Aya Grephin POV
I couldn't believe my eyes or my ears as I listened to this human boy named Arthur speak. A quadra-elemental, with a beast will and body of a dragon. Not only that, he carries the egg of a dragon. How could someone so young, already have been through so much, and be so powerful.
I could see the way the princess acted around him. It was different then how she acted around other children of this kingdom. I couldn't help but smirk at this. When elder Virion ordered me to take the boy to his room, and protect him, I did not hesitate. Who knows, this Arthur could be the future prince of Elenoir.
Usually I would be worried about the princess being in a relationship with a human. Especially since our races age at a different pace. However, Arthur isn't fully human, he's half dragon. He will age the same as Tessia, if not live longer.
I picked Arthur up and poked his nose while calling him cute, getting a giggle out of him. I could see the princess pout in the corner of my eyes which made me smirk.
As I carried him down the hallway, the princess would continually tell me to put him down. "Aya! Put Art down, he doesn't want to be carried!" Princess Tessia yelled while having her arms crossed.
"I don't know princess, I think he enjoys being held by little ole me. Don't you my dear Arthur." I said as I kissed his forehead which made him blush in embarrassment.
"Aya!!" Princess Tessia yelled. I couldn't help but laugh as we finally reached Arthurs room. I looked at Tessia who was staring at me red faced and arms crossed.
"Hehehe, why don't you go wash up in your room princess Tessia. I'll help Arthur get settled. I'm sure a nice bath would help you feel better. Unless you were hoping for Arthur here to join you." I said in a teasing tone.
Tessia's face got even redder then before as she ran off to her room. I laughed as I looked toward Arthur who I was holding, and he was almost as red as Tessia.
"Awe, is someone embarrassed?" I asked teasingly. Arthur looked at me and stuck his tounge out. "That was mean, um, miss Aya." Arthur replied still red faced.
"Miss Aya huh? *giggle* You can just call me Aya, or big sister my little Arthur." I poked his nose causing him to blush and smile again.
I opened Arthur's door and walked inside. I took Arthur's bag off my back, and put Arthur down. I showed Arthur around the room showing the bathroom, where to put his clothes.
"If there is anything you need Arthur, don't hesitate to ask. I can be quite fun to get along with." I said winking at him.
Arthur looked at me for a second confused. "You mean you like to play games? Do you like tag!" Arthur asked getting excited.
I looked at him and couldn't contain my laughter. "Hahahaha, I can play tag with you anytime Arthur. Why don't you go ahead and get cleaned up. Do you need any help with the bath?" Arthur shook his head. "Ok, then I'll see you later little Arthur." I leaned forward and kissed his forehead and walked out.
"*sigh* oh to be so innocent and young. Don't worry little Arthur, I'll keep you safe." I walked off to report back to the royal family.
—————————————————————————
Arthur Leywin POV
After Aya left I hopped in the bath and got washed up, just like mom showed me how. I walked out of the bath and found a pair of clothes on my bed nicely folded. I walked over to the clothes a little confused on how they got there.
"Are you out of the bath Arthur?" I heard Aya say from the other side of the door. "Ya." I said. "Good, I put some clothes on the bed for you. And don't worry, I didn't sneak a peak." Aya said as I heard her laugh and walk away down the hallway.
I was a little confused. What would she be peaking at? Is she trying to find something? I quickly got dressed and felt comfortable in clean clothes.
After I put on the clothes, I went through my bag and took out the rainbow egg. I wrapped the egg in the bedroll I had, and placed it into a drawer. I used mana to lock the drawer just like Aya showed me. Aya said the drawer will only open to my mana signature once locked.
As I locked the drawer, I heard a knock on my door. I walked over to the door and opened it. When I opened the door, I was met with none other then Tess who looked recently washed and was wearing a new pink dress. Tess punch me lightly on my chest pouting.
"You big dummy, why did you let Aya kiss your forehead." Tess walked past me entering my room. When she entered my room I swear I could smell flowers coming from her. I watched as Tess walked over and sat on my bed. "Um.... I'm sorry?" I said confused of why she was upset with me. Are forehead kisses bad?
"*sigh* I guess it's fine, as long as you don't go chasing after other girls." Tess said folding her arms. I tilted my head and looked at her. "What if we're playing tag. Aya said she would play tag with me." Tess raised a brow at my response. "No." Tess responded quickly with a cold voice that sent a shiver down my spine.
