Crystal Heart - The Magic of the Earth

by yugirl-with-dragons

After dragons hid themselves from humans, magic became a rarity. One man, thirsty for revenge, seeks enough magic to destroy not just the kingdom he hates, but all humanity. Yusei, a noble knight, vows to stop him. His journey with a tormented witch, a fiery prince, and some not-quite humans will test their limits, reveal a few lost mysteries, and—if they're lucky—save the world.

7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Truce

"Adventures are never fun while you are living them." - C.S. Lewis

It felt like déjà vu, looking up into the sky as she did, her eyes following the swift and dynamic flight of the white dragon away from the attacks of the black. But then the scene began to depart from what she had witnessed before: Instead of a great burst and then a fall, the two dragons flew so low to the ground that Aki lost sight of them. The castle spiers and the wall obscured her view, but it looked like they had flown beyond the royal city. After that, only the light of their battle could be seen as colorful flashes in the sky. It made Aki wring her hands. Watching the battle was tense, but not being able to watch it was somehow more stressful.

Eventually, the lights dimmed, and she waited, holding her breath. Then came movement, and she saw the black dragon rise up into view. Its movements were choppy, hinting at its injuries, but it managed to fly away—another repeat. What had happened this time? The distance was too far for Aki to run and meet Stardust and Yusei again, so she stood waiting for a sign of their return.

But the white dragon did not appear, even after an unbearable amount of time.

"Come on," she murmured as she came to close to bruising her own hands from the force of her squeezing. "Come on . . ."

With nothing to go on, she began to imagine the worst, which only made her anxiety grow into panic. Oh no, oh shit, ohhh shit! Something happened. Something's definitely happened!

Unable to stand still, she raced through the house to Martha's room and burst through without knocking. "Martha!" she cried, and she ran so hard into the room she knocked into the bed before she could stop. Martha jolted awake. Mother that she was, she was used to waking up suddenly to the sound of children seeking comfort from nightmares. "What is it?" she said while reaching out in the dark, and she was surprised to find it was Aki instead of one of her youngest.

"Martha!" Aki cried again, taking Martha's hand tightly in both of hers. "It's Yusei!"

Martha's attention instantly sharpened, which was good because Aki then began to speak very fast, describing what she had just witnessed—as well as what she had not, which was the more worrying part. Martha, too, felt anxious, but her motherly nature made her hold it in and present a strong, calm demeanor for the sake of her child. She put a hand on Aki's shoulder and looked into the girl's eyes.

"Listen, you have every reason to be worried, but I need you to think for a moment, all right?"

Aki stayed quiet with desperate hope that Martha would provide the reassurance she needed.

"If they were that far away, there's no way to reach them anytime soon. You can't run all the way there, and we don't have any horses."

"I can't just sit still and wait—!"

"No, listen," Martha said sternly to stop Aki's outburst. "We're not just going to wait. I'm going to send a message to someone who can find out what's going on better than we can."

"A message?" Aki repeated skeptically.

"Come, I'll show you."

Aki followed close to Martha's back as the woman led her outside to a coop full of pigeons. Martha left them alone, though, and went to a separate coop from which she pulled out a falcon on her outstretched arm. She presented the sharp bird to Aki with some pride. "This guy will get there faster than either of us could."

Aki stared, momentarily intrigued by the beautiful creature, as Martha scrawled a quick note on a piece of paper. She then rolled it up and tied it to the falcon's leg before calling it back onto her arm. "You know where to go," she murmured while giving it a smooth stroke and then a slice of meat out of a pouch in her apron. The falcon gulped it down, and then Martha swung her arm up to give it momentum as it stretched out its wings and began its flight.

"Who's the message for?" Aki asked as they both watched the falcon get smaller and smaller.

"Another one of my grown sons," Martha said. "He's the one who trains the birds, but that's more of a hobby for him. He works in the city." She looked to Aki. "He's reliable. As soon as he knows something, he'll let us know."

Aki turned her eyes back to the sky. She could no longer see the falcon, but as always, the castle was the clearest thing in sight. Now with nothing to do, Aki found herself wringing her hands again and bouncing on her feet impatiently. She wanted to run. She felt like she could have run twice as fast as the falcon, even though she knew that couldn't be true.

But what really hurt was remembering that, even if she could have arrived at Yusei's side in an instant, if he was injured, she wouldn't be of much help to him. Not this time. It hurt that a bird was more helpful than herself.

Not wanting to resent it, she prayed even greater speed upon it.

---

Crow dropped facedown onto his bed, exhausted. Despite his youth and strength, his long hours working in the forge took their toll. But he kind of liked it: It made him feel like he had done an honest day's work. And there was the added benefit of making more money that way, which was important if he wanted to keep Zora's complaints about late rent payments at bay, which he very much did.

And honestly, he genuinely did enjoy the work, so it was easy to keep going once he had started. And sleep was always so sweet at the end of a long day. He could almost taste it as it sank into his bones the instant he was off his feet.

Screams shook it away just as quickly. He blinked rapidly and rolled off his bed so he could jump out the door. His eyes went up right away, because he had heard the unmistakable roar of dragons. He was greeted with the white light of Stardust as his magic streamed through the sky toward an unfamiliar enemy. The light was blinding, and he had to raise an arm over his head to shield against it, but he kept squinting because couldn't bring himself to stop looking. Stardust moved so fast that he couldn't be sure, but he thought he saw Yusei on the dragon's shoulders, as he often was.

Gradually as the battle continued, Stardust drew the other away from the city and to the other side of the wall, which caused some relief in the screaming crowds who had also come outside, but even with the immediate danger seemingly gone, they continued to buzz loudly.

"Did you see that?"

"They were so close!"

"Why were they fighting?"

"What was that black dragon?"

"Where did they go? Will they come back?"

No one had answers, of course, only anxious questions. Crow kept his mouth shut because otherwise he would have snapped at them all, "Do any of you care about the knight? He's the one right there where they action is! Maybe spare a thought for him while you're freaking out!" He hissed through his clenched teeth. They probably had been too distracted by the dragons to even notice the small human with them. Well, whatever. Yusei wasn't their friend. He was just their literal knight in shining armor.

Then the crowd raised their voices again as the sky filled with ominous glows. Mothers hugged their children and husbands gripped their wives as they looked to the lights. Crow stood alone, eyes wide open as he took in the sight and wondered, just like the rest, What's going on?

When the lights went out, Crow could see the shape of the black dragon entering the sky and flying away, which on its own was a relief. But then there was no sign of Stardust, and for Crow, that cancelled out the relief of seeing the enemy leave. He waited, chest tight with a held breath, and ground his teeth. Where was Stardust?

Shit, Crow thought. Is he hurt? Is Yusei stuck out there? Is he hurt too? Shit!

All his exhaustion from earlier was gone. Wide awake and bubbling like boiling water, he decided in a snap to go check for himself. He looked back to his room and made a loud whistle with his thumb and finger in his mouth. Within seconds, a glossy black crow came flying out the door he had left open. He still didn't think to close it, and instead he started running before the bird had even made it to his shoulder. The bird flew at his side as he ran, and he could feel people staring at him as he raced by. Some even called out to him, asking where he was going or if he knew something, but he ignored them.

It didn't take him long to reach the city gate, and the guards stationed there when he arrived didn't make him stop before he passed through the arch and kept running over the bridge to the other side of the shallow canyon. When he got closer to the forest, he turned his head toward his companion.

"Gale, go up and tell me if you see anything!"

The crow squawked once and then flapped its wings, directing itself upward. They entered the forest's border, and Crow ran in the general direction he thought the dragons had gone in while occasionally looking up to see his crow flying above the trees. They were going uphill, so Crow was heaving by the time he heard his crow squawk and fly ahead.

"Yes!" he huffed with a heavy breath and then pushed himself to stay close behind. After a moment, the crow began to circle the air above a clearing behind a dense thicket. Crow had to come to a stop and explore the barrier in search of an easy way through. He growled at the brush when he couldn't find one.

"Oi!" he called into the dark. "Yusei! You there?"

He heard voices on the other side, and not wanting to let some shrubbery beat him, he pushed his way through by force, ignoring the scrapes and scratches the brambles gave him. He made it to the other side with a determined growl, and the moonlight allowed him to see what was there.

"Yusei!"

He dashed forward as the crow descended, now that Crow had arrived. Yusei was in bad shape: his arms and toro were exposed, making it easy to see that his body was covered in streaks of blood seeping from deep scratches and piercings. But he didn't seem to be worried about himself. Instead, he was sitting in the grass with someone Crow didn't recognize—and if Crow had ever seen him before, he would have remembered, if for no other reason than the man's ridiculously long white hair. In that moment, though, he was also noticeably naked, except for a torn and bloody shirt tied around his waist.

Somewhat embarrassed by the sight, Crow quickly looked away, to anywhere and everywhere else, and it suddenly occurred to him that he didn't see Stardust at all. Which was strange not just because the dragon should be there, but because he should be the easiest thing to see, with as big and bright as his body was.

"Crow!"

Crow's attention was called back to Yusei, and when his eyes met his friend's, he could tell that Yusei was relieved to see him. That got Crow moving, and feeling good about his decision to come.

"Yusei!" he called back as he ran, the crow's talons digging into his shoulder in an effort to stay upright. Crow dropped down to the grass and put a hand on Yusei's bare arm. "What the hell happened? Are you ok? Shit, look at all this blood. Shit! Where's Stardust? And who's this? Who are you? Are you ok?"

Crow's attention flitted as he let loose a frantic stream of questions. Yusei's relief turned to exhaustion and he sighed.

"Can I tell you on the way out of here?"

"Can you walk like this?"

Yusei looked down at his own skin, and though the wounds were quite gruesome, his expression didn't change. He just looked tired. "Yeah."

Crow frowned, but he figured arguing would be a waste of time. For one, because Yusei was going to insist on walking anyway, whether he could or not, and for two, because just sitting around wasn't going to make him heal any faster. So Crow sighed too.

"Fine. Come on, then." He leaned in and got Yusei's arm around his neck so he could bear some of Yusei's weight as they all got to their feet. With Yusei's arm invading its space, the crow jumped off Crow's shoulder and flew above the trio as they made their way to the city gate.

---

The black dragon's whole body shook from exhaustion as it labored to breathe, and fresh blood kept seeping from its wounds to coat its black feathers. But it kept flying. They were getting close. The ruins of an ancient, empty tower stood in the distance, and the only other noticeable feature near it was a freshwater stream. The dragon's breaths got more ragged as it pushed on, and when it finally reached the base of the tower, it could only collapse, sending both passengers to the ground with an ungraceful thump.

