“There’s only so much one can do when faced with an inevitable future. Top of the list is: keep drinking.”

- Tathrin Windshard

It only took a few rounds before Kollum couldn’t keep anything on the field while Selena blasted him with spells. Apparently, her deck was very spell oriented. Even her Monarch cared about them, somehow. Percy didn't want to know how she'd bound all of them. The stocky boy couldn’t keep a Summon on the field while Selena added a new one to hers each turn. The duel ended quickly.

“I told you she always wins,” Kollum said, hanging his head as the two of them returned to the group. “Even with Hjelnard on my side, I don’t stand a chance.”

Mako wrapped his arm around the other boy’s shoulders. “Hey, you just got unlucky. That’s all.”

Silvaroth grumbled. Lucky, unlucky… The very idea is idiotic.

Well, it is based on luck, though, Percy thought back. You have to draw the right cards in the right situation or you’re doomed.

The dragon chuckled. Humans do, yes. Your people are weaklings, little Allblythe. Most of them, anyway. That headmaster is… something else.

The headmaster that wouldn’t answer my questions? Percy retorted.

Silvaroth chuckled again. Do you really want answers, Percy? Those who seek them are often disappointed by what they find.

“So, Mako, will you be upholding your end of our deal?” Reina piped up, smirking as the supportive smile vanished from Mako’s face.

“O-oh yeah. Um, sure…” he replied quietly.

Reina’s eyebrows rose. “Wait, really?! I didn’t think you were actually going to go through with it.”

“Hey!” Mako shot back. “I’m no liar!”

“What deal is this?” Selena asked, Kollum nodding in agreement.

“They bet on which one of you would win.” Percy explained. “Mako said he’d eat his pants if he lost.”

Kollum rolled his eyes. “Again? Mako, haven’t you gone through that enough, now?”

“Wait, he’s done it before?”

“Yeah,” Kollum nodded. “I think he’s probably been challenged to go through with his ‘eat my pants’ declaration three times? The last time he did it, it… wasn’t pretty. I think my family’s physician needed to get involved.”

“Well at least this time I’ve got magic on my side,” Mako stated.

Kollum made a face, tilting his head. “Oh yeah, that’s true, isn’t it? I wonder how long we’ve all been awake for.”

“What magic?” Percy inquired.

“Oh, you don’t know?” Selena asked. “Well, I guess that’s possible since you’re a scholarship student.”

“There’s a giant spell over the Testing Grounds,” Kollum explained. “It keeps us awake and emotionally stable.”

I suppose that explains your surprising lack of anger toward the humans who threw you off the cliff, Silvaroth interjected. I can only imagine my own outrage if someone were to, say, throw me into a magical portal which enslaved me, essentially causing my death by removing my free will.

I said I’m sorry about that! Percy thought back, rolling his eyes. The dragon only grumbled in response.

“Wait,” Mako interrupted. “There’s a spell that keeps us awake, but… it still lets us be hungry?”

“Yes, Mako, it lets us be hungry because it’s easier to supplement sleep than it is hunger,” Selena answered.

Mako tilted his head. “Why?”

“Because,” Selena began to explain. She paused, then frowned. “Actually, I don’t know.”

Reina finished for her. “Because hunger is a result of your body’s need for energy, while sleep is caused by fatigue. They might seem similar, but they’re very different. Basically, magic has an easier time offsetting your fatigue than your hunger.” She looked around at the others, then quickly added, “At least, that’s what I heard.”

“Yeah, well, that doesn’t make any sense,” the first girl replied. “You probably heard wrong.”

Reina nodded. “Probably.”

Silvaroth chuckled. Percy gazed at Reina. The blue-haired girl seemed to him like she was hiding something. But he wasn’t going to press her. He didn’t know her well enough to ask her about it, anyway.

---

It was several hours later, after all the duels had finished, that Mrs. Balligan strolled back to the porch, turned round, and announced, “Everyone, it is time for you to sleep. You’ve been awake for about a day now without rest.”

The crowd of kids replied with a mix of confused and excited murmurs.

Mrs. Balligan nodded. “Indeed. The magic we have over the Testing Grounds has a unique effect of keeping you awake. However, this does not mean that your exhaustion hasn’t built up without your notice. In fact, those of you who summoned your Monarchs today are going to sleep far better than those that didn’t, though it wouldn’t surprise me if you all slept well.” She chuckled. “I know I will. Those matches were perhaps the best natural sleep aid I’ve ever experienced.”

A raucous laugh echoed out from inside the building, but otherwise, nobody reacted to her comment. Her joke landed flat, though it didn’t seem to bother Mrs. Balligan.

“Anyway, inside now, everyone. There’s a delicious treat awaiting you in your rooms. And sleep well! And I do recommend that you actually sleep. You don’t want to be exhausted tomorrow. For in the morning, we travel to the academy and you learn your rankings!”

