standing there with Shiro. "Black Mages like black. All other colors are inferior. And black mages are flashy. You must be the exception to the rule."

"What are you doing here?" asked Lykaios politely.

"What's it to ya?" asked Shiro.

"Well, this is our house," said Rock. "So, if you have no business here, leave."

"I came to talk to you Rock," said Caitlin. "And Shiro came because, well, he's Shiro."

"What is it?" Rock asked, sitting in a chair.

"I was going to ask you if you would like to come with me and Alger tomorrow. We're going to the market," she said. Rock looked to the rest of his group. Tabor and Lykaios gave him a 'don't do it' look, and Min just glared at Caitlin.

"Would someone from my group get to go?" he asked, while noting that Shiro and Tabor looked like they were going to jump and attack each other.

"Who?" Caitlin asked.

"Min." Caitlin looked flabbergasted for a few seconds, and then regained her composure somewhat.

"Fine," she growled.

"Ok, we'll meet you at the square at ten," said Rock, showing them the door. They said goodbye and left. "Sorry Min, but we need to see how they act in public."

"Oh, I can tell you how that biatch acts," she said.

"Aggravating, I know," he said. "And we can ditch them whenever we want."

"If you can escape her grip," said Tabor. "And be glad that Shiro isn't going."

"I take it that you both have had bad experiences in the past," said Rock.

"Yep," they answered.

"I'll tell my story first," said Min. "I met Caitlin when I was five, and we were friends in the start. Then she started to get on my nerves. When we were in the Academy together, we both had a crush on this one guy, but I was shy. Caitlin went and started to hang all over him, and basically hung all over him. She's bad news."

"Too bad Roll isn't here," said Rock. "She'd beat the crapout of her if she tried anything like that on me. Ok, Tabor."

"Shiro and I met in the Academy. We were teamed up for hand to hand practice. Whenever the teacher would look away, he would sucker punch me, and other people that ticked him off."

"After that little bit of info, I am glad that Alger is going."

"Alger is the most level headed on that team. Maiju is just a retard," said Lykaios.

"You've met him before?" asked the three other people.

"No, but I can tell from the way that they acted. I could tell that about Shiro and Caitlin by looking at them," he replied. "Well I'm going to hit the sack."

"We all should," said Rock as they walked up the stairs and down a small hallway with four doors. They all selected their rooms, and went to sleep.

---

(The next morning)

"Dad, when's it going to be done?" asked Netto for the fifth time that morning.

"Netto, leave your father alone," said Enzan. "He's working as hard as he can."

"Thank you Enzan. Netto, as I said last time, it will be done sometime in the next few days. The fewer interruptions I have, the sooner it will get done," he said.

"Ok Papa," Netto sighed as he walked out of the room. "I'm just nervous."

"We all are," said Meiru. She and Dex had come to Sci labs to get Netto, who had been there since his father's announcement that they might be able to travel to the world where their navis were. "But you need to do something to keep your mind off of this."

"I don't want to go anywhere," he said, laying down on a couch in the hall way. "I want to be here in case Papa needs some help building that portal."

"But you're just sulking," Meiru protested.

"I am not," he said.

"Yes you are," said Dex. "And you are coming with us to the amusement park."

"But…"

"No buts about it," said Meiru.

"You are annoying your father," said Enzan. "And you haven't left. I'm sure your mom is worried about you. Even I have gone home, and to work."

"Fine," Netto replied, standing up. The moment he had, Meiru grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the building, Dex in close pursuit.

---

When Roll awoke the next morning around six am, only one other person was up. Forte. He was in the living room reading a book. "Good morning Forte," Roll said as she walked past the room to the kitchen.

"Morning," he said, not even looking up from his book. Roll sighed and walked into the kitchen. She went over to the cabinets, and pulled out a box of cereal and a bowl. She prepared her breakfast, and went to the dining room. She had finished eating and cleaning up by the time that the rest of her group woke up.

"Good morning Roll!" said Blues as he came down the stairs.

"Good morning. What has you in such a good mood?" she asked.

"I have no idea," he said as he walked into the kitchen. He came out three minutes later with his breakfast, and went into the dining room. Around a minute after Blues came down, Searchman appeared, and so did Gutsman.

"Good morning," Searchman said.

"Hello de gutsu," Guts said.

"Hello boys. Everyone else is up, and Blues is eating right now," Roll said as she walked into the living room and sat down to watch TV.

"Roll-chan, there's a mess in the kitchen de gutsu," Gutsman said.

