Jace yawned and opened his eyes. His eyes widened in shock and he jerked back. He growled and threw the huge eyed stuffed unicorn off the bed, "Ral." He looked at the clock that sat on his desk. It was mid afternoon. School was close enough to over that he wasn't going to bother going. His growling stomach drove him to Erin's room, which was closer than the common room all the way down the stairs. Erin had a larger variety of food anyway. Since the teachers and administration funded the food in the common rooms the variety was pretty minimal. Food technically wasn't allowed in the dorm rooms but finding Erin's stash wasn't hard for Jace. Picking the lock to his door was harder. If Jace remembered correctly he shared a room with Michael. I'm glad I got Ral instead of Michael and David. He identified Erin's side of the room easily. Michael's side looked like a hurricane had hit it within the past hour while Erin at least tried to have some semblance of organization. The food was hidden behind a false back and bottom in the bottom drawer of the dresser in his side of the closet. Jace found a whole bunch of food crammed into the dresser. He stared at it for a moment. Only someone as disorganized as Erin is would be able to fit this much food into such a small amount of space without it exploding. He looked at the curve that made up the false bottom, "Never mind. Maybe it will explode eventually."

Jace grabbed a box of crackers, replaced the bottom, and left the room. He closed the door behind him but didn't bother locking it. Unlocking it had been too much trouble. He wasn't going to lock it. He wandered back into his room and sat on the bed. How am I going to find that treasure? I need to find it soon so we can hurry off of here. This place is...a problem. He dozed.

"CAT EARS! CAT EARS! CAT EARS!"

Jace opened one eye and glared at his annoying roommate. Ral stood in front of the door, "What do you want?"

"I had most brilliant idea ever in history today!" Ral grinned excitedly, "And you missed Beautiful calling Xerxes a heartess cock monger but-"

"Why is it her insults never make sense? There's no way someone could take that as an insu-"

"Not if you think about it," Ral shrugged. His grin doubled in size, "ANYWAY! I came up with a brilliant idea to-"

"Fine! What is it?" Jace snapped, "I swear if you keep repeating yourself-"

"I have an idea for a device that can sense and identify the magical auras of people and objects," Ral interrupted.

Jace stared at him for a moment, "So...we can find the treasure-"

"In at least half the time!" Ral grinned.

"You just have to build said device," Jace said, "and not have it explode in your face."

Ral nodded, "Yeah."

Jace sighed, "What are you waiting for then?"

"Well..." Jace ignored him. Ral would rant about his idea and how brilliant it was before he started working on it. He always did. Though he usually did it to Kaechia or Chandra. That would mean that I wouldn't need to use a spell to do so. Summoning Kurai was a pain in the ass. That took way too much effort. Every single ritual is like that. Spells can't be much different. Except they'd take a smaller amount of energy.

"Have you been eating crackers all day?" Ral asked suddenly.

Jace looked at the box of crackers sitting on the bed beside him. He pulled a cracker out of the package and ate it, "So what?"

"Nothing," Ral shook his head.

Jace's eyes narrowed, "Okay."

"Anyway..."

Jace looked out the window. However there is telepathy here. It's just a different form of telepathy. Of course everything from this world is different. They don't have mana. There's nothing really for them to use as energy other than themselves. There's nothing for us to use other than ourselves while we're here. He sighed, "Ral, there's a book in the library."

"What book?" Ral asked.

"It's a spell book. It has all sorts of things in it. Can you get it for me?"

"Why? Cat Ears you always yell at me-"

"This is different," Jace insisted, "Besides it has all sorts of spells. There's stuff in it for you too."

Ral cocked his head to the side curiously.

"Wouldn't being able to use magic help you build your device?" Jace asked. He crossed his arms over his chest, "Go get it."

"Of course, Master Cat Ears. God damn I'll go get your stupid book."

"Thank you!" Jace called after him. He sat back against the wall. At least the stuffed animals he's insisted on getting me aren't exclusively cats anymore. I mean waking to the giant eyes of a freaking unicorn is not the best thing but at least it wasn't a cat. "I hate you so much sometimes." Though his device idea could definitely help. I doubt Lilianna's interested in leaving. She's almost as popular amongst the people here as the student council president. There's something weird about that person. She's probably not human and not a good guy but I don't really care. I'm going to find the treasure and get off of here. Kurai should be in school tomorrow. According to him the treasure is in three pieces. Not new news but whatever. There's a ring, a medallion and a human being. The human part of the treasure is a hereditary thing. The first child born to the carrier inherits the treasure from them but the original carrier dies soon afterward. Of course kids with missing parents isn't uncommon. Jace gritted his teeth, "Stay focused dammit." My parents don't matter.

