Even as the meeting ended, Troy was dragged off to sort out a bunch of different things. The obrec ranger would be returning to his caravan, along with Jenna, William and a number of militia. The two sentries apparently knew a route that the caravan could take to get to Avonside, and along with the militia would be their escort into Avonside.

Grace and I were both given phones that would work on the university network, so that we could be contacted when the obrec arrived. Which meant that for several hours we had nothing to do.

We stood outside the room, Grace, Adam, Kit and I, just staring at each other. We were finally home. Now what?

“I guess… we should go and find the others…” Grace sighed at last, her expression mirroring the unease I felt in my gut.

“The others… you mean um, the ones who have rings like you?” Kit asked hesitantly. “Should I go…?”

“No, you’re welcome with us Kit,” I said reassuringly, putting an arm around her shoulder.

“I hope they’re okay,” Adam murmured, his usually characteristic cheer replaced with apprehension. Shit, if even he was worried…

“Do we even know where they are?” I asked, glancing up and down the now deserted hallway we were in. “I feel like randomly wandering around the campus could cause some trouble.”

“I could just text them and ask,” Adam offered, getting his phone out of his pocket. Damn, it had been so long since I’d been in a place with tech that I’d forgotten about phones.

He did so, asking Duncan where everyone was at these days. When he got a reply, we were surprised to learn that they all still had the small classroom that we’d been given at the start. I wonder what they’d done with the place since I left.

Just the thought of seeing them all again had me feeling like I’d just chugged a gallon of ice-cold brine. It was one thing to convince a bunch of old people who wanted things from me, and it was another thing to convince my old friends, people who’d known me as Eli the wimpy dude who liked pillows and helping people.

I had a trick up my sleeve, but it would be painful. So painful in fact, that I hadn’t used it in the faculty meeting. Not even Grace had seen it, although she knew I’d worked on the spell. I shuddered, turning my awareness outwards again as we began to walk towards our old room. Grace’s hand found mine as we walked, and I honestly couldn’t tell who was hanging on tighter.

Signs of change were everywhere within the university. Jerry-rigged fixes to things that the maintenance people could no longer get parts for. Rooms that used to be classrooms had their windows covered with paint or cardboard to give those who now lived within some privacy. The doors to those rooms were often decorated with art or other signs of customisation, an attempt to liven up the unfortunate living conditions. A few had signs of damage that had since been repaired.

Garden areas within the campus now grew fruit, vegetables and herbs, while weeds grew between newly formed cracks in the pavement. Administration posters were everywhere, older ones displaying water rationing rules, while newer ones were recruiting for various new organisations. I saw a vandalised and torn poster asking for volunteers to join the militia, a ragged blue line painted across it.

Signs of strife and division were everywhere, now that I was looking. Broken windows that had been replaced with wood boards, the shattered glass left to sit below its old home. I saw a few bullet holes in walls, now filled with caulk.

There were people out and about though, and we passed an old student common room that had people chilling inside it, watching a movie on a projector. One of the campus cafes was giving out food for some form of currency I didn’t recognise, people sitting at tables and chatting.

“Grace! Oh my god, Grace!” someone called, and we all stopped to see a girl getting up from one of the tables. She looked like your average pretty college girl, dark eyes, middling height and brown hair, except with the addition of a toolbelt at her hip. She rushed up and threw her arms around Grace in a quick hug, before stepping back to stare in awe. “We thought you’d died out there!”

“Sandy!” Grace exclaimed. “We almost did, I lost count of the number of times sketchy shit happened. What are you doing now? You have a toolbelt!”

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“Yeah, I had to put down the clippers and pick up a wrench unfortunately,” Sandy said, with a wry laugh. “A nice haircut isn’t exactly top priority these days. Speaking of which… your hair has changed, in fact… you’re taller!”

“Long story,” my girlfriend said, glancing at me.

That drew her friend’s gaze to me, then to our joined hands. “Who’s this?” she asked with a smile for me, seeming genuine.

“This is Ryn. She was uh… it’s a long story…” Grace sighed, scratching at the back of her neck as she glanced at me.

“I’m the guy who went missing during the first week,” I told her calmly. It was going to get out anyway, may as well start it off with my own spin on the story. “I’ve obviously changed… there’s a lot out there. It’s a long story.”

“Well… nice to meet you, Ryn,” Sandy said slowly, a slight smile on her lips. “Will I hear the story at some point, because if I remember correctly, descriptions of you were a little different to how you look now. Must be a wild story.”

