"You live on earth?!" I exclaimed in shock when Bareth informed me, while the group walked towards the gates where they were to be transported.
They were heading to a known place, where they would be collected by their parents since the camp's location was still to be kept a secret, even if it had somehow been compromised a while back when the demons attacked.
I was just delivering them to the gates since I had to travel with Mrs Kelly to the castle who, was still busy with last minute preparations for the school.
"You do know from where us werewolves came from, right? Earth is originally the birth place our race, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that I live here," Bareth answered, in a large brown jacket that seemed to fit his body like a glove with dark jeans to accompany them.
Everyone was allowed to wear how he or she felt like on the last day and, unlike me, everyone else had come prepared with their own set of clothes to wear for such an occasion.
Blade was dressed in a casual white shirt and black trousers and of course by his side was Jessie in a black dress, with long gloves that reached her elbows. An odd way to dress for a sunny day. Kira chose to dress in a blue shirt which flowed down to her waist, black jeans, and a cap on her head.
Both Jay and Flavo were with us today, Flavor in a red suit and Jay covered in a black robe, the hood down. Emily was offered a red silky dress by Kira which looked a little too fitting for her, showing us a lot more than she would have liked.
The rest of our classmates were around here somewhere, if they hadn't already left that is.
"Hmm.. I know both Blade and Jessie are from here, and Kira from Pluto. What about you, Flavo?" I asked the North rep.
"Venus,"
Everyone stopped in their tracks when he said that and looked at him in surprise. There were only the very bare minimum of life in that planet, and unless you were swimming in money, you could never even step foot in that planet. In short, it was a planet for the rich.
"Now I understand why you dressed in a suit. Wow, Venus? That's the planet where everyone wants to go to but can never get to because of its conditions. What family do you belong to?" Jay asked him.
Flavo looked embarrassed when he realized that he was just about the only one of us from Venus, so he decided not to tell us from which family he belongs to.
Now all that was left was where Emily was going to go to, seeing that she can't return home to her father, the literal demon we are at war with.
"Don't worry about me, guys. Remember when I told you I had someone from the inside to help my brother escape? Well, that same person has a hideout in the outskirt of the demon solar system, and I want to see whether he succeeded in rescuing my brother. I miss that little guy,"
"You better. You did go to war with an entire camp just for him," I reminded her, and she punched me in the arms, faking anger while everyone laughed at her.
"You know damn well that wasn't the only reason!" she defended herself. "But hey, I still remember my promise to you. About your memories... "
"Don't trouble yourself about them. Don't worry, it's not that I don't trust you with them, it's just that something more serious is affecting them. No offense, but I'll need a specialist to deal with it,"
And also, I've got a god on that case.
"None taken. I'm still here if you need me though,"
We finally arrived at the gates, and I gave the guys a handshake and the girls a hug before we stood up together one last time, and one of the North students took a picture of us with my new phone that Flintheart just got me.
"Hey guys, I've got an idea. How about, we all decide to visit each others houses during the six month period?" I stopped them just before they jumped into the gates.
"That's a great idea, especially when I'm going to visit Flavo's house. Count me in. Talk to the group by phone about the details," Blade answered as the first, then both him and Jessie leaped through the gates handled by a new guard positioned there for more security ever since the last incident.
"I'm down too, if you guys don't mind the hostile atmosphere from Pluto. And no, I'm not just saying that to scare you guys from coming," Kira said, and she too jumped in.
Emily, Flavo and Bareth also agreed to to my idea before they too jumped into the gates, leaving me with Jay.
"Alright, talk to me. What's on your mind?" I asked him cause it felt like he had something to tell me.
He paused for a while before he answered, "I'm still worried about Alex. The one time things seem to be going his way he gets immediately kidnapped and is probably suffering somewhere. I know that they have your friend is too, but at least they need him for something, so he will probably be left alone. Alex has the Brix's key, and if that's their goal, then the only way to attain it is either by controlling him or outright killing him!"
"Wow, chill! Calm down, my dude. Alex is still alive, you can't already rule him dead without proof. And, even if they didn't need him and just needed the Key, then instead of trying to knock him out during the attack, making their work much harder, they would have just killed him right there and then, taken his body, then extracted it. He's still alive. That much I'm certain about,"
"Yeah but still–"
"Still nothing. I'll get our friends back, and that's a promise," I assured him. But then Jay looked me in the eyes, surprised by something.
"Um... Max, why do I get the feeling that you would even risk your life to save them?"
I looked at him shocked that he would even asked that, "Cause I would,"
"No. Definitely don't do that. It's better you leave him with the demons rather that you end up dead trying to rescue them both and they know you tried. I don't know about Arnold, but Alex would surely live a miserable life after that, saved yes, but nonetheless a person he considered a brother died while trying to save him might destroy him from the inside,"
"Wait, really?"
"You do remember he cried over a person who literally tortured him most of his life just because of a last minute reveal about why he did all that, right?"
"Oh, you're not wrong there,"
"I know. I'm always right. But for real, don't die on me, Max. Alex isn't the only one who will blame himself for your death,"
"Is that supposed to motivating factor?"
