Alec leaned against Asher's side with his eyes closed, his legs spread in front of him where draelings of varying sizes lay their heads. The adult draes lay close to the side, curled up and keeping a watchful eye on the other draes that were looking at them from the distance. When Alec had pleaded for them to not come near, the older draes prevented draes from other parts of the Sanctuary from coming over.

Lunch had filled his stomach full, and with the warmth of the sun and the draes sleeping around him, he felt drowsy. He would have actually fallen asleep if he had not felt like an animal in a zoo. A few feet in front of him, under the shade of a larger tree, the caretakers took turns looking at them.

The leader of the caretakers, who had introduced himself as Professor Linan, had let them be after asking for his identity, and if he did anything that made the draes act the way they did. The tall muscular man's chocolate eyes had stared at him so intensely through the glasses he wore when he answered. Then he turned and told the others that he would be going somewhere. Ever since then, the draes had pulled Alec under a tree where they proceeded to have an afternoon nap.

It was a very nice welcome. But his legs were going numb because of the baby draes.

He felt two sets of footsteps approach, but he refused to open his eyes.

"Uby, come here," a young male voice said.

"Dia, little one, you as well," a female voice called.

He opened his eyes when he felt two draelings leaving his legs. It caused the other draelings to roll over and continue sleeping on the grass, freeing his limbs. When he looked to the side, he found the same two people who had called out his name from earlier. Two pairs of gray eyes looked towards him. One pair was apologetic, while the other pair was shining with curiosity.

"Sorry about them, Alec. If they become a bother, you can just tell them to leave you alone," the young man said. A red draeling that was as tall as his knee stood next to his feet.

"Did draes always like you this much?" asked the young woman who picked up a small snowy-white draeling. The young man immediately hit her arm, mouthing at her to shut up. The girl hit him back, mouthing something back.

Alec raised a brow. Brother and sister?

"I don't mind. I just didn't want to be...the first to let go," he said. He stood, careful not to wake the draes. He carefully walked around them, finally leaving the huddle of draes. "This is the first time I've been dragged into a pile of draes, though. But the three draes I have met were friendly enough."

The brother and sister met eyes. Some form of silent communication happened between them, causing Alec to be curious. The boy spoke first when they turned back to him.

"Where are our manners? We haven't introduced ourselves."

"We have Ga—Professor Gael to blame for that. He forgot to introduce us this morning at the lake," said the girl.

Alec's curiosity grew. Did the two know Gael? It did not seem like a simple teacher-student relationship, considering that they seemed to be used to addressing Gael casually. While he was busy wondering, the boy moved towards him and reached out first, followed by his sister.

"I'm Knox Munstone. Nice to meet you."

"Solana Munstone. Are you our new fam—"

The girl did not get to finish her sentence because her brother elbowed her again. The two began to glare at each other, communicating with their eyes once more. Alec wondered how they were related to the headmaster, but figured it was none of his business.

He decided to ignore their bickering and shook their held-out hands.

"I'm Alec Arden. Nice to meet you two."

After that, an awkward silence began to linger. Alec had met and communicated with a lot of people during his travels when he fulfilled hunting requests. But the topic of conversation was purely business, and never turned into something personal. It was the first time he was actually talking with strangers with whom he had no prior business. Gael and Kreis did not count because they tied him up and interrogated him. The Ryders under Kreis's command had mostly kept to themselves, sensing that he needed space.

As a result, he did not know how to break the awkwardness.

At least until the girl—Solana, opened her mouth again. "You're very handsome. Can I hug you?"

He choked on his spit. He felt heat appear from the back of his ears and slowly creep towards his cheeks. "W...what?"

"Solana!" Knox scolded.

"I like beautiful things and beautiful people. Can't I just appreciate them in peace?"

"Since when did appreciating them in peace entail any hugging?"

"I didn't say I appreciate beauty from afar..."

"Solana Trystina Munstone!"

Solana crossed her arms and puffed up her cheeks. She looked down and stared at her feet, mumbling something under her breath. Knox stared at her before letting out a deep sigh, running both hands over his face. He turned to Alec and gave a small bow.

"I'm so sorry about her. She did not mean anything bad, she's just..." Knox fumbled for a moment, looking for an appropriate word.

Alec did not know what to say for a moment. Then he decided to tell them it was fine. But the scene seemed to have triggered a memory from his childhood.

-------

"Alen-uno, please return the dog to her owner," nine-year-old him said with a glare at his older brother.

