In the end, they had thought up nothing. Obeying their mother's wish, they had also decided not to call Ninra and inform her of recent developments. According to their mother, Ninra had a life, a complex yet far simpler one from theirs. There was no need to intrude upon it or ruin it.

Melmarc couldn't help but agree. Ark had his arguments. Having spent so long with him, Melmarc could see it on his face. Ultimately, he made no arguments and agreed.

Thus, they had reached no verdict. Since they still had the rest of their lives to think up more requests, they were in no rush.

Melmarc was more than satisfied with the results. His parents were relatively safe, and the same could be said about Ninra.

It puzzled him very slightly to know that he and Ark's safety had not even been thought up. He liked to think it was because their parents faced dangers that were entirely out of his reach with no control over and any real danger Ninra faced as a non-Gifted would be considered out of her reach too.

It was easier to worry about those who found themselves in situations that you couldn't help than it was to worry about yourself when you were in charge of the situations that you found yourself in. He never worried about himself in a spar back when he used to take self-defense classes, but he often found himself worrying about how Ninra would handle herself in a fight.

Many issues with the negotiation came to mind a few times. Mistakes he had made. Why hadn't he lopped Ninra and his parents in as a single request? Why hadn't he tossed Ark in for good measure? Why hadn't he just asked their uncle to protect the world? But it was the way with such things.

It was like having a heated argument just to lay awake at night a day or two later, thinking of the things you could've or should've said. If he had been given an infinite amount of time, perhaps he could've done things a little better. Spectators often saw better moves than the chess players during their matches, after all.

Some of his questions did have answers, though. Even if not completely reasonable ones. Why had he treated Ninra and his parents separately? Because their uncle had a habit of treating them separately. Their parents were the Oaths. He and Ark were the Gifted. Ninra was the human, sometimes the perfect one to be scared of.

Melmarc didn't let it bother him, though. What was done was done. He could not renege on his decision. Even if he could, a part of him felt like it would be in poor taste to go back on his words even after their uncle had been so kind as to explain things to him.

With those thoughts, days went by. Nothing out of the ordinary happened at home. His practice with Ark under their mother's supervision continued. Each day Uncle Dorthna would teleport them to the same open space and their mother would give them instructions on what to do.

Ark won most of their mock battles. By most, it was actually all but one. Melmarc claimed the single victory on a technicality. Ark seemed more than happy to let him have it. If anything, Ark seemed to take their mock battles as some level of fun. All in true Ark fashion.

As for the texts that had been blowing up his phone during the negotiation, most of them had indeed come from Pelumi. She seemed like the type of girl to worry. It didn't come across as clingy to him—Ark certainly found it cute and tease-worthy.

These days they talked every now and again. Nothing serious. Once in a while, she'd message him and talk about something she saw on tv or something her cousin did. The conversations were rarely ever long.

Patience, Dragon-knight's daughter, had also messaged. It had been something about hanging out. He'd declined. Her definition of hanging out was taking a plane to go over to Tatelat and spending some time at a family house until she had to go to school.

Unlike Pelumi, she'd only messaged him twice. Thrice at the most.

Ark and Melmarc didn't see much of their father as the days went by. It was not anything new. He spent most of his time in his room. Often, he would come down for the most random things. Once it was to move the position of the dining table by a little over an inch. Melmarc knew because after their father had moved it and they were sure that he was in his room, Ark had measured the distance.

With their father, you never knew what to expect. To them, it was simply one of his many quirks. They enjoyed it like any other family enjoyed their quirks. Ninra would've been more ballsy, though. Her version of fun with their father's quirks would've been to reposition the table immediately after while looking their father in the eye.

They'd all done similar things as children, only Ninra hadn't grown out of it. If he took a single piece of pasta out of his food and placed it in a plate, Ninra was likely to look him dead in the eye as she put it back like a scolding mother daring him to take it back out.

Oddly enough, he never defied her. Not directly, at least.

Perhaps whatever their father saw in her that kept him from defying her was similar to what their uncle saw in her that scared him, even if playfully. Melmarc liked to think it was playful.

