Draeyer Academy
Drae Skyland
Northeastern Space

Gael pushed Star Dorm's entrance open, and held it for him. Alec frowned. First, they wouldn't let him carry the bag which contained his used clothes, even though it was so light a five year-old could kick it around like ball. Then they wouldn't let him climb on the incline connecting the dock to Float alone, because he might lose his balance. Next, they forced him to sit down in their cabin saying he shouldn't get tired during the duration of the trip. And now, they were holding doors open for him, which only added to his pent up annoyance.

"Will you two stop treating me like an invalid!" he said. "I'm better now!"

"We're not treating you like an invalid!" Kreis said from behind him. "We're taking care of you, so get your ass inside already!"

With grunt of annoyance, he entered and passed Gael who had an amused smile on his face. He was sure that Kreis had the same beam, and at that moment he wanted to wipe the looks off with his fists. When he got inside, he looked around. The first things which caught his eyes were the new chandelier hanging above and the blue and green couches which replaced the old ones. The colorful décor was a relief for his eyes who had seen nothing but plain white walls for the past one and a half weeks.

When he heard shrieks to his right, he smiled when he saw his Draelings with Uby and Dia, rubbing their heads against each other in greeting. His head snapped to the top of the curved steps when he heard a male voice.

"Alec!" Knox yelled before he twisted his body behind him. "Guys, Alec's back!"

Soon, Alec heard sets of running footfalls accompanied by Knox's steps down the stairs. When his friend reached him, Solana and Ceiver were half-way down the stairs. Knox raised a hand and ruffled Alec's hair with a smile on his face. The latter tried to glare back but he ended up reflecting the boy's expression.

"Careful," Gael said. "He's still a little unsteady on his feet."

Alec turned to narrow his eyes at him. "I already told you that I'm fine. You're just imagining things because you're overreacting."

However, his statement fell into deaf ears when his guardian turned to the head of Star Dorm. "Knox, make sure he doesn't strain himself and he will eat properly. I'll leave his medicine to you, because he might forget to take them...."

He continued to ramble on with his instructions and Alec rolled his eyes with a groan. He looked up at the ceiling and stopped himself from cursing the new profanities he picked up from Kreis. Lord Kosmos, help me, he thought.

His eyes trailed down, and they settled on Solana who stood a few meters away from him. It would seem that she had more interest on the blue carpeting since she never looked up at him at all. His brows knit, and his feet brought him to her. With some hesitance he placed his hand on one of her shoulders. To his surprise she stepped back and looked up at him with bloodshot eyes. He took note of the tears forming on the corners of them.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Alec," she said with sob. Alec tilted his head to his right while his eyes grew by a fraction. "I broke my promise and got nosy again. And because of that it ended with you and Areisha fighting and getting hurt. I'm terrible...." She broke out into cries before she could finish the sentence.

Alec took a step toward her, but a hand landed on his shoulder. When he looked back, it was Knox. He watched us Knox mouthed, "Let me." He nodded at him, before stepping aside so he could get to Solana. Knox wrapped his muscled arms around his sister and pressed his chest to her sobbing face. He ran his fingers through her blonde locks as he spoke with a soft tone.

"Hush, little sis," he said. "You cried like this when Areisha came back but you said you wouldn't do it again. Look at what you're doing now. And I remember you saying that crying makes one ugly."

"I...can't...help it," Solana cried as she fisted her brother's shirt.

"Let's get you back to your room. You're eyes are already red and you could use some of your beauty sleep, wouldn't you like that?" After watching her sister nod, Knox led Solana up to her room after giving Alec a smile which was in between sad and happy.

"That was something I didn't expect."

"Solana is a little emotionally unstable."

Alec looked back and saw Gael approaching him while the man's green eyes focused on the twins disappearing into the second floor.

"Since when?" he couldn't help but asked.

His question was greeted by silence and he turned to the three people with him. His brows knit in confusion when he saw all three of them with their gazes somewhere except on him. Gael broke the silence with a cough.