“It involves magic, an alternate plane of existence and ancient aliens,” I said with as close to a poker face as I could manage.

She rolled her eyes. “Ha ha, real funny.”

I just grinned. Yes, I was a brat, no I wasn’t going to tell her that it was the truth, at least… not in so many words.

The conversation turned back to life at Avonside, Sandy explaining that she’d joined up with the maintenance corps. They were the group responsible for… well, fixing shit, but also getting things working again, hooking everything up to the new power and internet grids, that sort of thing.

She apparently loved it, something she never would have discovered about herself had she continued to go through the same hairdresser course that Grace had been in. They were teaching those like her on the go, usually in an apprenticeship-like scenario, with classes thrown in every now and then. It was kinda cool actually.

“We do need to get going though, Sandy,” Grace said after a few minutes, gesturing to the waiting Adam and Kit. “Gotta go find some of our people.”

“Right, sorry! Don’t let me keep you, but hit me up with a text later!” the energetic mechanic said happily.

“Oh, speaking of…” Grace blurted, holding a hand up to stall her friend. “They gave me a new phone, my old one got shot by a robot. Let me give you my new number, one second.”

“Uh, what?” Sandy blinked.

“She isn’t joking,” Adam laughed, miming the action of the robot when it had shot at the phone, making laser gun sounds. “She used it as a distraction. Dunno why the robot hated her phone that much, but it drilled that thing good. Then a magical goat chick with a sword sliced it up like some movie character.”

“You’re fucking with me,” the girl said, squinting at him suspiciously.

“Nope,” Grace said casually, then read out her number to Sandy, who scrambled to get it down. Numbers exchanged, we bid her goodbye and moved to leave.

Aha! My time to shine! I pretended to drop my own phone right as I stepped away, but before it could hit the ground, I caught it with my telekinesis.

“Oops!” I laughed, pulling the phone back up to my eyes without actually putting a finger on it. I turned it around, pretending to inspect it for damage. “Nope, it’s still good. Magic is so useful like that!”

Sandy’s eyes were as big as dinnerplates as she stared at me, and I tugged on Grace’s hand to get us moving. “See ya Sandy, good luck with the wrench thing!”

We continued on, all four of us trying not to laugh. The look on that girl’s face… oh my goodness.

“She’s going to tell people about it, you know that right?” Grace asked with a grin, shaking her head at me.

“Yup, but that’s kinda the point,” I winked.

She frowned, raising an eyebrow in question.

“Rumours,” Kit murmured, little brows furrowed as thoughts whirled behind her big brown eyes. “If people know she has magic, combined with what happened at the gate… people will realise she’s dangerous and they can’t just mess with her. Defense by intimidation.”

“Yup,” I agreed, happy that someone had realised my plan.

“You’re sneaky as shit, Ryn!” Adam exclaimed, giving me a look of respect. “Nicely done.”

“Or they’ll start a witch hunt,” Grace frowned, looking troubled.

I shrugged. “Then I’ll just stand in the middle of them with my shield up and wait for them to get bored. They don’t have magic or magitech rifles, they can’t do shit. We both know my shield is strong enough to stop bullets and way more.”

“True enough…” Kit agreed, and a wistful expression flitted briefly across her adorable face for a moment. “Can’t wait to be like that… but back to Sandy, I’m surprised she believed you when you said who you used to be.”

“She probably didn’t,” Adam chuckled, shoving his hands into his pockets as a blast of cold mountain wind rolled over us. “At least until she dropped her phone and pulled that magic stunt. No one who’s good at talking to people is going to call you a liar to your face like that.”

“Yup,” Grace said, glancing back at the cafe before we turned a corner and it was lost from sight. “Sandy is always about being happy and avoiding mentioning the bad stuff at all costs. Means that she’s a fun person to hang with, but she isn’t really there when times are hard.”

“Not the worst character flaw in the world,” I murmured, thinking back to my friends from high school. They had done nothing but bitch and moan about everything, as though they were incapable of happiness. I’d take a Sandy over them, any day.

Slowly, we got through the campus, walking down half remembered pathways that had changed in the time we were gone. It was like seeing an old friend who’d changed drastically since elementary school. You could see the ravages of life in their wrinkles and scars, in the way they carried themselves or the styles they wore. Avonside was different now, hardened against a world that was far less hospitable than the last. I just hoped its core hadn’t become rotten.