As mankind approached the end of their Dark Ages and began to think and question again, the dragons disappeared. Bound by a curse in human form, the dragons despaired, for it would not be broken until an heir of the Dragon King was found. But his ch...
"So, pretty much we still don't have a magic tutor," Kira groaned as she flopped onto Galileo's bed. She rolled over, letting her hair fall down onto the floor.
Galileo snorted at the sight from where he sat on the bed, a journal open in his lap. He then pushed up the glasses on his face.
"I was actually wondering about something," he said. "Something dragon-related."
Kira sat up, and threw her arms out to balance herself. "Shoot."
"Well, I've been wondering how much of this—" here he gestured to the shelf of cryptozoology books— "are actually true."
"So have I," Kira confessed. "That's why I went looking for them."
"Well, I was thinking we could stop moping around about not knowing anything and figure it out," Galileo continued.
Kira blinked. "Are you sure that's safe? What kind of things would we be looking at?"
"Some of the various dragon powers and biology stuff," Galileo said. "See if there's some powers you guys don't know about because you haven't had a magic tutor."
Kira moved so she could sit beside him. "I don't know. I think we might want to ask Aideen."
"I just thought it might be fun, and it could help you." He turned away, to his book.
Kira instantly felt guilty, and cupped his cheek.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, her amber-brown eyes luminous. "I know you want to help. . . It's just that I don't even know where to start, and I'm scared it's some big thing I can't control—"
Galileo looked back to her, startled. "This is about Hurricane Zelda, isn't it?"
"And the fire-breathing," Kira added. She drew her knees to her chest. "I'm a danger to others, because I can't control it. I don't want to go messing with magic I don't understand."
"I don't think you're a danger," Galileo assured her after a moment. He took her hand. "But that's why I want to make it into a science, something we can understand. Because then you could understand it. . . And correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like it would make you less afraid."
Kira was about to answer when the full impact of the words hit her. "You're right."
"Please, let me help you." His eyes were as wide as hers. "Let me in."
She hesitated a moment. But she had been afraid of him knowing all of the danger she could create, what she truly was.
But he wasn't afraid.
There was nothing to fear in opening the door, because it already had been cracked open.
Kira nodded, her expression resolute. "Yes."
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The room for the girls was silent. Galileo folded his arms over his chest in a more defensive position than anything else, and pushed his glasses up.
"I like the idea," Elodie said finally, after a moment. "We need to know more about our powers, and what we can do."
She knew that Aideen knew more than she was letting on— but it wasn't fair to her or Kira, for Felecia to not have a magic tutor.
The Council of Crowns was supposed to find a tutor weeks ago. Their attempts at learning magic themselves had failed because they couldn't comprehend the power in their own bodies.
Elodie wanted to be a lawyer, and a part of her still did. An important part of that was piecing together a narrative, putting all of the evidence together to discover what had happened— or what you could convince someone of happening.
She found that the evidence here told a story: they needed to take matters into their own hands, and Galileo might have the safest solution.
"No, I agree," Aideen added hastily. She balanced her chin on her fists.
Elodie and Kira both turned their heads to her.
"I thought you knew all of this." Elodie was dumbfounded— it was as if she'd been struck by lightning.
Aideen swallowed visibly. "I wish I did."
Elodie and Kira exchanged a glance.
"All this time, we thought you knew everything," Kira cried.
"I know some of the basics, like the healing spell, and levitation, but that's it. Grandmother kept a lot of it from me, until I was of age."
"That's rotten." Elodie wrinkled her nose. She looked up at Galileo. "That's it. We have to figure out some stuff."
"Excellent." Elodie could've sworn that Galileo bounced at the idea. "So I was thinking we could start with some fire-breathing, see what exactly would trigger that, if there's something different—"
"You are not looking at my tonsils." Elodie folded her arms over her chest, clutching the pink cardigan.
"Well, we won't do that, then," Galileo said as he scratched off the idea on the list. "But I was wondering how the properties of the fire change, and if they're supposed to mimic the intended outcome of the spell—"
Aideen stood up abruptly.
Galileo spluttered to a halt.
"Why don't we take this outside?" Aideen suggested. She peered over at Galileo's notes. "Especially if we're flying."
Elodie forced herself to take a deep breath. Even though she had been practicing a little every day at the daily meeting, flying still made her quite nervous.
Indeed, she was beginning to think that she would never quite get over her acrophobia.
But if that was the price of knowledge, who was she to complain about the cost?
Besides, Elodie thought, smiling to herself, she could just figure out how to get out of the flying parts anyway.
