Chapter 28: Dragon fruit.

So, after Croix and I finished eating our Ramen (or rather, after Croix ate our ramen), we decided to go to the cinema, to conclude this wonderful evening. Of course, I let Croix pick the movie, despite her protests, and the nerd unsurprisingly chose a sci-fi thing about space knights or something? I didn't understand almost anything, since it was the third one, but it was fun. There were tons of sword fights and gun fights, and… it was just so awesome!

"So… Did you like it? I noticed you didn't fall asleep." Croix commented.

"Yeah, it was good! Maybe I'll watch the others when I'm on vacations." I answer, giving her my brightest smile.

"What did you like the most?"

"The swords!"

"Do you mean Lightsabers?" She smirks.

"Those! So cool! Do you think they can be made with magic?" I ask, already imagining me wielding such a badass weapon, slaying monsters and such.

"Heh. You know magic can't do everything, right?" She chuckles "Maybe it would be possible, but you'd need to have an extremely high control over magic density, temperature and form, to be able to make a concentrated ray of magical energy that is able to cut through objects. Only an expert witch would be able to do it after years and years of practice."

"Well, I'mma do it!" I proudly announce, determined. "And then you'll have to admit that I'm a very capable witch!"

"You don't need to do that in order for me to recognize your talents." She pauses, smirking at me. "You just need to pass all your classes." She then adds, booping my nose.

"Hey! Last semester I did pass all my classes!" I protest. "Sure, I didn't get straight A's, like some nerds, but a C+ is pretty descent."

"Right." She rolls her eyes. "My mom would kill me if I got even one B."

"Well, I'm sorry but your mom sounds like a pretty terrible person."

At my words, she shrugs like it doesn't matter, but in the way she slightly purses her lips before trying to remain neutral, I can see my comment may have hit a sensitive nerve.

"She's… alright. I've had worse." She says hesitantly after a pause.

"Still. You're freaking Croix Meridies! You deserve better than that. You, my friend, deserve the best of the best, and I'm determined to give you just that because I love you so much. Got it?"

Croix chuckles and smiles at me tenderly, before ruffling my hair with her hand affectionately.

"You're a really good friend, Chariot, you know that? I'm pretty lucky to have you."

"It wasn't luck; it's because you're such an amazing person as well. We're pretty much made for each other." I chuckle, clearly joking, because come on, Croix is far too good for me! We can't even compare!

"Heh. Yeah…" She trails off, looking to the side shyly. "You know, Chariot… I know I don't say this enough, but… I really, really love you."

"I love you too." I answer, hugging her close and feeling as warmth rushes to my cheeks and my heart does a little happy dance, like it always happens when Croix says nice things to me. "And… I hope I was able to give you a happy birthday."

"Chariot… this has been the best birthday I've ever had." She answers, pulling me closer. "Today was almost perfect."

"Almost?" I pull away and look her in the eye, frowning. "But I want it to be perfect! What else do you want? You can ask me anything and I'll do it."

"Well…" She trails off, blushing. "I can think of at least one thing."

"And that is?" I prompt when she doesn't continue.

"Uhh…" She looks right into my eyes. "Well… I would really, really like to k-"

"Hey, look! It's Chariot!" Someone suddenly shouts, from somewhere to my right, and I turn to see a kid with his friends. He's one of my biggest fans, to be honest, and I also recognize some of the other kids.

"Shiny Chariot? The witch?" One of his friends asks.

"Shiny Chariot?" Croix chuckles, raising an eyebrow.

"I-I… uh…" I blush for some reason. "It's… the rod is shiny and my spectacles are flashy and… it… kinda... stuck?" I try to explain before the kids reach us.

"Chariot, are you gonna make a spectacle now? Please say yes! My friends want to see you!" My little fan says enthusiastically.

"Uh… I'm sorry, Collin." That was his name, right? "I didn't plan to do it today." I smile apologetically.

"B-but… you always do so on Sundays!" He protests, pouting.

"Yeah, but… this Sunday is special, alright? Please. Maybe next week." I try to reason. But of course he keeps protesting and his friends promptly join. Ugh. Being famous is a pain sometimes. I really don't want to disappoint them, but I know Croix doesn't like it when I 'use sacred magic for silly purposes', and I obviously don't want to annoy her on her birthday. Especially when it was going so well!

