Episode 1: Reunion


The blue sky seemed endless.

Mysteria Academy, the prodigious magic school for mages, wizards and witches all across the land was well into its new term after the summer break. The weather was constantly warming and bright, allowing students to spend their free time outside all over the campus. It was just comfortable enough outside the shade to take a relaxing nap.

It was long past breakfast already, so the cafeteria was mostly cleared out. Among the few idlers who did not want to leave the tables yet was the princess of the dragon kingdom herself, Grea. Her plate had long since been emptied and the study book was closed for a while already. Yet the dragonborn would not move from her spot at the outside table. She leaned her heavy head on her arms and let her long tail lethargically swing from left to right.

Her red eyes were aimed at no place in particular. For her there was nothing interesting to see today. For quite a while now she had lost some color in her world. When student council president Hanna and her vice president Poppy had come by to inform her of the good news she had felt a short rejuvenation of her emotions, but soon again she felt them drift away.

As if attracted by an unseen light her gaze wandered back to the lavish pen on top of the scroll she was resting on. This was Anne's pen. She had used this to sign the application for a shared room… a room for the both of them. The scroll was proof of their decision to live together for the rest of their school days. A pact signed by them and approved by the staff. It made her very happy.

Yet she simply couldn't keep smiling. The pen was only a reminder of who was not here with her. Her fingers softly traced the edges and rolled it in place. What was Anne doing right now? Was she fulfilling her royal duties? Fighting monsters to protect her citizens? She was a princess as well, but she could never imagine how things worked in another kingdom.

"Anne…" She whispered and closed her eyes.

A soft breeze swayed her short hair and then trailed back into the yard. Atop the wind a strong voice was carried as well.

"Grea!"

The dragon girl's head shot up and with eyes widened in surprise she looked towards the entrance. Her tail coiled up excitedly. There was no mistaking that voice. Her mind had kept repeating that exact greeting hundreds of times in the last weeks, so it almost came out without a second thought.

"Welcome home, Anne." She said with the softest smile.

"I'm back!" Anne shouted with her hand raised above her head. She was jogging towards the table without slowing down until she finally slid to an unstable halt right in front of Grea. The excitement in her body language was clear.

Red eyes met turquoise and for a few seconds they could not break contact.

"I'm back..." Anne repeated as if to assure herself that it was true.

"Welcome back." Grea responded again with a bright smile. It was clear that she had waited patiently for this moment.

"Sorry. I couldn't slip out sooner." Anne said with a slightly embarrassed expression. She scratched her cheek with one finger, which made her uniform crease a bit. Her clothes were a bit torn in a few spots and there was some dirt on her hands and cheek.

"Did something happen?"

"Eh? How did you know-" The princess covered her mouth and then hastily shook her head. "I thought I had cleaned up enough." She lowered her head and sighed.

"Anne." Grea looked worried.

"Don't worry about the details! I made it back, didn't I?" She waved the issue away and then sat down in front of the dragoness. "Did you miss me?" She asked jokingly.

"Mhm." Grea averted her eyes, but nodded. "You made me wait too long." The light blush on her cheeks was so supremely cute that Anne had to swallow.

"T-that's right, did the student council approve our request?" She blurted out and looked at the spread out scroll with her pen on it.

"Yes." Grea carefully handed it to her.

"Ohh, this is right next to my old room." She skimmed through the contents and then rolled it up. "Did you already move in?"

"No." Grea put her hands on her thighs, her gaze lowered. "I wanted to wait for you." If she had lived inside the room meant for two people she would only have felt lonelier.

"Then we shouldn't wait any longer. Let's move in!" She said all chipper.

"Hanna said we should talk to her to learn the rules first." Grea raised her hand to stop Anne from rushing off.

"Rules?" She seemed disappointed. Maybe Anne had been looking forward to this even more than Grea.

"Please leave the luggage to me, princess." Owen moved out from behind a pillar. He was always close-by, even if one might easily forget it.

"Thanks Owen. We will be back soon." Anne thanked him and stretched her hand towards Grea.

Surprised, but not hesitant, Grea took the extended hand in her own and rose from the bench.

Linked thusly, they moved towards their new joined semester.


"…and that about sums it up." Hanna finished her long lecture with a flick of her wrist. The student council president was always impeccably dressed, a shining example for all students. Her posture was that of an instructor and her voice not unlike that of a famous songstress. Her cheerful and kind personality won over the hearts of all students and teachers alike. "Did you get all that, princess?" She asked with one eye closed.

Her question was warranted, as Anne was showing severe signs of absentmindedness. The princess had her eyes half-closed and looked outside the large window in the student council room. Her posture was slacking to say the least.

Grea watched Anne from the corner of her eyes.

"Yeah, I got it. Don't leave keys lying around and there is a shared bathroom." Anne muttered and then returned her focus on Hanna.

Hanna's sharp elven ears twitched for a moment before she and Grea exchanged a meaningful look. She then cleared her throat and handed them a keyring. There were three keys linked into it. Grea took it for the still distracted looking Anne and put it into her skirt pocket.

"It is good to see you two together again. Please enjoy your new room." She said with a smile and then sat down behind her desk. Poppy moved towards her and handed her a few documents. She gave a polite nod towards the princesses.

"Thank you Hanna." Grea nodded and then carefully pulled Anne up from the chair which she seemed to have sunken into.

