“What took you so long?” Arthur pushed a hand towards Elle, and he helped him sit up.

  Sitting with his hands spread on the ground, he finally started to breathe once more. Just a couple of inhales and exhales, and the stamina already found its way back to the double digits. Then he looked at Dee, gave the dragon a quick nod as if it was the most normal thing in the world, and then took a quick look at the debris where Vil was.

  “Vil…” He whispered.

  “Yes! Yes, I am alright, friend. I shall survive to fight another day, and to meet my love and my light, Celia!”

  Arthur tried to laugh, but his stomach hurt. Doing anything hurt. Way too much, actually. A little bit of blood started spilling out of his mouth, but he quickly wiped it off and looked at the sky. The knight had probably been hurt way more than this, but even now, he was only thinking about Celia.

  “Celia!”

  He exclaimed and stood up. Health dropped to 45 as more blood spilled out of his mouth, but with a little support from Elle’s shoulder, he stood up straight and looked at the woman. She was still standing where she had been standing a couple of minutes ago. Only right now, her face was dumbstruck. Awestruck, too, maybe. He quickly made his way to her, barely able to control his own actions.

  “Arthur!”

  Celia ran up and put an arm around his shoulder, propping up and against her. It felt good. His stamina started going up again. For some reason, even his health went back to 47 in a matter of moments. He smiled and sighed. Maybe the meter did take mental health into consideration after all. Who knew? He didn’t have the strength to think about the specifications of this thing right now.

  “That’s…Dee.”

  “The…dragon?”

  Arthur tried to laugh, but only coughed out more blood, “Yeah, the dragon.”

  Celia took her handkerchief out of her pocket and put it on his mouth. He happily took it and held it there. He had his own, of course, but he didn’t want to tell her. It even smelled like she did. But thinking that gave him goosebumps. Was he being creepy? It felt like he was being creepy for even thinking that. But that’s just what came to his head at that moment. He wanted to be by her side for just a little bit longer.

  Just a little bit.

  “Hey, take this.”

  His eyes fluttered open. He hadn’t even realized when they had started to drop down. Elle had walked up to them with a small potion in his hands. Arthur grabbed it without a thought and looked at it. There was a slight orange tint to it, and it had the consistency of syrup. He didn’t need to know more than that. It looked like medicine, so it probably was. There would be no point to him handing over poison after all this.

  Arthur uncapped the glass bottle and dumped it all in his mouth. It had a fairly sweet taste. That didn’t perfectly track with his knowledge of life-saving medicines, but there was a dragon and a magical horse in the parking lot of Middling High. That said, more than enough about his knowledge.

  The bottle fell to the ground, and he leaned against Celia once more.

  “H…hi!” Elle uncomfortably waved his hand.

  Celia gave a nervous nod back, “Hi…”

  Arthur almost forgot. It wasn’t just Vil, then. Every single one of them knew Celia, didn’t they? Every single one of them probably fell for the same person. His awkwardness said it all. The slight stars in the eyes said it all.

  “This is…Elle.”

  “Elle? O…k. That’s an unconventional name.”

  “I know, right? I told her, but she didn’t listen. Fucking Arcadia…” He bit his tongue and raised his hands, reminding himself not to go too far in front of the kids. They might have been keeping their distance out of fear, but that didn’t mean they weren’t excited to see a literal dragon.

  “Right. You told your mother not to give you your name?”

  Celia always had the best quips. Was that even a quip, though? He didn’t know. His health had gone up to 64, and was slowly climbing up even now. Stamina was already at 82. That went up way more quickly than he had expected.

  “No, I mean,” He tried, but quickly gave up and put his hands down, “Yeah, it’s way too difficult to explain.”

  “Elle, Arthur,” Celia sighed and shook her head, “The school I’ve been teaching in for the last three years is in ruins, and there is a massive, blue, real dragon sitting on top of it. Trust me, any explanation will be difficult.”

  Arthur laughed once more, but it did not hurt anymore. Even then, he acted as if it did. Anything to be here for just a second longer.

  “Oh wow, you didn’t cough up blood that time.”

  She noted it anyway.

  “Yeah, I gave him that potion, you know. That works, like, wonders with the body. Near instantaneously healed, actually. You can let go of him. He can probably stand at this point. Just embarrassed to admit it cause…you know…”

  “Y-yeah. Sorry. Here you go.”

