What Even Was That?! (2)

Chirp. Chirp.

"Mngh…"

Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.

"Mnnghh…."

Chir-

"Ugh, will you be quiet already!!"

At the sudden burst of anger, the birds quickly flew away from the branch hanging just outside the window. All was quiet again.

"Hmph. Finally."

Serenis laid her head softly back onto the pillow beneath her and cozily wrapped herself in blankets. She closed her eyes, bathing in the warm sunlight as she prepared to continue her nap.

"…?"

Ok, that time she almost fell for it.

"What…"

She slowly rose from her sheets.

Sunlight.

She turned her head to the other side.

Humans. A bunch of them. All looking at her with an odd expression on their face.

"…"

"…"

An uncomfortable silence ensued. Serenis began to wish the birds would come back.

"ZION!"

After what felt like an eternity, it was another human that broke the silence.

Dressed in an unmistakable mage garment, a somewhat-tall young man rushed into the infirmary. His faint blue hair that should've neatly been tied were sprawled into a mess, the string barely holding the remaining strands of hair together.

Upon spotting Serenis, he made his way in large strides. She could read a mix of worry and confusion on his face.

"Zion, what happened? Are you okay?"

"…Huh?"

"Huh?"

"What?"

"What?"

…?

The two stared at each other, unsure of what's going on.

The mage put one hand over his forehead, the other over the dragon's.

"Hm, you don't have a fever…did you get hit on the head too hard after all?"

Oh, what a kind, innocent soul. Worrying about the dragonlord being hit too hard with a twig.

"It's quite alright. I appreciate the concern."

…?

Was my voice always like this?

Come to think of it, Serenis vaguely recalled hearing the same voice before. Precisely…when she screamed at the birds, and at the boy that tried to kill her with a twig.

Serenis tried to clear her throat multiple times, but to no avail.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. My voice just sounds…odd…"

As she trailed off, Serenis noticed a faint light across the room. It was from a mirror, reflecting the brilliant sunlight.

And with it, a reflection of her face.

Which wasn't her face.

The dragonlord's palm instinctively touched her cheek. It was soft, and also extremely small, unmistakably that of a child's.

Then her hair. The beautiful white she knew was nowhere to be found. She instead found bluish strands haphazardly sprawled about.

Then her chest. Completely flat, which wasn't even surprising at this point.

Then the rest of her body. Everything was downscaled. A lot.

"…Zion? You okay?"

Alright, Serenis. Be calm. Be very, very calm. This is nothing compared to what you've been through.

"WHAT IN HEAVEN'S NAME-"

✧ ✧ ✧

One hour later at a nearby courtyard, after being kicked out of the infirmary.

"So…my name is…"

"Zion."

"And you are…"

"Patrick. How could you forget me?! I'm your guardian!"

"I apologize. And we're at…"

"The Magic Institute in Partivine."

Wherever in hell's name that is.

"And I am…"

"A dumbass who couldn't pass the entrance exam for 2 years."

"No, not that. The other one."

"…Human. You're a human boy, Zion."

Serenis didn't know which part to be more shocked at, the human or the boy. Or being called a dumbass.

She stared at her own two hands. They were tiny now.

In fact, everything was tiny. Her body, mana reserve, authority…they'd all evaporated.

When she raised her gaze to meet Patrick's, warm tears were rolling down her little eyes.

"I…I…I'm…tiny…"

"That's what you're crying over?!"

Despite his shocked response, Patrick hurriedly wiped the tears off the little boy's eyes. He was just as confused as Serenis, though for a totally different reason.

The Zion he knew had no magical talents whatsoever. The boy always idolized Patrick's work and aspired to become a mage, but he could never cast even the most basic spell properly. This was true…until the last few minutes of his mock duel.

'Barrier. An invisible one too. And those light rays…'

Patrick cleared his throat.

"Well, look on the bright side, you won the duel! I'm sure you passed the exam, so you'll be a student at the institute in no time. And I'm sure you'll grow taller soon."

"Grow…taller…"

When was the last time Serenis grew? She couldn't remember. Probably centuries upon centuries ago.

"Anyways, what even was that?! I don't remember teaching spells like that to you. Found them in a tome or something?"

"What're you talking about?"

"You know, the barrier? And those lights?"

"Oh, this?"

Serenis lightly shifted her foot in the dirt. In response, the surrounding area began to emit the same white glow as before, lighting the world from ground up.

"…Yeah. That."

'The closest thing I can think of are field spells. But those require tremendous amounts of mana, and none of them have anything to do with light…'

"I invented it."

"Yeah, you…wait, what?"

"I invented it."

"…"

"The spell has no name. It's a mere trick to scare little hatchlings."

"…Hatchlings?"

"Children."

"…"

Zion…you're a child too…

But Patrick didn't bother speaking those words aloud. He'd tried that 30 minutes ago, and to no avail.

After the light faded away, Serenis raised her voice again. Well, the voice she was using wasn't hers, but anyways.

"Now will you believe me? I am not this 'Zion' that you speak of."

"So…lemme get this straight. Your name isn't Zion, but…Serenis."

The little child nodded.

"And you're actually a couple thousand years old."

Again, the little child nodded.

"You're not a human boy but actually the dragonlord who was just in a battle against the oldest being on this star, and after emerging victorious, you were bleeding to death…until waking up in the middle of that duel."

"Precisely! You have a good memory."

Patrick buried his face in his palms. His headache was getting worse.

"…Do you see the problem in that story?"

"Of course I do."

"You do?"

"Yes. That boy was trying to kill me with a twig."

"…"

"And the worst part is, it almost worked."

No, that's not the problem here at all…

"…C'mon Zion, this isn't funny anymore. How can you become an entirely different person in a matter of hours? I'm not going to scold you, so stop joking."

"How many times must I tell you? I am not joking."

"…Ahem."

As the stranger cleared his throat, both Zion…er, both Serenis and Patrick turned their heads to face them. Serenis was indifferent, but a dreaded expression swept across Patrick's face.

"Professor…Karas…"

"Long time no see, Patrick. I do apologize for interrupting your conversation. I did not mean to eavesdrop, but I simply couldn't cross this courtyard without hearing you two."

"My goodness, you can speak human tongue? With that head?"

To be fair, the question Serenis asked was valid. This professor looked like he was suffering from chronic bird transformation. Or a bird suffering from chronic human transformation. He was wearing a suit and had 4 limbs, but that's about where the similarities ended between him and a regular person. The black feathers, the claws, the beak, none of it helped.

But the professor only chuckled, as if amused by the remark.

"Fortunately, I can. Now…I believe I heard that you've suddenly become someone else, yes?"

"Professor, you don't have to take him seriously."

"It's quite alright, Patrick. I'm deeply interested in such phenomena."

"Really?"

"Of course. I study this field."

"…What field is 'this', exactly?"

"Psychology."

"Psychology…a study of the soul?"

"That's correct."

"That's a field?"

"Yes."

"Since when?"

"Since now. I invented it. Stop asking."

"…"

Somehow, Patrick felt that these two would get along really well.