Chapter 15

Shadow let out a long breath of pleasure. He, Jay and Emperion were soaking in one of the boys' public hot springs. Shadow laid his arms on the rim of the hot spring and stared at the ceiling, thinking about the man in the lab coat.

"What's the matter, Shadow? Unable to withstand my sheer awesomeness?" Emperion smirked, flexing his muscles in front of the other two.

"That man... looked familiar." Shadow whispered half to himself. He narrowed his eyes in thought. "He had this pressure that made me want to stay far away from him." 

"He seemed fine to me." Emperion exclaimed. 

"Ugh... I wanted to get away from him as fast as I could. He's so suspicious. How'd he know my name? And my full name at that. It's too much to think about." Shadow lowered himself deep into the water until his mouth was submerged. There was an edgy silence that followed. Emperion slipped out of the hot spring and started to walk away.

"Emperion? Where are you going?" Jay wondered half heartedly. He stopped a few feet away from the hot spring before he started yelling out of nowhere. It startled both Jay and Shadow. Instinctively, they both took a defensive stance. Suddenly, Emperion started running towards the hot spring and jumped.

"Cannon ball!" He yelled as he prepared to dive into the water. Thinking fast, Shadow raised his arms and activated a Cage Spell around Emperion. Magic circles appeared in front of his hands and Emperion was encased in a transparent box. Once the cage appeared, Emperion slipped when he tried to land and fell on his back. He sat up and looked down at Shadow, holding the back of the head. 

"Hey what was that for?" he roared.

"You were going to drain the hot spring!" Shadow yelled back.

"Let me out!" he banged on the floor of the cage.

"Do you promise not to empty the hot spring?"

"Ugh, fine." Emperion sighed with frustration and crossed his arms. Shadow canceled the spell and dropped Emperion into the hot spring. The splash it made was bigger than the splash Emperion was going to make from his cannon ball. At most, half of the water that was in the hot spring before still remained. Emperion glared at Shadow. 

"You... were just saying... to not empty the hot spring." he fumed. Shadow stared back with an indifferent look and crossed arms.

"If you didn't have muscles for brains, it wouldn't have been a problem." he said with a straight face.

"You dare insult me!?" he raged.

"Don't worry, you have yet to take the record of the person I've insulted the most." Shadow assured with a smile. "I insulted him every chance I could, everyday I could. He's lucky I ran away before the half year mark hit. Doubt he would've been able to handle it if a month was already too much for him."

"So far I've been insulted ten times in one day. If I'm insulted ten times a day for half a year, that's about a hundred eighty-two days multiplied by ten..." Emperion paused. "Just how many times did you insult this guy and how are you still alive!?" he yelled in disbelief.

"You can actually do math? I thought you were as stupid as your muscles are." Shadow leaned against the rim of the hot spring again. Emperion was visibly upset but he kept himself from leaping at Shadow. Shadow looked at his nails as he continued. "I insulted him at least a few thousand times throughout the course of a month. I also threw apples and murderous looks at him. The torture didn't help either. He could actually pack a punch. I'm letting you off easy with only a few insults an hour. But man, I drove that guy up the wall." Shadow giggled.

"How?" Emperion gapped.

"How what?"

"How did he refrain from killing you? How could you do that knowing he was going to torture you? How could you do it while he was torturing you? How can you be so carefree?" Emperion burst.

"Ok, I might've exaggerated a tiny bit but it was still the best time of my life." Shadow admitted.

"You were being tortured! How was it the best time of your life?" Emperion roared.

"Because the expression on Vytal's face was priceless! He was so upset that I'd find a smart way to counter every word he said!" Emperion stopped.

"Did you say Vytal?"

"Yeah, why? Do you know him?" A dark look crossed over Emperion's face.

"Yeah, he's the one who my parents sold me too. After that, he kept switching locations so when I escaped and got stronger I couldn't find him for revenge." Shadow could feel Emperion's hatred. Just then, Jay came rushing into the hot spring, fully clothed, waving to them.

"Guys! Guys! Guess what!" he started yelling.

