Alternative Title :) : Strawberries and Triggers (I just felt like putting it there, alright?)

###

First Ryder Regime Base-Main
Cetrulis Skyland
Central Space

Alec released a sigh as he sat on a stone bench. He looked around the cobblestone courtyard, watching the Ryders cross the space from one side of the Main building to another. Soon after, his Draelings came scampering to him with Kreis not too far behind.

Earlier, he stepped into a room with one wall made out thick clear glass and saw the men. However, the moment he entered he said all five of them bore no resemblance to the bastard who killed Crimson, mostly because they were fat. Right after though, Kreis insisted that he described the man once again after calling Ryder who could sketch his appearance. It took them a while to finish the drawing, and he so wanted to rest. Another reason was to avoid the looks the Ryders were giving him and his Draelings. It would seem that being a Draeyer of three was quite a big deal―which was of course true.

Entiny arrived first and nestled herself on his lap. Midnight and Leyan chose to curl beneath his feet, looking up at him with their heads held high. He looked up to his left, when Kreis sat next to him. His eyes drifted to the white bowl in his hands. It was filled with red berries―he assumed―covered in small yellow grains.

"Would you like some?" Kreis said. He sat it down between them, while Alec fixed his gaze on his face. "They make a great snack."

"What are they?" he said.

"They're strawberries and there are plenty this season," Kreis said. "You haven't had one?"

"I live in Arktis where meat is the main source of food, because vegetation is scarce so of course I haven't seen one."

"No need to bark. I'm perfectly aware that you're still mad at me from earlier this morning."

Silence fell on them after and Alec stroked Entiny in attempt to ignore the man. Her brothers soon sought for his attention as well, and flew to his shoulders.

His head shot up when he heard scraping from next to him. He looked to Kreis' direction, and found the bowl of strawberries closer to him. Trailing his gaze up, he saw Kreis with his head cradled in one hand, with his elbow planted on his knee. Alec caught him glancing at him from the corner of his chocolate eyes.

"It's yours," he said. "Consider it as a peace offering for my behavior. I'm sorry kid."

Alec stared at Kreis like he had grown two heads. When the man saw him, he let out chuckle as he reached out and ruffled his hair. Alec's face contorted in annoyance before shaking his hand off his head. He turned his attention to the bowl, before picking up a strawberry with some hesitance. A fresh sweet scent drifted to his nose, before a taste somehow similar to it fell on his tongue. Saccharine juices from the fruit filled his mouth as he chewed, and he was unable to stop himself from closing his eyes and taking in the flavor.

"You remind me so much of Gael when he was younger," Kreis said. Alec swallowed the fruit as he fixed his attention back to him. Not noticing what he was doing, his hand went to pick a berry before, popping it in his mouth. He chewed and swallowed, before taking another berry once more. Kreis watched him with a small smile―probably of amusement―before he continued.

"He was like you. He was good in almost anything. With little effort he could easily accomplish his tasks while I had to work my behind every day for weeks, months, and years before I managed to grow adept in a certain aspect.

"I envied him a lot. But when I learned that he was planning to throw away the future most of us were working hard to attain, I snapped and I punched him with all my might. The both of us ended up in the infirmary, with me suffering the most damaged."

"Naturally," Alec said. He took a bite of another fruit, while Kreis shot him look while narrowing his eyes.

"Anyway, Headmaster Donovan punished us both. And some things happened during that period which led our friendship to what it is now. Sometime after that, Gael started turning into the person he is now."

"It's hard to believe," Alec swallowed the fruit. "He doesn't seem like...what you say he is."

"He falls asleep on the job. He breaks the rules at times intended for them as professors. And he can be the monster he was when we were younger if he so wills it," Kreis snorted. "Tell me if he's...whatever damn word there is that exists to describe him."

Once more, they fell quite with the exception of Alec's oblivious munching on his mid-morning snack. He raised a brow at Kreis when the man looked at him with an amused grin.

"What?"

"I can't believe you ate it all," he said. Alec's head snapped to the bowl, only to find it empty. He found the last strawberry in his hand, almost close to his mouth. His jaw dropped as he stared at it. Kreis bent forward and let lose a round of laughter. Few of his men in the area paused and turned to watch their superior with bemused faces.

"There's no way I finished it all!" Alec said. A tinge of pink crawled over his cheeks as he looked down at his Draelings. "Did you three eat any?" Entiny raised her head and sent him her own glare along with her brothers, annoyed with being the center of their own Draeyer's accusation.

If possible Kreis' laughter grew louder and he started hitting Alec's shoulder with bone-crushing force. If Alec wasn't well-built his bones would've been crushed. However, it still hurt like two of Solana's punches combined. And one punch alone hurt enough.

"Stop it!" Alec yelled. Kreis brought his hand to his mouth as his laughter slowly ceased. He took a deep breath to compose himself.

"It's very obvious that you love those, even though you didn't seem to notice that you were eating two at a time," Kreis said and ruffled his hair once more. Alec's gaze fell to the ground with his face still a light shade of pink. Kreis gave out another soft laugh, and patted his head. His eyes widened when the older man snatched the last strawberry from his hand. He raised it in front of his face.

"Show me your Flame using this berry," Kreis said. "I promise I'll get you more after lunch."

"I already told you that I can't remember how to conjure it," Alec said. "Professor Cynn said an emotion for triggering a Flame is different for a few Draeyers. During that snake incident, a lot of emotions dominated me, and don't know which were it."

Kreis sighed and rubbed the spot between his brows. He cupped his chin between his fingers with a calculating look in his eyes.

"Then let's try it like this," he said. "What were you thinking of when the Flame appeared? Don't focus on what you were feeling. If you focus on what happened, the emotions you felt will resurface naturally." When he finished speaking, he handed the fruit back. "Then, think of focusing the energy only on this part of your body."