  Celia immediately let go of him, carefully pulling his arm off her shoulder and keeping it where it should be. For a couple of seconds, Arthur stood where he was, staring at Elle with as much disappointment as he could fill into his eyes. But the man did not react. Even now, he was way too absorbed in the woman’s eyes. It felt weird to be jealous, given that he was literally him, but still. Arthur felt jealous.

  “This is a multiversal variant of me.” He blurted out without a moment’s hesitation, “Even the dragon. And the knight.”

  “Right…” Celia looked at them and then back at Arthur, “And why are they here?”

  “No, I am sorry. I might be a bit confused here. I think we skipped a few steps, didn’t we? Like, you know. The part where you get all confused and think he hit his head during the fight or something? And I mean, I am pretty sure he did. His head was totally bleeding.” Elle stepped up to Arthur and started looking through his hair.

  “But you just gave him that healing potion?”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Oh, nah, I mean, I did. True. Yeah…” He stepped back with embarrassment and then stood there between the two of them.

  Arthur kept his eyes on the man, hoping that he would get the signal and leave already. But no, he stood there. He kept standing there, completely oblivious to the situation. Celia looked at the floor and then back at him. Her shoes grinded against the ground with nervousness in them. What were they even doing?

  “No, but you actually believe me?” Arthur asked, deciding to break the silence.

  “Yeah. There’s no reason not to, is there?” Celia shrugged, “There is-”

  “A dragon in the parking lot, yeah.”

  “A dragon in the parking lot…” She sighed as she said it out loud.

  Arthur would have thought she was just being nice, but Celia taught primary school kids most of the time. Given the nonsense she heard on a daily basis, this was probably the most coherent thing she could have expected out of a situation like this. The dragon was just another Arthur Cross. Of course. Why not?

  “The woman…was she hunting you? I mean, she was, clearly. But why?”

  “Uh, I think he might be better at explaining that.”

  Elle cleared his throat and stopped looking at the nearby tree. It finally hit him that they were referring to him, and he quickly changed his focus. Adjusting his position, he nodded and spoke up.

  “Arthur, I mean, you probably need to hear this, too, anyway. I didn’t get much time to discuss everything with you back then. You kinda just fell out of the dragon and died, and all that. So, you know. Anyways, as I was explaining ear-”

  “Hold on, you fell out of the dragon and died?”

  “Yeah, but then I had a skill that caused me to time loop, so I’m fine.”

  Celia opened her mouth to question it, but then just settled on a, “Fine. Yeah.”

  Before Elle could begin again, though, she stopped him once more. Then, she looked back at the kids and then at the dragon. Vil had already gotten out of the rubble and was talking to Dee and Knuckleduster Joe. Celia looked at them once more, then at the kids, and then at Elle. With her eyebrows raised, she cleared her throat and gestured at the kids for a third time.

  “Oh? Oh! Yeah! Yeah, totally. I mean, think of him as your own dragon. Jump on him, kick him, bite him, whatever. It’s not like he’s a…fully functioning…adult. Not like…he has his own consciousn-” Elle nodded, “Yeah, they can go and play with him.”

  “Perfect,” Celia whispered and gestured to the teachers that it was fine for them to go and climb up on Dee’s back. Dark, Arthur thought.

  Elle attracted their attention by flailing around his arms once more and continued, “Anyway, as I was saying. Some version of us, about whom we still don’t know anything, did something to make someone really powerful, really angry. We do not know who this person is either. This is just information that our leader gained during the very first assassination attack. So, you know, that’s…mostly it?”

  “Wait. What part of that did you not tell me before?”

  Celia shrugged and tried to process everything he had just said.

  The kids reached the surprised Dee and started to bother him. Some touched his leg, and some started playing with his tail. Most were surprised to know he could talk and hold an actual conversation. Somehow, that made it even darker. To know that the dragon was not just some pet, but a whole sentient, intelligent being. Overall, though, it seemed to be going well. Dee was quite happy with the kids and playing around with them, too.

  “No, I mean, I just guessed you might not remember everything since you were in such a…precarious position. You know?”

  “Sure, yeah. That…makes sense.”

