Sleep came surprisingly easy that night, despite Sebastian’s mind working overtime thinking about, well everything. The leviathan, the emporium, the new moon ritual, Patricia, Elliot, Luke, Daisy–

“Duck!”

“Shit!” Sebastian ducked just in time to avoid the bird shaped fireball that had been thrown at him. “What the hell, Arte?”

Arte simply raised an eyebrow at him. “You were the one who wanted to learn more defensive spells. You need to focus.”

“Right. Sorry, it’s just-” Sebastian sighed. “There is so much going on right now. It feels like my life is just becoming one big thing after another.”

Arte nodded. “Your life is one of the most eventful I’ve witnessed yet.”

“Coming from someone who’s seen over a hundred lifetimes, that is not very reassuring.”

Arte shrugged. “I’m not meant to reassure you about anything. I provide power and knowledge. Such as what might help your dragon friend.”

Sebastian blinked. “You know how to help Obsidian?”

“I have quite a bit of information on dragons. One of the Champions raised a dragon from infancy alongside their son. And another Champion was the godchild of a dragon.”

“Wow. So, what can I do?”

“Honestly, not much.”

Sebastian stared blankly at Arte, and they shrugged again.

“Since you can’t restore their territory, which was within the elven pocket dimension, there is nothing to be done about it. But, you can help him rebuild his skills in this world. Right now, they have the same strength level as a newborn dragon. If he dedicates time to relearning his skills then eventually, they will get back to how they were.”

“So, it’s like… learning to walk after injuring your leg?”

Arte nodded. “Exactly. And just like with an injury, it’s going to be hard on him, since he feels he should already be at full strength.”

Sebastian frowned. “Right. So, all I can really do is give emotional support. Are you sure that there isn’t some kind of spell?”

“Magic can do many things, but even it has limits.”

“Alright. Well, do you know any kinds of exercises or stuff we use to help them?”

Arte grinned. “Indeed, I do. Follow me!”

Arte dashed off for one set of stairs, and Sebastian quickly followed. He’d learnt rather quickly that once the artefact was focused on finding some information stored in the tower, there was no way of convincing them to slow down or pause. They would easily leave Sebastian behind, lost on whatever floor he’d ended up at. It really didn’t help that a lot of the floors just looked identical with rows upon rows of books.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“There has to be an easier way to organise all of this.” Seb complained after the thirteenth flight of stairs.

Arte shrugged. “If you have any ideas, then the tower can be reshaped to your liking.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“Well, of course. Did you honestly think that this is what it’s always been like? This was just how the Champion Cassandra preferred it.”

“Oh… oh, hang on, Cassandra. You knew her.”

“She was a Champion and my last master, so yes.”

“Do you know how she was related to Edmund’s family then?”

For the first time ever, Arte paused and Sebastian was so shocked that he nearly walked right into them. He raised an eyebrow at the reaction and stepped forward to speak to them face to face, but stopped as he noticed the blank look in their eyes. It was concerning to see the usually alert face so… disconnected.

“Arte?”

They blinked. “Sorry, I… I’ve forgotten.”

“Forgotten what?”

“I… I’m not quite sure. I seem to know of Cassandra, but recalling when I saw her last is… hazy.”

“Are you sure it’s not just because you have so many other champions to remember?”

Arte didn’t say anything, their eyes were still focused, but they were aimed at the floor and a deep frown graced their features. Seb felt nervous, before they physically shook themselves and began walking again.

“Perhaps that’s it. Nevermind though. We have dragon training protocol to research.”

“There’s protocol to training dragons?”

Arte grinned over their shoulder. “Of course. Come on then, you don’t want to get lost.”

“I wouldn’t get lost if this place wasn’t designed like a fucking labyrinth.”

“This is hardly a proper labyrinth.”

The pair found their destination soon enough and settled into a long night of studying. When Sebastian woke up, he thought for sure he’d feel drained from the experience, but he seemed to be as awake as he would after a perfectly restful sleep. Ah, the perks of artefact magic.

Then, the sunshine hit Sebastian’s half closed eyes, and he groaned.

Edmund chuckled. “Goodmorning, sleeping beauty.”

“Unless you’re about to give me a proper true love’s kiss. It is neither a good morning, nor am I getting out of this bed.”

Edmund chuckled again, but walked over from the window to grant Sebastian’s wish. It was a short kiss, but sweet enough to chase away Sebastian’s bad mood. Ah, the perks of having a boyfriend.

“Why do you hate mornings?”

Sebastian shrugged. “They come too early. I just want to stay here in bed. Preferably with you.”

“Well, then we’d both miss out on the pancakes Nick is making downstairs.”

“Oh, look at that, time to get up.”

Ed outright laughed as Seb slipped out of bed and raided his closet for some fresh clothes. Sebastian made a mental note to bring some more of his stuff from home to keep here. He seemed to be sleeping over more often than not, and while he knew that Edmund didn’t mind sharing his clothes, Seb would really like to have some of his band shirts on hand.

“Obsidian is back, by the way. At least, I think it's his heartbeat I’m hearing from his room.” Ed said as Sebastian was getting dressed.

“That’s good. I won’t have to spend the whole day looking for them then!”

“Did you want to talk to them again about the thing from last night?”

“Yes, and no.” Edmund frowned in confusion, which increased as Sebastian turned around with a wide grin. “Actually, I could really use your help with this.”

“Right. And what is this…?”

“We’re going to train a dragon.”