Young Writers Society

Nen grinned - cream sticking to some of his slightly sharper teeth.

"It's an eclair," he offered. "They're one of my favorites. I've always loved having them. I used to sneak into the kitchens with my best friend to grab them as a kid-"

Nen faltered.

His upbeat, eager expression was replaced by a much more somber one. Aska hadn't ever heard the full story about what had happened to his childhood best friend, but he wished he had a face to show Nen that he was there for him.

After a moment passed, Nen let out a sigh and sat down on one of the empty couches. Aska stood beside him. He didn't know why he didn't feel like sitting down right now. He was scared to not be right by Nen's side. But he also wanted to show Nen that someone was watching over him, and that he was there to support him.

"An explanation is probably overdue," he admitted. "My full name - full title - is Prince Nendros Exel Xenon of the kingdom of Laetae. I know those names mean nothing to you. You're not from here. But I'm technically not from here, either."

He hesitated.

"...Not from the castle, at least."

He let out another sigh.

"I was taken here by a dragon named Tieth," he said. "I think it was almost a year ago now. I'm...I'm human. I'm not sure what I did to upset Tieth or why she even took me in the first place, but she cursed me to look like this."

He gestured down at himself.

Then he pointed at Aska - who immediately went stiff at the attention.

"Aska is in a similar situation," he added. "He's been here for longer than I can even imagine. He's human, too. He doesn't remember it, but Tieth says he tried sneaking into the castle years ago because he heard there was a princess that needed rescuing. There wasn't - there was only Tieth. When she found him in here, she turned him into what he was trying to be: a knight in shining armor."

Aska didn't say anything. He didn't trust himself to. He just stared down at the ground and let Nen finish the explanation.

There was a creak as Nen leaned back in the couch.

"That was why we were so nervous when you showed up," Nen added. "No one is supposed to be able to get through the barrier that Tieth put up. She shouldn't be here for awhile, but if she finds you when she does come back..."

"She'll turn us all into fascinating specimens that are a mix of science and magic," Rea blurted, stuffing herself with an eclair. Then she clapped her hands over her mouth.

"Sorry. Sorry, I guess you must feel terrible about what happened. Look, I don't know about all these other nice people, including the rabbit man, but I couldn't live with myself if I left you here like this, in a form you don't want to be in." She frowned, as though puzzled. "Regardless, this Tieth person seems nasty. Dragons, where I'm from, are largely just legends, but they're known as kind beings, not... bullies. I'm sorry this happened to you, and I promise you, if there's any way I can help, I will." She straightened and glared at them all, looking intimidating despite her height. "And if this Tieth wants to turn me into a talking candle, well, I'll bore her to tears with my study on fungal growths found in the deep hollows of pine trees!"

She turned back to Aska and Nen. "Listen, could I Delve you? I'll know exactly what you're made of then, or what magic is holding you together as you are. It might help me find a way to make you human again. If you want that," she added.

Frederic glanced at Sinestra. "You've killed dragons before."

"I was an all-powerful sorceress those many times that I did, Frederic. If it's not already obvious, I am magicless at the present time," she snapped in reply before looking at all of the books. "There could be one of those How-to guides for killing dragons without magic here somewhere..."

Ari eyed the eclairs placed so perfectly on the tray. She could take all of them, but the thing was, she didn't want to get anything stuck in her braces. She would be way too worried about that and worrying about how to get out of this place was way more important.

Hearing Nen's story caused Ari to feel sympathy for him and Aska and she did feel anger towards this Tieth dragon but all Ari wanted then was home. It was a selfish thought considering how upset Nen was about his current situation. It didn't seem fair, what Tieth had done to the two of them, they hadn't even done anything to her.

She took a sharp intake of breath when she realized she could probably be turned into a piece of furniture. She wanted to say something, but the only thing that came out was, "Were the sofas once human too?"

It became apparent that the furniture seemed to come to life and react if they were treated badly, so Alan took a gamble and decided to gingerly pull out a book from the bookshelf closest to him. He didn't particularly look to see what type of book it was; it was more so a test to see if anything would happen if he pulled it out. And just like he suspected, because he didn't mistreat the poor thing, all was fine. Or maybe he was being overly cautious. Whatever it was, it seemed safe to pull any book.

He only had a second to glance at the cover to notice that it was a scholarly book about various roses before Nendros reappeared with some snacks -- eclairs, as he called them. Alan carefully put the book back before helping himself with one, and without a doubt, this had to be one of the best desserts he had. It was so sugary and sweet, he couldn't believe it. It was delicious, but boy did it seem expensive.

Alan didn't have that much time to ruminate on that thought as Nendros explained why he and Asksa looked the way they did: they were cursed by a dragon named Tieth.

