My poor baby sister was sick in bed, and her whole squad was out hunting monsters for the exam… So was mine to be fair, and even most of the teachers. Naturally, I had to take care of her. Although… I found out pretty quickly I wasn’t really good at that sort of thing… Whenever I tried to help her cool off she hid, saying she was already cold, then I would get her an extra blanket, but she got mad at me because they belonged to her roommates and not her… I was pretty good at being taken care of… But maybe not so good the other way around…
There was always the nuclear option. I was part dragon with over 80 magic… I technically didn’t know what it meant entirely… But it did mean I could use a bunch of magic to help her recover superfast. Given last night she had wandered around campus looking like a literal demon… I honestly didn’t see a problem with it, if anything, getting her back to normal asap would only be a good thing. Within a few hours, she was better… And I was completely drained. Even high-level recovery magic takes energy, so she ate everything in sight for a while, and finally, both of us were alive and healthy again.
“This whole being sick thing is actually not so bad you know. Mom made it sound really scary whenever she talked about you doing it so I was worried, but that was nothing.”
‘I’m just gonna let that one go…’ “Now that you're better, can you help me revert forms? It’s gotten easier… I think. But my soul is also tired and doesn’t want to move around right now, so I can’t do it on my own.”
“Hm… Let me try. Just use some cool black stuff right?” She lifted her left arm and her fingers turned black, a small glistening white glow surrounding them. Then she chopped her hand downwards and I felt as though I had split in two.
‘Goodbye Siya…’
My soul overtook the dragon and I slowly reverted again, shrinking down and quickly out-shrinking my clothes. ‘G-goodbye? What does that mean? Mr dragon… Did you go to sleep? Mr Dragon! You can’t die… We were just starting to get along finally… And… I haven't even given you a name yet…’
“Siya? Are you alright?”
‘No… My stomach hurts like crazy…’ “I feel dizzy… I’m just gonna… lay down… for a bit…” I closed my eyes and quickly went inside my soul, porting directly to the lava-filled cavern, but while it remained the same, he was nowhere to be seen. ‘No way… But I Haven't been in this form for that long… Is it because I let him take complete control while we were fighting? Did he push himself too hard? I don’t get it…’
I slowly walked around the platform, looking at the swirling lava and feeling the intense heat against my skin. ‘He tried to kill me… Changed my body… And did other things too… So why do I even care about this…’ I paused, sitting on the edge of the platform. ‘Oh… I get it… Old wounds… I haven't really lost anything yet… In this life…’
‘Puny human, why did you come back so soon? Was I wrong about the demon's blood being gone?’
“Mr Dragon?”
‘I’m not aware of anyone else that lives here besides me…’
“Where are you?” I wiped my eyes, blaming the dry heat for the water, and quickly stood up.
‘I’m in the flower fields. Now answer the question… Why are you bothering me again…’
I teleported myself back above ground and quickly looked around until I found him. He was standing in a breeze filled with flower petals, wistfully gazing off the cliff's edge.
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A part of me wanted to shout again, but my motivation to do so left with every soft step closer to him. When I finally arrived at his side my body moved first and before I knew it I was hugging his front leg and leaning against his shoulder. “Don’t… Scare me like that…”
His eyes widened as his body practically turned to stone. “What are you talking about? Get off me.”
As he shook his leg I only held on tighter. “The way you said goodbye… Really scared me… I thought you were saying it for good…”
He sighed. Slightly relaxing. “We can only communicate this way normally, but when in your so-called dragon form, we can speak telepathically. I was saying goodbye because reverting forms meant we could no longer speak. Now… Will you let go?”
“No!”
“WHY NOT!”
“I Don’t want to yet!”
He sighed again. “You make it… Very difficult to hate you…”
“You're welcome…”
I felt his chest rumble as he let out a soft streak of fire, not at me for once, but up into the air. “Better than an apology.”
“Mr dragon… You're smiling.”
“Dragons are incapable of smiling… I’m bearing my fangs… Your sister is worried and you have much work to do.”
“Hold on… One more thing. Do you want a name? I could give you one…”
“What’s wrong with Mr Dragon?”
“It’s… Not really a name is it?”
“That… That is what I am called now… That is my name… Besides… what better name to help me maintain my sense of self-other than the fact that I am a man and a dragon…”
“If that’s really how you feel…” ‘I guess I should have come up with one sooner…’ “Ok… Bye, FOR NOW, Mr. Dragon.”
He said he wasn’t smiling, but he totally was as I waved and pulled my consciousness back out of my soul. ‘I’m getting pretty good at that– And We're back…’ I let out a long groan, rolling over on my side. “My stomach… Really hurts…”
“Here… I made you some medicine…” Lu handed me a glass of warm tea, it was soothing, and did, in fact, help, warming up my insides and helping me relax… But it tasted a little too familiar. “What is this?”
“A bunch of stuff. Your teacher taught me how to make it. It’s apparently good for all kinds of things, but I just like the way it tastes.”
‘Oh. That explains– Wait… What...’ “What was Kal– I mean, my teacher doing over… How exactly did you two end up meeting?”
She paused for a moment, not answering.
“He didn’t do anything weird did he?”
Her head slowly tilted to the side. “I forgot how easily flustered you are.”
“Answer the question...”
“You don’t have to worry about me so much, you know. I can even keep up with you now with Rafi’s help…” A timid smile crossed her lips, her arm flexing the same way our mothers would when she tried to reassure us.
‘I have every right to be worried about this…’ “Ok… I’ll worry less… So, how do you know my teacher?”
She sighed. “Apparently he’s good friends with my teacher… Or… Something like that? I don’t really remember. Anyway, I was banged up from training when we met so he gave me some of this and I asked him how to make it, so then he showed me. We met one other time before that, with just me, him, and my teacher. Was he giving a lecture on marriage or something? When teachers start lecturing I get kinda sleepy… So I don’t really remember that all too well. But he seems cool. Have you fought him yet? He looks strong, though, not so much like dad… Maybe more like Air? I wonder if he’s an archer too.”
‘Why was I even worried…’ I sighed going up to my toes and patting her head. “Maybe next time you see him you can ask for a duel.”
“Siya… Why do you pat my head like that? It’s weird…”
I gave her a hug instead. “Because I love you.”
She suddenly stiffened up, her eyes widening like something slithered down her shirt. “Where did that come from?”
As I let go I saw her cheeks had turned slightly red, and she was shyly looking away. ‘I get flustered at the weirdest things… right…’ I sighed again. “Anyway, I should get going. Thanks a bunch for helping me kill that demon. And helping me change back to this form… See ya.”
“See ya”
I paused just before closing her door. “Yeah?”
“No. It’s…” She groaned, looking away again. “I meant bye…”
‘How am I just now realizing my name sounds like that… She’s so cute when she’s embarrassed… I’m going to have to go have a talk with my teacher… He needs to stay away from her…’