It's Christmas Break and I'm updating as much as I want while I can. :)
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Draeyer Academy
Drae Skyland
Northeastern Space
Dinner was awkward to say the least. The entire table was silent, with the exception of the clanging they made with their cutlery. Solana's presence was missing for she was in her room recovering from a fever. When Knox released him and Areisha from the chain, they went to their rooms. He surprisingly fell asleep a lot quicker and earlier than usual.
Alec's eyes fluttered open from his slumber when a bit of moonlight landed on them. It wasn't bright, but it still caused him to cover his eyes. He got off his bed to shut his curtains, rubbing his eyes in the process. With a yawn, he climbed back in bed, only to stay awake and stare up at the ceiling. Just when I thought I was finally getting some sleep, he thought. His gaze fell on his wall clock and saw that it was already quarter to four in the morning.
When his throat felt dry, he opted to go downstairs and grab a glass of water. He stepped out of his room and down the dim hallway to the stairs. When he reached the ground floor, he noticed the bright lights coming from the gaps on the dining room doors.
Wondering who would be up as early as him, he reached the doors and widened the crack between them. He peeked out and his brows knit lightly in confusion. Areisha stood by the table, peering down at a large book. Fresh green vegetables lay in a neat arrangement on a silver tray next to it.
"What are you doing?" he asked. Areisha jumped and he resisted the urge to chuckle when he heard her muttering a stream of profanities. Her dark blue eyes narrowed at him before she crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"What are you doing?" she echoed. He shook his head before passing by her and entering the open doors of the kitchen.
"Getting a glass of water," he said. Once he grabbed a glass and filled it up with water, he went back to the other room and found Areisha sitting with her head buried in her crossed arms. "Would you like to answer my question now?"
She looked up at him, before her gaze fell on the now closed book. "I'm making a vegetable soup for Solana. I'm just waiting for Mrs. Muriel since she told me that if ever I tried cooking again, she doesn't want me to do it alone or I'll destroy the kitchen. It's a really simple recipe and I can do it, but I don't want to get an earful from her."
Alec raised a brow, and chuckle escaped his lips, which inevitably earned a glare from her. He placed the glass on top of the table, before pulling out a chair and sat. He reached out and slid the book to his front. Flipping the sheets, his eyes landed on the page where one corner was folded to serve as a marker. He read over the procedures for preparing the soup, before checking if all the ingredients were all on the tray.
"Can I help?" he asked. Areisha met his gaze and arched a brow at him. "The recipe is easy. I can cook it."
"You can cook?"
"Do I look like someone who doesn't know how to?"
Areisha paused and ran her blue eyes over his face. Oddly, her gaze almost made him squirm. She then nodded in reply. He shook his head and stood.
After lifting the tray of vegetables, he asked Areisha to bring the book. Soon, they were in the kitchen with him standing next to the island with a knife in his hand. He followed the instructions on the book and with expert hands sliced, minced, and peeled the vegetables.
"How long have you known how to cook?" Areisha asked. He turned to look back at her after mincing the mushrooms. He found her at his side and watching him work with a light frown between her brows.
"Nine years I suppose," he said. "Can you fill a pot with water on the stove and start the fire...please?" Areisha nodded after a long moment before moving to do as she was told. He was relieved that she didn't seem to complain about being bossed around―not that he was actually doing that. He sighed, before turning back to what he was doing.
"So you were cooking since you were ten?"
"Nine. Alen managed to teach me before he passed away," he said. "I'm a year older than you guys by the way."
"Oh," was the reply he got. Whether it was for the first sentence or the second one, he couldn't tell.
―――
"Solana had always been weak-bodied," Areisha said. He finished adding the salt to the soup before placing the lid back on. He turned around and saw her sitting on top of the island counter. He went over to the sink, and washed the tools they used.
"It's not obvious."
"Yeah," she said, "it's because her cheerfulness tends to take over it. But when she does get sick, it takes her a while to recover. She wasn't even supposed to attend the Academy and become a Draeyer."
"Why? Is she that sickly?"
"Her body can't take on her Flame. It's too powerful."
Alec finished what he was doing before drying his hands with a towel. He turned to face her, leaning against the counter behind him.
"Is that why Knox was so worried when she said she used her Flame when you guys went for a little trip underground?"
"Firstly, it wasn't a trip and she forced me to come," Areisha said. "And yes, that's the reason why."
Alec let out a quiet snort of laughter, before moving to the island and cleaning up the peels left there. He threw them in the trash before walking back and tending to the soup.
"Mr. Gael said that she's a little emotionally unbalanced, is that true?" he asked. He flipped the lid of the pot open. The aroma of the soup was quite pleasing and he took a whiff of the scent as he stirred the contest with the ladle. It would smell better if he added meat, but he knew Solana would not appreciate it.
"She wasn't always like that," Areisha said. "Two years ago, something happened to her after Rei called off their betrothal."
Alec froze from stirring the soup. With his arms still stuck in the same position, he looked over his shoulder at the brunette. "They were engaged?"
It was Areisha's turn to snort a laugh before covering the amused smile on her face with a hand. Alec took out the ladle and dropped the cover. "Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked as he narrowed his eyes at her.
"You're jealous?"
Alec's brows scrunched before speaking. "Why on Kosmiks would I be jealous?"
