Farrah and I went upstairs to the cozy study lounge that Sunday evening. We sat at a table by the window and stared at each other momentarily. I couldn't smile at her, nor could I glare. My lips were just a flat crack. Being in the room where we spent so much time together as a couple was strange. She helped me out so much with studying.

"Hey, so, I know this is weird," Farrah started, "but I just heard about the news with the educational hall, and I heard you stayed on campus during spring break, and I couldn't help but worry about you."

"Well, I appreciate your worry." I had no idea what to say. The whole conversation felt awkward and stressful for me.

Farrah frowned. "Did you see anything that happened? I can't believe someone would destroy the Educational Hall like this. It's like the whole Unity Statue catastrophe all over again except worse."

"I don't really know what happened. Sorry." I wanted to tell her, but Principal Pine swore me to secrecy. However, I would probably tell her everything I witnessed if we were still dating.

Farrah fiddled with her hands, and her lips trembled ever so slightly. "You know, I still worry about you a lot. Sometimes I see you on campus, and you're always alone, and you look miserable and--"

I grimaced. "Well yeah, you broke up with me, and I got knocked out by a professor. And I don't really have any friends here. It sucks 'cuz I love learning about life as a mage. Things seem better here than back in my home world. And even in my home world, I was an outcast, but... Yeah, there's still a lot to be unhappy about. Why are you talking to me anyways?"

"Because I wanted to make sure you were okay. I know you don't really have any friends to talk to, and if something happened on campus, I wanted you to know that you could still come to me."

I laughed pathetically. "No. I don't think I can. Look, this conversation was very hard for me to have, if I'm being totally honest. I still have feelings for you, and seeing you happy with Orson kills me. So unless you're telling me you've broken up with him, then I don't want to talk."

Her lips tightened, and she had tears swelling in her eyes. "You know, I've been going through a lot too that's been hard to talk about." She sniffled and stared at the table. "Elijah has been gone for a while, and I still don't know what exactly he's doing, but I feel like it's not good. I keep having dreams about him, I think he's in trouble."

I was about to leave the table, but I paused. "Look, I'd love to talk to you about it and be your friend, but emotionally I can't. I still love you and want to be with you, and if we can't do that, then we can't talk. I'm sorry." Then my eyes brimmed with tears, and I got up from the table and left.

She sat there crying and silencing her whimpers as much as possible. I wanted to stay with her, but it would have hurt all the more.

That night I couldn't fall asleep, all I could think about was Farrah and the Educational Hall getting destroyed. I wanted to take my walk around campus, but ever since the destruction of the beloved academic building, I felt uneasy about it.

Breakfast would still be served in the dining hall, but as always, it was optional. Principal Pine had a message to deliver to the school at 8:30 in front of the Unity Statue and the construction site. The massive crowd of students gathered around, and Principal Pine stood at a podium on the stage.

"Good morning, students." Principal Pine waved. "I know it's tragic that our beloved educational building filled with so many memories has been demolished. It's true that an outside entity invaded our campus. Not to worry, though. No one was hurt, and the monster that came wasn't looking for harm but rather a ransom. This monster Professor Henderson and I battled seemed to be the very same mythological entity known as the Molten Marauder."

Hushed chatter broke out among all the kids who had taken Mythology with Henderson. Principal Pine held up his hand and waited for the conversations to die down.

"It's always hard to be certain, especially when we're dealing with something that has only been rumored to exist in mythological tales," Principal Pine continued, "but from what we know from those stories, that was exactly what was on campus. It seems with recent years, strange things have been happening on campus. But the world is ever-changing, and sometimes we must adapt."

Principal Pine stalled as his frown deepened.

"I'm just sorry that all of you have been stripped away from the educational building, a beautiful hall filled with many cherished memories. But much like the destruction of the Unity Statue, we will not spend our time mourning. Instead, we will carry on with our lessons outside. As you can see behind me, we have target lanes for all the elemental magic courses. The weather should be great from here on out, if we must, some instruction will take place in the dormitory study lounges, the recreation hall, and the library. Sorry for any inconvenience, but they shall be minor. Construction should be completed by the summer, so unfortunately, many of you won't be back to the education hall until the following school year unless you're graduating."

I couldn't believe it, but a few kids were crying in the audience.

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"With this construction, however, those memories will be able to live on, for this will be an exact rebuild of the previous Educational Hall." Principal Pine smiled. "We are considering adding more space with a special lounge in the back of the building. So even though we are experiencing a tragic event, we have something exciting to look forward to."

"Earlier, I mentioned the changing of our world, and I wanted to express that we are finding things about mythology to be factual. But be careful not to be swept up in all of the tales. Not all of them are real, but it is evident that some are. Do not spend your life dangerously searching for objects you may have heard about in mythology because it would only result in death. Not only that, it is highly illegal throughout all of Lementum."

I yawned. It was wild to me that he was still talking.

