"Huh? Wait, really? Is he actually… Well, okay, so I'm safe, right? As long as I have him as a friend, I'm safe?" Arthur asked. Lucy sipped some tea, curling her hair with her fingers before bringing them both to a model runway.
Arthur was clothed in a suit and tie, and she in a similar attire, as she walked down the runway, him pursuing.
"Yeah, pretty much. Well, that's if he decides to get off his dormant state," she answered. "Dormant state?"
"Yeah. I've really only heard stuff about him from family members, but apparently he was a menace to my parents when he was like, uh… 5? But eventually, he just stopped, we never heard of him wiping out families since."
'Families? Wait, was he wiping out, like, whole families? Whole clans of dragons, and he just… and at 5? What the heck kinda existence was he?'
"Are you pulling my leg?" Arthur asked. She shook her head, saying "nah, I'm telling the truth. At least, from what I've heard from family members. He was kinda like the boogeyman. But he just stopped one day, so who knows? If he's as lazy as I can assume, then you might be toast."
Arthur laughed, to which she stopped her catwalk, turning around and tilting her head. "What's got you so giggly?" She asked him, when he responded with "well, you said I'm toast. Ah, it reminds me of a… no, I don't want to talk about it."
His face had lightened up, as he covered his mouth up to laugh a bit. However, the more he spoke, and seemingly thought, his face grew more solemn.
"Oh? You really don't wanna talk about it? Is this a thing where you want me to pry so you can talk about yourself more? Cause if so, it ain't necessary, the whole point of these meetings is to talk about stupid stuff together," she said, a bit annoyed. Arthur shook his head.
"No, I really don't want to talk about it. Um, I've talked about me a lot, so can we talk about you now?"
Her face lit up, and they popped right back into a school, though it was in fact a cafeteria now. Despite that, it was a quiet cafeteria, no one inside and they both had really expensive meals. Arthur's tongue salivated, and he dug into the food as Lucy began to talk with great enthusiasm.
"Ugh, okay, so there's this girl in my class, Katie, right?" "Uh huh…?"
"So, this new girl transferred and I wanted to be nice to her, so I introduced myself to her and let her know she could talk to me and my friends, but then this bitch Katie walked over, fucking strutting like she just got off of Vogue, but if you ask me, her face doesn't belong on a magazine, it belongs on a stick. Anyways, this chick comes over and is all like 'ugh stop pitying her, you realize you're making her feel bad' despite me just trying to be nice to the new girl? Like bitch, if you don't get out of my face, I'm gonna slap you into next week. And y'know what I said?"
"Uh, what?" Arthur asked, taking a handful of french fries and stuffing them in his face before he continued working on his second chicken leg.
"I told her, right to her face, 'you're a real fucking bitch, y'know that?' And she got all offended, but she's the one that started stuff, trying to make me seem like a piece of trash for being nice. Ugh, and y'know, I heard her boyfriend cheated on her, so maybe that's why she's all aggravated?"
"Oh. Mhm. Maybe she's on her period?"
"What? Is that just all guy's first thoughts when a girl's upset? Well, I doubt it. Her face is as red as a used tampon though. Fuck, just thinking of it is pissing me off. Actually, no, there's some good news actually."
"Huh? What is it?"
"My friend Jessica got a boyfriend. They look so cute together, honestly I wish I could bring pictures into the dreams but I can't, and I know I'd get his face wrong if I did it by memory."
"Mm."
Not having much to say, Arthur kept digging in. It was silent for some time.
"So… d'ja do anythin' but talk to some strong dude today?" She asked, beginning to work on her spaghetti.
"Uhh… I went to work for the first time since I found out I was a dragon," Arthur told her. She nodded her head, watching him immediately go back to eating.
"Oh yeah…? Uh, what do you do at work?" She asked. "I bag groceries, sometimes clean up stuff, sometimes work in customer service…"
"Yeah, that sucks," she replied, not too enthusiastic anymore. Arthur stopped eating, feeling his heart sink into his stomach.
