Running Into a Familiar Face

Arthur's keen sight provided him with a beautiful yet frightening view of the sunset. It was getting late!

"Darius, do you know where the parking lot is?" he turned to his friend.

"Yes… but I can't take you there," Darius replied.

"What! Why?"

"Have you seen those stairs? It would be suicide at this point. My legs feel like jelly," the Warlock winced.

"You're not rested yet. But it was a long time ago… Never mind. Can you teleport me there?" Arthur asked.

"What do you think I am? Some magic lamp that grants wishes! I can't perform that kind of magic yet," Darius's eyes widened in horror at the prince's requests.

"What magic can you perform, Darius? There must be so much you already know about being a Warlock. Do you have a wand? Can I see it?" one of the boys rushed to him.

Among the males admitted to Squad Six was a boy with short spiky orange hair. His eyes kept a starry appearance every time he got excited about something… and magic was his passion.

Darius shuffled away from the overzealous boy, "Do you mind, Cornelius? I can perform a little bit of magic… Ugh, never mind. Arthur, can't you just fly there?"

"This is not funny, Dar," the prince fumed.

The warlock chuckled.

"If I remember correctly, there is underground parking at the bottom of each spiral. Commuters from each of the Squads park their vehicles there," Darius quickly explained.

"Arthur, do you have a car… or at least, an R-Cycle?" Leo asked curiously.

"Something like that. Thanks, Dar," Arthur rushed for the door.

"Arthur, your bag!"

The prince froze, spun on his heel, picked up the satchel and was out before anyone could say anything else.

… "But I thought he met Lucy on the RuneTrain," Leo mumbled to himself.

Something didn't add up.

.........…

Arthur rushed out of the boy's quarters and into the common room, bidding everyone farewell before exiting the Squad Six dormitories.

Once outside, the prince started his long journey down the stairs, his heart beating several miles per hour.

'If Gray leaves without me, I'll be screwed. Father won't like this… Hell, Conrad will even have my head for missing his mandatory training,' the prince lamented while he blurred down the winding stairs of the colossal spire.

On his way, a flicker of memory flashed through his mind.

A section of the spire allowed them access to the central one, which would then get him a straight shot to Squad Three's tower.

The only problem was, when he tried visualising the whole path, his mind's compass simply collapsed under the multitude of halls and possible misdirections.

Abandoning this arduous mental task, the prince let out the staircase and rushed inward. When he got lost, he sought directions…

Slowly, he made his way through and finally made it to the central spire.

Traversing the castle on his own now made Arthur feel small… and envious of his lieutenant.

Baxter had made the entire layout of the castle look so simple, taking them through it like it was second nature.

Now that he had to do it alone, the prince could feel the reality of the castle's colossal size and its even more complex architecture weighing down on him.

He was both impressed and frightened. If nothing changed, he was really going to be late. Arthur figured he was lost once again, panting as he ran and decided he would ask for directions from the next person he met.

The prince rounded a corner.

*WHAM*

A short scream reached his ears as he collided with someone he hadn't noticed.

The pair rolled unceremoniously across the ground, separating almost immediately.

'Ouch!'

A few feet from the girl that Arthur had collided with was a plump red woollen cap.

Arthur picked up the soft cloth and noticed that the girl's hair had tumbled out of a neatly-tied bun. It was silver… and unmistakable.

Her eyes were covered behind dark stylish shades and her face held more makeup than he'd noticed earlier, completely transforming her appearance.

Without her silver hair, it would be nearly impossible to recognise her.

"What kind of barbaric no-good unmannered indisciplined…"

"Lucy?!" Arthur's surprised tone stopped a string of insults that was only going to get longer.

"Ugh! It's you," the silver-haired girl groaned, dusting off her aqua robes.

The prince stood and offered her his hand with a smile, "I'm sorry I bumped into you. Are you alright? I was in a bit of a hurry," Arthur panicked.

"I'm fine."

"That's great to hear," to make sure, the prince looked her up and down. Surprisingly there were no bruises or creases in her robes whatsoever.

Now he eyed the ground with a tinge of suspicion. Shaking the forming thought simply for its absurdity, he asked, "What's with the outfit? You hiding from someone?"

"Never mind. Give me that," the girl swiped the beanie from his hand, quickly tied up her hair and replaced the red cap that concealed every wisp of silver hair on her head.