Stepping to the side, she allowed the excited wave of students to flood past her into the house. Percy lost track of Mako and Kollum as they rushed toward the door. He was able to track Selena’s progress, since she was one of the taller students.

To Percy, it didn’t whether he was the first in or not. He’d learned from his time in the orphanage that everyone would get where they were going eventually, and dealing with the crowd just wasn’t worth getting in first. In minutes, he was left standing outside by himself.

“Well,” Reina’s voice spoke from behind. She walked past him, turning to comment, “I guess we’ve got rather like minds, hm?”

Percy shrugged, joining her as she headed inside. “I guess we do.”

Now was the time to ask her about her secret. They were alone, after all. But if Reina wanted to talk about whatever she was hiding, she didn’t say so. And Percy wasn’t going to pry. Not yet, anyway.

Silvaroth decided it was time to speak up again. You and I have to have a little chat, little Allblythe.

“Ugh,” Percy groaned. Reina glanced at him, but he just waved his hand dismissively. The two of them headed up the stairs, splitting up at Percy’s door.

“I’m here,” he said.

“Alright, Percy. I’ll see you tomorrow at the Academy, I suppose.”

Instead of heading down the hall, however, Reina bid him goodnight and walked back down the stairs.

Odd… Percy thought before heading into his own room.

“So, Silvaroth,” he began, closing the door behind him and getting ready for bed. “Why don’t you say whatever it is you need to say?”

Percy could almost feel the dragon smile. I thought you’d never ask. First of all, I wish to know if what the other human said is true. The older one. Are you truly from another world?

“Yes. I’m from a place called ‘Earth’. It’s a lot more technologically advanced than here.”

The dragon snorted. You named your world after what’s on your world? Humans...

“Well, I didn’t name it!” Percy said defensively.

No, of course not, Silvaroth conceded. But I must say it’s rather humorous that none of you have changed the name to something better. I thank fate that humans aren’t the oldest race in this world.

“Alright then, what’s the name of this planet?”

Vaylia, the dragon informed him wistfully. A name meaning “purity”. For at its core, that is what Vaylia is. Pure.

“Yeah… I’ll give that to you. It’s more original than Earth, that’s for sure.”

Silvaroth snorted again. Of course it is. That’s like naming your child “Infant” or your home “Bricks”. Foolish. Simpleminded.

“Alright, alright. Don’t diss my home too much,” Percy said. “I’m trying to go back after I set you free, after all.”

Yes… Well, for my next question. Your name. How did you come by it?

Percy blinked. “My name? Percy? I don’t know. I’ve just had it ever since I could remember. The orphanage doesn’t know anything about my parents. I just showed up on their doorstep one day.”

A fascinating tale, truly, the dragon said sarcastically. I don’t care about your forename. I wish to know how you obtained the surname Allblythe.

“Oh. Well, my real last name is Smith, or at least, that’s what the documentation the orphanage filled out says. I’ve been Percy Smith my whole life. But when I got here, the book said ‘Property of Percy Allblythe’, and everyone’s been using that name.”

So, you have no ideas as to why you are an Allblythe now?

“None.”

Hmm. The dragon mused for a moment before speaking up again. I ask because… I once knew another Allblythe.

Percy was surprised. “Wait, really? You knew a human?”

I’ve known many humans, Percy, the dragon replied. Brakkis. That was his name. Brakkis Allblythe.

“Wait… Brakkis… Why do I know that name?” Percy wondered. He scratched his head, looking around the room aimlessly. His eyes settled on his tome. Opening it, he found the page he was looking for.

#302: Hatchling

Found in: Silvar Volcano

Hatchling

Cost: 3 Mana

Summon - Dragon

Generates 1 Fire RPT.

750 / 650

“I’ve trained them so well I could put my hand in their mouths. They’d bite it off, but I could do it.”

- Dragontamer Brakkis

“Dragontamer Brakkis?” Percy asked.

Pah, Silvaroth spat. Dragontamer. I always hated that title. As if dragons can be controlled.

“Okay, then what would you call him?”

Hmm… A friend, I suppose. Any dragon another would claim he tamed likely saw him as a friend, instead.

“So kind of like you and me, then,” Percy realized. “That’s pretty interesting.”

You and I are nothing like that.

The boy shrugged. “If you insist.”

I do.

Percy shook his head, suppressing a smile. Then he realized. “Wait, if you knew this guy… Wouldn’t that mean he had to have been alive a hundred years ago?”

Indeed, Silvaroth replied. Perhaps your faux name is of distant relation? How long do humans live again? Thirty years?

“No… We definitely live longer than that.”

Then perhaps my old friend Brakkis is still alive.