#animeboye

“What are you thinking about right now, Titus?” Sarah asked in a soft, concerned voice.

“A lot.” Titus answered, still making no movements whatsoever.

“You know what I mean Titus. What specifically is on your mind? Maybe I can help you sort out your thoughts.” Suggested Sarah.

Finally, Titus sat up, removing his cupped hands from his face in the process. His hands slapped his knees and he faced Sarah who took note of the unsettled look on his face.

“Well…” Said Titus with a sigh. “See, there’s just a lot that I’ve been trying to make heads or tails of. We still have no idea who Alan really is and now people have begun to disappear again. But…the latter is what’s confusing me the most.” Titus said contemplatively.

Just at that moment, Drake, Jake, Crystal, and Sean walked down the stairs and returned to the living room. Sarah asked them if Alan was okay to which Crystal explained that Alan had locked himself in Drake’s room and had repeatedly yelled at them to go away.

Drake scoffed, folding his arms in an annoyed fashion. “Yeah, he locked himself in MY room. It’s not like we didn’t give him his OWN room or anything.”

“I understand, Drake, but try to give Alan a break. The poor kid’s been through a lot.” Said Sarah empathetically.

“I know…” Sighed Drake exasperatedly, trying to be more empathetic to Alan’s situation but still feeling annoyed that he had barricaded himself in his room.

Groaning, Drake lowered his head somewhat and rubbed his temples. Crystal patted his back to try and comfort her friend. As she did, she thought about what the news report had told them and the more she pondered over it, the more she came to determine that the report made no sense to her.

“Hang on a sec!” Exclaimed Crystal as she removed her hand from Drake’s back. “Drake, you and your family defeated Saulstrance and his minions, right?”

“Yeah?” Drake answered in a confused tone.

“So, if Saulstrance and his followers were defeated, how are people once again disappearing?” Inquired Crystal.

“Because you only defeated the Followers.” Jake quickly chimed in, his fists clenched as he looked down at the ground with a troubled expression on his face.

Everyone gazed over at Jake who glanced back at each of his family and friends. From the look on his face, they were quick to determine that out of all of them, Jake seemed to be the most affected by the news. They figured that this was because, as Saulstrance’s son and as one of two surviving members of his group, he felt as though he was responsible.

“But that’s what I’m saying: we beat your dad’s followers. In that case, the only thing that should be left is to find the people who were taken.” Crystal retorted, not understanding the meaning behind Jake’s words.

“No, just—Look, you are right Crystal. You guys did defeat me and the other Followers but we weren’t the only group who worked with my dad. See, my dad had two groups that worked under him. The first one is the Followers. They were the group that I belonged to. Our job was to join my dad, help him find places and people to conquer, and then attack. However, should anything have happened to us, that’s where the second group came in.” Jake explained, his expression changing from one of concern to a more serious look.

“The second group?” Sean parroted.

Jake turned to Sean and nodded. “The Apprentices. From what I’ve heard from my dad, the Apprentices had two tasks: the first was to take care of the humans we captured, make sure they were fed and had enough to drink, and, under their supervision, be allowed to walk around outside for short moments at a time. The second task my dad gave them was less a task and more of a failsafe: if anything were to have happened to us, it would then fall on the Apprentices to continue from where we left off.” The half-dragon teen finished explaining.

Titus and the others took a moment to process everything Jake had revealed to them. In that time, it had suddenly occurred to Titus and his family that they had, in fact, heard of the Apprentices before. It was during their last journey when they encountered Rikai. The crazed dragon had introduced himself to the group as one of Saulstrance’s five apprentices and had been chosen by Saulstrance himself to assist him and the Followers in conquering the world.

Continuing to recall everything he had learned from Rikai all those years ago, he remembered Rikai mentioning something that, at the time, didn’t strike Titus as weird but looking back, Titus had realized that it truly didn’t make sense: despite being an Apprentice, Rikai had made a claim that he had never met any of the other Apprentices. This was peculiar to Titus as he rationalized that in order for the Apprentices to have been taking care of the captured humans for as long as they had, they had to have been working together at least since Saulstrance had set his plans into motion. Were this the case, Titus thought to himself, then why had Rikai never met any of the other Apprentices? If there were truly five of them, then why was Rikai the one to be selected to join Saulstrance, Jake, and the others?  

Titus asked Jake if he knew why Saulstrance had chosen Rikai to work with them to which Jake denied knowing.

“When it came to Rikai, dad never talked that much about him or why he was working with us instead of the other Apprentices.” Explained Jake.

Sean followed up Titus’s question for Jake with a question of his own: he asked his friend if he had ever met any of the Apprentices before.

Jake shook his head. “No. Other than Rikai, I have no idea who the others are or what they’re like.”

“Then, in that case, I don’t think it would be unreasonable to assume that they may have others among their ranks. If these Apprentices are continuing from where Saulstrance left off, then I think it’s quite likely that there’s more than four of them. And…if this is the case, then that leaves us with four questions: Who are the Apprentices? How many dragons do they have working with them? Who is their leader and where are they keeping the humans they’ve taken?” Said Sarah contemplatively as she leaned forward and cupped her hands together, resting her elbows on her legs.

“Well…” Began Jake. “My dad did mention having a Champion before. If the Champ is working with the Apprentices, then I think –”

Before Jake was able to complete his sentence, a portal suddenly opened up right in the living room, startling everybody and causing Drake, Jake, Sean, and Crystal to jump back a foot. They all watched as from the portal emerged a strange man. This man was bald and wore a black business suit with a blue tie and matching black shoes and pants. A serious look plastered on his face, he scanned the living room while everyone’s gazes remain transfixed onto him. Titus groaned, leaning back on the couch and held his hand over his forehead as he held his head straight up for a few seconds before turning back to face the man.

“You know, in our world, it’s proper etiquette to knock before coming into someone’s home.” Scolded Titus, both sounding and looking irritated.

“Oh, shoot, I’m sorry!” The man quickly apologized, his serious expression changing to one of nervousness as he fidgeted somewhat. “It’s just that…well, I’ve only been to this world so many times and Lady Minasha opened this portal for me, and… and in our world, it’s fine for dragons to…” The man began to drone on.

“Look…” Said Titus, holding his hand up to assure the man everything was fine. “It’s okay. I’m guessing if my mom sent you though, then she or dad must need me for something.” Titus deduced.

At Titus’s reassurance, the man’s face quickly reverted back to its prior serious appearance. The man confirmed Titus’s theory to be true. He explained to the dragon and his family that Titus’s parents…or rather Lady Minasha and Lord Cerquil had a very important matter they needed to discuss with Titus, Drake, and Jake. Immediately Titus and the others were able to determine what that important matter had to have been in regards to.

“I’m sorry to rush you and your sons, sir Doulstraz but your parents made it clear to have you brought to them as soon as possible. We should be going.” Said the man as he prepared to open up a portal.

Sarah snickered, nudging Titus. “Well, well, ‘Sir Doulstraz’, huh? How ‘bout that?”

Titus snickered back, grinning a toothy grin. “Right? It’s enough to make a guy feel like royalty.” He stated.

Deciding not to keep their guest, who had just created another portal waiting any longer, Titus stood up and began to take a step forward but stopped after four steps. He assured the man, or rather the dragon in human form that they would be going but that he first wanted to ask him two things. At this request, the dragon agreed to answer Titus’s questions and proceeded to close the portal.

“Okay, so first, you never did tell us what your name is.” Stated Titus accusingly as he folded his arms.

“Yes, I apologize for that. You see, my name is Clim. I’m the captain of your mother’s guards and I also serve as her aide.” The dragon whose name was given as Clim explained.

Titus found himself skeptical about this. He had visited both of his parents at the Leader’s fortress frequently following his mom’s being given the role of Leader and his dad the role of Champion and not once had he ever remembered encountering a dragon named Clim. When Titus asked Clim about this, the latter assured Titus that they had met on some occasions, or at least in passing and that the reason they probably hadn’t talked as much was due to him either training the guards or taking care of a task given to him by Lady Minasha or Lord Cerquil.

Clim could tell from the look on Titus’s face that he still wasn’t totally convinced. He figured that the best way to get his Leader and Champion’s son to believe him was to show everyone his true form. Taking several steps back, Clim took in a deep breath and focused. His body began to change as his muscles grew and bones rearranged. In just a matter of seconds, Clim had changed back into his true form: a golden scaled dragon with deep green reptilian eyes and a silver underside. It was upon seeing Clim’s true form that something sparked within Titus’s mind and he realized that Clim had been telling the truth. Indeed, the two of them had met on a few occasions but normally Titus, when visiting his parents would see Clim busy training the guards, taking care of a task, or generally just running around like a chicken with its head cut off. In the four years since Minasha and Cerquil became their village’s Leader and Champion, neither Titus nor Clim had ever gotten the chance to truly speak to each other. Titus knew nothing of Clim aside from what he had just been told and all Clim knew of Titus were the stories Minasha and Cerquil had told of him.

“Okay, that actually does explain a lot. Now, for my last question: why are you wearing a business suit, and how are you bald in your human form? I always thought a dragon’s human form would always have hair.” Asked an intrigued Titus as he contemplated how such a thing could be possible.

“Oh, that’s your last question? Well, funny story about that actually. You see, despite my role as captain of the Leader’s guards, I’m still rather young as a dragon. Granted, I’m still much older than you, Doulstraz but I digress. Anyway, until just eleven years ago, I had never even gotten the chance to visit this world. I had spent the majority of my life training to work as a guard and eventually make my way up to captain, or at least that was what my father wanted from me. Because of this, I never received the chance to learn about humans or their customs. So, once I became older and received the rank of captain among the guards, I chose to celebrate by journeying to this world for the first time and it was then that I laid my eyes on my very first human. He was what you call ‘bald’ and wore a black outfit much like mine and carried a large square container around with him.” Clim began to explain.

“That’s called a suitcase.” Commented Sean in a slight deadpan tone.

Clim continued with his story. “I liked the look of this man and wanted my human form to take an appearance similar to his. And that was when I did it. Studying this person and visualizing a human such as himself in my head, I transformed. However, shortly after I learned that humans were more…concerned with concealing themselves than we dragons are. I narrowly escaped but, upon subsequent visits, I found outfits much like those of that man and would always be sure to bring them back with me when I returned.”

“Very well then. In that case, we should be going.” Said Clim as he proceeded to reopen the portal.

Both Titus and Sarah stood up and approached the portal as did Drake, Jake, Sean, and Crystal. Titus hugged Sarah, promising that the three of them would be back soon. Drake and Jake made the same promise to Crystal and Sean. Sarah, Sean, and Crystal wished them luck and told them to hurry back. Titus nodded and proceeded to step through the portal followed by Jake, then Drake, then finally Clim. As soon as Clim had stepped through, the portal closed behind them. At the time, nobody had noticed but from the corner of the steps, Alan had been eavesdropping on their conversation. Slowly, Alan peaked his head out from around the corner and watched Crystal, Sean, and Sarah as Crystal expressed her hope that whatever they were being summoned for, the three of them be okay.  

Titus, Drake, Jake, and Clim traveled through the portal. After a short time, the four found themselves standing in a grassy field encircled by plateau. To their left rested a small pond surrounded by several trees in which four young dragons were playing under the watchful eyes of their parents who had been lounging by the pond their offspring played in. Further ahead several dragons conversed amongst one another while, to the right of the four, two slightly older dragons who were around the same age as Drake and Jake play fought close to a wooded area.  One dragon lunged at the other who swiftly dodged his attack then proceeding to swing his tail at his friend who had also attempted to dodge only to no avail. As he tried to leap out of the way, his friend’s tail smacked him in the side, knocking him to the ground. Several hundred feet ahead of them were two other dragons around their age who whispered to each other, making glances over in the direction of the two dragons and two half-dragons.

Titus, Drake, and Jake were confused. They thought that they were going straight to the fortress so why were they in Aanki itself? Titus questioned Clim on this, asking him if they were still going to the fortress.

“Oh, we are. But first, I wanted to do something for the villagers of Aanki. I thought it only fair to allow them to be able to see the heroes who defeated the villainous Saulstrance! The heroes of not only Earth but of Zalphonia as well!!!” Clim explained in a grandiose fashion.

Neither Drake, Jake, or Titus could understand why Clim made this seem like such a big deal. It wasn’t as though this had been the first time they had visited the dragon realm since defeating Saulstrance and it wasn’t as though this had been the first time since then that they had visited Aanki.

“Denizens of the village of Aanki! Please gather ‘round and give a warm welcome to the heroes who saved the human and dragon realms! Sirs Doulstraz, Drake, and Jakol!!” Exclaimed Clim in an overly dramatic way.

Paying heed to the captain of their Leader’s guards, the villagers gathered, talking amongst each other and wishing Titus a good day. Some gathered around Titus while completely ignoring Drake and Jake. This act took the two half-dragons, Drake especially, by surprise.

“Gee, thanks. It’s not like I didn’t have a hand in helping my dad stop Saulstrance.” Fumed Drake, folding his arms and glaring at the dragons who had surrounded his dad.

Jake sighed, placing a hand on Drake’s shoulder. “I know dude but…that’s sadly just how things are for us. I think they know but just don’t want to admit it.”

“That still doesn’t make it right.” Drake grumbled. “What did half-dragons even do to make dragons and humans hate them so much?” The discontented half-dragon asked.

“I wish I knew...” Was all Jake said, looking glumly at his brother.

While Clim was happy to witness a hero being given the respect and admiration he deserved, he understood that this couldn’t last all day. Lady Minasha and Lord Cerquil had requested an audience with their son and grandsons and, with how busy they had been as of late, he felt it wasn’t good to keep them waiting any longer than need be. He broke the group that had swarmed Titus away, telling them that, while they would like to stay, they had urgent matters to attend to and that they must return to them. Clim asked the dragons to form a line on each side so that they could be seen off. Complying with the captain’s request, the villagers formed a straight line to the left and the right of the dragons and half-dragons.

“Thank you all. Now then, shall we?” Asked Clim.

Clim, followed by Titus, Drake, and Jake, made their way past the lines but just as they were passing by the last dragon in each line, Jake found himself attacked from the side as one of the young dragons who had been talking with his friend ran up to and then rammed into Jake, sending him skidding several feet and knocking him to the ground. Drake, Titus, and Clim gasped as everyone fell silent at what they had just seen.

Jake laid on his side, his head, right leg, right arm, tail and wings resting in the grass while his left arm and leg were draped over his right. Groaning, he sat up, rubbing his head and leapt to his feet. He scowled at the dragons who had knocked him down. In response, they grinned mockingly, no doubt proud at what they had done.

“Ow! What the hell!” Exclaimed Jake, looking furious as he instinctively clenched his fists.

Jake’s anger towards being attacked caused the dragons to laugh somewhat.

“Look, Doulstraz might be a hero but we will never look at two skin tails like you as heroes.” The dragon who attacked Jake declared.

Some of the dragons who had witnessed this gasped as others began to whisper to each other, taken by surprise at the term that had just been used. Titus and Drake both glanced around, unsure of what was going on but were able to judge by the tones in the dragons’ voices that whatever it could possibly be, it wasn’t anything good.

