Ceiver has been changed to Keiver. Poor guy couldn't pronounce his own name properly in the first ver.

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Holding a sleeping Emera tight, she took one last look at her appearance in the mirror. Her long reddish-brown hair was tied in a tight ponytail, held together by a blue ribbon. She pressed the front of her black uniform jacket with the light blue lines running over the sleeves. Reaching her chest, she fixed the blue ribbon that had moved because of her draeling's movement. Next, she made sure that the black pants were perfectly tucked into her boots before finally nodding in satisfaction.

Nothing out of place. Let's make it a perfect day today.

Soon enough, she left her room headed downstairs, and arrived at the lobby of Star Dorm. There she found her fellow Sentires, waiting as per tradition, for their Dormitory Supervisor to lead them towards the auditorium. for the semester's opening ceremony. It was quite tedious if you asked her, and a waste of time since they all knew how to get there themselves. But no, traditions must be followed.

Giving a short nod of greeting to the three third-years and four second-years, she made her way to her fellow first-years. She was quick to spot Keiver, their youngest who had short brown hair and dark brown eyes, quietly sitting to the side as the Munstone twins bickered in front of him. Once more, Solana and Knox were busy arguing about their breakfast—as they have always done since they were kids. It was a never-ending argument and she had already learned to let their words about breakfast pass through one ear and out the other.

River stepped out from the dining area, carrying an apple which he immediately gave to Keiver. Ignoring the twins, Areisha approached the platinum blonde who looked up at her approach with dark blue eyes. "Is Rei coming?"

River shrugged, and Areisha nodded. So Rei would not be coming, and would probably just play hooky again like he did last semester. "Good morning, Keiver," she greeted the boy next to River. She got a wave and muffled Hi from behind a mouthful of apples. She chuckled and shook her head at the sight.

The sound of the door opening ceased the noise of the twin's bickering and the murmurs of the other Sentires. "Good morning, everyone!" Gael said with the brightest smile she had ever seen from the man. "We are once again following this ridiculous and tedious tradition of leading you all to the auditorium, which I'm sure you already won't have trouble finding! Endure this a few more years, and maybe I can wear down Headmaster Donovan into getting rid of this, okay?"

Areisha's lips twitched as she fought off the smile. Gael had changed so much in the last couple of years, and she sometimes forgot how feral Gael was to people when they were kids. Something was a little different today, though. The man's sunny disposition was even brighter than the last time she saw him, which was just a few days ago. What could have happened in such a short time?

Solana appeared to have noticed and raised her hand to ask. "Good morning, Professor. What made you so happy today?"

Gael's smile grew wider. "Just the most amazing week of my life. A couple of my wishes were granted—and I've been having a good laugh at someone's misery since yesterday afternoon."

At Gael's last answer, they heard a groan from just outside the double doors of the dorm. Gael laughed and opened it wider. Behind the door, Alec Arden stood glaring at Gael while cradling a baby drae in his arms. He wore a dark blue turtleneck under a long-sleeved shirt, with a neckline that dipped low to the chest area. Loose black plants, with many pockets at the side, hugged his legs. To complete the look, his feet were clad in black boots with dark blue laces. Under the warm light of the sun, she could properly see his face which was partly hidden by the shade last time.

He looked...

He looks just as infuriating, no matter what the lighting is. She thanked Kosmos that Emera was asleep and did not run off towards Alec again. Her perfect day would be ruined if she got involved in an argument first thing in the morning.

"What kind of adult are you, laughing at another's misery?" Alec spoke to Gael, voice dry tone. She could see the annoyance seeping out of his light blue eyes though.

"An adult who knows how to have fun?"

"This draeling has nearly died four times in the last twelve hours! It's been driving me crazy. There is nothing fun about it!"

Gael bit his lip. "Draelings are resilient. He wouldn't have died from those. It just proves how...different this draeling is from the rest," the man said. "This is the first time I ever saw a draeling nearly choke on a rock, get trapped in a kitchen drawer, choke again but this time on an unpeeled potato...and lastly...forget to use his wings to fly...when he jumped...out the window."

"Again, nothing funny."

"The faces you made were, and trust me when I say that you'll laugh at all this someday."

Areisha saw when Alec gave up on the conversation. He sighed very deeply and focused on the brown little draeling in his arms.

Gael finally remembered that they had an audience, so he nudged Alec forward and introduced him. "This is my new teaching assistant, Alec Arden. You'll see him often as he will be helping me out with my Dorm Supervisory duties."

"Nice to meet you," Alec greeted with a polite nod to his head.

The twins waved at him and Knox asked a question. "Are you the draeling's Draeyer?"

"No," Alec said quickly.

"I think I heard 'Fortunately' after the 'no'."

Areisha heard it too.

"You heard no such thing." Alec looked down and quickly mouthed an apology to the draeling. The little baby looked confused at his apology but then snuggled closer into his arms. Her lips twitched at the adorably dumb look on his little face. I can guess what Gael meant when he said the draeling was...different.

Gael's shoulders shook harder, as he tried to suppress his laughter behind a cough. His efforts were in vain when Alec still heard.