It had taken him time to reach out to the people he should've reached out to from the very beginning. It was wrong of him and he knew it. But, in his flimsy defense, while they had always gotten along, he had always been something of a third wheel. The person who had joined the group, not a part of the group.

Excuses.

At least that was what Ark had called it. Unless they treated him that way, Melmarc's insecurities were not his fault.

"I've seen you three go through mischief like triplets," he'd said. "Uneven heighted triplets, but triplets regardless."

It was a night to their departure. Melmarc and Ark were arranging their things, tidying up their rooms while they were at it, when he called Delano.

"Why did you say no to the car?" Ark was grumbling as he stuffed clothes in his bag and the line rang in Melmarc's ear.

"We don't need a car, Ark," he answered with a sigh. "You just want a car so that you can show off. Fallen High has a good transport system."

Melmarc had had dreams of being a student of Fallen High, actual dreams. There were nights when he would fall asleep and dream of a place on the platform of one of the interschool tournaments. In them he was often some kind of unstoppable juggernaut, pushing his way through barrages of spells from the other schools. Sometimes he was a [Mage] responsible for the barrages of spells.

It had always been nothing but a dream.

When he'd become Gifted, it had become more of an ambition than a dream. With the [Faker] class, it had become something of an impossible goal. Like a student who always finished middle of the class trying to attain the highest grade.

He'd always expected to be ecstatic about it. Seeing the admission letter had certainly tickled him in some of the right places, but not all of them.

Going to Fallen High was not the rush he had been expecting it to be.

You've fought a demi-god and killed him. You're sort of kind of the owner of the world. People of your parents' level strong enough to rule the world are supposed to answer to you. Oh, and let's not forget, your brother is a freaking [Demon King].

Melmarc sighed as Delano didn't pick up and the line disconnected. Of course going to Fallen High wasn't as exciting. He dialed the number again and folded a shirt as it rang.

"Mom said I can take Spitfire," Ark said suddenly.

Melmarc paused, a shirt half-folded in his arms. "Is that a good idea?"

"She says no one but those at the top will know it's a demon," Ark explained with a shrug. "And even then, only a handful of people. Uncle D also said it would be a good idea to deepen my bond with it. So, mom said I can take it."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Fallen High had nothing against familiars. In the handbook they'd sent later on, after the admission email, they highlighted the rules surrounding bringing familiars to school. One of them involved punishments regarding them. The only real rules surrounding them was in the event that they harmed a fellow student outside educational settings 'including and not limited to mock battles.' Their wordings, not his.

Spitfire was on the ground chewing on a shirt Melmarc was not going to be taking to school.

"We should get an apartment," Melmarc said as he waited for Delano to pick. "The privacy would be amazing for us and Spitfire."

Ark snorted. "If I don't get a car, then we're not getting a private apartment. We're doing student housing."

Melmarc groaned. He didn't like the idea of student housing. Fallen High's idea of student housing was a block of flats. Tall buildings divided into apartments. Some had two apartments per floor, some had three, and some had four.

Such settings inspired visitors. Melmarc didn't hate visitors. What he didn't like was visitors visiting whenever.

"MARRRRCCCCCOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Melmarc leaned away from his phone as Delano screamed into his ear. Ark must've heard it from where he was because he chuckled lightly while shaking his head.

"How was your mentorship program?" Delano asked. his voice was full of life. "Did you meet girls?"

Melmarc rolled his eyes, tucking his folded up shirt in his traveling bag. "I did not meet girls. I went to work."

"You didn't get paid, so it doesn't count as work," Delano said, quick with his wit. "So, what did you miss?"

"Much, I take it." Melmarc moved over to the wardrobe and looked through a selection of shirts. "What did I miss?"

"I got a girlfriend."

Melmarc froze in his steps. "You're kiddi—"

Dissonant.

He let out a sigh just as Delano answered.

