"Cat Ears. C'mon. Kyle and Rick want to talk to you," Ral said.
"Who's Kyle?" Jace asked harshly.
"You don't have to be a jerk just because I woke you up you know," Ral whined.
"Shut up and answer my question," Jace snapped.
"Kyle's an Ascension City kid," Ral shrugged, "I don't know anything else other than the fact that he's pretty cool."
"Well then tell them I don't want to talk," Jace crossed his arms over his chest.
"Cat Ears you are so cold."
"I don't know Kyle. I don't want to talk to him."
"What about Rick?"
"Don't want to talk to him either," Jace said.
"You have to go to school you know," Ral pointed out, "Elspeth will be mad if you don't."
Jace growled, "I'll go to school but there's still thirty minutes until then."
"Cat Ears! C'mon. They just want to see how you're doing," Ral whined.
"Then tell them I'm fine."
"I'm not playing go between," Ral snapped, "You tell them that."
"I don't know Kyle and I don't want to talk to Rick," Jace repeated.
"Cat Ears. I'm going to play go between," Ral sighed. He got to his feet and left the room.
"He isn't coming then?" Rick asked.
Ral shook his head.
"C'mon," Kyle whined, "I don't want to miss breakfast just to talk to him."
"C'mon Kyle. Erin can give you something to eat in class," Rick said.
Jace's eyes narrowed. He had a creeping suspicion that Ral was plotting something and somehow Rick and somehow Rick and Kyle were involved. He turned to the window, "Kaious please don't eat all the crackers again."
"I won't," the baby dragon promised.
"Thank you," Jace muttered, somewhat perturbed. He jumped out his window and landed in the tree. He slid down the tree to the ground. The ground opened suddenly beneath him and he dropped into a pit higher than he was tall. He landed in a crouch and looked up, "The hell was that?" He growled in frustration. The ground was solid when I landed on it. Someone has the ability to manipulate the make up and form of the ground. The Ascension City kids don't play fair. They all have some ability or other and it makes them difficult to deal with. He looked around. The rocks around him were completely smooth. He wouldn't be able to grip them at all and he wasn't able to jump high enough to reach the lip of the pit. He did not plan on waiting for someone to help him either. He ran his fingers along the rock and his eyes narrowed. He could teleport to the top of the pit but that would be a waste of energy. He would as a last resort but not unless he could figure out a different way out.
"Hey Jace. Need help?" Rick looked down at him warmly. He knelt down at the edge of the pit.
Jace glared at him, "No. I don't need help but thank you for offering."
"You sure?" Rick asked curiously. He cocked his head to the side as he looked around.
"Kyle's your friend right?" Jace asked.
"Yeah."
"Tell him to make stairs in the wall," Jace said.
"Uh..." Rick rested his left hand around the left side and back of his neck, "Well I don't think he will."
"It's worth a shot anyway," Jace crossed his arms over his chest.
"God. You're spoiled Cat Ears. You act like you're above all of us," Ral knelt down on Jace's other side.
Jace glared at him through narrowed eyes, "I'm not accepting help from either of you so if that's all you're here for then you might as well leave." I've run up smooth metal walls before but I always had something to jump off of. I don't here. He looked around again.
"If you're going to keep ordering us around then I'm going to tell Kaechia that you're being rude," Ral said. He crossed his arms over his chest mockingly.
"Ral. Don't mock me. I am not putting up with you today," Jace snapped.
"I'm going to tell Kaechia," Ral got to his feet.
"Elspeth will kill you for not being in school!" Jace called after him.
"Kaechia will kill you for being rude Cat Ears. I think it's worth it."
Jace growled, "Really?" He looked around again. There was nothing but smooth rock. If he tried he'd slide right back down before reaching the lip of the pit. He might be able to reach it with one of his hands though. Then I'd be able to pull myself up. His eyes narrowed.
"Are you sure you don't need help?" Rick asked.
"Didn't I say I wasn't accepting any help from you?" Jace snapped without looking at him.
"Well yeah but-"
"I can get out myself," Jace insisted.
"What's going on?" Tessa walked up to Rick. Her red-orange eyes narrowed disapprovingly at the guilty look he gave her. She was able to make strategic decisions within the blink of an eye and her eyesight was easily twenty times better than the average human. Her purple hair was held out of her face with a white headband that she had gotten from Chandra on her second day in Elendeth city.
"Well, Kyle put Jace in a hole and he insists on getting out himself even though I've offered to help him multiple times," Rick explained.
Jace looked up. He recognized the purple hair and the red-orange eyes. Hawk's feathers decorated the left side of her head. He knew, unlike nearly every other student, that those feathers were more than decoration. They were just as attached to her head as his ears were to his. His eyes narrowed and he nodded to her curtly. He looked at Rick, "You're help is unnecessary so go to class or breakfast or whatever."
