"Dorin! You're back!" Margarette called as soon as she saw her two friends, Dorin and Sebastian, enter the canteen.
The two mages have just arrived from the dorms after Dorin had hurriedly put on some regular clothes.
"Margarette!" Dorin called back excitedly, "I've come back for good this time!" he said. "My mother actually allowed me to study here!"
"Is this true?!" she asked with eyes wide open.
[Yes.] Sebastian wrote on a slate that have certainly seen better days. [Professor Althea will officially enroll him tomorrow] he added, hitching up the spare pair of glasses he found in his closet.
"Great news!" Margarette exclaimed. "And it's good to see you've got your slate back," she told Sebastian coldly while eyeing him, "I thought you said you preferred to use 'good `ole paper and pen to communicate with your minions'?"
[Oh.]
A pause from Sebastian.
[That was just a joke.]
Another pause.
[What other 'jokes' did I say in the past three days?]
Before Margarette could answer, a group of female mages approached them.
"Sebastian!" They all waved at him, "We had a great time last night! When are we going out to party again?"
Sebastian Stared at them.
"You went out last night to party?" Margarette asked in a flat tone.
"Oh, Sebby here was such a great dancer!" said a girl with pink curly hair, "You should have seen him – everyone in the bar was cheering him on!"
"Is that so, 'Sebby'?" Margarette asked again, an eyebrow twitching as she crossed her arms on her chest.
"By the way, Sebby, what's with the lame hairdo?"
Another girl, this one with lilac hair, came closer to Sebastian and mussed his hair and took off his glasses. Sebastian stepped back, his wide eyes looking alarmed.
"You look so much better with your hair tussled!"
"Are you going to buy us lunch today as well?" asked the pink haired girl.
Suddenly, Sebastian began to stagger and almost lost his balance.
"Sebby, are you okay?" The purple girl asked.
Instead of answering, Sebastian took a wallet out from his innermost coat pocket and opened a secret compartment in the middle.
It was empty.
Sebastian swooned and fell limp on the floor.
"Sebastian!" Dorin called from behind his friend. "What happened?" The group of girls crowded around the fallen mage as well.
"Okay people, move back!" Margarette called in a loud voice. "Give him some air."
"But Sebby's unconscious! We need to take him to the infirmary!"
"We'll be taking him then," said Dorin, lifting the taller Sebastian up like a small child.
"You lot, get along, there's nothing to see here!" said Margarette as she guided the group away.
"Well, who are you anyway?" asked pink hair, looking pissed as she tried to hold on to Sebastian.
Sebastian's slate suddenly stuck out, [She's my girlfriend.] it read.
Dorin looked surprised.
When the girls finally left, the three sat on one of the tables at the back and gave a deep breath. Sebastian looked paler than his usual pale countenance.
"So, you're using 'that' again, huh?" Margarette mumbled. "You could have at least told me what's going on."
[It's gone.] the slate said, [It's all gone.]
"What's gone?" Asked Margarette and Dorin in unison.
Sebastian showed them his wallet. It was stuffed with pieces of paper and various discount cards and coupons. In the middle, he opened a hidden slit and showed it to his two companions.
It was currently empty.
[My savings!] he wrote. [All of it, gone!]
"Well, what do you expect?!" Margarette threw her hands up in the air, her voice rising. "You've been buying those girls lunch since you came back three days ago!"
Sebastian touched his forehead dramatically and dropped on the table with a loud 'thud'.
"Hey, are you okay?" Dorin nudged his friend.
[That was for my school fees...] he wrote. [I have been saving that for half a year!]
"Then you shouldn't have spent it on those silly girls in the first place." Margarette crossed her arms against her chest. "Serves you right," she added, "and here, you haven't even bought me a single thing before! Not even dessert!"
"Well, it wasn't really your... your boyfriend's fault, you know..." Dorin started.
"He's not my boyfriend," Margarette snapped. "He just uses that excuse whenever girls try to get close to him."
Dorin looked at Sebastian who still got his head on the table. Words started to appear in his slate.
[Girls are scary.]
"He doesn't like girls because they cost too much," explained Margarette.
[Exactly.]
"And I know you know about his situation..." Margarette added.
[I needed that money for my school fees!]
"Well, it really is not his fault," Dorin tried to explain, "We just got back this morning, you see..."
"What? You mean, you just got back from home, right?" Margarette clarified.
"No, actually," Dorin leaned closer to Margarette, "we both just got back from the Dark forest," he whispered.
Margarette stared at him.
[Damn that changeling! Curse him! May all the fur in his blasted body fall off and his skin be covered in scabs from here on forth to the day he dies!] She looked at the words on Sebastian's slate and frowned.
"Okay, I think I deserve a real good explanation for this," she said with a resigned sigh. "So tell me, what exactly, happened?"