Alen held the furry white dog, which was half his size and weight, tighter. "But she's so cute and beautiful. Just a few more minutes, please." His icy blue eyes were wide with pleading.

The dog's owner stood at the side, laughing at the scene along with some passersby. He was starting to get embarrassed by his brother's behavior. How can someone in his 20s be acting like this? His brother seemed to be an odd mix of a child and an adult sometimes.

"Eouno!" he shouted, crossing his arms. His brother sighed and reluctantly dropped the dog, who quickly went back to her owner. "I'm sorry about my brother. He's weird in the head sometimes."

The dog owner reached out and ruffled his hair. Alec wanted to frown. He did not like being touched. "It's okay, little one," she with a chuckle. She eventually waved them goodbye and left.

Alec turned back to scold his eouno, but was stopped when the older man picked him up. "I'll just cuddle my cute and handsome baby brother instead," Alen said. Alec could only silently groan about his brother's affection, avoiding the looks he got from the people surrounding them. Why did his brother have to be so embarrassing in public?

-------

Unknowingly, he released a chuckle from the memory. He found Knox had paused in his search for appropriate words to describe his sister, because of the sound. Solana's eyes widened at his smile.

"It's okay," Alec said. "I know how hard it is to have a sibling that is...a bit weird sometimes."

Knox looked touched. "They do things that embarrass you in public."

"Harmless embarrassing stuff, but embarrassing nonetheless," Alec added.

"They never listen when you tell them to stop."

"And annoy you in return for scolding them when they don't listen."

Knox's eyes shined like he found a kindred spirit. "Someone who understands!"

Throughout the exchange, Solana's eyes had gone back and forth between them. Her expression grew more incredulous the more they spoke.

"I commend you for still loving and caring about her until now."

"My future condolences for all the things Gael will put you through."

Alec paused. He was about to say that he was not talking about Gael when Solana yelled.

"Hey!" she said, crossing her arms. "I'm not that bad."

Alec paused his conversation with Knox, and the two of them looked at her. They had neutral expressions on their faces, but Solana's face contorted further before inching away from them. She hugged her draeling tighter. "Why are you two so scary right now?"

Alec and Knox locked eyes, before bursting into chuckles. Alec was half-surprised at himself when he did. It was the first time he was having such an easy conversation with someone. It was kind of nice for a change. People in his age group tended to avoid him and he was never really interested in talking to them before. He wondered what was different now.

Crimson made you realize how lonely you are. He reminded you that need someone in your life.

The voice was promptly shoved into the darkness of his mind.

Knox calmed down and asked him a question. "Was Asher leading you around the Sanctuary?"

Alec nodded. "But, as you can see. The draes had other ideas." He gestured to the draes sleeping not far from them. Asher had woken up and was making his way towards the other draes in the distance. He growled at them, and they left reluctantly one by one.

"Then, can we show you around? We could go to the incubation chamber!" Solana asked.

Alec perked up at the thought of seeing drae eggs. He had always wanted to see some up close. "If it's alright, then I would love to."

"Then let's go!" Solana clapped her hands and started skipping towards a path under a hedge archway. Dia, her draeling, rolled her eyes at her Draeyer's enthusiasm. She paused and turned to look back at Alec. "If we give you a good tour, can I get a hug?"

Alec's blush came back and Knox's face turned red too, but from shame. He ran up and trapped his sister's head in a headlock. "Give it a rest!"

Judging from the laugh that came from Solana, she was only messing with the two of them.

A tired brother and a mischievous sister. Quite a pair.

--------

"We're here!" she said.

He looked up and found himself surrounded by large trees, larger than the ones in the orchard they passed through. A large cylinder structure, made of wood and stone, stood taller than the trees surrounding it. Big arching double doors with hoop handles served as the entrance. One of the door flaps was open, and he followed Solana and Knox through it. Asher, Uby, and Dia remained outside.

He stepped into a dark tunnel and saw light coming from the other end. He saw the siblings' silhouette, and he continued walking until he stepped out into the light. When his eyes adjusted to the brightness, his mouth hung open at the sight before him.

Tens of multicolored Drae eggs were nestled in rows of 15 circling stone tiers. Each one was covered in hay and an array of fabrics to keep them warm. Three sets of steps, which all led to the highest tier, were placed evenly away from each other. He looked up and found three large lamp-crimas shedding light that warmed up the inside of the chamber.

