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Chapter Text

They had to do a double take on the name because they just couldn’t believe what they saw.

Headmaster Raymond?!

They groaned immediately when it finally registered in their head who was calling. Raymond was one of the last people they wanted to talk to, especially on a Sunday.

To them, he just didn’t seem like the kind of person that was emotionally mature enough be in charge of an entire subdivision of Scouts. He often jabbed at them over random things and would often tease them and Evelyn being a “thing.” To make matters worse, his attitude and personality seemed to always put Luna on edge. Overall, he was just not the kind of person they liked.

Though… he did do an exceptional job at keeping everything in order, and his colleagues did recommend him for that very reason, as long as they could get past all of his flaws. Additionally, his presence relieved them of the possibility of being a Headmaster, which was a relief for them. On that front, they could at least tolerate him.

If they were in charge… well, the Peak Scouts probably wouldn’t have existed for long. They were barely Scoutmaster material, let alone Headmaster material. Besides, if they were a Headmaster, they’d just be stuck at a desk doing boring stuff, much like their actual job. At least as a Scoutmaster, they actually had the opportunity to do fun stuff and it was far easier managing only one troop.

“Let me guess, Headmaster Raymond’s giving you a call?” Jade asked.

“Yeah…” Riley sighed.

“Again? Why is it always on a Sunday?”

“No clue,” Riley replied. “Should I just… let it go to voicemail?”

“No, remember the last time you did that?”

Oh, they remembered. Very vividly, in fact. They got an earful about “neglecting” their duties as a Scoutmaster because they just so happened to “miss” a call from him. That call happened to land on another Sunday where they didn’t feel like dealing with him.

They really didn’t want a repeat of that. Getting lectured once was enough and they were likely on thin ice regardless. They weren’t in the mood to hear it again.

Riley let out a deep sigh and answered before the call could go to voicemail.

“Hello, Headmaster Raymond,” Riley flatly answered.

“Hm. I see you actually picked up this time. You couldn’t even give me a ‘good afternoon’ though? What’s the matter with you?” Raymond retorted. He didn’t sound upset though… but incredibly sarcastic, which only irritated Riley more.

“You calling me out of the blue on a Sunday afternoon is the matter. You obviously have a reason this time, right?”

Raymond chuckled. “Of course I do! You’re just ready to get down to business, huh?” He then sighed when Riley responded with total silence. “Yeah, okay.” The way he said that made Riley feel guilty for their hostility. “Anyways, uh… that island you all escaped from? Back in June? You remember it, right?”

“Of course. That’s… kinda the whole reason why the Peak Scouts exist, no?”

“So you do remember, good,” he replied. “A few days ago, a small team and I went out to investigate the island but… things are different from what you four reported to us.”

“Different? You sure you went to the right island? There’s probably a lot of remote islands out there…”

“Yes. It was at the same coordinates and all. Our pilots confirmed that much. It just… seemingly changed… and any signs of wreckage disappeared.”

“You sent a dive squad and all to check it out?”

“Indeed. There was nothing.”

They didn’t have a good feeling about this.

“What are you getting at here?”

“There seems to be some kind of… ‘magic’ involved. A lot of weird stuff that wouldn’t normally happen elsewhere happened there.”

They already suspected that, given all of the crazy stuff they witnessed back then, but feigned ignorance to avoid raising suspicion. They all had conveniently left out all of those details when debriefing Raymond days after returning.

“Magic?”

“Yeah. Like… we spotted some blue beam in the sky, so of course we followed it. When we got there, sitting inside a random crevice was this statue of a scout holding some kind of amulet but… when one of our guys heard voices from it, they got spooked and ran off.”

Well, now they were intrigued. They never saw that before.

Raymond continued. “And… that campsite you were at? It’s like you were never even there. There was fresh firewood and food there. No ashes, no tracks, nothing. Also, there was another bigger statue, but…”

“But?”

“Well… shortly after one of us touched it, it crumbled and made the gal who touched it very sick. Not only that, but we saw some creepy zombie looking man, so we got the hell out of there.”

Oh no.

“Did he say or… do anything?”

“Yup, and this is exactly the reason I’m calling. He said: ‘You are foolish to be here. I will spare you whelps so you can warn those… ‘Peak Scouts’ to never come back.’”

