After buying breakfast for both himself and Aro, Alex and the upperclassman searched for a place to sit. By now the tables were already starting to get full. The influx of new first-years had really changed the dynamics of the breakfast and dinner rushes. Aro guided them to the spot where they had breakfast the very first morning at the dorm. When he spotted them approaching, Henry waved to get their attention.

  There were still two spots left next to the young Fairy, and both Alex and Aro quickly sat down. Also sitting at the table were Cynthia and two other familiar faces. The two fellow first-years Alex had overheard talking about sending a letter back home were sitting next to Cynthia. He couldn't immediately remember their names, but instantly recognized them by the green hair of the Fairy and the thick glasses on the boy. Both of them were talking to Cynthia as Aro and Alex approached.

  "Morning, Alex, Aro, please tell me you guys didn't get another Haldynian sandwich together?" Henry said as they sat down.

  Alex shook his head. "No, decided to go for Sugar Flakes today." Alex had eaten the cereal a few times now, and it had tasted exactly like the cereal he used to eat back on Earth. It was one of the few things that reminded him of home and had quickly become his standard breakfast.

  "And I'll eat whatever I want," Aro said with a large grin on his face, hiding his plate behind his back for a moment.

  Dread spread across Henry's face. Did he find the sandwiches really that disgusting? They had tasted almost exactly like an avocado and salmon sandwich, a popular meal back on Earth. Maybe Fairies had different taste buds? Alex looked over to see what the green-haired Fairy next to Cynthia was eating. It looked like some kind of pastry with a white glaze on top of it. With the Sugar Flakes Henry was eating and the pastry the other Fairy was eating, Alex guessed Fairies must prefer sweet things.

  "But no, no sandwich for me either today," Aro finished his sentence, placing his plate in front of him on the table. On it was what looked like an almost raw slab of meat. If Alex had to choose between this and the sandwich, the raw meat was definitely the more disgusting of the two.

  "That's not much better, Aro," Henry sighed. It seemed he agreed with Alex.

  That seemed to finally get Cynthia's attention, and she turned around. "Oh, hey Ari," she greeted the lion-boy with a smirk, "and Alex. Perfect that you're here as well, Alex. I want you to meet Ghel and Hyntia." The red-haired girl introduced the first-years sitting next to her, pointing to the boy and the green-haired girl as she said their names.

  Right, those were their names. Both of them came from the same town. That night, Ghel had wanted to go to the fire pit party immediately, but Hyntia had wanted to write a letter home instead. That had prompted Alex to try his hand at writing a letter himself, which so far still hadn't worked. If it weren't for the pile of discarded paper disappearing everything he went out of his room for a somewhat long time, the entire floor of his room would have been filled with crumpled up pieces of paper. He even had to buy a second stack at the supply shop.

  "They're fellow first-years," Cynthia continued. "Just like Aro has been your guide these first few days, I have been assigned theirs."

  Alex glanced at Henry, knowing that while officially Aro was still his guide to the academy, Miss Philaxter, one of the Fairy Elders, had instructed him to be Alex's guide instead. The young Fairy just smiled when he noticed the glance, telling Alex enough. Contradicting Cynthia was not a good idea. It was better for Henry's role to be hidden from the rest of them.

  "Nice to meet you both," Alex said, putting a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

  "You got your schedule last night as well, right?" Cynthia asked Alex. Alex nodded, his mouth still full. "Everyone should have the same class as their first class, but depending on your group, you'll have a different professor. Who did you get?"

  Alex quickly swallowed his food in order to answer, "Uhm, Professor Elderwind, I believe." He knew exactly where to go to get to his class. He had spent plenty of time learning his route last night, but the name of the person teaching him. That he wasn't as sure about.

  "Really?!" Hyntia exclaimed. "So do we. That means we'll be classmates."

  "Why are you so excited about that?" The thick-glassed boy scoffed. "You don't even know them. For all we know, he could be an ass."

  "I promise I'm not." Alex didn't know why the boy was so negative. When he had last overheard them talking, he had seemed excited to be here. Had something happened in those few days?

  "Shut it, runt," Aro dismissed the boy as he shoved a large piece of the meat in his mouth. "This runt is pretty all right." The lion-boy added, nodding his head towards Alex, his mouth still full of meat.