Kiryu recovered first and darted to Divine's side. The witch was stiff and trembling, breathing fast as a scalding heat flowed through his veins, making them press visibly—and brightly—against his skin. He focused on breathing. He just had to keep breathing. He could get through this, he told himself. He didn't know how long it would take to recover—it would certainly take longer than it had with Aki's magic—but he would make it. He would absolutely make it.

The thought made him giggle through the pain. He had done it. He had taken a dragon's power. He could feel it bulging inside him, pushing at the edges of his tiny body, looking for room. It just needed time to adapt. They both needed time to adapt to each other. And all the pain would be worth it.

He had no control over his laughter, and to Kiryu he seemed to be coming unhinged. "Sayer?" he called tentatively. He reached out and touched his shoulder, and even to Kiryu he felt hot. "Are you . . . ok?"

Divine took in deeper breaths to try to steady himself. "I'll be fine," he said hoarsely. He could already feel the dragon's ability to heal itself working on his arm, where the knight's arrow had pierced him. It was a shame the knight was still alive—and the dragon—but he had rendered them both harmless. With his new power, neither was a threat, and he could just kill them when next they met.

That thought made him grin through a grimace.

"Can you walk?" Kiryu asked.

Divine hissed through his teeth. "No, not yet." He could barely move at all. He needed to just focus on breathing. Concentrate on getting cool air in his lungs to take away some of the heat.

"Then . . . what do I do?"

"Nothing. Just leave me here for now."

Kiryu didn't like that idea, but instead of arguing, he stayed by Divine's side and watched him breathe. Then after a minute he said, "So . . . can I ask you something?"

"What?" Divine asked without opening his eyes.

"What was that name that knight called you back there?"

Kiryu saw Divine's face twitch, but he attributed it to his pain. "I have no idea."

"But, you turned around when he said it." Again, Divine's brow twitched, but most parts of his body were twitching too, so Kiryu didn't make anything of it.

"Because I thought it was strange, too. He was screaming at me, so why did he call me that? I looked out of some impulse."

"I . . . see."

"Does it bother you that much?"

"No, no. Never mind. It doesn't matter."

"You know, Kiryu," Divine said in between breaths, and then with great effort he reached out one hand and put it on Kiryu's arm. "You did well today."

That quickly got Kiryu's mind off the knight. "Really?"

"Yes. You've been invaluable. And I am impressed by your bravery, and how twice now you've managed to get away without a scratch. I owe you great thanks."

Kiryu put a hand on top of Divine's. "Thank you, Sayer. It means a lot for you to say that. But I'm just grateful to be of some help. I owe you everything. You're the reason I'm here."

Divine cracked a smile. "True. Now, you had better take care of the dragon. He's been troublesome, but once this magic is completely grafted into me, controlling him will be easy."

"Great. Though, I was also wondering . . . How are you even able to do this? I mean, that's a lot of magic, how can you hold all of it in your body without bursting? And how can you keep it after you use it?"

Divine let his next breath out slowly, like a teacher dealing with a too-eager student. "All right," he said slowly, giving in to the temptation to flaunt his knowledge. "Well, as you know, the very physical body of a witch, or really, any magic being, is designed to produce magic. But what is the true source of that magic?"

Kiryu frowned in thought. "I don't know."

Divine had to pause to take a few more breaths as a sudden spike of heat washed through him. It settled after a moment, and as he felt sweat slide down his face, he continued his explanation.

"Well, I'll give you a simple comparison. Our body is able to generate heat, right? But where does it get that heat from? The answer is: from the environment. We take in food, and that food turns into heat and strength in our body. We don't eat heat, but we produce it anyway. And so it is with magic. There is an energy outside of us in the earth, and the body of a witch is designed to take in that energy and create magic from it. Human bodies do not have that ability, and so they cannot make or use magic. Just like how a fish can breathe water but a human cannot, it is a matter of the body's design."

"But then, why is there such a wide variety of magic that witches and other things have, if they all get it from the same source?"

"I suppose that is where the comparison breaks. I guess you could, at least, say that witches and other beings have different metabolisms. Some witches have a high metabolism and can therefore use greater and stronger amounts of magic. And dragons by nature have a higher metabolism than any witch could. Beyond that, I suppose you could say variations in how a being's magic manifests are simply a unique thing, like a person's face or voice. I can't tell you why my face is exactly what it is, I just know that it is. I don't know why that dragon's magic manifests as self-healing or white light, it just does."

"Huh . . . I didn't know any of that."

Divine chuckled. "Well, most witches don't, I would guess. But I like to read. A lot."

Kiryu did know that. "So, what about all that magic? How can you still be alive?"

"You mean besides my strong will?"

"That helps?"

Divine chuckled again. It was as much laughter as he could manage in his condition. "Who knows? I'd like to think so. But mostly, it's because I have these"—he raised a hand just enough to bring Kiryu's attention to his glove—"and a special technique. Right now, my body isn't just working to absorb this magic, it's adapting and changing, and becoming more efficient at using the energy from my environment. So, you could say I'm increasing my metabolism to be far greater than what it could ever be naturally. I'll be able to use more magic, and more powerful magic, without reaching a limit, because I'll always be able to draw more fuel into myself before I run out."

"Wow," Kiryu murmured. Divine looked to be in terrible pain, excruciating pain, but he could still speak so calmly and coherently. He truly was amazing. And he certainly did have a strong will: even if it didn't help him absorb the magic, it had to keep him sane and focused through an ordeal that could break anyone else. Kiryu was pretty sure he didn't have what it took to put himself through that pain.

"And what's more," Divine added with a smile made crooked by his pain, "I'll even gain the unique quality of the dragon's magic once I've got it completely absorbed. The self-healing power will be grafted into me as if it was always mine."

"That'll be useful."

"Oh yes, undoubtedly. I'll be powerful . . . and indestructible."

Kiryu stared down at Divine's face, the veins there bulging and squirming like living things, the blood inside still brimming with light like smelting iron. His brow was knit tight and his teeth were clenched, but he was still smiling. In the face of Divine's heat, Kiryu felt a chill in his spine.

"Not even a dragon will be equal to me," Divine whispered hungrily. "I will surpass . . . everything."

"Then," Kiryu said slowly, "will you . . . even need me anymore?"

With effort, Divine opened his eyes enough to look up at Kiryu. "You will always be welcome at my side. I won't abandon you after everything you've done for me. And I'll reward you in the end, with anything you want."

Kiryu put a hand lightly on Divine's chest. His heart was racing, and the heat from his body felt hot as a fire's glow. "I'll keep doing my best. For you."

---

No matter how long she stared into the dark, no light or flying figures appeared. After sending the falcon off on its trip, Martha had gone back inside—she would still have a lot of work to do in the morning, so she needed her sleep—and left Aki to wait for its return. Which was just as well, because Aki would not have been able to do anything else.

For a while Aki had stayed on her feet, because she couldn't imagine sitting still. After pacing for a while, she stood in place while rapidly bouncing her heels. Then she went back to pacing. Then she finally sat on the grass—a familiar and comfortable place for her—and tapped the ground with her hands and toes. She was too anxious to hum to herself, so she only had her quiet tension for company.

She tried to calm herself with controlled breathing, but her heart wouldn't stop pounding. She had no sense of how much time had passed, but she was both sharply alert and exhausted. Waiting was torture. She would have rather been running this whole time, even if it was just as fruitless. But someone needed to be ready to receive the message when it came, so she couldn't abandon her post.

She didn't realize that she had begun to scrape into the dirt with her nails as she stared up to the city. The sensation of it fed her unconscious with the comfort of familiarity, and it gave her body a rhythmic outlet for her nervous energy. And then suddenly she froze, sucking in a quick breath and leaning forward. She stared harder, eyes wide and brows high. Was that . . . ? Was it really?

She held her breath until she was sure, really really sure. And when she was, she jumped—and stumbled—and scrambled up to her feet so she could run forward, waving both arms over her head. The falcon didn't need her help finding its way back, but she couldn't contain herself.

It came closer and closer, and then flew over Aki's head. She turned and chased after it back to the aviary where it landed on a sturdy perch. When it was set in place, Aki grabbed at the paper tied to its leg, her hands clumsy and shaking. The bird made an impatient noise, and Aki reached into her pocket and unceremoniously dropped a pile of thinly sliced meat for the bird to eat before going back to opening the note. The bird squawked irritably but then jumped down to the ground to eat. Aki didn't notice.

"Please, please, be alive, be all right," she prayed before unfolding the last fold to see what was written inside.

---

Crow didn't blame the guards for stopping the three of them when they got to the bridge. Yusei was a bloody mess and the third man was . . . an unusual sight. But Crow also didn't blame Yusei for putting a stop to their interrogation with a sharp look.

"Hey, isn't that Yusei?" one of them asked to the others.

"Yeah, it is," Crow answered for them. "The Yusei. So can I get him home and patch him up? Please?"

Yusei maintained his silence—he had spoken enough on the way there, and now he was ready to get somewhere to sit down—and the guards took in the sight of his bloody skin and wounds with new eyes. "Oh, shit, yes. Yes! Please, come in."

"Thanks," Crow said, and the sharpness in Yusei's face softened just a little as he gave them a nod of gratitude. Crow focused on trudging forward with Yusei's weight so he wouldn't be too interested in the shushed murmuring the guards kept among themselves.

By then, the streets were empty, the people apparently confident enough that the danger was gone to go inside and to bed. Crow was grateful for that. It made getting back to his place a little easier without gawkers and gossipers and any other interruptions. Crow found his door still open, which he hoped meant Zora hadn't seen him leave it like that. She would have shut it if she had, and then given him a piece of her mind later.

Once they took their first step in, the crow perched in Crow's orange hair began flapping its wings and squawking. Crow's hands were full holding Yusei's arm around his shoulders, so he couldn't grab the bird. But he saw why it was reacting when he looked inside and saw the falcon he had given to Martha waiting for him on his bed.

"Sirocco!"

The falcon rustled its wings in greeting. Crow carried Yusei to the bed where he helped him finally sit, only for Yusei to drop onto his back.

"Oi, you ok?"

"Fine," Yusei said with his eyes closed and gave Crow a small wave.

Crow had doubts, but he hoped Yusei would tell him if he really felt like he was at death's door. So he took a minute to give Sirocco some attention. If Martha had sent him, then something was urgent. He untied the note from the bird's leg and read.

Crow, I'm sure from over there you saw Stardust fighting earlier. Yusei was staying with me before he took off for that fight, and he hasn't come back yet. Please look for him and tell me how he is when you find him. Martha

Crow laughed. "One step ahead of you," he murmured to her. And since he knew how Yusei and Stardust were now, he supposed he should answer her. He looked to Yusei, who was still lying on his back, his legs bent around the bed and his feet on the ground. "I'm gonna get some water boiling," he said, and Yusei managed a grunt in response.

