Faint, unintelligible singing reached my ears. The melody almost sounded like a magic chant, and I struggled to locate its source as the mysterious sounds consumed the void-like space of my dreams. Occasionally, a monster of black energy briefly reared its head from the void, but it died to a flash of light.

Someone called to me in a whispering voice. "A..."

"Who's there!?" My roar echoed endlessly as small twinkling lights slowly appeared in the black void.

"Akio..." the soft voice barely reached my ears.

"Is that who you are!?" I screamed.

"Hoshi," the mist and glittering lights trembled as a familiar but distant-sounding voice reached my ears, "wake up, someone is coming!"

I groaned as everything faded as I slowly opened my eyes. "Mmm...yes?" A yawn escaped my lips.

"Someone is coming," Saki's silver eyes were wide as the sounds of footsteps reached my ears.

"It will be ok," I assured in a quiet tone, then tried to look as bored and relaxed as possible as I watched what little I could see of the hallway. "I will protect you." She nervously snuggled against my shoulder.

Soon, two people emerged into sight. "Here they are, Magastron Kosmos, the mage and the monster." General Helios calmly gestured towards our cell.

"Magastron?" Saki squeaked, her ears flat. I placed a wing over her, but she still trembled.

"And they are voluntarily confined?" Suspicion crossed the young man's face as he eyed us from the corner of his eyes. His gold and silver clothing sparkled as if the metals had been woven into the material. He looked about Saki's age, and his attempt to have an air of importance did not impress me in the slightest.

"The dragon has shown that he can pick locks, and voluntarily returned here after the raid ended." The general remained at attention.

"And he fought for our side, along with the mage?" The young teen asked the uniformed soldier.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Helios responded in a prompt tone.

I paused as I quickly realized who the fancily dressed man was: the ruler of New Stellonia. I almost felt like I should care, but I simply yawned. A brief flash of slight intimidation flashed across the royal man's face, and the white-cloaked general tightened his grip on his sword hilt.

The crownless majesty stared at me for a brief moment, then looked to Saki and barked a command. "Tell me, what is the weakness of monsters?"

"Star magic," I responded calmly.

The young royal paused, then looked to the general with his eyes blazing in determination, "Then, to end this war, we must use magic."

"But sir—" Helios jumped slightly, "magic is illeg-"

"I am the magastron! I can change the laws and speak to the council later! This war must end! My family died because of this war! It's infuriating that the answer is so simple and we could have ended this conflict years ago! My ancestors kept that law because it was the reason we were oppressed in our homeland. If we can use it to defend ourselves against monsters, surely we can defend ourselves from our neighbors." He took a breath, then spoke in a calmer voice as he looked into my cage with his commanding gaze still across his face. His silver-white eyes stared into Saki's soul."You, mage, can you teach the soldiers magic?"

Saki whimpered nervously, "H-Hoshi was that taught me much of my magic." She pressed herself closer to my side. "If he can help me, I can."

"Hoshi?" The country's leader raised an eyebrow.

"That is what she calls the monster," General Helios calmly spoke while he retained his composure.

"Then the monster can teach the troops." The magastron's nearly-white eyes locked with my golden ones.

"Not without some stipulations," I stated in a firm voice

"And those are?" One of the royal's eyes arched.

"One, give Saki her clothes and cape back instead of this ill-fitting sack that is an excuse for clothes." The firm tone of my unwavering voice echoed slightly against the walls of the tiny cell.

"Done—"

I interrupted the Stellan leader, not caring for his supposed authority over me, "Second, I want both of us to be treated like residents of the base, not prisoners. You will give us a proper room and food instead of starving us in a cell. I can sleep on the floor, but Saki gets a bed. I don't care if it's a guarded room attached to the training area as long as it is at least equal to what you give recruits." I glared slightly and my nose crinkled slightly.

"As long as neither one of you hurt a Stellan." Helios started.

"General," The magastron's focus briefly flashed at Helios. "I am the one negotiating here." He regained his composure as he refocused on me. "You're demands are mostly reasonable."

I snorted and eyed the man as I spoke again before he ended the negotiations. "no one is allowed to purposefully hurt Saki and me without punishment as long as we agree to and obey the reasonable stipulations." I kept my focus on both men.

"Simple enough." The magastron nodded, "you two will teach the soldiers to use magic to defeat monsters. You shall be guarded and watched at all hours, but you will be cared for as agreed." He faced Helios, "General, do you have anything else to add?"

Helios mumbled with his eyes downwards. Upon the ruler's pressing, the general looked up and spoke in a flat tone, "No, sir, and I will see that a binding contract is drafted and signed and organize the room and the guards."

"Good. I will legalize magic by morning." He once again faced me, "Tomorrow, you shall receive your room and begin to train the soldiers. Food will be delivered shortly, and tonight we will prepare a room for your use." He turned toward the exit, "General, come."

I looked at Saki as they walked down the hall. When the echoes of their footsteps faded, I gently lessened the pressure of my wing on Saki. "I think we will live through this, somehow."

"As long as we obey, we will live," Saki trembled slightly, then flinched as more footsteps reverberated through the hall.

Thankfully, it was just a normal soldier with two small trays of food. He slid the small metal trays through the food slot near the floor. It looked like meat slop and beans, but it was a warm meal.

"Thank you," Saki said as the man retreated. She pulled the trays closer to us, then picked up hers and began to eat. I calmly followed her example, though I simply licked the food off of the plate while she used utensils.

As I ate, I struggled to remember the last time I had a warm meal. I also hoped it was not one of my last. After Saki finished her food, I licked it clean before my Stellan companion slid the two pieces of metal back through the slot.

I kept watch while Saki slept.