Up ahead, the brother and sister were talking about something. Knox seemed to be nagging Solana about something. The girl, in turn, rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at her brother. Knox pulled her into a headlock and ruffled her hair. He smiled as he watched Solana trying to free herself from his brother's tight hold around her neck. A memory of him and his brother in the same position popped out of his mind and brought up a bittersweet feeling in his chest. I'm feeling way too many emotions in one day, he thought.

"Are you alright?" his mind snapped out his musings when he heard the concern in Solana's voice. He looked back up at them and nodded at their frowning faces.

"Seeing you two just made me remember something," he said. "I'm sorry." The siblings glanced at each other before they turned to him and smiled.

"No problem, Alec," Knox said. "Would you like to see the eggs that would be hatching soon?" Alec's smile grew wider as nodded and followed after him.

"New Draelings are going to be hatching again real soon? I thought it wouldn't be for another month." Solana said as he ran after him and her brother. They headed for one staircase and climbed up.

"The eggs that are close to the end of the incubation period are found on the 15th tier. See those light sources?" Knox said as he pointed up at the lamp-crimas. "They were customized to gather enough energy from the sun to warm up these eggs. Usually, every one to two months, a couple of eggs hatch, and some of the babies pick their Draeyers while the majority choose to stay in the Sanctuary. Eventually, they leave when they're big enough and can withstand the forceful currents of the wind."

A few moments later, they reached the 15th tier and they stepped away from the stairs and to the tables of hay with different colored eggs. Alec was blinded by the light reflecting from the silver tops of the eggs, causing him to close his eyes for a few seconds. Once he did, he turned back to the siblings who were leaning against the wooden railing.

"Do you guys come here often?" he said.

"Yes, since it is part of a prefect's duties in this school," Knox said. "Although Solana rarely comes here," he said, shooting a glare down at his sister. Solana only shrugged as she grinned at him with her perfect rows of teeth.

"Don't just grin at me like that!" Knox said. Solana stuck her tongue at him, and Alec ended up chuckling as they started squabbling again. He shook his head and turned his attention back to the eggs. From not too far away, a dark blue egg with black wings-like markings caught his attention. Once he stood in front of it, he noticed the silver at the top shining a bit more brightly than the rest. He reached out, only to stop when he heard a yell.

"Don't touch that one!" Knox said as he jogged over to him. Alec raised a brow at him as he pulled back his hand. Once next to him, including Solana, Knox leaned in close to the egg as he scrutinized it with keen eyes. He heard him sigh in relief.

"Sorry, I thought it was alright to touch them," Alec said.

"Well, it's fine to touch them, except this one," Knox said. "I'm sorry if I startled you." Alec nodded at the apology, as he kept his attention on the blue egg.

"What's different about this one?" he said. Knox and Solana exchanged glances before the latter nodded. Knox turned back to him and pointed at the egg.

"That egg was rescued from poachers in Icefall City in Arktis just a few weeks ago," he said. Alec's eyes grew big at the information that the egg came from his homeland, before he nodded at Knox to continue.

"The weird thing about it is that whenever someone tries to touch it, the egg releases a tiny sphere of power, and the person's hand, gets covered in ice," Knox said.

"I heard that phenomenon can sometimes happen when the drae in the egg feels threatened."

"Yes, that can happen for some eggs," Knox nodded. "But this one seems to still feel unsafe, so much so that it would make it hard for people to touch them. We always had to use a blanket to move it from one level to another for it to get more warmth to hatch."

"The headmaster, the professors, and the students have all been anticipating the day it would hatch, and see what the draeling will be like," Solana said.

"I was supposed to tell him that," Knox said as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Do you really have to make a big deal out of it?" Solana said.

"No," he said. "But you can't just go interrupting people who are older than you when they're talking!" Alec shook his head in silence as they started another round of banter.

"This again?" Solana said. "You're only older by a few minutes! That's not much of a difference!"

Alec's eyes widened as he looked them both up and down and examined their appearance again. Solana had light blonde hair, whereas Knox's was dark as the night. Their skin colors were also different, with Knox having light-tanned skin while Solana's was close to being fair enough like snow. Their appearances were completely different from each other, minus the eyes. He heard of their being twins who don't look alike but it was the first time seeing them. He shook his head, deciding it was not a big deal.

The two continued their childish fight, forgetting him for a moment. Not knowing what else to say, he turned his attention back to the egg. He looked down at the hand he used to reach out earlier, and his brows knit in confusion.

Then why didn't it freeze my hand?