"Then why don't you clean it up?" she asked as Forte started to laugh. "Forte can help."

"Hey," he said. "Why don't you clean it up yourself?"

"Wait," said Searchman. "BLUES, COME INTO THE KITCHEN NOW!" A few moments later, Blues walked in. Roll couldn't suppress her curiosity, so she went into the kitchen, bad idea. Cereal was all over the floor, and some of it was crushed.

"Blues, did you make this mess?" Roll asked.

"The box wouldn't open," he said in his defense. Roll sighed.

"The broom is in the hall closet, along with the dustbin," she said, pointing to the door. "Gutsman, go and wipe your feet, then you can help Blues clean up." She then walked back into the living room. Forte had finished the book, and had turned to the TV for entertainment. Roll went and sat down in a chair to watch TV again.

"Are you finished yelling yet?" Forte asked.

"Yes. Blues made a huge mess in the kitchen. He seemed like someone who would be cleaner," Roll said.

"Well, he's not. If he can't open something, he slices it with his sword," Forte said. "He's a…"

"Typical fighter," Roll finished.

"Correct," he smiled his feral smile.

"I'm going to the market today to get some new clothes, and some new scrolls," she said.

"Fine, have fun," Forte said, turning his attention back to the TV.

"You're going out?" asked Searchman, walking into the room.

"Yeah," she replied.

"Here's some money," he said, handing her a small bag of coins.

"Thanks, I'll be back around lunch," she replied, walking out of the house and towards the market.

---

Around ten that morning, Rock and Min made their way to the city square. They were barely there, when Caitlin ran up to them. "Rocky!" she squealed as she gave him a huge hug. Rock looked to Min for help, Caitlin had his arms pinned to his side. Min cleared his throat. Caitlin let go of Rock to address her.

"Hello Helen," she sneered.

"Nice to see you too," Min said angrily, before doing a 180 and greeting Alger. "How are you this morning?"

"Fine," he replied. "Shall we get started on our shopping spree?"

"Sure," said Caitlin, releasing Rock and starting down the street. "First, we're going to buy some new spells."

"Ok," said Min as they walked over to the shop. This shop had many high level spells. Min and Rock bought two for each person on their team, while Caitlin and Alger only bought some for themselves. After ten minutes of shopping, Rock was to his wit's end with 'the evil she-devil'.

"Can we leave, please?" he whispered to Min in a pleading tone.

"What's the matter?" Caitlin asked, walking up to the pair.

"We need to get back to our house. Lykaios and Tabor will be wanting these," Min said, dragging Rock behind her. "I'll see you later!"

"Thanks," Rock said as soon as they were out of earshot.

"No problem. I thought that you would cave much sooner," she replied as they started walking. "Hey, I have a question."

"What is it?"

"Why haven't you been out looking for your friends?" Rock sighed.

"At first I was going to. After I got sent to the Academy, I thought that I would get injured, or arrested if I left. When I got selected, I saw it as an opportunity to get out and search, and as something that could possibly get me killed if I didn't agree. I went without a question because I was worried. I want to get out there as soon as I can. But I don't want anyone to get hurt. I mean, what if someone high up knows where my friends are, and if I screw up, they'll hurt them. I can't let my friends get hurt by something I do," he said.

"Rock, you obviously don't know how most Black Mages are. We will help you get to your friends. Now that we're working straight for the king, we can go and ask him for permission to go and search," she said.

"We have to make sure that he knows that we are trustworthy," Rock sighed.

"Hopefully only one mission will be all that it takes," Min said as they made it to their house.

"For what?" asked Tabor.

"For the king to know that we are trustworthy," said Rock as he handed the scrolls to their new owners. "We picked these up for you while we were out."

"Thanks," the boys said.

"Hey, we made lunch," said Lykaios as he walked to the dining room.

---

"Netto, aren't you glad that we got you out of that stuffy old building?" asked Meiru. They had just finished riding their fifth roller coaster.

"Yeah, I just wish that we could know what Papa is doing," he said. "But I am glad that I came."

"I thought that you were going to wuss out," said Dex.

"Well, I didn't," said Netto. "Also, you wussed out on that spinning ride."

"I just finished a large chili cheese hot dog!" he defended.

"So did I," Netto replied. "And I rode that twice."

"Guys, cut it out!" Meiru said. "We came here to have fun, not fight."

"But annoying Netto is fun, to me anyway," said Dex.

"Ha ha ha," Netto replied sarcastically. "You're hilarious."

