The dragon glances at me,  it's usually bright eyes dim and flickering Against the shadows that surround her like a literal shadow of death. She gives a weak smile before her tail flicks and brushes my cheek,  she does not speak,  nor does she have to as I stare at her eyes,  feelings of sorrow,  gratitude and longing washing over me as the almost feathery texture of her body glows bright once more,  then fades to dull metallic. 

Her eyes are an image imprinted in my mind, thin strands of silver smoke transferring between her eyes and mine, each scale and feather dimming as another strand flows to me, carrying not power but rather knowledge. I turn hastily away from the now dead body of my teacher, my friend,  wanting to remember the strong Dragon instead of a corpse and step out a portal. 

It takes a minute or two for my mind to get back on track and for sound to come rushing back to my ears  and only then did I realize that I had not heard a sound since the first shock of panic had frozen my blood. Since I had seen her. Not a single sound,  as if I had been watching through glass as I had acted. I preferred not to think of it as I walk to the infirmary. 

There, my friends are sitting in a circle, discussing what had happened. None of them had dreamt as they slept, it was as though someone had locked them in their own minds before they could act on their own. They noticed my arrival but once they saw my facial expression they all decided that it was better to leave me to my thoughts. 

Not a good idea, I know: they should have known better but even if they are my friends,  I feel that they fear me as every person does if they have no advantage or even an even playing field. I shake my head. What is wrong with me? Why am I thinking so...So.. So pessimistically? I'm not usually the one who reaches out and tries to think as the other person,  I usually act on instinct. I usually don't have deep thoughts,  I act as comic relief. 

What has happened to me? I must ask Chaos,  he'd know, right? In that second I thought 'but what if?' For one of the first times in my life and I was up, through a portal in a second. I must have given my friends quite a fright. I groan as I land in Chaos and Order's throne room,  at the bottom of their now black stairs with white rims. The black have stars forming random constellations and the white has patterns and I laugh aloud. Chaos and Order. 

Chaos looks up from his throne, startled at the sound of my voice as Order raises an eyebrow. I smile at my parents and kneel at their feet before standing and facing Chaos with a confused expression "Would anyone like to tell me why I had just seen my teacher pass away in front of my eyes?  Or possibly the fact that she had transferred something of importance to me as her life force had faded? " 

They both look shocked and it takes them an entire 53 seconds to answer "she was already fading Percy,  she had finally run out of strength. Maybe she transferred her powers over to you" Chaos says,  standing up and taking my left arm in a gentle grip. I nod but somehow that does not seem correct "No Chaos,  Not her power but her knowledge and her....glow. As she had described it. That would explain your impeccable grammar and positively lovely word choice, dear" Order said,  giving me a dazzling smile. 

I blinked. Once. Twice.Three times before answerring "Oh no"