He chewed the last of the eclairs, patiently listening to the others talk first. The short brunette girl said she can delve Nendros, and although Alan nodded in agreement, he actually had no idea what she was talking about. He continued nodding as the pink-haired girl asked if the sofas were once human, and it made Alan wonder if all the furniture were once human, including the books. Alan even agreed when the old lady mentioned that there ought to be a book around here about killing dragons, but he wasn't so much in agreement about killing them.

"She's right," Alan said, although he didn't really specify who. "Maybe there is a book in here that can help. Perhaps a way to break your curse or defeat Tieth. What do you know of her?"

He then focused his attention back to the bookshelf, looking for any book that mentioned magic or curses. He doubted a book would help Nendros or Asksa since they probably already scoured these shelves for answers, but maybe he could find something that'll reverse the pink rabbit spell.

Devony patted Nendros on the shoulder. She was starting to warm up to him.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you two," she said. "That is truly awful, but perhaps there is some way we can help."

Devony scratched behind the rabbit's ears as he sourly munched on the carrots. "As Alan said, maybe there's a book that can help us."

She wiped her fingers on her pants before tentatively touching the spine of a book. The book didn't react to it, so she took it as a good thing. Running her fingers past the books, Devony found a book on the lore of fantasy creatures. She pulled the book out of the shelf.

Opening the book. she found the section Dragons under the table of contents. "Maybe this has something on the weaknesses of dragons. We could use this to our advantage."

It made Nendros feel good to know that all these strangers wanted to support him right now. He tried not think of what they would have thought if they had met him before he ended up here. He reached his hand into his pocket and grabbed onto the little necklace he had stuffed there that morning. They didn't know about Az. Maybe they wouldn't judge; maybe they would have. Nendros wasn't really sure.

But, as of right now, they seemed to like him.

He shook his head.

"The furniture wasn't human," he reassured Ari. Then he paused, suddenly not quite sure if his guess was right. He didn't think they were ever human, but what if they were? The sofa definitely had the personality of one.

He look up at Aska.

Aska was incredibly still right now. He was staring at some point off in the distance. He got like that, sometimes, when they were reading in the library. It was the look he got whenever he was just on the edge of a memory. He always said that he could almost remember it afterwards, but could never quite put his finger on what the memory was about.

...He'd ask Aska about the furniture later.

He turned his gaze to Rea.

"You can delve us," Nendros said. He knew that was what Aska would have replied with, too. He gave a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his neck. "Neither one of us know a thing about magic, so it would definitely be helpful."

He looked over at Devony and Alan.

Aska shifted a little. It still seemed like he was very much in the middle of whatever memory he couldn't really grasp, so Nendros did his best to answer for him. Aska was the one who really knew Tieth. Nendros had only just met her by comparison.

"I don't know a lot about her," Nendros admitted. "I know that she's skilled at magic, and I know that she can shift between a human and a dragon form. She managed to somehow slip undetected into my room before, back when..."

His throat clamped up.

He shook his head.

"The when isn't important," he said, giving a strained smile. If Aska wasn't in a memory, he would have given Nendros a worried look. "She spent a lot of time here back when she first made me like this, but she only comes ever two weeks now."

He glanced at the book Devony was holding.

"I don't think that book will help much," he admitted. "Aska and I already read it. It's a series of folk stories on dragons. It even has the dragon king in it, and everyone in Laetae knows he's not really real."

"A dragon king," Rea said absently. "Fascinating. I presume dragons are of average intelligence if they have the capacity to rule, and individuals like this Teeth you mention above average... And she can shift forms? I'd love to see that." She paused. "Or maybe I wouldn't.
"The organic matter in dragons is different from humans, hmm? It must be, even when they're in human form. Unless the transformation is fuelled entirely by magic, in which case... I need a bigger book to study this."

Then she glanced at Nendros. "Ah! I said I'd Delve you. Sorry, sorry. Okay, you don't have to hold very still, just don't break contact. Hmm." She pressed the palms of her hands against his arm, brow furrowing with a look of concentration.

Sinestra took a deep breath and sighed, running a lone finger across several books and their titles. "Frederic?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Remind me to annihilate the dragons of Alon Tirneth at some point, would you?"

Puzzled, the man grunted, "Er-- alright? I-- I suppose that could be scheduled? Maybe? Except-- what even is Alon Tirneth?"

"That's my business," Sinestra answered gruffly as she pulled a book entitled "101 Ways to Cook a Hippogriff and Other Recipes" off the shelf.

Nendros nodded. It was strange having someone not made of metal touching his arm after so long of living with just Aska, but he didn't flinch away at her sudden touch. He just waited for some sign that Delving was over—even though he wasn't really sure what that kind of sign would actually be. What was Delving even supposed to feel like?

"I think dragons are like humans," Nendros guessed, looking down at her hand. "I've only met Tieth before, but I thought she was human until she changed her form. And she talks about other dragons like they're people sometimes, too."