"Anyways, I'm sorry to bore you with another long speech, twice in one school year, but I have said all that I have needed to. If anyone has any questions, please talk to Head Counselor Jonathan or arrange a visit with me. For now, we have our eyes set on the end of the year. We shall move forward and prosper. We will finish our exams to the best of our ability and enjoy a dazzling finish to the Dragonstryke season. The playoffs look to be a doozy. Farewell for now!"

Principal Pines stepped away from the podium and off the stage. Everyone clapped and chatted with each other. Jonathan approached the podium next and told everyone to go to their normally scheduled 9:00 a.m. class with their teacher. All the teachers lined up to his side and gathered in groups. Then we walked around the construction site of the educational building and approached a posted wooden sign with a number on it. Every teacher had their own wooden sign for their section. It was a little distracting seeing all the students from all the different classrooms in the background, but I still did my best to focus on my class.

The first day back was weird. Not many students were in the mood to talk, nor were they joking around. Everyone went to class and seemed to be shocked about everything. For lecture classes, those were still outside, and a lot of us just sat on the grass in a circle.

I was excited to return to Dragonstryke practice, and it seemed like the rest of the team was happier there than they were in class. People were actually laughing, and although they weren't joking around with me, it didn't matter. It was nice to see people smile.

We ran drills for a few new plays to exploit the Venomaus team's weaknesses. Even though we destroyed them early in the year, they had vastly improved. Coach Florence watched all the games closely and took a crap ton of notes in case we were to play any of those teams, so we were ready to take on the Venomaus.

On the day of the match, the stadium was filled with banners of scarlet and violet. Every seat was filled, and it felt like the whole world was watching our team. I was the starting thief.

My head was spinning with thoughts of Farrah watching me from the audience. I had to deliver a fantastic game and win just to make her jealous.

The match started, and the Venomaus weren't the same team I had dominated at the beginning of the year. I was targeted and swarmed by nearly everyone on their team, but Coach Florence had prepared for this and constructed plays to take advantage of their redirected focus. Although I played well, I didn't lead the team in stealing trophies, one of my other teammates actually got our two steals, and time ran out before the end of the match. We won 5 to 1.

Then the following week, the Voltruns had their match against the Glaciens, and just as everyone predicted, the Voltruns destroyed them 6 to 0.

There was a break week in the Dragonstryke action, which was spent on final exams. We couldn't practice again until Friday when our exams had finished. Then we had a break week on campus devoted to fun activities to celebrate the semester's end. During this time, many people showed their preferences for who they wanted as the Dragonstryke champion.

When it came down to the final two teams, everyone on campus had a rooting interest. Naturally, the Aquasos wanted the Fyrons to lose, and usually, the Glaciens would feel the same way, but since they had just lost to the Voltruns, they wanted the Voltruns to get embarrassed. But if the Glaciens had it their way, both teams would lose in the finals.

Students wore bracelets of the team color they wanted to win. Everyone had their own opinion, and some even wore bracelets of their own colors, But from what I saw, most people had Fyron bracelets on. This was funny to me because I felt disliked on campus, but I guess people disliked Houston Smith and his team more.

I saw scarlet and maize colors everywhere throughout the week's activities, counting down to the championship. A few classmates and other Fyrons approached me to pat me on the back or give me some words of encouragement. It was a nice change of pace compared to getting the death glares from Houston and his cronies. Houston strutted around the campus with at least two of his teammates around him at all times. Sometimes, there was a group of five circling him. I was always alone, but he would still give me the stink eye if he saw me. I think Houston instructed the whole team to do that because anytime I saw a Voltrun from Dragonstryke, they scowled.

Practices were intense, we practiced longer than we usually did, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. We kept running drills and trying to prepare for Houston Smith and his talented teammates. The night before the match, Coach Florence wanted to chat with us in front of the fieldhouse.

"Everyone, I know we are all nervous for tomorrow. We've made it to the finals for the first time in 5 years. It doesn't seem that long ago, but you get these teams that dominate for 5 to 6 years, so we are fortunate to go to the finals again. The Voltruns are a special team this year, there's no doubt about it. And we lost when we played them during league play, but we played them close and without one of our players. I think now that we play the match again, granted we're all here tomorrow, we are prepared to win. I don't want to lie and say I can guarantee a victory because that wouldn't be right. Honesty has always been how I coached my teams, and we've always done well under my leadership. But don't, for a second, count yourself out of this matchup. We have a great chance to win tomorrow, and they have a chance too, but we can steal the show. This has been one of the best teams I have ever coached, and I thank you all for all of your efforts this season, so let's keep battling and take home the championship tomorrow!"

Everyone cheered, and I did as well, but I was probably the quietest. I couldn't help but think about what happened the last time we played the Voltruns.

Would those creeps try and gang up on me again and beat me to a pulp?

"And tomorrow morning, when all of you wake up, I want all of you to meet at the dormitory lobby. All of you will come to the stadium together, I don't want anyone to lag behind. Is that understood?" Coach Florence asked.

All of us nodded.

Thank goodness.