Arcadia Arcane Academy: Rise Of The Beast Master - Vol.1

Chapter 3 - Past Burns

Desmon stirs in the middle of the night, feeling something isn't right. His eyes wander to Garnet's perch, but she's nowhere to be seen. He starts to panic until he notices an orange glow coming from the bathroom. He gets out of bed and walks over to the bathroom.

"Garnet, are you in there?" Desmon asks concerned.

A whimpering and sniffling sound can be heard from the bathroom, which causes Desmon to become even more concerned about Garnet. He tries to open the door, only to pull his hand quickly away as the doorknob is very hot.

"Shit!" Desmon lowly curses, his hand being burned.

Desmon's worry grows and against his better judgment grabs the doorknob and unlocks the bathroom door once again. Once the door is open, Desmon is shocked. There is melted plastic everywhere in the bathroom. Desmon can feel the heat radiating from everything, like standing inside a bonfire.

"Garnet!?" Desmon calls, shocked to see her covered in flame as she cries.

As precaution is thrown through the window once more, Desmon rushes to embrace Garnet only for her heat to be too much and makes him stop. Her body is trembling, while her eyes look lost as if she's not even there.

"Garnet it's ok... I'm here." Desmon shouts but with no results.

The fire around Garnet starts to grow hotter to the point she's melting the tile floor. Desmon decides to do something very stupid and kneels in front of the poor Phoenix and hugs her. Garnet seems to come back to reality when Desmon hugs her.

"Ma...Master?" Garnet asks, confused.

Garnet's fire calms a little when she realizes Desmon is holding her.

"Master, you're going to get hurt!" She yells in fear of hurting her Master.

In her fear, Garnets fire grows and spreads faster.

"I'm not going anywhere just let it out." Desmon says quietly hugging her.

Garnet is shocked by his selflessness and wraps her arms around Desmon and cries. It takes a while but Garnet eventually calms down, but in the process, Desmon has some painful-looking burns. Once calmed down, Garnet looks at Desmon in shock and sadness, shock from him trying to help her and sadness because of the pain she caused him. Desmon only smiles at Garnet, helps her stand, and they both leave the bathroom only to come face to face with Desmon's mother and father, both confused and scared.

"Mom? Dad?" Desmon asks, surprised that they are awake.

"We heard crying and the air conditioning turned on in the fall, we knew something was up." Mrs. Drake said concerned.

"We weren't expecting you to have let a... girl? What is she anyway? She looks familiar for some reason." Mr. Drake says confused.

"Mom, dad it's ok. Just relax. She is the phoenix I brought home. I know I have a lot to explain but right now isn't the time. Mom, could you make her some tea?" Desmon asks his mother.

Desmon's mother only nods, a bit dazed, but glad her son will explain soon.

"I'll go check on Hana, please son, be careful." Mr. Drake says, sounding a little nervous.

Desmon's father leaves the room, as Demson sits Garnet down on his bed.

"Do you want to talk about it, Garnet?" questions Desmon quietly.

"I just had a nightmare. It's not something I wish to talk about Master," Garnet replies.

Desmon looks at Garnet, seeing the fear in her eyes, and just hugs her and holds her close, surprising Garnet.