Chapter 71 - MEETING

"How do I wake everyone up?" Ander asked her.

"The sleeping spell lasts for twenty-four hours," she said to him.

"Why?" he questioned trying to give her a chance to explain why she had come to the school and why she placed everyone in a sleeping spell. He stood up from the bed leaving his aunt sleeping peacefully on the bed. He stood before and awaited her reply.

"To save my family," she said facing down to hide the tears that were brimming in her eyes. "They have been captured with the rest of my village. Onilen Leafspear has them and if I don't bring him back the Zorak then I'm afraid that he will hurt the people that I care about," she added.

"What is this Zorak and why does this man want it?" he inquired of her.

"It is an orb that contains Dark Melchior's powers," she said to him.

"What?"

"Dark Melchior is one of the greatest evil that has ever roamed the world. The dragon king had defeated him seven years ago and he trapped his powers in an orb. Along with other weapons that the dragon king and his army had seized over the years, his orb was moved to the vault her," she explained to him.

"So this Onilen Leafspear wants this orb so that he can take possession of the power in it. Why would he need that much power?" he asked trying to understand the situation.

"To take over the world I would assume. The power of the orb is such that it is capable of so much destruction that even the dragon king couldn't fully eradicate them," she said.

"Then how could you think of handing such power to him?" he asked her seeming disappointed that she could take such a big risk with everyone's life at stake.

The girl stood facing the ground, she had to admit that giving so much power to an evil man like Leafspear was wrong but she had no other choice. The dragon king was rumored to have become mentally challenged and she had no idea that a dragon prince existed not to mention she is not even sure he can be any help in saving her people or strong enough to defeat Leafspear.

"I had no other choice, my family's life is in danger and all I could think about was saving them no matter the cost. And it's not like I gave it to him anyway. I couldn't find the vault," she stated and sighed from her defeat.

"Well," Francis said in the sidelines after listening to the girl.

"What?" Ander asked confused as to what the ghost was going on about.

"The least you could do after listening to her problems id offer to help her," he suggested causing the dragon prince to massage his templates from the headache that was his life.

"I came to study not to go on adventures and save people," he said. The girl looked at him with surprise, she was surprised that after learning of her situation he would say something like that. "What? Don't look at me like that. If you expect me to leave my life and follow you to save your village then you should give up on that thought because that is all that it is ever going to be. A thought," he said and walked out of the room.

Francis face palmed himself from the display of selfishness from the prince, he expected him to say that but he was hoping that the male would surprise him by choosing to help the girl. "is he always this selfish?" the girl asked him making him startled. 

"Are you talking to me?" he asked her making sure that she could see him.

"Yes," she replied giving him a warm smile. "Is the dragon prince always this selfish?"

"He usually doesn't stick around to even listen to other people so the fact that he listened to you is an improvement from his normal routine. I was hoping that he would also be opened to help you but I guess that it was asking too much of him," he said. "But how can you see me?" he asked her.

"I used wish magic to put everyone to sleep with this," she said holding up a splinter. "Something tells me that it is yours," she added.

"Yes, that is a piece of me but it's useless," he said remembering that without Ander he can never be complete ever again. 

"Not exactly," she said drawing his attention to her. "With every splinter that you absorb in your body, you gain a foothold between the land of the dead and the living. You can touch, hold and feel things that is living and non-living. And if you absorb them all back then you can be visible to people, but you will still be stuck by the prince's side until he frees you. You can fully be human again if he wishes for it but only once you are complete," she added enlightening Francis on things he didn't know about.

His heart felt excited at the thought of having his body back and being able to hold his beloved in his arms again. The only problem with the new found hope was the fact that there were only two splinters out in the world. The rest were kept hidden away by Ander somewhere he was unware of.

"Here," she said placing the splinter in his hand. Francis felt a strong energy enter him, it was like a missing piece of him was finding its place back in his body. The mark on his neck flickered a little before returning to normal. "how do you feel?" she asked him. 

"Incomplete," he answered honesty.

Back in the palace Alexander opened his eyes from his nap. "Francis," he muttered. His eyes glowed as he felt Francis's dragon mark glow. He got up and left his palace in excitement, the mark was weak but he was able to feel it from where he was. He transformed into a dragon and flew off in the direction that the mark was glowing from and soon arrived at the school, just as he landed on the rooftop of the school. The mark stopped glowing and he was forced to use the old method to track him down, that is walking through every room calling out to him. He was glad that his darling beloved was alive and that made his heart skip a beat. "Francis," he called out as he searched through the room. He skipped over the sleeping children inspecting all of them to check if Francis was among them. He noticed some movements in the distance and rushed towards it in the hope of finding Francis.

"Excuse me," he said causing the male to turn around and face him. Ander raised his eyebrow at the man who dare to touch his hand. "I'm looking for so…" he began to say but Ander yanked his hand off his shoulder and walked away.

"Why is everyone under the impression that I am available to solve all their problems," he mumbled to himself as he walked.

Alexander couldn't believe that he was ignored and treated like air when he was the king of Arimelari. He gritted his teeth angrily and walked to catch up with Ander. "I need your help," he said to him but the boy didn't even bother to stop and continued to walk away. "I guess you leave me no choice. I order you to stop and assist me," he ordered.

Ander heard his order and stopped in his tracks. He felt enraged that there was in right minds that would dare to order him around him around. He was the prince and if that was not a good enough reason to command respect then his power was enough to scare anyone into submission. He turned around to look at the man who had the nerve to order. He eyed the man from head to toe, his clothes were expensive and made of pure silk so he probably had some wealth and power but that was no reason to order him around. 

"Who are you to order me around?" he asked him in a cold threatening voice.

"Someone with the power to do so," Alexander replied. "But I shouldn't have to order you to help me, the fact that I have to should make look back at your upbringing. I pity the lessons your parents have taught," he added picking on the sensitive subject for Ander. Ander felt vein pop in his head when he heard what the man had to say. He completely lost his cool and his mind when he talked about his parents. He folded his hand into a fist and swung it in the air. Alexander moved back as his dragon senses warned him of danger. The chairs in the room were slashed into pieces.

"How dare you speak about my parents and what gives you the right to question my upbringing?" he questioned.

"By order of the king of Arimelari, I Alexander command you to stop," Alexander said to him.