LIfe of a Baranthia Student 08

Chapter 08 Nightmare Walkers and Friendship

Sourcy was blinking at the bright morning light. She grumbled a little as she was being pulled along over the grass field by Jessica. Kinko was walking next to Jessica.

She growled at Jessica again. She hadn't had any sleep yet. But then she didn't go to assembly normally. But this morning Jessica had been determined to drag her along. Stupid demon…

"It's for moral support, for Kinko." Jessica beamed at her.

Why was she so happy in the morning? "No it's not."

"Yes it is." Jessica beamed.

Kinko was watching their interaction somewhat uncomfortable. She had been learning English better. She could form some proper sentences now. But she seem to remain very silent and she did spent a lot of time alone in the room as Sourcy and Jessica weren't there that often.  

Sourcy was going to say something to Jessica, that she was just being mean because she hadn't brought a soul along for her, but then she saw that Jessica wasn't paying attention to her anymore. Though she had not let her go just yet.

"Hanako, Alice." Jessica cheered.

The black haired girl smiled at her as she joined the three with Alice just behind her. Then she addressed Kinko. "Morning Kinko."

Kinko gave her a big smile. "He-hello Hanako, Alice."

Alice smiled. " Good Morning everyone."

"Nothing good about this." Sourcy complained.

"Oh stop your whining." Jessica told her as they reached the steps to the academy.

"Uh whining?"  Kinko asked uncertain. She did not quite understand that word.

"Whining means she is complaining as  a child." Alice answered.

"Oh." Kinko said. "S-sorry english still not so good."

Hanako looked to her side. "I think you have improved quite a bit in the last few days."

Kinko blushed. "Thank you."  

They all went up the stairs and into the big hallway of the academy. They waited there for a bit as assembly wouldn't start for another fifteen minutes. Jessica had been so mean by even taking them there to early. But at least she now had let go of Sourcy.

An arm was slung around her shoulders. She knew who that was. "Juniper." Sourcy greeted.

"Mornin' Sozy." Juniper drawled.

Sourcy raised a brow. "You drunk or what?"

"I think she's a bit hyper." The blond next to her commented.

"No kidding." Sourcy commented as Juniper was almost jumping up and down. "Morning Meissia."  

"Who's that." Juniper shouted in her ear.

"Oww." Sourcy pushed her away. "Please don't pop my ear drums this early in the morning. Thank you."

"Who what." Meissia asked as she looked around her.

"I think she means her." Sourcy said as she pointed to Kinko. The frail girl noticed this and immediately blushed. Sourcy offered her a smile. "Her name is Kinko and my new roommate."

"Didn't she join Baranthia after being the subject of a mission?" Meissia asked. She'd heard that being mentioned somewhere.

Sourcy shrugged. "I have no clue."

Juniper's hyperness seemed to have toned down and an intenseness came over her. It made Sourcy frown a little.

"So that is her?"Juniper said with a low voice. "The girl with the seven demons."

Oh that figures. She grabbed Juniper by the ear, before she could move towards her roommate. She was not having this right now and she was a bit cranky.

The grey haired demon pouted.

"Don't even think about it." Sourcy said.

"What?" Juniper asked, acting innocently.

"Don't even think about going over there and scaring her." Sourcy said, her tone somewhat harsh. "She's my roommate okay. Leave her alone."

But the demon didn't answer and Sourcy rolled her eyes. Juniper never made any promises.

This was going to get interesting.

~ * ~

"Sourcy." Came a shout from behind her.

She stopped. She was feeling a little anxious, which was unfamiliar to her. Slowly she turned around.

Lancelot approached her. He seemed happy that she wasn't walking away from her. He came to a stop just in front of her. "Hey."

"Hey." She said softly.

He opened his mouth. Hesitantly. Searching for words. "I. Uh. " Then he threw it out. "I realize our conversation earlier didn't go so well. But uh I'm sorry." He blurted out. "I didn't want to make you feel that I had been using my powers on you. I can't shut them down. I want to. I just..can't."  

"I get it." She replied to him softly before putting her hand on his arm. She did. She had been thinking about it at night a lot. But it still made her feel uncomfortable. "But I am not sure we could be friends."

"Why not." Lancelot asked.

"I just would keep wondering if what I feel is influenced." Like the feeling she had right now…where she thought he was a cutie…And the weird feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"I guess I get that too."Lancelot said, though he sounded somewhat disappointed. "I do hope we can be friends in a way. It doesn't have to be close."

She didn't even know why she said it. She had been feeling so resolute when not around him that she didn't want to be friends with him as he was a guy and made her feel weird. "We'll see…"

That brought a smile on his face. And for some reason, that made Sourcy feel better.

~ * ~

Juniper scrunched up her nose.  "This stinks."

Meissia rolled her eyes at the demon. "What stinks?" She asked as she leaned back a little.

