The Pyramid Chronicles: Fortuna Guard (#2)

Chapter Twenty-Two: On a Lighter Note

After taking a day to recover from the turmoil of being captured by SCI, Eric and the others went right back to training on the Fortuna's deck. Eric couldn't say he felt entirely better, but he'd rather be anxious while throwing fireballs around than be anxious while lying in bed.

Charles and Beth's concern didn't fade at all. Every time Eric ran into either of them, they asked if the altered were doing okay, if they needed anything, if they were really sure they weren't hurt. Eric and the others were beginning to worry the Newmans might try to stop them from carrying out their attack on Scorpion, but the two had yet to say anything regarding the still-forming plan. Yet.

Eric forced himself to set aside the Newmans' concern as he settled into target practice with the kickboxing dummies. Summer had brought out the metal baseball bat she'd picked up at the party store and was accommodating herself to its weight, occasionally letting bursts of electricity run along its surface as she swung it around. Adam had upped his training to more precise fire work, which meant igniting small strips of paper from twenty feet away. Eric tried not to think about how much practice it would take to get himself to that level.

Though, he was doing pretty well today. Eric knocked a dummy to the ground with a fireball from the farthest distance yet and felt a small swell of pride.

"Nice one!" Summer gave her bat another swing. "Say, any idea where Veronica and Sam are?"

Eric shrugged. "Homework, maybe?" Technically, he still had a lot of schoolwork to do himself, but he had a feeling it'd be easier to focus closer to the due dates. And if they could take out Scorpion before then, all the better.

Beth stepped onto the deck and waved as she approached. "The crew's done cleaning the ballroom," she called to Summer. "You kids can do what you want with it."

"Thanks!" Summer replied with a grin. She turned to Eric. "Ready to help me decorate after lunch?" She'd already started spreading word that the party would be tomorrow night.

"Sure." Eric flung another fireball. It sailed over the dummies, over the ship's railing, and into the ocean. Yeah, maybe decorating for a party would be a better distraction than this.

After another twenty minutes of training, Summer helped Eric move the dummies to the storage closet right off the deck that they'd taken over. They pulled Adam from his own target practice and headed to the cafeteria for lunch.

Sam and Veronica were already there, sitting at a table with pages of notes scattered around their plates.

"What's all that?" Eric asked as he sat down.

"English assignment," Sam said. "We're both struggling."

Eric leaned forward. "Well, I don't know if I'll be any help in a senior class, but I actually do pretty good in English," he said. It was also one of Adam's strengths, but Eric avoided comparing their work.

"If you could look this essay over when I'm done, that might help," Sam said. "This class has juniors and seniors."

"Sure." It was too bad Eric had fulfilled all of his English requirements already. He'd be stuck doing mostly math and science senior year.

Summer took a peek at the notes and made a face. "Oof. Good luck with that."

"I hate writing papers," Veronica said with a sigh. "English ones, anyway. I'd rather write a lab report that's twice as long than try to analyze this book."

"How about instead of doing either of those things, we finish lunch and you all come help me decorate the ballroom." Summer raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I could use a break." Sam began gathering up loose papers. Veronica nodded in agreement, but her gaze lingered on her notes for a little longer.