'She's bored. She's my only proper friend, and she's bored. Plus, she's a girl, I wonder, is she annoyed? Whatever. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. I don't need her. I never have.'
'She means nothing.'
"Huh? Whatcha glaring at me for?" She asked, noticing Arthur's stare. His eyes were narrowed, his lips bent down slightly into a frown. By all means, he seemed… disgusted? Annoyed? Whatever the case, it made her a bit uncomfortable.
Arthur rested his cheek on his fist, exhaling quietly.
"Nothing," he said in a low voice. Though, when his voice was so low, it did cause her to chuckle slightly. His voice was that of an utter geek, a "nothing" from him was embarrassing. He wasn't in a position to seem threatening of any kind when saying such things.
It was silent once more, as Arthur kept eating his food.
"Dude, you're staring at me like I just stuffed a puppy in a meat grinder and am making you eat the remains, the heck's the problem?" She asked, a more powerful voice being used, though still mostly that of a highschool girl annoyed.
"Nothing, it's nothing. I just… pay no mind."
"You seem like you can't lie to save your life; you bein' a creep?" She asked, leaning forward with an irritated face. Arthur's face lost all glare and power, like he'd just been punched. He shook his head quickly.
"No, I'm not! I was just, agh, no, really, I wasn't!" He yelled, not having any proof. She laughed and a machine appeared. It projected largely onto the walls of the cafeteria, showing data.
"Alrighty, here's the data! You're a college student, so even if we're both 18, it's still weird if you view me in a stupid manner. This machine here has collected the data, let's see it!" She yelled, clicking a device to move the slideshow forward.
"We can see here that you've glanced at my chest a total of… zero times! And actually, the data suggests you stare literally everywhere but there. Using this data, we can come to the conclusion that you're really scared of that area! Good work! Y'know what your reward is?" She yelled.
Arthur's face turned horribly red, and he felt it burning deeply. He covered his face, looking down at his plate, stammering a "w-wah, what…?"
Instantly, glasses that weren't broken and taped back together appeared before him.
"There! I've always found it weird that you still wear those taped up glasses, kinda weird not gonna lie. Oh, actually, your body's about to wake up, so we'll have to cut this short!" She shouted.
"Huh? Oh, uh, okay. Um, see you later!" Arthur yelled. "See yaaa!" She yelled back, waving her hand a good bit before—
…
"Mlah…" Arthur said, though it was more like a random noise that came out of his mouth after waking up. He stretched out his legs, arms and back, letting out a tiny whimper as he did so.
He climbed out of bed, rubbing his eyes before his phone began to buzz.
'Ah? What good timing…'
Still groggy, he answered the phone. "Yello?" Arthur asked. "You've awoken. Well, firstly, good morning. And secondly, on Friday night this week, you shall accompany us on a mission." Obviously, the only person Arthur particularly despised, the person who seemed like he would stalk Arthur incessantly, Rudy, was the one who called.
"A mission? What we gotta do…?" Arthur asked, clearing his throat and rubbing his eyelids before getting a water bottle beside his bed, drinking it to clear his dry throat.
"Simply put, you'll be 'bait.' You've been marked with the Scent of A Traitor, and we plan on bringing you to an area to lure people who hate you. The only reason you've been kept safe in your dorm is due to the fact that it's public. If you had a house of your own, undeniably you would be dead by now." Rudy was so matter-of-fact that it caused Arthur to click his tongue.
"Dick," Arthur said quickly, sighing and getting out of bed, heading to the bathroom. It was 8 AM, and Arthur's classes started at 10 AM. He began to brush his teeth, keeping his phone to his ear as he did so.
"The heck do they want from me? Just cause I smell bad, they wanna kill me?" Arthur put out, his words being a bit hard to understand from the sound of, well, "teeth-brushing."
