Realm of the Runes: Blood Right

Chapter XXVI

“A good first step would be to leave the Athenaeum, and go to the Academy of Magia.”

“What? Where’s that? I’m keen!” The curly haired boy hurriedly grabbed his book and the pile of parchment runes, absently moving to push the glasses he no longer wore higher on his nose. “Let’s go!”

“We travel by portal. Follow me.”

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Hours later, Daphne collected the neat pile of notes she’d made in a parchment notebook and stood up, stretching her legs.

“Daphne? Is that you?”

Lissa approached, holding Bobby’s hand and smiling. Daphne noted her aura had turned a peaceful pink, and she looked quite pretty. 

“I was just going to come see if you wanted to go back for some dinner. I’m starving!”

“Sure, that sounds good,” Daphne smiled back, falling in step with the taller girl. “Hey, do you know where Chronos is?”

“No, I haven’t seen him since our lesson. Bobby’s been with me since he finished his writing lesson, so Chronos must be somewhere else.”

“He was going to see Dennis,” Bobby piped up, swinging Lissa’s hand energetically.

“Ah. Well, I’m sure he’ll be back soon. What have you got there?” Lissa glanced curiously at the notebook in her hand.

“Oh, not much. Just a few notes,” Daphne evaded shyly. “How are you liking your book?”

“Oh, yeah. I like it,” Lissa said, rolling her eyes a little. “It’s just, I don’t know… A bit tedious to read pages and pages of names and dates. The records are cool, though. It’s amazing how people used to live.”

“That does sound—“

“I’m hungry!” Bobby interrupted. “Let’s hurry!”

The girls laughed and hurried after him, running up the stairs and catching him just before he leapt onto the portal disk.

“Wait for us, Bobby! It’s not safe if you go by yourself.”

“I already have,” he said, bored. “I ended up in this dark place with lots of birds. But I just thought about the Palladium and I got home fine.”

“BOBBY!” Lissa screeched. “You can’t do that again! You might not come back, and we wouldn’t ever know where to find you!”

“Chronos would just turn back time,” the boy argued. “I’d be fine.”

The girls exchanged exasperated looks. The little boy was too smart for his own good.

“No, Bobby, just no.”

He gave them a cheeky look and hopped onto the portal, disappearing in a split second.

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Matthaios had finally found the key to enjoying his book. He’d been struggling through pages of dry recitations of ancient battles and names of long-dead warriors, when he’d gotten an idea, inspired by their earlier history lesson. It involved using the maps to go to the battle sites, and watching as a spectator as the wars raged on. He’d managed to get the hang of using the Sight, and arrived at the scene at just the right time. Admittedly, he’d had to give it a few tries - once, he’d arrived during the ice age and had almost been run over by a wooly mammoth - but here he was, in the perfect place at the perfect time. He actually understood the tactical decisions and diagrams, now that he could see them in real time