Chapter 5: A Saturday To Remember Part I

Chapter 5: A Saturday To Remember Part I

By the time Lissandra returned to her room, she’d have class in the next four hours, but she didn’t regret her choice. There were just some things that needed to be nipped in the bud before they grew out of control, she was a Princess of Fire, and she had to act the part. Having her subordinates, her friends, not confide in her was a pain that stung now more than ever before. Their future within the school rested entirely in her hands, so she mustn’t fail them—

“Welcome back, Princesss.”

“Wh-what are you still doing up!”

Ash placed a finger to his lips as he looked under his bed to see that Scott was still sleeping soundly. The same could be said for both Baron and Alexis, who could probably sleep through anything with their conveniently prepared earplugs.

“Try to keep it down; the others are sleeping.”

“Sssorry…”

Lissandra shifted in place, her face burning with embarrassment as she was completely lost in thought, worrying about them. And speaking of worrying, when she looked at Ash on the top bunk in his pajamas, she noticed fresh marks on his arm that weren’t caused by her. She wanted to ask him if he had gotten attacked again when he went out but soon realized none of the injuries she caused were on him, leaving an unexplainably vile taste in her mouth,

“You never answered my question. Why are you up? We have class in the morning.”

“Same reason you are. I had things to do.”

“Just like yesterday night.”

“Yup,” Ash said, turning the page in his notebook.

Lissandra hadn’t even noticed he was reading anything, mostly because the sight just didn’t register in her mind. Ash didn’t look the type to be interested in books, especially one about… Fairytales?

It was a 1st edition Book of Fairytales carried on throughout the ages, effectively endless like the bibles of old and a child’s worst nightmare to read. Yet there he was, enjoying it with the same smile he wore whenever he fought. And that’s when it dawned on her. Lissandra really knew nothing about Ash even though they’d spent well over 16 hours together.

“Hey Princesss, I know you may not want to hear this, but you should probably take a shower. I can smell you from here.”

Ash fanned his face with a slight chuckle but never once took his eyes off the book. Almost as if he’d miss something if he looked away even for a second. Though that was impossible, Ash had read the whole thing multiple times over. He knew it like the back of his hand. He had to; it was the one gift his birth parents left him.

“You think you’re funny, but what you said was rude,” Lissandra said as she found her night clothes and went into the bathroom while muttering. “Insufferable Human.”

For once, Ash agreed with her, but he had no choice. The story about Haemolacria: A devil that could cry—always made his chest tighten to the point he had to wipe his eyes only to find them covered in a crimson shade. Ash didn’t know why he cried tears of blood, but he knew that wasn’t normal. Not for Dragonoids and especially not for Humans.

But after hiding the evidence and setting up his bookmark, Ash decided he should probably get some sleep before the Princesss finished. She’d probably give him a better reason to cry. Ash shivered at the thought of having to get another helping hand from Tuvira, who—after seeing his injuries caused by Lissandra—took her sweet time sinking her teeth in him. Ash was not a masochist, but after Tuvira eavesdropped on him and Lissandra, there was no convincing her otherwise.

“I hope this doesn’t become a norm,” Ash whispered as he drifted off to sleep.

2

As if the Dragons heard his plea and said go fuck yourself, Ash’s week had proceeded in the same manner, if not worst, since he didn’t get into any fights as the days prior. He woke up groggy from staying up too late; waiting for Lissandra to get out of the bathroom took forever as everyone else had woke up earlier, knowing beforehand that the Princess would take her sweet time. Ash had called it! Yet even when he tried to go downstairs and use the public restroom, he was ambushed.

That Wednesday, Ash had learned that Tuvira laid in wait outside his room door every morning, and there was nothing he could do. They were literally neighbors with the same homeroom. Now Ash didn’t hate it, but having to carry Tuvira around on his arm first thing in the morning was a bit much. Especially since Lissandra’s death stare hit a level he didn’t know was possible, like his cloak would just randomly catch on fire, and Scott would help put it out.

Dragons bless his soul. Without Scott, Ash would have lost his mind as he was the only one who tried to intervene even though he failed every time. It was the thought that counted. Way more than what Alexis and Baron would do. Baron—not like Ash expected much—simply accepted everything as normal. Which it wasn’t! But Alexis… Alexis could go to hell with all the times she’d sit there laughing while Lissandra ripped him apart, only for Tuvira to bite him back together.

