We left the scene as there wasn't much to process since the demon became a mist and disappeared. Mr G didn't hold us and we went back to our rooms exhausted from a long day. We went back to our rooms to find Travis and Joey sleeping on their beds.
"Travis! Joey!" I exclaimed, waking them both up out of their slumber suddenly both acting as if they were both deep in a nightmare. Adam walked over to Travis and pinched his arm causing him to shout at Adam. Adam raised his hands in resignation "just checking!".
"Why are you guys acting like we have been gone forever, wait how did we get in our rooms? What happened to the train ride?" Joey started to put things together on our behavior and the surroundings.
"Well it's about to be winter break next week so yeah you missed a few days." I informed them.
"I hope they don't make us take the midterms!" Travis groaned.
"Well I was going to say you two grew a bunch but I guess if we were stuck in a coma for a couple months or whatever we were doing." Joey commented looking at how much taller Adam and myself were to him and Travis.
We had eaten like kings quite literally so our growth might have had something to do with that as well. Travis seemed like he grew but Joey seemed more and more like he was becoming like his red panda, small and round.
We spent the night laughing and discussing our summer break, but honestly it was good to see them and we were glad to see them back in one piece. We eventually figured out that the kinimini had trapped them and when it was destroyed they were released back to the train which the staff of the train subsequently took the students up to their room.
The next morning the girls were ecstatic to see Travis and Joey and that mystery was solved. It would explain why they felt they weren't being watched anymore and how the kinimini knew their movements and schedules from the two he was holding.
We attended our classes and this time everyone was commenting on Travis and Joey being back. At lunch we introduced them to Xelo the new school mascot and ancient wyvern. The arcane wyvern let out a massive flame signally the triumphant return of team arcanum.
Ghaston and Mr Jackson spent the afternoon interrogating Travis and Joey to find out what happened but both kept the same story. They both got on the train and felt tired so they both fell asleep quickly and then woke up to us bursting in the room.
The only information we had on the kinimini was that it was a high level assassin but anyone on the planet could technically hire one. What bothered Ghaston the most was that it kept Travis and Joey alive as if it was not something they did.
Nothing else happened till winter break. I was told I would be going to Adam's house. This was news to both of us not that I was going to complain but at the same time I had no idea why and it had been a year since I saw my parents.
Arriving at Adam's family's home I realized that we did not grow up the same. I didn't grow up broke but I didn't grow up like this. I thought they were slaves but I was told they were servants. They had multiple rooms that I could select to sleep in, if Adam visited my house we would either both sleep on my bed or one on the floor. Here I had options on the room nonetheless I could test the beds to figure out which I liked the most.
I briefly met his parents who seemed to be caught up in their own worlds. Neither of them knew who I was when they first saw me and were surprised to see someone Adam's age in their house till Adam reminded them I was who the Academy told them would be staying with them. His parents were nice but didn't really give us the time of day.
I didn't know it till that day but Adam has an older sister. She was several years older and she also went to Muhlhauser Academy like the rest of the neighborhood. I only discovered it as she had melded with an earth leopard. The cat was massive and agile at the same time. It startled me at first seeing it hop from shelf to shelf through the kitchen. When I asked Adam about it he just responded it was Amanda's melded earth leopard.
Adam had a series of training dummies in his basement that we spent most of the time working on them. The few times we went outside in the yard someone would make a comment from a distance which would upset Adam so we would go back inside. The neighborhood had turned on him to say the least but none would bother us. Even when we played toss with the stickup game that was quite popular in our world.
Having grown up with intellectuals they didn't introduce me to sports. Stickup was a game that had a pole with a net on the end and you would use that to toss a heavy ball great distances. Then a yard by yard square goal is set up, one on each side of a field that is a hundred yards long and fifty yards wide. Twenty people on each team could be on the field at once. They would play first to ten but no longer than an hour.
Adam and I found it comforting to toss a ball back and forth but unfortunately his neighbors wouldn't allow that to be comforting around his house. The banter came from kids our age but they didn't dare to come over and say it, just yell it from their houses. The whole experience was different for me to say the least. These kids were too scared to come over but not scared enough to not yell at us.
The last day of summer break was especially hot so Adam and I decided to walk to the pond that was around a mile away from his house that he told me he would go to on hot days to cool off. He stated that there tended to be lots of others there but usually everything was chill. That statement turned out to be false. The pond was chill, the people at it were not.
Upon arriving at the pond there were at least twenty kids already in the water frolicing around. The moment the one boy saw Adam the atmosphere changed considerably as he grabbed the attention of his friends to then point at Adam and say something to them. It was as if the laughter had stopped from a record skipping at an instant.
Adam and I were taking our shirts off to jump in when the boy that noticed us and his group started to make their way to us. Fortunately we were accustomed to wearing our armor as a belt at all times and today was no exception to the rule. Adam even asked if I had it on before we left just to make sure knowing we most likely would run into something. The ten boys getting out of the water to stop us from enjoying it was that something.
I recognized Devin as one of the boys once they all got close enough and more than just their heads were exposed above the water. "Haven't you had enough shame, when are you going to learn to leave us the hell alone!" I took the initiative seeing Devin and knowing nothing good was about to happen. The ten boys were shocked I said something and not Adam, not one of them knew who I was including Devin.
"Who the hell are you anyways? I have to know who you are to leave you alone." Devin retorted back. Suddenly he was the ring leader again which I am guessing he must have been in this position all along. It just seemed to be his natural place, the leader of the tools. Why they thought messing with Adam and me as well was a good idea will always bother me. I then recognized Justin who we fought in the finals and he was naturally hanging back behind some of the guys.
I had completely forgotten that I was in armor covering me when they saw me other than the one time in the forest. Devin was probably too focused on Adam to really remember me is my best guess but his tone changed quickly when our response was going full armor as they closed in on us. Justin recoiled back as he saw both of us in the obsidian armor as his memories of the battle a half a year ago were brought back.
My armor stands out since it has all seven elemental energies running through it while Adam's is a purple arcane only. Abby told me that I look more badass than anyone has ever looked in this armor. I took the compliment but never realized that it also probably intimidated a lot of people since the armor alone did that, most people weren't used to seeing multiple colors. Maddy's green and blue were a unique dual color armor, mine was unheard of.