Once he had the fire going under his big pot full of water, Crow took a minute to write a note.

Martha, I got Yusei. The situation is . . . complicated. To sum up: Yusei's hurt, but I'm gonna clean him up as best I can. Stardust isn't hurt but . . . well I don't really know how to put it. Anyway, they're alive, and I'm sure you'll see them again soon. Crow

He got the note folded up small and tied it securely to Sirocco's leg. "One sec," he said, giving the bird a pat on the head. He grabbed a sliver of meat from a container and brought it back to the bird, who swallowed it greedily. "There you go. Ok, come on." He called Sirocco to his arm and carried him outside while stroking the soft spot under his beak. "Right. Aaaally-oop!" Crow launched Sirocco into the air with a soft swing of his arm, and he watched him take off into the dark.

When he came back inside, the water was still warming up, so he went to a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of wine. Crow didn't have much time to drink, but he was grateful for that now since it meant he still had the bottle lying around. He uncorked it as he walked to the bed.

"Oi, Yusei, can you sit up?"

Yusei groaned, but then he slowly complied. Crow put a hand against his back and helped him up. "Hold out your arms," Crow said, and Yusei did so without a word. They both knew it would sting, so Crow didn't give him that warning. Yusei just waited, and so Crow let the wine pour carefully out over the puncture wounds all over Yusei's arms. Yusei grimaced but held still and quiet.

"Bloody ash, Yusei. This looks horrible."

"It looks worse than it is," Yusei said in a tight voice.

Again, Crow frowned with doubt. "If you say so." After he had poured the last of the wine down Yusei's bare back, he got up to get the linen bandages he had stashed in a drawer. He came back and did the best he could to clean off the blood with a cloth dampened in the hot water before wrapping him up. With wounds all over Yusei's body, Crow had just barely enough to get them all covered.

"That feel all right?"

Yusei rubbed a hand along one of his bandaged arms, and when nothing came loose, he nodded. "It's good."

"All right. I think that's all I can do for now. Except I'll get some clothes for you and . . ." Crow looked to the front door, which was still open. Standing several paces out into the night was the pale man that Crow knew in his head was Stardust, but he couldn't quite wrap his mind around it.

"Thanks."

"Sure thing." Crow got up and pulled out the loosest of his clothes he could find, since both his guests were taller than he was. He gave one tunic to Yusei and then left the others out for Stardust to take when he was ready. It seemed he needed some alone time, and apparently wearing nothing didn't bother him. Well, he was a dragon, perhaps that wasn't too surprising. And it was the middle of night so there shouldn't be anyone out to see him.

"Think you can sleep?" Crow asked.

"Definitely."

"Ok. I need to sleep too. I've got work tomorrow you know."

Yusei smiled. "Don't let me get in your way."

"Believe me, I won't. We slept in the same bed plenty of times when we were kids, it won't be a problem now." He did only have the one, and he wasn't going to make Yusei sleep on the floor.

Yusei just smiled until Crow started feeling bashful. Eventually he said, "Crow, thank you."

"Huh? What for?"

"Everything."

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything special. You're my bro."

Yusei nodded his agreement on that point. "How did you find us?"

Crow pointed to the black crow set on a perch sticking out of the wall. "He was my eyes, isn't that right, Gale?" The bird squawked. "I mean, I saw what happened up there," he added, pointing to the sky through the ceiling, "and I saw where you headed after that, so you weren't really that hard to find."

"Ah. Well, I'm glad."

"Yeah, me too. And Martha will be too when she gets my note."

"Mm. Thanks."

"Do you want me to find you a ride back to her place tomorrow?"

Yusei shook his head. "No, not yet. I need to see Jack first. The sooner the better."

"Promise me you'll sleep first."

Yusei laughed. "The only reason I'm not headed there now is because I need to."

"Well good. Oh and, what about . . . I mean, there's enough room for us, but trying to fit . . ." It took some effort, but he finally brought himself to say it. "Stardust in with us might be a squeeze."

"Don't worry about me."

Crow jumped at the sudden appearance of Stardust at the doorframe. "I'll be fine sleeping on the ground."

Crow was secretly relieved. "All right. I got some clothes for you there," he said, pointing.

Stardust gave the folded clothing a forlorn look and said with a dull voice, "Thank you."

Crow squirmed uncomfortably, then asked to break the silence, "So, um . . . do you think . . . will you be able to . . . turn back? Eventually?" He hoped the answer would lighten the mood at least a little. And he noticed Yusei had his attention aimed curiously at Stardust.

"Hard to say," Stardust said without a change in expression. "I'm not entirely sure why I became like this in the first place."

"Oh."

Stardust looked down to his fleshy hands and flexed his fingers, and the sight of them just seemed to depress him. "I mean," he continued, musing out loud, "Divine used the same spell on me that he did on Aki. And like with her, he didn't finish, which is why I'm still alive. But this . . . change. It's . . ."

Stardust looked down on his weak limbs with a wrinkled nose, which Yusei interpreted as confusion. "Maybe it was something Divine did," he suggested. "A spell or something."

Stardust shook his head. "No, it's not that."

"How can you tell?"

"Because I would be able to feel his magic working on me. But I don't feel anything of him in this."

"But . . . Aki lost her sense of magic after . . . So maybe you can't feel it because of that?"

"No, I can tell," Stardust said firmly. "And anyway, I'm a dragon, I'm made of magic. If I didn't have any left, I wouldn't be standing here. I've still got a little left, even if it's just enough to keep me alive."

Crow looked between the two of them as they both struggled to come up with an explanation. "Ok," Yusei said, since he had no proof against Stardust's point. "And I take it you've never heard of anything like that happening before?"

Stardust pursed his lips to the side—which made Crow think he was adapting to human gestures quickly enough, but he kept that observation to himself. "Well, I haven't heard of anyone ever trying to drain a dragon's magic, so . . ."

Yusei rubbed his eyes. He wasn't an expert in the details of magic, so he just had to accept what the resident expert told him. And if Stardust didn't know, then there was no reason to think he could come up with an answer.

Stardust looked down to his hands again, which he flexed again and then gripped into fists. He stared hard at them with his human eyes—colored a very inhuman gold—for a long moment, and as the seconds passed, his fists got tighter and tighter until his whole arms were shaking with the strain.

"I'll kill him," he whispered, and Yusei could hear the faint remnant of his dragon's breath in it, hot and steaming. "That little . . . fucking . . . I'll kill him. I'll bite his whole head off, I swear."

Yusei had gone very still. He stared at Stardust with a sudden chill on his skin. Stardust's teeth were bared, and he could see how sharp his canines were. The dragon's mouth may have shrunk down to the size of a human's, but Yusei could imagine him ripping through Divine's neck with those fangs if given the chance. And the fact that Stardust seemed furious enough to actually do it made Yusei's stomach drop. It was . . . almost scary. And he wasn't sure he preferred it to the despair he had had to face in Aki.

Then Stardust snapped his burning eyes up to Yusei. "You want to too, right?"

"Bite his head off?"

"Kill him."

Yusei felt a jolt seeing Stardust brush his joke aside so forcefully. He met Stardust's gaze as steadily as he could and tightened his hands into fists on his knees. He couldn't say he didn't, but he wasn't ready to admit it so freely yet. "I want to make him fix everything."

Stardust seethed through his clenched teeth, but he didn't argue. Instead, he breathed hard a few times, his teeth making each inhale and exhale loud as a hard gust. "Right," he finally hissed. "He's fucked things up, and he's fucked with the wrong dragon. I'll make him pay. I'll make him give me back my wings, my tail, everything. And then I'll make—him—pay."

Stardust's bare shoulders heaved up and down with his hard breathing. Yusei couldn't move as he stared at this new Stardust. Even on the night they had made their fateful escape together, Stardust hadn't seemed this angry. And yet, it clashed with his diminished appearance. Had he still been a dragon, Yusei was sure his heart would be trembling in true awe and fear. But as it was, he was just a tall, lanky, naked man wrapped in an absurd amount of hair, looking more like a spectacle than a true threat.

Crow rubbed his eyes wearily. "Look," he said, "you guys have been through a lot, and I've got the gist of it, but I don't think I can take in any more right now. So, can we maybe just go to bed?"

Stardust shot Crow a sharp look, still seething with his murderous thoughts. While it made Crow a bit nervous, it didn't strike paralyzing fear into his heart, and that was a truly depressing realization for the dragon. He unclenched his fists and looked over to the clothes that had been provided for him. "Fine," he mumbled. And as he came over to snatch the bundle, Yusei watched him closely. The chill he had felt ebbed slightly at seeing Stardust's vexed sulking. Stardust had always had more vibrant emotions than Yusei, and he would hate to hear it, but being able to see them so clearly on his face felt . . . right. It suited him.

It was everything else about it that was strange. Because the things about him that before were fortified by his power were now left bare, and he was beginning to seem more vulnerable. More . . . human.

---

The air in Domino shook with more than just the usual morning life. Shoppers and shopkeepers alike buzzed with the story of the dragons and their mysterious night battle. Neighbors old and young conjectured and debated over the details. And the longer they went without answers or a satisfying conclusion—none had seen the dragons emerge again since they flew out of sight across the wall—the more restless they became.

Crow heard many of the worries and received some of the questions as he worked. Despite falling asleep so late, he had woken up like clockwork at the break of dawn. He had been groggy and exhausted, but there was nothing to do but work through it. But all the talk of the dragons meant Crow couldn't stop thinking about it.

Yusei had still been asleep next to him when he woke, he was glad to see, though his face was flustered and damp. He had touched Yusei's forehead and felt the fever, but besides confirming it, there wasn't much he could do. So he had gone to Zora, who lived in the main house a short way from the small apartment he rented.

"Hey Zora, do you have anything that can help with a fever?"

"Of course I do," she said with a snipped tone. She didn't like having her morning interrupted before she had enjoyed her personal blend of tea.

Crow kept his manner reined in—he was used to her treatment, but that didn't mean he liked it—and said, "Oh good. Because Yusei's staying with me right now and he's kind of—"

"Yusei?" Zora gasped, her tight face brightening. "He's here?"

Crow tried not to grumble. He had been counting on her jumping at the opportunity to help Yusei. But still. "Yeah, and he's got a pretty bad fever, so—"

"I'll take care of it," she said quickly, setting her tea down without a second thought. He watched her turn to rustle through some cabinets and let the relief sink in. Zora had run an herb and spice shop with her husband for ages before he died, and now she handled it alone. She was an encyclopedia of plants and their uses—medicinal, culinary, and otherwise—which made her a handy person to have around in a time like this. And because she doted on Yusei so much, like he was her favorite grandson, he didn't even have to say please and thank you. She wasn't doing him any favors.

