Saphira's Secret / Ayame Adjusts To A New Life

The Gate opened up inside the terminal at Dragon Peak Academy. Konotsune came rushing out of the portal with Sona still on her back and Ayame in tow. "Come on, Ayame. Stay close. We need to take him to see Doctor Ishimura. He's down this hall," Kono grabbed Ayame's hand and they sped down the hallway towards the doctor's office.

"Man, another boring day," A young man yawned in the office he was assigned. The door to his office flew open and in stepped a girl with silver hair. That wasn't the most interesting thing, though. He noticed she was carrying a rather large man on her back. He couldn't see the face of this boy, but drops of blood had begun to pool under where they stood.

"Doctor Ishimura! My friend needs your help. He used an extreme amount of mana and was injured during a fight," Konotsune explained calmly but quickly as she pulled Ayame close. "Once he's out of danger, please do a thorough examination on her. This is Ayame and if any medical procedures or work needs done, I'll pay for it," Konotsune carefully laid Sona on the bed with Ishimura's help. "Stay with him, Ayame. I'll go fetch his teacher," Kono left the doctor's office and took off running to their home in the woods.

"Doctor, is going to be okay?" Ayame questioned as she walked over to hold Sona's hand. Her ears had lowered and her tail stopped moving. "This is my fault. He tried to protect me," Ayame's eyes teared up but a gentle hand was placed on her cheek. She looked up to see Sona's hand caressing her cheek, but his eyes were still closed.

"Ah, of course. That's a symptom of Over Limit. When a person processes more mana than their body can handle, the connection to the mana pool will be severed in order to protect the body from harm. You can achieve incredible feats during those few seconds it takes for your body to sever the connection," Ishimura grabbed some damp wash cloths and started cleaning up Sona's face while he explained this to the little girl.

"The end result is the same for any normal person, Over Limit. He's technically awake, but his mind can't process any information. He must have felt your sadness and his body reacted to that," Ishimura continued as he finished wiping Sona down. He stood up and walked over to his cabinet to dig around for a minute.

"So he's going to be okay? Thank the gods," Ayame whispered and held his hand to her cheek. "I won't be a burden next time, Master. I promise. You won't get hurt trying to protect me again," She whispered and walked closer to his side. She wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his chest.

"Ah, Found it!" Ishimura exclaimed and pulled out a small box with a red cross. He walked back to the bed and sat the box down. He opened the box and pulled out a small needle and some suture thread. Looping the thread through the needle like a pro, Ishimura went to work sewing up the cuts on Sona's face where they were needed. Several minutes after he had finished suturing Sona's face, the door flung open and in stormed a very pissed off Saphira.

Once she got a look at her student's beaten body, though, her anger had diminished. "Sona..." She whispered and walked over to his side. There was a little girl with her head laying on Sona's chest. She was fast asleep after such a long day. "Is this the girl? Ayame you called her?" Saphira huffed and a puff of smoke blew from her nostrils. 'Whoops. Can't lose control like that again.' She thought and peeked at Konotsune. It looked like she hadn't been paying attention.

"So answer me again. You said this Wolfborn girl, Ayame, was about to be publicly executed for stealing food in order to live?" Saphira questioned again trying to decide her next set of actions.

"Yes, the man who we encountered turned out to be the Father of the Church in Drasphia. He's definitely a human supremacist. He set her fees higher then she could ever hope to pay just so he could get away with killing her. Sona," Konotsune sighed. "He couldn't just watch that happen. Things like that don't happen in his world that often. So, he paid off her fines, two gold and then bribed him with an extra gold for him to keep. I guess he couldn't stand being humiliated like that," Konotsune continued and watched the sleeping Ayame cuddle her dragon.

"That's why you were attacked by those three Beastmen and where Sona ended up getting hurt? He was going to be forced to watch awful things happen to you and her as payback," Saphira repeated back what Kono had told her on the way over.

"Yes. Sona killed one and I killed another, but the leader took Sona hostage and threatened to slit his throat. That's when..." Konotsune grabbed her blouse and tried to cover her her body even more.