In terms of school, Ash actually preferred it to whatever you would call that monstrosity of a situation. Sure, were the first three hours of Gen-ed with the shirtless fire-breathing teacher boring as wyvernshit? Yes, yes it was. But at least he knew that if Mr. Fireheart burned him alive, it was on purpose! Lissandra’s would be entirely accidental since apparently—here’s the quote:

“It just happens.” Lissandra shrugged. “Maybe you shouldn’t fraternize with outsiders.”

“Maybe you should get better at controlling your emotions.” Ash shot back only to be met with Lissandra’s coup de grace, as Ms. Sparkfang would put it.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be failing Astrology.”

Surprisingly Astrology was the only class Ash was having a hard time in. Like combat training was going smoothly for him—obviously—but everyone expected him to struggle in Monstrology and Psychology, yet that wasn’t the case. Turns out he had a pretty good memory which revealed a couple things about him.

The first being that Ash was surprisingly adept at learning, but more importantly, everyone realized that he knew their names. And oh boy, Cinder had a field day with that once since she decided—after being humiliated by Ash—to join his lunch table instead of hanging out with her Squad C. And that was after he referred to her as Cindy.

Ash had tried to get Lissandra to kick her from the table, but—and here’s the quote:

“If she gets to sit here, then we might as well let the whole circus in.”

“Hey! Uncool. Why can’t you be nice?” Cinder shook her head, making her chest bounce along with the rhythm.

“I know right,” Tuvira said, finally taking a breather from digging into Ash’s arm. “Lizzie can be such a blobfish.”

“Wait, is Lizzie her nickname? Oh, now that’s going on the front page of Mystars.”

“You better not!” Lissandra roared as the room got a little hotter, only for Ash to look at her, confused.

“Mystars?”

“You’ve never heard of Mystars???” Cinder jumped into the conversation, lifting up her PDA, and showed off her 10k followers. “You poor, poor, halfbreed. It’s like only the most popular social media platform—”

“I really don’t care.”

Ash shut her down completely, but that didn’t ruin Cinder’s stride as she turned to Tuvira with a narrowed gaze, whispering:

“Hey Tuvi, why do you like him again?”

“Isn’t it obvious? He’s my prince,” Tuvira clung onto Ash’s arm as if he was her property which at this point he might as well be.

“Right… And how did that happen again?”

Cinder looked at Ash, who looked at Scott, who looked back at him. Actually, pretty much everyone, including Alexis’s servants, were staring at Ash. Everyone wanted to know: how did a Princess of Water—albeit a hostage—(Still leagues above a Human) had such a crush on Ash that she called him a prince? Not that anyone would want to take his place as Tuvira’s chew toy. It was just a mystery.

Ash shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, don’t look at me; I was going for big brother...”

“That does not make it any better,” Lissandra said, igniting Ash’s plate on fire.

“Anyway…” Cinder ignored the burning food to repeat the burning question. “Give me the deets. How did all this happen? In less than a week, mind you.”

“Well…” Tuvira stared up at Ash, her bright ruby eyes affectionately swooning as if she was going down memory lane. “It all started when I bit his arm—”

Everyone groaned as only Tuvira could say something like that while looking as if she had met her other half. Lissandra already knew the truth, but even she couldn’t hold in her sigh as she truly did not believe her thought process was so abysmal. However, Ash was just glad Tuvira didn’t mention that she self-labeled him a stalking masochistic lolicon.

“So you bit him and decided he was your prince?” Cinder said, trying to get the facts straight.

“Well yeah. Not many could handle my love bites—Chomp!”

Tuvira bit into Ash’s arm, and at this point he didn’t even jerk around, simply opting to pat her head as Ash somehow found it charming. He really needed help. Maybe he was a masochist?

“Isn’t that like extremely painful?” Cinder asked where everyone stared at Ash, looking for an answer. To be fair, it did look like he was being pierced by the jaws of a shark.

“Not really; it tickles,” Ash said, holding in a laugh as Tuvira took his words as an ok to dig deeper.

“A-Alright… so are you two dating?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Mmm-Mmm.” (Nope). Tuvira mumbled, refusing to remove her jaws even to speak, and Cinder had no clue what that meant, so Ash translated.