She must notice my dilemma, however, because she promptly places a hand on my shoulder and smiles at me.

"It's okay. I actually am curious as to what has made you so popular among common people."

"I… really?" I ask shyly.

"Sure, why not? Show me what you can do."

I honestly had no idea what to say or do. I was ecstatic! I could finally show Croix my magic; what I loved, what I was good at. It was exciting and terrifying at the same time, to be honest, because… what if she didn't like it? I'd feel devastated for sure, but..

No. I shake my head and put on a determined look. I wouldn't let that happen. I'd make this one the best magic spectacle Croix has ever seen!

And so, I pull out my Shiny Rod with all the confidence I can muster and turn towards my little public. Croix, thankfully, promptly went to join them.

"Ahem." I started my usual routine. "Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the land of magic! Prepare yourself to be amazed by things you've never seen before!" At this, I moved the rod in a wide arch over my head, letting it drop a few sparkles of magic. The kids immediately applauded and let out awed gasps. Croix, however, just crossed her arms over her chest and gave me a smug look, as if challenging me to actually surprise her.

"The spells I conjure are such you could never even imagine." I continue saying a little dramatically. "For example… I can disappear!" Quickly, I mutter the teleportation spell under my breath and instantly disappear in a cloud of smoke only to reappear on the balcony of a nearby building. This makes even more kids and even adults join the little crowd forming around me. And I'm just starting.

"I can also walk on thin air!" I add before saying the flying spell and stepping out of the balcony. We did this in flying class the other time. It was a modification of the normal flight spell, in which you simply apply the magic to your own feet instead of a broom. It was still quite difficult though, and required a lot of concentration, even if I had practiced a couple of times before. Still, the awed exclamations and applauses were more than worth it.

I walked on middle air a bit more and even twirled around just for show, but just when I felt my concentration was slipping, I decided to try another spell.

"Metamorphie fasciesse!" I say as I do a pirouette, landing just as I transform into a tiger, which is quite useful since I now have four paws and a better equilibrium. My public applauds and I see they're all wearing happy and awed faces… although some of them are fearful of cautious I'll admit. Quickly, I start running around and greeting the kids playfully, acting more like a puppy than an actual tiger, but they don't really seem to mind at all. Croix, on the other hand, is smiling but doesn't seem to really be that much into the show, so, without warning, I jump towards her as if attacking. Immediately everyone around her screams and backs away, while she just flinches and tries to cover her face. However, I manage to transform midair and land in her arms in the form of a little kitty.

"Uh…" She looks at me, astonished, but I just wink at her before getting out of her hands and circling her neck slowly, stopping next to her left cheek. There, I smirk and lick her, making her blush very brightly.

I giggle at her cute reaction and jump into the ground again, this time transforming into a bird and starting to fly around the kids, letting sparks fall for them to catch. Then I proceed to transform into other animals; from a wolf to a giraffe and even a hedgehog! The kids love it and I'm about to close my act when I decide to get Croix involved as well. So I quickly grab her hand and pull her to the middle of the circle before she can protest. Then, with a single movement of my rod, I turn our boring school clothes into actual witches clothes; hat and all. The color is all white for me and black for my friend, and the dresses are all long and flowy with flowers and leaves to adorn them.

Then, I finish off by pointing my rod to the sky and producing some fireworks, which earn me even more applauses and cheers. Except… I go a bit overboard. I wanted it to seem like the fireworks are coming from behind us and not from the tip of my rod, so I did just that, and used a fire spell instead of an illusion spell, because I wanted it to look realistic. And boy was it realistic!

I suddenly caught smell of something like smoke and start coughing along side Croix. Also… was it suddenly too hot here?

"What the hell, Chariot?!" She yelled, pulling out her wand and making the smoke disperse and the fire die. Then she glared at me.

"Sorry." I muttered sheepishly before turning to address the crowd, feigning a smile.

"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen!" I say, bowing to my cheering and applauding public, although I keep my trip on Croix's hand. "Thank you! If you enjoyed it, don't forget I'm usually here on weekends. Sometimes at the park too! Hope to see you soon!"

