Dragon Boy

13: Door

It was shortly after Kyle, Aoife, and Asim's journey that missions were temporarily halted, and several emergency courses - including a potions course, which began immediately with identifying plants that could be used as antidote for a wide range of ailments - were ordered to the students. Some students' schedules were already so full that they could not add a class, and so their existing teachers were trained in potions. Many were unhappy with this, worried that the pressure and homework would become too great, and one student's mother even came to the school to complain.

"It's never happened before and it only happened this once," she snapped.

"And it will only ever happen once," Mr. Connolly assured her.

"Exactly," she continued. "So why are you making them take another course if it'll never happen again?"

"Well," Mr. Connolly retorted, "would you rather they be trained and prepared for something that likely will never happen again but by all means could, or they be unprepared and untrained for a situation that could easily arise without warning? Would you rather your child be prepared for a disaster or would you rather they be lost and clueless? Is this all really such a big inconvenience to you, that you would rather your child die than do fifteen more minutes of homework to ensure that they understand how to protect themselves against any and all threats?"

The mother's face became less tense. Then, she simply nodded, and left.

Kyle spent as much time as he could with his friends. He feared for everyone's well-being, and worried that at any moment, the old man could reappear and steal him or his friends away, never to be seen again. He was afraid to be alone, and he was afraid to leave them alone.

They told him not to worry, and that he really had no reason to be worried. The school was isolated, teachers and staff were on high alert, there were literal hundreds of places to hide and be safe, and, best of all, their Familiars (and Akora's pet) were all fully grown. There was no reason to be afraid, and yet he was.

"I understand what you mean," Elvia assured him one day as they sketched in the courtyard. "I find that I'm afraid even when there's nothing to be afraid of. I worry that so many things can go wrong, and no matter how much I tell myself everything's okay, I still worry." She took a moment to think about what she said, then followed it with, "I see now that, that probably wasn't much help."

At dinner that same day, the three sat together as was the norm, but Nixie unveiled some interesting news. "So Asim and I have a class together," she began, "and we sit next to each other and sometimes talk when we get the chance." She took a sip of water and continued, "So yeah, nothing weird about that. But today, he said that his 'romantic endeavor' or whatever with Aoife wasn't working out. I thought, 'Well yeah, because you're weird' but of course I didn't tell him that. So anyway, he starts rambling about his love life or lack thereof and at some point I kinda started tuning him out, then he asks me a question. I tell him I didn't quite catch what he said, so I asked him to repeat it. He says, 'What do you think about me pursuing someone else?' and I tell him to go for it. At the time I figured that was the best thing to say, since it would get him off Aoife's back for a bit, but then he started talking about all the people he could set his sights on. Normally I don't like to shame someone's romantic attractions, but oh boy, his list of crushes is long."

"I think I get that," Elvia replied. "I mean, it's normal to have multiple crushes. Plus, it helps if one rejects you, because then it helps to narrow your options down." She giggled nervously, suggesting that the poor thing had problems with this time and time again. Then, she started to take a drink of her juice.

"It's a long list," Nixie repeated. "Elvia, you were on the list."

Elvia spat her juice out, coughing on some that had been half-way down her throat at the time, and gasped, "What?"