As she was gathering jars and tools, she looked over her shoulder to Crow. "Don't you have work to get to?"

Crow ground his teeth behind his smile. "Yeah, I was just about to head that way." Zora gave him a curt nod and then took one last look in the cabinet before shutting it. "Right," Crow said as he turned to the door, "I'll leave it to you."

Zora just set her armful of supplies down on the table and shooed him away with a wave. Crow didn't let his face fall until he had his back to her, and he didn't sigh until he was outside. That woman. It wasn't fair. From the very beginning she had treated him like some reckless, immature son. But he worked hard and did his best to be responsible, so why couldn't she cut him some slack? Well, she was strict, but he had to admit she was always reliable and always helped him out when he needed it. If she actually didn't like him, she could have always just kicked him out. So maybe beneath that prickly exterior she did care for him.

It occurred to Crow when he was halfway to his forge that he had forgot to mention to Zora the other guest he had, the one lying curled up on the floor. Well, at least he wasn't naked anymore. And Crow didn't have time to go back. He just sighed and figured he would explain him later if he needed to. Really he hoped Yusei would get the chance to, because Zora would accept it better if it came from him.

Crow waved to another customer as she took her completed order—a rather tedious job involving chainmail repair, but it had paid well—and then sat down to wipe the sweat from his brow. It was still morning, though he had already been at work for hours. He thought about taking a quick break to go buy something to eat, since he now had quite a heavy bag of coins to his name. And he was relieved to think confidently that he could rely on Zora to feed Yusei in his place, which would save him a few of those coins.

---

Aki had been so relieved to read that Yusei was alive that she had fallen to her knees and burst into sudden tears. She hadn't realized she had been that close to the edge until the note had knocked her over, and for a minute she had hugged it to her heart and whispered a stream of thanks.

She had been surprisingly quick to fall asleep after that. Apparently the stress and strain had exhausted her without her noticing. She woke to the lively sound of a dozen children eating breakfast and the light of mid-morning pouring through her window. Since none of the children knew the situation, Aki made an effort to look normal as she walked past them and into the kitchen to find Martha.

"Aki! Good morning," Martha greeted, putting on the same mask.

"Good morning," Aki agreed, and quietly slipped the note to her. Martha took it while looking over Aki's shoulder to the rowdy dining table, and then snuck a peek down. She let loose a sigh and then handed the note back to Aki, since her hands were still busy with work.

"So how are you?" she asked while preparing a plate of food for Aki.

"Well . . . I guess I'm all right," Aki answered hesitantly.

"But you're still worried," Martha guessed.

Aki nodded.

Martha nodded too, knowingly, then handed Aki her plate. "Listen," she said softly as Aki accepted it, "if you really want to, I can help you get to him."

Aki's brows rose. "Really?"

Martha nodded. "I can't go with you, but I'll let you take Sirocco. He'll show you the way. And then you can send me another note with more details. Crow's is rather cryptic."

Aki gripped the plate anxiously. The idea of going to the city—again—caused a visceral reaction in her whole body, but there was no denying that she very much wanted to see Yusei. After a moment she asked, "Do you have a hood or something I can wear to cover my hair?"

Martha looked at her curiously. "Is there something wrong with your hair?"

"Well, it just . . . makes me stand out, I think . . . And the last time I was there I kind of . . . drew a little too much attention to myself. I'd rather not be recognized."

"Ah, I see. Yes, I can get you something. So go sit down and eat. I'll get a few things ready for you."

Aki's body shook with her nerves, but she also felt a sincere gratitude that made her smile. "Thank you." Martha smiled too and patted Aki on her shoulder. Then they both moved to leave the kitchen, but then Aki paused. "Wait. Who's Sirocco?"

---

Stardust was the last to wake out of everyone. Before he opened his eyes, he yawned wide and loud and rolled onto his back to stretch his limbs—which, while short compared to his usual size, were long for his new body. And he noticed that his body ached, which was a strange sensation for him. Apparently human anatomy wasn't well-suited to sleeping on the floor. He frowned, irritated.

"Well I'll say," he heard an unfamiliar voice say. "I was wondering if you'd ever wake up." Stardust opened his eyes and rolled his head back until he could see the bed and the two figures sitting on it—albeit upside down. The old woman with her gray hair tied back into a tight bun was looking at him with a pinched expression. "I've never even seen a cat sleep as long as you."

"Go easy on him," Yusei asked of her while sitting back against a tall pile of pillows. "He had a rough night."

"I doubt it was as rough as yours," the woman said sympathetically while putting a hand on his shoulder.

Stardust instantly disliked the woman. What the hell did she know? He pushed himself to sit up and began to stretch even more to try to work the ache away.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Yusei said quietly.

The woman just sighed. "Well, in any case." Stardust refused to look at her and just continued to stretch with his back to her. "Let's see, you've got your tea, your balm and fresh bandages, your breakfast, can I get anything else for you? More pillows? Oh, I'll get you a fresh cloth."

As she took the damp cloth from his forehead, Yusei said reassuringly, "You've already helped so much Zora, I don't want to be any more of a burden on you—"

"Nonsense," Zora tutted with a wave of her hand and then dipped the cloth into a bowl of cool water. "It's my pleasure to offer you whatever hospitality I can." As she wrung the cloth tight to drain out the excess water, Stardust assumed she was just a patriotic fan of knights. He was on his feet and stretching side to side when Zora returned to Yusei to put the folded cloth back on his forehead.

"Well, I'm grateful," Yusei said. "Thank you. Really."

"Of course. Well if you're sure you don't need anything else, I'll leave you to rest. But if you think of anything, send that one to me," she said, gesturing toward Stardust, "and have him tell me."

"I will. Thank you."

Zora looked down on him with the eyes of a doting grandmother. "Rest up. I'll bring you lunch later." With that, she walked out without a word to Stardust, who only followed her with a sideways look. When she had closed the door, Yusei finally relaxed his head back into the pillows and Stardust went to join him on the bed.

"Who's that?"

"Zora," Yusei said with eyes closed. "She's a friend of Martha's, and Crow's landlady."

"Huh. She seems to like you."

Yusei made a subtle motion that was probably meant to be a shrug. "She thinks I'm a good role model." What he didn't say was that she wished Crow was more like him.

Stardust huffed and crossed his arms. "Well, I guess as long as she's helping you out . . ." He tapped a finger against his arm and then asked, "What did you tell her about me, anyway?"

Yusei exhaled a long breath. "I didn't tell her who you are," he said firstly. "I thought you wouldn't like too many people knowing you look like that."

Stardust kept his back straight, but he couldn't help making a relieved face. At least Yusei's eyes were closed as he did. "So who does she think I am?"

"A friend."

"Hm. Simple enough. Do I have a name?"

That was when Yusei smirked, making him look like he was having an amusing dream. "Dusty."

Stardust choked. "You . . . you didn't."

Yusei made that not-quite-a-shrug motion again. "I was on the spot," he explained. "I had to think quick."

Stardust huffed again and bounced his foot irritably. "Well, whatever." Yusei didn't say anything after that, and Stardust finally took a moment to appreciate how tired his friend must be to still be lying down. The knight couldn't stand just lazing about, which meant Divine's torture had really worn him out. "So . . . you'll be all right, right?"

Yusei nodded. "Yeah. Zora said it's a lot of damage, but nothing fatal. I'm just beat up."

"Well . . . good," Stardust said, since he couldn't think of anything else. With that, the little house filled with their silence. Crow's apartment was less a house and more a large room with designated areas: The center was the main living space, against the wall opposite the front door was the bed, to the left of the front door was the tiny kitchen, and to the right was a large multipurpose table. Not much, but enough for one young man who spent most of his time at work anyway.

Stardust couldn't help but resent how big it felt to him now. Normally, the apartment would not have been big enough to hold him. His wings alone would have spanned wider than the walls, but his human body could spread out wide and comfortably anywhere within them. Everything looked so different from a human perspective. While he had slipped into thought, he had begun to absently comb through the new hair he had draped over one shoulder. He had never had hair before, but his new fingers seemed to like the feel of it.

When he finally realized what he was doing, he jerked his fingers out of the hair. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Yusei's eyes were still closed. He didn't know if he was sleeping or just resting, but either way Stardust didn't want to bother him. So he looked around the apartment until he found Yusei's collection of weapons and quietly stood to approach it. He paused before his first step to pick up the pool of hair that had collected at his feet so he could carry it with him. It was a tripping hazard otherwise.

He kneeled down on the floor and reached out to pull Yusei's dagger from its sheath. He collected a lock of hair in his hand while holding the dagger with the other and stretched it out in front of him. He pressed the edge of the dagger against the hair and played around with different measurements: This long? This long? How about this long?

When he had decided on which length to go with, he raised the blade and then brought it down sharply. To his surprise, the dagger didn't slice through the hair, not a single strand. Instead, his hair seemed to catch it like a net, as if the dagger was dull as a fish. Stardust examined the dagger, and when he confirmed that it was, in fact, dangerously sharp, he tried again. He cut and cut and cut, and even stabbed at the stubborn lock, but no matter how much pressure he used, his hair would not break. It was flexible like hair, but resilient and unbreakable . . . like a dragon scale.

He made one more attempt by isolating a single strand and wrapping it around the dagger. But even then, no amount of tugging was enough to force the blade through the hair. He let loose a growl.

"You've got to be kidding," he muttered before dropping the dagger and letting his head hang. He sighed and rolled to sit with his back against the wall and legs bent, the hair hanging loosely over his shoulder and bundled like a pet in his lap. He stared down at it with a kind of hollow feeling. "Now what?"

He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, and once again his hands began to comb through the length of his hair as if of their own volition. Normally, he would have been outside and free to fly around. He didn't feel like going outside anymore. It would be too overwhelming to be surrounded by a world that felt far too big. If he just sat here with his eyes closed, maybe he could not think about it, at least for a while.

---

Hours passed. Stardust didn't notice in his meditation, and Yusei was still asleep. When a knock sounded against the door, only Stardust stirred. It had been too tentative to wake the knight from his deep sleep. Stardust opened his eyes and wrinkled his nose. That woman had come back as she had promised, with Yusei's lunch. He decided he would eat it himself rather than wake Yusei.

He pushed himself up—only to groan and hobble. His body was aching again. Apparently sitting on the floor for too long was also not an activity his human body liked. What the hell was it good for, then? Grumbling to himself, he moved stiffly across the room and opened the door just a little.

It wasn't Zora.

"Hi, um, Crow?" the young woman greeted, hazarding a guess.

"Aki?" Stardust greeted back with surprise.

"Oh, you know me?"

"Of course I—wait, I'm not Crow."

"Oh? Then . . . Is this Crow's house, at least?"

Stardust noted the same falcon from last night was perched on Aki's shoulder, and that Aki's hair was completely bundled up in tight wrappings that kept any of the red from showing.

