In a beat, he clutched the knob and wrung it open. He retained which side the door unlocked this time. He yanked the wooden door open. In less than a beat, he saw that it was Terra and there was no one with her. Her skull resting on the door, slumped aside. She fluttered inside the room as Diato wobbled the door entirely open. He made sure no one else was with her. He tightly clasped his fingers around the bicep of her arm. Before she even had the time to decline or respond, she was yanked inside the room, also keeping her from the drop. She heard the door slamming shut with a thud. She hovered herself on her feet. She glimpsed at Diato, who was wearing Max's shorts.

She opened her mouth to speak something - explain herself - but instantly closed it as she listened to Diato speak something.

"How much did you listen?" He said, darting at her over his shoulder, still spun to the door. His tone was unbiased. Nearly emotionless.

"What are talking about? I didn't listen to anything?" She said with her teeth, trying to sound persuading.

"I know you were listening to me. You'd have knocked before resting your head on the door, otherwise." He said, his tone was coarse and soothing at the same time.

"Okay, I heard that you were supposed to die, but you didn't," She said, admitting defeat. There was no point in fibbing if he was going to perish anytime soon.

"That's all I said," He said still not pivoting to her, "as far as I remember"

"Dieto -" She said, pointing out as shortly as she could, " Debato, your ears - they're-"

"Don't," Diato cut her off, with his tone stiff, almost emotionless." change the topic. Why were you spying on me?"

"I'm not changing the topic," She said, sounding convincing almost shrieking her voice to a cry. "Your ears - they're - they're pointed!"

"Don't act like you don't know about this." He said, finally twisting around; he shot her an emotionless gaze, as his voice rose to a shout, "You're aware that I've turned into a dragon and I was supposed to be dead but I'm not for some reason"

With a sigh, she gazed down at her lap. She wasn't sure what she was doing herself. She didn't know what to say. His mood was erratic with his tone. She didn't know what to say. Was he sad? Was he angry? Was he baffled? It was the first time she had seen Diato act like this - like a normal and serious person - he was always so chill to be serious. What had happened to him? She threw herself in the mattress, with her feet dangling over the edge. She was lost in the webs of her thoughts as she fidgeted with her fingers on her lap.

He strode across the room and reached his bed. He threw himself on it, fighting the urge to rub his forehead again. It was all too much for him to perceive. She glanced at him, wanting to throw her palm on the cup of his cheek and say, it'll be alright. She couldn't. She couldn't tell him that she was Timmy. It would make the situation worse. He was already confused about why he didn't die, he was grieffuly waiting for his death, he was also glad he didn't die, but he didn't want to celebrate too early as he could die anytime soon.

"I'm sorry," He said, lowering his voice to almost a whisper with a sigh, "I shouldn't have shouted at you. You're my senior, I should respect you."

"Don't be" She said, as she turned back to her fidgeting fingers on her lap, "you're misled if you think I'm that grumpy senior who'd punish you for not following orders." Her gaze moved back to his face, "I'm the friendly one. Everyone is. None of the Drayers look down on each other" Her words held a passive amount of conviction.

He didn't reply. With a short pause, he finally nodded. He never expected Drayers to have so much unity. He thought how much internal quarrels and rivalries would be prevented if no one looked down on each other.

"Terra, you know," He finally spoke, after his lips felt like they were glued together. "I want to find out why I haven't Died. I read the Inferno Flower book, and it said I'd surely die in twenty-four hours. That's how long it would take the poison to act. Although I could die earlier, there is no chance I'd survive more than that."

"Maybe," She suggested, "you're a rare case that has not been recorded before. Or maybe the poison in this seed was genetically weak and didn't kill you."

"Maybe." He indicated, "What if that's not the case? What then?"

"Dia-" She said but hesitated. She didn't want to pronounce his name incorrectly again. She'd done it enough times to make someone mad. Instead, she swallowed and continued the sentence without the name, "You're not the only one who's new with this all. None of us has seen this either."

