"Cat Ears!" Ral yawned and opened his eyes. Why isn't he already yelling at me for snoring? Or not being up in time for school? Or just being all around lazy? Or something arbitrary like accidentally kicking these curtains in my sleep? "Well I don't know if that's actually possible," he reached out with his right foot as far as he could without falling off the bed. He could barely touch the curtain if he was practically falling off the bed. Yeah. Didn't think so. So why hasn't Cat Ears started yelling at me? He got to his feet and pushed one of the two curtains that separated the room in half aside, "Cat Ears. I'm on your side of the room." He could just barely see the tips of Jace's ears outside the blanket. He stepped fully onto Jace's side of the room. "Cat Ears. I'm on your side of the room," he taunted Jace again. Is he dead? Ral crept cautiously closer. He was completely on edge. He had managed to figure out that Jace didn't like being startled and didn't respond well to it. He didn't know why but if Jace wanted to tell him then he would've. Ral stopped, "Cat Ears. I'm on your side of the room!"
A knock on the door startled him, "Hurry up, Ral! You're going to be late!"
"One minute!" Ral took a closer look at Jace. Is he asleep? Cat Ears doesn't sleep. Does he? I'll check in on him at lunch then. He sighed and got ready for the school day.
"Hey," Lilianna greeted him coolly as he walked towards the school building.
"Hi Princess," Ral sighed.
"Have you seen that idiotic redhead anywhere today?"
"Are you worried about Beautiful, Princess?" Ral teased.
"She's the one that's decided she's going to wage a personally war against two elder dragons," Lilianna shrugged indifferently.
"Do you think she's already started that personal war?" Ral asked curiously.
"No. She's stupid but I at least credit her with more intelligence than that."
Ral shrugged, "We're so distant now. Not that Cat Ears wasn't already distant but still."
Lilianna shrugged, "Sometimes having a younger appearance can bring up old unwanted memories."
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said," Lilianna snapped.
"Oh," Ral sighed, "See ya." He parted ways with her at the doorway to his first class. He sat down just as the bell rang. He sighed and stared at the other students dully. I'm so bored.
"Jace?" Mr. Rice asked.
"Sick," Ral said.
"Alright then," Mr. Rice nodded.
Ral waited impatiently for his name to be called.
"Hey. You know the redhead don't you?"
Ral didn't have to look at him to know who was speaking, "Sure, Xerxes."
"Do you know if she's in a relationship?"
"Why would I?" Ral asked dully. Other than friendships I don't think so. I've noticed that she seems to take friendship more seriously than anyone I've met before. It's weird.
"Because you're her friend."
"I don't keep tabs on her relationships," Ral muttered. Does he really need Chandra's approval when every other girl's fawning over him already?
"Alright. Do you have any idea why she doesn't like me?"
"No. She doesn't like a lot of people. Though there's always a reason for it. Maybe she's just busy and doesn't have the time to spare you a glance. Don't cry," Ral smirked, "that couldn't have hurt your ego too bad. I mean you already have a fan club." Ah I actually can be mean if I want to be. That's good to know. Of course I'm thinking Beautiful doesn't like him because of how quickly he gathered up fangirls. He's probably the most popular guy in the school right now.
"I'm sure it'll just take a little time for her to come around."
Ral glanced over his right shoulder. Sitting next to Xerxes was a girl with platinum blond almost silver hair and violet eyes. Her voice had been quiet and uncertain.
"This is Melody," Xerxes said. He nodded to her, "Maybe you're right."
Ral waved, "Hi Melody."
She gave him a small wave back.
Ral shrugged and turned his attention back to the teacher. What is Beautiful doing anyway? Apparently she's not here. I feel so left out. Like Beautiful and Cat Ears and Elspeth can just take care of anything. The rest of us aren't that important to the cause. Of course I'm sure we'll each have our time to...wait a minute! Ral sat bolt upright. He had be slouching before this but he was now sitting straight and grinning like a mad man.
"Something wrong Ral?" Mr. Rice asked quizzically.
Ral shook his head and tried to cover up the grin. If I can create something that'll be able to sense the different auras of objects and people then I can help look for the treasure thingy AND it'll be seventy five billion times faster than if we were to just look blindly. Of course creating something without magic that can sense magic is going to be the biggest challenge of this project. Of course, I could talk to Echo. I mean she's been creating stuff without magic for a while. "Can I get a drink Sir?" Ral asked.
Mr. Rice paused to think for a moment, "Sure."
Ral nodded. He darted out of the room and down the hallway. He shot out the entrance, ignoring the security guard calling after him and scaled the wall that separated the school grounds from the rest of the city. He dropped down on the other side and shook out his hands. They were raw and covered in small cuts. He hissed in pain as he closed his fists, "Note to self. I need gloves." He hurried down the street and to the Black Lotus Hotel.
