“Good.” Jean spun around and calmly walked back to the vehicles.

“Wait, what? That doesn’t answer anything!” He sputtered, in confusion.

Zara handed him George, as he slid into the back beside her.

“What did you find out?” Zack whispered, leaning close to her.

“I’ll tell you later,” She whispered back, her gaze flicking to Jean. “So, why did it take so long?”

“She was healing damage from before. Apparently, there was plenty of scar tissue that had formed during their experiments. It would be a good idea to get her to look at you as well at some point.”

“Did she fix it all?” Zara was pinching Zelda’s lips and playing with the thin piece of red material that marked her tongue.

“No, there was too much for her to do in one session. She did her best though, and I can already feel the difference.” He kept his answers vague but truthful, hiding the worst aspects, as he always did.

Jean drove them back to the dorm and then left without saying anything more to either of them. They had no idea if she would be back later to take them to the institute or if they had gotten another week’s reprieve.

“Come on, let’s get inside our dorm to talk first, and then we can talk to Edith about therapy.” Zack picked up their bags and Aisha in one hand and George in the other. The hesitancy from before had already left his steps, and his legs moved with an ease he hadn’t known since he was a small child.

He had heard of people who suffered from phantom limb syndrome. It was something that affected someone when they had lost a limb. That was not what he was experiencing, though there were some similarities.

It was close to dinnertime, and people were roving around the inside of the dorm building. Everyone they came across stopped and stared at the siblings. Zara’s existence had already become an open secret in the building. However, this was the first time many of them had seen her.

If the old man, Second, did what he said, then that situation would soon change.

Zara shrunk back and blocked everyone from view, using Zelda’s fluffy body. She led the charge to their dorm and had it unlocked and was hidden inside within seconds.

Zack closed and locked the door with a sigh. They had been gone for just over the length of a day, but it felt so much longer than that. He dropped the bags by the couch and flopped down onto the cushions beside his sister, using George as a pillow.

“What did you see or hear while we were inside the portal?” He asked after they had both taken a minute to relax.

“Guess whose company is one of the biggest renters of the school’s portal?” She sat up and moved Zelda to the side, tugging George out from beneath his head. “Albright Industries apparently has had all of their contracts put on hold for the moment. It was an order that came down from the king and queen sometime this morning.”

Zack sat up with a thoughtful expression. “Did you happen to hear when their rented times were, and if anybody else had taken them over yet?”

She grinned and nodded. “I did indeed. They owned the block of time for this entire weekend, and since the contracts are only on hold and not canceled, no one else can take those slots.”

“Good, I managed to get a better look at the inside of the portal earlier and we should be able to get some mana crystals with only a few hours of effort.” He returned her grin and poked at George and Zelda’s respective heads. “It looks like we’ll be sneaking you into the portal tonight. We should get some food in us before talking to Edith.”

“No, I…” Zara trailed off. “Let’s talk to her tomorrow. I think it would be better if I went through the portal first.”

“That’s fine. I don’t mind waiting another day before talking to her. I know we need to, but frankly, we’ve been talking about or dealing with what happened back then so much already. I’ll take any break I can get at this point, even if it is only for a few hours.” He pushed off the couch with a gasp as the joints in his arms and legs cracked and popped into new positions. “I’ll see if we have anything to eat in the kitchen, otherwise we are either heading to the cafeteria or eating nutrition bars.”

“Ugh, those things taste like chalk.” She complained, but knew she would eat them. Properly nutritious food was precious, besides both of them had eaten far worse tasting… things. The word food didn’t quite fit some of them either.

“Eh, they’re not that bad.” Zack opened the door of the coldbox. “What are you going to do with her?” He pointed to Aisha, who had been left on the floor just inside the door.

“Are we sure she isn’t bugged?” Zara hopped off the couch and approached the much larger bear.

“I looked back at Tessa’s house, but I have no idea what something like that would even look like. All I can say is there was nothing obviously wrong or different with her.” He pulled out a container and sniffed the contents. “We have some leftovers from a couple of days ago. They still smell good.”

“That’ll be fine, I’m not super hungry right now anyway,” Zara said as she lugged the new bear to the couch. “Should we bring her with us, you think?”

Zack put the food on plates and then stuck them in the oven before replying. “We might as well. Her size might lead to some interesting effects.”

“I don’t care about that; I just want to be able to talk to Zelda again.”

“I’ve always been jealous of your ability and class.” He leaned against the counter while waiting for the food to get hot. The mana crystal-powered oven was extremely efficient, and it would only take a minute or two to work. “Having someone I could talk to over there when I was alone, or worse, when I was with the researchers…” Zack scuffed the toe of his boot against the floor. “It would have been nice”

She gave a laugh and switched it around on him. “I freaked out so bad the first time it happened.”

“I remember,” He echoed her laugh. “You could not stop screaming about the voice in your head.”

“And now I’m ready to have it back.” Zara hugged Zelda and moved over to the table as he pulled out a pair of steaming plates.

“Don’t worry, she’ll be back and talking your ear off over there in no time.”

They ate in contented silence, both thinking about their trip through the portal that night. Zara was thinking about what would happen once they were inside. While Zack was thinking about how to sneak past the guards and anyone else around with the least amount of trouble.

The food disappeared into their bellies as they ate quickly and separated towards their respective rooms.

Zack pulled out his pack and threw a couple of metal water bottles inside, alongside some nutrition bars. There was no telling how long they would be inside the portal, assuming, of course, that they made it inside. He would rather be prepared, or at least as prepared as was currently possible.

They were woefully under-geared in all regards, without any secondary weapons, armor, or other needed items. He could only hope that they weren’t attacked by anything too strong when they were inside. His magic should be able to handle anything weak while keeping them safe.

If there was one thing he had learned over the years, it was that the unexpected always happened when you were least prepared. That, and to expect the unexpected. It had been a hard-won lesson, and one he hoped they wouldn’t need to learn this time.

Zara came to his door a little later, with her own bag already on her back. Zelda was strapped to the bag, and George was in her arms. Aisha was sitting on the floor once more. He would have to be responsible for carrying her.

“This had better work.” He muttered, picking up the large bear. “Is the front door locked?”

She nodded. “I even made sure most of the lights were turned off as well.”

“Alright then, get in here. We’ll leave through the window.” A perk that came with the larger dorm room, or more likely a modification from a previous tenant, was the lack of bars on the window. Even the window in Zara’s room had them. The one in Zack’s room, however, was hidden from view behind a mix of shrubs and the trunk of a nearby tree.

He had wondered if Edith knew, but stopped short of mentioning it. Why would he alert her to something that might, and in this case, was useful? That would just be stupid.

It was full-dark by that point, and the sounds of students moving around outside had thinned.

Zack grabbed Aisha and lifted the window all the way up. “Let’s go and don’t forget to remain in the shadows of the dorm.”