When Dorin and the rest finally got to the Dormitories, they were surprised to find a lot of students waiting for them.
"Sebastian!" their dorm mate Nathan called out to them, "You're finally here!" Sebastian stepped back as their friends made their way towards them, with the rest of the Dorm residents at the back.
"Is it true?" Robert asked them, looking at Johan, then at Sebastian, "That you both have familiars now?"
"Huh?" Johan sounded surprised.
"It's all over the campus," Stephen said, "that you have a dragon familiar!"
"And that Sebastian has a caladrius?!" continued Rylie.
"Can we see them?" Robert asked, eyes beaming. The rest of the people behind them nodded their heads.
[I'm afraid they are currently sleeping] was Sebastian's reply.
He slowly lifted his hood and showed them the two beasts sleeping on both sides of his shoulders.
Whispered oohs and ahhs filled the hallway.
"A real dragon!" Marcus said in his deep voice. "I did not believe I would be able to see one in my lifetime..."
'If you only knew how many of them visited while you all slept.' Dorin thought to himself as he remembered how the dragons welcomed the small whelp not even a day ago.
To Vincent he said, "Do you know what your friend Ray's room number is?"
Vincent didn't seem to hear him. He was busy studying his hairy arms.
"Can you look for Ray here?" he asked again.
Vincent pulled his robe up, exposing his skinny legs and a striped blue robe underneath. He was wearing a kind of sandal made of though rubber. He seemed to be surprised by what he saw.
"Are you okay, Vincent?" Dorin asked, tapping the young man on his shoulder. Vincent jumped and stared at him wide-eyed.
"Ray!" he beamed at Dorin. "Hey, guess what? I seem to have hairy legs!" he said with a laugh.
"Dorin, Vincent," Dorin reminded him, "my name is Dorin," he sighed. "Come, I'll take you to the Dormitory Head's office."
"Oh, that's right, Mr. Peterson haven't given me my keys yet," Vincent seemed to brighten up. "He said they were going to put me in the same room as Ray!"
"Good, that would surely help fix things, so where can we meet this Mr. Peterson?" Dorin asked as he led the way to the Dormitory office.
"Silly, he's the Dorm head, of course!" Vincent said with a laugh.
Dorin stopped at his tracks and looked at Vincent. "Oh, so there's another Dorm head aside from Ms. Ermingard?"
"There is?" Vincent asked back.
"I guess so..." Dorin shrugged, "Let's ask Sebastian later.
Dorin knocked on the door and heard the Dorm head reply from inside.
"Come in," came Ms. Ermingard's voice. Dorin opened the door and entered the room with Vincent behind him.
"Good evening, Ms. Ermingard," he said respectfully, "There's a student here who seems to have gotten lost..."
"Not lost, just out of sorts!" Vincent piped in.
"He can't seem to remember his room."
"Is that so?" Ms. Ermingard frowned. "Do you have your class card with you?"
"That's just the problem," Vincent said, rubbing his head, "I seem to have lost all of my belongings..."
"We found him behind some bushes on our way back, he was unconscious," explained Dorin, "and there was nothing in the area that could identify him."
"Is that so?" Ms. Ermingard looked concerned, "Have you taken him to the infirmary?"
"Oh, I'm fine, really," Vincent hurriedly said, "I guess I could need some rest, though..."
"Tell me your name then, I'll look you up in my records," said the Dorm head.
"It's Charles Vincent Saith Morel, of the Morel family," answered Vincent.
Ms. Ermingard suddenly stared at the young man, a look of confusion in her face. "A Morel?" she asked, "Are you sure you're supposed to stay in the Dorms?"
"What do you mean, Ms. Ermingard?" Dorin asked her.
"Well, the Morels have always stayed in the Main castle..." she paused, took out her phone, and dialed a number. While it rang, she faced the computer on her desk and typed Vincent's name.
"As I thought," she said, shaking her head, "You are not listed in the dorms."
"Perhaps Mr. Peterson can help?" Vincent said.
"Mr. Peterson?" Ms. Ermingard looked surprised. "Old Mr. Peterson retired six years ago!"
Before Vincent could say more, a deep voice came from Ms. Ermingard's phone.
'Hello?' said the voice, 'Ms. Ermingard?'
"Yes, Professor Morel," Ms. Ermingard set the speaker phone on as she searched other records in her computer. "I have a Charles Morel here, I'm wondering if he's one of yours?"
'A Charles?' Professor Morel asked. 'I don't believe we have a Charles... Can I have his full name?'
"It's Charles Vincent..." the boy yelled at the cellphone, "Charles Vincent Saith Morel, I'm supposed to arrive on Monday..."
There was some feedback from the phone, followed by a period of silence.
"Did I break it?" Vincent asked.
'Stop joking!' came an angry voice from the other line. 'Ms. Ermingard, who is that person? Does he have his class card?'
"That's just it, he does not seem to have any identification with him..." Ms. Ermingard replied.
'Put him on 3D video feed...' Professor Morel blurted out.
Ms. Ermingard placed the cellphone flat on the table and tapped something on the screen. A thin light came from the device, which widened out and created a 3D image of a frowning Professor Morel's face.
"Woah! What is that?!" Vincent exclaimed with joy, "That is just so totally cool!"
"I know, right?" Dorin said, equally impressed, "and there's not a thaum of mana used in it!"
"Get closer," the professor demanded.
Dorin and Vincent both moved closer to the phone. They watched the professor's face change from annoyance, to surprise, to horror, then to joy.
"Vincent?!" he called the boy, "Vincent is that really you?!"
"Oh, finally, someone who knows me," Vincent chuckled, "can't say the same about you, though, mister..."
"I-I'll be right there!" Professor Morel said hurriedly. The Phone went blank.
The three were surprised at the sudden knock on the door. Before any of them could react, the door opened, and Professor Morel came right in, his curly hair in disarray, his clothes disheveled, and his fingers shaking as he reached out for Vincent's face.
"Vincent!" he said once more, his eyes filling with tears. "It's really you!" he gasped, his arms wounding around the young man's body, embracing him tight. "You're here... you're alive..."
Elsewhere...
"Have you found him?"
"No. We have searched everywhere. He seems to have removed the collar, we found traces of blood, but it led to a dead end."
"What about the implant?"
"Beta unit just found it discarded behind the 3rd Lab with traces of his hair on it."
"He couldn't have gone too far, the parameter alarm did not go off..."
"How about the mana readings? Did any of you check it?"
"Sir... just a while ago, there was a disruption in the mana reading inside Laboratory 8..."
"Was it a possible wormhole?"
"We can't say for sure..."
An explosion.
Flesh and gore splatter, blood flows.
"Who else, 'can't say for sure' what happened in Laboratory 8?"
The rest remain silent.
"You find that vessel and bring it to me. You understand? Or you lot would be wishing you had all gone in one blow."