Chapter 8-Louder than Words

It had been a long and exhausting week for Sofia. After she and Dante managed to escape the clutches of a dangerous faery and made it back home, her parents gave her a couple of days to rest from her ordeal. She honestly felt fine, but even Cedric said that it's best that she rest up. Being trapped in a fairy circle could mess with one's sense of time, and it's nothing to ignore.

Sofia spent these days helping Pyra adjust to living in the castle. It took some effort to convince her parents to allow a faery to live with her after nearly being killed by one, but Pyra had nowhere else to go and no living family left. She did admit she was a bit hasty in her decision though. Pyra was extremely aggressive towards anyone save Sofia and Dante. Her sharp claws tore holes in her bedsheets, she treated her sleeping pillows as personal chew toys (or as surrogate enemies to be killed and devoured) and she developed a habit of terrorizing Amber at random times. Pyra said that it was just her instincts, but Sofia thought that the young manticore was just getting a kick out of scaring Amber.

Dante was still talking to Cedric about teaching her magic, but until he got his master's consent, Dante still taught her the basics of manipulating her mana. These lessons were just long meditation sessions that lasted for hours focusing on spiritual pathways that she could see or feel or something. It was exhausting and boring, but after she accidentally destroyed a statue with a pink energy bolt one weary afternoon, Sofia was content to take things slow.

Those few days of rest were definitely what Sofia needed, because she felt refreshed and excited as ever to return to Royal Prep (James was shocked and appalled by her apparent excitement at returning to school). Apparently news spreads fast around the school, and Sofia had been greeted by James and Amber's friends upon entering the courtyard. It was a bit disturbing to learn that she was just one of a few children to have escaped a faery trap, but she was happy to see her friends again.

Her first day back at Royal Prep was as normal as it could be. Classes were normal and slow, but still fun to sit through, and there were even a few new faces too! But the highlight of her day was art class, where her teacher, Professor Flora, had the class get started on doing a painting of her favorite Pegasus in the whole world, Maximillian!

"Alright, class," Professor Flora clapped her hands. She was a stout, round woman with a head of thick grey hair curled around the edges. Her thick multicolored dress was an assault on the eyes, a mixture of colors thrown together as if she had an accident with the paint before class. "Time to do the finishing touches on your paintings. I hope you all had a wonderful time painting this lovely equine stallion who was nice enough to pose for us today."

Sofia giggled at Maximillian, who tried to act like he didn't like the way the children were admiring him as he posed in front of the class. He wasn't as hostile towards the other students as he was before he met Sofia, but he still acted a bit brash against them. Hugo especially gave the pegasus a wide berth whenever the black stallion was near.

"That's right, you brats. You better appreciate what I'm doing here." Maximillian grumbled, unheard by everyone expect Sofia. "I'd ask you all to catch my good side, but then you'd have to get every part of me."

"Oh, Maximillian, stop it." Sofia laughed, tracing along her painting. "You're doing wonderful. Thanks for coming."

"Not like I had a choice, but anything for you, princess." Maximillian sighed. "But I swear if one of those brats draws me as some black blob, I'm shoving a horseshoe right up his—"

"Lovely work, children!" Flora praised upon seeing Amber and Sofia's drawings. "Absolutely marvelous. I think that will be all for today, Sir Gillium." She walked over to Maximillian and patted his head. "And thank you, Maximillian."

Maximillian snorted and allowed Sir Gillium to lead him out of the classroom. As he passed Sofia's desk, he whispered, "How do I look?"

Sofia showed him a very stunning stylized painting of Maximillian that she had just finished. Maximillian flashed her a grin and strutted out of the room with his head held high.

"Marvelous." Sofia heard him say out in the hallway and she giggled again.

"Now that we're done with painting, let's move on to our next art project—building your dream castle!" Flora declared.

"Oh yes ma'am." Amber grinned, already loving the project.

"For this assignment, you will think up a dream castle of your dreams. I can be anything you want, from ordinary to the extraordinary. Let your imagination run free!" Flora explained. "Then you will make a model of your castle and bring it in for show and tell."

Sofia glanced at Amber and saw that the girl was already in the middle of thinking up her dream castle. She was sure it was going to have a lot of jewels and be really sparkly.

"And because this is such a big project, you will be set up in pairs, and you will work together for the duration of the project to create your castles. Remember, teamwork is dreamwork!" Flora smiled brightly. She took out a list from…somewhere and cleared her throat. "The first pair is Hildegard and Amber."

The girls sent each other sly grins.

"James and Zandar."

"Sweet!" Both boys said and fist bumped each other.

"Clio and Hugo."

Clio sent a dreamy look toward Hugo, who grinned back at her.

"And Sofia and Vivian."

"Vivian?" Sofia questioned. "Who's that?"

"Oh dear." Amber said, shaking her head. "She's in the back."

"Probably hiding behind her easel." Hildegard joked.

Sofia looked to the back of the class and saw a girl with long black hair and olive green eyes wearing a magenta dress sitting a little ways apart from the rest of the class. Knowing this was probably her partner, Sofia smiled and sent her a wave. Vivian froze and immediately hid behind her easel.

"Oh." Sofia deflated. Was it something she did?

Professor Flora dismissed the class and the children began to leave the room. Feeling that maybe she should be more direct, Sofia got up and walked over to Vivian, who was packing away her things.

