"Dearest Sister, must you insist on being different?" Princess Solessa gestured for her entourage to halt before pivoting towards the speaker, giving them a graceful curtsy and greeting.

"Greetings, Prince Siggun, it is a pleasure to encounter you this morning. Is there something I could help you with?" Princess Solessa kept her brilliant smile and golden appearance steady, but her retinue all began to shrink away from the interaction.

Prince Siggun stood near a small side table, his long auburn hair pulled up and swept back, his heavyset physique in contrast to the small porcelain cup balanced between his fingers. Around him several subordinates fluttered about, all wearing livery matching his own streak of gold across a deep crimson. His golden eyes matched the Princess’s as they met, a clear resemblance showing.

"Why do you need six bonded? You couldn't have been happy with five like your brother?" The lack of return greeting made the armored knights behind the Princess straighten in their bronze and brass armor, clanging in the small enclosed space.

When Princess Solessa heard the contempt coloring her half-brother's words she shook her head and gestured for her retinue to resume. A heavy oppressive silence filled the chamber as neither Royal gave a dismissal, nor said a proper goodbye. When the last of the Princess' entourage had filed out and were some distance down the hallway, the sound of shattering porcelain and cracking wood could be heard from the library.

"Vanna, please continue with the progress update. Did I hear you say it was a golden tree?"

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Talking with Instructor Rachel had made 6 feel better, even helping them to temporarily forget how badly every part of their body ached. However, the long walk to the cafeteria quickly summoned the fatigue and exhaustion back to the front of 6’s mind. Stiff limbs caused 6 to move awkwardly, in sharp contrast to a laughing 4 and an excitedly prancing 2.

With knees and legs that were rigid and hard to bend, 6 was forced to walk with their hips. They first lifted a whole leg up, then swung it out and then down before working up the other leg. While a concerned, but still giggling, 4 watched 6 struggle to walk, the energetic 2 asked 6 for the hundredth time if they could spar next time, waving her hands around in elaborate patterns while making swoosh sounds with her mouth to imitate her weapons cutting through the air.

The trio carried on like this for the entire journey to the small cafeteria. Inside behind the counter was a rosy-cheeked Olena, waving a spatula at the very dirty and very hungry students. 6 took a moment to brush off their clothing lightly before taking their spot in line at the back. When it was 6’s turn and they pushed their tray before Olena she greeted them with a warm genuine smile that dimpled her cheeks and kind words.

"Good evening, dearie, I hope you are hungry after classes, it looks like ye had quite the workout. I bet ye’ll just love what I’ve cooked up for ye."

6’s return smile was a little forced. Olena’s good cheer and the smell of warm food melting away a little of their fatigue. Rather than complain or grumble, they raised their hands to show Olena the wraps and bandages covering their hands.

An internal struggle started inside of 6. They wanted to blurt everything that had happened today out at once but hesitated. Olena had been the nicest person to them so far and the concerned look in her large brown eyes as she peered down at 6’s wounded hands made the decision. Instead of rambling about their problems, they decided to ask about Olena’s day.

"Good evening Ma'am Olena, I'm starving! Where did you go today? I had magic class, combat class, dungeoneering class, and a knowledge class! Today was BUSY! Did you see my wraps? I did a really cool spear move, it was almost a skill! Oh and there was a door, and moss, anddd there was a HUGE snake!"

6 felt their cheeks flush as regardless of their intentions, everything just seemed to spill out. Olena just listened calmly and eyed their hands as she placed a little bit of everything available on the tray, her steady warm demeanor not wavering at the torrent of jumbled information.

"Wow, it sounds like someone has had quite the day. Those wounds might give ye a scar. Ladies love a good battle scar, shows a man had some character to 'em,” Olena leaned down as she spoke, giving 6 a wink as she mentioned the ladies. “Don't worry about me, dearie. I just had some errands. Would you like to know a secret about tonight's menu?" A conspiratorial grin replaced her look of concern as she brought up the menu.

6's attention wavered between Olena and the warm food waiting on their tray, its enticing savory aroma reminding their stomach of just how hungry they were.

“Can I please know the secret, Miss Olena? Please?” Curiosity won out this time and 6 gave Olena their best charming smile, a wide toothy grin right as their stomach made its protest to their decision audible to the entire dining room.

“Everything on ye plate, IS delicious … but it’s even better when you mix everything together.” When 6’s stomach interrupted the important secret of how to make this better Olena just let out a soft hearty chuckle. Her thick fingers pointed towards the dining table as she shot a meaningful glance down at 6’s now over-full tray.

“Hurry up and eat while it’s warm, dearie. Ye can tell me about yer adventures another time.” With Olena’s urging, 6 took off from the counter, carrying their precious and delicious cargo to the dinner table, so it could reach its ultimate destination, their stomach.

