I screamed. What else was I supposed to do? After the day I'd had and the way people had treated me lately, the last thing I needed was a dragon on my bed!

I hadn't noticed that it was sleeping, and so at my scream the dragon lifted its head from the tight coil it had wound itself in around my bed. 

"Who are you?" it asked in a deep and ancient voice, and I jumped. Literally.

"I heard your scream. Did you get a dragon?" I heard Nolan's voice behind me, and I instantly turned around with stormy eyes.

"What do you mean did I get a dragon?" I seethed. "You mean you knew about this?"

"Yep," Nolan looked really proud of himself, "so did the four fairies out there. I thought they would say something."

"Why would we say something?" Sanshe came up behind Nolan. "When you came we didn't tell you. That scream was precious. I believe Slepa had it in her dreams collection before she left."

"Where did Aunt Slepa go anyways?" Nolan asked, turning away from my total humiliation of a reaction to face Sanshe. 

I took that time to take a deep breath and walk towards the majestic creature. The dragon's scales shone in the soft daylight streaming through my windows on the far wall. The scales were midnight black with purple specks doting its hide.

"I can see you admiring me," the dragon's ice blue eyes searched mine as it talked, "I am Fang, guardian of the lost gold. And I am male."

I almost laughed at that last part, as if Fang could understand my thoughts about wondering what gender to assign him, if any at all.

"We can communicate telepathically," Fang rolled his eyes, "those other humans can't hear us."

"Oh wonderful. Now I'm going crazy!" I mind-yelled at the dragon, but Fang only looked amused.

Sanshe stopped talking behind me and gasped, taking in my concentrated expression and Fang's amused demeanor.

"You've already formed a bond?" she whispered, and whatever spell had fallen over me lifted.

"What bond? You mean talking to that dragon? It was a honest accident!" I exclaimed, trying to find a reasonable explanation for sticking out like a sore thumb. I had thought I would be considered normal here, welcomed as an equal. Instead, I had to go and talk to a stinking dragon and reveal my inner overachiever. Again.

"No, no, darling!" Sanshe exclaimed. "This is marvelous! This means you can start your training immediately. Also the dragon will be sleeping around your bed like that every night, I forgot to tell you when I came in. But he should leave if you ask."

"Well that's nice," I muttered, fed up with all of the complications that came with my newfound supposed 'freedom'.

"It is! Nolan's dragon wouldn't even acknowledge him for three weeks! It is utterly amazing that you can start your apprenticeship here so soon," Sanshe smiled at me, "and the first lesson is the best."

"It is!" Nolan boasted with a smug smile. "I didn't get these good looks by myself. But if I did, I wouldn't know..."

Nolan trailed off, and I gave him a knowing smile. I would be nice to him now, if only to feel out what kind of person he was. After that, I could be sassy or sweet depending on whether or not he deserved one or the other. This system was completely personal, and if I told someone about it, completely offensive, but it worked.

It worked for the sixteen years I'd spent alone in Florieca, with nothing but my wits and gardening books for company.

I shook myself, reminding myself that I was in a better place and that now I had the chance to do something so great I would be remembered.

I stole another quick glance at Fang to find that he was already asleep again. Honestly, where was the dragon that I used to dream of riding in my imagination with the big wings, fire breath, and at least three houses in length. Unless Fang was hiding more of himself then I thought, he was definitely small.

  "Well then, we'll leave you alone to look around. The bathroom is right through that door and the closet is there. All of your needs have been met. Should you find anything you are missing, just ask the atmosphere around you and the need shall be met. If you need any of my sisters or I, you need only go to the common room and knock on one of the walls around each of our displays. We'll help you when we here the knock. I think that's it so goodnight, expect to be woken up rather early."

Sanshe and Nolan exited my room, closed my door, and walked noisily down the corridor. When I was sure they were gone, I began my search of the room. 

In the main area, where my king sized bed floated above its pedestal, vines and numerous unnamed plants flourished in the generous amount of sunlight the wide windows were providing. Fang was fast asleep around my bed's pedestal, and I hoped I could climb over him to go to bed tonight. I had a small vanity and wardrobe, but that was it besides the fluffy rug and bookshelf. 

I went through the hard oak door to the bathroom, gasping at the polished tile floors and marble bathtub. The shower was set up as a waterfall and there were plenty more plants draped across the top and sides of the big mirror. The drawers matched the door, dark and oak, and the rest of the bathroom gave off the open air conservatory feeling.

But the closet surprised me the most. At one end of the room there was yet another window with gauzy curtains filtering the light. More plants, but this time flowers, covered the plain white room and made it all that much more homey. I walked through the room, looking behind both the curtains and the flowers, but didn't find anything that looked like it kept clothes. I was met with my answer when I brushed aside a bunch of particularly bright poppies to find a small note.

Your wish is my magical command.

This had to be a joke. But Sanshe had said something about asking the air around you for what you needed. Right now, I needed a nice night gown, slippers, and a dressing gown. Voicing these thoughts aloud, I waited with baited breath for the closet to respond.

When I was about to walk back out of the closet, I was stopped by a sleek metal rack rocketing out of a hidden slot in the door. It held all sorts of matching dressing gowns, night gowns, and slippers. I chose the matching yellow night things and asked for a hamper to put my dusty boot camp uniform in. The closet obeyed.