“Hey now, that is way out of line! Remember, THESE are the grandchildren of our Leader and Champion, so regardless of your feelings towards half-dragons, you will treat them with respect! Now apologize!” Demanded Clim as he stared furiously at the dragon, eyes widened.

The dragon gulped nervously, his cocky smile having faded from his face. Slowly, he proceeded to open his mouth. He turned to Jake who stood in a pose that suggested he was ready to attack if need be. Then he turned back to face Clim.

“Master Clim, sir, I deeply respect you, I truly do. But I will never apologize to a skin tail. They’re freaks that have no race to call their own. They’re not human and they’re not dragon. They have no race to belong to and neither race wants them.” Said the dragon with an intense unyielding hatred in his voice.

“Hey, screw you, asshole!” Drake exclaimed furiously.

At that moment, everyone’s gaze fell on Drake who stood with tightly clenched fists, his teeth showing slightly as his body shook. He stood before the dragon who had been insulting half-dragons with immense anger in his eyes. The dragon stared at Drake, intrigued but feeling no sense of intimidation.

“You’ve got a problem with half-dragons?!” Yelled Drake in an outraged tone.

The dragon scoffed. “Me and just about the rest of our worlds.” He said matter-of-factly.

Drake snarled, his body shaking ever more violently. He closed his eyes, lowering his head, and changed into his half-dragon form. Without any warning, he lunged at the dragon, his eyes widened in fury as his fingernails changed into claws. The dragon took a defensive stance, preparing himself for Drake’s attack but before either was given the chance to strike, Titus, having morphed into his dragon form, leapt in front of Drake. Another dragon had also jumped in front of the dragon who had been taunting Drake and Jake.

“Get outta my way dad!!” Demanded Drake, looking at his dad with a furious look on his face like that of a wild animal.

“Drake, stop it! He’s not worth it! Besides…grandma and grandpa sent for us. We shouldn’t keep them waiting any longer.” Titus commanded as he tried to calm his son down and talk some sense into him.

But Drake wasn’t listening. The half-dragon hyperventilated, remaining desperate to get a swing in at the dragon for saying such horrible things about his race. Groaning, Jake proceeded to stand up, brush the dirt off himself, and approached his brother. Jake placed a hand on Drake’s shoulder. Drake looked behind himself to see Jake standing next to him. Jake frowned, a pleading look in his eyes. It was a look that Drake was able to determine right away meant.

“Drake, just listen to dad and let it go. Please.” Begged Jake in a soft tone.

Drake was about to speak when he suddenly felt Jake grip his shoulder tighter, his arm starting to shake. At that moment, Drake’s anger had begun to subside when he realized that Jake, whose body had been shaking just as Drake’s was, was just as angry about what that dragon had said as he was, perhaps moreso. While Drake still wanted to beat that dragon up for insulting half-dragons, Drake knew that his dad and Jake were right. This was not the time to get into a fight. They were summoned and they had to find out what they had been summoned for.

His head feeling heavy, Drake sighed again. With a glum look on his face, he informed his dad, Jake, and Clim that he was okay and that they should get going. Without taking a look back, he proceeded to walk towards the direction of the Leader’s fortress. The other three prepared to do the same but were stopped when the dragon who had stepped in to protect the heckling dragon called out for Doulstraz. Titus stopped upon hearing his dragon name and turned to face the dragon.

“Word of advice: watch that creature of yours. If it ever tries to lay a hand on my son, it’ll be a half-dragon with half an arm.” Jeered the dragon, still shielding the younger dragon who he revealed to be his son.

It was then that a surge went up Titus’s back. Bearing his teeth and digging his claws into the ground, Titus swung around, digging up some ground as he did and marched up to the dragon, getting up close enough to the dragon that their faces were mere inches away from each other. Titus’s eyes had grown wide from rage upon hearing this dragon insult his son.

“Listen to me and listen good: I don’t care what you say about me. I don’t give a crap if you think I’m a hero or whatever, but I’ll be DAMNED if I let you talk badly about EITHER of my sons! Drake is not a ‘creature’ and he’s not an ‘it’! He’s my son and you’d do best to recognize that!” Titus spat sharply and threateningly.

Taking five steps back, his gaze still focused on the dragon who stared back at Titus, scowling and not breaking eye contact, Titus swung around once more and rejoined Jake, Drake, and Clim. Without another word being uttered by either the four of them or the villagers, the quartet made their leave and continued along their path, with Drake taking one last look back at the dragon and his father. Flashing them an angry look, Drake held out his left hand which had been curled into a fist and extended his clawed middle finger at the two before he and the others disappeared into the woods that lay near the outskirts of Aanki.

Drake trailed ahead of the group, his finned ears flattened and anger still there but having quelled somewhat. His head was clouded with conflicting emotions, namely anger and sadness. It just made no sense to Drake whatsoever. What did half-dragons do to make them so hated by humans and dragons alike? While he couldn’t speak for any past half-dragons, he knew that he had never done anything to intentionally hurt someone and Jake, despite not having always made the best choices, was still a good person. As these thoughts continued to plague Drake’s mind, he hadn’t noticed as his pace started to pick up and his dad called for him to slow down.

“Hey, Drake, slow it down a bit! We’ll get there soon so relax!” Titus called out for his son only to have his words fall on deaf ears.

Titus hurried after Drake to try and get his attention. While he preoccupied himself with Drake, Jake walked alongside Clim. He took in a deep breath and exhaled as the events that had just transpired replayed over and over in his head. Being attacked, having his race and his family insulted, it all angered Jake just as much as it had Drake but there was one part of that that stuck out in Jake’s mind the most. It was a certain term that dragon had used when referring to half-dragons: skin tail. Curious as to its meaning, Jake asked Clim what skin tail meant. From just looking at Clim’s face after having asked, Jake was quick to deduce that whatever it meant, it wasn’t anything good.

“Skin tail is a horrible name used for anyone who’s born with human and dragon blood in them. While there are dragons these days who don’t mind half-dragons, there are still those who hold immense hatred towards them and take no issue with using such a vile name.” Explained Clim, a disgusted and uncomfortable look on his face.

Clim’s statement about there being dragons who didn’t mind half-dragons rang true, Jake thought. After all, Eig’nia, Theian, and Z’haer didn’t mind his status as a hybrid, he had been adopted by a dragon, and Eig’nia especially, had always tried to be there for Jake ever since he was little, basically acting as his surrogate mother. This helped Jake to remind himself that even though there were dragons and humans who had distain for half-dragons, there were also those who did like them and knowing many of those dragons and humans helped to make Jake feel better.

His mind slowly drifted away from what had previously transpired to thoughts of Eig’nia. While it never made Jake happy to see Eig’nia locked up, just getting to see her period and knowing that she was being well taken care of by his adoptive grandparents was enough for him. Just as Drake had when it came to getting to see his grandparents, it always made Jake happy whenever he and his family would visit the dragon realm and he was able to see Eig’nia. He would tell the dragoness about how his life had been going since his adoption and how Titus and Sarah had been taking good care of him. These stories were enough to reassure Eig’nia, and left her with no doubt in her mind that she made the right choice in leaving Jake in their hands.

Clim and Jake had caught up to Titus and Drake, Titus having managed to get Drake to slow down and listen to what he had to say. Drake, whose mood had improved at least slightly, apologized to Jake and Clim for rushing ahead of them and to his dad for not having listened prior.

“It’s okay. I understand how you must be feeling right now.” Said Clim empathetically.

Drake exhaled through his nose and nodded. “Yeah…” Was all he said.

“However…while I can’t say I much approve of your etiquette, I think it was admirable for you to stand up for yourself and your fellow half-dragons. I can’t pretend I wouldn’t have done the same. So, in that regard, well done.” Clim smiled proudly at the teenage half-dragon.

As they continued along their way, Drake examined his hand, clenching it into a fist once more. While he extended each finger out one by one, he wondered aloud if the dragons he had flipped off knew what the gesture meant.

“I’m pretty sure they know. Many dragons from our world do tend to visit the human realm much, much more than their distant ancestors used to and, as a result of this, have even managed to converse with humans without them ever learning the truth to their identities. Nowadays, even their youngest hatchlings have learned to take on human forms. And, since they visit your world so often, they’ve also learned more about human customs…and their gestures. So, in that regard, I think it’s very likely they know what you meant.” Explained Clim.

What Clim had said intrigued Drake, especially the part about dragons interacting with humans without the latter knowing. With this in mind, Drake had to ponder if perhaps he had ever spoken with a dragon in the form of a human yet never knew.

The group continued through the forest until eventually reaching a clearing. Once they had made their way through, they came upon a large fortress with an appearance similar to that of a castle and a moat surrounding it. From the center of the fortress stood a cylindrical structure which acted as a guard post and as the only way in from the top.  

The quartet approached the two guards who had been stationed in front of the ground entrance to the castle. Clim informed the guards that he had returned with the Leader and Champion’s family and asked that they be allowed entrance.

“Yes sir, Captain Clim and it is good to see you, sirs Doulstraz, Jake, and Drake.” Said the guard, stepping to the side to allow entryway for their guests.

“It’s good to see you too. I wish we could stay and chat but…well you know.” Said Titus as he and the others continued past the guards.

“We understand sir. You have urgent matters which need to be attended to. We can catch up some other time.” Said the guard understandingly.

Their grandparents’ fortress was the one place in all of the dragon realm where Drake and Jake could truly feel wanted. Back on Earth, the two half-dragon boys were able to make friends with little problem but in Zalphonia, not everyone saw them as heroes, let alone potential friends. While neither Drake nor Jake had ever been physically assaulted by any dragons until recently, they could tell that not all the dragons from Aanki looked at them as favorably as they did their dad.  It was for this reason that whenever they came to visit their grandparents, the two boys always wished to go straight to the fortress as opposed to interacting with the villagers of Aanki. Many of the guards who protected the fortress and Minasha and Cerquil always appeared willing and able to get along with Drake and Jake, treating them not as heroes nor as mistakes but as they would any other dragon. The other guards the two half-dragon boys were never able to get to truly know due to them either being too busy or out on assignment when they’d visit.

The group continued through the castle courtyard which was rounded and surrounded on both sides by walls made of rock. Two guards were posted at the far end of the courtyard next to a gate which led to the inside of the fortress. Spotting the group approaching, the guard on the right ordered for the gate to be opened. As Clim, Titus, Drake, and Jake drew near, the guards stepped aside, allowing them passage into the fort.

“Welcome back, Captain Clim.” Greeted the dragon who had given the order.

“And a good day to you, sirs Doulstraz, Drake, and Jakol.” Welcomed his partner.

“Hi there.” Drake greeted back, raising a clawed hand at the guard.

“Good to see you guys.” Smiled Jake.

“Hello.” Said Titus.

Once inside, the dragon who had allowed the four of them in gripped the chains used to pull the doors open from the inside and shut the doors behind them.

“If you’ll kindly follow me, the Leader and her Champion are in the master’s chambers.” Said Clim as he headed left.

Clim led the family to the master’s chambers. Along the way, Titus, Drake, and Jake watched as dragons frantically hurried back and forth, talking amongst one another in regards to issues that, as far as the three of them could tell, could very well be related to what they had been summoned for.

As they entered into the master’s chambers, Titus and the others saw Minasha and Cerquil frantically working, speaking amongst their subordinates and issuing them orders. Once they had finished speaking, the couple sat next to each other and sighed exasperatedly. Both of them understood that becoming Leader and Champion to their village was not going to be an easy task but even they couldn’t prepare themselves for the ensuing crisis. However, they found their stress somewhat alleviated as they saw their son and grandsons standing at the entrance to their chambers. This brought a wide smile to their muzzles as they happily called out their names. Appreciative of their giddiness, Titus, Drake, and Jake couldn’t help but smile back at them as led by Clim, they approached the two overworked dragons.

“It’s good to see you three. Thanks for coming on such short notice.” Minasha said gratefully.

“Yeah. It looks like things have been pretty busy around here.” Noted Titus as he watched dragons hurry in and out of the chambers, two of which flew overhead.

The smiles on Minasha and Cerquil’s faces faded away. They sighed and confirmed Titus’s observation. Indeed, things had been busy around the fortress and while they wanted to take a moment to speak with their family and see how they were doing, they knew that this was not a good time for catching up. In a tired tone of voice, Minasha began to explain why the three of them had been summoned by.

“It’s started again Doulstraz. People in your world have begun to disappear once more.” Minasha began.

“Yeah…We’re aware. Before Clim came, we saw a report on the news about the town you’re talking about, mom.” Explained Titus, looking troubled at the mention of the people who had vanished.

While Minasha and Cerquil both were pleased to hear that their family was aware of recent events, they still appeared perturbed.  Titus took note of the disconcerted looks on his parents’ faces and asked them what was wrong.

“Doulstraz…” Minasha sighed. “There have so far been three cities whose populations had disappeared.” The dragoness corrected.

This revelation rattled Titus and his sons, eyes widened as their mouths gaped open slightly.

“Wait a minute! Three?!” Exclaimed Titus.

“Actually, so far reports have confirmed that three places have lost their populations although we expect that there may be more.” Clim explained as he approached Minasha and stood at her side.

“One of these locations is outside where you live…” Minasha began as she opened up a scroll and read off the names of the locations that her guard had provided her with. “Mason, Wisconsin is the first one. The second is closer to where you live: Sidney’s Point in California. The last one is…” The dragoness paused.

“What?” Asked Jake.

Minasha looked down at the scroll once more then back up at her son and grandsons. The same concerned look she had on before had returned. Titus asked his mom for the name of the last town, unsure as to why she had been hesitating so much with unveiling the identity of the third location. Reluctantly, Minasha disclosed the name of the place, knowing full well that what she was about to tell her family was not going to be easy for them to hear.

“The last one is a place we’re more than familiar with: Baker Valley.” Answered Minasha in a solemn tone.

Titus gasped, his mouth dropping open and a horrified look filling his eyes. He couldn’t believe it, he didn’t want to believe it but he knew that neither of his parents would tell him this as a cruel prank or anything of the sort.

“Lee…Jimmy…”  Drake said breathlessly to himself.

“Adam…Frank…” Titus muttered to himself as well.

Jake clenched his fist and looked glumly at the rough, rocky floor, feeling an extreme amount of guilt for what had happened to the citizens of those cities. Even if he hadn’t had any hand in attacking them directly, he still felt that, as Saulstrance’s son, that somehow made him responsible in a sense.

“I know how you two are feeling but…please, Doulstraz, Drake, don’t blame yourselves. Doulstraz, understand that even though the humans from Baker Valley look at you as a hero, you’re only one dragon. You can’t always be there to protect them.” Cerquil said, trying his best to help his son understand that what happened wasn’t his fault.

“I get that!” Cried Titus. “But still…”

“Right now, the best thing we can do is travel to these places and see if we can find any survivors. That’s why we summoned you. Doulstraz, Jake, Drake, we want you four to go to these locations and see if you can find anyone who may not have been taken. Get from them a description of the dragons who attacked their towns and an estimate of how many of them there were. Afterward, report back here and relay any information you acquire to us. Once that’s been done, we’ll send some of our guards to go and assist them with anything they may need.” Ordered Minasha.

