The next day at school is exhausting. Crescent ends up sleeping at 12, and her parents yelled at her for staying up so late. She rushes through the halls in school, and she makes sure to stay weary of whoever was going to make her day any worse than before. She has visible eye-bags under her eyes, and she's tired.
"Did you fight Crécelle yesterday or something?" Mint murmurs, Crescent glances at him.
"No. Very very close though" Crescent mumbles, she steals a grape from Ice's lunch tray. He pushes the grapes to her.
"Are you sure? It seems a little tiring for you" Estelle mumbles. "I can't have my only rival in parkour dropping dead on me in athletics"
"Just challenge Aaron. He's definitely a better person to parkour with" Crescent mumbles.
The table stares at her in silence, there was no way Crescent could ever understand how busy Aaron was. Being a champion meant helping the principal with whatever, and training until you had maxed out your skills. From rumors alone people assumed that Aaron was golden haired. He had eerie emerald eyes, and his brows were always furrowed. He almost resembled the eldest of his home.
"What does Aaron actually look like?" Crescent asks, she wants to know. She needs to know. She can't defeat him without stats.
"Eyes blue like the atlantic, and he's going down like the titanic" Estelle sings.
"hair amber, warm and dramatic, and he's going down like the titanic" Mint joins.
"Skin pale, bright as the sunlight, and he's rising up, out of a nightlight" Ice hums.
"That last one makes no sense"
"He's 190cm. He's a titan"
"But you guys are also?"
"We're close. Not there but close" Mint sighs. "Aaron's like the elder one of the household. Ice's family worships him"
"Tough life?"
"Very tough"
The lunch bell rings, and Crescent escapes school as soon a possible. She pays Ignes and Elios a quick visit, and drops off some food for them. She talks with them briefly, and then they fly off for the day. She makes her way to the tombs again, and she tries to airbend her way to Kenma. He notices off the bat, and he knocks Crescent off balance. She chokes on her spit thanks to him.
"You're too slow." Kenma shoots. "You need to go quicker and have more stealth"
"I hate you"
Kenma motions her to a puzzle, and Crescent gets to work. She finishes 4 rooms and gets tired on the fifth.
"Want a snack?" Kenma asks, he tosses her an apple, and Crescent bites down. It's juicy, and she's pretty sure it's one of the offerings that the school places for the old champions. No wonder Kenma was already developing his muscles. He's muscular, and despite not being too tall, he was agile. There was a lot to learn from him even if he was an ex-champion. He was no older than his twenties, and he had won against Aaron before.
"The competition is in 4 months. You'll have plenty of time to learn the bending styles. Help me get the golden cage first and then we can talk" Kenma states, he finishes another puzzle.
"What's even in the golden cage? A Dragon?"
"My animal guide. A dragon" Kenma smiles. His shirt hikes up his chest slightly and a dragon mark is spotted. There were rumors that he had the final black dragon as an animal guide. He had the personality, and compared to the current champion, he was far more ambitious than Aaron.
"What's Aaron's animal guide?" Crescent asks. Her voice echoes down the hall.
"Bloodhound. They fit eachother perfectly" Kenma answers, his voice is stiff.
"Does that mean he's bloody, vicious, and harsh?" Crescent mumbles.
Kenma nods. He finishes his nth puzzle, and around a hundred lie ahead of him. He works on the next puzzle, and he's confused at the sight of a three by three cube. They didn't have this in the streets, and he tries to pick at it, but he ultimately fails. Crescent takes notice of it.
"Wanna switch puzzles with me? That's a rubik's cube and I can solve it" Crescent points at the cube in his hands.
"Solve it. I could probably get it down in a handful of minutes but the quicker we go the better" He throws the cube at the girl, and she gets to work. She speeds through it, and when Kenma finishes her half finished puzzle, she's done. She places it in the lion's mouth, and the light above it glows a soft blue.
"Tell me about your time as the champion"
"The shells. They're still in power right?" Kenma mumbles and Crescent nods. "They were still in power then. They hate change and Crécelle was a new elite back then. She already had a clique, and Hatsuki was new as well. They clicked pretty quickly. I won champion fair and square. I didn't discover molecule bending back then, but oxygen bending was in my grasp. I reigned for 4 years before they kicked me out for treason. They shoved a poison down my throat. Do you know what it was?"
"Arsenic. It's a water type poison, so waterbending helps get it out of your system. It's a shame you can't bend it" Crescent mumbles, finishing the puzzle. "Your dragon mark. It can cancel out the Phoenix one right?"
"Yeah. I refuse to do any cancelling though. It means my bond with my animal would be broken" Kenma sneers.
"Ah. I finished the row" Crescent mumbles. She turns to see Kenma opening the door. The room is empty, and in the middle sits a golden cage. Kenma sends a gush of air to get rid of the traps, and he sprints to the center of the room. He grabs the cage, and he runs outside before they bury him alive. Crescent stares at the closed cage.
"How do we get him out?" Crescent mumbles.
"We don't have a key huh?" Kenma taps the cage. He grabs a fistful of dirt, and he earthbends one. He unlocks the cage with ease, and a 12 meter long dragon soars out. The dragon doesn't roar, he knows where he is, and he opts for wrapping himself around Kenma. Crescent stares in awe.
The dragon sends a breath of fire her way, and she doesn't flinch. He shrinks, and he sets himself atop her head. Kenma and his companion could be a potential solution to Crescent's phoenix mark issue. But she wouldn't know and they wouldn't realize it until it was nearly too late.