I left Alenia at the mercy of the director with a lead ball in my gut. If I hadn't picked a fight then she wouldn't have been dragged in. As of late, she'd been having a hard time- since she found her wings, actually. Her entire being was finishing something that should have happened years ago, even just through her emotions I could tell that she was at a tipping point. Among other things, her obligations to others seemed to have increased tenfold. She was becoming a leader and a martyr, and even without the incident that had landed us in the directors office everyone knew.
Of course, there was the rune she had burned on Mr. Walton. The changes were more than just emotional. How had she done that? I had never heard of a dragon being able to use their flame for the purposes of rune magic. I had never heard of a dragon... roaring. There was no better way to put it.
I had gone through the lunch line robotically and, with habit, found myself at my usual table. Tom, Wes, and John were waiting for me but it was tense. Tom had been in a long-standing state of nervous confusion for a while, and our team attack on Mr. Walton certainly hadn't helped.
"Dude-"
"I know," I said. I settled in next to John, intentionally ignoring Wes. Once we'd been close until a wedge named Alenia came between us. Not that I blamed her, but that was the fact. "I just hate that fucking class."
"No shit," John said. "It's the most insulting course known to magic kind. It doesn't mean you should pick on the teacher. You're lucky they didn't execute you."
I rolled my eyes. It wasn't that it wasn't a real threat but that they weren't going to do it for something like this. The school trod the thin line between controlling and causing a riot carefully. If anything happened in the school it was because they wanted it.
"No, really," Tom said. "He's still not talking but rumor has it the nurse can't figure it out."
"That wasn't me," I pointed out, wanting to see if they knew anything about how Alenia did that but not wanting to gossip.
"How did she do that?" Wes asked, tense but seeming to also have a curiosity about her. It took all of my self-control not to roll my eyes. Like he gave a shit about her.
"I didn't know dragons could do rune magic," Tom said.
"Much less Alenia- what?!?! She sets everything on fire!" John said despite twin glares from Wes and myself. "Look, if you were gonna guess which dragon had some extra superpowers, who would it be?"
"Draco." Tom and Wes said without thought.
"Exactly," John said. "Hey- didn't they used to date? Maybe he showed her that trick."
"Did they?" I asked, forcing myself to be calm. I was well aware that I had a jealousy streak, but some things couldn't be stopped.
"I don't think so," Wes said. For once we were on the same team.
"No, they definitely did," Tom said. "I walked in on them- um- well let's just say if they weren't dating each other then they were at least very familiar."
"You know what, it doesn't matter, because if anyone taught her runes it'd be Hank," John said.
"No one taught her jack shit, that was all her," I said.
"I was there, and I agree," Wes said. "I don't think she even meant to do it."
"Alenia doing things on accident? What?" John said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
I didn't get the chance to snap at him because of a young girl with a few of her friends. "Um, Wesley?"
Wes wasn't all too surprised and it was then that I remembered he and Alenia were the reps that the new kids were supposed to go to for help. "Yes, Frieda?"
"Um, is it true that, um-" The girl played with her pigtails.
"DidAleniareallystopMr.Waltonfromtalking?" One of her friends, a little boy with bright red hair, rushed through his words.
"Yes, she did," Wes said. "But I wouldn't-"
"Can you tell her thank you?!" Frieda said, smiling wide.
"Yeah! Mr. Walton is the worst! We've been covering succubi lately and it's been awful!"The boy said. I grinned, the children's obvious joy infectious. Alenia did not do it intentionally, she was just an inherent source of hope for people. Sure, she had been ostracized because she hadn't joined any clubs but she'd been proof that you don't have to follow the system. It seemed that now she'd become proof of that on a much deeper level.
"We'll tell her," I said.
"But let's leave the outbursts to the older kids, okay?" Wes said, obviously worried that they'd get themselves in trouble. I nodded beside him, five year olds didn't need to be picking fights they couldn't possibly win.
The kids left with a chorus of thank yous and we were left shocked. The four of us hadn't even discussed the best part about what Alenia had done. She'd given hope.
"If they let her off there's gonna be a riot," Tom said. He couldn't seem to decide how he felt about that, excitement and mind numbing fear pulsated from him.
"What are you talking about?" Wes asked. "She's not so hated that people want her killed."
"Yeah but if it gets out that you can attack teachers and live?" I said. I shook my head and let out a breath of air.
"Too many people have siblings to do that," John said. "Think about it. Why don't parents do anything? Because they know a little kid under the governments control. No one here is going to risk the little kids by having a riot."
Tom and I shared a glance and I knew we were thinking the same thing. Our fellow captives weren't stupid- someone would think of a way to protect the kids. When they did that... all hell would break loose.
I wasn't the only one who went straight to Alenia's dorm after my last class. I ran into Margie and Christine despite the fact that they both had meetings after class. We weren't surprised to see one another, though I hadn't seen either of them since the incident. We all held the same silent prayer- that she had been sent to their dorm, not executed.
"You shouldn't have picked that fight," Christine spoke with her usual emotionless demeanor. Something that amused me due to the constant storm of emotions under her mask. For example, she state it now without concern but beneath her calm facade she was panicking.
"It was iconic," Margie protested. "I just hope-" she stopped short when we arrived at their dorm. She tried to open the door but there was a barrier in the doorway preventing her from getting to the handle.
"Well, she's alive," Christine said. "I don't know anyone else who can do that."
As if knowing we were waiting on it, the door opened and the barrier disappeared. From behind it walked Hank. He frowned and echoed dark curiosity and fear.
"...me if you think of anything else. Thanks for letting me see the rune." Alenia said.
"You let me know if y'all find out anything." Hank said. His accent irritated me but I didn't say anything. What had Alenia been talking to him about and what did she mean 'see the rune'?
"Obviously," Alenia replied with a joking tone and an easy smile. Inside she was churning, fear and determination and confidence. She was gearing for something, but she didn't doubt she could do it.
"Hank?!?" Margie stage whispered when he turned down another hall. "What are you doing?!"
Christine rolled her eyes and Alenia couldn't be bothered to react to her friend. "Get in here- I've got news."