While the order given to them by their mother and grandmother had been quite clear, there was one aspect of what she had said that confused them: four? They were sure she meant to say three. When Titus brought this up, Minasha assured them that she did indeed mean four and that they would be accompanied by one of her guards: a dragon around the same age as Drake and Jake who had personally asked to be allowed to assist Doulstraz and his sons on their assignment.

“I’ve already briefed him on the task so he’ll be able to help you with anything you may need. Taioe!” Minasha called out.

Upon hearing his name, a dragon slightly smaller than the other dragons in attendance ran from across the room up to his master, a wide, ecstatic smile on his muzzle. This dragon had very light blue scales, dark brown eyes, and dark blue leather in his wings and finned ears as well as his scutes. His tail wagged around happily at the prospect of getting to work alongside his hero.

“I’m Taioe. It’s an honor to meet you.” The young dragon introduced himself.

“Lady Minasha and Lord Cerquil have told me so much about you three, as did Eig’nia but…EEEEEE, hearing about Doulstraz and his sons just wasn’t the same as actually getting to see them up close!” Taioe said giddily.

Taioe’s mention of Eig’nia made Jake remember that Eig’nia was being held in the very same fortress that they were currently in. Following the death of Saulstrance and Eig’nia’s arrest, the dragoness was first held in the summit that was protected and cared for by the Guardians. However, after a year, Minasha was able to convince both the Guardians and her fellow Leaders to allow Eig’nia to be transferred to a cell in her fortress. She felt that doing this would be fair to both Eig’nia and Jake since this would allow the two to see each other whenever Jake and the others were to visit.

While Jake desperately wished to see Eig’nia, he knew that this wasn’t the time. He, Drake, his dad, and Taioe had an urgent task that they needed to take care of.

“Well…” Titus laughed somewhat nervously. “I’m not sure how I feel about having a fanboy but I look forward to working with you, Taioe.” Said the darker blue scaled dragon as he extended a paw out to the younger light blue scaled dragon.

“Likewise. I swear, I won’t let you down.” Said Taioe, smiling confidently as he shook paws with Titus.

Alan didn’t respond. He looked down, embarrassed over what had happened. Titus took note of the look on the boy’s face and took a step towards him.

“Alan, don’t beat yourself up. You couldn’t control yourself at that moment, ok? I don’t hold it against you so don’t hold it against yourself.” Said Titus as he tried to cheer Alan up, placing a hand on Alan’s shoulder.

As Alan raised his head to look at Titus, he nodded in understanding, giving Titus a meek but grateful smile. Titus smiled back at Alan, happy to see that his words seemed to have gotten through to the troubled boy. Afterwards, Titus turned his attention to his sons and their friends.

“Go on, guys. Take Alan inside.” Titus instructed his sons and their friends.

“Okay.” Drake replied to his dad’s order.

“C’mon Alan. Let’s go inside.” Said Crystal as she placed her hand on Alan’s back.

Drake, Jake, Alan, Laurie, Tim, Sean, and Crystal made their way past the adults and into the house where they went upstairs, retiring to Alan’s bedroom. While they watched as Tim who was trailing behind the others disappear above the stairs, Sarah’s warm, happy expression changed to one of contemplation. She folded her arms and stared down, feeling troubled. Taking note of this, Jessie asked Sarah what was wrong, breaking her from her thoughts. Sarah looked up, unfolding her arms and turned to face her sister-in-law.

“Got something on your mind, Sarah?” Lucas asked as he went to stand beside her.

Sarah glanced over at Lucas then turned back to face the sliding glass door. Her eyes dotted around the yard as she returned to her thoughts. Discerning his wife’s unsettled body language, Titus asked her what was going on. Placing her left hand over her right arm and gripping it, Sarah let out a sigh.

“This is going to sound pretty weird…but…” Sarah paused.  “…Well, ever since we brought Alan into our home, I’ve just had this nagging feeling that I’ve seen him somewhere before.” Sarah finally brought herself to explain to her friends and family.

Titus and the others were initially unsure of what to make of what Sarah had just told them. They entertained the idea that Sarah may have just passed Alan and his family while she was either heading home from Angela’s shop or to or that Alan may have, at one point, visited the shop and she just couldn’t remember.

“See, that’s what I thought at first too but…I dunno. So many people stop by to the shop every day and their faces do tend to blur together at times but…hmm…I AM pretty sure I’ve never seen him around the mall. I know it sounds crazy but I’ve just had this feeling ever since we brought him home.” Sarah tried her best to explain to everyone.

“I don’t know. One thing’s for sure though: something really bad happened to that poor kid and whatever it was, it must have had something to do with why he hit me.” Titus mulled over while he rubbed his chin, scratching at the hairs of his goatee.

“Oh yeah! Speaking of which, Titus!” Lucas exclaimed.

“What’s up?” Asked Titus as he looked curiously towards his friend.

“Well, see I was wondering if you had any idea what Alan meant when he said ‘Give them back’ and ‘You’re going to pay for what you did’. Anything?” Inquired Lucas.

Titus shook his head and shrugged. He was just as unsure of the meaning behind Alan’s words as his family was. After a moment, Titus looked shocked at Lucas.

“Hey, wait!” Exclaimed Titus. “You don’t think I did anything to him, do you?!” Asked Titus offendedly at what he perceived was a possible accusation from his best friend, his right hand placed over his chest.

“No way, dude! Of course not. I know you’d never do anything like that to someone. We all do. It’s just that…this whole thing with Alan is getting stranger and stranger.” Lucas cleared up.

“It is.” Titus concurred.

A brief silence fell over everyone before it was broken by one of Titus’s neighbors, an older man appearing to be in his mid 50s to early 60s called out to Titus, asking if everything was okay and mentioning that he had been hearing a lot of noise coming from Titus’s house.

“Everything’s fine, Mr. Wilson! Sorry about the racket!” Titus hollered back to his neighbor.

“You sure? ‘Cause I could have sworn I just heard a kid over here screaming bloody murder.” Mr. Wilson continued to pry.

Titus assured his neighbor that everything was well and that the kid who screamed was the boy with amnesia who they were looking after. Titus went on to explain that Alan may have remembered something in that instant and that whatever it had been had freaked him out.

“Alright, dragon man. Well, I’ll let you get back to your business. Just take good care of that kid. Until he gets his memory back, he’s going to be counting on you and your family.” Advised Mr. Wilson.

“We know. And we’re going to do everything we can to help Alan get his memory back and find his family.” Promised Titus.

Following Titus and Drake’s battle with the Followers at the mall, some of the Flamel family’s neighbors had come to realize that they were living next to a dragon, his half-breed son, his adopted son who was also a half-breed, and his fully human wife. Others, however, remained skeptical and Titus was thankful for that. His only wish for his family following the defeat of Saulstrance was that they be allowed to live without disturbance or to be made into a spectacle.

So, if most of his neighbors didn’t believe that he was actually a dragon or that his sons had the blood of dragons running through their veins, then he was more than fine with allowing them to continue to live next to them, unaware of his and his family’s true identities.

A short time later, everyone began to return home one by one until eventually, it was down to only Laurie. As the sun began to set, Titus, along with his family and Alan, walked Laurie to the bus stop which was a short way from their house. The bus that Laurie needed to take would take her straight home back to Spring Heights, the lively yet town where Laurie lived with her adopted family. Just five miles from Spring Heights was another town which was just as bustling as Spring Heights known as Sidney’s Point. This was the town where Laurie and Alex lived during their days at A Piece of Home Orphanage and it was at this town that Sarah resided in and where she tended to the orphanage.

“Thanks so much for your help.” Sarah said, smiling at Laurie.

“You don’t need to thank me. I’m just sorry I couldn’t have been of more help.” Apologized Laurie.

“Don’t worry. You don’t need to say sorry. None of us had any real luck anyway so you’re good.” Titus said with a smile of his own.

“Have a safe trip home.” Drake said.

“Yeah. And come back anytime. We’ll be waiting.” Agreed Jake.

“I’m gonna hold you to that, Jake. Next time, all of us need to actually hang out together.” Laurie grinned at Jake, placing her fist on his chest.

“Deal!” Jake promised.

Just as the Flamel family was preparing to head back home, Sarah turned back to Laurie. She asked the teenage girl if she wouldn’t mind some company until her bus arrived. With a grateful smile on her face, Laurie assured Sarah that she’d be okay. Sarah, however, insisted, noting that it could take awhile for her bus to arrive. Not wanting to seem rude, Laurie took Sarah up on her offer.

Laurie watched as the sun slowly set over their Californian town. She looked over at Drake and Jake who were sitting next to each other right across from her, Drake’s hands cupped together and Jake’s arms rested over his legs. They too were watching the sky just as Laurie had been. She then turned around to face Titus who was standing behind his sons and then turned to Sarah who was standing behind her. Laurie pulled out her phone and checked the time. Only five minutes had passed since she got to the bus station. With a sigh, she decided now was as good a time as any to ask. It was something that she’d had on her mind for awhile ever since she had gotten the chance to know Drake and Jake a little better.

“Y’know, I’ve been wondering something: what’s it like being half-dragons?” Laurie asked Drake and Jake.

Both half-dragon boys looked at Laurie with a hint of confusion in their eyes. Being part dragon was never something Drake or Jake truly thought too heavily on. For them, being hybrids was as normal as drinking, eating, and sleeping.

“Well…” Jake thought best how to answer Laurie’s question. “I’ve never really been anything else so for me, it’s always felt natural.” Jake tried to explain.

“Oh…that makes sense. Guess it would feel normal when that’s what you’ve always been accustomed to.” Stated Laurie, sounding as if she was expecting a more fantastical answer.

“I feel the same way. I’ve always been proud to be a half-dragon. My wings, my tail, my fins, and my claws. I’m sure a lot of kids would probably just look at them and think that they’re just extra parts of my body but to me they’re not. My dragon parts are just as much me as my fingers or toes or hair and I wouldn’t give them up for anything.” Said Drake confidently, flashing a proud smile as he spoke.

“Ditto to that.” Jake concurred. Then suddenly, a thought entered his mind.

“Ooh! Laurie!” Jake exclaimed as he bolted up from his seat.

“Ooh! What?” Laurie repeated back to Jake teasingly but also with a hint of surprise at Jake’s spontaneous exclamation.

“You want to see what a half-dragon’s powers are like? Now this, THIS is the coolest part of being a half-dragon!” Jake said excitedly with a very wide, eager smile on his face.

Jake quickly glanced around the area, making sure that no one was in sight. With a sigh, Jake removed his shirt, placing it on the bus seat he had been sitting on, then proceeded to pull the back of his shorts down slightly to allow his tail to grow without ripping the seams of his shorts apart. Laurie wasn’t sure if she liked where she thought this was going. She asked herself, feeling more than weirded out what Jake was going to do. Before she got the chance to ask, he closed his eyes and proceeded to change into his true form. Laurie watched Jake’s transformation in stunned silence, her eyes widened and mouth hanging slightly open. She had seen both Drake and Jake in their true forms before but this was the first time she was getting to truly witness a half-dragon’s transformation in real time.

“And that’s what a half-dragon’s transformation is like.” Said Jake who was now standing before the awestruck girl as the creature he truly was.

“Wow.” Laurie mouthed as she scanned Jake’s body. She watched as his tail moved around behind him and his wings hung out behind him, their full glory visible for everyone to see.

“Does it hurt when you transform? I mean, your ears get pulled out, you have a tail and wings growing from your back. I’d imagine that’s got to hurt pretty bad.” Asked Laurie.

Jake shook his head. He explained that whenever he’d transform, his body never really experienced any real pain from his transformation. He believed it was because as Drake said: their wings, tails, and finned ears were just parts of their body so maybe their bodies recognized this and, as a result, didn’t produce a pained sensation when they changed. While she definitely believed it could be possible, Laurie had to wonder if that was truly the case. She asked Jake if his body was similar to that of a lizard’s in that regard. Jake tilted his head at Laurie’s question, asking her what she meant.

“Well, when a lizard loses its tail, the tail regenerates afterward. It’s called ‘autotomy’ and lizards do it when they’re faced with a threat. I was thinking since you and Drake are part dragon and…well I guess dragons are sorta giant lizards, that maybe your bodies have some form of autotomy which is why when you transform, you don’t feel any pain. After all, when lizards regrow their limbs, the autotomy process is painless for them.” Laurie explained.

Not just Drake and Jake, but Titus and Sarah as well stared at Laurie with surprised looks on their faces, feeling as if they had just sat through a science class and impressed by how knowledgeable Laurie was. None of them had ever considered autotomy as a possibility before. Drake, Jake, and even Titus had transformed so many times and with the process always feeling natural to them, never truly gave it much thought. To them, this was all just part of who they were. Jake scooped his tail up into his hands and looked down at it. What Laurie said did make some sense to him. After all, his tail was that of a reptile’s, even if that reptile was a mythical one.

“I guess that makes some sense. Huh. So then…me and Jake are essentially part lizard, huh?” Drake wondered aloud.

Titus snickered at his son’s statement. “Y’know, as a full blooded dragon, I’m not sure if I should find being compared with lizards offensive or not.”

Laurie snickered as well. Never in her life would she have ever guessed that she would be discussing, let alone hypothesizing on how the bodies of people who had dragon DNA in them worked.

At that, two thoughts suddenly crossed the teenaged girl’s mind.

“Say…Mr. Flamel.” Laurie began.

“You can call me Titus.” Said Titus.

“Okay. Titus, what’s it like being a dragon? I…man, I’m sorry. I just have so many questions I want to ask you guys. Like Drake and Jake, what’s school like for you guys and Sarah, what’s it like being married to a dragon? I know I’m asking a lot of questions but I—“

Laurie was cut off by Sarah who assured her it was okay and that they didn’t mind answering her questions. Sarah went first in answering Laurie’s questions. She explained to Laurie that she loved every bit about her life and that she wouldn’t trade it for anything. Getting to be the wife of not just an amazing dragon but an amazing person in general and getting to be the mother of two half-dragon boys was, in Sarah’s own words, “Like living my own personal fantasy story”.

Titus answered next. He explained to Laurie how, for the first thirteen years of his life, he never even knew he was a dragon, recounting the events that had happened in the dragon realm which led to his being sent to the human realm and being discovered by his adoptive brother, Ben. He went on to explain how, when he found out the truth about his past, he felt devastated, believing that everything about his life up to that point was nothing more than a lie.

“However, there was someone there who helped me see that both my human and dragon sides are as real as the other and that who I was and who I wanted to be was dependent on me.” Said Titus, smiling at Sarah as he rested his head on her right shoulder. In response, Sarah placed a hand on the side of Titus’s head, her fingers rubbing through his hair and rested her head on top of his.

“Aww!” Exclaimed Laurie, smiling at the last part of the answer Titus had given her as well as seeing the affection between him and Sarah.

For the final question, Drake answered first. He told Laurie that being a half-dragon who was going to school with humans had never truly been that bad for him. Sure he had gotten picked on in the past but aside from a few bullies who used to mess with him and his friends, Drake had never really been treated poorly for being a half-dragon.

