Sorry. By the way this story takes place on Earth. Just thought I should point that out.
Jace glanced up as someone came down the stairs. "Man, I didn't sleep at all last night. I wasn't even tired. I'm starving," he recognized Ral by his voice. To avoid unwanted conversation he slid silently around the couches and sat behind a desk. Ral sat at the table with a box of cereal. Jace recognized Lucky Charms by the packaging. He rolled his eyes. Ral ate then stood up and stretched, "Hopefully we won't be stuck unloading another truck today."
Hopefully not. Jace agreed silently.
"I wonder where Cat Ears went. He was down here last night. I wonder if he slept at all."
Jace slid further behind the desk. I do not want to talk to you. I'm not going to talk to anyone. Chandra's going to take me to the library and I'm going to look into...everything. He sighed quietly.
Ral shrugged, "Well, back to the computer and the internet I guess."
Jace rolled his eyes. Ral's so...He's so into technology that he doesn't do anything else with his time really. I'd rather have books. At least they're actually there. And they aren't so bright. Of course I'm the only one that's really sensitive to bright but who cares.
"Jace!" Chandra's voice rang through the house. Jace crawled out from behind the desk and got to his feet before she got down the stairs.
"Cat Ears!" Ral squeaked in surprise.
Jace glanced at him, "What?"
"Cold as ever I see," Ral sighed and shook his head.
Jace rolled his eyes and looked expectantly up at Chandra.
"Hey, if Gideon or Elspeth ask I took Jace to the library," Chandra told Ral, "alright?"
Ral nodded, "Of course Beautiful."
"You're really going to have to stop calling me that," Chandra sighed.
"Why?"
"Because everyone's going to assume we're siblings," Jace said evenly, "and that's not something siblings usually do."
"Well that's what explanations are for," Ral shrugged.
Chandra rolled her eyes, "Whatever." She led the way out the door. Jace glanced at the skateboard but left it. Not yet. I'll learn to use it before I take it anywhere. He followed her down the street.
"What's with the scarf anyway? Isn't it hot?" Chandra glanced at him.
Jace shrugged, "It's not like you got anything with a hood."
"Well...not a big hood. Hoods around here aren't designed to hide the wearer's face," Chandra shrugged.
Jace rolled his eyes, "Oh well. Whatever."
Chandra walked into a department store.
"Why are we going in here?"
"Nothing really," she bought as much printer paper and ink as she could carry as well as a backpack to carry it in. Then she led the way out of the store.
"We're here!"
Jace looked around, "It's...a school."
Chandra nodded, "Yep. It's library is open for any student to use for academic purposes."
"But we're not-" Jace stopped when she handed him a card. He studied it, "What is this?"
"A student ID card as hijacked from another school," Chandra shrugged.
"So you're still-"
"Not in the middle of the night," Chandra smirked, "There's a difference."
Jace rolled his eyes, "Whatever."
She walked up to the woman standing in front of the stylized steel gate, "Hello. Can we go into the library to work on a summer project we've been assigned?"
"School IDs?" the woman asked.
Chandra nodded. She turned to Jace and held out her hand. Jace glared at her, "Don't treat me like I'm five. I can give her the card myself."
Chandra rolled her eyes, "Whatever you say."
The woman watched them in amusement. She verified their IDs and then let them through the gate. On the other side of the gate directly in front of them was the largest central building. To the left was a four story building that appeared to have multiple small rooms in it connected by hallways and stairs and not much else and a similar building sat to the left. There was a separate building with a single bridge walkway connecting it to the center building. Jace could see railings on either side of the walkway that were more than likely shoulder height on him.
"That was easy," Jace shrugged.
"Of course it was. She's seen me more than a few times. I've used the same school every time so whatever."
"But don't you look younger now?" Jace asked.
"Decreased apparent age is definitely not the weirdest thing this city's seen," Chandra shook her head.
"Really?"
"The city sits on top of a rift to another realm outside of this one. Usually only a couple of creatures from that realm can pass through every once in a while. But sometimes more than that comes through."
"The rift widens and then it's like all the alien invasion movies Ral was watching last night," Jace said.
Chandra nodded, "Yep." She glanced at Jace, "He was watching alien invasion movies last night?"
Jace nodded, "Yeah."
Her eyes narrowed, "He's dead when we get back." She led him through the halls of the largest building. Jace noticed that everyone was wearing a uniform of either black or white with the other color being the trim. The girls had sleeveless button up collared shirts under a sleeveless jacket. The jacket had a broad collar. They also wore pleated skirts that went down to exactly the center of their thighs with black tights underneath if. The shoes consisted of fancy flats. On their arms were sleeves that stopped at the wrist and the middle of their upper arms. The boys uniform consisted of shorts or pants, a short sleeved jacket that was otherwise the same as the girls' over a sleeveless collared shirt, and similar sleeves. The sleeves however only went from the wrists to just above the elbows and were loose in between the clasps that held them closed around the arm. They wore black fancy shoes. He glanced at Chandra in confusion, "Why are the sleeves separated from the shirt itself?"
