When I woke up several hours later, I was in an unfamiliar bed with a dull headache, no doubt from the intensity of the lack of sleep, coupled with everything else. A part of me felt like it was nice not having to worry about anything the moment I woke up… But more than that, I just felt lonely, waking up without Rune or Vive or Mo or Isy… Our time in the dorms was short, comparatively, but I had gotten used to it. Realising that it was all over, never to return, just made me sit for a while, no tears or thoughts, unsure of what I was feeling. No one was around, luckily… But my eyes were surely red and puffy from how they felt, meaning I must not have been unconscious for long. 'So this is what tearing a callous over your heart feels like… It's not very pleasant…'
'Mr Dragon…' A chill ran through me as I closed my eyes and focused my soul, but I had been in my other form for so long that dark magic almost seemed impossible, much less transporting my consciousness inside of my soul. I could barely manipulate it at all, and when I did, it felt like I was tearing off a scab, making my eyes water. 'I can't even check if he's really gone…'
I slowly threw the blanket off and stumbled out of bed, tripping over my oversized clothes and falling on the ground, my arms too weak to even keep my head off the floor… I didn't even bother trying to stand up after that. My whole body was unbelievably sore from reverting back, keeping all the stress but without the sturdy bones to handle it. 'How can someone like me possibly call myself a king… I guess it doesn't matter what I call myself, right? Just what other people call me… The real issue now…' I groaned, still refusing to move. 'I have a full week of dirt and grime on my skin… I need a bath… Though I guess I should be fairly clean since I spent that week in my other form? Ah, but it's not like my clothes changed with me…' Letting outa deep sigh, I rolled to my back, staring at the ceiling for a while, still not moving despite my thoughts.
Eventually, the door to the room swung open, and I slowly turned my head to see A complete stranger wearing full light armor with a curved greatsword hanging from his heavy belt across his hip. I didn't know him… But I was curious as to what his response would be. 'Will he try to help me? Scold me for not resting? Or… He's not moving at all… Now it's just awkward… Should I say something? Wouldn't it be awkward if I didn't stand up first? Ah, but that's too much work… Well, whatever, let's just talk from here…' "What day is it…" I asked in a whiny soft voice that sounded unreal with its combination of roughness and high pitch.
"It's… The 13th…"
'He's not moving… is he in shock? I half expected him to ask if I was ok…' "And who are you…"
"Right… I am Admiral Savoya…"
'Admiral? So, Al got the signal out, good.' "Where am I?"
"This is the room of Lord Elianara's youngest daughter, I believe… That shouldn't happen to you, would it?"
I let out a long groan as I pushed myself up onto my arms and rubbed my eyes, not even caring as my shirt's collar draped off my left shoulder. "Not exactly… I know it's kind of awkward to ask you this… But can you help me find some clothes that might fit me a little better? And also, I have no idea where I am, and I need a bath. You're an admiral, so you should be familiar with water, right?"
He slowly blinked at me, unresponsive.
'Maybe I'm just not good at jokes… Yeah… No, I said something weird again… I'd look at me like that too…'
He scratched his head before walking over to the closet and looking through a few dresses before lifting one up between us and looking back and forth at me like a painting of some sort. "This should be close enough."
"But… That's not mine, though…" 'I can't just take a child's clothes… And… I also just don't want to… I'm not a kid…'
He sighed. "I'm sure it's fine. If the lord gave you this room, then naturally, you would be able to take your pick from the clothes in it as well. Besides, it's just borrowing, right? What are you, maybe around 6? Do you need help changing?"
"15…" I muttered…
"What was that?"
"I'm… 15…"
His eyes widened slightly as if still trying to figure out whether or not I was serious.
'I know I'm small… But come on…' "Uh… So… In light of my age… I think it's probably safe to say I can dress myself… Just… To be clear…"
He cleared his throat. "Right… Sorry for the misunderstanding…"
I sighed as he still seemed to be in a daze, confused, though possibly from his own lack of experience with children… Even though… Well whatever… "You should probably go wait outside…"
He scratched his head again. "Sorry, it's just that… You aren't Siya… Are you?"
I took a deep breath in. "Yes… Now get out… You didn't even knock, just barging into a girl's room. What's wrong with you? It's bad enough you thought I was a child, but you could at least treat me like a girl... Or does it not bother you at all seeing me like this?"
He folded his arms, slowly looking me up and down as he thought about it seriously, making me start to feel somewhat awkward myself. "We don't have time for this. I received the emergency signal, and I'm here. What do you want from me?"
I reached over to the bed and grabbed the frame, pushing myself up. "We need to push the monsters in the bay towards the shore to wreak havoc on the enemy army as they march towards River Hold," I grumbled, giving up on all of it, letting my shirt act as a fairly reliable dress, and deciding I didn't care anymore. "Krackens, preferably, since they can deal massive damage to troops on land if we can force them to the beach, they could deal massive damage, or at the very least slow the enemy significantly."
He took a step back and rubbed his brow, casually averting his eyes as he leaned against the door frame. "So that's why you need the navy…"
I lowered my head to one of my hands, tempted to fall asleep again as I let out a wide yawn. "One way to look at it would be to say it's dishonorable to fight like this… Another would be to say they should have come prepared to live here if they wanted to take this land from us…" 'Despite how tired I am, I think I'm starting to wake up a bit at least…' "You were right about time, though. We needed to move yesterday… No telling when the empire will march from the capital… And we need to be far away from here when they do."
"Alright, but… Are you sure you're ready to be up and about?"
"Can you just get out already? Or are you actually just waiting because you want to watch me change…"
He rolled his eyes before turning and quickly exiting the room, closing the door behind him. 'Not the happiest wake-up call…' I slowly lifted a hand over my throat. 'Then again… It's hardly the worst either… I wasn't poisoned this time…' I sighed again.
The dress was actually laced up in the front, and the design itself was surprisingly different from mine. It was much shorter, and all simple brown leather and patterned dark and light brown fabric with fringes at the bottom of the skirt. Certainly not designed to be useful in combat, but also a lot cuter, at least in my opinion. It had long, thin white sleeves that were just a little baggy, and wrapped around my back and over my right shoulder was a small cloak with a hood, although it wasn't very heavy, likely only good enough to keep my hair dry in a light drizzle. 'Why did I even bother changing? Like it's cute but…' I looked back at the shirt covered in ash, blood stains, and… melted flesh that had stuck to it. 'Oh, yeah, I don't regret this decision.' I quickly moved my hair back out of my face and tied it up so as not to trip, and I headed out.