“And… let me guess. You’re calling me to try to reel us back in? You and your crew got scared so you’re gonna ask a Scoutmaster and their children to do the dirty work for you?”

“Am I reeeeeeally that predictable?” he asked sarcastically.

“Yeah, I’m afraid so.”

“Darn. Well, let’s talk more about this at my house at 10AM tomorrow. Bring Scoutmaster Evelyn and your kids. I’ll be debriefing all of you on what needs to be done and the preparations you’ll need to make.”

“Wait, what? Eve? Preparations? Who said I agreed—” Then he hung up. “Damn it…”

Jade cocked their head to the side. “Well?”

“Long story short, Raymond and his crew found out something’s up at that island we were at and he expects us to go back to it. He wants us to meet him at 10AM tomorrow to discuss it more… or something. Glad we could clear up our schedule before confirming that…”

Jade simply hummed in response.

“Why me…” Riley muttered under their breath. “What do you think, Jade?” they asked Jade.

Jade only seemed confused by the question. “What do I think…?”

“Yeah.”

“I think… I don’t have a good feeling about this. I’m not very optimistic about us being the second choice to return to the island behind his ‘crew.’”

“Well, I think we could at least hear him out, maybe make a more informed decision? After all, we’ve got more experience with this island than him and his crew do. They don’t even know half of what went on there.”

“Mm. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt, but what about school? Don’t you have work, too?”

“If we get to the point of actually going, I’ll make sure he knows time is something we will not compromise on. And, uh, I can still take some of time off before the end of the year.”

“Okay. I’m in, then.”

“Then… I’ll give Eve a call, talk about what we learned, have her bring Jamie and Luna back, stuff like that.”

“Good idea.” Jade then got out of their chair. “I’m going back inside. This humidity is starting to bother me a little bit.”

“Okay.”

Jade then slid their chair back into its original spot and entered the house, leaving Riley alone with their thoughts.

Of course… We just can’t catch a break, can we? They let out a deep sigh. Well… maybe it could be fun, considering we’re not crashing this time. Sounds like we’re not going back for fun though. Could also save Myres while we’re running around over there…

They opened the Contacts app on their phone and scrolled down to Evelyn’s contact. They tapped on it and their finger hovered over the call button before they just… set it down.

I’ll call her in a minute.

Then their phone started vibrating again.

I swear—

This time, it was Evelyn calling.

Oh. I guess that works out for me.

Evelyn, on the other hand, was a much more pleasant person to talk to, even on Sundays. They’d kill to go back to the days where they could just… talk for hours on end. Neither of them were in school anymore though and had their own responsibilities so that ritual kind of became nothing more than a distant memory.

So, that time, they didn’t even think twice before accepting the call.

“Yo, Rye!” Evelyn chirped.

“Hey, Eve,” Riley replied, sounding just a little too annoyed.

Evelyn picked up on this instantly. “Uh… you good? Wait. Did something happen at your house? Are you okay? Is—”

“Yes! We’re fine! Sorry. Just… got off the phone with Raymond.”

“Ugh. The hell does he want from you now? And… why now?”

“I’ll answer that after you tell me why you called. The kids doing okay?”

Evelyn sighed. “Yeah. We’re all good. Luna’s been tuckered out for like… an hour, but Jamie had so much more energy. Both are tired and hungry now though, so I just wanted to call and let you know we’re gonna head back in a few.”

“Good timing then. I was actually about to call you for the same reason. We’ve gotta eat soon so we can settle down for the night.”

“Right. Now… answer my question.”

“So, remember that island we escaped from?”

“Yeah? What about it?”

“Well, turns out… Raymond sent a crew out there and… a lot has changed since we left.”

“Duh. With nobody there to keep up with it, and the elements doing its thing… not really a surprise…”

“Not like that. I mean… like, completely changed. Unrealistic levels of change. ‘All traces of us being there suddenly vanished’ change.”

“You sure it was the same island?”

“He insisted it was. Though, with all of the weird…” Less swearing, Riley. “Stuff we witnessed there…”

“Oh… yeah. I see how that’s a possibility now… Wait, why was he even bringing this all up to you anyways?”