We had no concept of time in the windowless space, so I woke my Stellan companion when I eventually heard approaching footsteps. With multiple sets of footsteps, General Helios returned with a small group of soldiers, I assumed it was morning.

"Let's go," he unlocked the door, his gaze stern.

Saki nervously stood.

"Where are Saki's clothes?" I demand without moving.

"In the room that has been prepared for you, along with a uniform," Helios stated with slight agitation.

With a huff, I stood and walked out of the cell. I eyed the eight other soldiers as each of them kept a hand hovering over their weapons or itching to grab them. I tried to appear as calm and unthreatening as they surrounded me, but the tension increased instead. I didn't care anyway.

General Helios motioned with a hand, and Saki and I followed with our armed entourage. Other military personnel hid in rooms or other hallways as we passed them in the otherwise bare passageways.

After a few minutes, Helios opened a set of doors that led into a large room. "This is the indoor sparring area, the outdoor field is out there," the general pointed to another set of doors with push-bars. He walked over to a set of steel double doors and opened them, which revealed a single bed in the small windowless room. "This is where you will stay, guards will escort you out if you ever need to leave for any reason. Food rations will be delivered twice a day, and in one hour both of you will be summoned for the first session. Girl, you should wear your uniform."

We were nudged into the room, and the doors were closed behind us. One cell for another. I laid down on the heavily scuffed concrete floor as Saki approached the bed and picked up her tan cape from the rest of her clothes, then looked to the beige uniform also laid out on the bed. "I guess this is the uniform. Maybe they purposefully matched my cape?" Her voice wavered as she fingered the fabric.

I closed my eyes and napped while she changed and explored the full extent of the small, slightly stinky room.

Eventually, I awoke to the sound of the door opening on its squeaky hinges. "Time for your first class," Helios stated.

I followed Saki into the training area, where eight armed Stellans stood at attention in the center of the room, and ten others stood at the edges. A high-ranking nurse stayed in the corner of the room, separate from the armed soldiers, but still armed with a knife at her side.

The heavily scraped and scratched stone floor reminded me a bit of the arenas and training areas of Master's fortress, though there were considerably fewer stains and scratches on the floor here. Furthermore, the room stank of cleaning products and sweat.

Helios continued, "These eight are who you are instructing right now, and the others are here to assure you do not try anything. I will be watching from the surveillance room. You may begin." He walked out of the room.

I followed Saki to a position in front of the eight Stellans, then laid down as she addressed the group. "Um... hello," she nervously spoke. She glanced at me with a pleading gaze. "I guess to start, you need to sit down, as it will be easier." She sat down on the concrete floor.

The military personnel hesitated, then most of them followed her lead and seated themselves on the scratched concrete floor.

"It takes a bit of concentration, but you can draw your magic out of your core," Saki held out her hands and summoned a small sphere of glowing pink magic. She smiled nervously as the soldiers stared at it with various emotions. "You may not get it on your first try."

I watched the troops with their varying levels of fear of me, hatred or fear of magic, and conflicted frowns. None of them tried to summon magic from their cores. With a huff, l looked at them, "Magic is tied to emotion, especially when you are first summoning it," the uniformed men jumped in their seats. "All of you have magic inside of you, and you are not going to learn how to use it by doing nothing. Think of something that makes you feel an emotion. It doesn't matter as long as it makes you feel strongly. Different people will get different results depending on the emotion, but for now, just hold out your hands and try."

Five of the soldiers placed their hands on their laps and focused. However, three refused to follow my directions. With a huff, I looked over the people who ignored Saki's instructions, then focused on the one with the strongest magic core. Based on the clips on the shoulder of his uniform, he looked like a captain and a perfect target for my little demonstration.

My eyes locked on the teal-eyed captain as I slowly rose to my feet and I flatted my ears.

"Hoshi?" Saki whispered.

"I'm doing a demonstration of my own," I responded in a quiet tone as I calmly walked over to my chosen target. "Trust me."

She did not look confident in my plan.

A few soldiers noticed me and began to watch, their nervousness displayed in their eyes. The captain looked at me and smirked, "What's wrong, big boy?" The captain grinned, "am I not breaking the law for you?"

I judged the distance between us, then silently lunged in his direction with my claws outstretched.

He screamed at a high tone satisfying to my ears and reactively shot a tiny blast of blue magic into my chest. His tiny blast barely stung.

However, just as my paws landed on the ground in front of him, a wave of green magic knocked into my side and caused me to skid slightly to the side. The second attack stung a bit more, but thankfully, the blasts only caused minor burns.

"Good," I looked to the captain, then to the head nurse who watched from the edge of the room. "Now that I drew up enough emotion to get you to use your magic, I want you to remember how it felt to draw the energy out of yourself." I calmly returned to my place next to Saki and laid on the padded-covered floor. "Eventually, you'll be able to use magic without strong emotions. Perhaps you should join these lessons since some of the current class refuse to try."

"Hoshi," Saki frowned at me, then reached over and pressed healing magic into my side. I heavily winced as her magic hurt, even as it healed the burns. However, when the pain from her magic faded, I felt better.

My ear twitched as Helios's voice came over the intercom, "Try that again and you won't live until morning, monster."

"Yeah, yeah," I faked a yawn; I could almost hear Helios gnash his teeth without the intercom on, "you wanted me to teach them magic, I'm doing it. Magic emerges easiest with strong emotions, like fear, anger, happiness, or confidence. Your nurse did an excellent job, though I wasn't going to touch Mr. Snarky Captain." I glanced up to the windows just in time to see a blurry Stellan silhouette slam his fist onto a table beneath the observation windows.

For the rest of the lesson, I stayed quiet and observed.