"Ral. Shut up. Nix. Let me read a god damn book!" Jace rolled onto his stomach and whined into his pillow, "How much longer do I have?"
"You have 33 hours 57 minutes and 24 seconds until the day Phoenix has said you can go back to what you like to do," Nix said. She was sitting at Jace's desk. The principal had given her and only her permission to be in Jace and Ral's room because Chandra had entrusted Jace's welfare to her.
He flicked his tail in acknowledgment but remained silent. I'm so BORED! Nix is nuts-He jumped and rolled over quickly as there was a knock on the door, "Ral answer it."
"Alright Cat Ears. Since Nix won't let you leave the bed I will answer the door," Ral opened it and froze, "E-Elspeth?"
She nodded to Ral, "Hello Ral. Don't look at me like that. You aren't in trouble."
Ral nodded quickly and swallowed nervously, "Sorry."
Jace snickered.
"You are in trouble," Elspeth shifted her gaze and it hardened significantly.
Jace swallowed, "Why?"
"Chandra told you the mana on this world was poisonous."
"You actually found out about that?" Jace whispered.
"Yes," Elspeth walked forward and set on the edge of his bed, "Mana poisoning only gets worse until it's treated. Your lucky you passed out."
Jace chuckled nervously, "Well it won't be happening again so...can I not be in trouble anymore?"
"One more thing," Elspeth's gaze became amused, "Choose the ideas you put in Michael and David's heads carefully. They will follow through with exactly what they say they will." She nodded to Nix, "Thank you for looking after him."
"I am only doing what Phoenix said to."
"She won't let me read!" Jace whined.
Elspeth smiled, "That's alright. Have you eaten and slept?"
"Too much," Jace muttered, "I'm gonna get sick."
She shook her head, "I'm sure you will continue to sleep and eat. It is after all the only way to replenish the energy you use when you use this world's magic." She got to her feet, "By the way things are starting to collect outside your door."
"Someone would think I'd died," Jace muttered.
Ral collected all the stuff Jace's friends had left outside the door, "Are you leaving now Elspeth?"
"I'm going to talk with Chandra and Lilianna but otherwise yes," she left and Ral watched her walk down the hallway.
Jace sighed, "Why does no one understand how awful it is that I can't read?! Where'd you put the books anyway?"
"I will tell you in 33 hours," Nix said.
"Why?"
"Here Cat Ears," Ral set all the stuff on Jace's bed. Jace looked through it, "I got food from Erin. Naturally. And one of those disgusting energy drinks he drinks all the time. Why is he giving me stuff? I don't talk to him."
"Just because you don't talk to someone doesn't mean they don't care," Ral snickered, "C'mon Cat Ears. I thought you would've figured that out by now."
Jace glared at him through the curtains that separated the room, "Ral. Shut up." He looked through it some more, "I got Play-Doh and a fork from Michael and David."
"Do they want you to eat it?" Ral asked.
"Remember the stuffed animals Ral?" Jace asked.
Ral burst out laughing, "Oh."
"I'm never playing a video game with you again," Jace snapped. He grabbed a small box, "This is from Lilianna?" He opened it and saw a Black Lotus money card and a small alexandrite pendant. He growled, "I don't like necklaces but thanks Lili." I can use the money card though. Apparently it's what's payed for all of Michael and David's endeavors. He put the box aside and continued looking through the stuff. Why is Lilianna suddenly so helpful anyway? She's creepy. "Okay so that's all that's interesting."
"Cat Ears," Ral grinned.
Jace didn't even look at him. He didn't need to. Ral only ever talked like that when he had a stuffed animal, "Put it in the pile."
"C'mon! You didn't even look at it."
"Don't have to. Put it on the pile. Don't hit Kaious this time."
"But Cat Ears. It's adorable!"
"Put it on the damn pile! I'll look at it later."
"That's a lie," Nix said flatly.
Jace growled, "So what if it is? I don't care. He can just put it on the pile."
"Fine. You're no fun." Ral looked at him, "Are you going to keep try to get the medallion again?"
"Of course I am," Jace snapped.
"Oh yeah! Princess wanted me to show you something," Ral got to his feet and went back to his side of the room. "It's you!" Ral handed him a card.
Jace stared at the card, "Why?"
Ral shrugged, "Most of us have one. Nissa, Gideon, Beautiful, Princess, Elspeth, you, me and whoever else. I haven't spent very long looking into the game but yeah."
Jace sighed, "Okay. I'm sleeping."
"You are?"
Jace nodded, "Yeah." How am I going to get the medallion from Chandra? I could ask Michael and David. I somehow don't think that's a good idea. I could try to get it myself. I doubt that's a good idea either. Ral won't do it. Ugh. I'll have to do it then. How? How am I supposed to...wait. I'll teach myself telekinesis! That will at least make it significantly easier. He buried his face in his pillow, "Ral. Stay on your side of the room."
