Will of a Prince

Jacob continued staring at the large purple eyes outside of the medical ward. He tried making noises to shoo the dragon away for the time being, but it seemed like the more he tried pushing it away, the more it didn’t want to leave.

"Shoo! Shoo for now! Come back later! Bad time!"

The dragon’s large eyes blinked a few times before it lifted its snout to the window and did two large sniffs. It yawned its large mouth and began flapping its large wings. Strangely, the wings made no sounds as they carried the dragon’s body. It finally had seemed to get the hint that Jacob was trying to tell it.

"Finally..."

Suddenly, Jacob heard loud clacking, as if Orvo was coming back on his crutches. Jacob tried whispering out to him.

"Orvo, Maria is asleep so try to keep the clacking to-"

Jacob immediately stopped talking once he turned his head. The same dragon that was just outside was now strutting towards Jacob with a curious look on its face. Jacob turned as white as snow and began to panic.

"W-What the hell?! How did you even fit in here?! Weren’t you much larger a second ago or did the windows make you seem larger?!"

The baby dragon could arguably not be called a baby anymore. It was about the size of a large dog; its white scales had completely healed since Jacob had seen it last time and its purple eyes glowed brightly as it stared at the two of them laying down together.

"Bad dragon! Go away!"

It didn’t listen to Jacob’s pleas. In fact, it seemed to follow quite the opposite. It flapped its small wings and landed right next to Jacob and Maria on their bed.

"Bad Sheeby! Bad!"

Strangely, the dragon responded to this name perfectly. It looked at Jacob slightly guilty but began licking his face anyway.

"S-Stop Sheeby! Maria asleep!"

Sheeby sniffed Maria’s unconscious body for a few short moments. Suddenly, it seemed to gain a large burst of excitement. It kept jumping up and down around the bed while repeatedly licking and sniffing Maria while she slept.

’I’m doomed!’

Just then, Maria finally rolled off of Jacob and wrapped her arms around Sheeby, still unconscious. The dragon kept licking Maria’s face repeatedly as she held it tight. Maria smiled and giggled slightly.

"Jacob. That’s... what are you doing? Just let me sleep, silly!"

By the grace of Zalo himself, Jacob had been blessed with an opportunity. He could run away and get some fresh air for the first time in days. He wasn’t about to let this pass.

He quickly slid off his bed and stabilized himself on his legs. Excitement brewed in his gut as he threw one foot in front of the other. He didn’t know how long this distraction would last, but he knew it wasn’t going to be long, especially since Sheeby wouldn’t stop licking Maria’s face. Using all the strength he had, he made a small run for it. Right as he closed the doors, he knew his time had already been cut.

"Jacob, that’s enough. Can I just get some-..."

A loud scream sounded behind his now closed door.

’Shit, shit, shit!’

Jacob sprinted down the hall, anxiously looking for an exit. The palace was just as convoluted as he remembered; however, his near-flawless memory came to the rescue. He found a staircase that would lead towards the exit. Instead of running down it, he rolled all the way to the bottom to save as much time as could. Freedom was within his grasp.

"I’m free! I’m finally fre-"

Just then, a claw grabbed the back of his shirt and lifted him up once again.

"OW! You need to cut your nails!"

He turned around to see that it wasn’t Maria who grabbed him, but Sheeby.

"You... You traitor!!"

Maria stood at the top of the staircase with her arms crossed as Sheeby dragged Jacob toward her. Once she let go of Jacob’s shirt, it flew over to Maria and landed on her shoulder comfortably. Jacob laid defeated on the ground looking up at the two of them.

"Using dragons is against the rules!"

Maria stormed up to him and got in his face.

"You survived by the skin of your teeth, Jacob Vice. If you ever lose our child again, you will be sorry! Do I make myself clear?!"

It may have been his eyes playing tricks on him, but he could have sworn Sheeby stuck its tongue out at Jacob, as if to mock him as payback for leaving it behind. Another thing that shook him was Maria using his full name. Never once had she ever been so mad at him to do such a thing. That’s how he knew whatever punishment was coming his way, he deserved.

"Y-Yes ma’am."

"Good."

Maria walked up to him and threw him over her other shoulder.

"Now let’s go back to sleep, okay?"

"But what about Sheeby! He’s finally back with us! Shouldn’t we give him our attention?!"

"Jacob, Sheeby is a SHE. And wait, how the hell did you know I was going to name it Sheeby?"

Jacob covered his mouth.

"Uh... you may or may not talk in your sleep sometimes."

Jacob couldn’t see, but he could tell Maria was blushing in embarrassment.

"You’re lucky I don’t throw you down the stairs."

"What did I do?! I was just being honest!"

"You’re being too honest!"

Maria threw him back on his bed and crossed her arms again.

"Well, now you have two people watching you! So, good luck trying to get past both of us!"

As if to confirm this, Sheeby nodded its head.

In the span of three hours, both Sheeby and Maria were sleeping and drooling on top of each other in the bed closest to Jacob’s. Instead of putting up a fight, Jacob finally let himself rest in fear of what would happen if he made one last escape attempt.

Lidia was sitting with Luna in a dark room with only candles to illuminate themselves. Luna was holding a piece of paper in her hand that was slightly damaged.

"Luna... you do realize what you’re asking of me, right?"

"All I’m asking is to think about it."

"He’s one of our own. I can’t possibly do anything. What if we’re wrong?"

"I know we aren’t wrong. I just know it. It was even more confirmed for me after your giant light blast cleaned our memories. That man, whoever he is, isn’t Lee."

Lidia rubbed her forehead.

"I know what you’re trying to say, I even agree with you with how his behavior has drastically changed, but I had Maria scope it out personally. That new eye that she’s received works similar to how Slimo’s glasses would. When she read the words appearing next to him, she told me it still said that was Lee."

Luna hesitated.

"But what if he knows about those kinds of powers and uses that to his advantage? I’m telling you Lidia, we are playing right into his hands and there’s nothing we can do to prove it!"

"What could such a small boy possibly be planning to do to our group?"

"If that’s not really Lee, then where did the real one go? You think he up and left like Jacob and Maria did?! I don’t think so. He was killed, Lidia."

"Luna, I think you need to calm down and take a step back."

"I promise you Lidia. I’ve gone on multiple scouting expeditions with him, and he is not remotely the same person we travelled with for days on end."

"Maybe he is just having a rough time adjusting to this new environment with all these new people?"

Luna slammed her fist down on the desk.

"He. Is not. REAL!"

A small silence followed Luna’s outburst. She sighed deeply and covered her face. Instead of being angry, Lidia reached out and put an arm around Luna’s shoulder.

"Listen, I want to believe you, I truly do, but I can’t possibly hurt someone in our group without some solid proof. If you can give me that, I will be more than happy to take care of it myself. Slimo would too. We are both here for you."

Luna shook her head.

"What if it’s too late by then?"

Lidia looked away from her.

"We’ll have to deal with that if it comes to it."

Suddenly, a small knock rang on the door of their room. Both Lidia and Luna were immediately put on edge. Lidia was the first to speak up.

"Who is it?"

However, there was nothing but silence. Lidia stood up and carefully walked to the door. She swung it open wide, preparing for anything that may be on the other side waiting for her. There was nothing there except a note on the ground. Lidia bent over and picked it up. Luna looked over her shoulder fearfully.

"What is it?"

"It’s a note of some kind."

"What does it say?"

Lidia was silent for a few moments and turned around to stare at Luna curiously.

"I can’t even read what language this is. It’s all gibberish, but... it’s extremely short. Maybe only a few words are written on here."