"Is this the book Cat ears?"Ral asked as he walked in the door holding a short but thick leather bound book. Jace looked at it and nodded, "That's it. Let me see it."

"No. I got it," Ral hugged the giant book close to his chest.

Jace hissed, "Give me it!"

"No!"

"I was the one that asked you to go get it!" Jace growled, "Without me you wouldn't have known it existed."

"So? It's mine now."

"It belongs to the library!"

"Quiet down you two!" the security guard called with a knock on their door.

Jace glanced at the door, "Give me it." He made sure to keep his voice low enough that it shouldn't be heard beyond the door.

"No," Ral sat on his bed and shook his head. Jace could just make out his outline behind the curtain, "Ral give me the damn book."

"No. It's mine now."

"I asked you to get it for me. Or did you forget that fact?"

"You didn't ask Cat Ears," Ral smirked, "You crossed your arms over your chest and ordered me to get it like you were a king and I was a servant."

"Same difference," Jace insisted, "Give it."

"It is not the same thing," Ral corrected, "I am not your servant."

Jace walked up to the curtains and moved one aside, "Give me the book."

"No," Ral smirked and shook his head.

"Why are you so damn childish? I asked you to get the book."

"You demanded and as I've said I'm not your servant."

Jace gritted his teeth, "Fine. Can I please have the book?"

"No. You don't mean it."

"Ral just give me the damn book!"

"Boys."

The two of them froze and looked at the door.

Jace looked at Ral, "Are you going to answer it?"

"He was obviously addressing both of us. There was an 's' on the end of boys so that means it was plural," Ral snapped.

"And? You're the only one that's acting childish."

"And expecting me to be your servant isn't childish?" Ral shot back.

"It is not! I do not-"

"Be quiet," the call for quiet was a little more insistent and annoyed than before.

"I don't want you to be my servant. I don't think the most patient employer could stand you," Jace hissed quietly.

"Well then it's a good thing I have no interest in being a servant isn't it Cat Ears?"

Jace smirked and crossed his arms over his chest, "Really? You have no interest in it?"

"What are you plotting?" Ral asked instantly.

"Okay, how about this. You and I are going to talk to Chandra and Lilianna-"

"I can tell where this is heading and HELL NO!" Ral shook his head violently.

"Then give me the book," Jace repeated in an almost dangerous voice.

"You two need to quiet down."

"Sorry," Ral muttered sheepishly.

Jace smirked, "Give me the book. Or we can go have a nice meaningful chat with Chandra and Lilianna."

"I hate you Cat Ears," Ral handed him the book through the curtains. Jace took it before the lightning mage had the chance to change his mind, "Now, I'm going to write down the page numbers of spells you should be able to use and if you don't mind a little bit of excitement in the nightly routine we can go out into the back courtyard and you can practice zapping whatever the hell you want."

"Are you really creating a schedule for me Cat Ears?"

"No," Jace shook his head, "I'm making it so that you can actually be helpful."

"That's cold. Here I thought you actually cared," Ral whined.

"Shut it," Jace snapped.

Ral grinned, "Whatever you say Master Cat Ears."

"No. I'm not interested in being your master."

"Oh really?" Ral asked. Jace could hear devious planning in his voice. He gritted his teeth, "Actually I don't care."

"Really?"

"Sure," Jace shrugged.

"You're no fun, Cat Ears." Ral snickered.

Of course he'll test if I care or not. He sighed. "Okay so nevermind that. Anyway, I'm keeping the book. You get to look at it between ten and midnight."

"Why?!" Ral whined dramatically, "I have to sleep sometime Cat Ears! Not everyone can push sleep off for weeks on end!"

Jace knew Ral couldn't see his face but felt it shift into a confident smirk anyway, "I can always get Chandra to help you use magic."

"NONONONONONONONONONO!" Ral shook his head violently.

"Then ten to midnight. Besides. You can sleep from seven to ten and then you can sleep from midnight to six. That's plenty of sleep."

"But Cat Ears," Ral sighed, "I don't get tired until like nine."

"Then stay up till ten and then ten to midnight. You can sleep from midnight to six. You'll still be getting six hours of sleep a night. That's no more and no less than what you normally get anyway."

"I didn't know you knew how long I slept," Ral cocked his head to the side.

"You snore," Jace snarled.