"Nope. See you soon. And update the group when you can, alright?"
"Yeah, no problem,"
He finally jumped through the gates, and I nodded to the guard to close them since I wasn't going to pass through them any time soon. Now, time to go and bid farewell to Flintheart.
***
The halls in the school were awfully quiet once most of the students had departed, only the occasional one student here and there, as I made my way to the teachers quarters.
"MAX ME BOY! Come to see me off?" Mr William greeted when I arrived.
"No Mr Will. Who in their right mind would ever come to see a teacher off?"
"Ouch! A simple no would have sufficed! And I know you came to see Flinttheart off. He's a teacher too, "
"No, he was my foster father. There's a big difference there. Speaking of which, where is he?"
"Still packing whatever he needs for the break. You can find him in his room,"
"Thanks, Mr William. And why are you the only one in here? Where are the rest of the teachers?" I wondered as I could see no one else but the West teacher.
"Ah, that. It's either they are packing like Flintheart, or they've already left. Same case as the generals. Guess they too probably couldn't wait for their much deserved rest,"
"Huh, I guess so. Happy travels, teach,"
"Same to you, kid,"
Just as Mr William had said, I did find Flintheart in his room. Surprisingly, the teachers had the same room as the students, just that they each had their own, no roommates in short. But Flintheart's room was as far from clean as the next cow ranch.
"Jeez, Flintheart! Still a mess even after all this time?" I complained and kicked away a peaking roach from some probably week old food.
"Max?" he wondered as he picked out from the wardrobe he was buried in. His eyes narrowed before he said, "The hell?! How did you find my room?!"
"Mr William gave me the directions–no wait, explain yourself! I thought you changed!"
"Leave me alone! It's my room, I decide on how it will be!"
I stepped on a slimy thing that I definitely did not want to find out what it was, and very slowly wiped my feet on the floor to remove it.
"...sure. Whatever you say, dude,"
He was just about done with his packing by the time I had arrived, but he was still looking for something in his bottomless drawer. He finally came out with a certain type of cloth that looked almost centuries old.
"What is that thing you've been looking for for nearly half an hour?"
"I'm glad that you asked. Remember Max when you had a small mini-blanket that you always carried with you until you outgrew it? I had a really hard time trying to convince you that it was too small. Well..."
"Don't tell me... Binny?"
"Yup, that's the name you gave it,"
I slowly approached the old cloth filled with more that just tears of when I was young. Flintheart handed it to me and I could feel the soft cloth hiding in all the dust the good blanket had accumulated for the past years.
If I remember correctly, this was the first gift Flintheart gave to me, and that's why it was always so special to me. I always thought I lost this thing, who would have thought Flintheart would have it?
"I always carry it wherever I go or travel to. You could say it's my lucky charm," he chuckled as I handed him back the the blanket.
"You sure had real fun prying Binny away from my small hands and lying that it had burned up," I murmured.
"Hey! I did that with good reason. It had become such an obsession with you that you practically couldn't do anything without it, even eat. I had to make up something to make you forget about it,"
"I was miserable for four months!"
"A small price to pay, for the greater good,"
"GREATER GOOD?!" I tried catching him in surprise with a punch, but he easily dodged it.
"Is that all you've got, kiddo?"
"I'LL SHOW YOU!"
I threw a punch straight to his chest, which he anticipated and went to dodge. Too bad for him, I wanted him to dodge. When he thought he was home free, I twisted my right leg and did a swipe on him, making him land on whatever slimy thing that was planted on the bedroom floor. He got up immediately, and I could see that whatever was down there had somehow made it all the way to his mouth.
I slowly started to make my retreat, "Oh, gods. I'm sorry about that, Flintheart. I just–"
"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING, MAXY? WE'RE JUST GETTING STARTED!" he roared angrily as he wiped his mouth.
Blood drained from my face before I quickly tried escaping from him. But that's when I knew I was sourly outmatched. Flintheart appeared in front of my path, with a smile that didn't reach his face.
*gulp*
I messed up big time!
***
"Ah, Mandrax, I was just signing the last sheet of paper–wait, why are you limping? And what's with your face?" Principal Kelly asked when I came to her office.
"Don't worry, principal. Nothing major happened, just a little disagreement as all," I answered.
"I see. I'm not going to dwell on that. More importantly, have you packed? Are you ready to go?
"Yup,"
"Well then..." she scribbled something on the sheet of paper, arranged the sheets on her desk, then stood up and walked towards me.
Thank the gods today she chose to dress in normal today, in a long black pull neck, and a loose baggy trouser. She always somehow looked impressive in everything she wore though.
"Shall we get going?"
"You're not carrying anything?"
"Mandrax, I live in the castle. You forget the Beast king is my father,"
"Oh, you have your whole room and all that,"
"Yup,"
I really didn't have a lot to pack. Just a few essentials like the adamantium spear safely stored in a storage ring and my watch.
We approached another gate, and after Mrs Kelly keyed in some information, it opened up to a new gate.
"You first, Max," she said.
Well then folks, onto another adventure!