AoH Karma and Convexity 6

The early morning sun shone through the window of the dragon pavilion and struck Nitrus in the eyes. The ice guardian cringed in his sleep and turned away. Thundra, who was lying beside him, giggled and shuddered from his steady breathing on the back of her neck. She sidled up beside him more and he draped his wing over her before kissing the back of her neck. Thundra laughed again, louder this time. Nitrus smiled to himself, his eyes still closed, and kissed her again. Thundra giggled childishly and squirmed under his loving embrace.
"Nitrus, stop." She blushed and turned to look at him as he opened his sleepy eyes. "The children might hear us."
"Oh come now." Nitrus wore a youthful grin on his face. "We aren't doing anything bad in front of them."
Thundra tilted her head to the side and gave him a skeptical stare. "Well we know Amp and Terra are about that age but we don't want Maya getting any ideas from us or them."
Nitrus rolled his eyes. "Very well. We'll wait for a special time when they're all out at their academy lessons." His grin returned and he nuzzled her cheek playfully. "And then you're all mine, my sweet dragoness." Thundra laughed out loud and took a few playful steps away from his tickling kisses.
"Come on my guardian. We've work to do first." She gazed at him lovingly as she headed for the doorway. "You rouse the children from their sleep and I'll check up on our new guest." As she disappeared behind the curtain and into the hallway Nitrus's smile faded. He had forgotten about the black dragon until now. He gave a muffled growl as he got to his feet and stretched himself to his full length. After his joints popped he rolled his muscular shoulders before walking down the hall to Maya's chamber. The little dragoness was already up and exploring about her room.
"Morning, Daddy!" She chirped and bounded over to hug his massive leg.
"Good morning, my little Maya." Nitrus smiled warmly at her. "Are you all set for academy lessons today?"
"Yeah!" Maya nodded excitedly. She reared up on her hind legs and flapped her wings rapidly. "We're starting flying exercises today!"
Nitrus's smile spread. She had always been as energetic as Amp and she progressed so quickly through her studies that he often wondered if she could possibly become a guardian one day. "I'm glad to see you're excited about your lessons." Nitrus nuzzled her and Maya licked his snout affectionately. "Let's go get your sister and Amp up and then we'll go." The two walked down to Terra's room. Maya barged in under the curtain and jumped on her big sister, forcing her awake. Terra snarled at her little sister and threw her off. Maya adroitly landed on her feet and stuck her tongue out.
"Maya, you brat! Knock it off! You know I hate it when you do that."
"Terra, stop scolding your sister," Nitrus ordered and turned his eyes on Maya. "And Maya, you know better." Maya only shrank back slightly but kept a faint hint of a smirk on her face. Terra noticed and glared at her; her sister always seemed to think that she could get away with anything because she was the baby of the family.
Nitrus looked around the room to see his daughter the only occupant. "Where is Ampus? And Crona for that matter?"
"Huh? Oh, Amp just took her to the library." Terra yawned, sitting up on her haunches. "She woke up really early this morning and wanted to know where the library was for some reason."
"That's odd." Nitrus twisted his snout slightly as he puzzled over his eldest daughter's story. "Did she give any reason?"
Terra shook her head. "I don't think so. I wasn't really awake to hear them discuss anything further."
"I see." Nitrus stood still, thinking for a moment, while Terra stretched in a cat-like fashion, flexing her wings, tail and legs; she was just as elegant and graceful as her mother. "Well, we should get going. You two have academy lessons to get to."
"What about Amp?" Terra asked as she followed her father outside.
"We'll pick him up on the way to the academy," Nitrus replied. "And then we'll see what Crona is up to."

"Here you go," Amp wheezed as he dragged another large book out to the cushion Crona was sitting on. The white dragoness was resting on a bright red pillow with several stacks of history books around her making a sort of wall around her. "That's all the books from the historical archives." Amp was exhausted from running back and forth, carrying the large books from off the high shelves and lugging back the ones Crona had practically blazed through already.
"Thank you, Amp," Crona muttered without even looking up at him, her eyes and thoughts delving deeper into her reading. Amp paused to watch her for a moment as she quickly read through each page before flipping to the next.