“She agreed with me.”

“Y-You understood her?”

“Of course.”

“Of course, he says…” Cinder got up from the table and handed her trash plate to one of Alexis’s servants. “Well, I’m going to leave whatever this is… I’ll text you later Tuvi. Buh-Bye.”

“Mmm-Mmm.” (Bye-Bye).

Tuvira waved back to her newly made friendly acquaintance leading to a close on one of Ash’s more boring lunch encounters summing up the rest of the week until Saturday came knocking.

3

The warmth of the sun, the freshness of a recent shower, and the call of adventure filled Scott’s senses as he was ready for Squad S’s first Saturday together. He had been planning the day from the moment they became a team. Honestly since before they arrived at the school, he had already written up his plans for their first Saturday.

First, they would take care of any extra unpacking they hadn’t done and decorate the room. Then get breakfast together since the café had waffles as golden as his hair, prepared only for the weekend. Even the school understood the importance of a Squad’s first day off, so there was no homework that could get in the way.

Afterwards, they’d go to the Club Fair! Yes, clubs! Scott had read the brochures about Dragoon Academy’s various club activities, and after using his crossbow—he aptly named: Scattershot because Ash told him a weapon should have a name—Scott wanted to check out the Archery club, then the Tinkerer’s club, and the Cartography club. That last one, especially since it was like a Scout’s wet dream, not that Scott has had one of those yet…

But back on topic, Scott really wanted to know what club they would all join since there is probably something they all had in common. If he could find that, then maybe Lissandra and Ash would stop fighting. Scott always found the two more alike, yet they couldn’t see it, so as the Squad’s Scout, he would find a way! Or else his name wasn’t Scott Sightsear.

Before leaving the bathroom, Scott checked his belongings. Goggles check. Casual clothing acquired. Instead of the usual black cloak and uniform for the weekend, he had opted for something with more color—A blue t-shirt covered by a white zipped-up vest paired with some shorts—His PDA charged and his travel bag ready for all the extra goodies he was sure to get as club fairs always gave free stuff. Looking into the mirror, Scott checked one last time and smiled. For his first time dressing himself without his mom’s help, he looked pretty nice.

“Today’s going to be a good day—”

“What the hell do you mean you’re going out with her!"

“Of course…” Scott muttered as he opened the door to see Ash already next to the exit. He too was dressed casually in a purple-black hoodie yet still carried his sword with him.

“I mean what I said. I have plans with Tuvira today.”

“Screw her plans!” Lissandra snapped back. “You still haven’t figured out how to connect with the Stars. You’re dragging the team down because of it!”

“I already told you and Gramps that the Stars just don’t want to connect with me.”

“And I told you that’s no excuse not to try harder! We aren’t asking you to forge a pact with them or anything. Just connect with some minor Star. It’s super easy. Everyone can do it.”

“Well I can’t!" Ash shouted losing himself for a moment only to let out a sigh as he calmed down. "Has a Human ever connected with a Star?”

“N-not that I know of... But that’s besides the point! If you can do it once, you can do it again.”

“When was the first time?”

Lissandra paused as Ash asked the simple question. She felt like an idiot for thinking he understood what had happened when they fought. Or maybe it was just a one-sided connection, and he truly couldn’t connect with the Stars. Either way, there was not a chance in hell that she’d admit that their Stars Aligned. That would be like admitting she could bond with a Human. And that was impossible! Humans were disgusting untrustworthy, selfish creatures of a bygone time!

“Whatever the case may be, I still have plans with Tuvira, so I’ll catch you guys later,” Ash said, leaving the room in a burning aura.

“Wyvernshit!”

Lissandra roared as she paced back and forth, scratching a hole in her “casual” outfit. It wasn’t really casual since she was wearing a royal uniform, but it was different from her usual getup, with it being red and white.

“Why can’t he just listen to me? Are my words not sound? What did I do for him to not trust my judgment? Have I been wrong before?”

At first, they thought that Lissandra was just talking to herself, but as she paused and looked at her Squad. Baron and Alexis stared at each other, nodded, then played a quick game of Claws, Scales, Fire—only for Alexis to win using Fire to beat his Scales—With that, Baron cleared his throat and asked:

“Do you trust him?”

