He looked around, the place was bare, too bare.
Too quiet.
He had too many things to do, too many things to build, too many things to prepare.
And everything had to be alone.
All alone.
He stayed where he was for a second, not doing anything.
Until he sighed.
He started to move.
All alone.
Again.
______________________________________
Lily didn't want anything more than to punch that girl out of the planet.
Or freeze her, whatever was easier at the time.
Amelia Grace had followed her, talking nonstop like she didn't need to breathe, as always.
Lily was used to it by now, but she wanted to talk with Topaz and answer some questions before the magic training, so it annoyed her more than usual.
She was so annoyed that she started to think that the punch-her-out-of-planet idea was more appealing.
Lily was doing her best to ignore the girl, she really was, but her patience was slowly running out, and she was a little bit too close to do something that would put her in trouble when one of the girl's friends got the group's attention.
"Don't you think that guy over there is cute?"
Lily looked at where she was pointing.
A few rows below the group, a red-haired boy was messing with some kind of device.
She knew the boy, he was the same age as her and they shared some classes, he was a rare case of a commoner with a subclass.
A commoner with a subclass was as rare and amazing as her ability to use ice magic, rare enough for him to earn a noble title.
They haven't really talked more than a few words, but she could tell he was a good person, even when the people around him saw him more as a circus monkey.
Just like her.
She watched him mess with the device for a while, the girls around her chatting animatedly about who should go to the poor boy and seduce him when she saw something on the boy's wrist.
A Bakumeter, identical to hers, but green in color.
She raised from her seat, startling the girls surrounding her.
"Hey Lily" Amelia started "What happen-"
She didn't give the girl a moment to speak, passing by her without a word she walked down the stairs to the lower rolls, stopping only when she was by the boy's side.
He didn't seem to notice her, to focused on dismantling the device.
"Koda Ferri" She called.
The boy freezes, turning to her with wild eyes, like a deer caught in the headlights.
"Y-Yes?"
He sounded as nervous as he looked, his green eyes moving around, seeming to look for an escape route.
"I need you to come with me" She said "Now"
______________________________________
Koda was nervous.
The academy's belle approached him during break and announced that she wanted to talk, and by her face, it couldn't be good.
He could feel Solder (that's how he started to call Monarus after discovering that that wasn't her name but her species, it was a stupid, he knew, but also was his favorites tools) moving inside his pocket, but stayed quiet, as they had agreed upon before coming to classes.
Koda has taken the whole weekend to know Solder and everything about her better, he read all the books he received, asked thousand questions (she answered most of them while chuckling, apart from the ones related to where she came from, as she sounded visibly sad so he gave her space), training with Solder's help, and dismantled the extra Gauntlet he buyed, much to Amazonite's amusement.
"Dante would be crying blood if he saw this" Was what she said, and that was how he discovered the shop owner's name.
He was taking the thing apart more deeply when someone called his whole name.
For a second he thought it was a teacher, but then he remembered it was break time, and they wouldn't have classes for a few more hours.
So maybe it was one of the jerks who kept messing with him.
He then turned, not at all expecting who was calling him.
Lilian Rockfield was staring at him coldly, as coldly as her ice magic, and he nearly let his tools fall from his hands at the time.
But now he was in the library with Lady Rockfield, sitting at one of the tables with a soundproof barrier.
He saw her open her mouth, ready for whatever thing she would say.
Well, nearly watherver.
"Is that a Bakumeter?"
He was stupefied for a moment, head went blank at the question.
"Excuse me?" Was the only thing he could say.
"A Bakumeter" She repeated "Like mine"
She lifted her sleeve, revealing a Bakumeter much like his own, but blue.
At this moment his eyes went wide.
"You have one too!?"
The most unexpected thing happened.
The academy's belle smiled brightly.
"So you that's why you were so agitated"
The sudden new voice startled Koda for a moment, but he soon saw something jumping from her pocket to the table.
It was a Bakugan.
A Aquos Bakugan, to be exact, if he got the color right.
"Is it an old tortoise that I heard?"
Solder soon did the same, jumping from his pocket to the table, not at all worried about secrecy.
"Juggernoid" She greeted "Who would have thought we would meet your spiky shell so soon?"
"Its Topaz now" Said the tortoise "And yeah, never thought I would meet your fancy wings 'round here Monarus"
"I go by Solder, by the way"
While the two bakugan talked, Koda was left to deal with the young Lady.