"Yeah. Come in." He opened the door all the way to grant her entry, and as she took his offer, he asked, "Did you come here from Martha's?"

"Yes." The falcon jumped off Aki's shoulder and landed on one of the many perches Crow had set up around the room, but Aki didn't seem to notice. Her attention was drawn instantly and completely to the bed ahead of her. As Stardust closed the door, he saw Aki's shoulder rise stiffly at the sight of him bandaged and sleeping, then relax with relief to confirm that he was, in fact, alive. He could tell by her shaking that she probably wanted to run to him, but she held back so he could keep sleeping undisturbed.

Making that decision, she turned back to Stardust. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name. Are you a friend of Crow's?"

"Uh, I guess? They say a friend of a friend is my friend, right?"

Aki just blinked and tilted her head. It seemed to him that she was only just now taking note of his unique appearance, with his unmanageably long hair, which was so white it was somewhat translucent, and his gold irises. He didn't know Aki was also noting his high cheekbones, straight nose, and even lips, and deciding that he was quite beautiful.

"Are you . . . a friend of Yusei's?" she guessed again.

He finally sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Aki . . . It's me." He put his hand down and looked her in the eye. "Stardust."

Aki didn't move. She was frozen as if she didn't even know what to think or say in response to such a claim and was waiting for more information before she could react. But as she stared at him, really stared and let the color of his eyes sink in, her own eyes grew a little wider. And then her lips tried to form words.

"Wha . . . Ho . . . Bu . . ."

Stardust shrugged helplessly. "I don't know either. The two of us got into a fight with Divine, and he ended up like that, and I ended up like this."

Aki's brow scrunched. "What did he do to you?"

"He . . ." Stardust's hands snapped into sudden fists as the fury flared back in his gut. "He took my magic," he hissed.

Aki's hands rose to her mouth as she sucked in a horrified breath. "No," she whispered. "And is that how . . . ?"

Stardust ground his teeth. "Well I certainly didn't choose to become this." He wrinkled his nose. "I should be grateful he didn't have enough time to kill me, but I'm not in the mood for silver linings."

"I'm so sorry," she breathed, and he knew she was. He knew how deeply she understood his sense of loss and violation.

"Yeah. Me too. But he hasn't just gone and pissed me off. Now that he's got my magic, he's even more of a threat than before. So there's that, which just makes things even worse."

"Right." Aki looked over her shoulder again to Yusei, who seemed unresponsive to their conversation.

"He wants to go talk to Jack and Rex as soon as he can," Stardust said. "To warn them."

"Will they be able to do anything?"

Stardust grabbed a lock of hair and began to wind it absently around his wrist. "I don't know."

Aki expected as much. But, it would be better to let them know and give them a chance to try something rather than let them get blindsided.

"How long has he been asleep?" she asked softly, still looking at Yusei.

"Most of the day, as far as I know. I saw him eat breakfast, but aside from that, I've only seen him sleeping since we went to bed last night."

Aki crossed the room to the bed, her footsteps as soft and silent as always, and stopped one pace from the bedside. She took in the sight of Yusei's arm and torso wrapped in bandages, which were showing small signs of blood seeping through from the wounds, and his face lined with scratches. She could gather from her observations that Divine had most likely used her magic against Yusei, summoning thorns the length of her thumb. She hated the thought. And she hated that she couldn't make up for it by healing him again.

She stepped closer and held her hands together tightly as she looked down at him. He seemed to be sleeping well, so at least his pain wasn't so bad it kept him up. She noticed a tray set with tea that had gone cold and a mortar holding an herbal paste. She assumed Crow had taken care to salve and bandage Yusei's wounds, but even so, they had to still be deep and painful.

Aki chewed her bottom lip, then sat down on the edge next to him. She reached out tentatively with both hands, doubt and fear making her hesitate, while hope and prayer pushed her forward. She spread her hands against his torso and leaned in with her eyes closed. She focused. She focused more than as if her own life depended on it, because Yusei was more important than that. And though she wasn't sure if it was an illusion or real, eventually she saw faint, fuzzy lights in the void. Wispy like a phantom, but familiar.

She reached out to those lights, and at first it felt like reaching for stars hidden behind clouds, but she kept trying. And every so often, her own faint light touched one of the other faint lights, and she received a response. Just a tiny shake, but enough to cause a reaction. She reached and reached, stretching and straining for each light she could make out, asking for its cooperation.

Until suddenly a new dark took over, and the next thing she knew she was looking up into Stardust's face as he hovered over her. The room was spinning around her, and even the floor under her back seemed to undulate and rock like a raft in a storm. She heaved for breath as her heart beat furiously in her chest and her face dripped with sweat, and she quickly had to close her eyes again.

"Aki! Aki!" She felt Stardust helplessly tap her cheek with his fingers and shake her shoulder. "Come on, get it together!"

"I'm . . . fine," she whispered between breaths.

"This does not count as fine!"

"I'll be . . . fine," she whispered instead.

"Celestial spheres," he hissed, which made Aki smile. She had heard people say "bloody ash" before, which she knew was a reference to the savage genocide of Satellite, when it had been burned to the ground and its ash had soaked up the blood of its people. It was a terrible tragedy, but since it hadn't affected most people in Domino, they had turned it into a common profanity. It wouldn't hurt anyone's sensibilities, after all.

But Stardust was different, and whether that was because he was sensitive to Yusei's past or because he simply preferred his own way, she liked his version.

"Just . . . need rest," she assured him, or at least tried to.

"You better. I have no idea what I'm doing here."

Aki was too tired to say, "I know," so she just smiled.

"And anyway," Stardust continued. "Did you do magic?"

"I . . . think so?" She still couldn't open her eyes because she was still riding the waves of vertigo, which were also making her nauseous, so she couldn't check for herself. "I . . . tried. Did it . . . work?"

"Well," she heard him say before his presence beside her weakened for a moment. Then he returned to her side on the floor. "The scratches on his face are gone at least. I'd have to take off his bandages to see anything else."

Aki bubbled with a teary laugh. She had done it. She had done . . . something. She didn't know how much, but it was something. She felt the tears slip out from under her closed eyelids, and a few minutes later she had escaped the nausea through sleep.

---

Yusei opened his eyes and felt surprisingly better than he had expected. He felt bad for doubting Zora's medicine. The room was full of the evening dark, but there was a fire going in the little stove that lit the apartment up enough for him to see Crow working in the kitchen, Stardust sitting at the table, and to his surprise, Aki standing behind his chair and brushing his long hair.

"Aki?"

All eyes turned to him upon hearing his voice, and the three answered him together, Aki's "Yusei!" swallowing Crow's "Hey!" and Stardust's "Good morning!" Aki dropped Stardust's hair and rushed to him, but stopped herself just short of grabbing his hand. "How are you feeling?"

Still leaning against the stack of pillows, Yusei looked up into Aki's earnest eyes. "Pretty good, considering. How long have you been here?"

"Just since this afternoon. I headed this way after breakfast."

"By yourself?"

"Yes. Well, Martha gave me a guide, so . . ."

"Hey Yusei," Stardust said, coming up to Aki's side. "That Zora woman wanted to know when you woke up so she could feed you and refresh your bandages. Should I go tell her?" He looked somewhat annoyed to be reduced to messenger boy, but there was also a spark of relief to see Yusei doing well.

"In a minute," Yusei said, then turned his eyes back to Aki. "Are you all right?"

"What? Yes, why?"

Yusei wasn't entirely sure why, he had simply felt compelled to ask. "No reason."

She laid a hand on his, and for a moment they just soaked in the comfort of being at each other's side again.

"So uh . . . you two," Crow asked, one hand on his hip and the other pointing a ladle back and forth between them. "Is there something I should know?"

"Like what?" Yusei asked.

"I mean like . . . are you two . . . you know . . . ugh! Yusei I'm asking you if you have a girlfriend."

Yusei's brows rose, but only because he didn't understand Crow's frustration. "Well, she's my friend, and she's a girl."

"You know what I mean!"

"I'm kind of in the middle of a major apocalyptic-level crisis right now, so my relationship status hasn't really been forefront in my mind."

"That sounds like a 'no but we haven't made anything official yet' to me."

"Why're you so interested?" Stardust asked. "Do you want Aki to be your girlfriend?"

"What? No," he insisted bashfully, and then realizing his blunder, added quickly with his eyes to Aki, "I mean! You're pretty! For real, I mean like, really pretty. I'm not saying I don't like you or anything, but we only just met, you know? If we got to know each other better then maybe I'd—I mean!" By that time his face was burnt and he ended with a glare toward Stardust.

Aki was just too stunned by the whole thing to know what to say. It was true, she and Crow had only just met. He wasn't a tall man, especially compared to Yusei and Stardust, and he had curious orange hair that he kept tied with a bandana, forcing it to stand up straight from his head. And unlike Yusei, he seemed quite loud and energetic. Which wasn't a bad thing, it was just . . . not was she was used to.

"What's that look for? I just asked a question," Stardust teased.

"Shut up! Go get Zora, why don't you?"

"Aki's not done with my hair yet."

"Who cares about your hair? Tie it in a knot around your neck or something."

"Listen, if I'm going to have hair, I want it to at least be presentable. I'm not going to just slap it into some half-baked style like some people."

"You got a problem with my hair?"

"Why would you assume I'm talking about you?" Stardust said in that tone that meant he was definitely talking about him.

"If you tell me where to find her, I'll go see Zora." Simply wanting the chain of the conversation to break, Aki made a sudden change of subject. The three guys looked at her.

"No, don't let him off the hook," Crow insisted, pointing his ladle accusingly.

"It's fine, really."

"No, really," Crow said. "Zora doesn't even know you yet."

"I could just introduce myself," Aki said weakly, doubting the truth of her own words. Meeting new people still wasn't a comfortable idea.

"Oh I'll go," Stardust sighed loudly, and he put a fist against his chest. "It's my assigned duty, after all. I won't let it be said of me that I am derelict in my duties."

Not wanting to cause delay, Crow said nothing more and turned back to stirring the pot he was heating.

"Let me wrap up your hair then," Aki offered. "And I'll braid it properly when you get back."

"You have my most sincere gratitude," Stardust said with an exaggerated flourish before taking her hand and laying on it a gentle kiss, like a prince meeting a princess. He smirked at Crow's back, which was stiff and determinedly turned away from him. He then went to the door and made a grand wave. "I shall return as soon as I can."

Crow scoffed through his teeth when he was finally gone. "Weirdo."