He bobbed again, feeling his shortage of words. She hurtled herself to her feet. Still not taking her gaze off Diato's face.

"I understand about the not looking down on each other part." He started, just as the room fell into silence. "But I gotta pay respect if you're older than me"

"I'm not," She said, as her lips uncontrollably curled into a smile. Not a warm one. A smile you'd make before proving your dominance. She tried her best to turn her sinister smile into a warm one.

Diato noticed right away, what she was trying to do. "How are you so sure? How old are you?"

She tried her best to hide her smile. Although it wasn't sinister, it looked like one. "I'm Twenty. Twenty-one next month."

"You're almost the same age as me." He said, with a tone of shock and coldness, "I'm also Twenty, turning twenty-one next month"

Oh shit, why did I tell him my actual birthday? I forgot that children from the same orphanage have a common birthday! She thought as she realised. She turned around, ready to leave. She strode across the room and reached the door. His gaze was fixed on her as she walked away.

She quickly had to change the topic. She didn't want Diato to find out just yet. It wasn't the right time. "How did you manage to work out for those abs while training?"

"I didn't," He said, as a smile curled up on his face. He never knew he had abs himself. He gazed down at his abdomen. "I think it's something that comes with the inferno seed - I guess. I'm not sure" He said. He glanced at her. A blow of wind came bustling through the doorway, flying her hair across her face. He sighed. "Thanks, Terra"

"For what?" She inquired. She hadn't done anything. Why was he thanking her?

"For assuring me that I'll not necessarily die," He said as his gaze shifted to the purple-tinted window, emitting faint purple sunlight on his face.

"You're welcome," She said as she realised that her smile automatically turned into a warm one without trying. She left the room, closing the door behind her. I hope he's not planning to go to the Dragon Spine Mountains. And I don't think he has read the whole book either. Hopefully not about the dragon ruins. She thought as she made her way down the corridor to her room.

He hauled himself near the edge of the bed, almost standing up. His gaze went from the window to the book on his bed. Dragons of the DragonSpines. He read the title again, and this time, he knew he was going to read it all. He had lost the bet but Max seemed to forget about it. He grabbed the book in his lap and read the rest of the book. But he had to do something else first. Although he was fond of sleeping naked, he wasn't a big fan of staying awake and naked at the same time except bathing time. He grabbed a denim jacked from his closet and shoved his hands inside them, with a sky-blue T-shirt beneath.

*****

The cityscape was bathed in the warm hues of a setting sun, casting long shadows across the bustling streets. As daylight slowly faded, the sky transformed into a canvas of orange and pink, creating a breathtaking urban panorama. Amidst this picturesque scene, the moon emerged, gradually ascending, adding its serene presence to the vibrant city skyline. The mingling of the fading sunlight, the emerging moon, and the twinkling city lights crafted a captivating tapestry of urban twilight.

He slammed the book shut and threw it on the bed. He finally finished the book. It was a long one. Longer than the Inferno Flower one. But not long enough. He read that there was a structure at the DragonSpine Mountains, - also known as Fiery Peaks for the normal people - named Dragon Ruins, that place contained a spell of dragon magic that would let anyone gain knowledge about anything he desires. But no one seems to go there because it's also a haunt of the dragons. And any human found there would be burned alive by the dragons. Diato wanted to find out about why he didn't die. And he didn't want to risk his whole life, worrying about dying anytime. Because if the poison was weak, it would take a longer time to kill him, but eventually, it would.

He wanted to know if he'd survive the effects or not, and he was a dragon himself so he wouldn't be harmed by other dragons. He saw this as a win-win. He jumped out of the bed. He silently made his way down the corridors to the weapon room. It was easy to locate anything now that he had memorized the map of the building. He wondered what Drayers called normal people who were unaware of the Dragon world. Muggles? Mundanes?