"Hi, Vivian." Sofia greeted the quiet girl, who stiffened in her presence. "I don't think we've met before. I'm Sofia."

"Hello, Sofia." Vivian said softly.

Sofia waited for her to say something else, but Vivian just stood there looking a bit uncomfortable. Clearing her throat, Sofia tried again. "So…since we're going to be partners for this project, do you want to come over to my castle so we can work on it?"

"Um, well, no I don't think so." Vivian muttered.

"Then how about we go over to your place?" Sofia suggested. "Would that be okay?"

"Uh, yes, of course." She replied, looking at her feet. "I guess we have to work on the project somewhere."

Before Sofia could say anything, Vivian was already out the door and down the hall. Sofia stood there perplexed before giving a confused smile.

"See you later!" Sofia called out.

XXXXXX

After school, Sofia left the building and entered the courtyard. She spotted Vivian's magenta dress hurrying for the front gates, and tried to call out to her, but her attention was diverted by her sister and her friends.

"Sofia!" Amber called her over.

"Hey, Amber." Sofia greeted her sister with a hug, which Amber returned a bit too tightly, before nodding to Clio and Hildegard. "What's up?"

"Nothing, I'm just sorry that you got paired up with Vivian." Amber said. "She's a bit…strange."

"Do you know her?" She asked.

"Only that her family are nobles who just moved into that creepy manor a mile from here." Amber replied. "I got a glimpse of that place while going to visit Clio's house and it looks like a place a vampire would live in."

"I heard that her parents are gnomes," Hildegard said. "And that they used to live in a mountain cave before moving here."

"A cave?" Sofia squeaked.

"I heard that she has a pet dragon." Amber said, getting close to Sofia. "A real one that breathes fire and everything!"

"Really? How do you know that?" Sofia asked.

Amber scrunched up her nose and flicked her fan closed. "Well, we don't."

"But that's only because Vivian never talks to anyone." Clio said.

"And no one has ever been to her manor." Amber said. She took one of Sofia's hands and patted it. "When you go over to her manor, just…be careful, okay, Sofia? Good luck!"

The three girls left to catch their coaches and Sofia stood there looking a bit more worried than she was when she left school. What was she getting into?

XXXXXX

Sofia spent the ride home becoming more and more nervous about Vivian, even though she knew it was wrong. She literally just met the girl and now she's letting all these rumors get to her. She was better than this!

Still, the uncertainty made her seek out ways not to leave for Vivian's house and she found herself looking in on James and Zandar for an excuse on not to go.

"Hey guys," Sofia greeted them as she entered James' room. It was a stark contrast to Amber's room, full of posters of famous knights, with toy figurines lying across the floor, and a wooden sword sitting next to a wooden dummy. "Still working on your project?"

"Yup. We don't really know what we want in it yet." Zandar said, drawing the outline of their sketched out castle on a large piece of paper.

"But we know it's going to have cannons. Lots of cannons." James grinned.

"And a whole lot of other things that go boom." Zandar said and the two boys high fived each other.

There was a knock on the door and Sofia heard her mother's voice behind her. "Sofia, there you are. The coach is ready to take you to Vivian's."

"Oh, right. Um," Sofia tried to think of an excuse. "That sounds great, mom, but I think James and Zandar might need my help making their castle."

"No, we're good." James said, adding yet another cannon to the third level of his castle. "You should go ahead, Sof. We'll be fine."

"Oh…okay." There went that idea. Sofia tried to keep her smiled plastered on her face as she stood up and went to the door. "Well, good luck on your castle."

"Thanks, Sof." James looked at their concept sketch and grinned. "Okay, I think that's enough cannons. But I think it's still missing something."

"What about a trebuchet?" Zandar suggested.

"A what?" James asked. Zandar smirked.

"Oh you're gonna love what it does, James."

Outside, Sofia and Miranda walked down the hall towards Sofia's room. Seeing how nervous her daughter looked, Miranda decided to break the ice and see what was bothering her.

"So," She began. "Is there a reason you're trying to find a way not to visit Vivian?"

Sofia started and looked up at her surprised. "How did you know?"

"I'm a mother, Sofia. It's my job to know these things…and you weren't being very subtle about it either." Miranda said smiling.

"Oh." Sofia muttered.

"So what's bothering you? You're usually excited to meet new people."

"Well, everyone at school says Vivian is strange." Sofia said.

"Why's that?" Miranda asked.

"I don't know. No one knows, actually." Sofia answered as they stopped at her room.

"Have you tried talking to her?"

"I did, but she barely said a word." She sighed.

Miranda put a hand on her head. "Well you're not going to really get to know her unless you take the time to talk to her. Not everyone's comfortable meeting new people. Remember how you were when we moved into the castle?"

"Yeah, I do." It felt like a lifetime ago. She and Amber were barely on speaking terms when they first met, and now Amber would barely let her out of her sight. "I'm being stupid. After that mess in the forest, I've been jumping at shadows thinking anything strange is dangerous."

"That's okay, Sofia. It will take time for you to really recover from that ordeal." Miranda hugged Sofia and kissed her forehead. "Now go get ready. Wouldn't want to leave a bad first impression on your new friend, right?"

"Right, thanks mom." Sofia said, feeling a little better now.

XXXXXX

As Sofia got ready to leave, she talked to her animal friends about visiting Vivian. Though talking to her mother helped curbed any serious misgivings she had about the girl, some part of her still wondered if certain rumors, like the dragon, were true in some way.