"I have no idea," Chandra shrugged, "I heard that the first students of the school got to design the uniform and that's what they decided. It's been the uniform ever since."
Jace looked back at the students sitting in the classrooms. Most were unattentive or looked very bored. He noticed a math teacher made a mistake in a complicated calculus problem but remained silent. Many noticed the two of them walking by on their way to the library. They didn't seem surprised that there were strange people in the school but he could hear many whispering amongst themselves about their physical appearances. He caught a lot of comments on his ears and tail. He lowered his head, hiding more than half his face in the scarf that was wrapped loosely around his neck. "Can we hurry it up?" he asked Chandra impatiently.
"Yeah, yeah. It's not my fault the library's on the opposite side of the school as the front doors," Chandra rolled her eyes.
"Is it the building with that walkway connecting it?" Jace asked.
Chandra nodded, "Yep. That walkway is the only conventional entrance into the library."
"That means we have to go upstairs," Jace said. He glanced at her, "How far away are the stairs?"
"They're right around this corner," Chandra promised.
"How many stairs?" Jace asked.
Chandra sighed, "I have no idea."
Jace bit his lower lip, "Alright." I'm probably annoying her so I'll shut up now. He jumped as a ringing sound rang through the building.
"Ah damn," Chandra hissed.
"What?" Jace asked.
"The halls are going to get really crowded in a moment." Just as she finished speaking the students that had been sitting in the classrooms came pouring into the hallway. Suddenly Jace was very glad that the hallways were so wide.
"Hey Phoenix!" two blond haired boys wearing the school's uniforms ran up to her. They looked at her in surprise, "What happened?" one asked. He had blue eyes while his companion had purple.
Siblings. More than likely. Jace assumed. He didn't have any access to his magic so he couldn't tell for sure. His eyes narrowed and he watched them carefully.
Chandra punched one in the gut and spin kicked the other into the nearby wall.
"Ow!" they said in unison.
She smiled warmly, "Michael. David."
"Hi," David said. He pulled himself off the ground.
"What was that for?" Michael asked.
"That was for Tina who can't get suspended again for beating some common sense into you two," Chandra shrugged.
"Oh," the two boys exchanged glances.
"Who's this?" David asked. He wrapped his arm around Jace shoulder.
Jace glared at him angrily.
David winked at him.
"That's Jace and if he kills you, you can't come crying to me," Chandra shrugged and turned around, "Besides. You two need to get to class."
"Oh yeah," Michael sighed, "C'mon David. See you guys around!"
"Bye Jace!" David waved and jogged after Michael.
"Who're they?" Jace asked.
"Lotus' cousins," Chandra said, "They live with her."
"So then Lotus' 'real' name is Tina," Jace concluded.
Chandra nodded, "Yep. She goes to this school as well." She continued to the library.
"Why is there a gate in front of the school?" Jace asked as he caught up to her.
"This school is a private school with the highest inhuman population in the city," Chandra explained.
"Oh," Jace nodded, "So even though this city is used to odd occurrences knowing that there are 'monsters' could still cause panic."
Chandra nodded, "It's also why the Black Lotus are basically the police force of this city. We can investigate anything and have the ability to successfully cover it up if it was something that the city wouldn't be able to handle, which isn't much but still."
"Okay," Jace nodded.
They got to the library and Chandra gave the librarian the printer paper and ink she'd bought.
"You bought it for the librarian?" Jace asked, "Why?"
"Because if I give her a replacement for the paper and ink I'm going to use I print off pretty much whatever I need."
"What are you printing?"
"The most up to date encyclopedias are all on the computer," Chandra explained, "but because the screen bugs you I'm printing the encyclopedias out."
"That's why you got so much paper and ink then?" Jace asked.
She nodded, "Also the encyclopedias will also just have information on everything the general populace of the country, or world, knows. It won't have anything about what we're looking for but it should give you plenty of information about the world in general."
"Okay what about what we are looking for?" Jace asked.
"One moment," Chandra walked up to the librarian. She gave Chandra a key and she walked back to Jace. Jace watched her curiously. She held up the key and walked over to what looked like a wall. She moved a piece of it and he saw a keyhole. His eyes widened, "There's a hidden part of the library?"
Chandra nodded, "Yes."
He followed her through the door that opened once she put in the key. It was relatively small when compared to the rest of the library. Chandra returned to the normal library, "I'll print of the encyclopedia."
Jace nodded distractedly. He didn't recognize any of the books he saw. He glanced over his shoulder. I probably don't have time to read all of them. I doubt she's going to let me stay in here all day. His stomach growled as if in protest to the idea. He hissed through gritted teeth, "Shut up."
"Jace," Chandra said after a few hours.
"What?" Jace asked.
"Let's go get something to eat and go home for today," Chandra suggested.
"Why?" Jace asked.
"Because I'm hungry. And I doubt Ral would've remembered to tell Elspeth or Gideon where we went," Chandra said.
Jace was about to tell her he wasn't hungry but his stomach growled insistently. He sighed, "Fine. What did you have in mind for lunch then?"