“In fact, when I was in fifth grade, my classmates discovered I was a half-dragon after me and my dad were sent to the hospital from fighting the dragons who destroyed the mall. When I showed them my real form, they actually thought it was pretty cool and since then, my life at school’s been pretty much normal. I guess that aside from Sean and Crystal and the kids who were in fifth grade with me, the other humans I go to school with didn’t believe what they saw on tv four years ago.” Drake explained.

“Well, at least there was one half-dragon who got to live a decent life.” Laurie smiled sadly as she thought back to how poorly treated Alex was back at the orphanage. “How about you, Jake? How have kids treated you at school?” The girl asked.

Jake looked uneasy. Laurie could tell from the look on Jake’s face that whatever he was about to tell her couldn’t be good. Despite his feelings on his past, however, Drake and his parents had told Laurie how they’ve felt and what happened in their pasts so Jake figured it only fair that he tell her too. Jake told Laurie how, like Drake, he too was proud to be a half-dragon yet had a difficult time getting kids to accept him as a half-dragon. While he had only revealed his true form to a select few kids, he always feared that kids friends would think he was a freak if the only thing he showed them were his draconic appendages. So, to try and make himself appear cool to them, he would try and show them his powers: the ability to breathe fire and manipulate elements. Every time he did this, however, things ended badly.

“Back then, I didn’t have a good grasp of my powers and because of this, I ended up hurting more friends than I wanted to. Because of that, kids used to make fun of me. They’d call me names like ‘Fire Boy’ and claim that I was going to burn the school down one day.” Said Jake, a dour look on his face.

“God…they were actually saying that about you?” Laurie asked, a look of disbelief on her face.

“Yeah…yeah, they did. Eventually I came to fear my own powers, even hate them to an extent and I thought I’d never be able to learn to control them so, for awhile, I chose to keep my powers a secret. I didn’t want them to end up hurting anyone else. But that changed shortly after my eleventh birthday. I met two kids my age. A boy and his twin sister named Jericho and Cassie. Me, Jericho, Alex, and two dragons who used to work with my dad, Theian and Z’haer, went on a camping trip and during that trip, Jericho was almost attacked by a bear. To my surprise, Alex helped protect Jericho and, with no other choice left, I used my fire and my ability to control elements to trap the bear in a prisonlike box of fire.” Jake finished explaining.

Laurie repeated Jericho and Cassie’s names. She then asked Jake where they were now, if they went to another school or moved. Jake’s face became even further sullen. With a long, drawn out sigh, Jake told Laurie about what had happened to the twins.  It was one of many things that Jake was never able to forgive himself for, even if Jericho, Cassie, and their family had. Jake would always tell himself that what happened to their house was his fault and if he had just kept his distance from them after being told to, they would never had lost their home or any of their belongings.

“I was told that I couldn’t see them again but I didn’t listen. They were my best friends and I didn’t want to lose them. So, because I didn’t listen, Alex and I got into a fight and because of that, Jericho and Cassie lost their home. Afterward, they left for San Francisco. I think they might still be living out there.” Jake finished, a heavy feeling making itself known in his gut as he looked towards the ground.

Exhaling through his nose, Jake grabbed his shirt and sat down on the bus seat, cupping his hands and sitting them in his lap. Laurie, feeling guilty for upsetting Jake, apologized for bringing those memories back up, assuring him that she wasn’t trying to make him sad or anything of the sort. Jake, turning his attention from the ground, looked at her, smiling a somewhat sad smile, and told her he knew that she wasn’t trying to hurt him and that it was okay.

To try and take his mind off of the past, Jake reminded Laurie that he promised to show her something cool, something which Laurie, who had gotten so caught up in learning about her new friends, had almost completely forgotten about. Laurie smiled, her guilt fading away somewhat as she noticed how genuinely happy and excited Jake looked at the moment.

Backing up a ways to try and make sure he didn’t hurt his new friend or his family, Jake promised Laurie that now he had far better control of his powers and that he wouldn’t let them hurt her. Taking in a deep breath and then exhaling, Jake took in another deep breath, this time clenching his mouth tightly shut after doing so, and then exhaled once more only this time, instead of just air, a flame was expelled from Jake’s mouth. Laurie yelped, taking by surprise at the sight of her new friend breathing fire. She watched as Jake held his hand out and ceased breathing fire. The flame stream had formed into a ball the size of a coconut.

“Wh-Whoa!” Laurie stuttered at a loss for words, eyes grown wide at what she was witnessing.

“Oh, just wait! You haven’t even seen the best part, Laurie!” Said Jake, smiling proudly and confidently.

With his hand still held out in front of him, Jake took the hand he had that was still free and moved it in front of the fire. Laurie watched, eyes still as wide as ever as the ball of fire stretched out, becoming thinner. Once it was at a sufficient length, Jake moved his hand back once more, this time focusing on the center of the flame. He pulled his right hand back, once to the right, then moving it around to the left side and pulled his right hand back once more. Nearly finished, he moved his right hand under his left, placed his index and middle fingers slightly under his palm, and pulled the last part of the flame closer to him.  To conclude, he raised his right hand slightly above his newly changed flame and swiped his hand downwards in a quick motion, thinning out the flame. Once Jake had finished, not just Laurie and Alan, but Titus, Sarah, and Drake as well gaped in astonishment at what they were seeing: hovering right above the palm of Jake’s hand was a sword made of fire. Jake moved his hand up, the sword following with it. He swiped his hand down as his newly created sword followed his movements, a few small embers being released in the process.

“Jake…When did you learn to do that?” Asked Sarah, staring awestruck at her adopted son’s homemade, or rather lung made weapon.

“Hmmm…” Jake tried to think how long it had been since he had learned to manipulate his fire into different forms.

“Maybe a month or two ago? It’s something I had been trying to learn to do since seventh grade. Until recently, however, I couldn’t get my fire or any other elements I tried to control to work the way I wanted them to. Even now, the only forms I can manage are my flame sword and I can also turn my fire into flame gauntlets.” Explained Jake.

“Flame gauntlets?” Titus repeated questioningly.

“Yeah! Let me show you.” Jake said.

But before he could get the chance to, Sarah ordered Jake to put his flame sword out and change back into his human form, claiming that it seemed as though Laurie’s bus was coming. The bus read 46 and the destination read Spring Heights. Indeed this was Laurie’s bus. The girl stood up and walked to the edge of the sidewalk as Jake flapped his wings in fast succession to put his sword out. He then closed his eyes, changed back into his regular form, and grabbed his shirt, hurriedly putting it back on, then finally pulled the back of his shorts up.

The bus pulled up and opened its doors as three people stepped out. Once everyone who was getting off of the bus had done so, Laurie climbed aboard, saying goodbye to her new friends and promising that she’d be back to visit soon. Drake told her they’ll be looking forward to it. Afterward, Laurie paid her bus fare and went to take her seat. The Flamel family and Alan watched as the bus drove past them, its next destination: Spring Heights.

A short time after dinner, Titus called Ben and Rick, informing them on what they missed and what had happened involving him and Alan. Both Ben and Rick reacted to this with shock, asking Titus if they knew anything else about what prompted Alan to attack him other than that he saw Titus’s dragon form. Titus explained to both his brother and brother-in-law that during the time in which Alan had his episode, he said to “Give them back” and that Titus was “Going to pay”. This just served to give Ben and Rick more questions than answers. However, with how little Titus knew about Alan, they knew they wouldn’t be able to get anymore answers from him just yet. They figured that they would have to wait until Alan was able to recover his memory. With nothing else left to discuss, Rick and Ben thanked Titus for filling them in on what they had missed and promised him that if he and his family needed any help taking care of Alan, they shouldn’t hesitate to give them a call. Titus thanked the two of them then wished them a good night.

After hanging up the phone, Titus exhaled, then went over to the couch and sat down. He leaned forward, rested his elbows on his knees, and cupped his hands as he tried to make sense of everything that had transpired earlier. Alan’s words rang through Titus’s mind, repeatedly screaming at him to “Give them back” and that he’ll “Make Titus pay”. Titus knew that the trigger for Alan’s PTSD episode earlier seemed to be Alan’s seeing him in his true form yet he couldn’t figure out why that was. He asked himself if Alan’s attacker truly had been a dragon and if so, why? As far as Titus could tell, Alan seemed to be a normal teenager. What would a dragon want with him? Titus was sure there had to be another reason for it, he just wasn’t sure what that reason was. As he ran over several different possibilities in his head, he didn’t notice as Alan walked down the steps and hid around the corner, watching intently as Titus sat and thought to himself.

The next day, Sean and Crystal had gone over to Drake and Jake’s house to hang out with the half-dragons and Alan. There, the five of them spent their time in Drake’s room playing video games together and occasionally taking a break to either talk or watch shows and videos online on Drake’s laptop.

Drake was in his bed, laying on his stomach, controller in hand as he faced his TV. Crystal, Sean, Jake, and Alan sat leaned against the foot of Drake’s bed with Sean, Alan, Jake, and Crystal wielding controllers of their own. The friends had just booted up their favorite game to play for whenever they were together: Super Smash Brothers. Sean and Crystal brought their own controllers from home, Sean having brought an extra one for Alan to play with them.

“Hey Alan, can you remember if you played this game before?” Asked Sean.

Alan tried to recall if he had ever played Super Smash Brothers before. He was sure that before his memory loss he played a lot of games but he couldn’t be sure if he had ever played this particular one. With a shrug of his shoulders, Alan simply informed Sean that he wasn’t sure if he had or not.

“That’s okay. In that case, why don’t we quick let Alan do training mode before we play for real?” Suggested Sean as a way to let Alan become accustomed to the game.

After pushing the start button, the menu screen came up. Sean went through the menus, coming upon the training mode. As he selected it, he instructed Alan to pick a character for him to practice with and then to pick a character to be used by the computer. Sean suggested Mario, citing him as a good all-around character for beginners. At Sean’s suggestion, Alan browsed around the character select screen for Mario for ten seconds, unsure of who Mario was.

“Move the cursor to the upper left. He’s the guy with the red hat.” Sean pointed out to Alan.

“Oh! Oops, sorry!” Alan said embarrassedly. He hovered the cursor over the avatar of Mario’s face and pressed the A button.

“Now who should I pick to fight me?” Asked Alan, looking at the roster.

“It doesn’t really matter. You can pretty much tell the computer what to do in the pause menu so if you don’t make them do anything, they’ll just stand there while you wail on them.” Jake explained.

“Huh. Really…” Alan said curiously in response.

Moving the cursor around the screen once more, Alan decided to go with Marth for his opponent. Afterwards, he was brought to the stage select screen. After choosing the stage, the training match began. Drake, Jake, Crystal, and Sean watched as Alan experimented with the controls, at first simply tapping A which resulted in Mario simply executing a standard array of punches. He then pushed forward and then back on the control stick making Mario dash back and forth around the stage.

“Alan, try pushing the control stick towards your opponent then pressing A.” Instructed Drake.

Doing as Drake suggested, Alan pushed the control stick in the direction of Marth who had remained idle in the same spot since the match began. Once close enough, Alan pressed A causing Mario to do a sliding tackle damaging Marth.

“Yeah! There you go! Now you’re starting to get it Alan!” Complimented Crystal.

“Thanks. I’m just gonna keep practicing until I’ve gotten the hang of it.” Said Alan.

“That’s fine, go for it. We’ll give you any pointers if you need any.” Said Sean as he placed his controller in his lap.

Time quickly trickled down as Alan continued to practice. Drake checked his laptop’s clock to see just how long Alan had been practicing. Ten minutes had passed. The four friends continued to watch as Alan kept practicing different move sets but never trying anything else such as choosing the computer’s actions or using different items. While at first they were happy to help Alan get into the game, they eventually found themselves becoming bored as they sat for what felt like hours doing nothing except watching Alan practice.

Drake checked his computer once more. This time, fifteen more minutes had passed. He asked Alan if he needed any help but Alan assured him that he was doing fine and that he felt that he was getting the hang of it. Not wanting to seem rude, Drake said nothing else other than “Okay” and allowed Alan to get back to his training.

The four friends were becoming ever more bored and impatient. Sean groaned in annoyance, his head slouched over his right shoulder as he stared at the wall, mouth hanging open. Crystal was laying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, trying to imagine it as something else like the sky or a beautiful endless sea. Anything else so long as it was enough to keep her mind occupied. Jake had changed into his true form and was busy playing with his tail watching as he twirled it around in his hands and it flopped from left to right with each movement of his hands. Drake had rolled over onto his back and was watching his TV screen upside down. He yawned and rubbed his eyes as he tried to determine just how long they had been sitting and watching Alan practice. He took another look at his computer’s clock and noticed that another five minutes had passed. It was at this point that Drake had decided he couldn’t take it any longer. He and his friends were becoming bored out of their skulls. Initially he didn’t want to come off as mean or rude to Alan but he felt that this was truly beginning to push it.

“Hey Alan, you’ve been practicing for a long time. I think you’re good enough now that we can play for real, y’know?” Drake said, trying to sound as nice as he could as a way to mask how impatient he had become.

“I think you’re right. Okay. I guess that’s enough practicing. Now how do I exit out?” Asked Alan as he looked down at his controller.

Sean told Alan to press the start button to pause the game and was about to tell him how to exit out of a match but before he was able to, Sean was interrupted by Sarah who was calling for the kids from the stairs.

“Hang on, Alan. Don’t unpause just yet.” Said Drake as he leapt out of bed and hurried over to the steps.

“Yeah mom?” Drake hollered back as he peeked over the railing to see his mom standing at the foot of the stairs.

“Drake, could you and your friends come down for a moment? There’s something we need you all to see.” Asked Sarah, a sense of urgency and unease in her voice.

Drake took notice of the unsettlement in the tone of his mom’s voice. With this, he told his mom that they’d be down in a second and returned to his room.

“Is everything okay, Drake?” Asked Sean.

“I’m not sure. All my mom said was that there was something we all needed to see. It sounded urgent.” Drake explained.

“Urgent, huh? I wonder what it could be?” Crystal thought out loud as she stood up.

Everyone stood up and made their way downstairs where they found Titus and Sarah seated on the couch, looking worriedly at the TV. As Drake, Jake, and their friends approached, Drake asked his parents if something was wrong.

“Just watch the TV.” Answered Sarah in a cryptic manner.

The teens turned their gaze to the TV. A commercial was playing for a mattress sale. The friends shot each other confused looks as they pondered if this was what Sarah wanted them to see.

“You wanted to show us a commercial for mattresses?” Asked Drake quizzingly.

“What? No, you goof! Just wait. It should be right after this commercial.” Answered Sarah.

After one more commercial played, the channel switched back to the news. The news anchor announced that they were reporting in with reporter Trisha McCarthy on site at Sidney’s Point where the entire population of the town seemed to have just disappeared over night. This rattled Jake as a shiver ran through his body.

“Tom, just behind me is a town that, just last night was full of people. I now stand in a ghost town without the slightest hint of life to it. Men and women, their pets and their children, their neighbors and friends have all disappeared leaving only numerous destroyed and burnt down buildings remaining. If we go down this block, you will see the Piece of Home Orphanage. Here there lived more than forty orphaned children along with the nuns who took care of them but just like the rest of Sidney’s Point, this building sits without a single occupant residing within it. Tom, this situation is reminiscent of the disappearance of the population of the small town of Whiteridge which had happened four years ago and, to this day, Whiteridge’s people still remain missing. Tom.” Trisha McCarthy reported.