"Are you really reading all that?" He asked. Crona nodded silently. Amp took the cue and sat down on a pale yellow cushion beside her and closed his eyes. It was already light outside now and he had been awake for at least three hours. The rest of the city would be waking up soon and then his academy lessons would begin. The young dragon's thoughts made him realize how tired he was and he drifted off into sleep.
Crona gave him a quick glance before delving back into the surrounding books. She raised a paw; certain Amp wasn't looking anymore, and summoned three more books over to her. Her eyes paced along the pages as she read through the manuscripts. So far all she was reading came across as useless information. Normally she would have loved reading about dragon history but the memory of her meeting with the dragon council tormented her mind relentlessly.
"Damn it," She cursed under her breath, making sure not to make too much noise to rouse attention. "There has to be something about the war with the apes around here somewhere." She looked at the stacks of books and scrolls Amp had brought her and looked over the railing from the third floor she was on. There were very few other dragons about, most of them keeping to themselves as they organized the archives and scribbled down new texts onto fresh scrolls. Off in the corner Crona spotted an old dragon dipping a large peacock feather into a well of ink. The white dragoness got up and walked down the stairs and timidly made her way over to the stranger.
"Excuse me," She spoke in a gentle tone so as to not surprise the elder. The pale green dragon looked up and looked down at young dragoness. "I was hoping you could help me with something."
"Certainly." The elder nodded, resting his feather in the ink well. "What may I assist you with?"
"I was curious about a couple things." Crona sat down in front of him in a proper posture as she had been taught in school. "My first question, has there ever been any sort of war before? What I mean is has there been any great conflict between the dragons and," She paused a second to find the proper words. The last thing she wanted to do was start up another incident like in the council chamber. "Any other creatures of our world, say for example, the apes."
The elder looked at Crona curiously. "There has never been such a thing before."
"That's what I thought you would say." Crona nodded and rubbed her chin trying to appear like she was taking his answer graciously. "My other question is what year is this?"
"It is the sixth year after the year of the dragon. Only four more until the next dragon year rolls about."
"The sixth after the year of the dragon," Crona murmured to herself. She remembered that year very specifically in her mind. There had been rumors that a legendary dragon would be born that year to bring an end to the war with the apes and the armies of the Dark Master. But this elder dragon, like the others, had no recollection of any war of any sort. Crona fixed him with her bright blue eyes as she thought of another question. "How long has dragon kind been around? Have we achieved anything of extreme importance?"
The elder looked like he had been slapped in the face. "Goodness, child, do they not teach you anything in the academy any more?"
Crona narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't attend this particular academy. But if you wouldn't mind answering, it would greatly assist my research."
"Oh I see. You're a transfer student." The elder nodded, seeming to understand the dragoness. "Well, dragon kind has been around for many millennia. At least as far as records go, dragons have flourished the past five millennia."
Crona narrowed her eyes again. "The dragon city of Warfang?"
"Ah, a wonderful place!" The elder sighed as if remembering a fond memory.
"Yeah, I know." Crona nodded, recalling the beauty of the city. "I don't suppose there's a dragon calendar around by any chance is there?"
"Certainly, my dear." The old dragon got up and led Crona towards the center of the main chamber. In the middle of the open floor was a single white spot of light. Crona looked up to see the top of the dome was a single pane of glass letting the light shine into the chamber. "Let us see." The elder brought Crona's attention back to him. He took a moment to eye the sundial in the center of the spot of light before moving. The elder looked down at the ground and started pacing in a circle making random swishes of his claws along the floor. "Here," he announced pointing a claw at the floor.
Crona walked over and stared at the floor. Under the old dragon's claw was a roman numeral etched into the floor and painted in yellow clay. Crona could see more etchings of the same yellow claw moving around the room in a circle. Inside that circle was another smaller one with indigo etchings and inside that was another with red clay. As the white dragoness studied the layout of the markings and the various circles around the chamber, she realized that this was the calendar she was looking at. She gasped in surprise and froze.
"Is everything alright?" The old dragon asked, seeing her reaction.
