Kalliphae was still blushing when we got to the library. I can’t believe the lifeguard thought we were doing that under the pier.

In all fairness, that’s what most kids do under there. That and graffiti.

Kalli had seen the graffiti. It too had fallen victim to her dirt-starved flames. I laughed at the thought of the lifeguard going down there and seeing the newly cleaned underbelly of the pier.

We were greeted immediately by Mrs. Hodgins followed by a detective with a rather serious look on her face. The woman exchanged a light smile with the scholar before chastising us, “You know, it’s against the rules to sneak off-campus. You’re both very lucky that Vanessa and I are good friends and she vouched for you both.”

Due to it being one of the quietest places in the library, they led us back to my office for a quick chat. The detective started with me. She began, “Hello, Melvin. My name is Detective Grant. Vanessa tells me that you are friends with Kevin. Is this correct?”

I decided to inspect the detective to be sure she was who she said she was. After my time in the clink, I wasn’t quite so trusting.

Name

Allison Grant

Class

Detective

Level

1

Affection Level

Trained Indifference

Once I was satisfied, I replied, “Yes. He’s my friend. Do you guys know what happened to him?”

She jotted some notes down as I spoke, “When did you last see him?”

She didn’t answer my question.

Kalli smirked at me. She’s interrogating you.

I decided to just get it over with, “The last time I saw him was in class a few days ago.”

“Do you happen to know anyone who would want to hurt him?”, she droned on.

When she interviewed Kalli I was surprised to hear her address the girl, “So your name is Kalli Long and you just registered in this school yesterday?”

I laughed on the inside as the detected proceeded to ask futile questions about whether or not Kalli knew Kevin.

Did she say your name was Kalli Long?

She sighed and turned to look at me. Don’t tease me about it. It felt like as good a surname as any.

Don’t you like your actual surname?

Kalliphae frowned and shook her head, causing the Detective to ask if everything was okay. She addressed the detective before giving me an answer. It isn’t my surname. It was forced on me. I’d rather nobody knew I ever had it.

Murphy isn’t my surname either. My mom says it came from my dad, but I think she made it up for some reason.

She was getting better at avoiding eye contact when we carried on with our secret conversation. What makes you think that?

Well, my mom has a last name. Kiser. She says Murphy is my last name, but the birth certificate doesn’t list a name for my father. I heard her tell someone that she doesn’t know his last name.

Kalli blinked. Does she know his first name?

I guess. She tells me I’m named after him.

She giggled in my head. Then that makes you Melvin Murphy Jr.

I just groaned. Detective Grant gave me a once over and asked, “Do you need to go to the bathroom?”

Kalliphae was sad that the interviews had taken up the rest of the school day. She had been looking forward to trying out more classes. She sighed when we were finally left alone in my office. At least I can come back and take those classes tomorrow.

I’ve got some bad news for you. In this world, there is no school on the weekends.

She drooped and gave me a scandalized look. What are weekends and how long do they last?

They last two days. Wait, don’t you have them in your world?

She frowned at me. Our weeks are 10 days long. We don’t get days off. At least not regular ones. Most people have jobs that require them to do at least some work every single day. This world has more things that work by themselves. Like your icebox.

I spent the next 10 minutes explaining how weekends worked with school schedules. She grumbled in my head. Why did the weekend have to start right when I started school. That’s not fair.”

If you stay here long enough you’ll think of that the other way around.

It took the police a few hours to get through all of the students. We were permitted to leave, but Mrs. Hodgins needed to stay behind to attend an emergency faculty meeting.

This left Kalli free to leave with me. We left the library while discussing what to do with our afternoon. Kalliphae suggested. We could practice magic at a park somewhere.

I also had an idea.

What do you think about checking out that guild that the administrator guy told me about? If we register with them we can get a real magical quest.

She rubbed her chin and thought about it while we walked. I’m not sure if it’s a good idea for me to register in this world. Someone might figure out that I’m not from here.

I never thought of that. Okay, practicing magic does sound fun.

I had gotten into the habit of people watching on the map while I walked. The little blue and green dots all lined up with the students and teachers wandering around the campus. Kalli’s shining gold dot was right next to me. There was still a red dot on the map, though it was currently on the other side of campus near where we had taken off on the Phoenix on our way to the beach.

Kalli, what do the dots mean on the map?

She passed me a sidelong glance. Those are people. Students. Teachers. Even animals show up on the map.

But what do the different colors mean?

Kalliphae blinked three times in a gesture that I knew meant she was pulling up her map. She looked around for a few seconds and her eyes went wide. Fear clouded her thoughts when she replied. Mel, we have a problem. There's someone here on campus that’s very high level. To be a red dot they would have to be at least 10 levels higher than me.