Once seated at the table, 6 resisted the urge to devour everything instantly. Instead, they remembered their previous mistake and darted away from the table. They returned after securing a cup, an empty bowl, and a pitcher of deep purple juice.

Back at the table, 6 shoveled a large amount of elbow pasta with a cheesy creamy sauce into the bowl. Then taking a small butter knife, 6 sliced the sausages into small chunks, repeating this with the tiny bits of broccoli. Shoveling the mixture into the bowl, 6 began to break up a flaky warm biscuit into bits and sprinkle it on top of the bowl. Stirring everything together resulted in an unsightly medley, but when 6 brought a spoonful to their mouth and tasted the comforting rich flavors they decided Olena had understated how amazing this particular secret was.

Quickly 6 piled everything into the bowl of cheesy pasta and mixed it all up. They searched for a moment, settling on their first victim and offering their bowl to 5, who sat beside them at the table.

“TRY THIS!”

What 6 had intended to be a whisper came out as a loud shout. They had tried to get 5 to hear them from across the table but also wanted to be quiet to not disturb the others. Instead, the short blast of words was enough to stun the entire table for a moment.

As the target of 6’s outburst, 5 looked shaken. With deep circles beneath his golden eyes and a flat tired expression, it seemed as if he had just been torn from a dream. 5 looked around the table while slowly blinking bits of sand from his heavy eyes.

Eventually 5 acknowledged 6’s shout by extending a fork down to his own tray. He managed to pierce a bit of everything in one motion, before bringing it to his mouth and chewing with a bored expression plastered across his face.

Vibrating in their seat, 6 resisted the urge to ask 5 how it was. Instead, 6 tried to play it cool as if they didn’t care. They set their bowl back down on the tray and crossed their arms. Mirroring 1, they even tilted their head back and looked at 5 from an angle as they spoke.

“We-ll?”

The coolness factor of 6 was incredibly diminished by the crack of their voice as they prodded 5 for an answer with a single word. There were no words returned from 5. He stood up, glanced at his own tray and then went over to Olena. A quiet conversation between the duo ensued, all while 6 was hugging themself and squirming in their chair.

When 5 returned with an empty bowl and several warm biscuits, 6 watched with wide happy eyes as 5 sat back down. He replicated 6’s cuts, turning everything into small chunks and then pouring everything into the bowl and mixing it. 5 lifted the bowl towards 6 and nodded as he finally answered 6’s question.

“It’s delicious, my friend, thank you.”

5 brought his bowl to his mouth and together with his spoon began to shovel the messy-looking, but delicious, mixture into his mouth. Thinking of 2, 6 raised both hands and gave 5 a double thumbs-up.

“Now that’s how you EAT!” The loud proclamation came from 2, now that 5 was enjoying his newly combined meal everyone was looking at 6 and 5 and their own bowls. 6 watched as 2 eyed the thumbs-up and mixed bowl in front of them before running off to get one of her own.

Eventually, everyone joined in.

The final person to convert was 1. He sat back down with an empty bowl and sliced the sausage slowly into thin little slivers before laying them out across the pasta, and then cut the broccoli into little sections that looked like mini broccoli/florets. He arranged the broccoli in a ring around the sausage and then crumbled the biscuit on top to create almost a crown or crust on the pasta before taking his first bite. His bowl now looked like the face of a clock painted with an array of vibrant yellows, greens, and pinks, while everyone else’s bowl was a mess of delicious mush.

“I don’t think it’ll taste as good like that.” Frowning, 6 watched 1 very slowly chew their first bite of the dinner medley, and with a slow deliberate motion, 1 dabbed at his lips with a cloth napkin before responding.

“Presentation of food is one of the most crucial aspects of dining. It separates the civilized and the savage.”

The groan that escaped 6’s mouth at 1’s response was automatic when he started to preen and crow on about the presentation before they asked,

“Did you at least like the food?”

When 1 didn’t answer immediately, 6 shook their head feeling frustrated. They collected their tray and dishes and stepped away from the table, moving over to place them in the tub of soapy water and giving a wave to Olena, inclining their head as a sign of respect.

“Thank you for the delicious dinner, Miss Olena.”

“It’s just Olena! But yer welcome dearie, I’m glad ye enjoyed it. It looked like ye had fun running around mixing everything up.” Olena’s kind smile and her warm food made the perfect end to the longest day of 6’s life so far.

