"There, all done." Dorin said as he adjusted the pentagon he drew on Johan's chest. "Is that okay?"
"More or less..." answered Johan, "but I think the squiggle on the left looked more like a heart with an eye in the middle..."
"Rune, they're called runes," Dorin corrected him.
"Are you really sure this will work?" Johan asked for the nth time. "What if that professor finds out that her spell got broken?"
"If she had a way to know about the spell being broken, then she would have been here by now, or at least called the dorm head to check on us," said Sebastian who watched his two companions with amusement.
"Which reminds me," Dorin looked up from the rune he was writing, "what do we do when that prince guy comes here to fix the doors tomorrow?"
"Just send them away," Sebastian replied automatically.
"But we gave our word..." Dorin looked troubled.
"Do you think we can still take it back?" asked Johan. "I really don't like them touching Dragon..."
"No touch!" Dagon answered from the couch where he sat with Azra sleeping by his side. "Only Daa touch."
"Well, for now, that will do," Dorin said with a flourish, looking at his handy work. "The ink should keep, I made it water and fade proof, just don't scrub on it too hard."
"Got it," answered Johan who hurriedly put his new dragon scale tunic on. He wore a sweater on top of it since the weather was beginning to get colder. "Let's get going to the kitchens then."
The two left for their part time job.
Dagon didn't want to separate from Johan at first, but was forced to stay home and rest.
Sebastian watched as the 2 children slept soundly on the couch. He took a blanket from his room and tucked them in comfortably. He then went to his own room to take some rest as well.
He woke up hours later to the sound of knocking.
Hard knocking.
He sat up in bed and saw Azra in his room with a scowling Dagon behind her.
"What's wrong?" he asked the two kids. He looked at the clock by his table. It was only 8 am.
"Someone's knocking, mas... Sebastian," Azra answered.
"Annoying!" said Dagon with a scowl. "I bun them now?"
"Dagon wants to burn them, I said we should ask you first," said Azra.
"Don't burn them!" Sebastian hurriedly got up from bed and went to the door without bothering to fix himself. The two followed behind him in their human forms. "You should turn to your original forms first," he told the young ones.
Sebastian looked through the peephole and saw Prince Alexander with his companions. He finally opened the door halfway after much thought and faced the prince. [What do you want?] he wrote, standing inside the room.
"We have come to hang out," the third prince said happily. "We brought food!"
[Dorin and Johan are still out.] He wrote in reply, secretly glad that the two gluttons were not home. [Come back later.]
"Oh, but can we at least leave the food here?" the prince asked. "There is hardly enough room in my dorm for all of these stuff," he gestured to his left.
Sebastian stepped outside and was surprised to see the baskets of fruits and meat that Xander brought with him. [And just how do you expect us to eat all of that?!?] he asked.
"Well, you do have a fridge... and we can cook the rest today!" He stepped inside the room and looked around, spotted Azra and Dagon and happily went towards them.
[Hey, wait a minute!] Sebastian objected as the prince held out a hand towards the 2 young ones.
"How are you doing today?" he purred at them.
Dagon snorted out white smoke from his nostrils and turned his back against the prince. Azra stared at him with her pink eyes.
[I didn't say you can just barge in!] wrote Sebastian.
"Don't worry, I mean no harm!" Xander smiled. "By the way, you look better with your hair down," he added. Sebastian was caught speechless, or rather, wordless by the remark. "Boulvar, Venet, take those crates to the kitchen counter and put the meat inside the fridge..."
[Just leave them there, I'll put them away later!]
"With your built, I doubt you can carry them," Boulvar said, staring at Sebastian in his cotton pajamas.
"Woah, did you already fix the doors yourselves?" Xander was already in the hallway, on his way towards the inner rooms. "Even the bricks are back in place!" he said, squatting at the part where the wall once had a hole in it. "No one would ever think this place was thrashed last night!"
[Okay, time to leave!] wrote Sebastian, holding the slate right in front of Xander's face.
"Ouch!" came a shrill cry from the kitchen. "It bit me!"
Sebastian and Xander hurried back and saw Venet holding a piece of fish up in the air. Dagon was on the kitchen counter, glaring at him.
[What did you do?] Sebastian stomped towards the wind mage.
