Later, Cale decided to explore a bit more of the Academy on his own. Avoided the main path and glided through the silent corridors like a discreet shadow. Sigrid's class was still hammering in his mind, but there was something else — or someone — taking up too much space in his thoughts.
That's how he found the courtyard hidden between the towers. A quiet place, surrounded by leafy trees and a small lake of crystal clear waters in the center. The light filtered through the branches as if time there passed more slowly.
And there he saw it.
Aries was lying on a tall fig branch, his arm folded behind his head, his eyes closed as if the world below had no urgency. The light filtered by the leaves drew soft patterns on their golden hair. His chest went up and down with tranquility — a sleeping warrior, out of place in that serene setting. Or maybe exactly where he should be.
Cale found him there by chance. At least, that's what he was trying to tell himself.
He stood in the distance, half hidden by the shadow of a column. He watched in silence, his eyes fixed on the outline of that relaxed body, on the way the sun seemed to rest upon him with familiarity.
Aries was beautiful.
Annoyingly beautiful.
But there was something beyond beauty. Something that bothered.
An uncomfortable and insistent sensation vibrated in Cale's chest, like a feeling that could not be explained. The broad shoulders, the posture, even the way Aries breathed... reminded too much of the little dragon of the temple.
It was foolish.
Or maybe not.
"Will you stand there staring at me like a stalker?" said Aries, without opening his eyes.
Cale blinked, almost as if pulled back to reality.
"I thought you were sleeping" replied, approaching slowly. "Or do you just pretend to see who appears?"
Aries opened only one eye, lazy. He didn't seem at all surprised.
"I hear everything. Sleep is a luxury, not a weakness."
"Sure. A luxury you choose to enjoy right on a fragile branch, in the middle of the campus, where anyone can see you yawning like a cat in the sun."
Aries sat on the branch with calm, as if he was just changing position to watch a show.
"And you would be the "anyone"?"
Cale shrugged his shoulders.
"Don't underestimate me. I've seen a dragon lose a contest to a bush."
A sharp silence settled in. For a moment, Aries' eyes were fixed on his, as if looking for something.
"Are you insinuating something?"
"I'm just saying", Cale kept the tone light, almost fiverged. "But don't worry, I know how to keep secrets. Especially those that no one would believe if I told."
Aries burst out. A short and almost bored sound.
"You have guts."
"Some call it stupidity. Others, stubbornness. I call it instinct."
"Instinct is what makes a dog bite its own tail."
Cale smiled with the tip of his lips.
"And pride is what makes a dragon pretend not to hear."
Aries slightly bowed his head. That exchange was not common for him. Most students feared or flattered him. But Cale... spoke as if he was not interested in impressing. Or maybe he was, and was only good at disguising.
"Do you always talk like this to your superiors?"
"Only with those who pretend they are not."
"And those who prefer silence?"
Cale tilted his head and smiled under the hood.
"These usually talk more than they think."
A strange glow passed through the eyes of Aries. Perhaps a spark of interest. Or something older. Something familiar.
"You don't know me, kid."
"You can bet on it", Cale took a deep breath, but did not look away. His purple eyes shone in the light that escaped from the treetop, "But I know this feeling. Of having seen you before. Of having felt... that."
"That what?"
Cale hesitated for a second, then let slip:
"A kind of strange absence... as if you were looking for something without knowing what, and then you appear and everything gets worse. Or better. Or just more confused."
Cale did not know what he expected to find there — only knew that he needed to see Aries again. As if that man carried a response that his body already knew, but his mind still refused to accept.
Aries watched him, seriously now.
"You speak as if you are about to dig a hole where you will not be able to get out."
"And you talk like someone who is already inside, just don't admit it."
The silence returned, thick, charged.
Finally, Aries leaned against the trunk and closed his eyes again.
"You really are a problem."
"I prefer to be an enigma, since "problem" is easier to solve."
Before anyone could say anything else, a bang broke the silence of the courtyard.
Both turned toward the sound. Chattered, hasty steps, and a group of demigods running towards the west gate of the Academy.
"What is that?" Aries got up in a quick jump and stood on the branch, trying to see better. His eyes narrowed seriously. "Stay here."
