When Dorin woke up that morning, he was surprised to find two things.
First was that Sebastian seems to be holding on to him.
This was strange, since Sebastian hated being held on to while he slept. He even hates to be covered by blankets. He once woke up to a kick to the gut when he mistakenly thought he was hugging a pillow, but Sebastian doesn't seem to remember anything when he wakes up.
The second thing was that the sun was already up.
Dorin always wakes up on time. Yes, he might be a bit hard to arouse while he sleeps, but once he sets himself to wake at a certain time, he was always sure to awaken at that said time.
He stretched himself and looked at Sebastian who was partly hidden under the blanket when he noticed his arm.
Dark skin.
Dorin leapt out of bed, pulling the blanket with him. He uncovered a curled up Vincent who groaned in his sleep.
"What the hell is he doing here?!" Dorin mumbled to himself.
He quickly went out the room and found the real Sebastian in the kitchen with Johan.
"Finally awake?" Johan asked him. "It's a good thing we don't have kitchen duty on Sundays."
"Wha... Why is that kid in our dorm?" he asked his two room mates.
"No idea." Johan handed him a mug of coffee. "He just appeared out of nowhere last night, according to Azra." Dorin looked at the caladrius who was busy eating pancakes.
"He arrived in the witching hour and pushed my liege out of his bed," Azra pouted.
"Sebastian?" Dorin looked at the Silver Tongue who was rubbing his hip. "Are you okay?"
"My back hurts from sleeping on the couch," he said irritably. "Make sure to get a new bed later! You're not sleeping in my room again!" he grumbled.
"Come to think of it," Johan said, pouring himself another cup of coffee, "Why don't you just get one of the beds in the spare rooms? That way, you won't need to spend money on a new one."
"I actually saw this bed roll at the mall," explained Dorin, "besides, the beds here are too high, I prefer to sleep close to the floor," he grinned, "that way, I can easily take it to Sebastian's room when I feel like sleeping over."
"Stay out of my room," Sebastian grumbled, stretching himself.
Just then, a drowsy Vincent walks into the room, a pillow in tow. He yawned as he rubbed his eyes, looking every angle like a child, except for his bulk and his height.
"Ray... You didn't wake me up..." he mumbled and yawned once more.
"I'm not Ray," Dorin replied with a frown. "How did you get in here, anyway?" he asked.
He did not notice the boy's arrival, not even a trace of a spell or a thaum of magic could be felt in the air.
Vincent looked at the people in the kitchen, pausing at Sebastian, and then back at Dorin.
"Right, Dorin," he corrected himself. "What's for breakfast?"
"Hey, don't change the subject," Dorin frowned.
"Does your brother know that you're here?" Johan asked as he handed a plate of toast and sausages to the young man.
"Of course," was Vincent's reply.
The three friends waited for him to say something more, but he started eating and seemed to have dropped the subject.
"Are you sure?" Johan asked once again. "He seemed pretty pissed yesterday when he saw you with us."
"Yeah, we had a talk about it last night," Vincent finally said, "I am now free to go anywhere I wish!" He grinned at them so happily that Johan and the rest didn't have the heart to ask him further about the subject.
"Well, as long as Professor Morel isn't against it..." Dorin scratched his head. "I'll just take a bath, then we can go to the mall..."
"We're going to the mall?!" Vincent looked surprised.
"Yeah, we're just going to buy some stuff, school starts tomorrow, after all," Johan said absentmindedly.
"So, who's going to guide us?" the strange boy asked. "Do I need to call home for a permit?"
"What permit?" Johan asked with a frown.
[You don't need a permit to leave the University's inner grounds.] Sebastian wrote as he watched Vincent. [As long as you have your class card or student ID, you can go practically anywhere in the University city.]
"Oh, right, my ID..." Vincent trailed off. He frowned and looked at Sebastian. "You really know a lot about stuff, are you this group's luminary?"
Sebastian seemed to be taken aback by the comment. [No, we don't have a luminary. We are actually just friends...]
"What's that... luminary?" Johan asked as he washed the plates they ate in.
"It's what they call the leader in a special class sphere," Vincent told him, "there's one luminary and 4 partisans..." he looked at his companions. "I see we still lack one member."
[Actually, we don't have luminaries in university anymore] Sebastian kept his eyes on Vincent, watching his reaction. [It has also been years since the special rooms were opened again, since there were hardly any pupils good enough to pass the high standards of the special class.]
"Huh?" Vincent looked lost. "But... I just passed the exams last month..."
[Can you tell me what date that was?] Sebastian inquired.
"July the 28," Vincent replied, "I was with my mother and my second brother Brodie..."
"[Can you tell me what year?]
"Well," Vincent snorted, "The 30th year of the red emperor, of course!" he said confidently. "Remember the festivities last week? I was in the parade to celebrate his Highness' 30 years on the throne!"
"Aren't we currently in the 52nd year?" Johan frowned. "You've got your dates mixed up."
"Oh..." Vincent seem to pause for a while. "Randale said the same thing... but he's just making things up to make me stay back home."
[No, it's actually the 52nd year of the Red king.] Sebastian wrote patiently.
Vincent stared at the slate, then at his companions.
"Okay," he finally said with a shrug. "I guess I just slept too long." He stood up from the kitchen counter, leaving his half empty plate. "Anyways, my brother is probably taking care of my documents. I'll go fetch it from him."
With that, the young man turned around, walked to one of the common room's walls, and trailed his finger from the top till halfway to the floor. He then slipped a hand into the wall, turned his hand palm up to open a rift and slipped into the darkness within it.
"I'll be right back," he said before closing the rift behind him.
Sebastian and Johan stared at the wall in amazement.
"You guys ready to leave?" Dorin asked as he got out of the bath.
"...Vincent..." Johan tried to say, pointing at the wall.
"Vincent just left... said he would be right back..." Sebastian said.
"He went through the wall!" Johan finally was able to say.
"He opened a gateway on the wall..." Sebastian explained. "He made a portal on our wall."
"A portal? Where did he go?" Dorin asked, non perplexed.
"Have you got any idea how hard it is to open a portal?!" Sebastian asked him. "It's classified as a level 7 specialty magic!"
"Really?" said Dorin, drying his hair.
Before Sebastian could say more, the same line on the wall opened and a grinning Vincent re-entered the room. He was holding a blue card on his right hand and an elm wand in the other. Sebastian thought it looked familiar.
"Okay, I'm good, let's go!" Vincent said happily to Dorin.
"Hey, no opening portals in the room," Dorin told the tall guy. "Who knows what you might bring back with you."
"Bring back what?" Johan asked with a frown.
[A portal creates a passage from this plane to the in-between, then from there, you can go anywhere you wish.] Sebastian wrote for Johan
"The in between is a crossroads for many beings," Dorin continued. "Sometimes these 'beings' get stuck or lost in there and are constantly looking for a way out."
"Don't worry, they all know me," Vincent replied with a grin, "and for some reason, they won't get near me anymore. Besides, I always make sure to close the door properly."
"Well, it is pretty clean, no traces of mana anywhere," Dorin said as he passed a hand over the area. "The tear is seamed properly, but still, I prefer you use the door." He looked at Sebastian. "Our room mates don't like it."
"Okay, Rey," Vincent said quietly with a nod.
"Dorin. Now, about those clothes..." Dorin looked at the striped pajamas Vincent was wearing, a splattering of something dark was on the left sleeve. "Johan," he called to the fire mage, "Can you lend him something to wear?"
"What?" Johan complained, "Why me? I hardly have enough clothes to go by!"
"Well, you're about the same girth and height," Dorin grinned, "Don't worry I'll buy you some new clothes later."