  Elle nodded and then looked at both of them one by one. Another long silence took over the unlikely group, and then the suited man slowly withdrew. One step at a time, until he was far enough away to act as if he had never been involved in the first place, and then ran back towards Dee to play with the kids.

  “They’re…colourful,” Celia admitted.

  “I mean, yeah. The dragon is blue.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “No, yeah, I know.” He nodded.

  Then, for a second, he kept his eyes on Celia. And she kept her eyes on him. He wasn’t sure what was going through her head. He would never be sure. It wasn’t his, after all. So, all he could do was pretend and make things up. Regardless, they had a softness about them. She was always fun to talk to, but there was something special about this moment alone. Maybe because, for once, he felt a bit proud of what he had achieved. Not a single kid had been hurt, and they had managed to get out of it all fairly scotch-free.

  Celia opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it again. Arthur opened his mouth to ask her what she intended to say, but then decided it was a bit too much, so he closed it too. The sound of the kids shouting and hopping around filled their heads.

  Then, he was punished.

  He was punished for even thinking that things were alright. For even considering that he had been able to get out of this without any issues.

  For forgetting that there had been two in the first place.

  “Celia, dodge!”

  He pulled her down at once and put his hand forward; closed his eyes. The enlarged fist kept approaching at high speed. But he could make it. He could just barely make it. One. Two. The kids started screaming. Three.

  Skill Activation

  Object Reversal

  Clothes floated down from the sky. The man who had been wearing them was gone. He was maybe ten seconds away now.

  “Elle!”

  “On it!”

  The kids had already been taken down from the dragon and were running away out of the blast zone. Dee got ready and looked up at the place where the assassin was going to arrive in eight seconds.

  Seeing her chance, Lana tried to move. Hand behind her back, she flicked it forward with her eyes closed. They had been closed ever since Arthur used his ability. And now, three.

  Skill Activation

  Atomic Resonance

  With six seconds left, Lana burst out of the rock prison that had been haphazardly created around her and shot straight. Unfortunately for her, that wasn’t a completely perfect move either. Instead of being able to control herself the way she intended, the speed caused her to crash into the closest school wall, headfirst. She crumpled once more and started groaning.

  “Celia, run!”

  This time, she did not hesitate or question it. She nodded and ran away, back to the children.

  Two seconds left.

  Arthur ran and grabbed Lana. If she stayed where she was, she would be caught in the blast radius as well. And Dee had been very clear before – they needed her alive. So, even though he resisted just a little bit, the pain in her head was way too much to overpower.

  Skill Activation

  Enlargement

  The fist came down at once. Smashing the school wall and a couple of cars sitting right beside it. All that was left once it withdrew was a pile of metal and bricks. Hopefully, nobody had been inside them. That is what he was going to tell himself, at least. That is what he needed to keep telling himself.

  Arthur reached Dee, who had lowered his body to let them on. Elle and Vil were already on top. Right as he got close to the wing, however, Lana bit him on the arm and wrestled out of his clutches. A single backflip and she gracefully landed back on her feet, completely free. She didn’t have her swords anymore, but that did not mean she wasn’t deadly.

  Taking one good last look at Celia, Arthur got on the dragon, and it started to fly through the air. From there, the three on the back watched the scene unfold.

  Lana ran to her jetpack and quickly got on it. The male assassin, whom Vil quickly identified as Johnny, tried to keep up with them, using his thruster to get closer and closer. But that didn’t go on for too long. As soon as she got on her jetpack, Lana shouted something at her partner, which made him stop. Then, with a quick smile, he let go of his control and fell back down. Hovering to the same lower level as Lana, Johnny stood straight for some time.

  “Wait…”

  Arthur could only whisper.

  “What?”

  “No, go back…”

  “What happened?” Vil asked, looking down.

  “Dee, go back!”

  Arthur shouted, banging on the dragon’s scales. But before it could react, it was already too late.

  Johnny headed for Celia and picked her up in an instant. She tried her best to fight back, but she wasn’t exactly trained for this. Lana kicked her in the face and her other hand as the jetpacks started to move together.

  “Celia!” Vil shouted, unsheathing his sword, “Let her go, you cowards!”

  It was too late, though. All Arthur could do was stand and stare. Stare, as the two assassins flew off with the woman hanging between them.