I figured it was something like that. I calmly asked her a question.

What do the other dots mean? The yellow, blue, and green?

She gave me an incredulous look but ended up taking a deep breath in resignation as she explained. Blue dots are people that are lower level than you are. Green dots are nonhuman. It could be a mouse or a bee or even a fish. Anything alive can show up on the map. They will also turn yellow or red when they are higher level than you. Yellow is any higher level while red is reserved for 10 or more levels higher than your current level.

The system kind of made sense, but it was very confusing with all of the green dots mixed in. I was worried there were so many green dots that fleas and mosquitoes were mixed in too. Once I turned off the green dots, the map became much easier to read.

I want to see who this red dot is. I think it may have something to do with Kevin.

Kalliphae looked at me like I had a death wish. Are you sure that’s such a wise idea, Mel?

I shrugged and made my case.

Outside of that red dot, the two of us and Mrs. Hodgins are the only awakened people in school. If I thought that was the case before, I am positive now. I’d bet you a gold that they are here because of us. We need to figure out what we're up against or I don’t think we can come back to school for a while.

Kalli was silent for a long time. Then she gave me a weak smile and announced. We should have the advantage. To him, we’re all blue dots. He doesn’t know who he’s looking for or he would be headed over here. We can take a peek. Nothing more. You got that, Melvin?

She only used my full name when she was dead serious. I nodded silently and we headed off to stalk our quarry.

One good thing about being a kid is that I could blend in easily in a school full of them. To an outsider, I was as inconspicuous as they came. Even with my loud Melvin Murphy T-shirt, I was no more flashy than the next kid.

We gave the red dot considerable distance as we tracked it in a circuit around campus. The way it was moving, it was fairly obvious that it was looking for something. That something was most likely us. We always made sure to stalk the dot in its wake. We were so careful and the red dot kept stopping so much that it took over an hour to get close enough to see him.

The red suit and top had was a dead giveaway that the man before me wasn’t normal. He stopped as soon as we rounded the corner, but didn’t turn around. Figuring we might be busted, I turned on Kalli and pushed her against a locker, acting like I was about to kiss her.

Pain flared in my abdomen as she punched me and sent a jolt to my mind. What exactly do you think you are doing?

I think he can sense were following him.

A flare of panic rose in her. Who can? I don’t see him.

You don’t see the man in the bright red suit over there?

She scowled at me. No. All I see are kids.

I groaned and shared the True Sight buff with the pyromancer again. She looked over my shoulder and shrieked. Melvin. He’s looking right at me. He’s starting to come this way. I want to get out of here.

She was already bringing out the phoenix, but I confirmed.

Do it.

I took a hard look at the man as I tugged on Kalli’s arm, forcing her to run with me as she summoned our ride.

Name

Nestor Bellview

Class

Blood Sleuth

Level

50

Affection Level

Professionally Interested

I gulped hard as I ran. Kalli finally got the phoenix untangled from her torso and it leapt to life in a flash of feathers. She pulled me up just in time for us to take to the sky before the man in red could reach us.

Kalliphae wiped her brow and thought, Whew. That was close.

You have no idea. That guy was level 50.

Meanwhile directly below the fleeing duo

Nestor couldn’t believe his luck. Not just one but two kids could see him. They were children. He had to be slipping if kids managed to spot him when he engaged stealth mode. He was fairly certain that these two were the only magic users in the high school. He had spent several days scouring the campus for any sign of the awakened.

He took out his communicator and waited for his agent to answer. When they did he gave his report, “I have made first contact with the girl who flies the phoenix. She is a level 8 undocumented pyromancer named Kalliphae Hellquist. I have also observed a level 3 undocumented summoner named Melvin Murphy, but he seems to be inconsequential.”

“Is there anything else that you would like to report?”, a proper-sounding voice asked over the connection.

While Nestor was committed to providing as much service as possible, he was not about to admit to his employer that a mage existed that could see through his stealth. That would be bad for business. He replied, “There is nothing more to report at this time. I am afraid that the manipulator is unlikely to be present at the school.”

“Very well”, came the reply, “We would still like to speak to the pyromancer. The Hellquist name has some clout after all. Please make arrangements for her to be presented to the master.”

Nestor sighed inwardly. He didn’t like this part of the job. At least not with children. However, he didn’t have a choice. He didn’t have to like it though and he showed it when he replied, “Understood. It will be arranged.”

“Excellent”, the voice hissed with satisfaction, “Contact us when you have her.”