A Dragon's Tale

Volume Seven: Technical Difficulties

Disclaimer: CLAMP owns everything Angelic Layer related. My original characters are property of me. I don't want to get sued, and please don't plagiarize.

Author's Notes: I'm sorry! I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry! I had this plan, where I would have this Volume finished by the middle of August, and I just got swept up for preparations for school, and I've looked up and it's months overdue. These first few months at school have been hell, but things should slow down enough that I can update at least with a schedule that has some semblance of regularity.

There were a lot of questions asked in a review, and I figured a few of them would be good to answer here. First of all, Shawn is 16. And his name is indeed spelled Shawn. I know it's usually Sean, but hey. Secondly, the tournament that just ended was not a significant tournament in any capacity. It was a very, very local thing. All of the names I use for the various dragons Serge calls out are either from other, generally ancient, languages or mythology. On to the story! Read and review, and I'll see you at the bottom!

"Almost… almost…" Serge squinted in concentration as Karsh shakily rose to his feet in the layer. A week had passed since the tournament, and Karsh was barely making any progress. Serge didn't know how to explain it. Aaron's attack had done something, he just had no clue what that something was.

"Wow, you're still having that much trouble, Serge?" Meryl leaned over his shoulder and whistled lowly as his concentration broke and Karsh fell into a heap on the layer.

Serge turned and sighed. "Don't you ever spend time with any of your friends?" He laughed softly and took off the headset. "I don't get it. Sonata didn't even hit Karsh, but it's taken me a week to get back to how I was when I first put Karsh in the Layer."

"You know I have no life, Serge." Meryl winked and straightened. "My girlfriends are all out of town, so I decided to come to get some practice, and I saw you here, so I came over to say 'Hi.'"

Serge motioned to the seat across from him. "I'm here by myself, so that seat's open." Meryl nodded and took a seat, placed Nariko in the layer, and activated her headset.

"It really is strange though. That you're having so much trouble getting Karsh to work, that is." Meryl cocked her head to the side and pursed her lips, watching as Karsh shakily rose to his hands and knees.

"I really can't explain it. It's like learning how to walk all over again. Everything that I could do that had some semblance of normalcy… even if I concentrate my entire being on one action, Karsh still doesn't move like I want him to." Serge exhaled and closed his eyes. His concentration broken, Karsh slowly slid back to a prone position on the layer.

Meryl's expression changed, "It's almost as if…" She shook her head, "No, no, never mind."

Serge looked up, "No, what? If you have an idea of why Karsh isn't working…"

Meryl bit her lower lip, "Well, it's weird but it's almost as if—" Her sentence was cut short by Serge's cell phone.

"Ah, sorry, I need to get that. My mom's stopping on her way back from work to pick me up." Serge answered the phone. "Hello? Who's this? Yes… I'm her son… What? Are you sure?" Serge choked slightly, shot Meryl a pitiful glance, swallowed, and said, "I… I understand. I'll be there as fast as I can." He hung up.

"Serge? What happened?" Meryl looked genuinely concerned. She had never seen Serge like this. Not since… "Oh, no…"

Serge shakily nodded. "My mom was… was…" He grabbed his things, hastily stuffed Karsh into his backpack, and sprinted out of the store.

Meryl shakily sat down. "Not again… it didn't happen again…"

End of Volume 7

Author's Notes, Part Two: Hmm… I'm not so sure I'm comfortable with the decision I just made, but the threads of the story are beginning to connect in my head. Work on Volume 8 will begin immediately after I post this, but I can't make any promises as to when it'll be out. It will, however, focus on Shawn and Dean. Look forward to it!