Dragoncarnation: Good or Evil? Who cares?

E7: Ever Growing Troubles

School had just been let out and everyone was on their way home. 

Several tests have just finished up as everyone was preparing for the sunny season of Suntri and what it entails.

However, I wasn't in the best mindset to enjoy anything like that right now. 

All these questions in my mind.

All of fathers lectures I faced this week.

This foreboding feeling from the dragon visit.

It feels as though all the energy I've had recently has been sucked right out of me.

In short, I feel drained.

I let out a sigh before I'm caught at the main doors by Iris and Nat.

"Hey Iris. Hey Nat." I say to the two of them.

They glance at each other and then at me.

"Maria. Are you okay?" Iris asks.

I look up and give a small smile. "Yeah. I'm just a bit tired is all."

"Yeah right. Something is definitely bothering you." Nat bluntly says.

"No really, I'm fine. I'm just tired." I let out a small chuckle towards them, but they didn't seem to respond positively and simply stare at me knowingly. "...Is it that obvious?"

 "You may be able to fool others with that smile, but not us." Nat says

"We've been your friends for too long not to realize." Iris adds on.

I sigh, letting my smile drop and exhaustion show. These two can be oddly perceptive at times like this.

"I can tell you're hiding something." Nat says while moving to my side. "Something important you can't tell anyone."

"It's the same pattern you had roughly eight years ago." Iris says. "It was like the time you learned of magic and asked all those questions I didn't know about. Things like, magic weapons, and familiars and such."

"Yeah. You started asking about different kinds of things that I never heard about. Like "middle evil" and "ren song" Nat adds on. "Even comparing fruits and plants we found to other things I've never heard of."

I talked to myself about a lot of things orally. It was mainly to organize my thoughts and make as much sense as I could. Most of the time it was with them or Conrad wasn't it?

"Why are you bringing this up?" I ask them.

"Because it's the same as before." Nat sighs scratching her head. "You're dealing with something big and feel you shouldn't tell anyone about it."

"Or maybe, you feel you can't tell anyone." Iris combs out some of her hair with her hands. “Regardless of which it may be, neither one of us can stand seeing you like this. You know if I agree with this wild mutt, it's serious.”

“This haughty snake has a point” Nat nods in agreement. “If there’s something you need to talk about, you can tell us.”

These two…

"By the way. Who are you calling a wild mutt?" Nat asks, shooting a sharp glare at Iris.

"The same beast that called me of all people a haughty snake." Iris replied, glaring back.

I couldn't help but laugh at the two. 

No really, I tried to cover it up and hold it back but seeing my two friends fight like normal after trying to cheer me up. They're always fighting and arguing with each other, yet they come together and are always reliable when I need them most.