At this, the crowd starts dispersing. And immediately I turn to my friend, apologizing profusely.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what happened! I've done that spell plenty of times before and I never burn myself!"

"It's fine." She sighs. "You just have to work on your control. Fire magic is easily influenced by emotions, after all."

"You're not mad?" I ask hesitantly.

"No. Just… a little heated up." She chuckles and I relax a little.

"Heh. So… what did you think?"

"It was good." She shrugs.

"Awww, come on! Just good?" I complain, pouting, and even tearing up a little. I want Croix to like my shows so badly.

"Well… it was just basic magic. Nothing I don't see in every day life." She explains. "Plus… your shows are always the same; some illusion magic then some metamorphosis and… bum! You're done." Croix continues. "I'm just saying, if you're disrespecting a sacred object in such a way, the least you could do is making shows people will never forget. Not this kid's play."

I feel my lower lip tremble and tears fight to fall from my eyes, but I don't let them. Croix just gave me some constructive criticism; she wasn't mean about it and I should take it like a grown up, but… why does it hurt so much? Why do I want her approval so badly?

"H-hey." She seems to notice that I'm about to cry and quickly comes closer, pressing her hand against my cheek. "I'm sorry… I just said what I thought. I didn't mean to offend you in any way."

"It's fine." I answer and just wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her closer. "I just… I'm just a dummy."

"But at least you're my dummy, right?" She chuckles, and I smile, but before I can respond, something weird happens.

I was still holding the Shiny rod with my right hand when I hugged Croix, but… I felt it bump against something that was on Croix's pocket (the metamorphosis spell for our clothes had already worn off thanks to my lack of concentration). I thought nothing of it at first, but the more I hugged Croix, the warmer that zone became, until…

A big explosion interrupts our moment. An explosion coming from my friend's pocket.

The force sends us flying and we fall on our butts, utterly confused as to what just happened. Where we were previously standing there's now the dragonfuit, but… it's broken in pieces and there's an acre smell coming from it, along with smoke. My first thought was that maybe my previous dangerous stunt with fire magic had heated up the fruit and made it explode but then… the ashes started dispersing and I saw… a lizard?

It was small, about the size of a baby cat; pinkish red and with bright yellow spikes on its back. It also had a pair of wings…? Wait. I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure lizards don't have wings.

So… it's a…

"A dragon." Croix says, clenching her teeth and confirming my suspicions. I finally turn to her and see she's covered in sooth and her uniform has been partially destroyed due to the explosion. She also has a very worried look on her face. "The dragonfruit you bought… it must have been a dragon egg."

"Oh." I say, turning back to look at the little reptile, who is laying on the ground and trying to gain control over his limbs, so he's still quite clumsy; barely able to move his tiny paws around. It's… actually pretty cute now that I think about it.

"We need to get him out of here." She says urgently as she tries to get up… but winces as it looks like she has some burns on her left side.

"H-hey." I rush towards her and help her stand up. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it. You should wait here while I go get our brooms. Then I'll take you and the dragon to Luna Nova and hopefully the teachers will know what to do."

"No, you don't understand!" She scream-whispers, which I don't get why…? "Dragons are overly protective of their eggs, and even more protective of their offspring, so they're probably not far from here. If that thing starts crying, they'll come and burn this town to the ground."

"Oh." Yeah. That doesn't sound good. And just then I notice a small crowd has formed around us, many of them being actually my spectators from earlier. They seem a bit confused about what's happening and the children are staring at the dragon with curiosity. So I quickly decide to do something before one of those kids grabs the newborn reptile and makes him cry.

Quickly, and without thinking it twice, I run to pick up the baby dragon and hold him in my arms as I turn to address the crowd, wearing a smile despite the gross sensation of warm liquid staining my clothes. It must have come out of the egg, ew.

"H-hey!" I say enthusiastically. "Uhm… For those of you who don't know me, I make magic shows around town! T-there's nothing to see here, though. Just a spell that went w-"

I'm cut off in that moment by the most horrid and high-pitched scream I've ever heard. It hurt my ears so much that I dropped to the ground. Really, I just wanted to drop the dragon and cover my ears, but I knew I couldn't do that… even if the scream was coming from this little scale-covered baby.

