Asher's first meeting with the second prince wasn't all that pleasurable. After Kio had told Silas' off for making Asher feel uncomfortable, Silas proceeded to sit right in front of Asher as if Kio hadn't said anything. Silas asked Asher various questions about him while stealing glances towards Kio as if to gauge his reactions. Although Asher had no idea about what were Silas' intentions, he did took notice that most of his questions somewhat involved Kio or other members of his family.
"Tell me, Lord Asher, what things do you have in common with Kio?"
"What about Lord Ian? Do you have things in common with your elder brother?"
"I've heard a lot about your father's recent accomplishments. I hope your talents flourish and you help improve our Xestal Kingdom just like General Alejandro has done."
"I saw you exit a different carriage from usual. Did something happen between you and your family?"
"Kio told me that you weren't so close. What made you want to follow behind Kio like a lost puppy?"
The prince's questions had slowly turned more probing and insensitive. Despite the contents of his questions, his expression held a refreshing smile as his chin rested upon his palm. His blond hair swept across his face and slightly covered his chocolate brown eyes. He intended to pry open Asher's layers and figure out exactly why he had begun to follow behind his friend after years of them not communicating. It was suspicious, highly suspicious.
Kio is Silas' only close friend and the same could be said the other way round. They held each other in high regard and were comfortable enough to constantly bicker and pester each other. They had cared for each other when there was no one else around, so Silas had a good idea of Kio's homely circumstances and Kio had a good idea of Silas' political situation. Kio was not one to share much, but Silas was able to piece things together after a few visits to the Pierce family's estate and through Ian's and Asher's behaviors. Not to mention the rumors that Asher was the black sheep of his family that weren't quite rumors.
Silas knew how desperate Kio was to receive some sort of positive attention from his family even if Kio himself had been unaware of the matter. Kio had been starved of warmth, love, and positive reinforcement since he was but a young child. His teenage years, which are said to be the time where a child grows the most as a person, were full of abandonment and false hopes. If it were any other child, then they would've rebelled in some way to get his parent's attention, but Kio wasn't allowed even that.
Kio is the second-born child of the famous Pierce family; the family that has aided the royal crown since many generations ago. Kio is also in possession of the rare ice elemental magic and has an abnormally large magical core. He is being pressured by many people; both people that personally know him and those that don't. He is expected to behave a certain way, to react a certain way, even to eat a certain way and to gain recognition and honor at his young age. To protect himself from those hateful stares that were waiting for him to fail, Kio created that cold and perfect mask that he has perfected since then. Even Silas isn't aware of all of Kio's sides, despite being his closest friend. What he does know is that the real Kio that was buried deep within his subconsciousness all those years ago was slowly resurfacing because of outside help. He was even beginning to fuse his two personas together, creating an entirely new and reformed person.
Far from bad news, this was absolutely wonderful! Silas was ecstatic when he communicated with Kio via a communication device and saw how he had grown as a person during the time that they were apart. He saw how Kio's eyes were shining with an unknown fire that was brighter than anything he had ever seen on him. However, he was feeling apprehensive about Asher's involvement. Actually, he was feeling apprehensive as to why Asher had been involved. Asher was obviously the reason why Kio had changed so much, but he was afraid that Asher would leave Kio behind and completely break him to such an extent that not even his cold mask would be left untouched. If that were to happen, Kio would not only become a joke to all of society, but also to his family, more specifically his father who had high hopes for him. Silas wanted to know just how pure Asher's intentions are towards his friend.
Kio's eyes had hardened during the course of the interrogation. He nudged Silas a few times with his foot to make him stop with the unbearable questions. Kio had finally managed to get Silas to stop after kicking Silas on his shin. Seeing an opportunity to escape, Asher caressed Kio's hair and properly gave his goodbyes to Silas before quickly leaving with Pithos in his arms.
Silas kept staring at Asher's back with narrowed eyes as he left the room. He sighed and turned to look at his red-headed friend who now had messy hair and made no attempts to fix it.
"Are you sure this is safe?" He asked while smoothing out Kio's hair with his fingers. Kio nodded while slightly leaning into Silas' touch, his gaze serious.
"Things happened. I trust him, so believe in me."
The blond-haired prince could only sigh and nod his head after hearing his friend's passionate and doting voice. Well, I guess I could cut him some slack, Silas thought to himself with a tight smile. I'll just observe him for a bit, nothing major.
Silas quickly changed the tides of the conversation by talking about useless things that Kio held no interest in. He bugged and pestered Kio to pay attention to him by grabbing his arm and laughing loudly, his bright voice echoing through the slightly empty room, making Kio smack him on the back of the head in annoyance. Silas smiled and offered him a brownie as an apology. It was now Silas' turn to protect Kio's happiness with everything he had.
Asher ignored everyone's whispers as he walked through the hallways with Pithos in his arms. He could recognize a few faces, but once he locked eyes with them they would scurry away like mice being hunted by a large predator. Pithos was twitching, trying to hold back the laughter before hiding his head under his two front paws.
Jokingly frowning because of Pithos' antics, Asher arrived at his bedroom door. He could hear a couple of different voices inside and he began to grow both excited and nervous. Would this new roommate of his be his first actual friend?
"Hah! I got you now, Aziel!"
As soon as Asher had opened the door, a small fireball was thrown at him. Pithos had immediately raised his paw and slashed the fireball away with his claws before hissing towards the two young teenagers inside the room. The room fell into silence as everyone froze, not knowing what to do or say. The only sound being produced was Pithos' long meow. His meow was full of frustration and anger. His little human has suffered enough for today! To the two boys, the sound made them believe as if their time in this earth had completely diminished.