"Y-yes. I'm fine," She stammered. "Thank you for your help. I'm sorry to bother you."
"Think nothing of it my dear." The old dragon bowed graciously. "I hope you find what you are looking for."
Crona waited until he was gone before turning back to the calendar. The ring surrounding the sundial had four divisions on it indicating the seasons of the year. The sundial shadow was in the third section of the ring, indicating the fall season was well under way. Crona followed the line of the shadow to the next ring which broke the four previous sections into four sections, each with a roman digit over it. The next ring was broken into even more sections with more digits labeling the days.
"At least I know what day it is." Crona grumbled to herself. "But where's the," Her voice trailed off as she came to the final rings surrounding the day ring. The following ring was the century; the one after that was the millennium followed by the generation then finally the exact year. Crona looked closer and her jaw dropped. "No way." She gasped. "This can't be right." She walked back to the sundial and placed a paw inside the shadow. She concentrated on her only active power at her disposal. The flow of time grew stronger inside her and a moment later a spark of light appeared at the tip of her middle talon. Crona watched as the tiny orb of light moved across the calendar on a deliberate path. At the edge of the final ring the orb stopped. The dragoness walked along the path the orb had taken, looking at each section it had passed through. Once she stood over the orb she frowned.
The light now rested over a single digit on a year that was not marked by any clay. Crona looked back at the marked years then back to the orb. "That's my year." She whispered to herself. She looked back again and her heart sank. "That's... It's a thousand year difference." She looked over the sections, and ran the numbers through her head several times before collapsing on her hind legs in defeat. "How can this be possible?" She shook her head. "These dragons have no idea about the war because it hasn't even started yet." Her thoughts drifted back to her lessons about the war with her instructors as a young dragon. She had never been told how the war had started; only that the apes had attacked out of nowhere with no provocation what so ever on the dragons behalf. "Mother." Crona suddenly started crying, her tears streaming down her snout and plopping onto the floor. "Father, what do I do?" The library seemed suddenly silent to her as she stifled her weeping.
"Crona?" Nitrus's voice echoed gently through the halls as he tried to keep his voice low. The white dragoness quickly wiped her eyes and looked down at the spot on the calendar she was on. Nitrus entered the chamber to see her standing still and walked over to her. "Crona, are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Crona replied, turning her attention towards the guardian. "I was just looking at the calendar."
"Oh?" Nitrus raised a brow. "Were you looking for anything in particular?"
Crona shrugged. "It's nothing big, but I did find what I was looking for."
"That's good to hear. Are you feeling well today?"
Crona sighed and forced herself to stand tall with a half smile. "I'm peachy." Nitrus looked at her, unsure if she was being serious or sarcastic. Crona noticed his expression and looked down at her paws and shifted her talons, attempting to look nervous in front of him. "Um, I wanted to apologize for my outburst yesterday. I didn't mean to show any disrespect towards your fellow guardians. I... I've been under a lot of stress lately and I've been more lost than you could possibly imagine."
Nitrus was surprised by her sudden apology but smiled warmly none the less. "Well I do appreciate your kind words Crona. If you need anything, anything at all, I would like you to ask one of us. Whether it's someone to talk to or a shoulder to lean on, my family and I are here for you."
Crona cracked a slight smile but her heart was still feeling extremely heavy inside her chest.  "Thank you." She bowed slightly. "I will be sure to keep that in mind."
Nitrus gave her a fatherly hug, a gesture Crona did not expect but was too distraught to reject it; she was never very open to such displays of affection from strangers. "Come on, let's go get Amp. Terra said he was with you."
"Oh right." Crona cringed as she remembered making the young in-training guardian run about getting scrolls and books for her. The two walked up to the next level of the library and found Terra and Maya standing beside Amp. Terra was nudging him awake but the lightning dragon only groaned as he tried to fall back asleep.
"Come on Ampy, we've got academy lessons soon."
"But I don't want to," Amp mumbled groggily. "Can't I have a day off for once?"