Yep. We're screwed.

As soon as the scream died out, I saw Croix coming and kneeling in front of me, grabbing my shoulders and screaming, although all that I could hear was ringing in my ears. Still, I could kinda read her lips.

"Chariot! We need to get out of here, come on! Get up!"

I try to do as she says, but I feel dizzy and I'm carrying a baby dragon, so I can't use my hands. Croix seems to notice, however because she takes the reptile out of my arms and offers me one hand to help me stand up. I'm still dizzy and disoriented, sure, but at least I'm now standing and Croix is guiding me… somewhere.

Thankfully, the ringing in my ears is starting to diminish, and I'm beginning to get back my sense of balance. At that's when… when we hear a loud, thunderous roar. Yes, not a sharp cry from the baby dragon, but an outright roar that even makes the ground tremble, the windows vibrate and resonates through every inch of my body. There's no mistaking it; this is the roar of an adult dragon.

And just a few seconds later, the dragon in question appears. Unlike the baby in Croix's arms this dragon is easily the size of a truck, and with a prominent yellow color, except for the spines on it back, which are a bright pink. Its wings are also massive… almost twice the length of its body, and it also has teeth the size of knives and claws the size of swords. It's… a terrifying sight to say the least. But also… it's kind of mesmerizing. Majestic. I instinctively know I'm facing a creature that's hundreds of years old, and that could probably kill me in just one second. Still, I know running is futile.

"She wants her baby." Croix says, clenching her teeth.

"Then we should give it to her." I say. It seems like the only thing we can do, but to my surprise, she shakes her head.

"We need to lure her out of the city first, or else she might get so mad she'll burn this town to the ground."

"Oh…"

Yeah, that might be a problem, especially since we don't have our brooms and the rest of the people are blindly running away in panic.

"Take it to the leyline." I instruct Croix. "I'll try to get everyone to calm down and maybe distract the dragon to buy you some time." She nods at this and puts on a determined face.

"Be careful, alright?"

"You too."

As my friend goes away running, I turn to see that the dragon, still flying, is simply looking around and still quite a few meters away, probably trying to locate her baby. However, there's quite a few people crying in panic, or filming what is happening and even taking pictures. But for now it seems like the dragon doesn't care about them, thankfully.

I'm about to intervene, telling people to go back to their homes or something, when suddenly a bunch of police men show up. And they're carrying guns. I immediately know what they're up to and I rush to stop them, since them shooting the dragon will do nothing except enrage her; dragons have scales harder than diamonds.

"Wait, stop!" I say as I run towards the cops, who are already taking aim at the dragon. But they promptly ignore me.

"A dragon?" One of them says, fear clear in his voice. "I thought they were extinct."

"They are." Another answers. "At least in Europe." He then loads his gun and clenches his teeth. "But whatever the reason it's here, we need to act fast."

"Wait!" I arrive to where they are, and they finally seem to notice me. "If you attack her, you'll only make things worse! Bullets won't hurt her."

"Get away, kid. We'll handle the situation." One of them says, disregarding what I just said.

"No, you can't! That's a freaking dragon! I'm a witch, so… just leave it to me, okay?"

In that moment, however, the dragon flies dangerously close to us, and the cops freak out, instantly starting to shoot at her. As expected, the bullets don't even leave a scratch on her scales, but she does notice she's being attacked and roars loudly in response, now coming towards us with an enraged expression. Great.

I prepare myself, trying to remember a protection spell, and hoping the shiny rod will still have enough energy to make this work. I think I've still got like two or three spells worth of energy, but… I don't believe that'll be enough if I end up having to fight a freaking dragon. Still, as the fire spits out of her mouth and towards us, I raise my rod and make a magical barrier, enclosing us all. The cops, of course, just scream and try to cover themselves, but at the end it's just because of my magic that we didn't end up as fried chicken.

"See? I told you I know what I'm doing." I smirk, hoping that I look more confident than how I actually feel. "Now, will you please put away those weapons and try to calm down the people? I'll take care of the dragon."