"Will you quit it—huh?" Alec's eyes were quickly drawn to the little brown draeling in his arms again. Areisha raised a brow when he continued to look at the baby, his brows furrowing in confusion. Gael was quick to notice his change of expression and called out.

"What's wrong?" But, Alec did not answer. Instead, his eyes took on a light glow, like he was seeing something that others could not. His gaze lingered on the draeling, before slowly moving towards a tall tree like he was following something. He looked back at the draeling, then the tree again. He tilted his head in confusion.

"Alec?" Gael called out again, tone concerned and worried. The rest of them fell silent as they watched Gael's teaching assistant. He remained quiet for a few more seconds before looking back up at the tree next to them.

"The person on that tree, come down for a moment," Alec said. Everyone's gaze whipped up to the tree that had no one on it. Areisha was confused for a moment before she took a closer look.

It's him.

Gael realized who it was too and called out. "Rei, get down here for a moment, please."

There was a pause before a brief buzzing sound came from the tree. An area on one branch began to distort, slowly revealing the person hiding behind the illusion. A familiar redhead boy sat on the tree, grinning as he looked down at them from above. He swung himself from the branch before landing in a roll, quickly propping himself up on his feet.

"What can I help you with?" Rei asked Alec. Areisha wanted to roll her eyes. She saw the familiar smile he always used when he was trying to charm someone. Countless people of different genders had fallen for it and had their hearts broken in the process.

To her surprise, Alec's face remained unchanged. He switched his gaze between the draeling and Rei, still looking just as confused as earlier. A few moments later, his face turned serious before moving closer to Rei.

Amusement filled her when Rei immediately became flustered. Alec had moved his face close enough to Rei's, which had the redhead immediately blushing. He then proceeded to circle around him and look him up and down. The longer he did so, the more flustered Rei became. She really wanted to laugh at Rei getting a taste of his own medicine. Throughout it all, Alec remained unfazed before finally turning serious.

"Are you a Draeyer?" Alec asked.

"...No," Rei answered.

"Do you want to be a Draeyer?"

"Who...doesn't?"

"Will you treat them right?"

"I definitely would!"

"Do you have any opinions on a drae's intelligence?"

"A weird question. Is that required?"

Alec looked into his eyes like he was trying to tell if he was lying. He then nodded and grabbed the draeling underneath his front legs. "I hope my prayers were heard," he said to the baby drae. He looked back at Rei. "Hold out your hands."

Rei, blushing and confused at the order, held out both hands in front of him. Without warning, Alec placed the brown draeling on his hands. At first, nothing happened, but soon Areisha's eyes widened.

Small flashes of light appeared on the draeling's body, swirling and moving until they formed star-shaped markings on his neck. Some of the lights flowed down, settling on the back of Rei's palm. Like what happened with the draeling's neck, they swirled and moved. From experience, Areisha already knew what shape the light had taken form on Rei's hand. It would look similar to the star-like dots all over the back of her hand.

The little draeling tilted its head and looked to Rei. The moment they met eyes, the baby drae immediately launched himself toward Rei, wrapping his legs and wings around his head. Not long after, the draeling had let out chirps and growls as it cried, happy tears leaking from his eyes. Rei was too stunned to move.

"I'm happy for you, little one," Alec said when the draeling paused his crying and looked back at him. After that, he went back to wailing into Rei's shocked face.

Everyone fell silent, trying to comprehend what happened. To all who saw, it looked like Alec had somehow known that Rei was the draeling's Draeyer. Which, as far as common sense would tell them, should not have been possible.

But then she remembered that the twins had told her that Alec had his manifestation a few days ago. Was this part of his sentiral power? She heard that his power was an aura that made draes like him. That did not seem to be the case to her. At least, not completely.

"What just happened, Alec?" Gael asked. From the dazed look in his eyes, it seemed the man didn't even know he had said it out loud.

"I don't know either," Alec said. "I just saw—"

Gael's hand covered his mouth in an instant, causing Alec to glare at him. "Remember rule number one? Do not talk about your powers in public."

"You're the one who asked in public."

In one second, Gael flicked Alec on the forehead. Areisha would have missed it if she had blinked.

The man looked a little surprised at the reflexive forehead flick, and Alec slowly reached for the reddening spot just above his brows. His eyes were wide with disbelief. "You hit me."

"It was on reflex. I'm sorry."

"You managed to hit me."

"I'm sorry."

Alec fell silent before turning away from Gael and rubbing at his forehead, looking confused the entire time. To Areisha, he looked more upset that he could not see the flick coming than Gael hitting him. Is this the first time he's been hit?

She was broken from her thoughts when some of her fellow Sentires, especially the non-Draeyers, began heading for Alec. Their eyes gleamed with excitement.

If Alec Arden had just done what they all think he just did...then she could only pity him. His life wouldn't be peaceful from now on.

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Alec:...*sits quietly in a corner*

Me: *pokes stick* You okay?

Alec: *quietly*Why is this happening to me?

Me: *pokes Alec with the stick again*

Alec: Stop that.

Me: Nope *pokes him*