Aki was still so baffled by the whole thing that she forgot to mention anything substantive to Yusei, so the rest of the evening was spent just trying to undo the strange mood in the room. Stardust returned with Zora as Crow was pouring his own dinner into a bowl, and she carried with her a basket full of more supplies. She was surprised to see yet another guest in the room, but was quick to take a liking to her. Aki also had quite an encyclopedic knowledge of plants, so from the beginning their conversations were the passionate and specific type only experts could engage in.

While Zora refreshed all of Yusei's dressings and set out the dinner she had prepared for him on the bed, Aki did as promised and knit Stardust's freshly brushed hair into a neat braid that kept it off the ground. She had never braided such long hair before. She had braided her own a little when she was much younger and had longer hair, but despite her lack of experience, she had done a pretty good job, if she did say so herself. And Stardust too seemed pleased with the result.

"Yusei, you have got to be the fastest healer I've ever met," Zora said while finishing her work with the fresh bandages. "Even with my recipe, I wouldn't have expected you to look this good yet. But your wounds are really closing fast." She gave him a great, approving smile and pat the back of his hand. "Must because you're so strong and healthy."

Stardust gave Aki a silent look, and she returned it with eyes of silent wonder. Her throat got tight, but she swallowed until it loosened up.

None of the exchange went unnoticed by Yusei.

Before she went back to her own house, Zora insisted that Aki must come with her. She wouldn't allow Aki to share a room with three men, not when she could give Aki a nice, comfortable room all to herself.

"So, what was that about earlier?" Yusei asked when he was left with just Stardust and Crow.

"What was what about?"

"Between you and Aki."

"Oh don't worry," Stardust said with a teasing smile. "I'm not trying to steal her from you. It was just a little kiss on the hand."

"Not that," Yusei said flatly. "I mean that look, when Zora was wrapping me up."

Stardust couldn't hide that he understood Yusei's meaning, and he couldn't think of a good way to turn it into a joke. "Ah. That."

"Yeah. That. What was it?"

"I didn't know you saw."

"I did." He held an even, expectant gaze with Stardust. And Stardust realized that the more he delayed, the more conspiratorial the situation would seem.

"All right, all right," he said, yielding. "It's not like I'm trying to hide anything from you. I was just thinking maybe she should be the one to explain, since I don't really have all the details."

"Explain what?"

Stardust's hands absently wandered to the braid, which he had draped over his shoulder, and began to stroke it lightly. "That she was able to heal you—just a little bit. With magic."

"What?" both Yusei and Crow said together, though for different reasons.

"She can use magic?" Crow asked with wide eyes, then whispered, "She's a witch?"

Yusei looked at Crow, then at Stardust. "What did you all talk about while I was asleep?"

"Well we didn't exactly share deep dark secrets," Stardust said, crossing his arms defensively. "She didn't bring it up, so I didn't either."

"Wait, you knew?"

Yusei sighed. "Yes, I knew. And yes, she's a witch."

"Bloody ash!"

"Is there a problem with that?" Yusei asked pointedly, which made Crow feel suddenly very awkward.

"Well, no, but . . . I just wouldn't have guessed, that's all."

"Still want her to be your girlfriend?" Stardust asked with mischief.

"Will you stop?"

"Oh good, you didn't say no. So you're not a complete bigot."

"I'm not a bigot! I don't care if she's a witch! She seems nice, and if Yusei says she's ok, then she's ok in my book too!"

"But how did she do it?" Yusei asked, looking at Stardust.

"Huh? I thought you said she's a witch."

"She is," Stardust clarified, since Yusei was too focused to get distracted anymore. "But Divine took her magic, like he did mine."

"Oh. Shit."

"Yeah."

"Exactly, so . . ." Yusei pressed again.

"So I don't know." Stardust made a helpless shrug and held out his hands. "I asked her, but all she said was she just focused really really hard and was able to see little teeny-tiny slivers of magic and connect with them." He emphasized by squeezing his fingertips together into a tiny hole he held up to one eye. "It took a lot out of her to do it, but she managed to do a bit of healing—if what that woman Zora said is any indication."

Yusei's hands lightly brushed down his torso. "She still has some magic?" he murmured.

"Maybe. Kind of looks that way. Or maybe she was able to get a little bit back since . . . it happened."

"It can come back?"

"I can only guess at this point. I don't know anything for sure."

"And I know even less," Crow said, interjecting. "And I'm tired, so I'm understanding less too."

"We can talk more tomorrow," Yusei said, both to reassure Crow and to form a contract with Stardust.

"Right," Stardust agreed. "Now, can I please have some of those pillows? I don't think I can sleep another night on this floor."

---

Aki did the best she could to avoid bringing up the topic of magic while discussing plants with Zora. But up until that point, the lively energy inside them had always been a fundamental element of their character to her, so it was tricky skirting around it.

Even so, she somehow managed to make it through without revealing anything to Zora. The woman was already starting to treat her like a daughter, and as burned as she felt by Divine's betrayal, the hunger in her heart for affection was too much to fight. She wanted Zora to like her. So she allowed herself to accept Zora's attention, but kept up her defenses so as to avoid her guaranteed revulsion should she find out the truth.

Even stripped of her magic, a human would consider an ex-witch still tainted, still a witch.

But though she craved it, Aki wasn't sure it was right to accept Zora's maternal attention. Not just because she was hiding something that would disgust the woman, but because she had lost the right to such a thing the day she had killed her own parents.

Hadn't she?

Some part of her still believed so, but to explain her hesitation to Zora would mean to reveal the truth, and Aki was too tired to handle being chased out of the city again. So she walked the fine line between guilt and fear as lithely as she could and played at being human for a night.

---

The next day, Crow again went to work, and Stardust was left with nothing to do, which made him irritable, restless, and talkative, especially since Yusei was awake. In the morning, Aki and Zora came together with the fresh supplies and food for Yusei, and while Zora took care of cleaning and dressing, Aki collected all the old and used materials to be cleaned or disposed of as needed.

"I want to talk to you when you get a chance," Yusei said to her.

"Oh, sure," Aki agreed curiously.

"You can talk when I'm done here," Zora said. "Just a few more minutes." She looked over to Aki. "I was going to see if you wanted to help me at the shop, but that's up to you. Take your time."

When Zora was done and Yusei was left alone on the bed with his plate of breakfast, Aki came to his side and sat beside him. Stardust was sitting at the table, bored and stroking his sleek braid.

"Ok, I'm here," she announced.

Yusei reached out with a hand and took hold of hers. "I heard from Stardust," he said softly. "You used magic?"

"He didn't hear it from me," Stardust corrected. "He cornered me and asked."

"You were hardly cornered."

"Yusei, if you just look at someone, they're as good as cornered."

"What does that mean?"

"You've got a very . . . strong gaze. Captivating, you could say."

Yusei stared blankly at Stardust, and after not making sense of him, he turned back to Aki. "Do you have some of your magic back?"

"I mean," she hesitated, "I don't really know. If I do, it's not much. Like a tiny drop."

"But, that's more than what you had, right?"

"Maybe. Probably. It could have been so deep inside me I just couldn't find it until then. But I don't know."

She knew he was trying to look for hope in their situation, and she would have very much liked to find some too, but she feared disappointment too much. She changed the subject. "How are you feeling today?"

"Fine."

They sat in silence for a moment. Aki looked away and bit her bottom lip. Then she took a deep breath and looked to him. "I can try again."

Yusei's brows rose just slightly. She had been so quick to shift away from the topic, and now she had whipped them right back.

"Seriously?" Stardust asked, turning in his seat. "You fainted last time!"

"You what?"

Aki shook her head and waved the objections away. "I know. But Yusei needs to heal. Fast. These salves can only do so much. With magic, I can undo the damage rather than just speed up the recovery. And . . . if I can do it, I want to. I want to do something. And if I can use magic . . ." She stopped when she felt a sudden clenching in her chest and throat. She swallowed.

Yusei understood. As well as a human who had never used magic could understand, at least. He put his hand on hers. "All right. If you feel that strongly about it, I won't stop you. Just, be careful, ok? Don't hurt yourself. Not for my sake."

Aki smiled, grateful for his understanding. She nodded. "I will."

Despite her saying that, Stardust got up from his chair and came to stand beside her, and made it seem like he was just there to observe and not to catch her if she fell again. Aki closed her eyes and laid her hands on Yusei's bandaged abdomen. She breathed slow and deep and focused. Both Yusei and Stardust watched, keeping a careful silence as they held completely still.

Just like the first time, Aki had to work to find any trace of magic. It was like straining her eyes in the dark to make out the shapes of distant shadows, or straining her ears to hear a single bell toll from miles away. Her sense of magic was weak and the object of her search faint. By the time she caught her first glimpse of a wisp, her skin had broken into a sweat. She wasn't aware of it, but both Stardust and Yusei were. But since she wasn't showing any signs of danger yet, they didn't interrupt.

And eventually Yusei could feel the effect. Like tiny pinpricks, he felt the soothing warmth well up in some of the punctures in his flesh. He also felt sweat drip from Aki's nose onto his stomach. But she kept going, and the pinpricks jumped all over his body, from his torso to his arms to his legs, one at a time, light and sweet. He couldn't tell how much his wounds were healing as they were hidden under the bandages, but he could tell they were tingling.

Minutes went by, and then finally Aki shuddered, and her stonelike meditation broke into a sudden freefall as she tipped sideways. Had Stardust not been there, she would have hit the ground. But this time, he caught her, and instead of laying her on the floor, he picked her up and laid her on top of the bed next to Yusei. Now that he understood how uncomfortable the floor was, he didn't want to consign her to that fate.

"Is she all right?" Yusei asked urgently.

"She looks like last time," Stardust noted. "Which I guess means she will be."

Yusei still stared at her with high alert, wanting to notice any change in her that might occur. After a minute, her eyes fluttered open and she groaned.

"Aki, are you all right?" he asked again.

She began to breathe heavily, forcing the air in deep and slow, and she closed her eyes. "Yeah," she breathed. "Just . . . a little . . . nauseous."

"Yeah, this is basically like last time," Stardust confirmed.

"How . . . are you?" she asked through labored breathing.

Yusei hadn't thought to check. "I feel fine. Good, I mean. I could feel it working."

Aki smiled, but it was shaky. "Good," she whispered. "That's good."

"Yeah," Yusei agreed before reaching out to wipe some strands caught in the sweat on her face. "You're amazing."

She opened her eyes at that—halfway, at least—and looked up at him. For a few breaths she didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. Then she closed her eyes again. "I'm tired."

"Go to sleep then," he said softly.

She wasn't in much of a condition to argue, so she made a weak nod and relaxed against the bed. Yusei couldn't pinpoint the exact moment she crossed the border into sleep, but within minutes she was deep inside. He leaned back and curiously picked at the bandaged on his stomach until he could peel some of them back. He ran his fingertips over the bare skin, and admired Aki's work. Because what had been a deep gash had shrunk to the depth of a fingernail.

