Alix woke up in the backseat of the car, covered in vomit. He flinched away as he watched Claymore clean up every single last drop from his shirt.
"What…what happened?"
"Well, you threw up in your sleep, sir." Claymore confirmed.
In my sleep? Oh…the dream. Was that even a dream?
"Lord Vaylor is quite furious with you. I find his anger is quite unfair this time, however. This was out of your control."
"Where is he? I have something to tell him."
"He's just outside the car, but hang on, I still need to clean some of th—"
Alix lightly pushed his hand away, and the piece of fabric that he was using to clean up all the vomit. "It's fine. I'll clean my clothes by a lake or something."
Claymore blinked. "By a lake? We have washing machines for that, sir, I'll have one of the maids take your clothes."
Maids?
Alix got out of the car. He expected to be outside of the facility, but looking around, the place he was in wasn't familiar at all. The car was parked against a curb in a wealthy, prestigious neighbourhood.
Every house was quite literally a mansion, and you couldn't look around without seeing at least four cars parked outside someone's driveway. In front of Alix, another mansion glared at him, and this one was much larger than the others.
"Alix!" Came a voice, flogging at him. "What the hell happened in your sleep? Did you get punched in the stomach?!"
"Sorry, Vaylor," Alix said. The boy began taking off his tie, and he unbuttoned his shirt with distressing thoughts dancing in his head."I had a dream."
"A dream? What dream?"
"I saw that man again." Alix said, taking off his robe and shirt.
Vaylor's eyes widened. "The other worm tamer?"
Alix nodded. He was too caught up in his thoughts to even acknowledge the stain on his once clean white shirt, and then there was also the revelation that the strange man had presented to him. The silent fangs.
"The silent fangs. They—"
In an instant, Vaylor dashed towards him, and then slapped his palm against his lips with a murderous look in his eyes. "Shut up. Not out here. Come inside."
The two walked inside the giant mansion. Alix had never seen anything like it. The home was warm and cozy, and was greatly furnished. There was a spiraling staircase ahead of them that made Alix shudder, and he was glad that there was no throne to accompany it.
Just under the staircase was the door that led to the garage, and to the right was the living room and the kitchen that was further ahead of that, each room was illuminated by the chandeliers on the ceiling.
Tendrils of smoke filled Alix's lungs with the scent of warm, hearty meals. Somebody was cooking something delicious, and it made his stomach rumble as if an earthquake was raging on inside of it.
Alix had the mind to ask who was cooking, but before he could, a woman came running out from the living room. "Vaylor! Vaylor, is that you?"
She's…stunning
Stunning was an understatement. The woman was dazzling. She bloomed flowers wherever she walked, her pearly white teeth glistened as she smiled, and her black, monolid eyes were inundated with love and affection as she caught a glimpse of the lord she had called on.
Her long jet-black hair was tied up neatly in a bun, and her white apron was extremely neat, too, worn cleanly over a blue dress.
She ran up to Vaylor and embraced him, plastering multiple kisses all over his face. The Lord looked embarrassed, but he returned the same affection by sweeping her off her feet and spinning her around.
"It's been hours, Vay! Where have you been?"
"Sorry, Mei. I was out shopping for him."
"Him? Who…"
She had finally acknowledged Alix. A puzzled expression contorted her face, and she stared at the boy for what seemed like hours. "Who is that? And why is he shirtless?"
"That's the boy I told you about, dear. Alix Vineyard."
"Oh, you! It's a pleasure to meet you!" She said, running up to hug Alix. "Come on, you must be hungry. Me and the cooks made something delicious today, Vaylor's favourite." She winked at him, and Vaylor couldn't help but turn away as he blushed.
Food sounds really good right now, Alix thought. "What food?"
"You'll see," she smiled, and Alix felt like a bunch of flowers had grown out of his lungs as his eyes met hers. She pulled him away, making him drop the white shirt in his hands, and then guided him past the living room and into the kitchen.
There were a bunch of maids there preparing more food, and some were taking plates through a glass door that permitted them to the dining room. Everything made Alix dangerously hungry…
There was a plate of chili con carne on the ink-black counter tops, and a pan filled with chicken Alfredo was steaming and bubbling. Alix drooled as one of the maids separated it by proportions, the smell was immaculate, and the chicken looked like it had been seasoned well, and then there was the pasta…long, done, and covered in the alfredo sauce.
"He looks like he hasn't eaten in days, Vay," Mei laughed. Vaylor was following behind the two, walking into the kitchen, he looked just as hungry as Alix. "Where's Claymore?"
"He's getting the shopping bags, dear. When do we start eating," Vaylor drooled.
"Now!" Mei exclaimed, pulling both Vaylor and Alix to the dining room.
