Chi-Chi and Harry hid back into their master’s hat as Benjamin and Isabelle met up again at the park before heading toward their destination. The group stopped in front of a tall red-brick building with a shiny black roof. Isabelle scratched her head and scrunched her nose, wondering what this place could ‌be.

“Are you sure this is the place?” She asked.

“Positive,” Benjamin replied. “Shall we ‌pay you-know-who a little visit?”

“Of course.”

Upon entering the beige lobby, the group saw Sebastian chatting with someone and sipping tea.

“So, have you found any volunteers for the group drawing yet?” The man asked.

“Not yet,” Sebastian replied coolly. “But I’ll find someone by the end of the—”

“Hey, you called?” Benjamin interrupted, giving off an extravagant pose.

Sebastian nearly spilled the cup on his lap and spat it out of his mouth. “What the—?”

“I heard you needed some help,” Benjamin continued. “And considering yesterday, I’d like to give you payback— I mean a solid.”

“That sounds great. We found some volunteers, after all.” The man said. “What do you think?”

Sebastian was about to protest, but noticed Isabelle standing behind Benjamin. She peeked her head out and waved towards him. He waved back and smiled. Seeing that smug smile from Benjamin after that made Sebastian’s blood boil. He restrained himself from losing his cool in front of everyone in the building, no matter how much that magician irked him.

“Please, right this way,” Sebastian said, motioning the others to follow him. Before Benjamin took more steps forward, Sebastian motioned for him to stop right there. “One of our students is allergic to animals with fur,” He brought up. “I suggest you leave your familiars outside.”

“Are you serious? Aw, man.” Benjamin left to say goodbye to his familiars before rejoining the group.

The group entered a small room filled with individuals chatting with easels in front of them. There were portraits of different art around the walls, along with gray pedestals standing in the center of the room. Benjamin had been told to stand on a podium and pose. He did just that as Sebastian and Isabelle followed suit.

Sebastian stayed calm and diligent while posing. Benjamin tried to come up with something flashy for the ‘audience’ to see. In contrast, Isabelle picked the most relaxed pose and tried her hardest to keep it still.

“Can’t you pick something and stick with it?” Sebastian glanced at Benjamin and hissed.

“I’m trying to think up a pose that’ll get more votes than you,” Benjamin replied in a similar hiss.

“That’s not how this works. We’re getting our portraits taken.”

Whoa, that’s even better! To have my own portrait on display, me, the great dark magician! I need to bring the house down... Benjamin grew more determined and fired up, ready to give it his all.

“And don’t think about trying to sabotage me,” Sebastian warned him.

“Believe me, I won’t.”

.-.-.-.

Eventually, the drawing sessions ended. After thanking the students and teachers, Sebastian, Benjamin, and Isabelle met Harry and Chi-Chi outside the building.

“Who knew your job would be so exhausting?” Benjamin remarked, resting his hands in his pockets.

“Obviously, what did you expect?” Sebastian scoffed, wiping his forehead. “I didn’t expect you guys to show up, though.”

“Well, it may not have been what we had planned, but we got money and recognition out of it.”

“Good for you.”

“Can we crash over again?”

“No.” Sebastian turned to Isabelle. “I’m surprised you tolerate this guy. How did you guys first meet?”

Isabelle zoned out momentarily, not paying attention to the conversation until he called her name. She sheepishly laughed and scratched the back of her head.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Well, um, it’s a long story, and a complicated one at that.” She replied and looked away.

“Oh, ok.”

Just then, a flash of light appeared from Sebastian and Benjamin’s pockets and rang loudly. They both reached into their pockets and picked up the gray orbs.

“Huh? What’s going on?” Benjamin asked, perplexed by this object.

“Do you not know about hologram communicators?” Sebastian inquired. “The headmaster gave these to us in advance.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right! I forgot to give Isabelle one!”

“...Seriously?”

Benjamin gave the orb to Isabelle and pouted. “I also can’t get that blasted thing to work.” He admitted.

The group ran to a desolate area in an empty building before they checked on their devices. The last thing they wanted was to garner more panic from everyday civilians.

Once given the device, Isabelle spun it and experimented with it. She pressed a button; the light emanated and grew more prominent. The orb grew legs as it hopped off from her hands and laid down on the ground, its body split apart as a giant hologram appeared before their eyes.

