Finally, after everyone had been able to meet up again, just in time for Zac and Bryce to spar like idiots, it was time for summer break. Over the course of his summer, Zachary had stayed at school and trained with Pitt and Mr. Beckenfield. Zac didn't have a home he
wanted to go back to, and he had no where else to go anyway. That being said, Zachary's summer hadn't been boring by any stretch of the word, not with Pitt around.
The two had always been close, but ever since their four month training session with their Master, Horatio, the two became awkward around each other. The tension grew bigger and bigger, until the two could take it no more. They ended up crossing a line that should have remained intact.
Demon and Keeper relationships weren't uncommon, but they weren't exactly normal either. That's why it had to be kept a secret. If any of the council members, or worse, Zachary's dad, found out, the two of them could get in big trouble, even put to death. The main problem with such relationships was that they usually ended up producing half-demon children, whose powers were unstable and strange. There were a lot of theories that pointed to such unions leading to the creation of the first Shadow Mages, but most of them were biased and hateful. Either way, such children were always, always, powerful. A Keeper is, after all, incomplete without their demon. The demon acts as a repository for half of the Keeper's magical power, and forms the focus for their spell-casting. A demon is, most importantly, a way for the Council to keep track of every Keeper in existence. With demon blood already stored within the Keeper itself, such a child could wield their power without the use of a demon, or even worse, consume their demon to grow even stronger. This kind of unchecked, reckless behavior was the reason that Keeper-Demon relationships had garnered such a bad reputation in the first place. Their kids always ended up doing terrible, horrible things. That was why Zac had trained over the summer.
He vowed that he would, above all else, protect her from misfortune, and be the shield between her and adversity. Becoming stronger had always been Zac's primary focus, after all, Zac's Ultimate goal was to kill his own father, a Council Class, A-Rank Mage. However, this was beyond Zachary, and it infuriated him to no end. Hence, his strict summer training regimen. That being said, we appear to have forgotten something:
Whenever Zac got too serious about training Pitt had, as all good girlfriends do, smacked him over the head with a mallet, tied him up, and hauled him off to take her on dates, effectively derailing any serious training whatsoever. In short, while Zac had remained in practice, he wasn't anywhere near as far as he wanted to be by this point. This, however, wasn't necessarily a bad thing. After being re-evaluated, Zachary's Rank had jumped from being a High-O Ranking, to a Middle-I Ranking. For his age, only seventeen, this made Zachary enormously strong. However, for one as driven as Zachary, this wasn't good enough, not even close. He still had so much to learn, to achieve. If Zachary was to kill his father, and protect himself and Pitt from the Council, he needed to be even stronger.
As the bells rang, and new students flooded into Henry Jefferson High School, Zachary was sleeping in his room. Awaking to the sound of the bells, Zac rolled out of bed, got dressed, and walked to the kitchen to make himself some breakfast. As he strolled out of his and Pitt's room, Zac couldn't help but marvel at his handi-work. The
inside of his wardrobe was really quite breathtaking. Sure it wasn't,
exactly within the realm of what was allowed by the school rules, however, Pitt had a lot of junk, and the small student dorms were not conducive to any sort of privacy, which was more than necessary for two, healthy, teenage boys, who were both in committed relationships. It was vital.
Making his way into the kitchen, Zac found something that was out of place. On the kitchen counter, next to the micro-wave, was a plate of food, that was piled high with all his favorites. Lovingly crafted, the plate was adorned with hash-browns, eggs, bacon, and toast. Further, it was even shrink-wrapped to remain fresh. Underneath the plate was a note, written in a scrawling, looping hand. There were even little hearts doodled into the margins. Grimacing, Zac read the note aloud:
"Dearest Zac,
You're still sleeping, like a lazy pile, but I'm off to class.
Today is the first day, after all.
Anyhow, I made you breakfast~! <3
See you soon.
~Pitt"
Remembering the last time Pitt had tried to cook, Zachary gingerly picked up the plate and made his way to the garbage can, to dispose of the bio-hazard that Pitt had created. Upon reaching the garbage, Zac found another note taped to the lid. This note was written much more sloppily, as if crafted under great duress, and without as many other decoration. Sighing, Zac read:
"Dearest Zachary,
You weren't thinking of throwing away the meal your girlfriend made for you with love?
Were you?
I slaved over that breakfast because I love you so much!
Don't you love me too?
Saddened beyond all belief, but still yours,
~Pitt"
Rolling his eyes, Zac stepped in the little lever which would open the garbage, only to find yet another note, taped to the underside of the garbage can lid. There were no heart decorations on this note, instead, it was written in a sloppy hand reminiscent of a serial-killer's note. Even worse, the note appeared to be written in blood, and it was still dripping when Zac pulled it off the the lid. Fearful beyond all reason, Zac stammered out:
"Zachary Junhazard Reinhardt,
Eat the breakfast I made you, or you'll never see the light of day again.
Not even joking.
~Pitt"
Finally managing to get down his breakfast, Zachary stumbled into class and sat down in his usual spot. Going by the rumbling of his stomach, Zac was, probably, on the verge of death. However, he'd cleaned his plate, and, if he survived the meal, was no longer under threat of death by Demon. As he sat, he sensed her walk into class. It was her alright. No one else had red hair like that. Zac weakly lifted his head from his desk to smile at his demon, before his stomach did another back-flip and he had to put his head down once more. Rushing to his side, Pitt smiled. He ate her breakfast. He was always so lively after he'd eaten one of her meals. "Good morning Zac." Pitt chirped, leaning down to kiss Zac on the top of his head. "Morning Pitt. Can you promise me something?" Zac asked weakly. Concerned, Pitt replied, "Anything Zac." Just as his face turned green, and he was forced to run to the bathroom, Zac managed to shout, "Never make me breakfast again!"
Having evacuated the contents of his stomach, Zac felt much better. Pitt, on the other hand, was pouting. "It couldn't have been that bad." She griped. Rolling his eyes, Zac spoke up, "We've gone over this before, Pitt, you don't metabloize things the same way I do. While a raw egg is fine for you, I gotta cook it first." Pitt whined, but ceded the point. After all, if it was a matter of biology, then there was some credence to Zac's argument. "It's not that it wasn't delicious," Zac lied, "It's just not good for me. Like too much chocolate." Pitt smiled, she liked chocolate. As their conversation finished, Zac put his head down, and waited for the other kids to arrive.
Zachary had, for the most part,
not, made a nuisance of himself, as his friends were currently doing. This in and of itself was rather strange, but then again, there had never been a single thing about Zac that wasn't strange.
After all, just look where he went to school.
Once everyone was accounted for, Kira, theri teacher's demon, escorted all the demons through a hole in the wall for demon only classes, and they could finally begin with the day's lesson. Robert, their teacher, spoke up, and asked that they form themselves into groups based on their powers. Sitting upright, Zac looked around until he found the symbol for Earth, and walked over to where it was, standing stoically underneath it. "I suppose getting into your groups by element is a pretty good idea." Zac chimed in. "After all, knowing who your peers are lets you figure out who would be the best to spar with." Zac said. However, the exercise seemed pretty mundane to Zachary, who was used to much more... rigorous training. "Don't get me wrong, this is real interesting, but just what's the point? If you don't mind my asking." Zac quipped, finishing with a smirk.