Arthur was in the shower. He rubbed soap along his body, starting with his armpits and then his back, moving down to his elbows and finally his groin.
Despite being injured, he actually wasn't too bad, at least not when it came to joint and skeletal damage. No broken bones, though his back was sore from getting dropped. Plus, the road rash was really nasty to his elbow, but he disinfected it.
Arthur washed his face, enjoying the warm water as he lost himself in thought.
'I've never gone fishing before. I wonder how you even do it?'
Despite his experience for such a thing being nonexistent, he wasn't afraid to give it a shot. This was because of something he held very dear to his heart, that being "friends."
If he was going at it alone, or even worse, with people who he didn't know, he would definitely be terrified. Yet, there was the safety net of "friends," the people he didn't need to seem amazing too.
When others were around, when he felt like an actual human being, he could laugh off any failure with them. And that gift alone–of being able to be himself, without fear–was a gift he would forever be grateful for.
He finished up his shower. Arthur got out, dried himself off and grabbed some bandages in the drawer near the sink. He wrapped them around his elbow, and looking at them, feeling kind of cool.
'I look like a cool background character, don't I?'
He wiped away the steam in the mirror, looking at himself. He looked at his reflection for a second, before shifting his gaze downward, gulping some saliva. He grabbed his hands, holding on tensely.
Among all of the things to be insecure about for Arthur, his face would definitely be top 3. And depending on the moment, it could be even number one.
The flaws that made up his face were a bit many. His glasses actually served as a way to look better, as they covered up more. Definitely, he was never (or at least not often) the ugliest person in the room, but that didn't give much comfort.
It was something he despised about himself. Yet, with people who cared for him, he could laugh anyway, no matter what.
He styled his hair in a side part with a comb, put his glasses on and got dressed. He wore some khaki shorts and a long sleeve black shirt.
Arthur left the bathroom, with Tyler already dressed. Tyler wore a similar outfit, the closest he could think of to a proper "fishing outfit" and the two left. They took Tyler's car because they had no dang clue as to where Arthur's was.
They got inside the car, Arthur sitting in the passenger seat and waiting by watching stuff on his phone. A few minutes later, three more people showed up. One man and two women.
The man, David, was a short boy with dirty blond hair and long eyelashes for a boy. And when it came to the women, one of them was a tall and big woman with glasses and short brown hair, her name being Emily.
And for the final person, a woman of short stature and long black hair, Sally, had the fishing equipment. She put it in the trunk of Tyler's car, then entered the car with them, Emily sitting in the middle.
"Alrighty, where are we going?" Tyler asked. "Dragon's Lake," Sally said. She was the one who wanted to give fishing a try, since they'd not done something like that before. The group would hang out sometimes doing various activities, some physical, some not.
Tyler put it into the GPS and they made their way out of the college.
The college was quite big, and definitely a very safe place. It felt like its own small little town, at least that's what Arthur's initial impressions were. It had its own cafe, food stores, sports areas, and a gym as well which Arthur obviously didn't make much use of.
They drove out, it was around a 45 minute drive to the place. The car ride took place near night, and it was getting dark.
Tyler told them what had gone on last night, which led to a lot of questions from the others. He tried his best to answer them all, but with so many questions himself, he couldn't answer them much.
After the questions quelled, Arthur sat in silence, with the group taking turns playing songs on bluetooth. David, a man who was infatuated with medieval warfare, and infinitely preferred medieval fantasy over sci-fi, played medieval songs that one might hear in a giant sword fight between knights.
In comparison, the others weren't nearly as eccentric, playing mostly modern songs though some sounded hardly like music at all. When given the turn, Arthur declined the chance to play, mostly because he was too tired to think too hard.
The news that he had a sister, or even someone who considered him a biological brother, was something that he didn't expect. He ultimately decided to give his mom a call, but he chose to do so later after he'd gotten his brain sorted out after fishing.
The group arrived, and got out. Sally took the fishing equipment, and the two went to the docks of Dragon's Lake. It was a pretty lake, or it would have been if it wasn't nearly nighttime.
They got the equipment out, with Sally having brought a couple flashlights to help them see. Sally put on the bait, choosing a worm and went to the edge of the dock. She cast it out, and the others watched for a bit, getting ready themselves.
Once they all cast their lines, they waited. And Arthur, sitting down, sighed.
Assuming all was true, he was a descendent of a dragon. Truly, it sounded like the ramblings of a madman—or rather, a crackhead, as Arthur put it. Yet what he'd experienced just last night was supernatural without question.