  "Yeah, Aro, talk like that doesn't really help," Henry shook his head, "but he's right. Alex is a decent guy."

  "Wow, what a compliment, Ricky." Alex had to suppress a laugh when he heard Cynthia's nickname for Henry. First Ari for Aro and now Ricky for Henry, it seemed the red-haired girl was fond of nicknames.

  "You've been basically spending every day with him since you met him, and all you call him is a decent guy," Cynthia added to her statement, leaning back in her chair.

  "He is decent," Henry's ears flushed a shade darker. "Decent is good. I like decent."

  "Oh, so you like him, do you, Ricky?" A wide grin spread across Cynthia's face.

  "That's not... Can we just talk about something else?" The young Fairy almost stumbled over his words. Alex raised an eyebrow. What was that all about?

  "Sure, Ricky. Tell them about Professor Elderwind. Both you and Aro had him for a couple of classes, didn't you?"

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  "You did?" Hyntia shifted in her chair, leaning in to get closer.

  "See, tell them. Hyntia here is practically vibrating with excitement for her first class." Cynthia nodded her head towards the young Fairy next to her. Her wild head of hair swayed as she did.

  "I'm not vibrating," Hyntia protested as she continued to shift in her chair.

  "You're vibrating," Ghel muttered next to her.

  Henry took a large sip from his bowl of milk, all the cereal in it already gone. He sighed as he put the bowl back down. "Professor Elderwind's classes are... memorable."

  "I wouldn't call them that," Aro added, wiping some of the blood his breakfast had left on his mouth away with the back of his hand. "Memorable is good. Keeps you awake."

  "You would say that," Henry scoffed. "You once kept awake during one of his classes by repeatedly stabbing yourself in the legs under your desk."

  Aro grinned, "Worked, didn't it?"

  "You did what?!" Alex shook his head, not believing what he had just heard.

  Cynthia waved a hand. "Ignore him. He'll just tell you it builds character, but the reality is Kahrn just love pain."

  "It does, and we don't," Aro started protesting before his eyes shifted a little as he pondered it. "Okay, maybe a little."

  Henry shook his head. "Professor Elderwind is one of the teachers that teaches Pearls, Powers, and Privilege every year. He loves it. Sometimes I feel like he loves it more than his actual subjects. So, don't take how this class goes for how his other classes will." The Fairy stubbornly tried to steer the subject back to something useful. "It's the class where they hand out the temporary Power Pearl."

  "They really just hand you one?" Hyntia asked, shaking her head in disbelief.

  "They do," Henry answered. "They want to get you used to the power they give as soon as possible. It helps in making you understand the privilege they come with."

  "So, do you just get to keep the Pearls?" Ghel finally seemed interested in the conversation and shifted closer to the rest of the group.

  "No, like I said, they are temporary. They come with all sorts of rules, but Professor Elderwind will tell you all about that in his class."

  "In excruciating detail," Aro added, rolling his eyes.

  "What kind of Pearls do they usually give for that class?" Hyntia asked, excited for more information about the class.

  Alex was confused. There were different kind of Pearls? The small amount of literature he had read about them in the library hadn't talked about that. Though admittedly, most of his reading had been about the wider world and things most people in this world already knew about.

  "They're simple Pearls, mostly Sight or Auditory Pearls. Pearls with minor power to help you get used to the feeling," Henry explained.

  "So nothing exciting," Ghel muttered again, sliding back in his chair. The small bit of excitement he had shown earlier was already gone again.

  "Those can still be exciting, Ghel," Hyntia admonished her friend. "They could give you the ability to see all the way back to our village or the ability to understand what animals are saying."

  "Those are not exciting," Ghel shook his head, slinking even further into his chair.

  "No matter what ability they give you, the rush of power running through your body will be exciting. Even if you don't find the ability itself exciting," Cynthia tried to school the first-year she was assigned to as she wrapped her hair in the ornate black bow Alex had seen her wear earlier.

  Alex nodded along, as he understood what Cynthia was talking about. Probably not in the same way it would be for the other first-years, but the Pearl would, hopefully, give him some kind of power and finally put the voice inside his head to rest. Ever since reaching ninety-nine percent, it hadn't spoken up again, but Alex knew it was still there, ready to spring on him at any moment.