"Ok, I guess I'll just play tag with you then!" I said with a smile. Tess's face brightened with this as she jumped off my bed. "Come on, we can go to the courtyard and play together!" Tess grabbed my hand and I followed her as we ran out of my room to the courtyard laughing together.
Once we entered the courtyard, I was met with a sight that made my jaw drop. There were trees growing in several areas, with orbs of light illuminating the area. The garden was well kept with plants and flowers. "Woah! This is so cool!" I said.
I began to walk forward when Tess let go of my hand and tapped my shoulder. "Tag your it!" Tess yelled as she ran away from me running into the garden.
I smiled at this and ran after her. "Oh no you don't!" I yelled back chasing after her while I could hear her laughing. We continued to run around the court yard tagging each other having fun. Being with Tess made me feel happy. She would tease me saying I wasn't fast enough. I would just use wind magic to go faster, but Tess called me a cheater so I stopped.
As I was running after Tess who managed to tag me again, I accidentally tripped over my own feet and hit the ground with a loud thud. "Art!" I heard Tess yell as she ran to me and kneeled down in front of me. "Art are you ok?"
I lifted my hand while laying face down and gave her a thumbs up. I lifted my head and looked at her, I saw that she looked a little worried. I gave her a pained smile, "I'm fine" I groaned out while pushing myself up into a seated position.
Tess's face quickly changed to her trying to hold back a smile until she burst into laughter. "You fell pretty hard there Art."
"Ya, fell while I was chasing you." I grumbled while looking to my right crossing my arms pouting a little. I was waiting for Tess to respond, but when she didn't I looked back at her. Tess's face and ears were red. She looked away from me and mumbled, "big dummy."
"What?" I asked not hearing what she said. "I said you're a dummy. Now come on." Tess stood up and put her hand out. I took Tess's hand as she helped me up as well.
When I stood up I noticed a figure enter the courtyard. I willed mana into my eyes and noticed my eyesight changed dramatically. Not only can I see all the mana particles, I could increase the range of my eyesight. Must be because of my dragon body, cool.
I looked towards the figure and saw elder Virion. I looked at him wondering why he was hiding. Is he playing hide and seek? "What are you looking at?" Tess asked.
I pointed towards elder Virion, "I think elder Virion wants to play." Tess looked where I was pointing and I could see elder Virion give a surprised look. Suddenly he disappeared. where did he go?
"Impressive brat, I didn't know you'd be able to see me." I heard a voice say behind me.
"Ah!!" I yelled as I turned around and saw elder Virion was standing behind me with a smug smile.
"Grandpa? What are you doing here?" Tess asked looking at her grandfather confused. "Oh nothing, I just wanna see what your boyfriend is capable of." Elder Virion said with a smirk while leaning down meeting our faces.
Boyfriend? I heard Adam mention a girlfriend before, but it was what you called someone when you really liked them, or so my mom said. So was elder Virion saying Tess and I really liked each other? My face grew warm at the thought.
I saw Tess' face grow bright red, "grandpa!" Tess yelled as she grabbed her grandfathers beard and pulled it. "Ouch that hurts little one!" Elder Virion replied. Tess let go of Virion and he looked at me with a sinister smile.
Virion pulled out a short wooden sword and tossed it to me, and he took out a long wooden sword. "So brat, you managed to take down four slave traders. Let see how skilled you are!"
—————————————————————————
3rd person POV
Virion dashed towards Arthur who jumped back using wind magic. Arthur covered his blade in fire magic and swung his blade sideways in an arc. An arc of fire flew out towards Virion who disappeared right in front of Arthur.
Arthur's eyes grew wide at this and Virion appeared behind Arthur. Arthur noticed this too late as he tried to spin himself around using wind magic. Virion grabbed Arthur by his sword arm and tossed him to the side.
Arthur went flying and surrounded himself with wind magic to soften his landing as he skidded on the ground. Arthur quickly pushed himself up, and he placed his left arm on the ground. Arthur used earth magic to try to spit Virions legs apart, but he disappeared again and showed up behind Arthur. Arthur quickly turned around and covered his arm in ice magic using it as a shield, as Virion brought his sword down towards Arthur in a sideways swipe.