As they left the student council room a bit of energy returned to Anne's step.

"Finally. I thought she was going to read the entire school rules to us." She joked.

Grea nodded slowly and followed her elated friend's increasing pace. They went downstairs and walked across the yard full of students and trees. A flowerbed had started to bloom beautifully thanks to the small magic animals called 'Carbuncles'. These tiny squirrel like creatures could be found all over the academy. Anne had once caught one with her magic for Lou, a friend of theirs. The small girl had been frantically running after the animal that had eaten her notes for Mr. Heinlein's classes.

Grea had to chuckle at the memory. For some reason all these fun school activities had only come back to her now. She could have walked this yard a hundred times for the last few weeks and think of nothing, nor even take note of the scenery.

"It sure is hot today." Anne said while wiping some sweat from her forehead. She had not looked around at all and was just walking straight towards the student dorm.

When they arrived in front of their new room they were silently greeted by Owen and a pile of luggage. It wasn't just the stuff Anne had brought with her, but even the content of her previous room. He had not brought Grea's stuff, but that made sense. He would never dare to just go into someone else's room.

Anne grabbed the door handle and tried to turn it, but the door didn't open. For a moment she seemed to be perplexed, but then she pushed harder. The door didn't budge. With a slightly disgruntled expression she pushed again. The door was as unmoving as a rock.

"Okay, you asked for it." She pulled out her spell book and gave the door a dark smile, but then Grea simply inserted the key and opened it for her.

Anne looked baffled and then embarrassed. She timidly followed the dragoness into the spacious room. There were two large windows on each half and several doors on the other walls. One led to the bathroom, while the other was for storage. Located at both ends were single beds.

The warm light shining into the room was revealing some floating dust trails, but otherwise the room looked clean. Grea felt a bit overwhelmed by the new 'home' she walked into. Anne moved past her and opened the window far to let in some refreshing air. Her slim back was straight as she inhaled deeply.

Grea watched her secretly and then turned towards the sparse furniture when Anne turned back. There were two desks and one cupboard as well as one very large closet. With the rest from their old rooms this place could soon gain a really homely feel.

"Tsk, so there really are two beds." Anne muttered when checking out the room.

"Did you say something?" Grea tilted her head to the side.

"Not at all." Anne replied with a twitching smile. "Owen, didn't I request one double bed?" She whispered with one hand shielding her mouth from Grea's sight.

"You did, princess." Owen (busy carrying all the luggage inside) responded immediately.

Grea moved on to the bed on the left and softly went over the sheets. It was right in the sunlight and as warm as a dragon's nest. It made her feel right at home.

"Then I will take the other one." Anne had noticed her smile and accepted the pick of sides. With that she sat down on the opposite bed and stretched her legs. "Haaa, this feels so soft." She fell on her back and rubbed her cheek against the pillows.

"You must be tired." Grea said softly and moved towards her. Her tail was swaying gently.

"M-maybe a bit." The long haired princess replied. Said hair was spread out wildly over the bed already. "Grea."

"Anne?"

"I want to talk to you." She said with a drowsy expression. "I want to talk so much more…"

"Mhm. We can talk." Grea said with a soft smile and sat down next to Anne.

"What have you been doing while I was… gone…" Anne asked, growing quieter by the second.

"Not much. It was very peaceful." Grea whispered and put a hand on Anne's cheek.

The young princess was already fast asleep.

"But I like it better when things are more hectic with you around." Grea added happily while watching Anne's relaxed sleeping face.

In the background Owen tactfully left the room and closed the door.

(To be continued)


Bonus:

"I can see it already!" Anne shouted from the back of the wagon. Her head was poking out right next to her driver, Owen.

"Mysteria Academy." The young paladin looked at the approaching school grounds.

"Grea must be studying somewhere up there right now." The princess seemed to burst with impatience. Their journey here had taken far longer than expected, but now they had finally returned.

The wagon shook a little because of a bump in the road and Anne fell back inside.

"Princess, are you alright?" He asked while looking over his shoulder.

"Ow. My butt." She groaned and got up.

Owen felt a deep sense of inadequacy as a driver now. The princess should not have been subjugated to travel in such an uncomfortable carriage. Her behind must have been sore and her body stiff from all the shaking and sitting on the hard wooden seats. It was a makeshift solution when they fled the palace. He could only blame himself.

Despite her discomfort and obvious exhaustion the princess did not make a single complaint. Rather her desire to return eclipsed all else.

In front of the gate they were stopped by the gatekeeper. The old man watched them with confusion, naturally. It was rare to see a student ride a wagon to the academy. The explanation took quite a while and Owen felt a little irritated by the stubbornness of the man.

That was until Anne suddenly jumped off the seat and down to the ground.

"P-princess?!" The gatekeeper recognized her immediately and almost had a heart attack.

"I am sorry, but I have no time for this." She declared, slipped through the bars and sprinted through the long courtyard in front of the academy. She took a shortcut straight through the underbrush and hedges.

"It's as you see." Owen addressed the gatekeeper. "Please let me pass now."

The gate was opened for the wagon and Owen spurred the horse to speed up. The bodyguard could not afford to stray from the princess' back too long. He would park the wagon close to the stables and then rush after Princess Anne. There was no doubt in his mind to whom her earnest steps would lead her.