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Alea had been briefed by that insufferable “Dean” and had mentally plotted a path that would take 6 to the Veiled Amphitheatre after dinner. She had watched that peculiar Weapon’s antics today in Combat Training and Dungeoneering. It’s behavior felt odd, it was different somehow. The strange glances at others, the report Rachel had given only mentioned moss and a door, normally some kind of omen would have presented itself during the Forest’s Call. Moss and an old wooden door had to be the most boring and plain record of one’s soul she had ever heard of.

Perhaps this project didn’t have the same combat potential as the others, but it was still a shame to lose such a valuable resource to that obese greedy group of mercantile-minded fellows. When Weapon 6 and the others left the table no mention of the invitation was brought up. Alea thought they would wait until she was alone and away from the group to ask and just resigned herself to the poor weapon being corrupted by that polluted beast of a man.

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Walking back to their room was a sobering experience for 6. Alea led the group as always, showing each student to their private room, then leading the group to the next room and the next, until finally 6 was the only person left, besides Alea.

She took them back to the large empty room with six beds inside, and while looking out at all the space 6 felt suddenly very alone. A realization that everyone else had attuned and attained a unique look, and some awesome new features, while they were still stuck here. With a full group, the room had seemed cozy, just the perfect size for 6, but perhaps too confining with someone like 2 running around. The soft blue lights emanating from the sconces set in the walls now gave it a barren desolate feeling rather than a spacious one.

6 turned around to look at Alea, unsure of what to say or even how they felt at this moment. Their lips scrunched together and their eyes looked between the empty room and Alea, unsure of what they were trying to convey. Ultimately 6 just bowed their head to Alea and murmured thanks.

“Good night, Miss Alea, thank you for leading us around everywhere today.”

Alea did not respond to 6’s goodbye, her face remained a neutral mask lacking any expression. Her tan fingers tugged and picked at the pockets of her large white coat nervously. When waiting for a good night or any kind of response dragged into becoming awkward, 6 began to back into the empty bedroom.

“Wait just a moment, Trainee 6.” Turning back, 6 found Alea withdrawing a thin worn book from her coat. “You asked me about monsters previously. It’s not much, but this book is the best I could do.”

Alea held out the book to 6, on the cover a vermillion bird spreading its wings was illustrated, just like 6 had seen on their first day painted on the ceiling.

“Thank you, Miss Alea. Really, thank you!”

While 6 had forgotten about the request, they were happily grinning. Realizing they now had a way to do Instructor Dreech’s assignment. Alea just inclined her head at 6’s thanks and turned to leave.

“Have a nice night, Trainee 6. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Finding the perfect position to read in was proving to be difficult. A nice comfortable spot, with just enough light, and preferably a pillow was all a sore fatigued 6 wanted after a quick wash. Who knew it would be so hard? First, 6 tried lying on their back holding the book above them. Predictably this led to having their sore arms complain and with still bandaged hands that couldn’t grip, dropping the book directly onto their face. Reading with the book propped up against the pillow worked for a time until the smooth leather of the cover kept sliding down their pillow.

When at last 6 found the perfect place; head propped up by the pillow lying out on their side with the thin tome resting against the wall, the lights had just begun to dim. Sighing, 6 looked around their room, emptied out by the dull pallor of the soft blue lighting. 6 stared at 5's neat empty bed, 2's messy bed and then 4's wondering what all of them were doing right now. Tracing their fingers over the raised title of the book, 6 thought about the small portions of what they had managed to read while getting comfortable.

The Quintessential Guide to the Royal Palace's Bestial Decor.

The title wasn’t exactly encouraging, and 6 thought it would be more about decorations and artwork than monsters. Ironically it was about decorations aaaand monsters, with the very first painting listed being an almost exact copy of the monster’s in the mural 6 had seen on their first day.

The dim light, however, was not enough to read the small font scribbled beneath the picture. Moving one of the empty beds beneath a sconce and then stacking several mattresses allowed them to leap up and pluck the round smooth stone from the its home. Without the cloudy glass barrier of the sconce, the light was clearer and as 6 turned the stone and brought it towards the page they were trying to read, the pastel blue glow became brighter.

With their curiosity growing they twirled the orb down and the light decreased down to almost nothing, but when they rotated the orb back up in their palm, the light grew brighter. A happy smile spread across 6's face at this discovery, placing the orb in the corner between the bed and the wall. 6 then tried to get comfortable and continued to read.

Stray Blues are depicted throughout palace murals, they symbolize justice and the fresh water of life. Often acting as guardians of lakes, they will live in symbiosis with villages and towns creating a rather good public sentiment about them. It's said having a Stray Blue nearby means you'll never have a drought or a ruined crop. The massive wings and tail enable them to fly, but they spend most of their time gliding through water rather than the skies. Their sapphire scales enable them to glide through the water gracefully. Their sharp teeth and claws are ideal for hunting other more fiendish water creatures. In summary, a Stray Blue is one of the few monsters depicted in the palace murals defending Ramalur alongside the Royal bloodline in the era of Solomon’s rise.