"That's when he ordered you to disrobe," Saphira finished and sighed helplessly. Konotsune nodded and a small sniffle escaped her lips. "All Sona cared about was your safety, so he ordered you to run and leave him to die. Until," Saphira looked at the small lavender Wolfborn in front of her. "Until she screamed at Sona to not give up, the thought of him dying brought her to tears. She was emotionally attached to Sona because he saved her life and treated her like she was more than just garbage. Sona lost control of his emotions at that moment, and released a staggering amount of mana that I had sealed in his body. He awoke to the true nature of the power I gave him," Saphira sighed and shook her head.

"You idiot. How did you even manage to break that seal? Dr. Ishimura, may we have the room alone for a moment?" Saphira asked and he acquiesced, leaving them alone for the time. "I never planned on showing this to anyone else, but you've seen the power that Sona displayed. There's no point in keeping it from you," Saphira's body started to morph. Her face extended to form the mouth of a dragon. Two wings spread from her shoulder blades, and her fingernails grew into claws. This process took about a minute to complete. When it was all said and done, Saphira had morphed into a smaller version of her dragon form to fit in the room.

"Well, this is unexpected. Are you saying that, you gave your powers to Sona?" Konotsune questioned, intrigued by this turn of events.

"Yes, because of that, I only possess a fraction of the power I once controlled," Saphira shifted back to her human form. "Which is why I had to seal my power away from Sona. His body isn't ready to harness the full destructive nature of an ancient dragon. It could drive him insane, or even kill him. I must redo the seal, but that alone won't be enough anymore. He's going to be pushed to his limits. This new training regime I've come up with could kill him just as easily, but I have faith in my student," Saphira smiled affectionately at Sona as she explained her origins to Konotsune.

"Now he has one more reason to learn how to control his power," Konotsune hinted towards the young sleeping Ayame.

"Yes. I'll handle the arrangements. We can have her take the entrance exams and go from there. If she can use magic, then we can train her to serve Sona. If not, I'm sure Sona would come up with some excuse for her to stay or he would leave this Academy with her," Saphira remarked on her student. After all, she knew how his mind worked better then anyone. The memories they exchanged during the ritual connected their minds to one another.

"How long will this over limit last?" Konotsune looked to Saphira for an answer. She just shrugged and walked away. "Sona, I'll bring the others by later. I'll make sure they realize you're a hero for saving this little girl," Konotsune stroked the top of Ayame's head before she and Saphira left.

Three days later, Sona's eyes began to open. 'Where...am I?' He started to move his body, but everything hurt. 'What...happened? My mind feels groggy.'

"Master! You're finally awake!" A sweet voice echoed followed by a little girl sobbing.

'Who?' Sona's eyes finally adjusted and he could start to make out blurry shapes. "Ayame?" He called and reached his hand out slowly.

"I'm right here, Master Sona. I'm alive and unharmed because of you," Ayame replied and grabbed his hand with both of hers. She brought his hand up to her cheek. "See? It's really me, Master."

"Ayame, I'm glad," He whispered softly and gave her a sweet smile. "And Konotsune?"

"I'm here, Sona. We are both safe. I'm glad you are, too," Konotsune spoke and a few tears appeared in her eyes.

"Kono, you're crying..." He whispered softly and gave a soft chuckle. "I'm sorry for making you cry," He closed his eyes and sighed silently. "All I wanted to do was protect you, and I couldn't even manage that, I'm sorry," Sona looked at the ground and sighed softly. "Master,"

"Yes, Sona? What's wrong?" Saphira sat by the bed he was laying on.

"Konotsune told me that, most mages can form pacts with weapons and summon them to their side when they need them," Sona told her what he remembered Kono telling him. "Since I wasn't born here, I never had the chance to make a weapon pact. Can I still attempt to summon one?"