They sat down around a table with a plethora of knives, forks, and, of course, plates of food. Alix seemed puzzled by all of it. "There's so much. I feel like my belly is going to burst just looking at it." Alix said.
Mei chucked softly. "Vaylor has a big appetite, and plus I always eat with the cooks and with the maids. It's why we always make so much."
Vaylor glanced at Alix, and then his face darkened. "We need the room alone, Mei. Just us three."
Mei was in the process of digging into a plate of chicken alfredo, but Vaylor's words had frozen her in place. "Can't we save the politics for later?"
"It can't wait. It concerns the Mullivens." Vaylor said. He looked back at Alix and scowled. "Alix, at least put that robe on, we're sitting in front of food, fool."
Alix grumbled but did as he was told.
Mei ordered all of the cooks and the maids to leave the room. They sat in silence for a moment, waiting silently for the capacious space to be left to them. Once they had all left, Mei was the first one to break the silence.
"What's all this about, then? What have the Mullivens done now?"
"Why don't you tell her, Alix. Tell her what Mayfor told you."
"Mayfor!?" Mei exclaimed. "Mayfor Mulliven? That callous boy?"
Callous? What does that mean?
"Yeah, him. I met him in a, uh, courtesy shower. We—"
"What's a Mulliven doing in a courtesy shower? They're not even from this zone." Mei frowned.
"I asked the same thing!" Vaylor roared with laughter.
Alix waited for his amusement to die down, then, said, "Mayfor told me to stay away from Vaylor. He said that you two have dangerous ideas."
Mei scoffed. "Dangerous ideas, huh? As if the Mullivens haven't had them for centuries. Their lot would often rebel, it's a wonder as to how they haven't all been executed."
"Privilege, most likely," Vaylor chipped in, "though the Mullivens and the phoenix tamers have strained their relationship over centuries, they would ofttimes remember the bond that the last dragon emperor's son and emperor Saladan shared."
"So he told you about our goal to unify the entire world. What else did he say, Alix." Mei inquired.
"Wait—why? Why do you guys want to unify the world. It—"
"We'll tell you all about that some time in the future," Mei waved him off, "for now just answer my question."
"Well, he told me about the silent fangs, said that they've been monitoring Vaylor for a while and have been trying to find proof of him conspiring against the empire."
"Hah! They've been looking for years, let them continue wasting their time, they'll find nothing." Vaylor said.
"There was another thing I learned about the silent fangs," Alix gulped, his face darkening. "They're watching me, too."
Mei wore a look of surprise that was mixed in with her apprehension. "How can you be so sure?"
"I had a dream, but not just any dream." Alix said, now meeting Vaylor's eyes. "Like I said earlier, Vaylor, I saw the man again. He warned me about the silent fangs."
Vaylor leaned in closer, elbows on the table, and the same curiosity was back, dancing fervently in his eyes. "How does he know about the silent fangs?"
Alix shrugged. "No clue, but according to him they know that me and you are connected. They wonder where I came from, and, honestly, it's quite frightening knowing that I have their eyes on me. The man also demanded that I get stronger, and fast."
"Is this the man that gave him his powers?" Mei asked.
Alix could feel his heart sinking through his guts. Just how much has he told her!?
Vaylor nodded. "And now it seems like he's somehow connected to you through your power. This is good, now you have a mentor. Is there anything else that he told you?"
Alix paused and thought back to the entire conversation with the worm tamer. He remembered much and more, especially the revelation that the man had bestowed upon him, the knowledge that his powers would not reset in the upcoming war. But Alix decided to leave that key information out.
"There was one thing. He told me to go back to the rubble."
Vaylor blinked. "The rubble? The one you had crawled out of? Why there?"
"No idea," Alix sighed. "Everything that he says is always such a mystery, but I intend to go."
"No," Vaylor shook his head, "that site where you gained your powers is situated near the border and is under heavy investigation by the emperor and the silent fangs. It would do you no good going there."
"But—"
"No, Alix," Mei cut in. "You can't go there, not yet. And besides, you have other things to worry about."
"Other things? What other things?"
"You're a student now," Vaylor grinned. "I had Mei enroll you into the academy. You start in a week."
"A week!?" Alix exclaimed, bewildered. "H-how? I thought it would take much longer."
"Oh it would have," Mei confirmed. "They were telling me a bunch of nonsense, claiming that you'd only be able to start next year because we missed the application deadline. They shut right up when I told them I'd have a Lord Vaylor Bloodsworn pay them a visit, however."
"So, enjoy your food, and enjoy your time here, Alix. You've got a peaceful week ahead of you until your first day." Vaylor smirked.
Peaceful? My life has been anything but.