There was a silence, before Areisha spoke up. "I thought you had...you had...feelings for Solana." His brows rose at her stammering, before an amused smile formed on his face. He chuckled, until eventually his shoulder's shook from laughter.
"Are you sure you're not Knox's sister instead? The both of you perceive my friendship with Solana as something more than it would seem," he said before moving closer and standing in front of her. "I like Solana as a friend. And if ever I'd like her as something more, it would be as a little sister."
Areisha sat there staring at him. He flashed a smile, which for some reason he didn't know, caused a faint red hue to color her cheeks. She threw her gaze to the floor, as he settled for sitting on the spot of counter a feet away from her.
"Now," he said, "what were you saying about what happened after their broken betrothal?"
He received another moment of silence from her as she leaned back on her hands and looked up at the light illuminating the kitchen. She sighed.
"Solana ran away and went missing for weeks," she said. "Imagine our surprise when she just appeared in front of their manor. I was there at that time, and I saw her collapse. She was covered in dirt, mud, and grass and her clothes were tattered. She was covered in bruises too. For days, she fell ill. When she got better, she wouldn't talk to anybody. Knox then got her to speak. When asked what happened to her, she would shake her head and say she doesn't remember. Eventually and bit by bit, she returned to her cheerful self.
"Then after months we saw that she was much more sensitive to broken promises. When one wouldn't be fulfilled she would cry and lock herself in her room. When she was the one who broke her promises, it was worse. She'll refuse to eat and sometimes...she hurts herself depending on the degree of the promise.
"She became so afraid of breaking vows. I think it was because Rei broke the one he made to her when we were kids. He said he'd marry her, and she held on to it. It's painful to see when she's hurt like that.
"We also think that what happened to her when she went missing had something to do about it. If only we knew what it was."
Alec sighed at the sudden gloomy atmosphere which engulfed them. His eyes focused on the cooking pot as he spoke. "You really love and care for her, don't you?"
From the corner of his eye, he saw Areisha's head snap up at him. He twisted his neck to meet her gaze. After sharing a look, Areisha's face broke in to a small, but beautiful smile. "Yes, I love her very much. Ever since we were young she'd always been by my side even though sometimes I'm a bitch around her―yeah I admitted that so don't laugh. She was there when mother died, and father was too busy with his work to even...care about me."
Her smile vanished at the last part, and Alec suddenly missed it. It was rare for her to smile when he was around. He suddenly felt a rush of sadness when she mentioned her mother. Erinna Roselintine, he thought as the image of the black dagger appeared in his mind.
"Don't tell Solana that I told you all that," she said. "She'll have my head if you do."
Alec chuckled. "As much as I want that to happen, my lips are sealed, don't worry."
She aimed a punch at his arm, and he made no effort to dodge it. He endured the pain which came, and only laughed it off even though he was going to wince. His gaze fell on the floor as the feeling of enjoyment slowly left him.
"Stay here and watch the soup," he said as he hopped off the counter. "I'll go get something from my room."
He watched her brows scrunch in confusion before she nodded and made her way to the stove. He left the kitchen and climbed the stairs to his room. When he got there, his Draelings were still snoring in their basket-bed and he made his way to his closet with quiet steps. He reached for a box hidden in one corner and took out the content.
He looked down at the cloth object, and felt the coldness of the metal beneath it. As he left the room, he tightened the string keeping the cloth wrapped around the knife. His steps were quick and he only realized it when he entered the dining room. He slowed his pace and a something unfamiliar to him bloomed. "Why am I nervous?" he whispered as he entered the kitchen.
When he looked, Areisha sat on stool with her arms propped on the counter. Her head snapped to his direction, probably from hearing his footsteps. She looked down at his hand and her eyes noticeably widened.
Alec stopped on the other side of the island, across from where she sat. Without meeting her gaze, he slid her mother's dagger to her front.
"When I found out it belonged to your mother, I had Kreis bring it back so I can return it to you," he said. "I planned to do it discreetly so you won't know who returned it and save me the trouble of answering your questions. But then...you know what happened."
Areisha took the clothed weapon. Her fingers enclosed the length, before she peeled a portion of the cloth to reveal the black and gem-encrusted hilt. She had a dazed look in her eyes all the while. "Father hid everything my mother owned," she said. "After ten years I never thought I'd hold something of hers in my hands again.
"Thank you." A small smile graced her features.
"There's no need to thank me," Alec said as he headed for the stove. He stirred the soup once again, and used a spoon to have a taste.
"Though I still want to know how it ended up with you."
Alec released a sigh as he remembered Crimson and the image of the dagger embedded on his red-scaled chest. Unknowingly, his hand tightened around the spoon and the pot's lid. He closed the pot before setting the spoon down slowly on the counter. He spoke without facing her.
"I found it buried on a dear friend's chest," he said. He heard her gasp, but still refused to look back and see her face. "I'm sorry, and I mean it. I'm not allowed to say more."
"What?" she asked. He ignored the question though and pivoted. He passed by her without a glance. "Arden!"
He stopped at the door when she called him. Slowly, he looked at her over his shoulder. Confusion swirled in her dark blue eyes as she stared at him. She had stood as if readying herself to go after him. He looked away.
"The soup is ready. Just turn off the stove," he said. "It'll get cold until later, so just ask Mrs. Muriel to heat it before giving some to Solana."
Without another word, he left the kitchen and climbed the stairs to his room.