"A guardian never has a day off," Nitrus replied as he and Crona walked over to them. Terra looked up at the white dragoness who mouthed a silent apology. Terra only shook her head with a smile assuring Crona she was not upset in any way. Amp's eyes snapped open when he heard Nitrus's voice and he sprang to his feet.
"Y-yes sir!" He nearly choked trying to swallow and talk at the same time. Nitrus gave him a pat on the shoulder.
"You'll make a fine guardian one day Ampus.  But for now you need to stay focused on your studies so you may become such a dragon."
"I will." Amp nodded sounding more determined now that his mentor was here.
"You young ones get to class." Nitrus thrust his horns over his shoulder towards the library entrance. "I'll see you three after your lessons."
"You're not going to walk us?" Maya whimpered, hurt that she wouldn't be escorted by her father.
"I'm going to help Crona clean up around here." Nitrus looked at the stacks of books and scrolls that remained unread by the white dragoness. "Now run along or you'll be late." He gave Maya a loving lick on the cheek before nudging her along behind Amp and Terra. Maya licked his snout back and hurried after her sister. When they were gone Nitrus turned to Crona. "Shall we clean up a bit here or would you like to stay a little bit longer?"
"I'd like to stay a little longer," Crona replied, but then a yawn escaped from her jaws. She covered her mouth and blushed sheepishly. "But I suppose I should clean up and get some sleep first."
"Alright then," Nitrus chuckled. He grabbed a stack of scrolls and curled his wing in towards his side before placing them in the crook made by the membrane. Crona grabbed a scroll in her jaws and walked off to return it. She had not realized until her seventh trip back that she had Amp gather more books than she had originally expected. She immediately felt bad about making the young dragon do so much for her. When she had put away all of the scrolls she glanced around to see if Nitrus was around or anyone was watching. Crona extended a paw towards the first stack of books, lifting them off the floor. She placed her paw back down when she had control of them and walked down one of the isles she remembered seeing Amp go down to retrieve them. She went about neatly organizing them and placing them onto the higher shelves. The white dragoness moved between the isles sorting and putting the books away using her abilities to complete her task quicker.
Meanwhile, Nitrus continued back and forth taking more and more books to their respective resting places on the shelves.  Each time he finished and went back to Crona's collection of literature he would find the pile greatly diminished that when he had last left it. Crona was nowhere to be seen as he moved about the isles. At last he returned to see no more books remaining.
"That's odd," he pondered aloud. "I thought there were more books." He started down the isles again looking for the young dragoness. The more he looked around, the more he began to convince himself that she had been getting help from one of the librarians. At last he rounded a corner and looked up to see Crona staring up at the top of the shelf which was over Nitrus's head.
"All done," Crona said with a smile.
"Very well." Nitrus nodded and padded over to her. "Shall we be off then?"
Crona yawned again. "Yeah, that's fine with me." She turned and began making her way towards the entrance to the library. "Not like I have anywhere else to be."
Nitrus found himself puzzled by the subtle remark as he followed after her. As he passed by the spot she had been standing he looked up to see one of the books that had been in Crona's pile placed upon the top shelf. The ice guardian looked at the dragoness as she disappeared around the corner then back to the book.
"Did she just put that thing up there all by herself?" He thought to himself. After a moment he shook his head. "Nah, there's no way she could have. Could she?" He could see that the white dragoness was different from the first moment he laid eyes on her but the ice guardian had no idea just how different Crona really was.


Several more days passed uneventfully. Crona spent most of the time running back and forth between Terra and Amp's home and the library. During that time she read up as much as she could on dragon history and dragon relations with the rest of the world's creatures. So far, all she had read about were past tensions between the apes and wolves. The wolves had freely secluded themselves from the rest of the world whereas the apes only secluded themselves due to a pact between them and the dragon elders of the time.
"So what makes them turn on us?" Crona muttered to herself one day in Terra's room while reviewing her notes.
"What are you talking about?" Amp asked curiously, coming into the main chamber of the pavilion where Crona was busy studying.
"Oh, Amp," She gasped, nearly scrunching her scrolls from jumping in surprise. "Sorry, I was just thinking aloud."
"Is everything okay?" Terra piped up, following Amp out from her room to the main chamber.