"I don't know, guys." Sofia said as she shoved her notebook into her bag. "What do you bring to a castle full of bats and gargoyles?"

"A torch, holy water, and an automatic multi-barreled crossbow?" Mona suggested. Sofia and Mona gave her dry looks, and she huffed. "What? You can't be too prepared these days."

"I'm working on a school project with her, Mona, not planning to mount her head on my wall." Sofia admonished. "

"You shouldn't let these rumors get to you, princess." Rhea said. "Amber and her friends trade gossip about everybody they meet, especially new people, and most of those rumors are wrong or grossly inaccurate.

"And the stuff that is accurate?" Mona asked.

"Rare occasions that had nothing to do with the rumors themselves." The eagle said. Mona rolled her eyes.

"I get that, but what if Vivian does have a pet dragon?" Sofia asked. "What do I do then?"

"If there is a dragon threatening alpha Sofia, then Pyra will be there to stab it." Pyra said, joining the girls after getting tired of mauling yet another sleeping pillow with her sharp teeth. "And Pyra will stab the other tiny human as well!"

"Please don't stab people, Pyra." Sofia sighed. "But if you want to come along, I'm happy to bring you with me."

Mona looked at her like she was crazy. "Sofia, are you serious? She just promised to stab anyone who looked at you funny."

"Pyra needs to get out every once in a while, Mona. She's getting bored of staying on the castle grounds all day." Sofia closed her bag and stood up. "Besides, I thought you'd be glad she was out of your fur for a little while."

Mona opened her mouth but couldn't really protest this. Pyra's sudden addition to their little circle of friends grated on her nerves, but her annoyance with the manticore was mainly because of the potential danger she posed to Sofia. Manticores were dangerous predators, and they were quick to anger. What if Pyra accidentally stabbed Sofia with her stinger and poisoned her? She'd be dead within a day!

"Sofia will be fine, Mona." Rhea assured her, though she too looked a bit wary of letting her go alone with a hyper-aggressive manticore. "I'm sure Vivian is a very nice girl who is just being misunderstood. And if the dragon worries you that much, then Pyra is more than enough to handle that domesticated beast."

"Feather lady is right. Pyra has been perfecting her stabbing technique for moments like this." Pyra said, repeatedly stabbing her scorpion tail forward at the bed post. "No one can match Pyra's stabbing abilities!"

"Pyra, don't poke holes in my bed!" Sofia exclaimed.

XXXXXX

The flight to Vivian's manner didn't take long. In fact, it felt almost a little too short given how deep in her own thoughts Sofia was…and how busy she was keeping Pyra from poking several holes into the coach with her stinger. Manticores hated flying. Who knew?

When the coach reached its destination, Sofia was greeted not by some large cave at the foot of a mountain or an underground cavern like the ones the trolls lived in, but a rather magnificent manor that showed their status as nobles. Sofia took one look at the manor and cracked a smile at the old time charm it had.

"This place doesn't look too bad. It's certainly better than a cave." Sofia commented as the coach came to a stop in front of the manor. Sofia got out with Pyra close behind her and walked through the front gates, entering the front yard and was greeted by three rows of purple and blue flowers that were mixed together in a subtle yet vibrant color scheme.

"Where are the people I want to stab?" Pyra asked, looking around anxiously. "You promised Pyra that I could stab someone!"

"I didn't promise anything, and you're not stabbing anyone here, Pyra." Sofia whispered.

She jumped when she heard the door open and looked up to see a woman in a dark green dress with violet and magenta flower flowers along the skirt walk down the stairs to greet her.

"You must be Princess Sofia. It is an honor to have you visit our home." The woman smiled and curtseyed to her. "I'm Cecily, Vivian's mother."

"Please to meet you." Sofia smiled, keeping an eye on Pyra to make sure that she behaved. Cecily seemed like a nice woman, and certainly didn't look like a gnome like the girls at school believed. "You have a beautiful home, ma'am."

"Thank you. This manor used to belong to an older noble family who moved away five years ago. It took a long time for the servants to renovate the manor so that we could move here." Cecily turned back to the door and saw her daughter standing there, nervously hiding out of sight. "Vivian, could you show Sofia to your room, please?"

"O-Okay." Vivian said and looked at Sofia. "R-Right this way, princess."

Sofia took Pyra into her arms and carried her inside. She followed Vivian into her home, which looked bigger on the inside than it did outside, and Sofia couldn't help but admire the slight gothic aesthetic to the place that made the manor both intimidating and cool at the same time.

"Sofia," Pyra whispered. "Can I stab those things up there?" She asked, nodding at the gargoyle statues.

"No, you cannot. Seriously, Pyra, we need to talk about your stabbing obsession." Sofia hissed.

"What was that?" Vivian asked, looking behind her.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, this is my friend, Pyra. She's a manticore, and a bit of a handful." Sofia said sheepishly.

Possible for the first time since they first met, Vivian gave a small smile at the little manticore. "Oh really? I have a pet too, and she's as unconventional as your friend there."

"Is that so?" Sofia gulped. "What kind of pet is she?"

"A dragon." Vivian said and stopped in front of her door. "She's a bit of a handful, but she's really sweet."

Vivian pushed open her door and a blue blur flew out past her and flew circles around Sofia. Sofia yelped and dropped Pyra in shock, but she calmed down when the small creature plopped itself in her arms. It was a dragon, but not the kind of dragon she was expecting.

