Sebastian nearly finished his lessons from Darla when they took a break by the riverside. Darla dipped her foot in the water as Sebastian stared at the bottom of the reflection pool with awe.

“You know, you’ve made a ‌good amount of progress today.” She pointed out.

“What can I say? I’m a natural at that kind of thing...” Sebastian boasted, as a flower petal flew over and landed on his hand. He blinked and stared at it for a while before the wind blew it off his hands.

“After the training you did today, it makes sense that you’d want to relax.”

Darla got up and motioned for him to follow her to a special place. Behind some vines revealed a circular whirlpool with stones placed on the edge. She explained ‌how it was a magical miracle pool that could cleanse one’s soul after an exhausting day. She borrowed some from the volcano in the mountainside.

“Wow, thanks, Darla.”

“Don’t mention it. Let me know when you’re ready to continue where we left off.” Darla waved and walked back.

Sebastian slowly let himself fall into the water and sighed. Christy swooped in and hovered beside him.

“Ah, did you want to join me? You can, if you’d like.” The dragon flew over and rested beside the pool.

Sebastian looked up and closed his eyes, letting more of the tension in his muscles relax. Despite resting in mineral water earlier, he could never get enough of the sensation, especially after such a long and tiring day. If he could stay in all day and let his troubles ease his mind, he would in a heartbeat.

A faint light appeared. He opened his eyes and looked down, only to find it emerging from the bottom of the water. Sebastian jumped out of the erupting water as a hand emerged from it.

Another hand showed up as a body pulled itself out.

“What the—?” Sebastian stepped back and winced. When the water dispersed, he squinted at the familiar figure that fell in front of him. “Benjamin?”

Benjamin gasped out loud as he tried to steady his breathing. He laid on his back and exhaled.

“How did you get in here?”

“Huh?” Benjamin blinked. He got up and looked around. “That’s a good question. Where am I, though?”

“The Admis Abyss. It’s a sacred place run by dragons and where I’m training.”

“Oh, huh.” He looked back at the water. Had I come from there? Why do I keep teleporting out from places?

“This must have magic powers even we don’t know about.”

“You don’t say, even though I didn’t mean to be here.”

Sebastian crooked an eyebrow as Christy hid behind his shoulder upon inspecting the new guy. Weird, normally, he’d get excited at the prospect of being in a new environment, or at least curious. Did something happen? Ah, well, it’s not my place to judge. He turned, about to walk away, when Benjamin grabbed his arm to stop him in his tracks.

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“Hey, when are we going home?”

“I’m not leaving until I finish my training.” Sebastian retorted as he pulled himself away. “You can leave whenever you want.”

Benjamin rolled his eyes, practically done with today, and he hadn’t been here for long.

“You see this dragon behind me, Benny?”

“Uh huh, what about it?”

“Well, I was thinking about getting a familiar myself.”

Benjamin’s heart nearly stopped after those words escaped his mouth. You what?

“Perhaps we can compare and contrast. Maybe even compete over who’s superior.” Sebastian wouldn’t let up. “Although, I can guarantee we’ll win and beat you like always. Especially since I’m always better than—”

“Are you trying to pick a fight with me?” Benjamin spoke up, his voice growing cold.

“Huh?” Sebastian’s expression fell as he turned to face him. Now he knew something was up. He never acted like this before, especially not towards his rival. “Benjamin, are you feeling ok?”

“After everything I’ve been through today, you have the audacity to smack talk me like that?!” Benjamin thundered.

“Whoa, what’s gotten into you?” Sebastian took a step back and held his hands. “If you’re mad at me about what I said about your familiars earlier, then I’m sorry, okay?”

“That’s not it...”

“It’s not? Then– Wait, did something happen between you—?”

“Has someone you thought you could trust has ever stabbed you in the back?”

“I, well...”

“My so-called ‘familiars’ lied to me!” Benjamin snapped, stomping his foot on the ground. “I feel so used and betrayed...” He wrapped his arms around himself and stared at his feet.

“Really?” Sebastian scratched the back of his head. “Well, considering how you treated them...”

“What are you talking about?”

“I heard you almost left the two back on Earth.”

“How do you know? Who told you?”

“You’ve also been ignoring them as of late.”

“Are you saying it’s all my fault?” Benjamin asked, his voice rising higher.

Sebastian rolled his eyes and looked away. “Whatever, it’s not like...”

“That is it!” Benjamin pulled out his wand and pointed it at Sebastian. “You want a fight? You got one!”

Christy and some other dragons formed around Sebastian and hissed at the fuming magician. Sebastian tried to calm them all down as he stepped closer to try and have a civilized chat with him.

“Benjamin, take it easy.”

“Let’s settle this right now.”

“No!”

“Why not?”

“This is ridiculous. You’re letting your anger get the best of you!”

“You don’t understand how I feel—”

Sebastian ran over to Benjamin and wrapped himself around Benjamin, tightly squeezing his body. Benjamin’s eyes widened as he stepped back, trying to break free from his grasp. Tears welled around his eyes as his arm drooped, his grip loosening. He let go of the wand; tears rolled down his face. As Sebastian let him go, Benjamin fell on his knees and buried his face with his hands, sobbing to himself. Sebastian said nothing, only kneeling down and watching from a small distance.

Sebastian caught wind of grass crunching as he turned to face a concerned Darla and Trinity.

“Do I want to know what’s going on over here?” Trinity asked.

Sebastian glanced over at Benjamin. “It’s a long story. I can tell you about it later. Now’s not the time.”

“Why don’t we go back inside and relax until he calms down?” Darla suggested. “Then we can hear him out.”

“Good idea.”

Sebastian got up and stepped aside, as Trinity and Darla helped the magician on his feet and walked him out of the sanctuary. Benjamin kept rubbing his eyes and staring at the ground, refusing to make eye contact with anybody. As they trudged past Sebastian, Trinity looked back at the boy with an earnest smile. Sebastian didn’t have it in his heart to smile back. With the dragons by his side, he cautiously followed the group from behind.