"Nothing!" Venet said defensively. "I was just placing the fish in the fridge when that pesky lizard suddenly bit me!" he held up his left hand to show his middle finger turning red.
[It's not even bleeding.] wrote Sebastian.
"It still stings!" complained Venet, "I might be needing shots!"
Xander came closer, took the piece of fish from Venet, and tossed it at Dagon who caught it in his mouth and quickly gulped it down.
"He's just hungry," he chuckled. "Isn't that so? You little dragon you..." he tried to pet the small dragon but quickly pulled away when Dagon snapped at his finger.
[Now, everybody out!] Sebastian wrote once more. [Just leave those stuff behind, you can come back when Dorin is here.]
"Oh, but isn't it the right time for some hotcakes?" Mordecai opened the stove and placed a skillet on top. "Why don't we just wait for them to return?" he smiled at Sebastian who was already fuming by then.
[NO IT IS NOT TIME FOR PANCAKES AND I WANT ALL OF YOU OUT OF OUR ROOM THIS INSTANT!!!] wrote Sebastian, but no one was paying him any attention.
Xander tossed another fish at Dagon who caught it in mid air. Venet continued placing the rest of the fish and meat in the fridge, Mordecai poured batter in the skillet. Even Azra was busy eating berries out of Boulvar's hand.
Sebastian stomped his feet and was about to fling his slate at the third prince when someone called from the entryway.
"Why is the door open?" it was Dorin and Johan, coming back from their kitchen duty. They stopped at the doorway when they saw Xander and company inside their dormitory room.
"What the hell are you doing in our room?" Johan was the first to speak out.
[They wouldn't leave!] Wrote Sebastian.
"We brought food!" said Prince Xander.
"What food?" Dorin asked.
"Here, the first batch of hotcakes are ready."
Mordecai placed some hotcakes on a couple of plates on the kitchen counter, put a drizzle of maple syrup, a small scoop of butter, and tossed several berries on top. "I hope you're not too full from your work in the kitchens."
Dorin and Johan stared as the golden syrup dripped from the top of the fluffy hotcakes.
"Get them while they're still hot," added the prince's aid.
"Don't mind if I do!" Dorin said with a smile.
[Dorin!] wrote Sebastian.
"Dragon! Come here!" Johan called the young dragon who was busy catching tossed fish from Xander and Venet. He cut a big piece off the dripping hotcake and showed it to Dagon.
Dagon eagerly made a somersault, turned into his human form, and ran to Johan's side, opening his mouth wide.
The room fell quiet.
Johan dropped the now empty fork. He looked at Xander, then at Dorin and Sebastian.
"Amazing!" Xander exclaimed, "I have heard of old legends of dragons donning human form, but those were never confirmed to be true!" he started jumping in place, much to Mordecai's consternation.
"Your majesty, please calm yourself!" Mordecai said with concern.
"This..." Johan tried to think of an excuse, "It's just an illusion!" but the third prince was not listening. Johan looked at Sebastian who was staring daggers at him and decided to stare at his feet instead.
"Look! His clothes are made of scales!" Xander marveled, "Can he change his appearance as he pleases?!" he tried to pick Dagon up, but the child hissed and snorted smoke at him.
"Oh, well, guess the cat's out of the bag..." said Dorin with a shrug, his hotcakes almost gone.
Azra flew from the bunch of berries she was eating and landed on Sebastian's shoulder. She chirped something into his ears. Sebastian shook his head vigorously, the words [NO] forming on his slate. The bird bowed her head sadly.
"Can the caladrius change too?!" Xander asked with his eyes full of anticipation.
[NO] Sebastian wrote again.
"Yep," said Dorin at the same time with his mouth full, while Johan nodded, his eyes still cast down.
[What are you saying?!] Sebastian stood in front of Dorin holding his slate.
"Well, They're bound to find out anyways..." Replied Dorin.
"Find out what?" Xander sounded interested.
"I've still got hotcakes here if you want more..." Mordecai said without a care.
"More!" says Dagon, arms stretched out towards the hotcakes.
"Sorry, Dragon didn't know better..." Johan said guiltily.
"Can Azra change too?" The third prince asks once more.
Sebastian looks at the people around him. He covered his face with his hands and said
"STOP"