The white and yellow lights of the University Campus came into view below as the gyroplane made its final approach to the Airfield. Aledon had insisted on taking one, as opposed to the University Airship, in the hopes of avoiding Monika. I obliged to go with him. And I did not regret it. Not only was it faster; it also offered a change of scenery. I, too, was glad to be avoiding Monika.

As the plane began to slow, the University drifted away. As the ground below got closer and closer, the town of Cabotton proper, coming into view, looked more like a decorative model than just lights. After that came dark trees faintly silhouetted against the ground and night sky, and then the landing pad. Smoothly, our plane settled here before proceeding through the large doors and into the boarding chamber. The platform moved by, slowing, its red square bricks appearing as if just cleaned. And with a little six-inch downward motion, the plane locked into place and its doors opened to let us off.

The cold, wintry air drifted in from outside, crisp and refreshing. We were back at the University again, for the first time since the beginning of Winter Break. Meghan and I ended last year with a very good date, a winter houseboat trip to the Isle of Fellowship on the University Lake, where they had a Winter Festival. After that, I took the University Airship with Aledon back to our parents' house in North Kempton, where we stayed till last night.

Monika had been aboard that Airship flight. Though Aledon and I managed to avoid her, my brother had begun insisting that she was trying to follow us. I thought he was crazy to say that at first, but over time, as I thought about it, I began to share his sentiment.

That was last year, though. Now, we were back, and refreshed. I felt like we were back in gear despite heading back to the University early; Aledon insisted on returning now to get a head start on the challenges ahead.

And indeed, there were challenges ahead.

We proceeded out of the boarding chamber and into the inner corridor of the terminal. We walked for a few hundred yards. At the end of the concourse stood the trolley platform. While we waited there, Aledon turned to me, saying, "I know I've loaded a lot of worry on you about this coming semester, but try to put that out of your mind completely till tomorrow. We need to focus on getting our living suite tidied up."

"Uh...okay," I said, glancing around for a moment.

Before long, the golden trolley car, hanging off the suspended rail, arrived alongside the platform and slowed to a stop, its doors opening to let off incoming passengers and let us on. In a few moments, the doors closed, and the trolley began to move. For a few moments, there was nothing around us but trees and darkness, in stark contrast to the trolley's lighted interior. Then, on the right side appeared the edge of town. The trolley made a stop here, then moved on to the University station, where Aledon and I disembarked. In total silence, we made our way down the Main Campus, proceeded into our House, and finally arrived at our living suite.

Inside, Bernard, Elisabeth, and Madison were already there. They had already cleaned out the refrigerator and had dusted the surfaces in the common areas. Aledon let out a guffaw and turned to me. "I am so sorry for patronizing you earlier, back at the trolley station," he said.

"You did not," I replied, putting my hand on his shoulder. "And you're right. Let's just put everything out of mind till tomorrow. We got a big mountain ahead of us. No use wasting our energy now."

***

No conversation about the Monika thing was ever brought up to our parents. Aledon and I never got around to it. I'm sure it would've gone down to our mother telling Aledon that he overthinks things (even though she is the one guilty of that more than anyone), and our father advising on diplomacy and the idea of making the best of our situation.

They do not understand the situation around the ever-menacing Arnold Stamp, though, and how our situation fits into that.

Then again, Aledon and I are both adults. The torch has been passed to us. That is what our parents brought us up to do. Either way, I am crossing my fingers and hoping for the best outcome given the current circumstances.