The dragon was just a baby, no bigger than a housecat, with bright blue scales and short wings. She looked up at Sofia with her large eyes and smiled.

"That's Crackle." Vivian said. "She likes meeting new people."

"Oh she's adorable." Sofia cooed.

"Thanks. Truthfully, it's illegal to have dragons as pets, but my cousin runs a dragon sanctuary over in Zumaria and she sent Crackle to us so she could better grow up around humans without being bullied by the older dragons. It didn't take long to get attached to her." Vivian smiled. Sofia decided that she liked Vivian better when she smiled.

"Um, I'm sorry I was acting so nervous. I was just a little…"

"Afraid to come over here?" Vivian finished.

"What? No, no, that's…that's not it. Okay, maybe a little." Sofia coughed. "I wasn't at school when you moved here and started attending Royal Prep, and my sister and her friends had told me about you. They said some pretty…odd things."

"Like the gnomes, and the bats, and the strange noises?" Vivian guessed.

"Just the gnomes and the bats." Sofia said. "How'd you know?"

"Oh I've heard all of them. The girls aren't really as discreet as they think they are when talking about other people." Vivian sighed. "They don't even realize I'm standing right next to them sometimes!"

"If you know they're talking about you, why don't you say something?" Sofia asked.

"Well, that's…you see…" Vivian looked away and lowered her head, mumbling to herself. "I have troubling talking to new people. My words get stuck in my throat, and I start mumbling, and I just clamp up. What I'm trying to say is that I get a little…"

"Shy?" Sofia said, smiling softly.

"Shy, that's the word." Vivian said.

"It's okay, I understand. Moving to a new place is scary and it takes some getting used to." Sofia said. "Why don't we get started on our project? I'm sure it'll go smoother now that we're talking to each other."

"Of course. We can work on it in my room." Vivian said and opened the door.

"Pyra, I'm going to leave you out here with Crackle, okay?" Sofia said to the little manticore.

"But winged lizard will try to eat Pyra!" Pyra hissed. It was still a bit disconcerting to see such a human face deform into those bestial expressions. "Pyra will stab her!"

"No stabbing, Pyra. Be nice to her. You need to make new friends anyway, and you can start with Crackle." Sofia said and went into Vivian's room. "Have fun!"

Pyra glared at Sofia as the door closed and moved to poke a few holes in it out of spite. She didn't sense Crackle behind her until the blue dragon whispered to her.

"Hi!"

"Ah!" Pyra screamed and spun around, stabbing her stinger forward at Crackle's head. But instead of feeling the sweet sensation of her stinger sinking into flesh, it was deflected by Crackle's hard scales. "What? That's not supposed to happen when you stab people!"

"That tickled!" Crackle laughed and shoved her face at Pyra. "I'm Crackle, but you already know that. Vivian just said my name literally a few seconds ago. You're Pyra right? You look really cool. I've never seen a manticore before. Hey, is it true you guys have three rows of teeth?"

"Back up before Pyra gives you the ring paw!" Pyra growled and shot back, though Crackle was still able to match her speed despite her small wings and quickly snatched her up in a hug. "Let go!"

"Aw, but we're already bonding so well. I've never had another animal friend before, so this is really cool." Crackle went on. "I'm glad that Vivian has a friend too. She's a sweet girl, but it's a darn shame that she doesn't have friends. Maybe Sofia could help her get out of her shell like a turtle or something. Oh, do manticores eat turtles? I bet those teeth of yours can break through anything!"

Pyra's enraged hisses (she wasn't old enough to roar yet) filled the empty halls. Back in the royal castle, Mona suddenly felt the urge to laugh victoriously.

XXXXXX

Sofia and Vivian set up their things in the room and had gotten started on planning what they wanted for their castle. Or at least Sofia did. Vivian was mostly quiet as Sofia listed her ideas out.

"So I was thinking that we could have the pegasus stables on the outside of the castle, and maybe a sorcerer's tower right here." Sofia pointed to the eastern edge of the castle. "Of course we don't have to have a sorcerer's tower, but I'm just a little bit biased towards them. Oh, and a library on the second floor. Every good castle needs a library, you know? What about you, Vivian?"

"Huh? Me?" Vivian blinked.

"Yeah, what do you want to put into our castle?" Sofia asked.

"Oh, um, well…" Vivian stumbled over her words, retreating back into her shell as she couldn't vocalize her thoughts. Sofia decided to spare her any embarrassment and came up with an idea.

"How about you show me your favorite places instead?" She suggested.

Vivian smiled. "That's a good idea."

Vivian led Sofia to another room down the hall. When she let Sofia in, the princess was introduced to a room filled with musical instruments of every kind, some she had seen before, others she didn't even know existed.

"This is the music room." Vivian said, sounding a bit afraid that Sofia wouldn't like it. "It's my favorite place in the whole castle. Well, my favorite place in the whole world."

Sofia pressed a key on the piano next to her and smiled. "Vivian, I've never seen so many instruments in one place before. Do you know how to play some of these?"

"I know how to play all of them. Er, not all at once, though." She corrected hastily. She walked over to a smaller guitar-like instrument sitting in a case on a chair and picked it up. "The mandolin's my favorite."

Sofia saw how fondly Vivian was looking at her instrument and asked, "Would you…play a little for me? I promise that I won't say a word."