Without waiting for an answer, I pronounce a metamorphosis spell to make wings appear on my back. It's more difficult than normal, since I have to concentrate only on the spot where I want wings to appear, but at the end I manage and take off flying.

"Don't worry, it's just part of the show. Stay on your homes and everything should be fine!" I tell the people as I pass, and I see that, thankfully, the police men are also doing their best to calm them down. So, with that taken care of, I go towards the dragon.

"Hey! Over here!" I shout, pointing my rod towards it and letting out a blast of illusion magic, hitting her straight on the snout. This, of course, seems to enrage her and she quickly comes flying towards me. But despite her size, I'm faster and more agile, able to evade the fire she spits at me… although it does start smelling like something is burning, but thankfully it seems like the fire only charred very few of my feathers.

Soon enough, we arrive to the leyline terminal, just outside the city, and Croix is already there, waiting for us with the baby dragon, who calls for his mother as soon as he sees us. I've never been happier of being high up in the air, flying pretty far away from the ground. And that's saying something! But yeah, up here his screams don't ring that loud, even if they do make the mother furious, and she quickly rushes towards my friend.

Realizing this, Croix puts the baby on the ground and backs away a few meters, probably because she doesn't want to be dragon food. The mom then lands where her cub is, while I quickly go to my friend and land next to her, making my wings disappear and asking her if she's okay.

"What?!" She yells.

"I asked if you're okay!" I shout, realizing she probably can't hear a thing.

"Oh! I'm fine. But my ears…"

"Yeah, that little dragon is quite noisy, huh?" I chuckle, but my laughter is cut short when we hear a new roar… this time from the mom. And then I quickly push Croix to the ground just as the dragon spits fire at us, managing to shield her with my body as the intense heat passes touching my back, but thankfully my school uniform seems to resist, as I don't feel like I'm burning.

Still, I recognize the danger of the situation and quickly get up, facing the dragon in the most intimidating posture I can manage, holding the shiny rod firmly with my two hands. Then I shout at her, hoping to scare her away.

"You have your baby now! Leave us alone! We've done nothing wrong!" In response, I get another roar, but thankfully not fire.

"These dragons aren't intelligent, Chariot!" Croix says going to stand up next to me. "They're just lizards." She then adds, clenching her teeth.

"Then what do we do?" In that moment, the dragon takes a step towards us and I hold up the rod menacingly… as if it still had magic.

"We need to get her to the leyline. Hopefully then she can find her way back home." Croix answers.

The only problem is… this leyline terminal isn't like the others; those that are basically out in the open, only framed by two wooden branches. No; this one is inside a stone building that's too small for the dragon to pass. How are we even going to get her inside?

"Do you still have any magic?" Croix asks, and I shake my head. Right now, I wished I'd brought my wand besides the rod.

"Here." She gives me her wand, and I shoot her a confused look.

"Your rod can create portals into the leyline, right? Use my wand's magic; I'll distract her meanwhile."

"B-but-" Before I can actually protest, Croix's already ran off, shouting at the dragon and attracting its attention, which off course makes her furious and she starts chasing after my friend. Great. I have to do this quickly before she ends up as a piece of carbon.

I then proceed to open her wand's battery, letting the magic slip out and be collected by my rod. Now the gems are shining once more, as I concentrate on my love for magic. But… what was the first word? And… can I even use it again? After I unlocked it? Can I summon the arc to my will?

Wait. Calm down. I need to calm down. This isn't the time to panic; Croix's life and this whole town, to be honest, depends on me. I've got this. The shiny rod chose me for a reason, and as its wielder I'm going to use it!

I'm going to save this town. I'm going to save Croix. I can't let her die or get injured on her birthday! She needs to be alright because I want us to be friends for many years. I want to always be with her. To… I don't know. I just want to be there for her forever. And I want her to be there for me.

Finally, I feel the familiar euphoric energy pouring out of my chest and into the rod, and back, fueling the spell. And then I pronounce the words.

"Noctu Orfei… Odem Fretore!"

Instantly, the rod turns into an arc and I shot the arrow of light towards the horizon, successfully creating a leyline portal.

"Croix!" I shout.