A warm hand was placed on Asher's shoulder. "Is everything okay?"
The young teenaged boy peered into the room. He saw his two friends, Zyair and Dashiell, frozen with their eyes widened in shock. Having a general understanding of what happened, the boy was quick to sigh and apologize.
"I'm sorry for the trouble the one idiot and slightly more intelligent idiot caused. I'm Aziel, and those two are Zyair and Dashiell. May I know who you are?"
Asher slightly turned his head to look at Aziel. Aziel had pure white hair that was kept up in a ponytail and reached his mid-back. His round eyes were colored with the combination of a striking sky blue, purple, and dark pink colors. Contrary to his cute and innocent appearance, Aziel exuded a youthful and mischievous aura. Asher had to raise his head in order to properly look at Aziel because of how tall he was. His perfect appearance was completed by his warm and creamy complexion. Asher noticed that there was something almost unreal about Aziel, yet he couldn't point out what that was exactly.
If Asher were to compare Aziel with the other two boys, he could definitely say that he contrasted greatly against Dashiell. Dashiell has an extremely dark skin tone that shone beautifully under the room's artificial light. He had short, straight black hair and was as tall as Aziel; although Dashiell had a more muscular build. His eyes were a warm brown color that turned into a hazel color once exposed to the light. Dashiell seemed to be the more hot-headed between the three friends.
Zyair, on the other hand, had a much more normal and gentle looking appearance. Zyair has light brown hair with a slight orange tint and lightly tanned skin. He was much shorter compared to Aziel and Dashiell, but he was ultimately taller than Asher. His downcast eyes were darkly colored and he sported a sheepish and apologetic smile, making him appear more gentle. Out of all three of them, Zyair was obviously the most approachable one.
Ignoring Aziel's question, Asher turned to look back inside the room with a frown. Once meeting eyes with Asher, Dashiell quickly looked the other way while Zyair began to apologize and explained what had happened in great detail.
Apparently, Dashiell hadn't received the memo that you could arrive in whichever clothing you wanted and opted to use the school uniform. Seeing as only he had the uniform, Aziel mocked him relentlessly while Dashiell rushed into his room and changed into his casual clothes. He had wanted to take revenge for his embarrassment, but it was Asher that almost took the brunt of the revenge.
After finally finishing his explanation, Zyair said: "Sorry to ask after what happened, but who are you?"
"Asher Pierce," Asher said while glancing towards his bed and frowning once again. The once pristine and unwrinkled bed had a few patches of dirt and burn marks. Those burn marks probably came from Dashiell. "Who else stays in this room?"
"Me!"
Dashiell proudly thrust his chest forward while his two friends shook their heads. Aziel and Zyair were slightly worried now that Asher was in the room with them. They had obviously heard what had happened during lunch and how Asher managed to make three older juniors his pets. They worried that Asher would demand something similar to compensation. Although Aziel didn't have to worry about it, Dashiell and Zyair were a different case altogether.
"Oh, that's nice," Asher said with a smile. He dropped Pithos on the floor before pointing towards his bed. "You two clean my bed for me, yeah? Since both of you were the ones that started this whole mess."
Once again, the room fell into silence. Aziel and Dashiell froze up and glanced towards Zyair. Zyair frowned and shook his head. "You heard him. Both of you should start now."
They both flinched under Zyair's serious gaze and began to quickly do what they can to salvage the situation. They went into the bathroom with the bed's sheets to wash out the dirt. There was nothing that could be about the burn marks, but they still rinsed it with water and a bit of soap. Now, the sheets were a burned, soggy mess.
All the while they tried cleaning the sheets, Asher took it upon himself to rob his roommate of the sheets on his bed. Dashiell's bed was still as messy as before, but Asher paid no mind to this. He uncaringly threw Dashiell's belongings to the floor before robbing the sheets and placing them on his bed. Zyair was witness to Asher's petty yet justified behavior and closed his eyes, pretending as if nothing had happen.
"What happened to all my shit?!"
Dashiell, who had just come out of the bathroom alongside Aziel was flabbergasted. Asher was calmly making his bed with the sheets that used to be on his bed. His suitcase was thrown to the floor without mercy. Even his sword was out of its scabbard! Dashiell opened his mouth to protest once again, but Zyair quickly shut him up with a single glare.
Having fixed his bed, Asher finally crumbled and heaved a heavy sigh. He rubbed his temples while climbing to his bed, taking off his shoes in the process. The three young teenagers silently stared at him while sitting on top of Dashiell's bed like children waiting for their mother to say something.
Asher sighed and shook his head. Today had been nothing but trouble.
Asher smiled and said: "That fireball brought back bad memories,"
That part was true. Asher couldn't help but be reminded of the time Alejandro had thrown a fireball at him. Thankfully, the fireball wasn't as big and merciless as the one before, so he hadn't suffered much.
"I'm going to need compensation for the trauma you caused me today."
The three teenage boys gulped. Not even Aziel, who was a special existence, could escape Asher's intimidation. Maybe their punishment won't be too bad? They hadn't exactly offended him, so they wouldn't become Asher's pets as the other three older boys did. Maybe they'll have to serve Asher for a while?
Zyair, Dashiell, and Aziel were frozen in fear of what would befall upon them. Seeing the expression in their faces made Asher smile even wider, creating more fear inside the boys.
"You'll be my friends for a month. If by the end of the month you don't like me, then you can leave and never talk to me again."
Dashiell pouted and whispered: "... Who would want to be friends with you..."