For The Greater Good-World 1: A Corrupted Cove || World//Zero ||

8. Call Me Cal

No one's POV:

After hearing what the paladin said, Alec and Sean stopped eating, grabbed their things, and ran outside of the tavern. Personally, Alec didn't know why they were going outside; he just followed Sean when he suddenly got up and left, and not wanting to be alone, Alec chased after him.

"Sean!" he exclaimed. "What's wrong?"

Sean spun around to face the younger boy, holding his head. "It can't be! Callahan can't be your mentor, right?"

Alec froze in place. That's what this was all about? But why would Sean be worried about who Alec's mentor was? If anything, Alec should be the one freaking out right now.

"It's possible," Alec said. "Maybe it was just a coincidence."

"Just a coincidence?!" Sean repeated in a shrill. "There's no way! Didn't you hear what he just said?!"

"Yeh," Alec replied. "But he could've met someone else."

"Think about it, Alec! Put two and two together!"

"Huh?"

"The woman from earlier said that your mentor will be meeting you at the tavern, and Callahan said that Lucille—a girl's name, by the way—told him that his apprentice will be waiting for him there. Do you see it now, Alec?"

Alec already knew that. But, as he said, what if it was just coincidental? At the same time, how would he even know who his mentor was in the first place?

As that thought crossed his mind, Alec suddenly felt like punching himself in embarrassment. Putting his suitcase down, he rummaged through it until he found the scroll with his quests. As he unrolled it, Sean stared at him dumbfounded before smiling knowingly.

"Oh, good idea," he said, waiting for Alec to read out the name of his mentor. "Well? What does it say?"

Alec peered through the darkness, trying to decipher the cursive handwriting in the top right corner of the page. He read it out loud so he wouldn't mess up.

"Col-no. Um... Callahan?"

"Yes?"

"Gah!"

Alec jumped back into Sean and met eyes with those belonging to the paladin. He must've come outside when the boys left so suddenly, probably to see what was up. However, now, he was smiling, amused while leaning against the frame of the doorway, waiting for Alec to respond. He didn't appear to have his shield or sword with him. When Alec did nothing but stare, questioning how the paladin just randomly appeared seemingly out of nowhere, Callahan's face lit up, recognizing the Elementalist standing before him.

"Sean! Long time no see!"

Gently pushing Alec aside, Sean forced a smile before sending a quick wave to the paladin. "Yeh...of course."

"It feels like ages since I've last seen you," Callahan continued. "How've you been?"

Sean averted his gaze shyly. "Heh heh...great..."

Alec narrowed his eyes. Just seconds ago, Sean was practically on Alec's case about not wanting Callahan to be his mentor, and now he was talking to him. Not to mention that Callahan himself didn't look to be upset or whatever towards Sean. So what was the deal, then? He felt confused.

Sean glanced at Alec before stepping back, rubbing his neck. "Don't you, uh, have to head back inside?" he asked. "I mean, you did get back from World 3, after all, right? Surely your friends are...expecting you?"

Callahan smirked. "Aw, you noticed that?"

Sean didn't say anything.

The paladin chuckled warmly. "Anyway, the reason I came back so early is that I'm supposed to be meeting my apprentice today. I was told that they'd be waiting for me in the tavern. Speaking of, I couldn't help but notice you and your friend here run outside before I got the chance to say hello." Turning towards Alec, he folded his arms over his chest. "What's your name, kid?"

Alec felt at ease with this paladin, unlike Sean currently was. In fact, he felt a little intrigued with the paladin's first impression. "I'm Alec," he introduced.

"Alec, huh?" When Alec nodded in response, Callahan took a carefree step forward. "Now, if I'm not mistaken, I'm sure I heard you say my name on that little scroll of yours, right?"

Alec glanced at the scroll in his hand before looking back up at the paladin. Even though he already knew who this was, he wanted to confirm anyway. Tilting his head slightly, Alec asked, "You're Callahan?"

"Yep! No need to be so modest; just call me Cal. It's awesome to finally meet you, Alec," Callahan said. He skimmed his eyes over Alec and Sean, and added, "You just ate, yeh?"

"Mhm," Sean muttered.

Alec chimed in, helping him out.

"And I suppose that you're tired from the long trip? Come on, I'll show you to the dormitories." Pressing a hand to the younger boy's back, he continued: "We'll look over and start your quests tomorrow. It's very late."

Alec grinned. When Callahan-sorry. When Cal mentioned the dormitories, Alec almost instantly grew tired. It was as if he forgot how long of a day he had since he's been here, even though it's only been nearly an hour.

Sean frowned. "I was actually thinking of having Alec stay with me and my mentor tonight," he said. "Just so he'd be comfortable."

"What's wrong with the dormitories here?" Cal questioned in a playful manner. "Are they not 'comfortable' enough?" He laughed. "Besides, Alec couldn't possibly, anyway. He can't get into World 2 even if he tried."

Sean looked red in the face, flustered and frustrated, but didn't fuel the potential argument anymore. Instead of doing anything that would twist words and go his way, he smiled. "Alright. Fine." Looking down at Alec, he lifted his hand, the one with the ribbon still wrapped around it. "You still have this on, right?"

Alec almost completely forgot about his and lifted his hand. "Yeh. Why?"

"Good. I promise that I'll come back tomorrow and meet you in the morning." He glanced at the paladin for a quick second before looking back down at the sword master. "Before your training, that is. Wouldn't want to get in the way."

While Alec was slightly disappointed that Sean felt like he was "getting in the way" or whatever, he appreciated that he understood that Alec and Cal were going to be busy, despite Sean seemingly not being on good terms with the older boy. Knowing that much, Alec nodded to him. "Thanks."

Sean resisted a shrug, hiding it by folding his arms. He wished a good night to the both of them before walking away towards the glowing blue platform. Alec watched as the mage stood on it, and waited for a few seconds when a blue bubble wrapped around him and practically teleported him oh tod existence, leaving nothing but a cloud of what looked to be purple leaves or petals behind, until they eventually disintegrated themselves. That simple thing pretty much explained everything to Alec as to what that platform was. It was a teleporter!

"Well," Cal's voice cleared the silence, "Let's head off, shall we?"

Alec nodded, picked up his suitcases, and walked with the paladin boy as he led him towards the dormitories.

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[Word Count: 1173 words]