"That's the essence of it. Your existence is known to all dragons across the world; it is very slightly irritating. Though, there's also an honor component to it. Simply put, traitors die; especially ones who mildly convenience pretty much everyone," Rudy said. Arthur spat out the toothpaste, cupped the water in his hand and swirled it around, spitting it back out and putting the toothbrush away.
"Agh, fine. Am I gonna have to do any fighting?" He asked.
"Perhaps so. If luck isn't on our side, then perhaps you may have to go up against someone far stronger and more experienced than yourself. You may die," Rudy replied.
"Tsk, so scary," Arthur told him. "Well, whatever. I guess, thanks for being considerate of my schedule. We've got a quiz this Friday, so I'd prefer to study. Ah, a quiz and combat on Friday, what a shitty week I have lined up for me."
He hung up without another word. Arthur decided to go on an early morning walk, so he left his dorm room, unshowered and with a terrible bedhead. Not that it mattered, since hair wouldn't fix his face. The odor part was the only really nasty part, which he "patched up" with deodorant.
Upon leaving and walking around campus, he noticed the snow fall.
'Oh, it's the first snow of winter. It might be nice to take a picture.'
Arthur took out his phone and took a picture of the snow, which had very lightly affected the grass. He checked it and smiled, his heart warmer than his body.
The others sometimes slept in, so if they couldn't see how it looked before it got big—or if it got big—then he could show them a picture. He listened to music, continuing his morning walk to pass the time.
When he thought about his dream, he had mixed feelings. The food was amazing, but he was hungry when he woke up, so it was kind of useless. That said, it was actually really nice, since he could taste the food like it was happening in the real world.
But what caused him pain was the silence. Though, when he actually comprehended it, he felt warm again.
His fear of being a burden, the fear of others seeing who he truly was and not liking him, had acted up, and for a moment, he thought of Lucy as nothing more than dirt. No, that was wrong. Her existence, her "role" in his life was reduced to that of an intruder, an annoying ant that infested even his dreams.
But when she broke that silence, bringing him out of his negative thoughts and playing along with him, even if embarrassing, it made him feel happy. Really, really happy.
It was like it wasn't just his "friends," people similar to him could like him. That even someone who seemed to have a much more interesting life, perhaps someone who could be labeled "popular," even someone like that could enjoy him.
It was a ray of sunshine in a mildly lit forest.
…
Time passed, and he showered. He took no more than 15 minutes, as courtesy for his roommate, and then went to his lecture hall.
He sat next to Sally. Tyler, Emily, and David were all in different classes, but they were both studying biology.
"Hey Sal, I got plans this Friday with some, uh, family stuff, I guess. You're usually the one who thinks up stuff to do, so would Saturday work for you?" Arthur asked her. She thought about it for a bit, before nodding.
"Yeah, Saturday works. You gonna finish season 3 with me tonight?" She asked him, and he nodded his well, looking down at their professor.
…
Days had passed.
For those few days, his life was pretty much normal. He'd hang out with his friends at lunch, watch some shows with them, play video games with them, things of that nature.
And on Friday night, after getting off work, he got a call. He'd already put in Rudy's contact information, labeling him "Stupid Cheater," putting his icon as a black square.
"Whatchu want?" Arthur asked, not wanting to play any games.
"You know what we want. We're on our way, we're taking you to a forest. That way, they'll hunt you down," he said.
"Yeah, okay."
'He always calls me at really good times. Does he have eyes everywhere or what? I might ask him one of these days.'
Arthur left campus and immediately saw a few members of the Graves family. Due to him spending most of his time with Chad, he didn't get to properly meet many. Though, only one person was notable.
As it stood, they had Sun and Moon, Mr and Mrs Graves, Chad, and—
"Who're you?" Arthur asked, putting his hands in his pocket. The snow from Tuesday was a one-off occurrence the whole week, so it wasn't too chilly.