“Whoa, that’s so cool!” Isabelle exclaimed.

Benjamin grew dumbfounded by this. “How come you always know how to use these tools?”

“I don’t know. How come you can’t figure them out when you’ve had them longer than me?”

Sebastian snickered at the remark while Benjamin rolled his eyes and grumbled under his breath.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear you say that...” He muttered, glaring at the two for daring to speak to him like that.

He eventually figured out how to activate the orb (with Isabelle’s help) and rolled it onto the ground, waiting for the holograms to show up. Floating news articles, message boards, forums, and small videos surrounded the area.

None of them could believe their eyes, witnessing the incredible sight. Sebastian shook his head. They were getting distracted. He reminded the others on how they needed to check their notifications for the latest update on how things went back in their world.

After digging around their new device, the trio found and accessed a new video that got uploaded. The Monster Principal, ‘Gigi’, appeared in the hologram, back to being body-less and inside a liquid-filled jar.

“It’s time. Next week, the new academy, Rixonia, opens up for the first time!” She announced with glee. “Students not in the Monster World vicinity, please prepare to depart. The bus will pick you guys up when the time comes. That’s all. I hope to see you all there.”

As the video ended, Sebastian, Benjamin, and Isabelle stayed silent. Their smiles grew wide upon letting those words sink in.

“No way, this is amazing news!” Isabelle exclaimed.

“Finally, we’re going back to our world!” Benjamin added.

“We need to hurry and get ready!” Sebastian pointed out. “I got to get going!” Sebastian scooped up the orb back into his arms as he ran out as fast as he could.

Benjamin and Isabelle jogged down the sidewalk at night. They talked to Chi-Chi and Harry, who still hid in Benjamin's hat.

“I still can’t believe this is happening.” Chi-Chi chirped.

“Yeah, me neither,” Harry added. “Once we get back to the academy, there’ll be new challenges and more potential spells to learn.”

“And then you guys can become more powerful.” Chi-Chi pointed out. “The more powerful you’ll be, the closer you’ll get to becoming the greatest, unstoppable, dark magician duo ever!”

Benjamin chuckled at the response. “But of course, you always have to strive to improve.”

“There’s no need to inflate his ego, you guys,” Isabelle told the familiars.

“Sorry, we couldn’t help it.” Harry and Chi-Chi said, sheepishly laughing.

Isabelle stopped in place, prompting Benjamin to halt as well, and turn around to check up on her.

“Hey, is something the matter?”

“Yeah, um, I’ve been wondering...” Isabelle hesitated. “Have you registered your familiars at the school?”

“Obviously,” Benjamin replied without hesitation. “Why would I bring them over to the school grounds otherwise? I’d risk getting expelled if I did something like that.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s a given.” Isabelle made a small smile. “I was also wondering, how did you, Harry, and Chi-Chi first meet?”

Benjamin opened his mouth, but his smile faded as his mind went blank. He rested a hand on his chin and thought about it, but nothing came to mind.

“Huh, that’s strange. I can’t seem to remember.” He finally replied. “Sorry.”

Isabelle shook her head. “No, it’s alright.”

“Tell you what, as soon as I remember, I’ll let you know first thing, okay?”

“You got it.”

.-.-.-.

One week later, Isabelle packed up her things and hurried down the stairs. As she looked for her mother to say goodbye to, a crashing sound startled her, as she snapped around toward the kitchen. Isabelle ran over to find her mom rubbing her head as a pot with its contents fell on the floor.

“Mom, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Irene replied weakly. “I think I’m just tired, and my hands slipped.” She let out a yawn and shook her head. “I’m sorry. I wanted to prepare some food for you before you left.”

“It’s fine. I can help you cook something small after we clean up.”

“That’d be great, thanks.” As they cleaned the floors up, Irene stayed silent and looked away.

“Something wrong?”

“I just can’t believe you’ll be leaving in a bit. Maybe I’m getting stressed over the possibility of letting you go?”

“I told you, though, I’ll be fine.”

“Ok, but stay safe and out of trouble. Can you do that for me?”

“Of course.”

Irene smiled at her. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too. Don’t destroy the house while I’m gone.” Isabelle joked.

“I can assure you, I won’t.”

The two hugged it out and said their goodbyes. Isabelle headed out of the door as Irene watched her leave and waved goodbye.