"Play for you?" Vivian blinked. Sofia figured this was probably the first time anyone else aside from her parents and teachers had asked her to play an instrument for them. "S-Sure, I can do that."

Vivian picked up her mandolin and sat down in the chair. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and let her fingers dance across the strings, letting herself go into the familiar feeling of doing music in her private sanctuary.

Sofia was amazed at the transformation Vivian went through. In the span of just a few seconds, the girl went from the shy wallflower to a confident musician. Her shoulders relaxed and were free of the tension she had all day, and her expression was calm and serene, letting the music take her worries away.

As Vivian relaxed more, her fingers moved quicker and the music became more upbeat and fast paced. A smile spread across her lips and she fully gave herself to the music entirely, playing the familiar tune she liked to play when she was happy. Sofia sat back and watched Vivian become an entirely different person, a happy and talented young girl in her element.

Sofia sat by the piano and listened to Vivian play her tune, smiling softly at how comfortable the girl looked. After a few minutes of playing, Vivian's melody came to an end and she opened her eyes to see Sofia clapping happily.

"Vivian that was amazing! I've never seen someone so young play like that." Sofia gushed.

"Thank you. I've been practicing since I was little. I've probably read more music sheets than picture books growing up." Vivian said shyly. When she saw Sofia looking at her intently, she blushed a bit. "Um, Sofia, what are you…?"

"I think I have the perfect idea for our dream castle." Sofia said.

"Y-You do?"

"Yup. A music castle!" She declared brightly. "You're a musical prodigy and I love singing, so why don't we mix those two together?"

Sofia grabbed Vivian's hand and practically dragged her back to her room. Running over to the work table, Sofia began work on a new sketch of their castle.

"It could be a castle based entirely around music. The main hall can have statues that sing to visitors when they walk through the doors, and the walls could be lined with portraits of famous magicians." She said. "The stairs could be musical stairs, with each step a piano key that plays a different note."

"M-Maybe there could be a bell tower that would chime at the start of every hour." Vivian suggested, getting into it. "And we can have wind chimes by the winds that make melodies whenever the wind blows."

Sofia was haphazardly drawing the designs of the castle as she and Vivian got deeper into their brainstorming session. An entire castle dedicated to music, from the instruments themselves to the people who played them. Rooms dedicated to a single instrument, a garden full of musical plants, singing statues, stairs that chimed like a xylophone, the ideas just came pouring out.

"I can already see that this castle is going to be great, Vivian." Sofia said happily. "You're really fun to work with."

"Thanks. I've never overheard anyone say that before."

"That's just because they don't know you. The real you. You should try talking to other people at school."

"Oh, I don't know about that. I just get so nervous around large groups of people, and when I get really nervous I freeze up, and sometimes I run away. Well, I run away all the time." Vivian sighed and looked down. "It's hard for me to open up to people, Sofia. Just the thought of being around others makes my heart race and I get the jitters. That's if I don't immediately turn tail and run."

"I've noticed." Sofia said.

"Sofia!"

The girls turned to the door, where they saw Pyra running at full speed past them, with Crackle skipping after her with a big grin on her face.

"Leave Pyra alone! She does not associate with what she cannot stab!"

"Oh come on, Pyra, you know stabbing people is bad. Hey, you ever tried using that tail for cricket ball? I think you'd be a killer at that!"

"I think your manticore needs your help." Vivian giggled.

"Yeah, she's not good around new people." Sofia went to pack up her things. "I've got to go now, but I've had a really great time with you, Vivian. I'm glad I came over today, and I'm really glad we're partners."

"I am too." Vivian said smiling.

The girls went outside to Sofia's coach, where the princess was already getting inside. Pyra, who was being crushed in a hug by Crackle, was still trying to stab the young dragon when Sofia gently pulled her away.

"It was nice meeting you, Crackle. I'm sure Pyra liked spending time with you too." Sofia said.

"Will you two come back to visit?" Crackle asked excitedly.

"Of course, I'm sure Pyra wouldn't miss it for the world." Ignoring Pyra's angry hisses, she waved goodbye to Vivian. "I'll see you tomorrow, Vivian."

"Okay, Sofia." Vivian smiled.

"Goodbye, Pyra!" Crackle hollered.

"Pyra will stab you!" Pyra hissed, though Crackle only laughed harder at that.

Vivian waved goodbye to Sofia as the coach flew off into the sky. She watched her friend go with a happy sigh and hugged Crackle to her tightly.

"My first friend, Crackle. Can you believe it?" Vivian laughed, spinning her dragon around. "My first friend!"

This was probably the happiest day of her life. One she'll never forget for the rest of her days.

XXXXXX

"So, did you have fun with Crackle?" Sofia asked Pyra on the flight home.

"Pyra hates dragons. Pyra tried to stab her but Pyra's stinger did nothing!" Pyra grumbled.

"Dragons have scales that are as strong as steel, Pyra. Of course your stinger won't hit her." Sofia said, giving Pyra a look. "Not that you should be doing that in the first place. No stabbing people who want to be your friends, Pyra."

"Pyra will not be friends with flying lizard. Pyra was almost lit on fire by her!"

"You just met her, Pyra. Give Crackle a chance." Sofia ran a hand through Pyra's hair, earning a purr from the manticore. "I'm sure after getting to know her better you'll like her more. Crackle's just someone you need getting used to."

Pyra scoffed at that, but she didn't say anything more, just content with letting Sofia pet her and cuddled up into the princess's side.