“No, of course not. Everywhere he goes, he causes trouble. How could I trust him?”

“But hasn’t he swung his blade for you on multiple occasions? Without so much as a word from you.”

“Of course. But is he really doing that for me or because he wants to pick a fight?”

Nothing but crickets. Baron couldn’t exactly deny that since Ash clearly enjoyed picking fights with people, but at the same time, he knew that Ash’s actions did have them in mind. Else he wouldn’t have stood up for Scott, Lissandra, and Alexis. The Princess was acting strange, but it wasn’t Baron’s place to question her, especially when she shut the conversation down completely.

“You know what, it’s fine. I could care less if he can’t trust me because I don’t trust him. I’m going to see if I can talk to the Headmaster because if Humans can’t connect with the Stars, he shouldn’t be penalized. Especially since Grunkle has been pretty adamant about not changing Ash’s grade. I also need to finalize that window transaction. By Dragons, today is going to be a long day.”

And without so much as a word from the others, Lissandra stormed out of the room, leaving Alexis, Baron, and Scott by themselves to sit in the sauna that was their dorm.

“Anyway…”

Alexis got up from the bed with a fuzzy parka on, being sure to cover her head and concealed her face as much as possible. Even if it was just for a relaxing Saturday outing, she still had to wear a hood, but thanks to Lissandra, at least she had something more stylish to dampen her senses.

“Baron, we got servant training today.”

“Servant training?”

“Yeah, those numbskulls tried to make a bet to get out of the current term only to extend it by a month. Those losers don’t know when to quit.” Alexis said with a toothy grin. “Considering none of them are here means they need to be taught how to be a proper slave—err servant.”

“Ok… and why are you telling me?” Baron already knew the answer, but he asked anyway just to see if she would say it with a smile.

“Well, you’re like the best servant ever.”

“That’s not a compliment, you know.”

“I think it is. So will you do it?” Alexis said with a slightly pleading smile that made Baron sigh as he bowed.

“Of course, Mistress Alexis. Your wish is my command.”

“Fuck yeah! Now let’s go round them up and get butler uniforms!”

“Uniforms! I change my mind—”

“Too late! You already said yes.”

Alexis grabbed Baron’s arm with force that could tear off anyone else’s except his and dragged him out of the room against his will.

“Catch ya later Scott.”

“See you Scott.”

And like that, Scott was alone. He hadn’t said a single word throughout the whole ordeal, just watching as his friends all went off to do various things separate from each other. Maybe he should have mentioned his plans beforehand, but he wanted to surprise them. He could always explore by himself, but what would be the point in that? They needed to do it together as a team.

“What am I going to do now—”

Interrupting him was a buzz from his PDA: it was Désirée. What did the school’s nurse want on the weekend? And are they just allowed to call students? There were so many questions that Scott didn’t have time to answer as he took the call.

“Hello, is this Scott Sightsear?”

“Yes, this is him.”

“Oh good, so I know I told you to call me whenever you get injured, but I was wondering if you were free today for a quick checkup. It’s nothing serious I just wanted to make sure there were no after-effects from your fight with the Baal.”

Scott looked at the brochure advertising the Club Fair he had posted on his wall, then sighed.

“Yes, I’m free today.”

“Oh, you sound down. Want to tell your Big Sister Désirée about it?”

“Well…”

Scott wasn’t too sure if he should talk about his problems with a faculty member… Then again, isn’t that what they were there for? To help guide students, especially in their time of need. And she seemed trustworthy enough, being a nurse and all, so Scott conceded to tell her.

“I wanted to hang out with my friends at the Club Fair today, but they seem to all have plans.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that Scotty. I know it may not mean much, but what if I went with you?”

“Really, you’d do that!”

“Oh my, that’s a quick switch.”

“S-sorry.”

“No, no, it’s ok. That’s a good thing. Boys like you should be full of energy, not down on themselves. Since you’re my last patient for the day, we can go out when we’re done.”

“Thank you, Big Sister Désirée!”

“No need to thank me.” She laughed. “I adore helping people, especially cuties like you. See you later today, and I’ll text you your appointment time.”

With that, Scott also had plans for the day—though not in the manner he wanted to—He was still going to check out the Club Fair with a friend. Their Saturday was definitely going to be one to remember for sure.