If he was just hallucinating everything on the verge of death, then how did that woman, supposedly his sister, know what he saw?
If she wasn't real, which there wasn't much doubt she was, how did he get home last night? He'd gone to sleep, convinced of his own death, yet he should wake up in a hospital if he survived.
Was he dead? Was this the afterlife, where he pretended to go on living? Or was it quantum immortality, or at least what little Arthur understood of it. Was he shifted to a timeline in which he survived the attack, but actually died in the original one?
No, thinking such things only made his head hurt. He was lucky to not sustain any head injuries that crippled him for life.
"Hey, Arthur? Earth to Arthur?" Something said.
If he truly was the descendent of a dragon, assuming he wasn't high or crazy, then what did that mean for the future? Well, some random people who he could only assume to be either dragon-slayers or dragons themselves attacked him while on the way to his car, so it wasn't good news.
"Arthur? You good bro?" Another thing asked.
But there was a ball of fire. A ball of fire which blew him away, one he was lucky to not be so close to the point where it burned him deeply. It was more so the shockwave that sent him, not the actual explosion.
If there was a ball of fire, not explained with technological means, then didn't that mean that launching fireballs was something a dragon was capable of? If he ate a pepper, could he launch fireballs out of his mouth? Or maybe grow wings and fly like his "sister?"
"Dude, c'mon!" Tyler yelled close to Arthur's face. He snapped out of it, looking around as if he'd just died and returned to life.
"Huh, what, what happened?" Arthur asked, swallowing his spit and coughing the words out. He looked around, stood up and reeled in nothing, clearing his throat as the others chuckled.
"You spaced out, is everything alright?" Sally asked. "Ah, yeah, no, I'm good. I'm sorry, I just got a lot of stuff on my plate," he answered. He thought for a second.
"I'm gonna go back to the car, I'm sorry guys, I'll be right back soon," he said, setting down his fishing rod and heading to the car. He entered and took a deep breath, exhaling and closing his eyes.
'I should have gone to check on my car. Or maybe I should check in with my insurance company to see if there's anything going on. If they don't cover my car, I might get ruined forever and ever…'
Arthur got on his phone and began to play some music. It calmed him down, and he had a small, gentle smile rest upon his face.
His mind wandered back to "dragons."
If he really was one, then couldn't he do cool dragon stuff as well? Like perhaps sprout wings?
'It's worth a shot…'
He got out of the car and went behind it, hoping to conceal anything. He closed his mind and focused on sprouting wings.
Imagining the formation of a hard structure, with a fluid-like in-between befitting that of a "blood dragon," Arthur visualized it. The opening of his back, shifting and contorting the muscles and skin of his back, making way for a red wing to sprout…
Nothing.
It was all in vain, and nothing happened. Arthur opened his eyes, looking behind him and seeing nothing. He felt nothing back there and now believed himself an idiot.
He turned off his phone, shaking his head.
'I should go back with the others.'
Arthur went back and noticed that now, there was someone new at the docks. It was a tall, well dressed man with neat black hair and dark blue eyes.
"Excuse me, do you know anyone by the name of Arthur Assas?" The man asked politely. The others looked at him strangely, and nodded their heads.
"No way that's Arthur's last name. But uh, yeah, we know him, why?" Tyler responded. He was sweating a bit despite it being a somewhat cold night. This was because that woman, Alicia, had told him that Arthur had gotten into some trouble last night.
If it were something like getting drunk and keying a car for fun, then obviously someone would go out of their way to find and track them down. Yet, Tyler, being himself, gave an answer anyways.
"I would like to speak with him about stuff. It's family matters," the man said, keeping his formal and polite tone.
This was where Arthur made his entrance, walking out from behind the car and looking at the man. "Uh, I'm right here," he said plainly. He himself was, in simple terms, shitting bricks.
However, if there was one thing that mattered more than himself, it would be his friends. And it would be optimal to limit the amount of time his "friends" and his "enemies" interacted. Perhaps it would be best that both parties had no clue the other even existed.
The man looked over, seeing Arthur standing there. He smiled and stood up straight, revealing his figure to be utterly one of length. His shoulders were broad, but in terms of compactness, he was sorely lacking.
"Good night, Arthur. I would like to speak with you, it's quite important," he said calmly. Arthur nodded his head and the man went over to him. "Let's go into the forest as we speak, this shall keep them from hearing such private information," the man said, an eerie grin—
'Fuck no!'