"Hm. My name is Hades. Hades Graves. I am brother to Hares. I did not get to see you during your visit, as I was quite busy at the time and couldn't make it. My apologies," he said. He seemed to be the uncle of Sun, Moon, and Chad. He had a mustache and a goatee, with occasional gray hairs.
'Who's Hares again?'
Arthur swallowed his spit, unsure of which person Hares was. He racked his brain, and his gut feeling told him it was Mrs Graves' real name, so he just went with it.
'Yeah, they didn't age the same at all. Actually, everyone has blue eyes and black hair. Except for Chad, of course, but… that seems kinda unlikely. Plus, my dad wasn't a dragon I'm pretty sure, so it's not like dragons always… they can't be related, that'd be really… really weird. Um…'
"Ah, nice to meet you, sir… and, I'm really sorry to ask, but it kinda just struck me. Um, Mrs Graves—"
"Call me mother, please."
"Ah… 'mother,' and 'father,' you both look really similar. Um, y'know, blue eyes black hair, that stuff. Uh, you wouldn't—" Arthur couldn't finish his sentence, before Sun and Moon collectively let out a small, yet loud "FUCK."
Arthur turned towards them in surprise, as both of them held their heads in shame.
"What? Wha-what's going on?" Arthur stammered, before turning to the couple.
"Actually," Mrs Graves said. "We're siblings. Half siblings, but yes, blood related."
Arthur wanted to puke.
"But fear not! Due to being dragonkin, our DNA isn't like humans. We can get away with it, without suffering defects in our offspring," Mr Graves said, laughing like he wasn't talking about incest.
'Fuck this freaky ass family. Oooooh my gosh, I really did choose to align myself with the axis powers, didn't I? They're "Death Dragons," and they're doing incest stuff, even in the somewhat modern era. This sucks ass!'
Arthur held his head in shame, palming his face. He stumbled over to Chad, looking up at him.
"Dude, your family sucks," Arthur muttered to him. Chad looked down with a smile, nodding his head.
"Huh! I guess that's fair. Hm… actually, I've been considering this for a while," Chad said nonchalantly.
"Huh?"
"I really hate fighting. Not that it doesn't interest me, or cause I'm a pacifist. I do believe in using violence to get whatcha want in life. However, it just doesn't suit me, I know they can't make me do anything, so I've never seen violence as anything but an option that I didn't deem necessary."
"What? Dude, what're you—"
"But I suppose I'll extend my foot just a bit further, to crush the ant. It is nasty, after all."
In the next moment, a squelching noise was heard. Arthur couldn't have even possibly seen what had happened; it seemed like Chad had teleported. He turned, seeing Mr Graves with a gaping hole in his chest, one that could be seen through.
Arthur's eyes widened, as the blood continued to pour out. Mr Graves coughed up blood, his knees coming to an impact on the pavement as his throat forcefully expelled the red liquid. He had a small scream, a gasp, and a gag, before his body tasted the freezing bite of death.
His own father meant nothing. Chad turned around, blood on his face and all, grinning as he extended his bloody hand.
"Damn broski, hahaha!" Chad said, bursting out laughing. Everyone present was stuck in shock and terror, as Chad pointed at his own hand.
"Dude, I've been caught red-handed! Get it? Cause my right hand's covered in blood? Ah, I'm funny; the voices say I am, after all," Chad said, pausing for a brief moment.
"Welp, let's go use my broski as bait to come lure out some losers. Ah, I really hate fighting though, so I might have to just be your ringman. Don't worry tho' bro, I'll step in if I think you're finna die."
And then, Chad's dragon form appeared, devouring the corpse of his father in one fell gulp, before turning to normal and gesturing for everyone to follow him.
Left with no choice but to obey "the strongest," they did, not uttering a single word.
Until—
"Arthur, c'mere real quick. You're the main man of the night, it's only natural you lead the way!" Chad yelled. Arthur rushed forward, nervous and honestly quite afraid of himself being killed next.
"Alrighty, let's FUCKING DO THIS!!! RAHHHH!!!"