"On it!" She answers, running towards it and being followed by an angry dragon mother and her newborn baby, who's clinging to the scales on her back. Damn, he must be pretty strong!

Wait… Concentrate! You still need to help Croix!

With the energy left on the rod, I use a strengthening spell to give new energy to my legs, managing to run faster than the dragon can fly towards the leyline and, in the last second, I'm able to intercept Croix before she can run headfirst into the portal, landing in the grass with her as the dragon passes above us and enters the leyline, disappearing from sight.

I just sigh in relief and end the spell, collapsing in top of Croix.

"That was close."

"Yeah." She hugs me. "You were very brave. And, uh… thank you for saving me. Two times."

"Hey, I wasn't gonna let you die on your birthday, right?" I chuckle, separating a little to stare right into her eyes, and she smiles at me. She then opens her mouth and is about to say something when…

"Ehem." I would recognize that voice in my most horrid nightmares, and so I get up as if struck by lighting and turn to face her. Finnelan. But... what is she doing here?

"P-professor." Croix stutters as she also gets up hastily.

"Miss Meridies." She nods and then turns to look at me, scrunching her nose in disapproval. "Miss du Nord."

"H-hi." I pretty much squeak, already feeling that I've done something wrong. But… I haven't… right?

"We received a report of a dragon rampaging the town and I came to investigate, but now… I only see you two with your uniforms charred and smelling like smoked meat. Care to explain?" She asks, giving me a pointed look that makes me gulp and look at Croix for support.

"Uh… Well…"

"We bought a fruit. Turns out it was a dragon egg and then it hatched and the mother wasn't so far away." Croix explains calmly, and with a kind of… defiant expression. "But we were able to get them into the leyline before they could cause any harm."

"You mean you got them into the leyline." She says, looking directly at Croix. "I really doubt the top student of Luna Nova would need help to solve such a trivial problem."

It looked like Croix wanted to protest, but she didn't know how, so she ended up just clenching her teeth. However, I'm not one to stay silent myself.

"Actually, I-" But I'm cut off before I can clarify the situation.

"You hatched the egg thanks to your reckless use of magic outside the school." She snaps, pretty much glaring at me like she wants to kill me with her eyes alone.

"What? But I haven't-"

"A dragon needs heat and magic to hatch. Someone has to have given him both." I open my mouth to protest, but close it when I realize what must have happened. "You have that rod of yours and a wand. And don't believe I don't know about your unauthorized shows of magic! Such a disgrace!"

"Hey!" I yell, angry. Just who does she think she is? I just saved an entire town from a freaking dragon! And she's belittling me? Unbelievable!

"Listen, you-" Croix starts, trying to defend me, but is quickly cut off by Finnelan.

"Enough! I will see you two in the headmistress' office first thing tomorrow morning. Understood?"

"What? But I-I…" I trail off and I feel Croix's hand grabbing mine and squeezing gently, probably trying to keep me from getting myself deeper in the metaphorical mud we're already in.

"Yes, professor." She says through clenched teeth. And then, we reluctantly start following her into the leyline terminal, even though I'd like nothing more than to punch her in her face. While using strengthening magic. Yeah, I'm that angry.

But… I'm not really mad at her, to be honest. Well, I am, but… I guess I'm also mad at myself. I just wanted to give Croix a perfect birthday, but I ruined it with my stupid gifts and my dumb magic shows.

Maybe I should have just bought her instant ramen and watched a movie at her lab. Then she wouldn't have been endangered, chased by a freaking dragon and possibly punished because of me. Ugh! I'm the worst friend ever!

I just hope she's not mad at me…

But… as I feel her hand, still holding mine, and see her smile reassuringly at me, I know, deep inside, that everything is going to be alright. At least between us. I really don't think Finnelan will go easy on me this time, but as long as I have Croix at my side, I know I can handle anything she throws at me!


A/N: Well, I hope you like this not-so-little thing XD. And don't worry, Charoix is coming very soon. Sonner than you imagine actually, because the next ten chapters are already written, so I'll go back to updating every two weeks! Still, any reviews/favorites/follows are greatly appreciated and will help me keep writing!

Thanks for reading everyone, see you in two weeks!

Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.