Ronan eyed Jeremy, distrust pitted to his stomach at the feline that had not only returned unscathed after his little letter run, but appeared to come back bearing gifts. A thick leather shoulder bag that nearly popped Ronan's arm from the socket when he casually grabbed it from Samanthra and flung the hard weight over his shoulder with a wobble.The stuffed sack most certainly wasn't something his scrawny house cat would be able to drag through the wilds, which held many speculations to its possibility, but at the head of the helm was Jeremy having an unknown form of assistance.A person?Ronan averted his squint before Jeremy caught it, sighing with relief as he cracked his door open to face an empty room. Puff was still with Alestra, happily committed to quaint biweekly flying lessons just behind the stables. Ronan could spare his friend an unnecessary barrage of feline harassments if he got Jeremy out before curfew.Ronan threw the sack on his bed, wincing at the hard crack that p

"Where are we off to?" Phantom said, following Ronan through the grassy field. The sky was covered on a thin sheet of hazy grey clouds; the closest thing to rain Ronan had seen so far.He walked over to the forest's edge, and looked down at the familiar, rugged patch of grass from his dreams. After ensuring his only spectators were Puff and Phantom, he got on his knees and started digging.Sure enough, after tearing up a large portion of grass and dirt, and thoroughly confusing his audience in the process, his fingers brushed against the cold surface of a large rock. He scooped the remaining dirt away, revealing the smooth, white surface of the Ceptrum.It wasn't just a dream."How'd you know that was there?" Phantom said, transfixed to the stone as he squatted next to Ronan. "I thought they'd have torn down most of the old Ceptrums, I don't recognize this one...""I had a really messed up dream," Ronan replied, concealing the rock with dirt and chunks of grass. "Do you know anybody w

It had been well over a week since Jeremy left, and Ronan was wondering if he'd been eaten on his way to delivering his letter to Staz. School was bad, as usual. Everyone would play a cruel game of tug of war with him when they were asked to group up for games, and his friends were still acting weird. He even caught Talli trying to feel the spaces around him for something, but when he questioned her actions she broke into incoherent stutters. On the bright side, Puff could stay in the air for about ten seconds before falling to the ground, which was a sad amount of progress, but it was the only celebratory thing Ronan could think of. Since his progress in using lumience without the help of Puff or Phantom, was still verging on hopelessness. Mr. Mudelin's class had now gone from going over the basics, to full blown attacks and defensive counters. Since Ronan didn't feel like accidentally killing one of his classmates with the unpredictability of his spells, he'd been using Phantom to

Samanthra grabbed a stack of papers, and hoisted them up with a grunt, slowly waddling over to a shockingly empty table."You need help with that?" Red cut in, approaching his struggling headmaster to assist her."No deary, I'll be fine." She dropped the stack with a relieved sigh, and wiped her forehead. "I hate paper. Anyways, continue, have you found any other methods? Ways to fix your... What was it again?""Telly?""Ah yes, Telly. Well, any progress?""Nope, I've got nothing," Red replied, he hadn't even thought about fixing the Telly. "You know, I don't see why keeping him on Lumi is so bad, he's having loads of fun.""I'd hardly call snapping at a teacher and wounding a house leader 'loads of fun'. That poor boy needs to go home, I can only imagine what he's going through right now. What you've done to him."Red ignored the guilt trip, his face shedding its usual lighthearted smile. "He can't go back to Earth. He's safe here."Samanthra sighed, shaking some dust off a document

"Y-You're back!" Talli exclaimed, the food tray in her hands acting as the only thing between Ronan and a crushing hug. "W-We thought you, you went into the forest and got eaten.""You thought," Veronica corrected, taking her seat beside Ronan at the table.Truvius and Talli had played it safe, sitting across from Ronan and seeming to be extra careful when they talked to him. Which in the end was more irritating."So, where'd you go after leaving class?" Truvius started."Outside," Ronan lied, pushing Puff's nose away from his food. "Did I miss anything important?""Notes... silent class." Truvius faked a pouty face to match a theatrical voice. "I think you hurt Mr. Mudelin's feelings."Ronan raised his eyebrows. "He has feelings?"Talli looked around in worry at her laughing friends. "I don't think we should make fun of our teachers, I like my marks.""You're right, but there's no point with Ronan since he already hates him," Veronica replied."My brother said he ignores th-the peopl