"Yes," his friend said. "But wouldn't that be awesome? A girl willing to go out with me and call me her boyfriend." He laughed maniacally. "She'd have to be cocked in the brain."

"Not really," Melmarc replied. "But she would have to have a few screws loose, but not much more than most girls."

"You're the nice one, aren't you?" Delano muttered. "One moment, let me add Eroms to the call."

"Are people still giving him…" … food, Melmarc finished as the call seemed to go silent.

He looked down at the phone, slightly confused. Calls didn't go silent when you add other people to the calls. That was a feature on the simpler phones with no form of magitech.

He palmed his forehead. Delano was a conspiracy theorist. Of course he uses a phone with no form of magitech.

"Back," Delano said.

"Marc," Eroms voice followed behind him. "Where have you been?"

"Brooklyn, then back," Melmarc answered, noting how there was no dissonance. He really needed to get his head wrapped around how the quirk really worked. There were times when Ark cracked jokes, and he heard no dissonance.

"Eroms has a girlfriend," Delano added. "Very small girl, too. Confusing how it works. He'll have to squat just to kiss her."

Melmarc paused at the absence of dissonance.

"Not my girlfriend," Eroms muttered. "She follows me around."

"She's got a thing for Gifted, and she likes giving him food."

"Is that the effect of your power?" Melmarc asked.

"No," Eroms answered. "She likes cooking and knows that I like eating. She visits the house every time to bring food."

Melmarc pursed his lips at that. She didn't sound like a bad person. And he wasn't sensing any dissonance from Delano or Eroms even though they were saying contradicting things. He decided to try something.

"Wait," he said. "You said she's his girlfriend, D, and Eroms says she's not. Who's right?"

"Me," Delano and Eroms said at the same time.

"Oh, please," Delano sighed. "She called you her boyfriend the other day when I came to your house and you didn't correct her."

Silence. Delano's accusation was met with silence.

He barked out in laughter. "See? Eroms has a girlfriend, which is…" his voice trailed off. Laughter and entertainment turned into confusion and something solemn. "Which is kind of sad, if you really think about it," he finished. "I mean, I had my money on you getting a girlfriend first. You're the handsome one and have better social skills than the two of us."

What did he mean by better social skills?

"I don't talk to people," Melmarc pointed out. "If anything, you talk to people."

"I spout conspiracy theories and all-around weird things, Mel. And Eroms is a big giant that walks behind me and holds my sleeves when people get too close."

"One time," Eroms muttered. "I did it one time."

Dissonant.

Melmarc couldn't help but smile.

"The point I'm trying to make," Delano continued. "Is that you don't talk to people in that mysterious way. The one that says you don't talk to people because you don't talk to people, not because there's something wrong with you. And girls liked you back in school. I just always thought you'd get a girlfriend first."

There was a moment of silence. Things had gotten a little too heavy… too deep.

"I should probably up my game," Delano continued, suddenly. "I'll see if there's anyone in the group that can give me tips."

Melmarc was already shaking his head. "I can't believe I have to tell you this, but don't ask for dating advice from strangers in the dark web."

"They are people, too."

"Until someone advises you to kidnap the girl you like," Eroms muttered.

"They aren't that bad."

"I'll tell your mom if you ask them for advice," Eroms said immediately.

Dissonant.

"You wouldn't dare," Delano challenged in a low voice.

He won't. But Melmarc wasn't going to tell them that as the two of them found themselves in a back and forth of getting advice from the dark web and not.

At some point, the exchange died down and Melmarc was added back once more.

"So what school did you get admitted into?" Delano asked. "Eroms got into the Black Bears."

Melmarc's eyes widened in surprise. He couldn't help it.

"I thought he'd want something simple," he said.

"I do," Eroms said.

"Then why one of the top five?"

"Your uncle said I needed competition to grow and get stronger."

"Oh." Melmarc wasn't very sure of what to say to that. He was now remembering that during his mentorship program, Uncle Dorthna had actually been teaching Eroms. "I think he's right."