"The headmaster wishes to speak to you tomorrow before you resume attending classes. It's after lunch and important so don't be late," he said. "Get some more rest."

―――

Sprawled over his white and blue bed, Alec stroked his Draelings' necks while they snored softly to his right. However, his gaze was fixed on his golden pendant. He took a deep breath at what he was about to do. He pressed the button and there was a click. The lock released and the flap swung open. As usual, his brother's smiling face during his youth greeted him. Instead of focusing on him though, his gaze settled to his own image during his infancy. He was smiling with a few of his teeth still growing.

But unlike all the other times he opened the locket, he didn't smile. His mind recalled the dream he had before he awoke in the hospital. Looking at his younger image, he was certain that the child he dreamed of was indeed himself. What did it mean? Was it a memory his younger self buried deep in his mind? Or was it just an effect of the medicines in his body?

It felt so real, he thought. He wasn't sure if the tingling he felt on his back at that moment was his imagination or not. He shut the locket and sat up, careful not to wake the baby Draes. After looking up at the square clock on his wall, he sighed. He stood and walked over to his closet. When he pulled the flaps open, he grabbed a random shirt and threw off the one he was wearing. He donned the blue v-neck sleeveless top, and then headed out the door.

When he stepped out, Areisha passed him. She froze for a brief moment that Alec wouldn't have noticed if he wasn't looking intently at her. She resumed walking and Alec took off in the same direction. What does the headmaster want now? he thought with his gaze at the floor.

After walking down the stairs, he stepped out the dorm and made his way over to the Academy building. He never looked up as he threaded the path by the lake and even when he passed Professor Gravis' class which was some distance away. Because of that, he ended bumping into someone's shoulder. Twisting quickly, he caught the girl before she could fall over. However, they bolted away from each other when their eyes met. Dark blue locked with cerulean ones, before Alec pivoted and left her standing there. A few moments more, he heard her footsteps trailing after him.

He looked over his shoulder and frowned. "Why are you following me?"

Areisha looked a bit taken aback as her eyes widened and she stopped in her tracks. She was quick to mirror his frown though. "You were the one following me earlier before you somehow bumped in to me despite the path being wide enough for five people."

"I wasn't following you," he said stopping as well. "And are you implying that I hit you on purpose."

"What else would I be implying?"

Alec took a deep breath, before walking away from her once more. After one and half weeks, their first conversation was an argument. Now that he thought back, all of their conversations so far were arguments. Except for the one time in his room that he swore to never speak about.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard her stomping and saw her pass him from the corner of his eye. Having longer legs proved to be an advantage, for he was next to her in a few strides and ahead of her soon after.

They reached the main building much faster than usual due to their unintended race-walk competition. He stopped an amused smile from forming when he heard Areisha's panting due to the effort she exerted in matching his pace. The students in the lounge looked up at them with surprised faces, but jerked their heads away after.

"Alec! Lady Areisha!"

Their heads whirled behind them, and saw Riki approaching with a pad in one hand. On her other hand was a light-crima, the red light coming from a portion of it signaled that it was ready to capture images. He groaned in silence before upping his speed and turning in to the grey hallway leading to the headmaster's office. He stopped at the door. Something rammed in to him from behind, and he looked to find Areisha stepping away. Her eyes narrowed as she rubbed her reddening nose.

With a shake of his head, he knocked on the brown double-doors. He heard the old man's voice telling him to come in, and he entered. Areisha pushed passed, and in the process painfully bumped her shoulders against his ―his elbow rather since she was short. He sighed, before closing the door behind him.

"Oh?" the headmaster's said with his head inclined to the right. "You two came together?"

They greeted him with silence, while laughter reverberated from behind the pair. Alec's head twisted to look, and found Kreis waving his hand with Gael standing next to him. The Head Ryder had a sinister grin on his face, while their professor's face was hard as stone.

"Since you want to remain mum, I'll get to the point," Headmaster Donovan said. "For breaking rules under the Academy Regulations for Order and Safety, you two are going under a two-month long punishment."