"Well, that is true, and there honestly isn't a cut off age for this pact. You could be an eighty year old man and attempt to make a pact. Tell ya what, I'll go get everything ready. Rest for another day. When you're ready, we can perform the ritual for both you and Ayame," Saphira smiled sweetly and brushed some of Sona's hair out of his face.

"Then Ayame?" Sona looked to his ward and she was grinning happily.

"That's right! I took the entrance exam, Master Sona. I posses the dual affinities fire and wind, so Saphira offered to be my instructor, too!" Ayame giggled and hugged Saphira. "You remind me of Sona. You have the same aura," Ayame looked at Sona and smiled innocently. "She's already taught me so much since you've been asleep. I can already harness some of my mana," She exclaimed and climbed up on the bed with Sona.

'She is still just a child, but I don't have the heart to tell her she can't study magic. After all, she just wants to help me.' He laughed softly when she snuggled up in bed with him. "Oh? Well, you might turn out stronger than me someday at that rate," He looked up at Saphira and winked to her.

"I'm not sure about that, Master. You picked that bad guy up with just one hand. It was amazing. That's why I wasn't scared, because I knew you wouldn't let him hurt me or big sis," She grinned ear to ear and yawned softly.

"She hasn't left your side since our return, Sona. Ayame wanted to be the first person to know when you were awake. I've been teaching her what I could while she was here with you," Saphira reached out her hand and ran her fingers through Ayame's hair. 'She has grown so attached to him. There's no way I could separate them. She would be dead now if not for my foolish students interference.' She signed mentally and smiled at Sona. 'But that just goes to show how good of a man he will be in time.'

"Ellie, Deltune, and Jaesu were worried about you. I'll go and let them know you are okay," Kono went to leave but Sona grabbed her wrist. "Sona?" She was gently pulled back towards his bed.

"Konotsune," Sona reached his hand up and placed it on her cheek. Konotsune's face tinged pink as she leaned down and closed her eyes. Sona closed his eyes, too and pressed his lips against hers for a few seconds. Ayame had covered her eyes shyly, but was peeking through her fingers out of curiosity.

Konotsune pulled away and pressed her forehead against his. "Are you okay?" She questioned him with a worried look that was out of character for her.

"I am. That was for protecting Ayame and trying to save my life. I'm going to grow stronger, I promise," He whispered and let go of her.

"I will, too. That way I can protect you better," She replied and kissed his forehead. "I'll get the others. They will want to know your awake," She continued and quickly fled from the room.

"Well, well, look at you, Mister Lady Killer, you," Saphira shot Sona a cold glare. "Doing such a thing in front of your Master, how could you? We have yet to share a passionate kiss ourselves," She continued being overdramatic.

"We have, Master. When you performed the Rite on me," Sona scratched his cheek shyly and looked down at Ayame. She had cuddled up with her stuffed animal and long since fallen asleep on him.

"You count that? I didn't even get to use my tongue. How could that possibly count?" Saphira pouted before sticking her tongue out at Sona. "She's a sweet one, ain't she, Sona?" He nodded at her question and moved Ayame's hair out of her face.

"You are such a drama queen, Master," He laughed and shook his head. "I had always wanted a child of my own. I figured one day my life would just turn around. I'd be married, have a child or two and have my own house. Now, I'm a 35 year old consciousness inside a 17 year old body. It's still hard to comprehend that this is all real," Sona covered his face with one of his hands and sighed. "I'm scared this will end one day, and I'll wake up the same loser I was. None of you will even have existed," Sona rambled on and on drowning himself in despair.

"Sona," Saphira grabbed his wrist and placed his hand on her chest. "You feel that?" Her heart was beating against his hand. "I am real," She placed her free hand on his heart and felt his heart thumping, too. "You are real. This is all real, my pupil. And even if it wasn't, we would make it real. This is where you belong. I have no doubt in my heart that is the truth." She squeezed his hand that was placed on her chest.

"M-master," Sona gazed into her eyes that were constantly changing, but for now, they were a deep green, like the forests and jungles on Earth.

Saphira closed her eyes and leaned in close. "It's only fair, right?" She whispered to her student.