"As well as could be expected," Crona muttered under her breath. "I've just been going over some notes and haven't been able to figure out some things."
"Really? Is there anything we can do to help?" Amp took a seat and crossed his paws thoughtfully.
"It's nothing, really." Crona shook her head. "I don't want to trouble you with it."
"Oh come on Crona, what are friends for?" Terra coaxed leaning towards her scrolls trying to read the white dragoness's handwriting. Crona had actually been avoiding using her special abilities when others were around.
Crona sighed. "Fine, if you must know I've been trying to solve the mystery about our friend in the other room." Crona thrust her head towards the guest room.
"You still think apes attacked him, don't you?" Amp muttered darkly.
Crona's fierce blue eyes locked with his cold and violet orbs. "I don't think Ampus. I know."
"But how?" Amp shook his head. "You don't have any proof."
"Look," Crona started raising a paw to him. The gesture was mainly to keep herself calm rather than the lightning dragon. "I don't expect you to believe me or even understand. But I am coming from personal experience here. I can't say how I know, but I'm asking you two to trust what I'm saying."
Terra and Amp exchanged worried and skeptical looks before looking back at the white dragoness. "Crona, we'd love to we really would. But some things just don't make sense or add up."
"That's because you all have led sheltered lives without any exposure to danger like I have." Crona shot back with a growl in her throat. "I've survived near death experiences more than once. I've had to fight for my own survival. I've had to find things out about myself and the world around me that none of you could possibly fathom. So when I say I know what I'm talking about, I mean it in every sense of the term."
"It also sounds like we come from very different worlds," Amp retaliated.
"You have no idea," Crona nearly hissed.
"Okay, we need to settle down here," Terra interrupted. "Crona, do you want to enlighten Amp and I on your history? If you want us to understand you then we have to know about you a little bit."
Crona reared her head back a couple inches as if cringing at the idea. She had been contemplating telling them about her situation but every time she got the idea into her head again her instincts screamed at her to refrain from such an act; and this time was no different.
"I'm sorry. Let's just drop it." Crona shook her head sadly. "I have very... strict... different circumstances than you do about releasing information."
Both Terra and Amp sighed sadly as well. "Well we are here in case you change your mind." Terra placed a paw on top of Crona's.
"Well, on another note," Amp continued. "The council has been discussing allowing you to attend the academy that Terra, Maya and I attend."
"Oh?" Crona raised a suspicious brow. She had been enjoying herself as much as possible spending time at the library every day alone. But now this new academy and its required attendance would definitely hinder her progress in trying to find a way home back to her own time period. But in order to keep up appearances, she would have to go along with it if the council decided to go through with enrolling her in the academy.
As Amp went on to explain what was being discussed with the dragon council, Maya woke from her afternoon nap. The voices of the older dragons were low, indicating that they thought she was still asleep. The little lightning dragoness ducked under her bedroom curtain and crept down the hallway towards the guest room. She glanced over her shoulder once before slipping inside. The room was empty except for the black dragon laying silently on the large cushion in the middle of the room. Her mother had gone out after putting her down for a nap to grab some fresh herbs and medicinal supplies in the forests near the city. Nitrus had gone to the council temple with the other guardians, for what reason he did not say.
Maya crept up to the black dragon and looked him over carefully. His wounds were still fresh and had taken quite a bit of time to stop bleeding. His black scales had a pale tint, indicating his sickness. Thundra had been able to keep the wounds from becoming further infected but the ailment still lingered within the dragon's body. The deep lacerations that covered his hide were covered with stripped medicinal leaves and aloe vera sap pasted on to help the condition of his skin surrounding the wounds.
The little lightning dragoness stared silently for a while; the only noise was the three older dragons talking in the adjacent room. After a while she grew bold enough to reach a paw out and place it on the dragon's side. She could feel the rhythmic pulses of his heart against the pads on her feet.
"Soft," She whispered before moving back to face him. She lowered her head close to his and examined the large leaf that covered his right eye. It was caked on thick with aloe vera sap and would not come off easily. Maya lifted a paw, ready to remove the bandage when suddenly, the black dragon's eye opened.