As the news cut back to the anchorman, Titus, Sarah, and everyone else either sat or stood with their eyes glued to the TV, perturbed looks plastered on their faces as they slowly came to realize what this recent turn of events meant.  

“Titus…?” Sarah asked in a nervous, shaky voice, looking at her husband with a disquieted look in her eyes.

A serious yet troubled expression appeared on Titus’s face. He faced Sarah and nodded, knowing right away what she was about to ask. Titus then turned back to face the TV as he lowered his head slightly and cupped his right hand over his eyes and sighed.

Just then, Jake’s cellphone went off from within the kitchen.

“I got it.” Announced Jake as he headed for the kitchen.

Grabbing his phone from the counter, Jake discovered that the number calling him registered as 619-727-6416 and the name above the phone number read Laurie Strong. With a swipe of his finger, Jake accepted Laurie’s call.

“Hello?” Jake answered.

“Oh, God! Jake, it’s Laurie. Are you guys watching channel 9 right now?!” Asked Laurie, her voice frantic.

“Well we are watching the news right now but I don’t know if it’s channel 9. Let me go check.” Jake responded.

With his phone still to his ear, Jake went back to the living room and asked Titus if they were watching channel nine to which Titus answered that they were. Jake then confirmed that they were with Laurie.

“We have just received an update on the situation in Sidney’s Point: twelve bodies have just been discovered around the town with five of them confirmed to be those of children. We are told that the wounds sustained to the victims appear as if something similar to a wild animal had slashed them open. Strangely enough, we have also been informed that at least three of the bodies have been horribly burned and are unable to be identified.” The reporter said, a subtle yet slightly disturbed look on his face as he spoke.

“Oh, God!” Laurie gasped, sounding as though she was about to be sick. “Jake, Sister Sarah lives there! I tried calling her before I called you but…You don’t think she or the orphans were…no…no…” Laurie repeated, not wanting it to be true but fearing the worst for her former guardian and the children who were under her care.

“Laurie, listen, I don’t think she or the kids are among the victims.” Jake said, hoping that his words would help to calm Laurie.

“But, then where are they?! How can a town’s entire population just vanish with only a few peoples’ bodies left over?!” Laurie asked excitedly.

Jake paused for a moment as he thought carefully about what to say to Laurie. She was panicking quite a lot and Jake worried that if he said the wrong thing, it would just make matters worse for her. With a sigh, Jake proceeded to speak.

“I don’t know where they are. See, my dad…my birth dad…he was the one that started this whole thing. We were the ones who attacked Whiteridge, me, my dad, Alex, and a group of other dragons who worked under my dad. Only my dad knew where they were sent and…he’s dead.” Explained Jake, fearing that what he said may have just poured gas onto the fire.

Laurie paused this time. Jake awaited her response with a tense feeling in his stomach. After a few seconds, Laurie finally responded to what Jake had told her.

“And how do you know that Sarah and everyone else who was taken are still alive?” Asked Laurie skeptically.

“Because…the point of our capturing people was to turn Earth into my father’s kingdom. He always talked about how he wanted to keep as many humans as possible alive so that they could be his subjects. That’s why, wherever Sarah and the other people who’ve been taken are, I’m sure they’re still alive.” Jake explained, feeling confident in his belief.

“Okay Jake. I do trust you.” Laurie said, the tone in her voice less hectic and more solemn.

“Thanks. I promise you, we will bring her and everyone else back home.” Assured Jake, a serious and determined look on his face.

“I have one last question, Jake.” Said Laurie.

“What’s up?” Asked Jake.

“Do…you regret what you’ve done?” Laurie asked almost accusingly.

Laurie’s words took Jake by surprise. He began to wonder if what he told Laurie about his past might have changed her opinion on him. From what he could gauge from the sound of Laurie’s voice, she sounded crestfallen with him. The thought of this depressed Jake but, even then he had felt much worse for having a hand in not just killing but also destroying the lives of people who had never done anything to him. Releasing a deep sigh, Jake answered Laurie’s question.

“Every day. Not a day goes by where I don’t feel guilty about what I did.” Jake answered regretfully, little tone reflecting in his voice.

“I see…” Was all Laurie said in a similar toneless voice to Jake.

“Do you think I’m a bad person?” Jake asked as he walked away from his family and friends and back into the kitchen.

“I think good people can make bad choices but I don’t think that one bad choice suddenly means they’re bad. I still think you’re a nice guy, Jake but will the people you captured before think that when you finally find them?” Laurie replied.

“That’s true. It scares me to think of how they’ll react when they learn that I was one of the ones who took them from their homes…but, I know if I want to make this right, then I have to do it. Thanks, Laurie. And thanks for not giving up on me just yet.” Said Jake, still sounding a little sad but also more optimistic.

As Jake concluded his conversation with Laurie, Titus, Sarah, Drake, Crystal, and Sean looked over to the kitchen, watching as Jake walked back and forth a little. Jake’s question on whether or not Laurie found him to be a bad person had made Titus and the others feel horrible. They knew that Jake wasn’t a bad person and they didn’t want him to think he was one. They believed that even if he did have a hand in kidnapping the people from Whiteridge that he still had a chance to make up for it and see to it that all of the people who were taken were returned home safely.

Just as the report came to an end, Drake noticed Alan who had a twisted, almost pained look on his face. He stared at the TV trembling, teeth gritted and muscles tightened as small gasps escaped from his clenched teeth.

Jake was the last to finish admiring his home. He couldn’t believe that he had lived there for four years. It felt much shorter than that. A huge part of him did miss his old home and on many occasions, he even found himself wishing he could go back, even if just for one day. Since his adoption, every time Jake would go through the neighborhood he once lived in, he would always take a moment to observe his old house and would feel a strong sense of longing.

Thankfully for Jake, however, he knew that his old house would be in good hands. Crystal, who had been his neighbor for a short time, met the family who had moved into Jake’s former house. The family consisted of a young father, mother, and their infant son who appeared to be in their late twenties to early thirties. Crystal and her parents had gone to welcome the new family to their neighborhood. Shortly after, the two families had become fast friends and Crystal was even given the chance to babysit the couple’s son on occasion. Since then, the Silvers and the family who had moved into Jake’s old house, the Krugers remained friends and Crystal would still look after their now four year old son John from time to time.

“I think you’ll like it here, Alan. Mom and dad, they’re really good people. They actually saved my life once.” Said Jake with a reassuring smile.

Alan was surprised at the mention of his new foster parents having saved Jake’s life. He wondered what must have happened to Jake for his parents to need to save him.

“C’mon, let’s go.” Jake ushered Alan to the veranda where the rest of Jake’s family was waiting for them.

Stepping into the house, Alan looked around, drinking in his new surroundings. He peered into the kitchen for a second and then walked in, observing everything from the fridge which was placed in the far right corner of the kitchen to the kitchen counter which encompassed the remainder of the wall. He then walked towards the living room. In front of him sat two chairs, a couch, and a recliner all seated in a circle around a small mahogany coffee table. To Alan’s left were two large shelves lined with DVDs and books. A 32 inch flat screen TV hung on the wall next to the shelves. Curious as to what movies and books they had, Alan approached the shelves and looked over all the titles Titus and his family had in their library. The Flamel family watched as Alan continued through the rows of movies and books with Sarah noting to her husband that they may have found out one thing about Alan: he seemed to have an interest in books and movies. Titus concurred but then mentioned how that had to have been a given. After all, who could possibly dislike books or movies?

“So what do you think Alan? We have a pretty nice house, wouldn’t you say?” Titus asked.

“Yeah. You have a lot of cool things.” Complimented Alan with a small smile.

Titus grinned at the boy. “Yeah, well, it can only get better. Why don’t you come up stairs with us? We have something we want to show you.”

Alan followed his foster family upstairs. There, they led him into a room where a blow up bed lay in the center with a desk situated near the doorway. On top of the desk rested a journal. Sarah led Alan over to the desk and showed him the journal.

“Here Alan. This journal is for you. We figured that maybe if you had something to write your thoughts in, then maybe you’d be able to remember something. I mean, you can use it however you want, you don’t just have to write in it. If you want to draw or, write stories or whatever, you can. I just thought that having something to record your thoughts in might help you to get your memory back.” Sarah explained.

Alan gave Sarah a small smile. “Thanks. If I think of anything, I’ll be sure to write it down.” He assured.

“That’s good. I hope it’ll be able to help you, kid.” Said Sarah.

“Well, we’ll let you get comfortable Alan. If there’s anything you need, be sure to let any of us know. We’re here to help you if you need it.” Titus told Alan, hoping that Alan knew they were there to help him.

Alan thanked Titus and the rest of his foster family and went to lay down in his bed. As everybody made their way to the door, Sarah turned back to Alan and informed him that they would be having dinner in a couple of hours. and that she would let him know when it was ready.

Sometime later, the family had a small quiet dinner consisting simply of ham and cheese sandwiches. As they ate, the family watched in utter amazement as Alan wolfed down his sandwiches in little time. Still feeling hungry, Alan asked for a few more slices. Sarah couldn’t believe what she was hearing. With how quickly Alan had consumed his sandwiches, he should have been pretty close to full, she thought. She’d had plenty of experience with large appetites given all the times she had cooked for Titus, Drake, and Jake but she had never seen anything like this before. Still with a sense of awe, she rose from her chair and returned to the kitchen to prepare a second helping for their new guest.

A short moment later, Sarah returned with a plate consisting this time of four slices of ham and cheese sandwiches. Immediately Alan got to work on his second course. He gobbled away at the sandwiches as the Flamels all watched in amazement and consumed their own dinner.

“Well I guess we know another thing about Alan.” Titus noted in a perplexed tone.

“What’s that?” Asked Sarah.

“The kid’s a big eater.” Answered Titus.

“Yeah, no kidding. I’ve seen how much you three can eat but even then, you don’t eat as fast as he can.” Sarah also noted.

“Oh, just the three of us are big eaters? Yeah, okay Sarah.” Said Titus sarcastically as he nudged his wife.

Sarah laughed. She had to admit, she herself also had a rather large appetite. While she wasn’t quite sure hers was as big as her sons and her husband’s, she knew that she could eat quite a lot too if she wanted.

Sometime after dinner, as everybody was winding down for the evening, Alan walked past Jake’s room. He took a quick glance inside to see Jake standing by his closet, his back facing Alan. While Alan wasn’t able to get a clear look at it, it looked as if Jake was holding something. Curious, he stepped into Jake’s room and asked him what he was holding.

“Oh, hey Alan.” Greeted Jake in a somewhat surprised tone, having been caught off guard by Alan.

“Check this out: this is a sword my dad’s friend used to own.”

Jake held the sword out in both of his hands, his right hand holding onto the hilt while his left hand held the blade. Amazed that he was getting to see a real sword, Alan stared down at the blade in amazement. As his eyes scanned every inch of the blade, he saw that something had been carved into it. His focus zoned into the word on the blade, Alan tried to pronounce it but found it difficult to do so.

“Two-er…tore…uh…jay e?” Alan said unsurely.

“Actually, the way I always heard my dad and his friend pronounce it, it’s ‘Two-er-uh-sh-a.” Explained Jake as he slowly sounded out Tourajé’s name for Alan.

Alan repeated the pronunciation Jake had provided him. He did this once more before trying to speak Tourajé’s name without needing to sound it out. Jake nodded in approval, informing Alan that he got it right. Jake then asked Alan if he wanted to hold the sword to which Alan obliged. Jake gripped the sword in his right hand and pointed the blade towards the ground so that the hilt was facing upwards. He held it out in front of him and allowed Alan to take it from him. The other boy held the sword, amazed and in disbelief at what he was holding. The feeling of holding a sword was incredible and Alan felt stronger just gripping the hilt in his hand.

“It’s a pretty cool sword, isn’t it? Believe it or not, that sword’s over two hundred years old!” Jake exclaimed, a wide smile growing on his face.

“Two hundred years old…wait, you said this was your dad’s friend’s sword. Did he buy it somewhere?” Asked Alan.

“No. See, my dad, well, my biological dad, not Titus was actually a dragon who had been alive for a little over 200 years. When he was my age, he and his friends went to this world and the oldest of my dad’s friends, Tourajé, took part in this tournament where he got this sword.” Jake explained.

“A dragon?!” Asked Alan, a look of shock suddenly forming on his face.

Jake confirmed Alan’s question and explained how he himself was a half-dragon who was born to a male dragon and a female human. Feeling as though Alan could be trusted with seeing his secret, Jake was about to switch to his true form when he noticed an uneasy expression on Alan’s face.

“Hey, Alan, are you okay?” Asked Jake as he tried approaching Alan.

Alan jerked away, causing Jake to pull back somewhat. He looked worriedly at Alan, pondering what was happening. Alan held his head low for a minute before looking back at Jake.

“Sorry I…I don’t feel good. I’m…gonna lay down.” Alan said as he hurried out of Jake’s room.

“Hey! Alan!” Jake called out as he followed after Alan.

Stepping out of the bathroom, Drake watched as Alan made his way past him. Drake greeted Alan but was met with no response. He watched as Alan entered his room and closed the door behind him. As Jake came up to where Drake was standing, the two boys stood in the hallway, watching the door to Alan’s room.

“Jake, what happened? Is Alan okay?” Drake asked puzzlingly.

“I don’t know...I mean, all I did was tell him about my dad’s sword and then told him about what we were then he had this really upset look on his face and just left.” Jake tried to explain as best he could.

“That is weird. I wonder what you said made him react like that.” Drake thought out loud.

Together the two half-dragons approached Alan’s room. Jake knocked on Alan’s door asking if he could come in. There was a brief moment of silence before the doorknob turned revealing Alan who stood before the two boys in the middle of the doorway. To Jake’s surprise, Alan appeared to suddenly have gained a more calmer expression than he had just a moment ago.

“Alan, are you okay? What happened?” Asked Jake worriedly.

“Sorry. I just…suddenly had a headache. I feel a little bit better but I still need to lay down. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Replied Alan hurriedly before once more closing the door.

Drake and Jake stood in front of Alan’s room for a moment. The two half-dragon teens looked at each other as Jake quietly asked his adoptive brother what just happened. Drake gaped open mouth, raising his finger as he was just about to say something but then proceeded to lower his finger and close his mouth. He glanced away from Jake as he tried to contemplate a reasonable explanation. Unable to come up with one, Drake looked back at Jake and shrugged his shoulders.

The next day, Drake, Jake, Crystal, and Sean were having lunch together outside of the pizzeria right across from Sarah’s shop. The four of them sat at a table outside the restaurant enjoying the shade that was casted by the umbrella that had been inserted into the hole in the center of the table whilst trying not to let the scorching hot weather get to them. After swallowing the part of her pizza she had bitten off, Crystal then asked Drake and Jake how Alan’s first day living with them had gone. The two half-dragons looked at one another unsurely.

“Well, for the most part it went fine…but…” Jake replied.

“But what? Did something happen to Alan?” Crystal inquired, taking a sip of her Coke.