“He wants us to go back and check it out. He wants all of us, including you, to meet him at his house tomorrow at 10AM. He kinda spilled most of it over the phone though, so not really sure why he couldn’t just… spill the rest.”

“Why me? I wasn’t with you four on the plane.”

“Beats me. Probably just wants to tease us again for no reason.”

“Maybe I’ll pretend I’m sick, then we won’t have to deal with that,” Evelyn suggested.

Riley laughed. “Might not be a bad call, honestly.” They hummed. “Though… you did say you wanted to go camping again…”

“Riley… I wanted a normal camping trip. Not whatever… this is.”

“Let’s at least hear him out before coming to a conclusion, okay? It’s not like either of us are guaranteed to be able to take off work on such short notice anyways. Not only that, the kids have to go back to school soon, so this could just be a bust.”

“Fine, I’ll humor him, but only for you.”

“Appreciate it, Eve. You’re the best!”

“Aww, you’re too sweet—woah, watch it, Jamie!” She then started talking to someone outside of the phone, presumably Jamie. This went on for a minute before she returned to the phone. “You, uh… wanna talk to Jamie for a sec? Seems like they’re really eager to talk.”

“Sure.”

“Cool, one sec.”

Silence, followed by the faint sound of the phone transferring to a new set of hands.

“Riley! Hellooooo!” Jamie shouted.

Riley winced and pulled the phone away from their ear for a moment. They quickly returned it though before Jamie could yell again. “Hello, Jamie. What’d you want to talk to me about?”

“Just wanted to talk about what me and Luna have been up to!”

“I’m all ears.”

“So! We played some more Zombie, and uh… I won! A lot! But… I felt kinda bad, so I let Luna win too. After that, we just started playing around on the park. Turns out that a lot of the equipment can just be climbed on top of!”

“Jamie… don’t tell me you climbed atop literally everything there.”

“Uh… maybe?” Jamie replied, followed by an awkward chuckle.

Riley sighed. “You’ve seriously got to be more careful before you get hurt.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” followed by a pause. “But, uh… I think we’re ready to come home, so… we’re gonna do that.”

“So I heard. How’s Luna doing?”

“They’re fine! Just tired, is all. They’ve kinda been laying around looking at the sky for some time. I kinda wanna join them… they seem comfortable.”

“That’s good to hear. At least you two got to get outside for a bit.” Riley smiled at the thought of Jamie and Luna sprawled out and looking at the stars. Those two definitely had grown very close in the past two months. “Could always ask them if they want to stargaze with you later tonight.”

“Yeah, maybe I will. Anyways—huh? Oh, you want the phone back? Okay… Bye Riley!”

“See you soon, Jamie.”

The phone soon returned into Evelyn’s possession, as confirmed by her voice.

“Had to pry the thing away from them before they could go on and on…” Is that a bad thing…? “Alright, I’m gonna bring these two back now.”

“Sounds good. See you all soon.”

“Yup. Later!”

Then she hung up.

They looked at the time once again. 4:17PM. They really needed to start preparing dinner soon, and they also needed to let Jade know that the others were returning.

They took one final look out at the sky before bidding it farewell. They slid their chair back into its original spot and stood up, but not without popping a few bones in the process. I am too young to be doing that…

Immediately upon entering the house, they noticed that Jade was in the kitchen making preparations. They didn’t get far in that short time, but they were in the process of dicing an onion. They seemed to have a few more vegetables set out and ready to be cut up.

They felt very mixed about the help. They weren’t complaining about it necessarily, but they also knew the kid’s intent was a mixed bag. Sure, they could be simply trying to help, but they also knew that behavior also stemmed from their grandparents’ neglect.

And for that… they didn’t want Jade to get the idea they were being neglected again, even if it was unintentional. With that having happened in the past… that being a possibility just made them feel uncomfortable. They were perfectly capable of taking care of everyone.

Now… if they had asked after Riley was already in the process of prepping and cooking… that would’ve been an entirely different story.

“Jade,” they said. Jade immediately stopped and stared at them. “Thank you for the help, but please go relax.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind helping.”

“I’m positive.”

Jade complied and stepped away immediately. “Okay.” At least they learned to stop arguing about it a while ago.

They gently put a hand on Jade’s shoulder as they passed. “Oh and, by the way, the others are on their way back. Just thought I’d let you know.”