There was no way she was going back to Crackle again. Dragons were stupid, even more so after learning that she couldn't stab them. What's the point of meeting new people if you couldn't stab them?

XXXXXX

The next day at school, Sofia met up with Vivian once again, and she was stunned at how different the girl looked. Vivian was still a bit shy, but with Sofia she opened up and Sofia got a good look at the true face of Vivian once she got past that shell of hers.

At lunch the girls were going over more ideas for their music castle, and Sofia let Vivian handle the brainstorm since she seemed to be a roll today.

"Maybe instead of a drawbridge, we can have hippocampi ride people across the moat." Vivian said. "Oh, should we make them sing? Not actual words, but harmonious melodies whenever they're happy."

"What's a hippocampus?" Sofia asked.

"They're half horse half fish faeries that live in the ocean. Merfolk use them as steeds to move around faster." Vivian said. "I don't know if they sing or not, but a little creative license might be necessary for this project."

Sofia giggled, greatly enjoying this new side of Vivian she was seeing. As they talked, Sofia looked up and spotted Amber walking into the cafeteria with her friends, Hildegard and Clio.

"There's my sister." Sofia said. "And it looks like she's coming to see us."

"What?!" Vivian exclaimed. "Oh no, they're coming over here!"

"It's okay, Vivian. This is the perfect chance to show them what you're really like." Sofia said.

"You mean, ta-talk to them?" Vivian stammered.

"Yes, and you'll be fine. Just be yourself and remain calm. They'll love the real you." Sofia assured her.

Vivian looked over Sofia's head to see Amber and her friends walking towards their table. She steeled herself and tried to be brave, but the thought of talking to Princess Amber of all people made her extremely nervous. Vivian wanted to open up to other people, but Princess Amber was…intimidating. The way she handled herself, the way she talked, even the way she walked around. It was all so intimidating and scary to Vivian, who didn't really compare herself to the princess.

This line of thought quickly took root and began to eat away at Vivian's confidence. She began thinking of the possible outcomes a conversation with Amber's group could have, and not all of them were nice. This led down a familiar path that Vivian had been down before; thinking the worst and fearing how things would turn out. As her internal worries reached their climax, it led to Vivian doing something that she would normally do in a situation like this.

She ran.

"Vivian?" Sofia exclaimed in shot as the girl shot up from her seat and fast walked out of the cafeteria. "Vivian, wait! Where are you going?"

Vivian was already gone, leaving Sofia alone by the table. The princess stared at the direction Vivian ran in and leaned against the table with a sigh. This was not how things were supposed to go.

"Sofia?" Amber and her friends walked up to the table. "Was that Vivian running away just now?"

"…Yes." Sofia answered reluctantly. "I'm sorry, I wanted her to meet you, but she, well, she's just really shy."

"That's obvious." Amber remarked.

"Well, Sofia, if you're shy friend isn't coming back, feel free to come sit with us." Hildegard offered.

Sofia just nodded as the girls left to get their food. She sighed and rubbed her forehead tiredly. This was going to be harder than she thought.

XXXXXX

Sofia left school in a slump after finishing the rest of her day. After ditching her in the lunchroom, Vivian had avoided Sofia for the rest of the day, possibly out of shame. Sofia went home alone and headed straight to her room, where Mona and Pyra were snarling and hissing at each other over a piece of meat that Pyra had gotten from who knows where. Rhea sat on her usual perch playing mediator to pass the time when she noticed Sofia enter the room.

"Hello, Sofia." Rhea greeted her. "Is something wrong?"

"It's my friend, Vivian. She's a really shy girl that I've made friends with and she's struggling to open up to other people." Sofia sighed as she sat at the window seat. "She ran away at lunch earlier and I hadn't seen her all day."

"And you're going to check up on her?"

"I have to. I don't want to feel like I forced her to go too far too fast." Sofia said. She looked at the little manticore at her feet. "Pyra…"

"No! Pyra refuses!" Pyra growled.

"Come on, Pyra, Crackle will be really happy to see you again." Sofia said. "You're probably the first friend she's had in forever."

"Pyra will not associate herself with flying lizard that spits fire. And she cannot stab flying lizard." Pyra grumbled, hissing when Mona snatched up the piece of meat. "What's the point of meeting someone you can't stab?"

"That's a good way to meet new people." Mona remarked. She lazily dodged a jab from Pyra's stinger and ran off with her catch.

"Please, Pyra, do it for Crackle. She's your friend." Sofia pleaded.

"She spits fire."

"Friend." Sofia sang.

"Fire!"

Sofia didn't relent in her pleading look and after a minute of direct eye contact Pyra gave a loud curse and looked away.

"Fine, let's go!"

Sofia clapped her hands and smiled. "Yay!"

XXXXXX

Sofia and Pyra took a flying coach to Vivian's manor as soon as possible. Sofia ran up to the front door and knocked on it, and Vivian's mother opened the door.

"Princess Sofia, welcome back." Cecily greeted the princess.

"Hello, Lady Cecily." Sofia greeted her back with a smile. She was starting to see where Vivian got her looks from. Cecily was a beautiful woman who could've passed for a famous singer with the way she spoke.

"PYRA!"

A blue blur sped past the girls and slammed into Pyra, sending them both tumbling down the stairs onto the ground. Crackle righted herself and hugged Pyra tightly.