"Me, too," Delano chipped in. "So, make beautiful female friends and stand tall as the Alpha dog. That way, when I come on visiting days, I'll get to meet new people and no one will mess with the Alpha dog's boss."

Melmarc shook his head as he began arranging the rest of the room while Ark checked on something on his phone.

There was a part of him that desperately wanted to ask why they were so fine with him disappearing for so long and not making contact. But things like that happened often. He'd just always thought that he wasn't an important enough friend for them to visit all the time until the day Uncle Dorthna had been spelling the new couches and enchanting them.

Apparently, the house was covered in different layers of magic. One of them hid the compound from the world a little too literally. According to him, it left the Lockwood household a little forgettable, except their parents. When outside the house, guests and friends and visitors of all kind forgot about Melmarc and his siblings, but not his parents. It worked in the same way you forgot about your weird aunt that came for Christmas. You didn't forget about her—not necessarily—she was always there, just at the back of your memory but never a conscious thought until something brought her up.

If the entire world thought of the Lockwoods in that way, except for a few 'fail safes' as their uncle liked to put it, it made absolute sense.

Melmarc decided not to push the issue.

"So what about you?" Delano asked. "Where are you going?"

"Fallen High."

"YESSSSSSS!!!!!" the celebration came out as a bit of a high pitched squeal from Delano. "I finally get to see the two giants bash heads."

Melmarc raised a brow even though his friends could not see him. "Have you been secretly praying for me and Eroms to fight?"

"Fuck yes!" Delano barked unapologetically. "C'mon, every guy wonders who'll win if the two giants go at each other. I used to have my money on Eroms but he's not very battle IQ oriented, if you know what I mean. But now?" He laughed like a cartoon villain. "I get to see it at the tournaments. In. Real. Life."

"You know first year entrants don't normally participate in those," Melmarc pointed out.

"I was actually scouted," Eroms interrupted. "It said that I would have a high chance of being a part of the tournament in my first year, there."

Oh.

"And you'll qualify," Delano said. "You have to. I can't wait for two years to witness the clash of giants."

Melmarc sighed. "Dude, I'm not that big."

"Oh, shush. You're sixteen and six feet tall. You're a monster. You just need more bones on your skin and you'll be a walking tank."

Bone on your skin? Delano and his askew bastardizations of expressions was never normal. Melmarc rubbed his head, suddenly unsure of what was going on. All this and no dissonance.

He didn't know if he was supposed to be worried that Delano wanted to see him and Eroms fight. Then again, it was Delano he was talking about.

"Eroms, when the time comes, don't pull your punches," Delano instructed. "Marc, go for tackles and takedowns. Eroms isn't the strongest on his feet." He laughed again, now he sounded like a cartoon pimp. "I could sell this to the kids in school and make some money."

"You're a terrible friend, you know that?" Melmarc muttered, smiling.

"Then be a good friend and make me some money."

The conversation moved on to more mundane things from there. At least, as mundane as you could expect with Delano on the call. He was the only one still going to school since Eroms was now officially a registered Gifted. There were rumors in the school that the principal had cancer. Delano debunked it, saying he'd done his research, and the man was just going bald and an argument with his wife was making her feed him less.

It explained the balding and the weight loss.

School life was boring for Delano now that his friends were no longer around, but he entertained himself with the secrets of the school, not irrelevant gossip. He knew who was actually cheating on who and where and with who.

Melmarc cleaned the rest of the room while they spoke. At some point, Ark went from looking at his phone to falling asleep with his mouth half-open. Melmarc said nothing to that.

Delano and Eroms checked out of the call before he was done cleaning.

As Melmarc finally turned the lights off and climbed into bed, things packed for school, he thought of one worrying thing. Eroms parting words.

"Bye, Marc," his friend had said. "I'm glad you're back."

Normally, it would have been the word of a glad friend.

But Melmarc's life wasn't so normal.

He turned on his bed and tried to will himself to sleep.

Try not to think about it too much, he told himself.

After a while, he frowned.

Could it be one of Uncle Dorthna's 'fail safes'?

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.