“Okay. Thanks for the warning,” Jade replied with a chuckle.

…

4:42PM

“…And that’s what he told me,” Riley said between bites.

“Wait, so does that mean we get to go back to the island!?” Jamie asked excitedly.

“Well, not quite… or, not yet, anyways,” Riley replied. “We’ve gotta figure out if Eve and I can even make the time for it first. I don’t really feel comfortable sending you three away on your own so…”

“I-It sounds like i-it could be fun! Well, s-since we’re not… crashing,” Luna added.

“Yeah! It’s like… a camping trip, but way cooler!” Jamie gasped like they’d just remembered something. “Wait! We can go back for Myres too, right? Not just whatever… dumb stuff Headmaster Raymond wants us to do?”

Riley hummed in thought. “I considered that as well. Depends on what he wants us to do in what amount of time and if he’ll be trying to hold our hands throughout it. It’d be a lot easier to tackle it if we could do this on our own terms without being supervised.”

“It also sounds like it’d probably be a lot more interesting than what Raymond has in mind for us…” Evelyn grumbled.

“Two birds with one stone, right?” Jade added. “We do whatever Headmaster Raymond wants and we get Myres out of there too. It’s a win-win… win scenario.”

Luna raised their hand. “Uh… q-question…” They seemed to fold instantly when everyone’s eyes landed on them though. “N-Nevermind…”

They instead seemed to whisper something in Jamie’s ear. Jamie ended up echoing it out loud. “What’s Evelyn got to do with all of this though? She wasn’t with us when we crashed.”

“No clue. My only guess is that he wants to tease us again,” Riley replied.

“Seriously?” Jamie scoffed. “Doesn’t he have anything better to do? It stopped being funny after like… the first time.”

Evelyn raised an eyebrow. “It was funny to you?”

“Uh…” Jamie suddenly stuffed a taco in their mouth and swallowed. “Mmm! This taco is soooo good!”

Evelyn shook her head in disapproval but still seemed to be humored nonetheless.

Jamie’s reaction to the news was to be expected, of course. That kid loved taking any opportunity they could get to climb, and lately… they seemed quite invested in going back for Myres. That really caught Riley’s attention though, because as far as they could tell, Jamie had little interest in the guy. Maybe they just saw his salvation as an excuse to do some more climbing…?

“Wait. I already forgot. Tomorrow’s just the meeting, right?” Jamie asked.

“Correct,” Riley replied.

“’kay. Thanks.” Jamie then went back to eating, seemingly no longer interested in the topic.

“Wait… w-what about school?” Luna asked.

“You all go back on the 17th, right? Considering how long it took us the first time when we were completely clueless, I imagine this time won’t take quite as long.”

“Okay…”

“Here, how about this?” Riley started. “I’ll, uh, try to get the entirety of next week off and make next weekend our deadline… If that’s not enough, Raymond can suck it up. Should be easy. Nobody’s really taking time off around this time of year.”

“Same,” Evelyn interjected. “My work isn’t… the most conventional. I think my dad would be chill with me disappearing for a week because of a random impromptu camping trip slash rescue mission.”

“I sense sarcasm in that response,” Riley teased.

“Me? Sarcastic? I’d never!” Evelyn feigned surprise.

“That works for me,” Jade butted in. “At least then, we’d still have the weekend before school starts to… I dunno…”

“Complain about how school sucks and that we don’t wanna go back?” Jamie suggested.

Jade laughed. “Sure. That works.”

“Sounds like we have ourselves a plan then,” Riley said.

“Yay!” Jamie cheered. “More climbing!”

“We’re not—oh, what the heck… yes, we’re doing more climbing,” Riley conceded.

Nobody seemed interested in continuing the conversation, so they went back to eating before their food could get cold. They got about where they expected to get with it anyway. They’d likely just start going in circles if it continued.

Now that they were able to chat with their family about the call, they felt a little less skeptical about it all. Jade did still have a valid concern about being next in line, though given what they’ve all endured the first time around, they felt pretty good about their odds. Plus, they did promise they’d go back for Myres, so that was their chance to do so.

The only hurdle they needed to get over now was their meeting with Raymond, which they were absolutely not looking forward to.