"Ral?" Shadow stared at him and then looked at the clock, "It's not even the end of your first class. You do realize Elspeth will kill you."
Ral shrugged, "This is more important. Is Echo here?"
Shadow nodded, "All the way up the stairs the last door all the way down the hall." She watched the 16 year old hurry up the stairs. He'd had a grin on his face and it hadn't died even when Shadow had mentioned Elspeth. Usually that was enough to shut any of the four of them down pretty quickly. Must be good then. She turned towards the kitchen, "Sea. Locke. Why do I smell something burning?"
"SORRY!" Sea scrambled off the counter she had been sitting on and opened up the oven. Smoke billowed out, setting off the alarms.
Shadow rolled her eyes.
"What's going on?" Dawn asked as she hovered at the base of the stairs.
"The kitchen is burning," Shadow said flatly.
"Sorry!" Locke repeated.
Dawn shook her head, "Jeez. Here I was thinking someone was dying."
"Oh they just might," Shadow teased.
"No!" Locke squealed.
Sea shook her head.
"Then clear it out before they kitchen really does start burning," Shadow said, "And next time remember to set a timer."
Chandra looked around, "Alright so apparently Espers are only made from planeswalkers that are aware of their ability. So in other words those whose sparks have ignited." The espers tend to share characteristics with their original. Similarities in appearance ability and personality. Why then did Orriyon look nothing like Jace? She was blond. She didn't have dark hair...like any of his other siblings. She was blond. She looked more like Elspeth than she did Jace. Maybe appearance isn't all that similar because Lucy looks nothing like Jace too. She watched Ral hurry back down the street towards the school. She was crouched on the rooftop of a nearby house. I didn't see many similarities between their personalities though. Orriyon maybe. Lucy just seemed...hyper focused on him. I don't know. Chandra rolled her eyes, "But that does help. A little bit. Maybe. Not really." Abilities huh? Like abilities as in skills or magic? Chandra's eyes narrowed, "I'll have to look further into it. However I've been gone all night and I should probably be getting back before Elspeth kills me." Of course I haven't seen anything from Elspeth so far.
Chandra froze as she approached the wall. She climbed onto it but didn't drop down on the other side. Why is Elspeth's car in the driveway? She swallowed nervously and dropped down. As she drew closer she saw Elspeth standing with what appeared to be a miserable Ral next to her. Nissa stood on her other side with an amused look on her face. Chandra shook her head. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. She turned to hurry back out into the city.
"Chandra. Don't go anywhere."
She froze and looked over her shoulder. Ral looked miserable. Elspeth looked unhappy though not angry while Nissa looked completely amused. Chandra turned to fully face them, "H-Hi."
"Why weren't you in class?" Elspeth asked mildly, "You do realize that this is school is specifically designed to help people like us blend in here?"
Chandra nodded, "I know. I was-uh...looking into the treasure thing."
"Uh-huh?" Elspeth nodded a couple of times before fixing the redhead with an amused but firm at the same time look, "You were, were you? And you didn't tell anyone else because..."
"I didn't want to bring up possibly inaccurate leads without looking into them more fully myself?" Chandra said.
"That sounds like something Jace would say," Elspeth noted calmly, "as well as something you'd rip his ears off for doing."
Chandra chuckled nervously, "Chaos is unnecessary?"
"That sounds like Gideon," Elspeth said. Her tone and eyes didn't change. They didn't move from the pyromancer's face.
Chandra shook her head, "I don't know."
"You don't know or you're out of ideas?" Elspeth asked.
Ral, who had been trying insanely hard not to laugh throughout the entire exchange couldn't help but snicker.
Nissa hit him in the back of the head.
He looked up at her and pouted.
She shook her head and put her finger over her lips to silently tell him to be quiet.
Chandra glared at him and sighed, "I was actually investigating an odd anomaly in the alleys of the city outside a small bookstore."
Elspeth nodded, much more accepting of this answer than the others, "Still. You two are going to go to the rest of your classes without complaint. AND you will have perfect attendance for a week."
Ral nodded quickly, "Sure."
Chandra sighed, "Alright." She looked at Ral, "What class are we supposed to be in?"
"It's probably close to the later half of second."
"Seriously?" Chandra snapped, "That's my least favorite class."
"I personally don't want Elspeth to kill me though," Ral pointed out.
"She's not that scary," Chandra rolled her eyes, "Though I will admit she's scarier now than she was."
"You're just like Cat Ears."
"What does Jace do?"
"Apparently you, Elspeth, and Princess aren't scary to him," Ral shrugged.
Chandra gave Ral a flat look, "Really?"
Ral shrugged.