"You have a Ventus Bakugan!" She said in awe.
"And you have an Aquos" He said nervously but equally surprised "I've saw them in the store, but not this close"
"You've been in the store!" The noble lady exclaimed "How jealous, my dad brought Topaz as a gift, I wish I had seen them! I've read the manuals and was curious at how they look like"
She then started talking about what she had read and her thoughts about everything.
Koda was a bit stunned, as he never thought the Academy's Belle could smile like that, or act like that.
All the times he'd seen her, she had a cold expression on her face, or a frown.
Rumors said that she was cold and malicious, tormenting others whenever she had the chance.
So seeing her so excited chatting was kind of surprising.
And well, he was more relaxed after that.
Seems like rumors couldn't be trusted.
___
They talked for the whole break.
It was a great time, even though he was still a bit nervous at the start, but soon he let himself loose.
They spend the whole time talking about the Bakumeter and with the Bakugan, learning a few things and sharing what they discovered by themselves.
They both were fascinated about the efficiency of the methods the Bukugan had teached them, such as a better circulation of mana (or simply power, as the bakugan called), the way of using it and how many factors could affect the final result.
It was amazing how the same method could be used for both elements, but with a few alterations, like how to move it on your body.
Now they were talking about the Gauntlets, after Koda explained to her how it worked.
"My current theory is that the 'energy' the shop owner talked is like mana" He explained "The field if rich in this energy as it is conected with Vestroia, where it is originated, but our realm doesn't have or produce this energy, so the cards store it and the Gauntlet-"
"Excuse me?"
Koda and the Lady Rockfield jumped at the sudden voice, hiding the Bakugan in a heartbeat and turning to see an adult, probably the librarian.
"Just wondering if you two are planning to skip classes?" He said.
The two of them were confused for a moment, before they both looked at their Bakumeter.
Two pairs of eyes widened as the pair got up from their seats.
"We're gonna be late!" He said.
"Not if we run fast enough!" The girl exclaimed.
They both thanked the man and runned off to the library after taking their things.
***
The man, who had kept an eye on the pair since they arrived, chuckled as he saw the pair run off as if being chased by beasts.
He was a bit wary of the situacion when he first saw them, as he had been investigating the rumors about the girl for a while, and seen her dragging a boy to a sound proofed table, he was ready to act if anything happens
But then the girl started to smile and chat, and the boy soon tagged along, nervous at first, but letting himself be as the time passed, both showing off their strange wristwatches and the toys they carried with them.
That made them curious, as he never saw something like these toys, and got even more curious as the boy took a strange object from his special bag.
They both looked like little kids playing around happily, not a daughter of a duke and a commoner boy who just received a noble title of baron, or future mages and, in the boy's case, a magic engineer.
Just two kids playing with toys and having fun.
He couldn't find the strange to interrupt their moment, so he let them be, of course, keeping an eye on them in case anything happens, curious during the whole time about what they should be talking about.
But a few minutes later the man noticed that they both would be late for class if the conversation continued, so he approached the two and got their attention.
He contained a smirk as the two froze and hid their toys.
They both looked horrified at the idea of getting late for class, and soon runned of.
The man chuckled as he saw them leave, taking his phone from his pocket and calling for someone, who soon picked up.
[Anything to report?] Said the voice on the other side, it was masculine and young.
"It seems that the little miss is having fun" The man said "She just talked for a few hours with Baron Ferri over a few toys"
There was a pause, then a snicker.
[Toys? Who would have imagined that the ice princess would have fun with just some toys?]
"I'm kind surprised myself" The man said "She looked like a little girl with how much she was smiling"
Another snicker.
[So what kind of toy got the little princess attencion?]
That made the man hesitate, as he really didn't know.
"I'm as curious as you" He said honestly "But I'll investigate, she and Baron Ferri seemed to having a lot of fun, maybe you'll like it"
There was a scoff, loud and sarcastic.
[Hardly] Said the person on the other side [If there's nothing more, I'll rung up, call of you learn something more and don't be late for your first day at work]
The person really rang up, but that was far the biggest problem for the man.
"I'm late!"
He completely forgot that he would start working today!
He was about to turn around the run when he saw something on the table.
It was a card.
The same one the boy showed the little princess earlier.
He hesitated for a moment, but then took the card and sprinted from the library.
He now has an excuse to ask about the toys.