It was lunch time and they were sitting on the grass field, in front of Grells chambers.  Meissia had dragged the demon to the grassfield again to train for control. Juniper had practiced for fifteen minutes before getting bored with it. She really had a short span of concentration.

"That I am doing this." The demon grumbled.  "Not like he notices.."

"He will." Meissia replied. "He'll see how much work you are putting in and will reward you. You just have to give it time."

"I don't want his reward." Juniper said.

"Uhuh." The blond replied as she stretched out her wings. She'd let the straps loose as her wings had been aching a bit, being folded up like that. "But as his reward will be that you will get to go on missions, I'm sure you won't reject his reward though."

The demon glared at her but then as quickly as the glare had come, it disappeared. "How about you?"

Meissia frowned. "What about me?"

"Going on missions."

"Oh." Meissia hesitated before answering. "I haven't really thought about it. Nor have I been asked."  She shrugged. "I am not sure if I would want to anyway."

"Why not?" Juniper asked. She couldn't understand why someone wouldn't want to get outside of Baranthia and kick some ass.

"I am not much of a fighter. You know that." Meissia answered.

Juniper seemed to disagree with her but before she could reply there came a shout from across the yard.  "Meissia!!"

A blur of blue launched itself at her and Meissia fell back into the grass on her back. "Oww." She groaned. "Hey Liz."

"Liz get off her." A familiar male voice told the blue haired girl.

"Aaaw." Liz said.  But she got off the blond anyway.

"Hey Sora." Meissia said with a warm smile.

Liz already dropped down next to Meissia. Sora seemed to hesitate for a minute. He glanced at Juniper suspiciously. But she somehow seemed to ignore him. Which wasn't like her at all.  

But it seemed to ease Sora's mind a bit as he too sat down in the grass.  His eyes dropped on Meissia's wings. "I haven't seen your wings out before."

"Oh." Meissia rubbed her wings. They felt rough. They resembled dragon wings. "I don't like having them out. But they were aching a bit so.." She said with a shrug.

"They resemble dragon wings." Liz commented, poking at one of the wings.

Sora rolled his eyes. "Maybe because she is the daughter of a dragon."

"How do you know that?"  Liz asked surprised.

He sighed. "Maybe because she told us at the start?" He then turned back to the blond. "How is your control of fire going?" He asked her.

Meissia shrugged. "I haven't been practicing much."

She got a smack to the back of her hand from the demon. "Bitch. And then you let me train so much." And with that the grey haired demon leaved the group in a hurry. In the distance she saw the new roommate of Sourcy heading into the academy. But surprisingly, the demon didn't seem to follow her.

"You should practice though." Sora said. "If you ever need any help, I don't mind."

Meissia was going to answer but Liz cut in to the conversation. "What's it like to have a dragon as father?" She asked curiously.

"Crowded." Meissia answered. "I have a lot of siblings. But other than that I think I have a pretty normal father." One that embarrassed her with his supposed hip talking.

"What is normal in this world." Sora said.

"That's true." Meissia said with a laugh.

~ * ~

It was crowed at the cafeteria of Baranthia. She was a little late coming from potions. She scanned the room but didn't see Artimeissia, Juniper or even Liz, Luna or Sora.

She did see Jessica. She waved at her roommate. Who immediately waved back at her.  It made Sourcy smile a little. But then she noticed that Jessica was winking her over. She frowned a little but moved through the cafeteria towards her roommate anyway.

Getting near the table of Jessica she saw that the demon clearly wasn't alone. Kinko sat next to her, giving her a small smile. On the opposite side of Jessica sat Alice and Hanako. Alice was looking back and greeted her friendly. While Hanako didn't even acknowledge her. Bitch.    

She really shouldn't be thinking that but sometimes the other girl just seemed to get under her skin. Without even doing anything. And maybe that was it. That she got so little response from the older girl.

"Sit down." Jessica beamed, grabbing Sourcy at the arm. She was tugging eagerly now to have Sourcy sit down next to her.

But as soon as the only daughter of the Grim family sat down, she seemed to have lost interest and was poking at her sandwich.

Sanwiches that Jessica had made herself. Sourcy pulled her lunch box out of her shoulder bag. Jessica had made her some sandwiches too. A yawn slipped through just as she opened up her lunch box.  

"Tired?" Alice asked, seemingly somewhat amused.

Sourcy glared sideways at Jessica who was oblivious to the glare that she was receiving.  "Yeah. Guess whose fault that is."  

"I am guessing your own as you went to bed too late." Hanako suggested with her brow raised.

"I agree." Jessica beamed, suddenly apart of the conversation again.

"Oh shut up you." Sourcy said playfully to the demon, elbowing her softly.

Hanako in the mean time had directed her attention to Kinko. "Did you understand the English assignment she gave you?" She asked the other girl.