"Oh I missed you, I missed you, I missed you!" Crackle exclaimed, squeezing the life out of the agitated manticore. "Did you miss me, Pyra? Of course you did or you wouldn't have come back!"

Pyra's response was to hiss and fruitlessly stab her stinger at Crackle's head, only for it to bounce off. Stupid dragon scales!

While her two animal friends caught up, Sofia was led into the manor by Cecily, who talked with the girl along the way.

"You know, Vivian has always had problems making friends, even before we moved. So it's a joy to see that she's made such a wonderful friend here." Cecily said before adding, "Even if she's a bit shy."

"Vivian's really fun to be around." Sofia said. "I love hearing her play music. She's really talented."

"You should hear her sing." Cecily smiled. Sofia looked up her in shock.

"Vivian can sing?"

"Of course. She's a wonderful singer, though only when she has music to sing to. It's not something a lot of people know about, but she likes to focus on her music instead." Cecily sighed wistfully. "Vivian gets it from her grandmother. She would've loved Vivian."

"Music must run in the family." Sofia commented.

"It does, though I'm hardly on the same level as my mother and daughter. Still, it makes family gatherings a treat." Cecily smiled.

XXXXXX

Crackle had dragged Pyra all the way to the kitchen, where she said she had a surprise for her. The little dragon kicked the door open with a single kick and pushed Pyra into the kitchen.

"Ta-da!"

Pyra almost smacked her upside the head for manhandling her like she was some ragdoll, but her eyes were immediately drawn to the assortment of meat, from ham to chicken, sitting on the table. Almost immediately her bestial instincts flared up and she felt her stomach rumble with hunger.

"What is this?" She demanded.

"It's a picnic. I've been planning it since you left." Crackle said and hopped up to snatch a chicken leg for Pyra. When the manticore tried to snatch the chicken up in her jaws, Crackle jumped away from her, earning a hiss. "Whoa, wait until I cook it first!"

"Cook?" Pyra blinked in confusion. She heard Sofia use that word a few times when talking about food. It was how humans were able to safely eat meat, as they couldn't eat it raw, like manticores. Pyra had never eaten cooked meat before, and hasn't really thought of it.

Crackle nodded and took a deep breath before exhaling a cloud of blue flames, cooking the meat. She handed the chicken leg to Pyra, who cautiously took it with her teeth and tore off a piece. After only a few chews, Pyra's eyes widened before she devoured the rest of the chicken.

"This is good!" Pyra exclaimed. "I like it!"

Crackle's eyes sparkled. "You do?" She gasped and began hopping around. "Oh that's wonderful! I'm happy you're happy! Seeing you happy makes me really…really…"

"Over here, flying lizard." Pyra held up a large chunk of ham and Crackle spat out a burst of flames in her excitement. She skewered the ham on her stinger and took a big bite out of the cooked meat, savoring the different flavor to it that made her groan in delight.

Maybe hanging out with Crackle wasn't too bad after all.

XXXXXX

Vivian sat alone in her room skimming through her music sheets without really reading the notes on them. It was just something she did to get her mind off of things she didn't want to think about. She'd usually play music, but even now she didn't feel like touching an instrument at the moment.

She heard a knock on the door and sighed. "Go away, mom. I'm not feeling good."

"Vivian?"

Vivian stiffened up and looked over to the door to see Sofia standing there. "Sofia…"

Sofia gave her a small wave and a smile, walking over to Vivian's bed. "Hey, Vivian. I came to see how you were doing. I missed you after lunch."

"I'm so sorry for abandoning you, Sofia. I thought I could talk to those girls but…I just couldn't do it. I started thinking all these thoughts about what could go wrong and I ran away. I always run away." Vivian sighed and put her head in her hands. "This always happens. I get so worried about what could go wrong before anything happens that I just talk myself into hiding away like a turtle. I've been doing this since I was little back in Zumaria."

"I'm sorry too. Maybe I shouldn't have pushed you to talk to people that fast, let alone my sister and her friends. I love Amber but I understand how intimidating and overbearing she can be sometimes." Sofia said. "But you'll have another chance to talk once we present our project tomorrow at show and tell."

"Oh, that. Um, I was hoping that, maybe, you could…possibly, do all the talking?" Vivian said meekly.

"We both have to do it. It's part of the project." Sofia reminded her.

"Is it possible for me to do the show part? I'm good at showing." Vivian said desperately.

Sofia shook her head and stood up to walk around the bed. "Vivian, you're going to have to talk to people sooner or later. You won't make it through Royal Prep otherwise."

Vivian looked down at her hands as she nervously fiddled with her fingers. Sofia reached out and took her head.

"Look, I'll start things off and you can follow up. Just imagine that you're talking to me and not a crowd of people." Sofia said.

"Sofia, you make it sound so easy. But I know I'm just going to get nervous. I always do." Vivian looked at their dream castle sadly. "I want to open up. I really do. But it's just not possible for me."

"Please, Vivian, I know you can do it." Sofia held the model castle out to her, but Vivian pushed it back and left the room.

Sofia watched Vivian go with a sad expression and placed the model castle back on the table. This was not going well at all.

XXXXXX

With Vivian gone, Sofia went to look for Pyra. She found the manticore pup down in the kitchen, where she looked to be having fun (Sofia was worried that Pyra was still trying to find ways to stab Crackle) with her new dragon friend.

"You look like you're having fun." Sofia smiled.