  "I can't wait." Hyntia stood up from her chair in a smooth motion. "We should get going. Don't want to be late for our first class."

  "Especially not with Professor Elderwind," Aro added, quickly getting a kick under the table by Henry, which just resulted in the lion-boy grinning at the Fairy. Henry shook his head.

  "See, come on, Ghel," the green-haired Fairy almost pulled her friend out of his chair. The young boy reluctantly got out of his own chair. "You coming as well, Alex?"

  Alex looked at his bowl of cereal. There was still a bit left, and he didn't want to rush his breakfast. By his studying of the map last night, he should still have some time left before the class started.

  "Give me a moment. I'm almost done with breakfast."

  "You two go on ahead," Cynthia instructed her first-years. "Alex has been here a bit longer and already knows the campus pretty well. He'll catch up with you guys in no time."

  Alex nodded in agreement. Once the two were far enough away, Cynthia turned to Alex.

  "Don't mind Ghel. He was just as excited as Hyntia to be here when I first met him, but during his first night he had a run-in with some bad actors."

  "The Drakes?" Aro asked, raising an eyebrow. Cynthia nodded to confirm his question. The lion-boy violently shook his head. "When will they learn it's not okay to pick on the new kids?"

  "Didn't you do the same when I first met you?" Alex smirked.

  "Only slightly, runt," Aro responded, a wicked smile on his face. "And not in the way the Drakes do it. My pokes are in good faith; theirs are just straight-up bullying."

  "Why doesn't anyone speak up about them?" Alex asked before raising his bowl to his lips to drink some of the milk still left in it.

  "Their sister, everyone's afraid they'll run to her," Henry explained.

  "You mean Lailya?" Alex asked, wondering if they were talking about the large Drake he had met earlier. She had said her sisters were at the Hearth dorm, and there were barely any other Drakes here.

  "Uh-uh, Lailya Droor, the most promising Combat disciple currently at the academy," Henry continued to explain, knowing that Alex barely knew anything about this world.

  "Nobody wants to get on her bad side, and snitching on her sisters is sure to do so," Aro leaned back in his chair, "at least that's what most people think."

  "She's known to be protective of her sisters," Cynthia tried to defend the common sentiment.

  "Yeah, but she's also known to be righteous. I doubt she'd like it if she knew her sister were the plague of the Hearth dorm." Aro shook his head.

  "So why don't you tell her?" Alex asked, confused.

  "She doesn't really talk to me," the lion-boy scratched the back of his head. It was the first time Alex had seen him embarrassed.

  "As a first-year, he was even more arrogant than he is now, and he challenged her to a duel," Henry laughed.

  "Our Ari made a fool of himself," Cynthia joined in the laughter. "He didn't stand a chance against her. After only a minute, he was lying on the floor."

  Alex had to stifle a laugh of his own. "Still, that doesn't sound like a reason not to talk to you."

  "It doesn't, does it?" Aro defended himself.

  "And it would, if you hadn't claimed to everyone she must have cheated to defeat the great Aro of the Dawnpride, strongest son of Theo of the Dawnpride, leader of the Kahrn of The Dawn Coast," Cynthia continued laughing, mockingly stating the title.

  "Yeah... well...," Aro stumbled over his words, "I was still young, okay. And my father told me to take pride in our Pride."

  "Hey, no need to explain, Aro," Henry slowly stopped laughing. "We still love you all the same."

  "We really do, Ari," Cynthia slowly stopped as well. "And I still think you did better than any of us would have."

  "Thank you, still; it was a mistake. And I know that now. That is one bridge I definitely burned," the lion-boy admitted.

  "Either way, Alex, the reason I told them to go ahead was so I could ask if you could keep an eye on Ghel," Cynthia turned her attention back to Alex. "He's a good kid. I want to see the excitement I saw in his eyes that first day return."

  Alex nodded. He, too, would love to meet the Ghel he had overheard that first dinner they were at the academy. "I will, Cynthia."

  "Thank you, Alex. Now, you should probably hurry to class. You really don't want to be late to Elderwind's class."

  Alex nodded and stood up from his chair. Both terrified and excited, he headed towards his first class. Hoping to finally get rid of that voice in his head.