"Cat Ears, c'mo-"
"Ral, I will cave your face in."
"Alright. Alright, jeez Cat Ears."
Jace shrugged. I'm surprised he still believes me when I say that. I've said it how many times and not actually followed through with it? I only did follow through once.
He opened his eyes and yawned. Jace sat up and looked around. Ral was gone but Nix was still sitting at his desk. He scowled, "Really? Don't you have class?"
"The principal has given me permission to watch over you for another 24."
His scowled deepened, "Fine." He laid back down and hid under the blanket. UGH I'm going to find some way of repaying Chandra for this.
"You need breakfast," Nix said calmly.
"Thank you for the reminder. I'll eat later," Jace was surprised she heard him through his blanket but she did, "You need breakfast. I'll get Tina to make you something."
"Please don't. She's made nothing but scorch marks every time."
"Then I will accompany you while you make something for yourself."
"I don't know how to cook," Jace shrugged.
"Neither do I. I will get Tina to make you something," Nix got to her feet, "You will not find the books." She disappeared out the door.
Jace sighed. He knew better than to try to take the opportunity to get away. Nix would hunt him down within five minutes of him being out of his room and drag him right back to it. He heard Michael and David's trouble theme play over the intercom. Even getting caught in one of their pranks would be more fun than this.
They made ballistae with Popsicle sticks, rubber bands, tape and wooden pencils and colored pencils.
I thought it was just going to be wooden pencils. Jace recognized Kurai's voice in his head. He growled in frustration.
They added colored pencils.
Jace sighed, "And I'm missing out on it because Chandra told Nix to look after me and Nix is taking it way too seriously." He whined into his pillow, "This isn't fair!"
Nix returned a few moments later, "Tina is too preoccupied in virtual war to make something for you. I will get you some ice cream." She disappeared.
"Ice cream?" Jace sat up with his ears pricked. He shrugged, "I won't argue." He laid back down and stretched. He stared at the clock on his desk. It was eight thirty in the morning. He was still full from all the spaghetti Nix had made him eat before Elspeth had come. At least ice cream is better than scorched pancakes or a crumbly burnt mess that used to be waffles. He sighed and curled up under the blanket. Nix returned with vanilla with caramel swirl ice cream filling a bowl to the brim, "The staff will be relinquishing the ability to fill the downstairs or upstairs cabinets, fridges, and freezers to the students starting at the end of this quarter."
"I thought the school year was divided into semesters," Jace muttered. He took the ice cream and stared at it, "How am I supposed to eat all of this anyway?"
"It's breakfast instead of snack so I put two servings into the bowl," Nix explained.
Jace scowled, "How am I going to eat all of it? I'm still full from all the spaghetti you made me eat last night."
"You need breakfast."
I don't think she understands what I mean by full. Jace stared at her dryly. He sighed, "Okay." He glanced at her, "What did you mean by 'Tina is too preoccupied in virtual war'?"
"She was participating in the pencil ballistae war between Ascension City and Elendeth City."
"Oh," Jace sighed. He looked woefully at the door. I'm so bored.
"Hey Jace!" Michael and David threw the door to his dorm open just as he had stated to doze around an hour later. Jace jumped and glared at them, "Can you not?!"
"Sorry," Michael smiled sheepishly.
"It's the middle of the day so we didn't expect you to be asleep," David explained.
"I wasn't asleep. I was just dozing," Jace snapped.
"It's warm in here," Michael muttered.
"That has nothing to do with this!" Jace snarled, "What do you two want?"
"We're going to be painting the outside of the school building tomorrow afternoon. Do you wanna help out?" Michael asked.
"You too Nix. Wanna help us paint the school building?"
"Isn't paint already banned?" Jace asked.
Michael and David shrugged, "We can't let on to the fact that we actually have a goal with our pranks."
"I am surprised the principal-"
"She kicked us out of the school," Michael interrupted Nix.
"We aren't allowed back until the start of class tomorrow," David added.
Jace shook his head, "Sure. I'll help paint the school building. Hey, how much Play-Doh do you guys have?"
"How much do you need?" Michael asked.
"A lot," Jace said, "I mean if we're going to break rules everyone might as well be involved. If only a couple of kids are causing trouble then it won't make an impact. If every kid is a 'problem' then it's not the kids that are the problem. It's the system they're in."
"Good point," Michael and David exchanged glances, "We need to get organized then."
Jace rolled his eyes. I start PE tomorrow. Why? I don't like PE. "Do you guys have PE?"
"No. But we had it last year."
"What's it like?"
"That depends on which teacher you have," David admitted.
"The football coach," Jace muttered.
"Oh. He's cool," Michael shook his head, "It's the TI teacher you have to worry about."
