Haha 10 days late! new record! But yeah it was snowing this morning... Yeah its April, why is it snowing? This year's weather has mangaged to amaze me yet again.
Anyway, I do hope you like this chapter ~
And thanks for the reviews, favorites, ect. They make me happy. haha
As the young year lost himself in thought, the weight of Zenif's body in Deireadh's lap provided little comfort. Cross-legged in the center of his bedroom floor, Deireadh stroked his dragon's limp wings absent-mindedly, eyes set to the door before him.
Today, Deireadh was on edge.
He wasn't entirely sure why he felt so uneasy. It might have been because Zenif was too, and Deireadh strongly picked up on Zenif's emotions a great deal of the time. It might have been because they were now in Romania's house, and Romania was hardly an ordinary nation, to say the least. Most likely, it was because April had decided to lock Deireadh and Zenif in their shared room for the day, refusing to let them out for anything.
Though he didn't approve of being trapped in his room for so long, Deireadh was happy that Zenif hadn't abandoned him. It made the loneliness bearable, even if Zenif had decided to inconveniently sleep the hours away.
"I don't get why everyone is acting so weird today…" Deireadh admitted in a whisper, though he was aware Zenif couldn't hear him, lost in his dreams.
He wouldn't be lost for long, as a new voice in Deireadh's room made him jump, waking Zenif up immediately.
"I don't know why either, kid."
Before Deireadh could react to the sound with a sense of awareness, Zenif started to growl, long and low, at the new presence in the room. To calm his pet, Deireadh placed a hand on the dragon and swiftly peered over his shoulder, desperate and shuddering to see who had entered the room without him knowing.
The room's study-chair had previously been empty, but now it was occupied. An all-too unfamiliar man with shaggy brown hair and bright red eyes, grinning, returned Zenif's intent glare.
"If I were you, kid, I'd learn how to control that thing of yours before it turns on you." The man stood up and leaned down toward Deireadh. "I really can't believe you're the one who'll destroy this world."
This man's gaze was making Deireadh's stomach flip. "I-I'm not going to hurt anyone."
The man let out a snort, one of derision and scoffing. "Not yet anyway. You'll need help."
Zenif continued his growling, the volume of his angry noises rising steadily. Grinning once more in response, the stranger lithely bounced to his knees and lowered his head to stare at Zenif's pointed face, quite ignoring Deireadh.
When Zenif snapped his jaws, the intruder merely laughed, looking up at Deireadh to say, "I knew, the second I saw a white dragon, that it'd be trouble."
"Uh, what do you mean by trouble?" Deireadh nervously asked.
The man let out a wheezy laugh, closer to a snicker. "I mean that your 'Zenif' was supposed to be black. This is the year of the Water Dragon, not the year of the Metal Dragon. Not that it means much to you, I suppose."
Showing meekness for the first time that encounter, Zenif let out one final hiss before burying his snout in the crook of Deireadh's knee.
"Why does that make him supposed to be black?" Deireadh asked quietly. It was a trivial detail, but he couldn't imagine Zenif any other way.
The query went ignored. With a sudden display of force, the stranger reached forward and seized Zenif by the wing, holding the dragon up as he himself leapt to his feet. Zenif had taken on the characteristics of a ragdoll, tail twitching with the rest of his body still, floppy.
"Hey! Let him go!" Deireadh demanded, outraged. "You're going to hurt him!"
The man continued to ignore Deireadh, but released his grip on Zenif. With frantic wings, the dragon took flight to avoid contact with the ground, swooping towards the bed to hide.
"Your dragon isn't yours. It belongs to Mercedonius – or is, at least, a direct child of the dragon that the former month had."
Deireadh felt useless with all the questions swimming around his head, but he couldn't help asking, "Former month?"
The man sighed and rolled his eyes. "You'll find out about him later."
"Later, later, always later… Why not now?"
