Paladin's Academy

Act III, Chapter 9: Lonely is the Man

"So how did you find this place?" Snooze asks.

"Apparently, there is more to this Campus than meets the eye," Dreadnought laughs, staring afar.

It is a free day here at Paladin's Academy and the flowers bloom while the birds chirp. During these rare instances, students prefer to use the time to relax or catch up on some assignments.

Today, Dreadnought has brought Snooze to the floating gardens, where they are currently going out on a date. Not a lot of people linger here during this time. They sit on one of the smaller islands with only one large tree to accompany them. Its orange leaves rustle in the wind. Next to him, Dreadnought had prepared a food basket complete with sandwiches and juice boxes.

Yet even on such a small island, they couldn't be further apart. While Dreadnought admires the heavenly view, Snooze sits inches away from him with her arms crossed. Only looking at the dirt below.

"We fought our Adviser here," Dreadnought mentions, "it was spectacular. He pushed my soul outside my body, and you could say it was an out-of-body experience, hehe. You should've seen it."

Snooze remains quiet.

"Is something bothering you?" Dreadnought catches on.

"Nothing, it's just..."

"Just what?"

Snooze looks away, "I think we should see other people."

"I'm sorry?" Dreadnought faces her, grabbing her hand.

"I don't think this is going to work out, Dreadnought."

"I.. don't understand."

"You ghosted me for two weeks, not answering your phone. Ignoring my calls."

She pulls her hand away from him.

"I was worried about you."

"And then you just show up out of the blue, and everything's back to normal?"

She stands up.

"That's not how these things work."

Dreadnought also stands up.

"You don't understand, he emphasizes, " I had to."

"Had to what?" Snooze snaps. He takes a step back.

"During our fight with that villainess, Wager, I snapped. Everything became, red and something awakened in me, something bad, really really bad."

He turns towards the setting sun. Two birds fly through the horizon.

"I knew I had to drop everything to master this ability before it consumed me."

He looks at her.

"And everything I love."

Snooze looks disgusted, "Love? I could count the dates we had on one hand. That doesn't constitute love."

She looks away from his gaze.

"Maybe focus on yourself before dragging someone into your world."

She jumps down and leaves.

Dreadnought looks down and sits. He closes his eyes and clenches his teeth.

"God"

He looks at the tree and punches it.

"Fuck..." he whispers with his breath, leaning his head down.

*Russel*

Dreadnought looks around confused. "Did the tree just?"

*Russel Russel*