“See, last night, I was showing him my dad’s sword, right? Well, he seemed pretty interested in it at first but then after I mentioned that Drake and I were half-dragons…he suddenly seemed uneasy. I know this might sound pretty strange but I wonder if he might have remembered something.” Jake explained, a quizzical look on his face.

“I don’t know. It’s possible but why would hearing about half-dragons trigger a memory if he’s way more than likely never met a half-dragon before?” Sean asked skeptically.

“Well, what I—sorry, I just remembered that what he reacted to wasn’t when I mentioned me and Drake being half-dragons; it was when I said ‘dragon’.” Jake corrected himself.

“Oh?” Replied Crystal with peaked interest, taking another sip of Coca Cola.

“Yeah. When I mentioned how I was the son of a dragon, Alan suddenly had kind of a grimace on his face. Then suddenly he just…left my room. I went to check on him and then all of a sudden, when he opened the door to his room, he seemed fine. Like nothing had happened. That’s why I’ve been wondering if maybe he remembered something.” Jake finished detailing the events of the previous night.

The other three friends went quiet as they mulled over what they had been told by Jake. Indeed, it seemed possible to them that Alan, for possibly even a brief moment, did remember something however, of all the words to trigger something within Alan’s mind, why would it have been the word “dragon”? They highly doubted this meant that Alan’s attackers were dragons. The wounds on his body looked nothing like the wounds that could be caused by a dragon and, they thought, even if a dragon had attacked Alan, why of all places would they leave him in a cemetery?

After taking a sip of his coffee, Sean spoke up and offered his thoughts on what it could mean.

“Ok, so I highly doubt that Alan was attacked by a dragon. I mean, if he was, then why leave him in a cemetery?” Sean asked.

Drake shrugged his shoulders. “Some sick sense of irony?” The boy suggested.

“Even still…why go after Alan?  What I think could have happened is that either before or after Alan was attacked, he might have seen a dragon on something like, say a statue of one or a picture somewhere. Maybe if we check the neighborhood where we found Alan or check any stores around, perhaps we could find a clue, maybe somebody who knows who he really is?” Sean suggested.

Drake agreed, feeling that Sean’s plan was a good one. He informed his friends that his parents were busy working on flyers and were going to get everyone together so that they’d have a better chance of finding where Alan came from. Drake also mentioned to his friends that his parents were hoping to have the flyers ready by tomorrow so they could begin searching for Alan’s parents right away.

“Alright. Then tomorrow begins the search.” Sean stated.

As Sean took another sip of his coffee, Crystal snickered to herself. Sean noticed this, asking her what was funny. Crystal assured him it was nothing, just that she found it humorous that Sean had started drinking coffee, especially with how he used to declare it to be “gross grownup stuff” when he was younger.

“Well, I’m growing up. I have to start trying more adult things.” Sean rebutted somewhat defensively as he took a larger gulp of his coffee, his eyes growing wide as the burning sensation brought on by his drink traveled down his throat.

“Uh-huh…” Crystal scoffed, shaking her head afterward. “Sean, you’re fifteen. You’re not that old. Besides, even when I’m an adult, I plan on sticking with good ol’ water and soda.” The teenage girl proudly declared as she took a large gulp of soda.

“I’m good with soda and water too. Some juice as well. Although, I wouldn’t mind trying some champagne when I turn twenty-one. I’ve had sips of it before but I’ve never had a whole bottle.” Said Drake as he took a drink from his cup of water.

“I wouldn’t mind trying some pot when I get older.” Jake said.

Suddenly, all focus turned to Jake who stared back at his friends, holding onto his soda cup and looking at them nervously as if he had done something wrong. With the three of them talking about drinks, they found themselves caught off-guard by Jake’s revelation of wanting to try some marijuana when he was older.

“…What? I mean, I can breathe fire. I’m basically a walking lighter already.” Protested Jake in a half joking manner.

“Yeah that’s true.” Drake laughed. “Well Jake, you can go ahead and smoke all the weed you want…so long as you share some with me.”

The four friends laughed amongst each other at this. Jake told Drake, in between moments of laughter, that he’d hold him to that. Drake retorted by telling Jake that in that case, he better not forget making that promise. Crystal and Sean added to this, informing Jake that that went triple for them.

“Okay, okay, I get it!” Jake exclaimed in an overwhelmed voice, laughing as he held his hands up in front of him.

As their laughter died down, the four teens finished their lunch. As soon as they were done, they returned to Sarah’s shop to help her set up the first set of fliers. The fliers were of Alan. They asked if anybody had seen him and listed his features such as his hair color, eye color, and gave a rough estimate of his age which was listed as being between the ages of thirteen to sixteen. At the very bottom of the fliers was the Flamel family’s landline informing anyone who may have had information regarding Alan to call the number displayed below.

The night prior, while Drake and Jake slept, Titus and Sarah worked on creating fliers in order to help them locate Alan’s parents or, at least someone who may have known him. Just as Alan was about to fall asleep, Titus came up to his room, asking the amnesiac boy to stay up for just a short moment longer. After capturing a picture of Alan on his phone, Titus sent the boy back to bed and uploaded the picture he had taken of Alan onto his laptop. With Sarah’s help, the two of them spent the night creating a flyer that they were sure would have to get the attention of somebody who knew Alan.

Later that day, Titus contacted each of his family and friends explaining the events regarding Alan to them and seeking their help in finding his family.  Much to Titus’s surprise, everyone happily obliged to help. However, not everyone would be able to help right away. Rick, Ben, Jessie, and Crystal and her family had either errands or work but informed Titus that as soon as they got the chance, they would be willing to come and help in any way that they could. Thanking them, Titus suggested that if they wanted, he could just email them a copy of the flier and then they could print out some copies to make it easier. Agreeing to this, Titus and Sarah emailed Rick and the others a copy of the flier, attaching to the email a message asking them to either show or distribute the flyers around their areas, Titus’s reason being that even though Alan was found in one neighborhood that didn’t necessarily mean that he lived there.

The next day, it was early in the afternoon when everybody who was able to make it arrived at the Flamel residence. Much to Drake, Sean, and Jake’s surprise and delight, Crystal had shown up as well. She explained to her friends that even though she did need to take care of some things with her parents, they had decided that it was better that she help find Alan’s family instead and that they’d join in the search a little later.

Gathered in the living room were Sarah, Lucas, Kyle, Jackie, Jessie, Laurie, Sean, Tim, Crystal, Jake, and Drake. After Titus had finished speaking with everybody, Jake contacted Sarah and Laurie hoping to get their help in finding Alan’s parents. While Sarah did want to offer her assistance, she informed Jake that she would simply be unable to as she had a lot to take care of at the orphanage but that if they wanted to, they could send her an email with the flyer attached and she’d make some copies to put up around town. Sarah gave Jake her email which Jake had written down and then given to Titus. With the email sent, Jake thanked Sarah for all she and Laurie had done for them. Sarah assured Jake that it was nothing and that she was just happy to help. Laurie told Jake that she should be able to make it and that she would just need to take the train down. Because of this, she arrived slightly later than everyone else but to her relief, found that she hadn’t missed anything. Originally, Jessie had planned to go with Ben who was going to be doing a reading of one of his books at the Barnes and Noble down the road from Sarah’s shop. However, Ben insisted that he’d be okay and that Jessie should go help Titus and everyone else and that he would come help as soon as he was done.

Before the group stood Titus and Alan, the latter of whom looked around at everyone in attendance, noticing some new faces as well as familiar old ones. On the living room table sat a stack of papers. These papers were all the fliers of Alan that Titus and Sarah had worked on. In this pile were more than fifty fliers. While Titus and Sarah had felt that they might have made a few too many, they rationalized that the more fliers they had printed, the better their chances in finding Alan’s family.

“Jessie, Kyle and Jackie, since you weren’t with us then, this is Alan. He’s the boy Drake, Jake, and their friends found and the one whose parents we’re going to be looking for today.” Explained Titus.

For a split second, Alan’s eyes widened and he felt his heart skip a beat at the mention of his parents. But before anyone noticed, his shocked expression switched back to one of blankness.

Jackie, Jessie and Kyle approached Alan and introduced themselves. For a moment, Alan didn’t utter a single word. The trio frowned, wondering if perhaps Alan didn’t like them. Finally, Alan spoke to them, telling them that it was good to meet them and offering a small smile in addition. This caused the three of them to smile back at the boy, taking solace in knowing that they hadn’t scared him and that he was willing to give them a chance.

“He seems like a good kid.” Complimented Kyle.

“I think he is. It’s just been rough for him given all that he’s been through.” Titus said.

“Yeah. Poor kid. I hope we’ll be able to find some way to get your memory back.” Said Jackie sympathetically.

“Well, even if we can’t find his parents, at the very least, finding someone who knows him will go a long way. Which brings me to what I called you guys here for.” Titus noted.

“You want us to put up fliers, right?” Lucas asked as he pointed to the stack of flyers sitting on the table.

“Well, yes and no.” Titus affirmed.

“It would help if some of these went up but you guys should at least hold onto one each. See, I was thinking that just because our kids found Alan in the cemetery, that doesn’t mean he was from the neighborhood the cemetery’s in. I think it could be possible that whoever attacked him could have left him at the cemetery.” Titus explained.

“Sounds like they may have had some sick sense of irony.” Stated Kyle.

“That’s what I said.” Drake responded to his older cousin’s statement.

Titus passed out several fliers to each of his family and friends. He suggested that they split into groups and search around their neighborhoods and around town to try and Alan’s family. Titus, Sarah, and Lucas made up the first group while Jessie, Kyle, and Jackie made up the second. Finally, Drake, Jake, Crystal, Laurie, Sean, and Tim made up the last group and would be accompanied by Alan himself.

As everybody was preparing to head out, Jake mentioned to the adults what he had told his friends about how Alan seemed to have a reaction to the word “dragon” and how he believed that it may have meant that it triggered a memory if even for a brief moment.

“Dragon, huh? Well in that case, we should be sure to keep an eye out for anything dragon related. Keep a lookout for anything with a dragon on it or something like a dragon statue or plushie.” Instructed Sarah.

“Let’s meet back here in three hours. We’ll search around and then report back with whatever we find.” Suggested Jessie as she placed a hand on the doorknob.

Jessie, Kyle, and Jackie made their way to Jessie’s car as Titus, Sarah, and Lucas headed for the backyard where Titus changed into his dragon form and took to the air with Sarah and Lucas sitting on his back, and the younger members of the group headed for the light rail station. Drake and the others decided long before the search had even begun that they would return to the neighborhood where the cemetery that Alex was buried in was located in an attempt to find anything about Alan. The others journeyed down different neighborhoods hanging up fliers and speaking with the people who lived in said neighborhoods asking if they had seen Alan. Each person responded with the same answer: they had never seen Alan before. Remembering what Jake had told them, both Titus’s and Jessie’s groups decided to check the stores within the area. As they browsed around, they made sure to keep an eye out for anything dragon related as they believed that whatever they found may hopefully provide something of a clue for them. After they would find something involving a dragon, the groups would then speak with either the managers or the employees of the stores, handing them a flier with Alan’s information and asking them if he had been in their stores three weeks ago. While many of them were unable to remember whether or not Alan had been a patron, some were able to assure the groups that Alan had not been in their stores.

Meanwhile, the group consisting of Drake and his friends arrived in the neighborhood where they had found Alan. Since they were in such a large group, Sean suggested that it might help if they split into two groups and ask around about Alan.

“Yeah, I think that would work best. We’ll be able to cover more ground then.” Jake agreed.

“I could take Crystal and Alan and look down that way.” Said Laurie as she pointed to the row of houses facing ahead of them. “Why don’t you guys take those houses? After we’ve spoken to some of the people who live here, we’ll go check some of the stores around this neighborhood.” Laurie concluded, pointing to the row of houses behind them.

“’K. That sounds good. See you in a bit.” Said Drake.

“Yep. ‘Til then.” Crystal smiled as she waved to her friends.

Drake, Sean, Jake, and Tim went one way while Laurie, Crystal, and Alan went the other. They hung up fliers around the neighborhood and spoke with the people who resided there, asking if they had seen Alan or anybody who may have been with him three weeks ago. Like with Titus and Jessie’s groups, the kids were all met with the same answer. With the responses all being the same, the kids were starting to feel as though finding somebody who knew Alan was becoming fruitless.

“This is so hopeless!” Crystal exclaimed in frustration, her fingers clutching at her hair in annoyance.

“Crystal, relax. It’s not going to do us or Alan any good to get angry.” Laurie said in a soft, calm voice as she tried to calm Crystal down.

“I know. I just…GUH!!” Crystal spat, her temper subsiding slightly.

Crystal turned to Alan who was walking slightly behind her and Laurie and apologized for getting so frustrated. Alan assured her it was okay and apologized himself for not being helpful but Laurie told him that he had nothing to apologize for and that this wasn’t his fault.

“No matter what, we’ll help you find your family or someone you might know and hopefully that should get you your memory back.” Laurie said, smiling warmly at Alan.

Alan smiled back and thanked her and Crystal for doing all this for him.

After some more houses on the boys’ side, they too had begun to feel as though they’d never manage to find anyone who may have known Alan.

Sean sighed in exasperation. He clutched one of the fliers in his hand and looked squarely at the small rectangular picture of Alan printed in the upper left section of the paper.

“I guess Alan isn’t from this neighborhood.” Said Tim as he cupped his hands behind his head and gazed into the sky.

“It doesn’t seem that way, little bro.” Sean agreed as he broke his attention from the flier.

“Well, should we go check some of the stores around here?” Offered Drake who was sounding almost as fatigued as his best friend.

Sean took in another breath then nodded a few times as he exhaled. “Yeah. Who knows? We might have better luck if we do that.” He said.

As the boys departed from the neighborhood, the girls and Alan tried three more houses before they themselves decided to throw in the towel.

“Well, we haven’t found anything out here. Wanna go check the stores now?” Crystal asked with a sigh of exhaustion.

“Yeah. Who knows? Maybe the stores will give us the luck we need.” Laurie said tiredly. The three of them made their way through the neighborhood. As they did, Crystal tried to think of something to talk about to pass the time. Suddenly, an idea for what they could discuss crossed Crystal’s mind: since it was just her, Laurie, and Alan right now, she believed that now might be a good time to get to know Laurie a little better.

“Hey Laurie. There was something I was wondering about.” Began Crystal.

“What’s up?” Laurie asked.

“Well, you and Alex grew up at the same orphanage. Do you remember what he was like back then?” Crystal asked.

“Hmm…” Laurie took a moment to think of how best to describe Alex from when she knew him. “Well…Alex had a lot of trouble making friends. The other kids were horrible to him because he had a tail, finned ears, and wings… even some of the grown-ups didn’t care much for him, especially not the mother superior, that horrible old hag.” Laurie explained, a strong sense of bitterness and hatred in her voice when she brought up her former mother superior.

“Mother superior?” Crystal noted, taking intrigue in the way Laurie spoke of her.

“She was horrible. She never spoke of Alex as a person and just looked at him as a thing. I’m glad she left the orphanage. She made that place hell for a lot of us, especially since she loved to play favorites. See, the kids used to pick on me too before Alex came. They’d kick me, hit me, throw things at me, one time a kid even bit me. I still have a scar from it right on my right shoulder.” Laurie explained, a grim, saddened look on her face.