"Jay? When'd you get dressed?" Emperion asked.

"He left when I dropped you into the hot spring saying 'I can't deal with this level of crazy'. Didn't you see him leave?" Shadow tilted his head.

"Anyways, guess what." Jay interrupted. "One of the construction workers just told me that my house has been finished! Come check it out with me, ok?" 

"Of course, let me dry off real quick first." Shadow jumped out of the hot spring immediately. He then set himself on fire and pulled a pair of clothes out of his void storage and put them on. 

"All right let's go." Shadow smiled and gave Jay a thumbs up.

"DUDE, YOU JUST SET YOURSELF ON FIRE!" Emperion screamed, shooting up in the hot spring. Shadow and Jay looked down at Emperion with an indifferent look.

"And?"

"'And?' Don't 'and' me, what were you thinking? Jay, you better have a shower this guy can borrow." Emperion muttered as he wadded from the center of the pool over to the other two. They started arguing as Emperion got dressed and they headed out for Jay's house.

"But I'm fine."

"You're charred to the bone!"

"No I'm not."

"You just healed yourself. You can't play any tricks on me."

"I don't know any Healing Magic." Shadow lied.

"What? Since when couldn't you use Healing Magic?" Jay questioned, confused.

"Who said that? I can use Healing Magic."

"But you just said that you couldn't!" Emperion yelled.

"Are you deaf? I never said such a thing. You should get your ears checked."

"WHAT!"

"I'll race you to Jay's house!"

"You don't even know where it is!" Shadow took off into the sky, Jay and Emperion right behind him. He flew higher and higher until the houses beneath him looked like toy blocks. Jay and Emperion finally caught up with him to find him staring down at the peaceful city beneath them. To Shadow and Jay, it was nostalgic, but it was Emperion's first time. They stayed and stared for a while.

"So, where's your house, Jay?" Shadow turned with excitement.

"Now you ask?" Emperion muttered to himself.

"Right there." Jay pointed to a far part of the city in Section Four that was mostly covered with half-built buildings.

"Hey, don't ignore me."

"We don't need to answer every thought you say out loud." Shadow grumbled. "On the count of three, we'll all race to Jay's house. Ready?"

"You are so on." Emperion braced himself.

"Does it have to be a race?" Jay complained.

"Ready... set... GO!" On the word 'go', all three demons, including Jay, dived straight for his new house, tucking their wings away for full diving effect. The wind was screeching past their ears as they sped faster and faster. Shadow was the first to unfold his wing and fly across the ground. They sped above humans and demons alike. Finally, Shadow landed in front of a red house. It looked really simple, like not much creativity was put into it. 

"Looks like I won." Shadow smiled.

"Tch, I'll get you next time." Emperion grumbled, landing next to him.

"What are you guys doing? My house is over here." Jay called, pointing in front of him. They both looked to their left to see Jay standing in front of a light green house. The steps up to the door were lined with potted plants of all sorts. The door was white and had a pretty rose-shaped glass window in the top of the door. Shadow and Emperion looked at Jay, then at each other, then back at Jay and sighed. Jay smiled and started laughing. "It helps to know which house is the one you're racing to!" He opened the door to let them inside and gave them a short tour. He had a simple and cozy house. It had an entryway, kitchen and dining room, living room, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a storage room and a garden in the backyard.

"It sure is one cozy house." Shadow observed. "Just the sort of thing I'd expect from you, Jay."

"It's so small and cramped. How can anyone live here?" Emperion complained. "I made sure to have my house made as big as possible!"

"If you don't like my house you can go sleep on the streets while your 'mansion' is being made." Jay pointed towards the door, upset.

"You tell him, Jay!" Shadow cheered on. Emperion opened his mouth to object when he realized he couldn't argue with the owner of the house, so he just closed his mouth without saying anything and walked to the second floor, which had the bedrooms. Shadow and Jay high-fived the moment Emperion disappeared upstairs. They chatted and explored the city and the day passed very quickly. Since Shadow's and Emperion's houses had yet to be finished, they stayed in Jay's house for the night.