{Melisa}
Melisa found the gang waiting for her at their usual spot—the stone benches near the central fountain. Armia was sitting primly, her back straight as always, while Isabella lounged with her head in Raven's lap, much to the stoic girl's visible discomfort.
"There she is!" Isabella called, sitting up so fast she nearly headbutted Raven in the chin. "Our library explorer returns! Find any ancient treasures? Secret tomes? Dirty magazines from a hundred years ago?"
"No dirty magazines," Melisa replied, dropping onto the bench beside Armia with a dramatic sigh. "Just a weird metal disc thing that Javir made us put back where we found it."
"You went to Javir?" Armia asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, Ms. Goody-Two-Shoes insisted," Melisa jerked her thumb over her shoulder, indicating the absent Jaylin. "And then Javir gave us this whole lecture about 'unknown magical artifacts' and 'responsible magical research' and blah blah blah."
Isabella snorted.
