Winds' Best Friend💨

Remembering now

ALLIE
I fall to the floor crying.

I know Percy saw it too.
He sits beside me, and hung one arm over my shoulder carefully.
He does it slowly, incase I should reject it.
I don't, but begin to cry harder.

I whimper, "Why did they do that for us? Why did they have to die for us like that? Especially my dad! He was so proud manning that ship when all else had died and fallen into the sea! His last words had the fading hope in his eyes, for pity sake! Why?"
Percy hugs me, and a girl appears, and has tears in her eyes.

She whispers, "Hi, I'm Mara. I'm the..."
Percy sighs, " Magic nurse at Windsor?"

She seems shocked.
She nods.

She sits beside me, and asks, "Are you okay, Allie?"

I reblabber to her, and Percy tries to calm me down.
Unfortunately, a hug from Percy causes me to freak out even more.
After all, hello!

Soul mate, stage left... HUGGING ME!

I try to relax, and focus on the smell of Percy.

He smells like wood smoke.
He smiles, and hugs me closer.

The nurse insists we come up front.
We follow her orders, and Percy leads me into the front.

We sit down, and Percy asks, "So... what is this Windsor Academy of Riding like?"

The woman chirps, "Wonderful. Small, short classes, plenty of flight time, great food, big dorms, and a massive playground for dragons between classes and at night. Especially for Apollo. Now, Percy, I understand you are a Shadow Wanderer Wolf. Now, that means you need a dragon to match. Here. I brought her along. Her name is Astra."

I see Percy take the egg.
I see his armor reappear now, hiding his true form.
His armor is black.

The nurse sighs, "This will be the first time in 20 years we have had Shadow Wanderer Riders, and shifters to boot! This is great! Your parents rode the same breed. They would be proud."

We look at her in wonder and confusion.
Our parents rode too?

We look to each other, and understand how they knew.
They used magic to see if the connection was there.
Mara sighs, "You are two out of the three only riders left from North Foli. They were the strongest, wisest, and often lead with elegance and grace. The third is the school principal. He too rides an ancient Shadow Wanderer."

We nod, and feel the van stop.
The doors fly open, and we step out.
Percys' egg hatches in his arms, and Astra soon absorbs as much moonlight as she can.

She grows to Apollos' size, and purrs at him.
He purrs back, smiling goofily.

She laughs.
We keep walking, dragons done goofing off.

Our dragons stand behind us, making us seem quite intimidating if you didn't know us.

After all, the names Daydream and Nightmare are apparently famous to riders and shifters alike.

The nurse pushes the doors open, and I stare at the beautiful place.
I get a sense of daja vu as we walk into an office.

The nurse sighs, "Here they are, Headmaster Storm. Allie Nightmare and Percy Daydream."

The man chokes for a second, and all the background noise from students beyond the door silences.
The man sees our dragons, and announces into the intercom, "Please report to the gymnasium immediately!"

The Headmaster extends a warm hand to Percy, then me.

He greets, "Welcome home. We have all been hoping you'd come home, Percy. Allie. Come. We have waited a long time for this. The son of Perct Daydream and Astra Daydream. The daughter of Apollo Nightmare and Allie Nightmare. Both here under one roof."

I gape.

I have heard those names so much before.
Those are names of really famous riders.

They stopped wars, broke down many corrupt companies, and kept peace.
Rumors in the streets said that they may have had children.
The stories also say they were poisoned to death at sea while escaping for the final time with their children.

I nearly collapse.
I whisper, "What?"

Percy also seemed near collapse with the shock.
We both stop dead.
Percys' violet eyes changed to gold, and his hair to black, by the way.

The man smiles at us, and ushers us out a door onto a stage.
Banners are everywhere.
The man introduces us as Allie and Percy.

Then, he dives into what seems like a traditional story.

He finishes with, "Now, the test."
The students stiffen, and crowd to see.

The man holds out a stone to me.
I feel for my powers, and then realize there is no need for it.
I grab it, and the man seems impressed.
The students are not amused.

Percy does the same as me.
Then, someone from behind reveals the vines on our arms.

The crowd falls silent.
Apollo fans his wings slightly to stretch, sending the pattern of the compass rose onto the floor.
Everyone gasps.