"TI?" Jace asked curiously.
Michael nodded.
"She's a former military recruit trainer person turned PE teacher. She's cool but expects someone to perform to their highest ability," Michael said, "So half-assing the class is...impossible if you don't want to get screamed at."
"Okay then," Jace nodded, "Who's in the class before lunch? Do you know?"
"Onyx, Erin, Melody, Derek. Avoid Derek if you can. He hangs out with the student council president but he's not the nicest person in the world," Michael said.
"Whisper's in there too," David added, "and Alex. He's like Derek but a little nicer. Otherwise I've got no clue. The football coach is pretty cool. You can expect him to give you challenges like catching a fly with chopsticks or whatever. They're fun."
"Alright," Jace sighed. He glanced at the twins, "One more thing."
"Hm?"
"What's the best way of repaying Chandra for being a pain?" Jace cocked his head to the side.
"Slip the sour candy spray into her food," David suggested.
"I'd rather not do something that obvious. Something I can do while she's asleep," Jace said.
"Ice bucket!" Michael grinned.
"I don't want her to kill me," Jace said.
"Um…then that's something a little more creative," Michael paused to think.
"I've got nothing. She's pretty violent and easy to piss off," David said.
"You guys are no help at all," Jace muttered.
"Dye her hair," Nix suggested, "Do something that will put her in a relatively deep, restful sleep. No one responds to subtle outward stimuli when they are deeply asleep. Then dye her hair."
Jace looked at her in surprise, "I didn't know you could play the part of the trickster."
Nix shrugged.
Jace cocked his head to the side, "She might kill me but she'd have to catch me first and...since she was asleep I can deny that it was me."
"We'll be your scapegoats," David grinned.
"I mean it's not like we haven't already had the snot beat out of us by her before," Michael shrugged.
"I'm holding you two to that," Jace said earnestly, "I don't plan on being roast alive because of this."
"She can't roas-"
"Yes she can," Jace nodded, "She doesn't need to be able to manipulate the fire to have the fire. In case you hadn't noticed she's started carrying around a lighter."
"Good point," David nodded.
"That it?" Michael asked, "We promised to get Melody some cookie cutters so she can make cookies."
"She can cook?" Jace asked instantly.
Michael nodded, "She can bake pretty well. I'm not sure if she can do anything else."
"Oh." Jace shrugged, "Alright."
The twins left the room, closing the door behind them.
Jace looked at Nix, "I want her to make dinner. I'm tired of spaghetti and instant ramen."
"Of course," Nix nodded dutifully.
Jace sighed, "How much longer do I have?"
"Just under 23 hours."
"Dammit," Jace sighed, "Can I please hav-nevermind. Can you go tell Michael and David to get blue and white permanent hair dye?"
Nix nodded, "Of course. I will tell Melody that you want her to make dinner on the way."
"Thanks," Jace sighed. And tomorrow I'm helping to paint the outside of the school building. "Remind them to get Play-Doh too!"
"Of course."
"And I'll be making Play-Doh sculptures. Because clay is overrated. And not banned yet," Jace shrugged and smirked. Maybe I can get Nix to help me since she's the one that suggested it. Jace found himself grinning excitedly. He wasn't entirely sure he could put Chandra to sleep. She was resistant to that sort of thing for some reason. He still hadn't managed to figure out how but she was. But he was going to try. He was going to get her back for leaving him bored and trapped in his dorm room for nearly three whole days. The time he spent with Nix the less he minded her her dutiful obedience to the exact orders she's given was annoying and not something he was entirely comfortable with. I'll let Chandra know that she has to keep a very close eye on her before the wrong person starts ordering her around. I don't want her to be hurt at all. I'll leave a note on her dresser when I dye her hair. I'm an idiot but I'm going to do it. If only because she's a pain. It's payback for everything she's done to annoy me. He couldn't help but smile. He wasn't entirely comfortable with the way he felt at the moment but decided to ignore it.
Nix came back a few minutes later, "Your ice cream is completely melted."
"Oops," Jace shrugged.
"I will give it to Jenny and get you another bowl," Nix picked up the bowl and carefully carried it away.
Jace smiled, "Hey Nix."
"Hm?"
"Thanks. Don't tell me there's no reason to thank you because there is reason," Jace said as Nix opened her mouth. She shut it again and stared at him in confusion. Jace sighed, "The fact that you've helped me is reason enough for me to thank you. Even if you are helping me on someone else's request."
Nix nodded, "You are welcome then." For the first time since he had started interacting with her he saw something resembling happiness in her deep violet eyes, "I will get Melody to give us a couple of the cookies she's already made then." She disappeared out the door with the bowl of melted ice cream.
"Dammit Nix." Jace sighed, "Just because I can only eat and sleep does not mean that you have to stuff me stupid with food." He laughed.