One-Eyed Fairy

Chapter 3: A Name Not Yet Given

Red Fountain - 13th September

Kaneki steps off the bus and pulls up the map on his phone. He comes across a stone pathway that leads into the forest. As he delves deeper, he finally arrives at Red Fountain, which is covered in scaffolding and builders fervently working to restore the school to its former glory.

"You must be Kaneki." Kaneki looks to see a guy with long black hair standing near the front gate before strolling over to him. He holds out his hand and introduces himself, "I'm Helia, and we'll be working together for the duration of the year."

"It's a pleasure." Kaneki returns his handshake along with a nod.

"My uncle Saladin is busy right now, so I'll be showing you around and informing you of your duties. Come with me." The first place he took Kaneki was to the teachers' dorms so he could pick out his room and leave his bags there, then he took him to other areas such as the armoury, the forge, the hangar and the flight deck, and the layout of the school. The final area shown was the dragon stables.

"Dragon stables?" Kaneki queries.

"Yes. One of the first duties of a specialist is to find their bonded dragon. You could have all the accolades in the world, and have trained for centuries, and yet you still wouldn't be considered a full-fledged specialist without a bonded dragon."

"I've never seen a dragon before. They're a myth where I'm from."

"Really? Dragons are well-known creatures on a majority of planets, so I'm surprised you don't know of them. You must have come far from Magix."

"Far would be an understatement." Kaneki comments.

"Nonetheless, it's important for you to bond with a dragon."

"It is?" Honestly, it sounded kinda cool. Who wouldn't want their very own dragon partner? He could actually hear in his head Hide screaming/begging for Kaneki not to mess this up because he wants to ride a dragon whenever wherever. He mentally slaps Hide out of his head and focuses on Helia.

"I heard you've never attended a paramilitary institute. It'd be hard for the juniors to respect a senior who never underwent any formal military training. A bonded dragon may soothe the tension and encourage the others to respect you."

The stables weren't really stables but a coliseum made of yellow stone with intricate designs. The doors open to show the rows and rows of trophies, medals and pictures.

They take the elevator to the first floor where the unbonded dragons live. The bonded dragons move up a floor when their specialist move up a grade. The teachers' dragons live at the top of the building.

Heads poke out of the stalls at the sound of their arrival. What surprised Kaneki most was the small mumbles coming from the dragons.

"Is it lunch already?"

"Why do you ask that every time a human comes by?"

"I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry."

"The day Brantley's bottomless pit of a stomach is full is the day I eat my tail."

Kaneki is left bewildered as the other dragons burst out laughing while Brantley pouts at their teasing. Talking dragons. Hide will definitely pitch a jealous fit when he finds out and Kaneki probably shouldn't enjoy the thought of that.

"You didn't say they could talk." Kaneki turns to Helia who stops petting a nearby dragon due to Kaneki's strange words, said dragon wasn't very happy and kept nudging her head at his hand.