Alec took a deep breath before closing his eyes. His mind made its way back to the incident after he set Areisha's shaken form on the ground. He remembered how the black snake lashed out at the Draelings that tried to protect them. His hand clenched around the fruit and he felt it giving in to his strength. Nevertheless, he focused on the memory. He remembered how a growl escaped his lips when the snake tossed Entiny to the side. He recalled the urgency in his steps as he ran to their aid. Relief had fueled his being when he grabbed the creature's neck and wrestled it away from his triplets.

His eyes flew open when he felt the familiar cold on his palm. Not soon after, his fist erupted into pale blue flames and crawled all the way up to his wrist. The fire roared and moved with the light breezes drifting by before ever so slowly receding into his palm. He looked back up at Kreis and found the man smiling at him. Alec opened his palms, and looked down at the berry. Kreis leaned forward and did the same.

"A bit crushed, but still frozen right to the core," the older man commented. A dark expression appeared on his face as he gazed at the ice on Alec's palm. Alec couldn't read what he was thinking in his mind. His face suddenly broke into a grin, leaving no trace of his previous expression. "Well, now that I see what you're capable of, I've been given another reason to believe that you indeed need to stay in the Academy and hone it.

"But this time, you should think about it yourself. I won't force you, and I'll tell Gael to do the same. You're intelligent, and I trust you'd make a decision that would be best for you in time."

Alec stared at the man for at least a full minute. He hid his smile when he saw him squirm a bit under his gaze. Kreis' eye twitched and he finally snapped.

"Why are you staring?"

"Why are you like this to me?" Alec said. "At first you looked at me like I was the worst person in the word. But then after, you...changed. You and Professor Gael barely even know me, especially you, but why are you so―"

"I was sour about the fact that you managed to wound me, alright? I do not take being injured by my opponents lightly. But that changed when you apologized to me like little boy caught trying to steal candy―you were adorable then by the way." Alec sent him a glare, but it failed to faze him one bit.

"Yes, I barely know you. But sometimes, you don't really need to thoroughly know a person to trust and believe that they are good. All you have to do is watch their behavior towards others and themselves. And since Gael and I were trained to read people, it wasn't hard to judge."

Alec sighed and shook his head. He scooped Midnight and Leyan in his arms, before placing them gently on his lap. However, their lower bodies ended sprawled on the bench, while Entiny took up most of the space. You guys are getting bigger, he thought.

"So Alec," Kreis said. "Do you now know the trigger to your Flame?"

Alec smiled at him, before turning his gaze back to his Draelings. They looked up at him with their ambers eyes shining as they gave him toothless smiles.

"First I felt anger. But it was overcome by fear," he said. "But not soon after I had the urge to protect."

"Which is it then?"

"It is...fear," he said. Kreis' brows rose to his hairline, before he gave him a small smile.

"I would've expected you to choose the need to protect. Most Flames are conjured from it," he said. "But would you care to explain?"

"Fear fed my urge to protect," he said. "It is true that a person's need to guard what is his is powerful. But how can you gain that feeling when you're not afraid of losing anything dear to you?

"Let's have you and Professor Meolie as an example."

Kreis dropped his jaw, and a crimson hue covered his fair complexion all the way to his ears. Even so, he still managed to glare at Alec.

"What if Professor Meolie was to be pursued by a man who wants nothing but to satisfy his desires? And let us assume you know this very well, and you would do anything in your power to keep that man away," he said. He completely ignored the red-faced Kreis whose mouth formed a tight line.

"Now what if people like that were to disappear from the face of this world, along with that fear? Would you still have the urge to protect her from the harm people of that kind could do?"

Despite being embarrassed, Kreis managed to smile and squeeze Alec's shoulder. He reached forward to his hair, messing it up even more than it usually was. Alec groaned, but he found the gesture leaving a sense of comfort in his heart.

"That was quite a smart answer I never expected," Kreis said. "Still, did you really have to use us as an example? You're such little Eimion." Alec only chuckled, and surprisingly his Draelings joined him. It quickly earned a punch on the back of his head. He sighed as he rubbed the pain away.

"My brother said that fear is not a bad thing. It breeds many things like anger, sadness, hope, survival...and even happiness," he continued. "It's up to a person how he'll perceive and let it affect him."

"You speak like someone whose known fear all his life." Alec fell silent and stared at the cobblestone ground. He tilted his head and looked up at the sky.

"That's because I have," he said.

When he looked back at Kreis, he found him staring at him with a deep crease between his brows. Alec looked away and fixed his attention on his Draelings. They sat there with the silence growing awkward with every passing moment. A slap on his back broke him out his own world. When he fixed his attention on Kreis, the man had already stood and walked away.

He paused in the middle of the courtyard, and twisted his body to look back at him. He raised one of his brows at Alec.

"Are you coming?" he said. "Maenin is celebrating the second day of the Festival of the Dead. And I did promise I'd get you more strawberries after we have lunch." Kreis smiled at him for the umpteenth time that day.

Alec returned it with his own, before cradling his three Draelings with a bit of difficulty. Midnight and Leyan wriggled out of his hold though, and chose to drop on the ground on either side of him.

With a smile still on his face, he ran after the Head Ryder, never noticing a pair of grass-green eyes glaring at his back from atop the roof.

###

Did I mention in the previous chap that this story is longer than I expected? Well, it definitely is, and the possibility of splitting this story into a few more books has risen to 48% (lol). And also a bit of change on the title...but I'm not too sure yet about that! In the meantime, I've been practicing to digitally draw Alec, Crimson...and I guess the Triplets. I might put them on the Character Bonus chap later today-Alec's and Crimson's I mean. I'm still not done with the Triplets'...hehe

Love,

Your Crazy Author