"Sun and moon," Stardust murmured while taking a peek as well. "I can't believe she could do that much!"

Yusei put the bandages, which were still sticky with salve, back in place. He assumed Zora didn't know about Aki, and he didn't want to bring up any unnecessary conversations with her. He decided he would convince her to leave the bandages he had alone for a while, and that he would head to the castle before she had a chance to insist.

He looked at Aki again. She was sleeping quite soundly, and he thought to himself, if she was going to go through that much trouble and effort to patch him up, he damn well better make good on his promise to save the kingdom. He hated the thought of all her work being in vain.

---

By the evening, Aki was back to normal. She had spent the rest of her waking day in the apartment, and she was surprised to note how Stardust filled all the silences Yusei left—and with such ease. And on top of that, Yusei didn't seem bothered by the noise. She would have thought so much chatter would grate on his nerves, but perhaps she was wrong.

When Zora came with dinner, Yusei insisted that Zora didn't need to redo his bandages, and when she saw that there were no blood stains on them, she agreed, but not without protesting that it was no trouble for her to do it. Zora invited Aki to eat with her in her house, and Aki said she would when Yusei was done so she could bring his plate back with her.

"Well aren't you a dear," Zora said kindly. "So thoughtful. So helpful."

Crow instinctively interpreted this as a jab at himself, but said nothing. Aki smiled and said, "I'll see you in a bit!"

Zora left the group, and when she was gone, Aki moved Yusei's food aside. "I won't go for as long as I did before," she promised. Yusei nodded, and with Crow and Stardust standing on either side—Crow with an especially curious interest—she put her hands on Yusei's torso and repeated her process.

Yusei and Stardust both kept track of the time, intending to break her concentration long before she reached the limit of the previous sessions. Crow wasn't sure what he was supposed to see, but as far as he could tell the only thing happening was Aki breaking into a hard sweat. He kept waiting for something, anything that looked like it could be magic, until at some point, Yusei and Stardust both nodded at each other. Crow just stood by as they grabbed her from either side and wrested her out of her trance.

She opened her eyes, and though she wobbled slightly, she was able to maintain her balance. She breathed hard and wiped her face with both hands. "How was that?" she asked without needing to pause between words.

"It felt good," Yusei said.

"Let me see."

Aki realized a second later what she was asking and looked away in embarrassment.

"Here," Yusei said without seeming to notice or comprehend her fluster. He pulled at the bandages again and sat up to unwrap his torso completely. All four of them looked closely to admire how smooth his skin was becoming. The wounds had become not so much punctures as shallow pokes that had just barely broken the skin.

"I'll be damned," Crow said in awe. "That's gotta be the craziest, awesomest thing I've ever seen."

Stardust coughed. "You remember I'm a dragon, right?"

"Yeah, yeah." Crow waved at him dismissively, which made Stardust cross his arms and wrinkle his nose at Crow before looking away in a pout.

Aki, for her part, smiled shyly. "Well, it's kind of a miracle I can even do this much."

"As far as miracles go, it's a pretty impressive one! And handy!"

Aki tucked some of her hair behind her ear and stood up. To her relief, Stardust again filled the space with his chatter. While Crow willingly bantered with him, Yusei ate from the plate in his lap in silence.

When he was done, Aki took the plate. "Well, I better get this back to Zora."

"See you in the morning," Yusei said.

"Right. Early."

He nodded. "As early as you can manage."

Aki nodded back. They had made their plan together: Before Zora could come to feed and dress him, Yusei, Stardust, Aki, and Crow would all go to the castle together. Which meant Aki would have to sneak out past Zora while she was drinking her early morning tea. But with her silent footsteps, Yusei didn't think that would be too hard.

Though he had agreed to come, Crow was not excited to meet with the prince. He had done so once before with Yusei, and it hadn't exactly given him a favorable impression. And to his credit, Yusei had never tried to argue him out of that. The prince was his friend, but he could understand if someone wasn't a fan. Prince notwithstanding, Yusei had made it clear he wanted Crow to come. And, well, if Yusei wanted him there, Crow would go. It was a chance for him to join his brother on one of his knightly adventures in person, and not just as a spirit forged into the heart of his sword.

And, well, if things went sour and this Divine guy did manage to do . . . whatever dastardly thing he was planning to do with all that stolen magic, then this might be his last chance to do so. He would kick himself in his final moments if the end of the world came and he was still sweating over the fire in his forge. He at least tried to think of it in such a lighthearted jest, because if he got too serious about it, he would admit that he was afraid.

He had always looked up to Yusei, even when they were children, because despite being the same age, Yusei always seemed so far ahead of him in everything. Side by side, Yusei was clearly smarter, stronger, a better fighter, even a better peace-bringer. And of course, he had an incomparable, indefatigable sense of duty.

Crow felt a strong sense of protectiveness over Martha, all her children, and even Zora. But Yusei's heart spanned the whole kingdom, and to Crow that just seemed exhausting. He didn't know how Yusei could handle it. The knight was always willing to put himself at great risk if it meant even potentially saving someone else. Crow wasn't that saintly. But even now, he felt like Yusei was a shining idol he should strive to emulate, and considering the threat, he felt somewhat guilty that he didn't feel the instinct to save the kingdom.

He just wanted to help his friend. His brother. And maybe prove he could measure up to something. No, he wasn't a knight, and he couldn't handle a sword like Yusei could. But he had his own way of doing things. Personally, he was inclined toward the axe as a weapon of choice, and he was proud enough to claim he had become quite the expert axman. It was also a handy tool to have around, and he had a liking for anything handy.

He wasn't sure what he could do to help out, but since he was going, he had no choice but to figure it out along the way.

And though he would never have said so, he didn't want to look cowardly in front of Aki. And he hoped that putting on a brave face would motivate his heart to catch up.

---

The plan went smoothly. Aki arrived at Crow's door before the dawn had become sunrise, and her hair was once again tucked inside the wrapping that Martha had given her. Crow, Yusei, and Stardust were already up and ready to go, Yusei with his sword and dagger strapped on and Stardust with his braid hanging loosely against his back. They took off together, leaving a note behind on the bed for Zora to find.

It didn't take long for them to reach the castle entrance since the morning was still quiet and the roads empty, and things only went faster from there. The guards began hollering when Yusei was close enough to be recognizable, and he and his attendants were rushed in—like he had been expected.

When they reached the throne room, King Rex and Jack were already there, looking like they had rushed to dress. He supposed royalty wasn't used to getting up with the sun and had jumped to meet him upon being alerted of his arrival. Even so, they didn't look bothered by the early hour. Rather, they looked like they had been waiting for him for some time.

"Well finally!" Jack said first the instant he saw Yusei. When the four arrivals walked in, the guards leading them closed the massive doors behind them, leaving them to go the rest of the way themselves. Jack looked down on them with a peevish face and arms crossed as they walked across the long blue rug that led from the entrance to the throne dais. "What took you so long?"

Yusei raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

"Those dragons had their big show for us three nights ago! We've been waiting for you this whole time."

"Ah. I wasn't aware," Yusei said unapologetically. "But I've been meaning to meet with you myself, so here I am."

"Yes," Rex noted, his eyes passing over the three extra faces.

Before the king could say anything else, Yusei said flatly, "They're with me because they need to know everything, too." The implication was that even if Rex ordered them out, he would simply repeat anything that was said here to them later, so Rex might as well streamline things and let them stay.

Rex caught his meaning and made a small sound in his throat. "Hm. Very well. Come. We need to talk."

He didn't waste time asking for introductions, and Yusei didn't offer any. Instead, Rex simply turned to guide them all into a room behind the thrones. There was no one else with them in the throne room, but the space was so grand and large that it didn't feel private enough.

"Still wearing that crown, huh?" Stardust whispered into Yusei's ear before they reached the steps of the dais. It wasn't as easy or convenient as slipping his thoughts directly and privately into Yusei's head, but it got the job done. Yusei didn't reply but gave Stardust a brief smirk. Because Rex's crown was the same as when he first saw it years ago: big, gold, and gaudily bejeweled. His robes weren't any different either: rich velvet trimmed with thick, soft fur.

Stardust thought the whole thing pompous nonsense. What good was a robe or a crown or expensive clothes? They didn't protect from anything. Even without his fangs and talons, he could rip through any of that fancy fabric. Dragon scales were much more impressive than anything this king could possibly wear.

The room Rex led them too was small and secure with a table that could seat four comfortably and no windows. He was the first to sit, and Jack took the seat to his right. Rex folded his hands on the table and looked up to Yusei with his steely eyes. Yusei was reminded that Rex's face alone was enough to command a room—or an army—and how much that crown detracted from the respect and authority he exuded. At least in his opinion. But the upper class had always had an aesthetic taste he didn't understand.

"I'll stand," Yusei said, not wanting to exclude two of his party from the table.

Rex let a few beats pass in silence without a blink, then answered, "As you wish." Then his eyes flickered sideways to land right on Stardust. Since he had never found Rex intimidating, meeting him in the eye was nothing spectacular, and unlike most others, he didn't have the impulse to bow his head or lower his gaze. Rex considered him for a long moment, during which Stardust stared back, merely wondering what the hell was going through the guy's mind.

"Do I have something on my face?" Stardust finally snapped.

Rex made no response, but Jack barked back, "You're gonna have a bruise if you don't show some respect!"

Stardust gave Jack a dismissive look and raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't see or hear the dragon come with you," Rex noted to Yusei. Then turning his attention back to Stardust, he lifted his hands from the table and leaned forward on his elbows. "Could that possibly be because it's you?"

Stardust's brows jumped halfway up his forehead while Jack sputtered, "Say what?"

Rex eyed Stardust with a steady, perceptive gaze. "How do you figure?" Stardust asked.

"Well, the eyes are a hint, but it's just . . . you. You feel familiar."

"Should I be honored?"

"If you'd like."

"Wait, you're serious?" Jack asked loudly. "You're him?"

"I have a name, Jack-ass," Stardust snapped.

"What'd you call me?"

"I've never seen you take this form before," Rex said, ignoring everything else. "What changed?"

Stardust stiffened. Beside him, Yusei's mental gears were churning, and his brow furrowed. "You don't seem that surprised about it."

"Well, you do know I had my hands on a certain book for a while. I should know a thing or two about dragons."

Yusei's brow only furrowed more with confusion. "What exactly do you know?"

Rex's eyes held onto Yusei, then flicked to Stardust, who he noticed was looking increasingly uncomfortable, and then back to Yusei. Rex lowered his hands back down to the table. "I know that dragons can change their appearance to look like a human," he answered matter-of-factly. "Did you?"