The blond shook her head, looking unsure.  

"I can help you with that." The dark haired girl suggested.

Kinko looked up at her, a smile starting to play on her lips. "I- I would l-like that."

Sourcy watched the short exchange. She had already noticed that Hanako seemed to frost down around her shy roommate. They were in some of the same classes so she supposed they were becoming friends. Still she found it an odd thing to see Hanako so unlike her icy self. But that was because that was the side she had mostly seen from the other older girl.  

Alice was smiling at Kinko. "A good way to learn English is with Hanako. Her English is great even though she is from Japan."

Hanako didn't respond to the compliment. "She has to do some vocabularies and practice pronunciations the upcoming weeks." Her cool blue eyes directed towards Sourcy and Jessica. "Perhaps your roommates could also assist."  

"Sure." Sourcy said. She turned to Jessica to see if the demon agreed but she was just in time to see the girl bolt out of her chair without a word.

"Where is she off too?"  Alice asked amused.

"Probably off to chase a bird or butterfly." Sourcy answered. It had happened before.
Hanako nodded in agreement.  

The conversation continued about English and the assignments. Hanako was already practicing with Kinko on her pronunciations of some words. As the lunch time continued on, Sourcy began to find that her opinion on Hanako Ringo was slowly changing. There was more to the older girl then she had thought. The frosty demeanor was maybe just a defense..  And she was still wondering about the end of the last mission. There was something mysterious around Hanako Ringo. And she was determined to ask the reaper about it…

~ * ~

It was evening. The sun was slowly setting.

Artimeissia Draconculus was up in her room. It was quiet. Most of the students from her dorm seem to be out or studying. Though she didn't think a lot of the students had chosen to do the latter of the two. She wasn't studying either. She'd already put her books away hours ago.   

Juniper wasn't around her. The grey haired demon had left her a while ago as she found it becoming too emotional. The demon didn't do well with emotions from others though she was a canvas of emotions herself.  

A tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away furiously.

In her hand she was holding a letter, a few pages long.

It was from her father.  

He had rambled on about tidbits about her siblings and half siblings. It was amusing to read what he thought about things that had happened. So had one of her half siblings finally been able to change into a dragon. But had turned into quite a thin one. He apparently had been the laughing stock amongst his peers and family. Until he hooked up with the most wanted dragon girl. The way her father described it was brilliant.  He should've been a writer. Not the head of a dragon family.
  
Her father ended it with that he missed her. That had made her cry. It made her realize how much she missed her father. Though she had to share him with a ton of other siblings and half siblings, he always made time for her. At night she used to read things to him or they played chess. He was better at chess then her but he always let her win. Which infuriated her immensely each time. Which in turn seemed to amuse her father. She felt as that they were close.

She missed him a lot. Another tear rolled down her cheek and dropped onto the letter. She was glad it was only a two weeks or so before midterm break was there. She wanted to go home.

~ * ~

Sourcy was sitting at the edge of the roof. She glanced beside her at the reaper who was happily looking down on Baranthia from Trinity Tower.  

He then looked up at her. "What?"

She just rolled her eyes at him. Sometimes he could be such a kid.
   
"How did the mission go?" He asked. There was a look on his face that told Sourcy he knew exactly everything that had happened.

She answered him nonetheless. "It was a little weird with that cannibal and the vampire."

"Ah yes. Trip can be a bit of a trouble maker." The reaper replied pleasantly.

"Trip?" She stared at him.

"Hmm, the vampire."

"Is he that old?"

"No that really." He answered. "He is still a bit of a child compared to some of the other vampires." He looked Sourcy straight in the eye. "I do see the murderers of the people whose soul I collect."

"Do you see the actual murder?" She asked.

"You will see that when you are finished here at Baranthia. It is too soon to talk about that yet." He answered.

She raised her brow at him. There came a silence over them. The reaper continued to look down  over Baranthia.  Sourcy joined him in that. Some of the students were still walking over the Baranthia grounds to their dorm or to their friends dorm.

"What is Hanako?" Sourcy blurted out after a minute.

"Human I would guess." Reaper replied.

She sighed. "I tried to connect to her soul but I got pushed out."

"Why would you do that?" He questioned. "It is not what your powers are there for."

"I know." Sourcy said as she brushed a few bangs out of her face, a bit frustrated. "But the vampire said something about her. I was..curious I guess."  

"Curiosity did kill the cat you know." The reaper said with an amused smile. Then he turned somewhat serious.  "Did it ever occur to you that Trip might have said things just to get under your skin?"  

She shrugged. "Not really. Not at that moment anyway." She straightened up a bit. "But why couldn't I properly connect to her? It.." She was searching to describe what she had felt. "..like there were two in there."

"Some things are as old as I am, Sourcy." The reaper answered. "Your powers aren't strong enough to be able to distinguish them."  