Virions sword connected with Arthur's iced arm. When they connected, the ice on Arthur's arm melted into water and wrapped itself around Virions sword and hands. The water refroze around Virions sword and hand connecting him and Arthur. Virions eyes went wide in this.
Arthur stomped his foot in the ground and Virion was pushed off the ground by a pillar of earth. Arthur willed wind magic to flip Virion in the air to push him down to the ground onto his back.
However, Arthur felt a sudden serge of power come from Virion and he broke the ice disappearing right before Arthur's eyes in a speed he couldn't comprehend. Virion appeared right behind Arthur, and before Arthur knew what happened, Virion swung his sword hitting Arthur in his left side sending him flying.
Art flew a few feet before he hit the dirt and skidding a few feet on his back before he came to a halt.
—————————————————————————
Virion Eralith POV
Oops, I may have gone a little too far with my excitement, I scratched the back of my head as I saw Arthur laying there on the ground. "Art!" I heard Tessia yell as she ran to him, and kneeled next to him.
Art slowly sat up holding his side. "Art are you ok?" Tessia asked with a voice of concern. "I'm alright Tess." Art groaned as he smiled at Tess. Tessia gave the brat a smile back, before she quickly looked at me giving me a scowl. Arthur's gaze also flicked to me as eyes narrowed in a look of irritation.
I shrugged my shoulders innocently, "what?" I asked nonchalantly. Tessia quickly stood up and stomped towards me. "Grandpa, you hurt Art! You were too mean to him." When Tessia reached me she kicked me in the shin. "Ouch little one. The brat is fine. I made sure not to kill your boyfriend."
At the mention of the word boyfriend, Tessia pinched my side. "Ouch little one, that hurts you know." I said.
"Good." Tessia responded as she walked back to the brat and sat next to him. I walked up to both of them and they both gave me a questioning look, staring at me intently.
"Now now, don't look at me like that. I just wanted to test the skills of my new disciple. In terms of mana manipulation you did well. But your physical and sword skills are mediocre at best. At least now I can see where we need to begin." I said scratching my chin.
"I'm curious about you brat, I want to know what the future has in store for you. So tomorrow we are gonna visit a friend of mine. She's good at seeing things and knowing people." I said.
Tessia looked confused, then suddenly her face brightened. "Are we going to visit Aunt Rinia?!" I looked at Tessia and smiled, "yes little one, I'm sure she will be happy to see you."
Arthur looked at me confused. "You're girlfriend will explain. Get some sleep brat, we will be leaving early tomorrow." I picked up both of the wooden swords and walked away leaving the courtyard.
He's a scary brat. He has a lot of potential. I'll make sure to train and treat him well. Make sure he grows into a man his late father would be proud of. It's the least I can do after the brat saved my granddaughter.
—————————————————————————
Tessia Eralith POV
"Are you sure you're ok Art?" I asked as we were walking back to our rooms. Art nodded his head and looked at me.
"I'm ok Tess." Art said giving me a warm smile. I couldn't help but smile as he smiled at me. It was nice having Art around. Actually having someone treat me like a person instead of trying to use me. I don't ever want him to leave. I can't even imagine going back to being alone again.
We finally reached our rooms, Arthur looked at his bedroom doors and gave a soft sad smile. "Are you okay Art? Is something wrong?" I asked concerned.
Art looked at me and I could see his eyes were a little watery. "I'm ok Tess, it's just this is the first time I will be sleeping alone. I always had my parents, or Sylvia to keep me company. So it's something I have to get used to now I guess."
I looked at Art and pulled him into a hug. I hated seeing him cry. I could feel him stiffen in surprise before he wrapped his arms around me and returned the hug. "I'll stay with you Art. I'll make sure you're not alone."
I could feel Art give a slight nod. We broke the hug and I followed Art into his room. Art got onto the right side of the bead and I got onto the left. "Thank you Tess, for being here. I really didn't want to be alone."
I turned towards Art and gave him a smile. "Of course Art, you were there for me, now I'm here for you." Art's face turned red and gave me a smile, I watched as he closed his eyes, and his breathing turned rhythmic.
Besides, I didn't want to be alone either, just in case I had another nightmare of those men who took me. I felt safe being with Art, he gave me a sense of peace. I closed my eyes and felt drowsiness take over me as I fell asleep.