Yusei blinked at Rex, and then slowly turned his head to look at Stardust. He didn't have to say anything for Stardust to understand the question on his face, and Stardust didn't need to say anything for Yusei to read the answer on his.

"Wait, for real?" Crow asked. "I never heard of that."

"Well, it isn't common knowledge," Rex explained. "But I'm surprised that this is the first you've heard of it."

"Me too," Yusei said with a pointed look toward Stardust.

Stardust winced. "Look, I'm sorry, ok? I'm sorry. It's not exactly something I'm excited about or proud of. If things were going my way I would have never . . ." He gestured helplessly to his body.

"You're that ashamed to look human, are you?" Yusei didn't have to raise his voice to sound accusing.

"I'm not . . . Ok look!" Stardust cried, throwing his hands up defensively. "It's not like I think humans are gross or that being human is something shameful. It's just not me, ok? I mean, there's nothing wrong with being a dog but would you want to wake up as one someday?"

"You think of us as dogs?"

"That's not what I mean and you know it!" Stardust pointed a sharp finger at Yusei. "I'm saying you don't think of yourself as a dog. You'd feel wrong in a dog's body. That's how I feel! I'm not over here crying, 'Oh how horrible, I'm stuck in this icky body, how embarrassing!' I'm pissed off that I was forced to become something that doesn't feel right!"

Stardust looked at Yusei with eyes pleading for him to understand. Yusei stared back, and for the first time, Yusei's mind was quiet to him. His face was equally unreadable, leaving Stardust trembling in suspense. The rest of the room was silent as well, out of respect.

Finally Yusei spoke.

"You didn't have to hide it from me."

His voice was hushed, and somehow that made Stardust feel even more guilty. He had gone and started shouting to prove his point, but now he felt like a child throwing a tantrum to a disappointed parent. It would have been better if Yusei had been mad, but instead he seemed . . . hurt.

And really, Yusei was being generous. Stardust hadn't just hidden the truth from Yusei, he had lied. The fact that Yusei was holding in his feelings rather than lashing him with them added a fear of abandonment to his guilt. Yusei was withdrawing from him, and it was his own fault.

"I didn't mean . . . I just . . . I'm sorry." Stardust ended his flailing for words with sagging shoulders. He felt deflated.

"It's fine. We have more important things to worry about."

Stardust winced again, because from Yusei's clipped tone he had a feeling it wasn't fine.

"True," Rex agreed. "We have reason to believe that the book has been stolen. Again."

Yusei nodded. "It has."

While Jack asked, "How do you know?" Rex nodded gravely, accepting Yusei's confirmation without question.

"Because we've seen Divine holding it. How did you know?"

Jack smirked. He was always thrilled to have any lead over Yusei. "You're not the only one with a magical friend." Yusei just stared and waited, and to hide how annoyed he was that Yusei seemed so unimpressed, Jack raised his chin and called to the back door of the room, "Carly! Come in!"

All eyes turned as the door opened timidly, and a girl's face poked through at an angle, her long black hair falling loosely. She made a shy, nervous smile and poked a few fingers past the door in a wave, and then slowly came in further, straightening until she was completely inside. She shut the door behind her and then took cautious steps to the table to stand in the space between Rex and Jack. She raised a hand in greeting to the others.

"Hi," she said with a nervous laugh.

"This is Carly," Jack said as introduction, holding a hand as if she was a piece of art on display. "You could say she's kind of the resident witch."

"You have a witch here?" Aki said, her voice soft with utter surprise.

"Don't worry!" Cary said quickly, waving both hands. "I won't hurt anyone, I promise! I'm not dangerous! Really!"

Aki was too stunned to speak, and as she stared at Carly with her mouth open, Crow said to reassure her, "Well I mean, I wouldn't expect the king to be sitting all comfy next to a witch if he didn't feel safe around you."

"Yes! Yes, exactly!" Carly nodded vigorously. "I'm here to help, that's all!"

Crow took a moment to pass a glance between Carly and Aki, then murmured to himself, "I feel like the common knowledge about witches needs a serious update."

"What makes you say that?" Rex asked, his curious and intelligent eyes also glancing to Aki before returning to Crow.

Not realizing the king had been paying him any attention, Crow's shoulder's stiffened. "Uh, well, uh." He looked away from both Rex and Aki and scratched the back of his head. "I mean, you've got a witch right here, so . . . I mean . . . they can't be all that bad and scary like they say, right?"

Rex kept his eyes on Crow, with a steady gaze that made it obvious he knew Crow was hiding something—and more than that, that he could probably guess what that something was.

"Anyway," Jack said loudly, showing no interest in Crow. "Carly, tell Yusei what you told us."

"Right!" she answered quickly. "Ok. So, my ability is mainly clairvoyance, and usually I have to use cards as a way to channel it. And it's usually simple things, you know? Like, will my mom be happy if I buy her this necklace, or, how many times will I trip today, or, will it go really badly if I accept this invitation to a dance party because I'll spill wine on the host's shirt and embarrass my dad again—"

She came to an abrupt halt, remembering where she was, and coughed into her fist. "Ahem. Things like that. But recently it's been different. I've been having horrible nightmares. The same nightmare, over and over. In it I see a woman—she's tall with blond hair down to her ankles, someone I've never seen anywhere else. And she's carrying a large book, which I can tell is really important and valuable. And then I see a huuuuge dragon." She emphasized this point by stretching out her arms as far as they could go. "It's big and black and scary, and it's completely destroying the kingdom. Just ravaging it. Smashing things and blowing fire on everything!"

She made another elaborate gesture with her arms to get her point across. As most were watching her animated description, they didn't see Aki's eyes widen and her shoulders rise.

"I realized this wasn't a normal dream, so I told Prince Jack about it, and His Highness, and they both thought it might be the Book of Dragons I saw. And then we saw the dragons fighting above the city, and that got me really rattled because, well, you can imagine."

Yusei made a quick glance toward Aki before saying, "Yeah, I can imagine."

At that point, Rex was observing every movement of Yusei and his party closely, his eyes aimed keenly over his hands as he leaned on his propped arms. Finally he said, "I know I've met this one at least once before." He gestured toward Crow. "The blacksmith."

Crow's eyes bulged as he basked in the honor of being recognized by the king himself, but Rex's attention had already turned from him to Aki.

"But I'm afraid I am not familiar with you."

Yusei stepped in quickly. "Do you need to be?"

Rex raised a questioning eyebrow at this intervention, but Yusei looked unintimidated. As always. And then Aki put a hand on his shoulder, and he turned his head to look at her.

"It's ok," she said softly. "Thank you, but I think I'll be more helpful if I can speak freely."

Yusei gave her a long look, and then accepted her decision. "All right."

She nodded and stepped forward to face Rex. "My name is Aki," she began. "When I was young, Divine took me in because I had nowhere else to go. He became my mentor, and I lived with him for years, up until only some days ago, when he . . ."

She paused, needing to take a deep breath. When she was steady again, she continued.

"I am . . . I'm a witch." Her voice was a mixture of pride, sorrow, and worry. "But Divine stole my magic from me so he can use it himself. That was why he took me in to begin with. He used me. He trained me to make my magic stronger, and then he took it. And left me."

She said it more for her own sake than for the king's. She needed to remind herself of those blunt facts, because sometimes the hurt of his betrayal led her to miss her old, happy life with him rather than resent him more. She needed to snap herself out of that.

"I see," Rex said calmly. "My condolences. I am sorry for your loss."

Aki didn't know how sincere he was, but she didn't need anything from him, so it didn't matter. She turned her eyes to Carly, who now looked just as stunned to see her as Aki had been to meet Carly. "And that woman you described, I know Divine got the book from someone like that. But neither of us knew her. She just showed up out of nowhere and gave it to him."

"Ohhh," Carly said in wonder. "So she's a real person! Oh no, wait, does that mean the dragon I saw is real too?"

"I don't know," Aki said. "But I saw the same dragon in a dream too. Huge and terrible, and destroying everything, killing everyone."

"You have clairvoyance too?" Carly asked excitedly, suddenly leaning over the table between the two royals.

"Well, maybe. But it was really just that one time. My main magic manifested in plants."

"Ohhh, that's so interesting! I wonder what made you have the vision then," Carly wondered aloud. "Hmm. Maybe because the situation is just that big so it's causing ripples in the world's magic and we feel the effects when it touches us."

Aki blinked. She was just newly acquainted with this Carly, but that was still a surprisingly coherent and astute thing to say compared to her apparent clumsiness. "Yeah, maybe," she agreed.

"Well. Obviously our goal is to avoid any such disasters," Rex said, and his calm manner made it seem like it wouldn't be the biggest challenge any of them had ever experienced.

"Obviously," Yusei agreed.

"So, along with you, Jack has suggested adding more . . . brute force, the kind our army can't compare to. And I agree that having two dragons on our side would be some comfort."

There was a sudden tension in the air around the four visitors, which Rex sensed immediately.

"Is there a problem?"

"Um," Stardust said reluctantly while grabbing at his braid so he could squeeze it in his hand. "Well, the thing is . . . Divine kind of . . . stole my magic too. Most of it."

Rex held still, though his composure was slightly chipped by the disappointment in his eyes. Jack was not so contained.

"What?" he thundered when Stardust's words had finally sunk in.

"It happened after the fight everyone saw. I was about to beat the shit out of that black-feather guy, and then Divine showed up, and bam!" He clapped his hands. "Next thing I know I'm caught in his spell feeling my whole life and soul get sucked out of me."

"I see," Rex said. "And is that why . . ." He gestured toward Stardust with one hand. "This happened?"

"I mean . . ." Stardust snuck one guilty glance to Yusei, but the knight wasn't even looking at him. Stardust grabbed at his braid again. "Maybe. Probably. I could have just shrunk into a tiny dragon, but . . . I don't know, I guess my body freaked out and decided this was the best way to preserve whatever was left of me. I'm really not sure, and that's the truth." He snuck another glance to Yusei.

"So you're useless now, is what you're saying."

Stardust snapped his eyes toward Jack and bared his teeth. "I can still kick your little bitchy Jack-ass."

Jack jumped onto his feet so fast his chair fell backwards. "Wanna bet?"

"Hush."

Everyone turned toward Rex, who was sitting with a deeply contemplative expression. Jack and Stardust shot searing glares at one another, both of them signaling with their eyes that they were lucky there was a table between them.

"This is an . . . unfortunate disadvantage," Rex noted. "But, it can't be helped." He set his hands on the table and gracefully rose from his chair. Behind him, Carly was shaking nervously, still worried about the animosity between the prince and the ex-dragon. "It just means we have no choice but to reach out to Archfiend."

Stardust made a pained expression and then hissed under his breath. "Shit."

Jack noticed and burst out a single, harsh laugh. "Ha! Yeah, that's right. Time to bring a real dragon into this fight!"