"What do you mean by that?" Sourcy asked. "Is Hanako not seventeen?"

"She is seventeen." He said. "But I feel that you must discover Hanako on your own."

She frowned at him but didn't press on. They weren't alone anymore.

The head of Juniper popped up in between her legs that were hanging over the side of the building. Slowly the nightmare demon climbed up onto the roof, elbowing Sourcy on her way up.

Sourcy shoved the grey haired demon off of her. "Watch where you put that foot." She grumbled.  

The grey haired demon was sitting next to Sourcy now. She was eying the reaper who to Sourcy's surprise, hadn't disappeared. Which was odd because he didn't usually show himself to others.  

"Meissia is feeling sorry for herself." Juniper said with a snort.

Sourcy opened her mouth to question about that but Juniper already cut in again. "Who you?" She bit out at the reaper. But before he too could react to what she had said, she already spoke again. "Never mind. I don't care."

She was clearly trying to get a reaction out of him. Preferably something aggressive it seemed.

"You have little respect for your elders." The reaper stated as he looked at her.

" What?" The demon reacted, a little confused at that. "Why do you care?"  She was looking at him mockingly. "You have a baby face."

"Juniper." Sourcy said, giving her friend a shove. "Behave." She was kind of feeling ashamed for Juniper at this point. But when she looked over at the reaper, he seemed amused by Juniper.

The demon already stood up. "I'll leave you with the loser. It's boring here." And with that she disappeared down the building again.

Juniper probably had come up to find Sourcy because she didn't have a clue how to deal with an emotional Meissia. Sourcy had to remember to ask the blond what that was about tomorrow.

Then she turned back to the reaper. "You usually leave when someone else comes. Why didn't you know?" She questioned him. He could have faded into the shadows.

"She was to quick."

They both knew it was a load of BS.

~ * ~

Juniper peaked in through the window of Meissia's room. The blond was now asleep. She was happy, because she did not do comforting.

Then she moved towards her own window and opened it. She jumped into her own room and slumped down onto her bed.  She was bored.  

With a sigh she sat up straight and closed her eyes. She was slowly moving herself into the dream world. She peaked into a few dreams of others but didn't find anything interesting.

But then she felt it.

The other one.

She tensed up. There was another nightmare demon skulking the  dreams of the Baranthia students.

And she was not pleased. Immediately she moved through the dream world towards this other demon. She was having none of it. No other demon was allowed to pray on the fear of the students. That was her fear. Not theirs.

He was in someone's dream, making it a nightmare.  She hesitated before she stepped in.

This was Hanako's dream.

The hesitation was there because there was something about the black haired girl that had grabbed her. And not in a good way. She had decided not to go near her dreams for a while anyway. She didn't want to call it fear. Though others did.  

Hanako was cowering under frogs in the corner of her room. She was trying to throw them off with her electricity but it was weakening every turn. And the frogs kept coming back.
On the other side of the room there was the demon. She couldn't quite see him as he only appeared as a shadow. It meant that he was still a long way from Baranthia. It meant he couldn't kill in the dreams. Only manipulate. She heard him laugh.

She smiled. That would be in her advantage. Though it also meant that she could not kill him.

She took a step into the room. But as she did that, a wind picked up around her. The painting of a wolf on her right started glowing. The wolf in it spoke to her. "I will tolerate you here for now. Take him down and then get out." Then the painting in its whole disappeared.  

Junipers eyes widened. She had suspected. She had felt it. But now she knew for sure.

She started concentrating. The surrounding started to change. She was changing Hanako's bed room to just in front of Baranthia's gates. Hanako was on the ground. The frogs on top her getting less and less until there were no left.

"Baranthia's dreams are claimed by me." Juniper said. "There is no place here for two nightmare demons."

She heard him laugh again but the shadow disappeared nonetheless. He had left the dream world. But she felt that he would be back.

She looked at Hanako for a second. Behind the black haired girl, who was clearly shaked up, the wolfs head appeared in the tree.

Juniper nodded at him before she disappeared.

~ * ~

Hanako was determined as she crossed over the Baranthia grounds in front of the academy.  She had a specific goal in mind. A person was her goal.

"Juniper." She said. Her voice was calm.

The grey haired demon stopped but didn't turn around.

"You were in my dream again last night." Hanako stated. She was sure of that. She couldn't remember her dream well. Or rather nightmare. All she remembered was frogs, a shadow and Juniper. But she felt that Juniper hadn't created the nightmare. On contrary. She had the feeling that the nightmare demon who had earlier terrorized her dream, had stopped her nightmare.

Hanako saw the demons shoulders tense a little, as if she was expecting her to attack. "What did you do?"

"Nothing."  
"I don't believe that."
  
"I don't care." With that Juniper walked away from her.

Hanako didn't call her back. There was no use. But she was now certain that for once, the nightmare demon had done the right thing…