When the book began to describe specific paintings and what each scene meant, 6 closed the pages for a moment. A single finger inserted between the pages kept their place as their pale empty eyes settled onto the blank wall. They considered the Stray Blue. It looked like a slender dragon with four legs and huge wings. What kind of powers would a Stray Blue core give though? Powers having to do with water? Maybe being able to swim better.

6 wondered how deeply a core could change someone. Would it give them permanent scaly blue wings? Would they be human size or dragon size? A yawn escaped 6’s mouth as they opened the book again. They’d need to find out what powers you could get from a Stray Blue before deciding.

Flipping through the thin book, 6 found the rest of the writing mentioning Stray Blues, with paragraphs dedicated more to the colors and pigments the artists used and fancy techniques and names 6 couldn’t recognize. Flicking pages until they found another monster with wings, 6 gulped at the intimidating face full of pointed teeth that stared back at them. A glint of recognition passed over 6; this was a monster they recognized. The body at least, which ended with a chitinous tail curved into a point, dripping a venomous green liquid. The main body was covered in straw-colored fur, with its back sporting massive scaly green wings, its face a strange mixture of a feline and human, surrounded by an uncontrollable mane of fur. The passage beneath made 6’s stomach turn, and their warm full belly felt a little queasy.

The Manticore is a truly vile creature, but its particular historic significance grants it a place in the Palace’s imagery. Usually only found in the oldest of structures, the Manticore is typically depicted facing off against King Solomon, Queen Valherie, or the First Prince Sigmund. Early legends have His Majesty fighting a pride of Manticores even before the coronation and the invasion of Lastennia. The modern Manticore can be found flying among the clouds, dive bombing its prey, and crunching through armor with its ferocious paws. Some of its more savage portraits have it devouring villagers with its sharp teeth, only to have the King ride in as a hero, saving the village from complete destruction. While lacking any flashy magical abilities, its terrifying strength, potent venom, and the cruelty of its tactics are all well displayed in a series of paintings by Vyn Damio in the hall of Remembrance.

Frowning, 6 stopped reading as the book began to discuss the production of certain pigments and the style choices of one artist versus another concerning manticores. This monster sounded horrible, but maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing?

The Stray Blue sounded noble and like it protected villages. Hunting a Blue for its core would mean taking it away from the people who relied on its protection to survive. Maybe tracking down an evil manticore and saving a village of people wouldn’t be so bad …

Their head started to slide down at this point, making contact with a very soft pillow. Heavy eyelids began to obscure 6’s vision. The blue light dimmed as the bestial decor guide fell from 6’s hand was the final straw. Dreams of fighting Manticores and flying on the back of a blue dragon began to fill 6’s mind, pushing away the lingering worries they had about being alone and forgetting something. Exhausted from a long day filled with magic, weapons, and the promise of monsters, a young eager 6 drifted off into a deep restful sleep. The lingering worries of being left behind and being alone in this once cozy room, banished by the innocent dreams of youth.

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Arturo Setyrus sat behind voluminous curtains, the private box seat containing only himself and a few of the more influential backers he had managed to convince the Princess to allow into this private wing of the Palace. The play on the stage, a brilliant display of shimmering illusions and bright lights, all a captured recording of one of the most modern plays, could not hold his attention. His fingers adjusted the fine pair of golden spectacles he wore, checking a nearby candle for which mark it was. The lower the candle burned the more he sunk down into his seat. Eventually when his face was cast in shadows, and the other influences had retreated for the night he called out.

“Sebastian!”

The large ornate decanter beside him was empty, the bludwine adding a dark red to his cheeks, as he rested his chin against his chest and stared out at the residue left by the illusions on stage.

“Yes, Milord? I’m having a new bottle of wine brought up right now.”

The dark scowl that spread across Arturo’s face as he turned towards Sebastian brought the man-servant to a halt. Sebastian stiffened, muscles tensing as the half bow turned into a full bow, head lower and parallel with the floor as he detected his master’s mood.

“Sebastian. Did you deliver my invitation to that experiment?”

“Yes, Milord!” While Arturo’s growling slow manner of speech continued to set the servant on edge, they spoke quickly and concisely in response, head remaining bowed and eyes trained on the ground.

“I see.” A deep sigh escaped Arturo’s lips, the exhale of breath more of a rough hiss. When he reached down and found the large decanter completely empty, a look of surprise crossed his face. Glancing over at the candle, he found it had finally burned down to its base.

“Fetch me that bottle, Sebastian.. and invite Instructor Dreech for tomorrow evening’s festivities. We may have a need for him after all.”