"I try," Dex said. Meiru sighed in frustration.

"Let's just go on another ride," she said as Netto's PET beeped.

"It's an email from Papa. He needs me to go and get something for him. See ya later!" he said as he skated out of the park. He went to the hardware store and picked up the screws and bolts. He paid for the parts and went to the labs. "Papa, I got the parts."

"Thank you Netto," he said. "I need these to fix the transporter. It's going to need enough power to bring more than twice the send load back."

"Why?"

"Because I have a feeling that they will want to bring some of their new friends back," Dr. Hikari said.

"Oh." Netto laid back down on the couch in the room.

"Don't worry, we'll get them back. They will be fine until we get there," Dr. Hikari said. "We will be able to lock onto Blues', Roll's, Searchman's, and Gutsman's signals and send you straight to them."

"What about Rock?" he asked.

"I'm going to have you build a tracker, so you can find his signal when you get there."

"Ok, what do I need to do?" he asked, running to the worktable. His father smiled as they started to work.

---

"I'm back," said Roll as she walked into the house.

"I was expecting you to be out for a few more hours," said Forte as he walked into the foyer. "And I was expecting to have you more bags."

"Ha ha ha," said Roll. "Yep, I was able to fit three outfits and five scrolls in two medium sized bags. I'm going to my room to look over my purchases." She went up the stairs, and laid her things on the bed. She had bought a formal outfit, and two more regular outfits. She hung them up in her closet, and went back downstairs. She had left her scrolls in the TV room, and when she got back, Gutsman and Forte were standing around the bag. "What are you doing?"

"Gutsman was curious about what was in the bag," Forte said. "He wanted to see what was in there for himself."

"But you said…"

"I told him that that was your bag, but he still wanted to look," Forte said. Gutsman just looked at him angrily.

"Well, I'm going to study my new scrolls," she said, sitting down. She pulled out the first scroll, and started reading. Forte sat down, while Gutsman just stood there, looming over Roll. After a few minutes of this, Roll sighed and set her scroll down. "What is it?"

"Gutsman hungry de gutsu," he said. Roll looked over at Forte.

"Forte will cook you something," she said. "I'm busy."

"Why is Forte going to do something?" he asked.

"Because I am busy, and you're just watching TV," she replied angrily. "Go and cook something for him, now." Forte grumbled something, then stood up and walked out of the room, followed by Gutsman. Blues walked into the room shortly after they left.

"Hey Roll, what's up?" he asked. Roll looked up angrily.

"I'm trying to learn some new spells. Everyone is interrupting me," she said, glaring at him. "Turn the TV on, and die." Blues, who had picked up the remote, froze, and set it back down.

"What crawled up you butt?" he asked.

"I just kicked Forte and Gutsman out, if you don't shut up, I'll kick you out too," she replied. Blues picked up a book and started to read. Roll smiled and started to read again. Five minutes later, Gutsman came back into the room, followed by Searchman and Forte. Searchman was trying to pull him out of the room, while Forte was trying to not laugh. "What's going on?"

"Roll-chan doesn't like Gutsman, de gutsu," he said, half angry, half sad.

"Who told you that?" she asked, although she had a good idea who.

"Forte, who else?" asked Searchman.

"Well, it's not true," she said, going back to her scroll. "But if you don't leave me alone, and let me finish my work, I will get mad." Gutsman nodded and left the room. "Forte, leave him alone. Although, I would like to see you stuck in a tree being attacked by Gutsman."

"Well, aren't' you funny?" he asked sarcastically. Roll glared at him. "Aren't you a snappy one?"

"Forte, do you want to get hurt?" Blues asked while reading his book.

"What can she do?" Roll closed her eyes, said a few words, and pulled out a white hammer. "Oh."

"White magic versus a Dark Knight, What do you think will win?" she asked.

"Ok, I see your point," he said. Roll let go of the hammer, and the hammer disappeared.

"Is that one of your new spells?" Searchman asked.

"Yep. I figure that I'm going to need to learn a few offensive spells so I can defend myself."

"Fun," said Blues. "Well, I'm going to the gym. Anyone want to come?"

"Sure," said Forte.

"I'll go," said Roll.

"Why?" asked Forte.

"I have a feeling that I can work on my healing spells," she replied. "And I want to build up my physical strength. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"No, I just thought that you were more girly than that," he said with an evil grin. Roll just sighed.

"Ok, let's go," said Blues, walking out of the house, with Roll and Forte right behind.

End Chapter

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