“Jesus…” Said Crystal in complete disbelief at what Laurie was telling her.

“After Alex arrived, the kids torment gravitated towards him and I was left alone. I always hated the way they treated me but the way they picked on Alex was somehow even worse. I had seen kids try to squeeze Alex’s tail as hard as they could until he couldn’t even stand anymore and one time this group of bullies pinned Alex to the ground as one of them sat on his back and tried pulling his wings off.” Laurie continued, a sickened and saddened look washing over her face.

“Oh, God, that…that’s way too cruel…” Said Crystal empathetically, appearing just as saddened as Laurie.

Alan listened silently to the story Laurie was telling them. He wondered if maybe the reason he was found bloodied and beaten was because some bullies decided to hurt him just as how Alex’s bullies had done to him.

“I think that’s part of why I tried to stand up for Alex. Really though, I like to think I would have tried to be there for him even if I hadn’t been bullied myself, y’know? In a weird way, I think that trying to protect Alex actually helped to make me braver. Before I met him, I never would have tried to defend myself the way I came to defend him. I don’t want to say what happened to him was good but I am glad that he was able to give me strength. I just hope that, in the end, I was able to do the same for him.” Laurie concluded, now a small hopeful smile formed on her face.

Crystal smiled back at Laurie and told her that she believed that she had been able to give him strength. Crystal explained that while she didn’t get to know Alex for too long during their first and only confrontation, she did feel that he was a strong willed person albeit a somewhat misguided one. Interested in Crystal’s description of what her best friend from the orphanage became, Laurie asked Crystal to explain to her what had happened after Alex was adopted. For the rest of their journey through the neighborhood, Crystal recounted the last adventure she had embarked on with her friends leading up to Drake’s battle with Alex and finishing at the final confrontation with Saulstrance. As soon as Crystal had concluded, Laurie was left awestruck. Her mouth fell slightly open as she tried to process everything she had been told. Even though the proof had been right in front of her in the form of Alex, Laurie still couldn’t believe that there was really a world where dragons came from and that one of those dragons who ended up being Alex’s adoptive father and Jake’s biological father had tried to turn Earth into his own kingdom. She felt as if she was being told the story to a movie.

At that same moment, Jessie and her grown children had just finished speaking with an older man who had been out walking his dog around the neighborhood. Sighing, Kyle raised his hand up and dropped it back down, shaking his head, unsure of what else they could do.

“I hope the others have been having better luck than us.” Jackie said.

“Yeah. I hate to say it but I don’t think we’re going to find anybody who knows Alan here.” Jessie admitted, sounding defeated.

“Should we maybe just head back and wait for everybody? I mean, we’ve tried the stores, we’ve checked at a ton of different houses, we’ve spoken to some people on the streets, and there’s nobody who knows who Alan is! I think we should just go back to Uncle Titus’s house and wait for everybody.” Kyle suggested, sounding somewhat irate.

“That might not be such a bad idea, Kyle. Besides, it’s been almost three hours anyway. By the time we get back, everyone else should either be there or just be arriving.” Jackie agreed with her younger brother.

With the three in agreement, Jessie and her children returned to the former’s car and drove back to Titus’s house. Along the way, Jessie asked how things had been going for Kyle and Jackie. Kyle informed his mom that he had been enjoying living with his girlfriend, Michelle. When asked why Michelle didn’t join them in looking for Alan’s family, Kyle explained that Michelle was out of town visiting her family in Solana Beach and wouldn’t be back until Wednesday.  

“Well I hope she’s having a good time.” Smiled Jessie at her son. “By the way, Kyle, have you been regulating your drinking?” She asked somewhat accusingly.

“Don’t worry, mom. I haven’t fallen off the wagon. Not since…well, you remember.” Kyle answered his mom somewhat nervously.

“Remember what?” Asked Jessie, raising an eyebrow at Kyle.

“Yeah. What are you talking about?” Jackie asked, also not understanding what her brother was talking about.

Kyle, who had been sitting in the backseat of his mom’s car, leaned forward and whispered into his mom’s ear and then into his sister’s.

“Oh yeah. That.” Jessie said in a deadpan tone, an unamused look on her face.

“Yeeeeeeaaaah…John sure wasn’t happy with me after that…” Kyle laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck in nervousness as he did.

“Speaking of John, why wasn’t he with you, sweetie?” Jessie asked her daughter.

“John got called into the office last minute for a meeting. He said that he wanted to help but that it sounded rather urgent.” Explained Jackie.

“Well that’s too bad. I would’ve liked to have seen my future son-in-law…and my future daughter-in-law too.” Jessie teased, a small grin on her face.

Both Jackie and Kyle gasped at the same time, their faces turning bright red. Indeed, the two siblings did want to eventually marry their significant others but both of them worried that that time would still be in the far future. While John and Jackie both had rather nice incomes from their jobs at the office, the two of them were often so preoccupied with their work that they worried that they wouldn’t truly be able to tie the knot or even start a family anytime soon. The same went with Kyle who, unlike his older sister, had been stuck working a dead end part time job at a small convenience store since leaving college. Kyle was only able to retain his apartment with the help of Michelle. Kyle would often say that if it wasn’t for Michelle and her job which, unfortunately for both of them, only paid slightly better than Kyle’s, then he and she would more than likely have had to have moved back into either Kyle’s parents’ house or Michelle’s parents’ house.

“Well, I dunno about that just yet mom. I mean, someday I’d like to start a family with John but…that might not be for a long time yet.” Jackie responded to her mom’s lighthearted teasing somewhat disappointingly.

“Yeah. I’d like to get a career going myself but…all the web design places I’ve applied for just won’t aren’t biting. It’s been the same with Michelle. She’s applied to so many different gaming companies but not one of them accepted her.” Kyle sighed, leaning back in his seat. “I’m tired of this crappy 9-5. I wish there was something I could do.” He said in a melancholic tone.

“Kyle, you’ll get there, sweetie. You just need to keep applying. I know sooner or later you’ll be able to land yourself a career.” Jessie smiled, trying to offer her son some words of encouragement.

“Mom’s right Kyle. You’ll both get there. You just need to keep trying and sooner or later it’ll happen. Besides, trust me, careers aren’t always the most enjoyable things around.” Jackie smiled knowingly.

“That is true.” Jessie chuckled slightly, agreeing wholeheartedly with her daughter.

Sometime later, Titus, Lucas, and Sarah flew through the sky as they made their way home. Just like with the other two groups, they as well had no luck in finding anyone familiar with Alan or his family.

“Well, I hate to say it but I guess that was a bust.” Lucas stated reluctantly.

“Well, you never know Luke. We didn’t find anything today but that doesn’t mean something won’t come up somewhere down the way.” Said Titus, trying to be optimistic and hopeful.

Sarah agreed with her husband, adding that something might very well come up soon but they’ll just have to wait a little longer.

Arriving home, Titus looked below and noticed that Jessie’s car was parked in the driveway and that parked in front of it was Ben’s car. Titus presumed that Ben must have arrived shortly before everyone got back. He also wondered if his sons and their friends were back as well.

Swooping down, Titus touched down in his backyard. He crouched down as he allowed Lucas and Sarah to climb off. As soon as they were, he called out for Ben, Jessie, and the rest of the group, informing them of their return. Titus noticed as Drake came to the sliding glass door and pulled it open as he rushed outside to greet his parents and Lucas followed by Ben, then Laurie, then Jessie, Kyle, Crystal, Tim, Jackie, Jake, Sean, Tim, and finally Alan.

Still in his dragon form, Titus and the rest of his friends and family walked towards each other, meeting halfway. Before Alan could take five steps away from the steps of the porch however, he gasped when he noticed Titus’s dragon form. His eyes grew wide and he began to breathe heavier. His body trembled and his muscles convulsed as slowly he began to back away, whimpering loudly. Both Sean and Jake who were standing the closest to Alan, took notice of this and tried to approach the petrified boy.

“Alan? Hey, what’s the matter?” Sean asked concernedly, trying to extend a hand out to him.

Alan’s heave breathing had turned into hyperventilating. A horrified expression was plastered onto his face. Suddenly, Alan released a loud, ear piercing shriek which startled everyone around him and caused their attention to shift towards him.

“Hey, Alan, what’s wrong?” Titus asked as he changed into his human form and tried to approach Alan.

Still hyperventilating, Alan shook his head in terror. He screamed once more only this time, instead of backing away, he dashed towards Titus, clenching his fists, and sucker punched Titus in the left side of his jaw. Just then, everything went silent as everybody looked on in shock at what they had just seen. Titus was gasping, holding his hand over his cheek that Alan had hit as he stared down stupefied at the frightened boy who was glaring at Titus, his teeth bared and his left fist still clenched tightly.

Crystal’s father shook his head. He went on to explain that, during his time while he was unconscious, the doctors had gone through the clothes the boy was wearing only to find no belongings on his person. He wasn’t sure if this meant that the items he had on him were stolen or he had simply left them at home although he had hoped it was the latter.

With a soft yet noticeable sigh, he turned to face the seven people who had found him. They smiled, happy to see that he was awake. Laurie and Sarah approached his bedside and Laurie handed him the gift she had bought for him. As she held the bag containing his gift out in front of her, the kid observed the bag, not sure what she was doing. Laurie told him it was okay and that he could have it. Slowly, the boy grabbed the bag from her hands and removed the object that was inside. It was a plushie of a velociraptor. He studied the toy, looking over it and turning it over in one hand.

“Do you like it?” Asked Laurie hopefully.

The boy stopped what he was doing and looked at Laurie. He glanced down for a moment before focusing his gaze back at Laurie and nodding.

“Thanks.” The kid said in a soft, toneless voice.

Laurie smiled warmly at him. “You’re welcome. I’m glad you like it.”

Sarah was the next to present her gift. She delicately placed the potted flowers on his table, taking a moment to adjust one of the buds before she walked over and stood by the closet door closest to the exit. Once she was done, Sarah, Drake and Jake’s mom, approached the boy’s beside. He turned to face her as she kneeled down to his level.

“They were the ones who found you. They called an ambulance for you and worried the most for you when you were still unconscious.” Sarah explained, speaking to the boy in a soft tone as she gestured towards her sons and their friends.

The boy turned his head once more to face Drake and the others. Tim held his hand up to the kid as a way of saying hello. One by one, Drake, Jake, Crystal, Sean, Tim, Sarah, and Laurie introduced themselves. In a soft, meek voice, the boy responded to them with a “Hi”. With a smile, Jake returned his hello with one of his own and told the boy he was happy to see he was doing better.

A knock came from the door as the doctor allowed himself in. Sarah, Laurie, Jake, and Crystal cleared a way for the doctor to come in.

“Sorry, excuse me. I just need to quick check up on him.” Said the doctor as he approached the boy’s bed.

“No, it’s okay. We can wait. Take your time.” Said Titus in response.

The doctor thanked Titus and tended to his patient. He began his treatment by first testing the kid’s eyes. He took out a small, thin flashlight and shone it in the boy’s eyes, causing him to instinctually close his eyes and turn his head away slightly to block out the bright light. After a short moment, he turned the light off and slipped it back into his pocket. He grabbed his pen from his pocket and jotted down a two under eye response. After this, he then asked the boy if he was able to remember his name or age, or what year or month it was. The kid glanced around at the people who surrounded his bed and then looked back at the doctor. With a sigh, he answered in a soft voice that he didn’t know. For this, the doctor wrote down a four under verbal response. For the last part of his test, the doctor asked if the boy could look up. The boy did as he was asked and slowly lifted his head up to the ceiling. The doctor then asked the boy to lower his head. Once more the boy obeyed his doctor’s instructions. Lastly, the doctor placed one finger in front of the boy’s face telling him to simply use his eyes to follow along with his finger. Moving his finger around, the doctor found that his young patient had little trouble keeping up with his hand movement. He wrote down a six under motor response. His tests completed, he then asked to speak with the boy’s visitors out in the hallway. The kid watched as his visitors followed his doctor out into the hallway. With Lucas being the last one out, he turned to the boy smiling and assured him that they’d be right back. The group gathered outside the boy’s room and listened as the doctor began to speak.

“See, the thing is, after he had been admitted here, we checked to see if he had anything on his person and…well, we weren’t able to find anything. He had no phone, wallet, or id with him. I’m not sure whether this means that his attackers stole his belongings or if he simply didn’t have them with him when he left his house but regardless, with that in mind and this child being unable to remember anything about himself, we obviously can’t contact his parents and let them know he’s okay.” Explained the doctor, a troubled look on his face.

Titus nodded in understanding. He walked back to the entrance of the room and looked in at the boy who was still sitting in his bed watching outside the window. As Titus watched the kid, an idea formed in his mind. He asked to speak with Sarah alone letting the doctor and everyone else know that they would be right back. They made their way past the group and headed toward the end of the hall. There, the doctor and the rest of the group watched as the husband and wife held a discussion with each other. Drake and Jake especially watched their parents with quizzical expressions on their faces as they pondered what their parents could possibly be talking about. While everybody watched, they were able to make out bits and pieces of what Titus and Sarah were saying such as, “It would only be for a little while” and “Would they even let us do that though?”

The discussion between Titus and Sarah carried on for a little bit before the two of them rejoined the others. Titus apologized to everybody for the wait and explained to the doctor that he and his wife had been discussing the possibility of being able to look after the boy until they were able to locate his parents. This surprised everyone, especially the doctor who never, in all his years as a doctor, had ever been asked by people who were complete strangers to his patients if they could take care of his patients once they had been released. Of course, he had also never seen a case such as this boy’s before.

“Well it could be done. However, in order for you and your wife to gain custody of the boy, you would have to take part in a closed-door judicial proceeding and would need to provide character reference witness. And, given the state your boys found him in, there should be no problem with the courts giving you temporary guardianship.” Explained the doctor.

“It would be that complicated huh? Well, when it comes to the law, nothing’s ever easy that’s for sure. Still, we can’t just leave him like this. Not if he can’t remember who he is.” Said Sarah empathetically.

“True. And even if you and Titus need help, Sarah, you know you can ask any of us.” Lucas gave his friend an assuring smile.

“Thanks Luke.” Said Sarah gratefully with a smile of her own.

“And if you need mine or Laurie’s help, don’t hesitate to give us a call. We found him too after all so it’s only right that we see to it as well that he gets better.” Sarah said as she pulled her phone out of her pocket.

Sarah and Laurie exchanged numbers with their new friends and assured them once more that if they need anything that they’ll be there to help.

With his plan to take custody of the boy set, Titus and the others returned to his room where the boy turned to see them walking in, a dazed look still warn on his face as his mouth hung slightly open.

“If you’re going to look after him, Mr. and Mrs. Flamel, you’ll have to provide a name for his papers. Unfortunately, given the circumstances…” The doctor explained.

“Yeah…we can’t quite give them his name when even he doesn’t know what it is.” Titus added, looking at the boy with a hint of pity in his eyes.

“Well, perhaps we could give him a name to go by for the time being until he remembers what his real name is?” Suggested Sister Sarah.

