Nico had trouble sleeping that night after he and Leon hurriedly left the Academy.
'Ugh.'
He groaned and shifted to the other side of the bed. He couldn't get his encounter with Ana out of his head.
The looks Helian had given her also served to make him more restless.
Nico was worried the noble dragon would end up doing something that might harm the princess, or, in the worst case, cross a line that should never be crossed.
Which… was bizarre considering Ana was the heir to the dragon race, mighty, not to mention extremely talented for someone of their age group.
She was more than capable of looking after herself. So why had she then required his help to deal with Helian?
Mere politics should not have been an issue for her.
Nico's eyes narrowed slightly.
'There has to be something she's hiding.'
That was the only possible explanation he could come up with for her actions.
In any case, the fact he felt anxious for Ana remained.
…Which was strange.
Why did he suddenly care so much?
Had he succumbed to the princess's charms?
He frowned.
'No, that can't be…'
Nico refused to believe that was the case.
There had to be some other explanation.
After some pondering, he arrived at a tentative conclusion. She was just like any other person he had saved in need. Nico had just been there at the right place and the right time.
He would have still acted if it had been another person other than Ana who appeared to be in a bind.
Of that, he was sure.
So, why was Ana special then?
Maybe it was because she reminded him of Lottie. Those crystal-clear eyes of hers held a sparkling purity, much like his adorable sister did.
'Yeah, that sounds about right. She could be like another sister to me, then…'
Satisfied, Nico did his best to remove any thoughts of his embarrassing encounter with the princess and focused on quickly falling asleep. After all, the curriculum of SilverWing Academy promised to be extremely gruelling.
He would need all the rest he could get to survive the next few days.
***
Nico dreamt of the same strange nightmare he had back in the infirmary… the one where he fell through a bottomless abyss until a ginormous maw had snapped open and enveloped him whole.
He shivered, startled awake. His heart raced.
This was the second time he had envisioned such a dream.
Was it now becoming a recurring thing?
He frowned.
What about the vision of the Transcendents? Where did that go?
Did his Awakening have anything to do with the matter?
Nico's frown deepened.
'I'll wait until tomorrow to make a judgement. Third time's the charm, after all…'
Shifting his gaze to the clock on the far wall, he squinted and decided to ponder on the issue later.
'There's two hours left until I need to get up.'
He sighed and laid back on his pillow as he stared at the ceiling. His breathing slowly returned to its normal rhythm. Nico hoped his panting had not disturbed Leon. The half-blood was sleeping on the mattress he had set up for him on the floor.
'Knowing Leon, I'm sure he's in a deep sleep…'
He grinned, imagining the expression currently plastered on the burly boy's face.
Isaac and Oliver had decided to stay in the accommodation provided by the Academy, so it was only Leon staying over. Nico was sure the younger elf wanted to be as close to Lady Sabrina as possible, while his older brother merely wanted to look out for his younger sibling.
His lips curved into a sly smirk.
…It dimmed a moment later, though.
Nico's thoughts strayed towards Henry.
He had been putting off visiting the raven-haired farmer's family for a while now, though it was not exactly within his control. After all, the Awakening Ceremony waited for no one. The brown-haired boy knew he would regret it for the rest of his life if he had let his grief get in the way of participating.
Nico also understood that Henry would have scolded him endlessly if he ever found out that the brown-haired boy had put his life on pause for the farmer's sake.
…The green-eyed boy was just kind of like that. Putting his friends before himself, similar to what Nico had done in the dungeon.
'I guess we really are two sides of the same coin…'
A sad chuckle escaped the boy's lips as his eyes glistened with a few tears. Wiping his eyes with his sleeve, he sighed and slowly got out of bed, his limbs heavy and heart even more so.
Quickly freshening up, Nico swiftly got dressed. He left a little note on his desk for Leon explaining what he was about to do. With that done, the brown-haired boy crept down the stairs, stopped at the door and took a deep breath.
His eyes rippled silently.
Then, without wasting any more time, Nico firmed his mind and stepped outside his home amidst the first rays of dawn.
His destination:
Henry's home.
***
Dashing through the forest, Nico had a focused look on his face. His figure sped past the trees at an alarming pace. Tendrils of purple electricity covered his frame, flickering in and out of existence.
The boy's speed increased, flashing past an ancient oak. Rays of dawn filtered from the canopy above, giving him enough light to manouevre out of the obstacle's way.
Recalling the conversation he had with Henry in the Training Camp about where the green-eyed boy lived, he tried to suppress the tumultuous emotions raging within his chest. Particularly the irritation.
…Nico's usage of the Lightning Element was not doing him any favours, there.
When he first set out, it had occurred to him that this was a good chance to practice his control over mana manipulation and the Elements. And so, wanting to get to Henry's village as fast as possible - the settlement was three-quarters of an hour away from Airedale - he chose to use an Element that would get him there the fastest.
Nico's instinctive first choice had been Space. But then he realised the dangers of increasing his proficiency with that element without supervision. If he was not careful, he could just teleport himself into a tree or the jaws of a hungry Mana Beast.
So, in the end, he settled for Lightning. Even though it was still plenty dangerous - the brown-haired boy had to be careful not to crash into any towering behemoths all the while maintaining optimum speed - it was much safer and more predictable than teleportation.
Not to mention that for a warp to be successful he probably needed the co-ordinates of a place to teleport straight to it. Something, which he did not currently have. The drain on his seemingly endless mana reserves would also be enormous, enough to empty his whole mana pool, perhaps.
'Woah…'
Nico shifted his body just in time to get out of the way of another ancient oak. In his musing, he had almost switched off.
Shaking his head at the near miss which could have proved fatal, the brown-haired boy increased his concentration as his figure sped through the forest, crackling, and brimming with power itching to be released.