I strode out of the room once again, marveling at how a place could become so dark in so little time. But I didn't know if I was in a new time zone or not, so I blamed it on my exhaustion.

It took almost half an hour, but I was victorious in climbing over Fang without waking him up or being burned to a crisp.

The mattress and blankets moved and made it so I was comfortable by magic. I rested my head on the pillow, and the next thing I knew, I was caught in a dream.

~o0o~

"Wake up, kid. There's training to be done today!" Fang's slippery voice went in one ear and out the other; but it did its job. I was awake within seconds.

"Oh, come on, Fang! Just, like, two more minutes!" I moaned, plopping back down onto my pillow and turning away from my pesky dragon.

"Come on! I want to see what happens to you!" Fang complained, rapping his tail around my waist and pulling me off of the bed.

"Ugh," I groaned when he set me on the cold floor. 

I wiped the sleep out of my eyes and sat up, feeling a dizzy spell come on.

"Why are you swaying? Is that a thing people do? Ooohh, could I try?" Fang was rapid firing questions and my tired brain couldn't keep up.

Standing up, I gave Fang a gesture that hopefully said, make yourself useful and open the window. I hoped he got the message when I went into my closet, picked a simple day dress that was cream colored, and went right into the bathroom for a shower.

The waterfall of hot water sprayed my hair and body, making me feel as if I was a caterpillar in a cocoon. I would come out in a week better than when I got in.

I dried off and slipped into the dress, making myself presentable and not at all like my dragon had to drag me out of bed.

I walked out of my room, and to my dismay, Fang followed. We went through the illusion wall and into the common room.

"It's about time! We've been waiting for you for ages," Heartea sighed as Fang and I walked into the room. She was at her desk, and by the looks of it, writing on an old piece of parchment paper that was long and looked like a list.

"What's that?"

Heartea followed my gaze to the parchment in front of her, "A list of all of the successful matches I've made during my time as this world's cupid." 

"Heart's the only one that does that," Wintersea assured me, affectionately calling her sister by a nickname.

"Well, I see we're all here, time for Aria's first day of training!" Flora sung when she emerged from the middle of the floor in her small, indoor garden.

"Let's go to the pond today!" Nolan requested, coming into the room from Sanshe's portion of the wall. The fairy followed soon after, and our entire party of six was assembled and ready for the day of training.

Or I thought I was ready.

~o0o~

The pond was a crystal clear blue, like a sky on the days when the sun shone brightly and there wasn't a cloud in sight. There were white benches in perfect condition spread around the water's edge, and fish jumped up and back into the water continuously. The yellow-orange leaves made it look like the surrounding trees were on fire with life and was a stark contrast to the pond. All in all, I didn't want to leave.

"Are you ever going to stop staring?" Fang's voice filled my head as the booming sound of his heavy footsteps echoed, ruining the peace that had surrounded me since my eyes had fully taken in the very beauty that was flourishing around me.

"Of course," I answered curtly, but not before taking another long look around and committing the place to memory. I mourned the face that I would never be able to find my own way here; I hadn't been paying attention to my surroundings while we were walking here.

"Alright, Aria, stand by the edge of the pond," Flora instructed with a smile, and I walked to the edge of the pond and stared at the surface.

"Now I want you to think about who you are; what is most like the real you. Not the filtered, artificial portion of yourself that you show everyone around you. Creating this thing, and taking care of it, using it, and just being near it will increase your magical abilities two fold and help your confidence. Take your time; my sisters and I will be doing the same exercise, as well as Nolan."

I took her long winded instructions and broke them down into: 
Step One: Stare at myself for a long time
Step Two: Figure out what thing matches my personality, and conjure it.
Step Three: Celebrate my first magical accomplishment!

It seemed pretty easy in my head, but that was before I tried concentrating. There wasn't very much on my surface, but I couldn't quite figure out exactly what wasn't true about the persona I showed everyone back home and around here. I suppose that I'm brave, possibly kind. But I certainly wasn't the arrogant person I was to Nolan, or the understanding person I was to Flora. That was what I was on the outside.

And then the word came to me, and it slide easily off of my lips, "Stick."

A frail, wooden thing sprung into existence in front of me, almost splashing into the water.

"You conjured a stick? Of everything, you picked a stick! That's the best thing ever!" Nolan laughed himself to tears at the sight of my plain, and rather ordinary, stick compared to his diamond dog tag.

"What Aria conjures should be of no significance to you, it's meaning is only clear to her. Well done on your first day, Aria. We should be heading back soon. For right now, why don't you two go and get some firewood for a bonfire tonight. How does that sound?"

"Simply wonderful," I sighed, picking up my stick and handing it to Flora. She waved me off and I moved to follow Nolan.

Into the woods.

At dusk.

~o0o~

Word Count: 2242

Heyyy! I'm still living guys! And guess what? We find out soon who made it to the next round! Anywho, THOUGHTS? How's Fang's sense of humor? Aria's stick? Are there any theories about the stick? Let me know! Thank you all for all of the wonderful support!
<3
~happyperson081