"You might want to slow down though. You might bump into a professor next time," the girl continued, accepting his hand and rising to her feet.

Luckily for the two of them, the hall was empty. Lucy looked around, making sure no one had observed that spectacle before sighing.

"I'll be more careful. I'm sorry… again. Do you have any idea where the Squad Four tower is? I… got myself lost," Arthur chuckled nervously.

"No different from how I met you, huh! Clueless about everything and anyone…" the girl sighed, pointing him in the right direction.

She gave him a string of instructions to follow to get himself there without any need for further help.

"Thank you very much! Congrats on joining Squad Two, by the way," Arthur waved as he left.

The girl nodded.

Before Arthur could rush off, he remembered something and came hoping back, "Oh yeah, I met your sister, Momo."

Lucy's eyes sparkled with a hint of emotion that was foreign to her face. An emotion that Arthur couldn't quite distinguish.

It lasted a second before she wiped it off and looked to the side, "Yeah, what about her?"

"She's really great at archery. I saw her during the Hunter Sorting Test but she says you're far better. I couldn't even imagine what that was supposed to mean… but then again, I'm no archer and I've heard recommendations have high standards to be granted.

Naturally, even I'm curious. I can't wait to see for myself what the 'legendary Lucy Hawks' can do," the prince raised quotes with his fingers as he obnoxiously phrased the title.

Lucy giggled.

"I have to go. We'll talk again soon. And thanks again for your help on the R-Train…" Arthur raised his voice as he took steps away from the archer.

"Wait… Is she alright? My sister?"

The question caught Arthur off-guard, "From what I can tell, she's doing great."

"Is she… happy?"

"Yeah, she is. Is something wrong?"

"No no… I just wanted to know how she was doing. See you later, Arthur," the girl replied.

"Later, Lucy!" the boy responded, continuing his panicked dash away from her.

Lucy turned her head in the direction she'd been going initially, then sighed and looked to the ground. Thoughts ran through her mind before she took off the beanie on her head and let her silver hair fall.

'I guess I don't need to go there after all,' she thought to herself before turning around and returning to the Squad Two tower.

Arthur finally made it to the parking and started rushing in search of a familiar black Cadillac that had dropped him off in Alcove.

Different vehicles littered the underground parking, making it impossible to track down the vehicle by feeling for mana emitted by the RuneTech vehicles.

'Where is it? Where is it? Damn it, you better be here,' Arthur screamed into his mind but he couldn't seem to find it.

Before the prince could give up, he remembered something… simple. He had a phone.

Placing his hands in his pocket, he gasped as there was nothing. He didn't have his phone…

'What!' he quickly took the bag from his back and frantically ruffled through it in search of the device. 'If I don't find Gray, then…' Arthur blocked the thoughts forming in his head.

Arthur's feelings of dread ceased, turning to relief when his hand touched something.

The phone was indeed inside his bag, 'This school's magic is scary.'

He pulled out the device and started to check for Gray's contact.

However, he'd only gotten to the fourth letter when the device went black… and flashed a symbol of a dead mana crystal…

"Nooo," he whisper-yelled at the device.

Arthur stood staring at the device wondering what more he could do. 'Guaranteed Long Life Mana Crystal my foot… I barely use this thing.'

Back at the Phoenix Castle, they used HeatWaves to communicate. There was no need for a phone. His head now filled up with insults to send back to the manufacturers for writing fake promises on the device's packaging.

'Don't use HeatWaves at Barthlorn,' Gray's warning rang through Arthur's head. He wasn't allowed to use this ability when he was here.

The HeatWaves were exactly what they were. A wave of heat was sent in all directions by a phoenix, carrying a message that could be deciphered by the person it was meant for.

Unfortunately, those HeatWaves could be detected by trained creatures of the Fire Element.

In other words, Dragons…

Arthur looked up at the concrete ceiling…

There were dragons roaming the halls of Barthlorn who could detect his HeatWaves if he used them.

'Getting caught by the dragons… or getting stranded in the woods trying to find my way home… This is horrible…'

"Hey… What are you doing there?" a female voice interrupted the prince's meticulous thoughts, "Don't tell me you're planning on using your abilities?"

The prince silently groaned, 'Or option 3, deal with an obnoxious phoenix. I should volunteer and consider jumping into an active volcano.'