The man smirked, and his condescending approach was beginning to make Deireadh feel irritated. "Because it's dear May's task to inform you. Besides, I'm only here to tell how to get the months to stop telling you what to do."
Deireadh's eyes widened. "Why would I want to do something like that?"
"Well…" the visitor began, shoving his hands into his pockets as he locked eyes with Deireadh. "You are annoyed by them, aren't you?"
"I-" Deireadh started – before the door was flung open.
April and Romania burst through the doorway with determination that Deireadh had never seen in either of them. Granted, he had not spent much time in Romania's presence, but April was surely not the serious type whatsoever.
When April noticed the man with Deireadh, she paused mid-step, and then everything seemed to freeze still as April's mouth fell open in horror, a hand flying to her lips. Her face was locked in a silent scream of undecipherable emotions; she seemed like she would never recover – before she seemed to notice the red eyes under that shaggy brown hair.
Romania was the first to speak. "I knew it," he said, triumphant. "I knew it!"
"You," April said, to the man at Deireadh's side, and for the first time since Deireadh had met her, she sounded genuinely angry. "How dare you – I can't believe you anymore, I… You will leave. Now."
The man laughed. "Dear, lovely April. I was only trying to tell him the truth."
Unconvinced, April glared. "I said I wanted you gone."
The man spread his arms out innocently. "I was only trying to help, April."
April's voice shook has she spoke. "I don't want to see you ever looking like that again." She point out the door. "Leave."
The man gave a slight shrug of acceptance, but it was far from surrender. He turned his attention to Deireadh, stating with an unwavering tone, "Think about what I said. "He winked pointedly at April. "And don't forget to ask about that month."
Silence overshadowed the room as the intruder departed, bumping past Romania before striding out into the corridor. As Deireadh watched with interest, he saw that the stranger either walked away swiftly or vanished entirely; Deireadh couldn't be sure and he didn't trust his eyes.
"W-Who is he?" Deireadh asked, after a good few uncomfortable seconds passed.
Romania looked at the door. "We can't tell you that now."
A sound like a sob, perhaps of relief or perhaps of misery, escaped April's lips. It removed Deireadh from his musings, and he looked to his caretaker to see her legs shaking with terror.
"Romania," she said in a breathy voice. "Did you get a look at him…?"
Deireadh was puzzled. "See who? That guy?"
Ignoring Deireadh, Romania sighed. "I assume that's what he looked like?"
April could only nod, sliding to kneel with a hand over her eyes.
"Who are we talking about?" Deireadh asked, still confused. His voice was stronger now, and he stumbled to his feet, intent on receiving an answer.
Her hand still over her face, April replied, "Mercedonius… A former month that died."
Romania looked at Deireadh. "He died when Cesar changed the calendar up, getting rid of Mercedonius and adding July and August." Romania looked back at April. "She and him were together, as I heard; I wasn't around when all of this happened so I wouldn't know."
Again April spoke, her voice shaking. "I-I know 13th came looking like that just to get to me… It isn't fair…"
"I'm sorry…" Deireadh said, suddenly aware of the person's identity. The 'stranger' may have taken on the shape of someone else, but he was still Friday 13th. "Will you be alright?"
She looked up, a smile planted on her lips. One that both the year and country knew was fake. "I'll be fine, I promise. It just dug up some old memories… I'll be fine."
Sensing a change in atmosphere, Zenif finally came out of his hiding place and flew over to April, curling up in her lap. April laughed. "See? I knew he liked me, Deireadh; that's why he let me paint him."
"We're not going into that again," Deireadh sighed.
In an attempt to be supportive, Romania offered his hand to April. "C'mon, you were just about to finish cooking something…?"
April bounced up, forgetting that Zenif was sitting in her lap. "Oh gosh the cookies!"
Deireadh raised a hand. "Am I allowed to leave?"
Romania looked at April, who nodded. "Yeah you can…" she smiled again. "You're just going to have to help clean up!"
"Fine." Deireadh said, and he stood to follow the nation and month outside.