“That sounds like a good idea. Besides, if Sarah and I are to look after him, we’re going to need to provide some kind of name to put on his documents.” Responded Titus as he cupped his chin in his hand and looked down at the ground as he ran through in his head the process it would take to gain guardianship over the boy.

Everyone took a moment of silence as they brainstormed names to give to the boy. The kid watched the group that surrounded him, curious as to what name they were going to decide on for him. Curious though he may have been, the boy still wished that he could remember who he really was. It was his hope as well as the hopes of those around him that he would regain his memories soon despite how unlikely it seemed.

Just then, Lucas spoke, being the first to offer his suggestion for a name.

“What about Roy? That’s a good name.” Lucas proposed as a name for the kid.

“I don’t know. It kind of sounds like a trucker name.” Crystal’s dad said unsurely, not finding the name Roy to be fitting for the child.

“How about Tim?” Tim suggested in a half joking way.

“No.” Said Sean tonelessly, immediately shooting down his brother’s suggestion. “One Tim is more than enough.” He concluded teasingly.

“Timmy? Or Timothy?” Tim tried to offer as alternatives.

“It’s not happening, little brother.” Sean said in a more serious and strict tone of voice.

“What about Kenny? That’s a pretty cool name. Would you like that to be your name?” Drake asked the boy.

But the boy didn’t answer him. He looked away with a soft sigh which Drake took to mean that he didn’t care for the name Kenny. Everybody continued to try and think of names to give to the boy until finally, Laurie offered a name that seemed to sit well with the child.

“What about Alan? It’s easy enough to remember and, to me he looks quite a bit like an Alan.” Said Laurie.

“Alan huh? Well, would that be an okay name to you?” Titus asked the boy.

The boy looked around at everybody in the room who were staring back at him waiting for his answer. Taking in a deep breath and exhaling, the kid nodded and, in a soft yet still perceptive voice, said “Okay.”

“Alright then. For now, your name will be Alan.” Declared Titus, smiling down at the boy who was now known as Alan.

With the boy’s new name chosen, the doctor told the group that they would keep Alan in the hospital for another week just to make sure that he wouldn’t be facing as much confusion as he currently was upon his release and to perform some physical tests on Alan. The doctor suggested that, in the meantime, Titus should probably get Alan’s paperwork taken care of with the courts if he was serious about taking care of him.  Titus agreed with the doctor’s advice, assuring that he’d get the paperwork squared away as soon as possible.

Their business at the hospital taken care of, Titus and the others thanked the doctor for taking good care of Alan and bid the two of them goodbye, promising Alan that they’d come back to visit him soon.

The group left the hospital and made their way through the hospital’s parking garage. There, Sarah and Laurie bid farewell to the group however before they could make their way to Sarah’s car, Sarah asked the two of them to wait. She approached the other Sarah and stared her in the eyes with a serious expression on her face. Sister Sarah stared back at Sarah, growing a little uneasy as she tried to determine what the woman she shared her name with wanted.

“So, your name is Sarah too huh?” Sarah asked as she eyed the woman who stood before her.

“Umm, yes?” Replied Sister Sarah a little nervously.

“And Jake told me that you work at the orphanage where Alex lived.” Sarah detailed.

“Well I use to work there. I also lived there for awhile when I was a little girl.” Sister Sarah corrected although she still wasn’t sure what the other Sarah was trying to get at.

“Really? So you used to be an orphan too, huh?” Sarah took notice of what the other Sarah had told her.

“’Too?’” Sarah parroted, an eyebrow raised at the notice of Sarah’s statement.

Sarah went on to explain to Sister Sarah that when she was a little girl, her parents were killed in a car crash and that, because of this, she spent most of her life as an orphan. She told Sister Sarah about the park she grew up in, how she met Rick there, and how the two of them became brother and sister. She recalled most of the major events in her life leading up to the moment she met Titus and Angela. As the two Sarahs bonded over their similar pasts, everyone around them just watched incredulously.

“I never thought I’d see the day…two people forming a friendship over tragedy.” Commented Lucas.

Titus wasn’t sure whether to find Lucas’s comment humorous or not considering the events that had transpired in the lives of the two Sarahs.

Sister Sarah explained to Sarah how when she was just a baby, her parents, being only in their late teens at the time, gave her up for adoption being unable to care for a child at the time. Sister Sarah explained that similar circumstances had occurred in Laurie’s life as well although her parents put her up for adoption because they weren’t financially stable, their explanation being to Sarah that they felt they wouldn’t be able to give Laurie the life she deserved.

“I was able to track down my birth parents and I still keep in contact with them. Sometimes I even visit them. Three years ago, they had a little boy they named Raymond and luckily, they’re better off now than they were when they had me. I just hope they’ll be able to give Raymond the life they couldn’t give me.” Explained Laurie, a sad yet also happy smile on her face.

“I guess you don’t miss your birth parents, right? I mean, I was adopted too and, no lie, sometimes I do miss my mom and dad.” Asked Jake.

Titus and Sarah were both taken by surprise at Jake’s comment although they also understood his feelings. Although they loved Jake and they knew Jake loved them, they also understood that, for the longest time, Saulstrance was the only living biological family Jake had left and that he never the chance got to meet his mom. Since their adoption of Jake, the two of them had always tried their hardest to give Jake a good life and to be the parents they knew he needed but despite this, they knew they would never be his biological parents. Even with that knowledge, however, even though they knew they weren’t related to Jake by blood, they still loved him just as much as they loved Drake and still wanted him to grow up happy and healthy.

“Sorry, mom, dad.” Jake apologized, turning to both Titus and Sarah.

“It’s okay Jake. Your mom and I both understand.” Smiled Titus assuring, hoping his smile would let Jake know that he wasn’t hurt or offended by his words.

“That’s right sweetie.” Added Sarah who gave Jake a smile of her own.

“To answer your question Jake? Not really. I mean, not just because I still get to see them but because I have another set of parents too and I know, just like my birth parents, my mom and dad want what’s best for me too. And besides, two sets of parents means two sets of siblings. Including Raymond on my birth parents’ side, I’ve got an older sister, an older brother, and another younger brother from my adoptive parents. So, I’m actually pretty happy with my life.” Laurie answered, smiling proudly.

Jake found Laurie’s answer to his question very encouraging. Indeed, he felt the same way. After all, not only did he also have two sets of parents, but he also had two sets of brothers as well and while part of him could never forgive his dad for nearly killing him four years ago, he also realized that his dad had his own demons and that what happened to him in his youth had greatly warped his view of the worlds. While it didn’t make up for what he did, Jake still believed that his dad did have some good in him, however latent it may had been.

The group parted ways with each other, bidding farewell with Laurie and Sarah promising to keep in contact with their new friends and reminding them that if they need any help with taking care of Alan, to not hesitate to ask for their help. Crystal’s family was next to leave with Crystal saying goodbye to her friends, telling them that she’d see them at school. Titus and Lucas’s families watched as the Silvers family got into their car and pulled out of the parking lot. Following shortly behind them was Sarah’s car. As she drove past the two families, she and Laurie waved to them before turning and driving down to the lower level of the garage.

“Well…” Said Lucas as he swung his arms back then clapped his hands together. “I think me and the boys are gonna be heading home too. You sure you’ll be alright with three kids, guys?”

Titus and Sarah looked at each other and nodded back at one another.

“Yeah. I think we’ll be able to manage.” Answered Titus confidently.

“Alright man. Well, we’ll see ya later.” Lucas said as he and his boys prepared to leave.

“See ya Luke.” Titus said.

“Be safe getting home.” Sarah said.

“Always am. Well rather, we always are. Right boys?” Lucas reassured, grinning at his lifelong friends.

“Yep.” Tim answered, looking up and smiling at his dad.

“That’s right.” Sean responded next with a smile of his own.

Titus and Sarah smiled back at Lucas and his sons. As the families prepared to part ways, Lucas stopped and asked the Flamel family to wait a moment. Turning to Lucas, Titus asked Lucas what was up and if everything was okay.

“Everything’s fine. I just wanted to say that you and Sarah have always had big hearts and it’s nice that you’re doing all this for that boy.” Complimented Lucas.

“Oh! Well…thanks, dude.” Titus responded with a hint of surprise to his voice.

“And like the other Sarah said, we’ll help in any way we can. But…if I can give you a word of advice Titus: don’t overdo it man. You’re only one man…er, dragon. You can’t always be there to help everyone.” Lucas said.

“I know. I don’t expect to.” Replied Titus somewhat defensively.

“I understand, Titus. I really do. I’m just saying that you don’t always have to be the protector. Or rather, the lone protector in some circumstances. We can help you. Just like your parents have been trying to help you locate those people Saulstrance captured.” Lucas explained himself.

The mention of the people who were captured by his father sent a jolt through Jake’s heart as his eyes widened. He felt a sudden shortness of breath. This had been a touchy subject for Jake. Ever since he, his father, and his fellow Followers captured their first group of humans, Jake had felt somewhat uneasy about what he was doing. This unease only grew over time as Jake continued to question what it was he was truly trying to accomplish. As the years passed, Jake’s concern for the people that had been captured grew and grew, eating away at him and providing him intense amounts of stress. He wished more than anything that he and his family could find them as soon as possible. When, or, in a worst case scenario, IF they found the missing people, Jake just hoped they’d be able to forgive him, although he knew deep down that more than likely would not happen. If those people were to find out who he really was and what he had done, there was no way he’d get their forgiveness.

As Titus and Lucas’s conversation concluded, the two families parted ways and headed for their cars. On the way home, Jake, who was sitting in the back with Drake stared out the window lost in his thoughts. A sullen expression worn in his face as he leaned his head against the car window. As Titus drove, he took notice of his son’s dull expression. With his focus still on Jake through the rear view mirror, he asked Jake if everything was okay. Jake raised his head and looked towards his adoptive father.

“No.” He answered in a melancholic voice.

“What’s wrong, Jake?” Sarah asked worriedly.

But Jake didn’t answer right away. He sighed and looked down at the car floor as he cupped his hands in his lap.

“Jake, what’s going on? Come on, you can tell us.” Drake urged his brother to tell him and their parents what was wrong.

Jake sighed, deciding that it wouldn’t hurt to let them know how he was feeling. After all, the teenage half-dragon thought, letting his family in would help a lot more than keeping his emotions bottled up.

“See, the thing is…well, what Luke said? About those people who were taken because of…because of me…and the other Followers? It just made me think: do I really deserve all this? To have such a good life with all of you? I mean, those people are either suffering or dying because of me, my dad, and the other Followers. We killed those they cared about and ruined their lives.” Jake confessed his feelings to his adoptive family.

At the moment, Titus, Sarah, and Drake were unsure of what to say. They watched as Jake let his hands lay in his lap, release an elongated sigh, and then continue to pour his feelings out to them.

“Not only that but sometimes, and I never told anyone this for the past four years, but sometimes I feel as though I don’t deserve a family like you, especially with how I treated Drake when we fought at Baker Valley. I wanted to kill him for what happened to Alex and…and…what I felt then is something I’m never going to be able to forget.” Said Jake somberly, feeling intense disappointment and self-loathing.

The family was rendered speechless. None of them had any idea that Jake had been feeling that way. Ever since they had adopted him, Titus and Sarah believed that Jake was growing up happy and proud of who he was. They wished they would have noticed how Jake truly felt sooner or that Jake would have just come to them from the beginning about how he was feeling. They felt that maybe they could have better helped him then.

“Jake…” Titus began. “You DO deserve the life we’ve given you and you DO deserve to be a part of our family. Even if you’ve done bad things, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a bad person. Good people do end up doing bad things…and sometimes, even bad people can do good things. We all know you’ve got a good heart.” Titus said, smiling reassuringly at his adopted son.

“Yeah. I mean, I don’t like that you wanted to kill me sure, but…I also understand how much Alex meant to you man and…well, I think that if something ever happened to someone I loved, I’d probably feel the same way. You don’t have to keep beating yourself up over what happened Jake. You wanted to kill me but you didn’t. I’m still here and we’re on better terms now, right?” Drake said, also smiling at Jake to let him know everything was okay.

“Also, Jake, sooner or later we WILL find those missing people. Grandma and Grandpa have been spending the last few years trying to find any clues as to their whereabouts. Once we find them, hopefully you and the rest of us will be able to help them rebuild their lives. Until that day comes, don’t try to keep this bottled inside. Let your troubles be our troubles. We’ll help you through them. After all, isn’t that what a family does?” Sarah said, smiling as well.

Jake looked at his adoptive father, mother, and brother who were all smiling warmly at him. This helped to ease Jake’s worries and doubts somewhat. While they still lingered in his mind, he felt extremely grateful to his parents and his brother for their kind words. He thanked them and promised that he would try to be more open with how he felt.

“That’s good to hear Jake. And remember, even if you, your dad, and the others did terrible things, that doesn’t mean you yourself are terrible. It’s like a certain wise someone once told me when I was your age: you are who you are. You are who you want to be.” Said Titus with a knowing smile directed toward Sarah who returned his smile with one of her own.

“Who I want to be…” Jake said to himself as he contemplated his mom’s words.

In the following two weeks, Titus had spent a good majority of his time at a judicial proceeding wherein he provided character reference witnesses in the forms of Drake and Jake. Upon convincing the jury that he could be a suitable guardian, the next part was spent filling out Alan’s paperwork. In the meantime, while Titus was taking care of this, Sarah, Drake, and Jake, when they weren’t with Titus would be busy at home preparing a room for Alan. Because they didn’t have a normal bed to provide him, Sarah went out and purchased a blow-up bed while Drake and Jake brought in an old desk accompanied by a chair for Alan so that he had somewhere to sit and eat. In addition, Sarah also bought a notebook and some pens and pencils for Alan. She believed that if Alan were to document his thoughts in a journal, then maybe, somehow, something would spark a memory and they’d hopefully get one step closer to finding out who Alan actually is.

Finally, with everything taken care of, it was time for Alan to be discharged from the hospital. In the two weeks that the Flamel family had spent preparing everything for Alan, Alan’s state had greatly improved. While still faced with confusion from time to time, he was now able to speak more coherently and was capable of forming full sentences.

After paying for Alan’s hospital bills, Titus, along with Sarah, Drake, and Jake showed Alan to the car. Sarah opened the right back door for Alan as Titus placed a hand on the amnesiac boy’s shoulder.

“Well Alan, you’re going to be staying with us for awhile until we can locate your parents. Is that okay, buddy?” Asked Titus.

At that moment, Alan’s eyes widened. Tensely he bit his lip and he felt his muscles tighten but then, not even a few seconds later, he relaxed. Sarah, who had been standing in front of Alan with her hands rested on top of the door, took notice of the boy’s reaction to what Titus had just said to him. She wondered if perhaps the mention of his parents may have almost triggered something within him. Could he have almost remembered something just then?

As Sarah continued to observe the boy, she suddenly got a strange feeling from him. She wasn’t sure what it was however but for some reason, she felt off as she watched him as if…no, that’s impossible, she thought to herself. It had to have been nothing.

“Okay. Sure.” Alan answered as he turned to face Titus and the rest of his foster family.

Titus smiled at Alan, placing his knuckles on his sides. “Glad to hear it. I promise you Alan, we will take good care of you.”

“Thanks.” Alan said.