The curiosity was great, besides the bad feeling that came with it. And also the stubbornness in not letting Aries get rid of him so soon. So when Aries jumped out of the tree and ran towards the source of the problem, Cale silently followed him to avoid attention.
Aries gave him an exasperated look when he noticed that he was being followed, again, but did not stop him.
"Tsc. What a stubborn rookie."
The crowd crowded in front of the gate leading to the trail of the training tower. Among the crowded bodies, one could hear tense whispers and hasty steps.
In the distance, the metallic sounds of clanging swords reverberated in the air.
Aries advanced, breaking the crowd easily. Cale followed him closely, but stopped suddenly when he saw a dark stone tower.
A tower... people using guns around it... ah, no.
He felt as if something had broken inside his chest.
The tower was where your sister should be training.
Aries did not realize that Cale had stopped. His eyes were fixed on the two fighters at the center of the chaos — a veteran armed with a curved blade, and a hooded rookie who blocked the blows with an old, worn sword.
Her posture was firm, precise... too similar to someone he had recently observed.
Even in the distance, Aries recognized that cape model. By the corner of his eyes he observed Cale, a few steps back still hidden under the hood. It was exactly the same model.
Narrowing his eyes, Aries grumbled.
"Tsc... but what a nuisance."
The world around Cale seemed to have become a blur. The rumblings, the striding steps, the nervous looks of other students... Everything sounded distant. His gaze was stuck in the tower.
Alinys was in there. Or should be.
His heart was beating too loud for him to hear anything else. The fingers clenched tightly in the folds of the cape, as if he needed to anchor himself in something physical not to be dragged by the anxiety that accumulated in his throat.
That presence... that feeling of being trampled by a god.
"Alinys... please tell me you weren't there when this started."
Suddenly, Cale noticed a hot hand pull his hood and cover his face completely. His pallor was not visible to anyone now, nor his surprise to know who was responsible for hiding him.
"If you can't stand to see two warriors brandishing swords for honor, then go back home" growled Aries, staring only at the two main actors in that confusion.
Clenching his fingers, Cale replied immediately.
"How could it involve honor, emanating such energy?"
A bigger bang shook the air, coming from the side of the tower. A burst of light rose briefly, causing the shadows to dance between the stone pillars. That was no ordinary training. Not with that level of power. And definitely not with rookies involved.
"This energy..." Aries frowned. "It's coming from inside. And it's not just a duel."
Suddenly, two instructors appeared from the top of the tower, flying down on platforms of divine energy. One of them gave the order to disperse the students. But nobody moved.
Cale took a step forward. He wanted to go. He needed to go. But his reason screamed against it. He was a rookie. He couldn't just walk through the crowd and force his way into a place where there was clearly a dangerous situation being controlled by veterans.
But what if it was too late?
His body oscillated between impulsiveness and logic, like a rope about to break.
Aries has noticed.
"Are you worried about someone?" he asked without emotion, still looking at the tower.
Cale did not respond immediately. His eyes were glazed at the top of the building, where the flash was beginning to dissipate.
"Yes... it's family. Must be in the tower."
Aries looked at him sideways. For the first time, with a subtle trace of understanding in his face.
"This changes things" he murmured.
"If you know what's going on there, then tell me."
"Do you see any crystal ball here? How can I know what's going on if I just arrived?"
Cale clenched his fists. It was suffocating. A mixture of impotence and anger. And, behind it all, the shadow of the fear of losing someone.
Aries put a hand on his shoulder, firm, but not invasive.
"Trust the instructors. If there is something that needs to be done, I will go there myself."
Cale looked at him, purple eyes shining, doubting. Not of Aries, but of the promise that everything would end well.
"What if it's too late?"
Aries slightly squeezed his shoulder.
"They may even fail... but I won't".
That response was profound.
Cale nodded. Still restless. Still divided.
At that moment, there was only one thing that made him not to go through that crowd by force: Aries.
Not because he trusted him completely. But because for the first time since coming to the Academy of Othea, he didn't feel alone.
And that, perhaps, was what kept him steady.