"I have no idea," Chandra shrugged. She helped him put the books away and handed him the backpack.
"Why do I have to carry this? You're the one that bought it," Jace snapped.
"It's now holding all of your encyclopedias that I was kind enough to print off for you," Chandra stated matter of factly.
Jace growled, "Fine." He grabbed the backpack and followed her out of the library. He quickly noticed the pointed ears and slender build that marked the woman as an elf. He looked at Chandra in surprise, "Elves are on this world too?"
"Only a very, small handful," Chandra explained, "Some sort of event cleared most of them from the world."
"What kind of event?"
"I don't know," Chandra shrugged, "I'm not a walking encyclopedia. That's you."
Jace glared at her, "Well sorry."
"Don't get pissy. I'm not angry."
Jace opened his mouth for a scathing retort but thought better of it. Instead he sighed, "Whatever. What are we having for lunch?"
"I have no idea. What do you want?"
"I don't know," Jace shrugged, "I don't know what kind of food this place has."
"Except what you've already had which amounts to a box of crackers," Chandra commented.
"Shut up. Crackers are good."
"Aren't they salty?"
"So?" Jace shrugged, "Lilianna made coffee. She makes good coffee."
"If I let her make coffee for me she'd poison me," Chandra snickered. She looked at him, "I'm not sure coffee helps with dehydration nor do I think it helps quench thirst at all."
Jace glared at her, "It does too. Maybe not dehydration but still."
Chandra rolled her eyes, "Alright. Whatever."
"What's for lunch?" Jace asked.
"Rabbit food."
"That sounds disgusting."
"Then what do you want. You're the picky eater."
"I don't know," Jace snapped. "What is there to eat?"
"I don't know," Chandra shrugged, "We'll go to the grocery store then and figure it out from there." She led the way down a side street and through an alleyway. She climbed up onto a rooftop and walked along the top of it.
"I doubt this is a conventional method of reaching the store," Jace muttered.
"So? It's a shortcut," Chandra smirked at him over her shoulder, "For people that can balance well anyway." She dropped onto a wide concrete fence and walked along it to it's end.
Jace followed her and dropped down. He had to scale a whole other fence and walk through a field of plants nearly as tall as he was.
Chandra cursed under her breath, "This was a hell of a lot easier with the couple inches I lost."
"You think you have it hard?" Jace snapped, "This freaking grass is nearly as big as I am!"
"Sorry," Chandra rolled her eyes. She continued forging a path through the field until they came out on the other side. They were standing on the back side of the store. "See," she smiled triumphantly.
"That was way too much work just to reach a bloody grocery store," Jace snapped crossly.
Chandra brushed the pollen out of his hair, "You're just made because you were introduced to plants that were bigger than you."
"I had to walk through plants that were bigger than me," Jace growled. He glared at her, "And it'd be great if you could stop touching my head."
She stuck her tongue out at him and didn't respond. Instead she turned and crossed the parking lot to the store. She walked around the closest side wall of the building and to the front of it. Jace followed her silently. She led him into the store, "Now what do you want?"
Jace looked around in surprise, "That's a lot."
She shrugged, "We're living in a country that is notorious for oversizing everything."
Jace glanced at her, "Oh. Okay."
Ral looked up as the door opened. Jace and Chandra walked into the house. Jace had a backpack filled with something vaguely shaped like a giant book.
"There you two are," Lilianna stomped up to them with her hands on her hips, "We had to help unpack a whole new truck while you two went on your little vacation. Where were you?"
"The library," Chandra smirked, "I promised Jace yesterday that I'd take him in the morning."
Lilianna's eyes narrowed.
Jace easily slid away from the situation and flopped onto the largest couch that had been brought in that day. It had six cushions and was a dull beige color. It was made with an oddly almost fuzzy material that was itchy when it was rubbed the wrong way. He ran his hand down the armrest curiously, "That's...odd." He pulled his hand away quickly decided he didn't like it.
"Your breath stinks, Pyro-freak," Lilianna hissed.
"I'm sorry that I decided to have ice cream on the way home and someone's been keeping me from brushing my teeth and washing my mouth out," Chandra snapped.
"That's enough you two," Elspeth ordered as she came down the stairs.
"I was just saying," Lilianna muttered. She gave Chandra a cold glare.
"You two argue like an old married couple," Ral giggled.
Jace glanced at where Kaious was sitting, crouched like a cat, on the armrest of the couch, "Why is it that I ended up being the youngest?"
Kaious shrugged, "I don't know. Did you have ice cream too?"
Jace nodded, "Yeah."
"Lucky," Kaious sighed, "I'm dying right now. It's so hot."
"Would you be able to eat ice cream though?" Jace asked curiously.
"I think so," Kaious cocked his head to the side, "I don't know for sure though."
"I don't know either," Jace shrugged. He took off the backpack and pulled the papers out of it before setting it on the ground, leaning against the couch. The papers were stapled together in alphabetical order. Each letter of the alphabet had a staple keeping the pages with topics that fell under that letter together. The letter s on the other hand had two stapled packets. Jace read through all of the packets before dawn of the next day.