Rick looked at him in surprise. His tone had completely changed. He was no longer acting like a spoiled brat. He sounded serious and emotionless. Rick nodded and got to his feet. He smiled warmly at Tessa who nodded in response and left. Tessa knelt down next to the whole, "You know perfectly well Jace that we're all in different positions now. The fact that you choose to hide away everything around us especially is, one, hurtful and, two, unnecessary. We all understand that somethings are better left kept to ourselves." Just as she suspected he didn't even look at her. She got no sort of response out of him. She left to let him continue to try to get out of the hole Kyle had dropped him into.
Jace growled and glared at the wall of the hole he was in. Of course some things are better left kept to ourselves. And I know that all of you know that. He leaped from the wall of the hole to his left to the one on his right. With each impact he felt his feet skid against the smooth stone. He flipped and landed on solid ground outside of it. I thought the past once left behind stayed where it belonged. Why the hell am I even here? He felt the ring in his pocket and sighed. It's been so quiet. I don't know if that's because I don't have access to mana or he hasn't done anything. It worries me. It worries me a lot. Why the hell are we wasting time here? We've found two pieces. I need Chandra to give me the medallion so I can find the third. There's no reason we should be here any longer than necessary. He walked into the cafeteria and looked around dully, "As I thought. Ral didn't actually go to Kaechia."
"Jace," Melody smiled warmly at him.
Jace cleared his face and looked at her, "Huh?"
"I made these for you," she held out a plastic tub filled with chocolate chip cookies. Jace looked from them to her and back again, "Why?"
"Well..." Melody shrugged though she did lower her head so her almost silver blond hair hid her face from him, "I wanted to."
Jace took them and then looked at her curiously, "Why?"
"I don't know," she shrugged and darted off.
Jace sighed, "Thanks." He was nearly positive she didn't hear him. "You're acting like you're above all of us" Ral's words echoed in his head. The lightning mage had sounded fed up. I guess I am. Maybe…maybe...I just don't want you getting too close. He shrugged and studied the tub of cookies. I've never even talked with Melody before. Why would she do this? "Just because you don't talk to someone doesn't mean they don't care" Jace gritted his teeth. He turned and left the school building. I'm going to figure out how to find the third piece without the medallion. She won't give it to me even if I ask nicely. He darted to the boys' dorm building. He set the tub of cookies down on his desk and pulled the ring out of his pocket.
"Who're those from?" Kaious asked. He cocked his head to the side, "I thought you were going to school today."
"This is more important. School doesn't matter."
"But you promised Michael and David that you'd pain the school building with them today," Kaious reminded him.
"I'll just get Ral to tell them something's come up," Jace shrugged.
"Ral's at school," Kaious reminded him, "They're painting the school right after school."
"Then I'll just be mysteriously absent," Jace shrugged.
"Jace. You-"
"I can't do it alright!" Jace glared at him angrily. He sighed and sat on his bed. He pushed himself back until he felt the wall against his back. The room was cool. Ral had turned the air conditioning up before leaving apparently. Instead of studying the ring like he had planned he clenched his fist around it and pulled his knees up to his chest. He rested his arms on his knees and his head on his arms. There are more important things to do. Why did I agree to that? Why did I help them in the first place? It's Michael and David. They don't need any help. They certainly don't need my help. What the hell am I doing here? There's no reason for this. I'm just allowing myself to be distracted by things like painting the school and trying to change the principal's philosophy. None of that even matters. As long as I can do what I need to do-
"Jace."
Jace froze as a voice sounded through the door. It was Rick.
"Hey. Kyle wants to apologize," Rick hovered uncomfortably outside the door.
Jace remained silent. He lifted his head and stared at the door.
"Well...sorry," Kyle sounded earnest about it, "If you want we can get you something for lunch or something. I mean Rick's already paying for everyone else's lunch."
Jace remained silent. I shouldn't feel this miserable just because I don't want to go with them. This is stupid. He got to his feet and stood in front of the window. Instead of jumping into the tree he scaled the side of the building quickly. He sat on the roof and stared up at the grey clouds. Hopefully it'll rain. They won't paint the school if it rains. He stared at the ring in his hand, "There are more important things to do." He forced himself to go numb before rising to his feet. The wind threatened to throw him off the edge of the building but he ignored it. He looked down into the courtyard many, many stories below. It was completely empty. All the students would be in class by now. Rick and Kyle were just returning to the school building and hadn't seen him. He dropped from the roof, sliding his shoes against the wall to slow down his decent.