Zethia considered the dragon as he led them through the castle to his companion; she’d never heard of such a human-looking dragon, much less one that could pass himself off as human, but he’d said he could with such confidence…

He was, she thought, probably around Phares’ age. Or… mental age, perhaps?

(How did dragons age?)

(They could live for centuries, but how long did they remain children?)

She shook the thoughts off and adjusted her grip on her staff, a touch of nervousness creeping in as the dragon led them down a corridor on the third floor. She’d never tried to heal a dragon before— what if she couldn’t? What if dragons were different enough that her healing just didn’t work? She’d promised him that she’d heal his companion but what if she couldn’t follow through?

Euden knocked his shoulder into hers and sent her a reassuring look, his confidence in her so strong she could feel it. It settled something in her chest, and she firmed her heart and stepped through the door when the dragon opened it.

The boy that looked over at them was thin and lanky, his hair a strange mix of orange and black that she’d never seen before, and decidedly human in form. No talons, no tail, no strange, horned mask atop his head…

It wasn’t what she’d been expecting.

But then she looked past it all, past her expectations and the physical reality in front of her, and pursed her lips at what she finally saw.

Pain. The boy was in pain, his right arm held somewhat awkwardly against his side and the corners of his eyes pinched; he was good at pretending normalcy, good at pretending he was alright, and that infuriated her.

(No one should be that accustomed to pain.)

(What had been done to him?)

“Hello,” Zethia greeted the boy as she stepped around his… friend? Brother? Parent? “Will you let me heal you?”

The boy blinked at her as if surprised by something, then turned his gaze on the older dragon and arched an eyebrow.

(The older dragon had said the boy had agreed, so what was surprising about her question?)

“Maa, they did wait where I asked them to,” the dragon offered, as if their basic courtesy was something to remark upon, and, judging by the confusion that flickered over the boy’s face, it was something unusual to them. “No harm in letting her try, right?”

The boy scowled at the older dragon before turning away and giving an awkward one-shoulder shrug. “Fine,” he said with a small nod. “Go ahead and try.”

“Thank you!” Zethia stepped closer, letting mana gather around her staff as she focused on the boy. He was exhausted as well as wounded, her magical senses told her, and the way his power moved was distinctly different from a human’s. She could almost see him absorbing the free mana around them, taking it in and letting it fill his nearly depleted reserves in a way that humans just couldn’t do.

It meant she needed to account for that when she healed him, but she could do that; it would just take a bit extra power and a bit more focus to keep him from absorbing her spell before it completed its work.

“Healing,” she murmured as she released her spell and felt it settle across the boy’s body. It sank in easier than any of her spells had ever done before, but already she could feel him unconsciously plucking at the edges of the spell and starting to unravel it. Still, it wasn’t hard to direct her spell to heal the boy’s wounds which—

She swallowed. Forced back her fury-disgust-anguish at what she felt from her spell. Focused on healing what she could, soothing what she couldn’t, until the terrible, vicious wound across his entire arm and torso was healed.

(Anger would not serve her here.)

(She knew that far too well.)

“There you go!” she said as cheerfully as possible once it was done and she could release her spell. “Let me know if there’s anything I missed, okay?”

The boy straightened up, eyes wide as he flexed his right hand and then brought it cautiously to his chest, fingers tracing over the marks that Zethia knew had to be there even after her spell. “I… yes, thank you. That’s… I feel much better now.”

“You’re welcome!” Zethia smiled at him and moved her staff back to her side so it wasn’t between them anymore. “So, I don’t think we’ve really been introduced yet,” she told the boy, hoping that she could nudge the two dragons into introducing themselves at last. “I’m Zethia, and this is my twin brother Euden, it’s nice to meet you!”

“Uhm… nice to meet you…?” the boy said hesitantly, then shot an almost panicked look over at the older dragon.

“Mmm, I suppose I didn’t introduce myself before, did I?” the older one said idly, rubbing at his chin and glancing at the room’s open window. “Well then. I’m Urahara Kaito, and this is Ishida Uryuu. We’re travelers.”

“Have the two of you come far?” Zethia asked Urahara Kaito in curiosity, wondering how he would answer her. He’d already said that they were just stopping to rest and that he didn’t know Alberia’s capital at all, so she had to wonder where he was from, exactly.

Urahara Kaito shrugged and gave her a thin, dry smile. “Farther than you’d believe,” he said, an edge of exhaustion tinging his words.

Ishida Uryuu grimaced and looked down at the bed he was sitting on, shoulders hunching and chin tucking towards his chest. But before Zethia could decide if he would welcome comfort, Urahara Kaito had slid partially between them, shielding Ishida Uryuu from view, which… rather dramatically answered her question.

(Or at least told her exactly how protective Urahara Kaito was of the younger dragon.)

(They’d need to be careful not to overstep themselves, given that reaction.)

“In that case, why don’t you stay here for a while?” Euden piped up as he moved closer, a small, kind smile on his face as he looked up at Urahara Kaito. “The castle is much too big for just us, and you’ve already done us one favor and are planning to do another, so… at least let us play host for a time while you rest.”

She could see the way Urahara Kaito wavered at her brother’s words, his gaze fixed on Euden in a way that looked both relieved and resigned, though she had no idea where the resignation came from. Was there something after the two dragons that he was afraid would find them here? Or maybe he was just a dragon unused to human company?

“If you don’t want to stay in the castle, there’s a dragon roost nearby that I’m sure the two of you could find a den in,” Zethia added before Urahara Kaito could use that as an excuse to leave.

(These two needed a place to rest, she could feel it with every breath they took.)

(She’d do everything she could to let them have the rest they needed.)

Urahara Kaito angled his body towards Ishida Uryuu just enough to send a look back at the younger dragon. Zethia couldn’t see what the other did, but his response seemed to satisfy Urahara Kaito, because he turned back towards them and said, “We’ll stay for a bit. The castle will be fine. Thank you.”

Euden beamed at Urahara Kaito, his happiness almost contagious as he said, “You’re welcome! Feel free to stay as long as you like!”

Urahara Kaito inclined his head, tail twitching like an agitated cat.

They were clearly reaching the end of his patience.

“Cleo was going to see about getting dinner ready,” Zethia said as she reached out to tug lightly on her brother’s sleeve. “Would you like to join us when it’s done or would you like to eat in here?”

Urahara Kaito angled himself back towards Ishida Uryuu, murmuring, “Up to you,” as he did.

“I… how many…?” Ishida Uryuu asked hesitantly.

“There’s five of us right now,” Euden answered. “Myself and Zethia, Cleo, Ranzal, and Elisanne. Seven if the two of you join us.”

There was silence from the two dragons, and Zethia leaned to the side a bit to peer around Urahara Kaito. Ishida Uryuu seemed thoughtful but wary, clearly turning the offer over in his mind.

“Eating with you seems… acceptable,” Ishida Uryuu decided at last, glancing over to meet her gaze. “Thank you for the invitation.”

“You’re welcome!” Zethia said with a grin, pleased that the two would come down to interact with them a bit more. “One of us will come up to tell you when it’s ready, okay?”

The two dragons nodded at almost the same time and she suppressed a giggle at how similar they looked in that moment; even if they weren’t related, they’d clearly spent a lot of time together in order to pick up each other’s habits.

“See you at dinner,” Euden told them, then flashed them a smile and turned to leave, clearly satisfied with the result of their talk.

Zethia smiled and inclined her head slightly. “May Illia be with you,” she said before turning to dart after her brother.

Now hopefully dinner went just as well.

Hopefully…