That was the immediate thought that flashed through Arthur's mind. It was normal, given humanity's main method of survival was one that relied on society and tools. In the face of stronger animals, humans had their allies, tools and stamina as their greatest assets.
Being alone with one such being who could rip you in half was an immediate terror that befell most human beings, lunatics excluded.
"Uh, no thanks, I'd rather not go into the dark forest with some British butler-looking guy…" Arthur said bluntly. The man chuckled for just a second before stopping, looking down on Arthur and getting closer.
"The dragon kills anyone who knows of our existence. If we're overheard, will they not be killed? And if you need more understanding, do remember that your life is in my hands. I'm being pleasant, giving you the option to spare them," the man whispered quietly into Arthur's ear.
It was an undeniable fact of all existences. If you can't hurt someone in any way, and they can hurt you, you are "lower" than them. The primal, no, the fear engraved into all existence, the fear of having violence inflicted upon you, surged through Arthur's heart.
It was a small gesture. Just a few sentences, some words, and a message. Yet it made Arthur feel as though he was no longer able to be saved by society. His worries weren't of money or family, but simply of having himself slaughtered painfully.
"Oh… um… sure," Arthur stuttered, shaking. If he were to lash out, that may very well be the end of his existence, and the end of the friends he cared for as well.
"Thank you. Truly, thank you," the man said, taking Arthur's wrist and leading him into the forest near the lake. After just a minute of walking in silence, the man stopped, seeing a log.
"Please, sit down," he said. Now, his politeness seemed less like that belonging to a humble servant, and more so belonging to a man trying to get on the good side of someone who he didn't respect or care for.
Arthur sat down on the log, clearing his throat as the man stood straight once more. The man looked down once more, smiling gently.
"I have a proposal for you. You are aware you belong to the Assas family, yes?" He asked. "Yeah… but my last name is actually Baker, so I don't really… y'know." Arthur responded.
The man had a curious face, but he quickly changed it to a smile and nodded his head.
"I see. Well, I'm sure you're aware that there's something strange going on in your life. I'll tell you what. I belong to the Graves family, and what I desire from you is simple," the man said, taking a moment to pause.
"Join us. Leave behind a family you don't need, a family you've never seen before. Become one of us, and we'll guarantee your protection, and the protection of everyone you love. This includes that mother of yours."
His face was that of a smile, as he reached out his hand. For a moment, everything scary in the world disappeared. All the fear and anxiety, the dread and despair. All of it was gone.
And with it, so was everything pleasant. Everything that could bring joy, make smiles, satisfy and bring about pleasure.
The world was gone.
Everything came down to this. A single then-and-there decision. One that would forever change the course of his life.
Arthur extended his hand, yet pulled back at the last moment, pausing.
"What will this entail…? I don't have a single clue about the world of, uh, 'dragons,' nothing that's not fictional at least… So how does it work?" Arthur spat out, feeling a tension which he hadn't felt before. The beating of his heart, the feeling of sweat in the cold pre-winter air, everything was overloading.
The man kept his smile, never fading. "We dragons are always fighting to prove ourselves. Each family believes themselves to be the 'true family' that is more pure, that is a superior existence to everything below," he said, pausing.
"If you follow the Graves family, you will be subject to the same violence that befalls every dragon. Though I wish to bring you over, I will not lie. From the moment of your birth, you were destined for violence, to inflict it and have it be inflicted upon you," the man uttered. Allowing his words to sink in for a moment, he then added:
"But if you choose us, I can promise you that you will be making the superior decision. Your bloodline, your heritage comes from the Blood Dragon. We come from Graves, the Death Dragon. Which is stronger, death or blood?" The man asked. His face had actually softened, seeming less mocking and more interested in recruiting.
'Well, obviously death…'
"Death," Arthur replied quickly. Ultimately, he looked down, exhaling deeply. He looked back up to the man's hand.
'I feel like I might be making a bad choice. But what other option do I have? If I don't take his hand, I'll die, and so will everyone that's ever given me a chance.'
"Alright. I'll take your hand," Arthur said, puffing his chest out. He was sweating, and he could feel a lump in his throat. Yet he reached his hand out, grasping at the only choice he had.
The man took Arthur's hand and pulled him up, shaking his hand confidently.
"Well done. I welcome you into the family, partner. No, perhaps I should say 'brother' instead." He then continued.
"Welcome, brother."