"Pyra is having much fun, Sofia Princess. Flying lizard can breathe fire and make meat taste better than ever!" Pyra said. She had a chunk of what Sofia could guess was ham on her stinger before holding it up to Crackle, who doused it in fire and cooked it instantly within seconds. Pyra tossed the ham to the floor and began ripping it apart with her teeth.

"It's good to see you two are getting along."

"It is. I didn't know flying lizard's fire breath was such a useful talent to have." Pyra said with her mouth full. Living in the castle hadn't done her eating manners any justice. "Pyra's urge to stab isn't as strong anymore."

"Talent?" Sofia blinked and her eyes widened when she got an idea forming in her head. "That's it! Vivian's greatest talent!"

"What?" Pyra asked.

"I've got to go, Pyra. Have fun with Crackle!" Sofia said and quickly ran off.

Pyra and Crackle shared a look and shrugged before going back to their little feast. Humans were weird sometimes.

XXXXXX

Sofia found Vivian in the music room, idly playing the piano almost absentmindedly. The girl jumped when Sofia came rushing into the room with a smile on her face.

"Vivian, I've found the solution to your problems!" Sofia exclaimed. "Instead of talking about our castle, why don't we sing about it?"

"S-Sing?" Vivian stammered.

"Vivian, when I first came here, you were shy and barely said a word. You didn't relax and open up until you started playing your mandolin." Sofia stepped in front of Vivian and took her hands in hers. "You're at your best when you're doing something you love, and what you love is making music. And your mom said that you're a great singer too."

Vivian didn't say anything, but Sofia could see that she was thinking about it. All she needed was a little push.

"Please, Vivian. We'll do it together." Sofia said. "A friend might be just the thing you need to open up."

"Okay…okay, I'll do it." Vivian said resolutely. "I mean, I'll try to do it."

"That's all that I'm asking you to do." Sofia smiled. The two girls smiled at each other, feeling more confident than ever.

XXXXXX

The next day at school, the first year class of Royal Prep were nearing the end of their show and tell presentations for art class. Amber and Hildegard were finishing up their presentation, which was basically three castles put together with a very specific focus on fashion.

"The central castle is for ball gowns of all kinds." Amber said, waving her fan at the flamboyant looking pink monstrosity that vaguely looked like a miniature version of a puffy ball gown instead of a castle. "Anything from outdoor gowns that can withstand all kinds of weather to ball gowns that sparkle brighter than the starry night sky."

"And the westward castle is for shoes." Hildegard said, presenting the dark blue castle that she made herself (or rather had her servants make for her. In truth she only made the rough designs and had someone else polish it out at her commands) looking like a magician's attractive assistant made to draw the audience's eyes away from the performer. "You can never have too many shoes!"

The class applauded the two girls for their glamorous presentation, and they left the podium for the next group to step up. Sofia gripped Vivian's hand, knowing they were going to be called up next.

"Wonderful castle, girls! You've truly let your creativity and imagination take over!" professor Flora said. "Up next, we're going to have our last group of the class, Sofia and Vivian."

Sofia and Vivian stood up with their finished project, a beautiful pale violet castle with musical notes surrounding the exterior of the castle. Sofia stood to one side and Vivian on the other, nervously holding her mandolin.

"You're going to do great, Vivian." Sofia whispered.

"I hope so, Sofia," Vivian whispered back, eying the group of students nervously. "Because there are a lot of stares coming my way."

"Just imagine that you're playing for me back at your manor. Don't think about anything else." Sofia told her. "Now, are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Vivian muttered. Mentally counting down, she began playing her mandolin.

Sofia waited for Vivian's melody to pick up before nodding to the girl. Together the girls spoke as one, and began to sing.

They sang of the mermaids in the moats, of the enchanted hall with singing doves. Of the wind chimes in the windows that give little melodies whenever the wind blows through them. They sang a tune of the musical stairs and the angel statues that sang hymns at dawn and dusk. About the lovely lullabies sung by cherubs to lull you to sleep at night.

Eventually Sofia's voice slowly faded into the background as she let Vivian take the lead. She smiled as Vivian's voice grew louder and melodious and her fingers danced along the mandolin as she sang about her dream castle. Sofia saw Amber, Clio and Hildegard all smiling as they watched Vivian open up and show her skill as both a musician and a singer. This was the real Vivian. The girl who was born with so much talent that it would be put to waste had she stayed within her shell.

Soon, Vivian's song came to an end and she played the last few notes on her mandolin. When she was done, they gave a final bow to the sound of applause from the rest of the class and Professor Flora.

"That was absolutely wonderful, girls. Truly wonderful!" Flora praised. She was always a stickler for child prodigies after all, and seeing Vivian play and sing was magical.

"Bravo!" Hildegard cheered and walked over to Vivian with Amber and Clio.

"I had no idea you were such a great musician." Clio said. "You should join the school band."

"No, join the choir. I'm sure those people could use a singer with your lovely voice." Hildegard said, looking at their castle appraisingly. "Even if you only had one castle, I must say it sounds like a dream to live in."

"She's right, your castle is amazing, even more so with you singing about it." Amber said smiling. "I don't know why you've been hiding in the back of the class but we simply must get to know each other, Vivian."

"Let's schedule a playdate!" Clio suggested. "Maybe you can tell where you learned to sing like that."

"That sounds great." Vivian smiled, feeling happier than she ever felt before.

Sofia stepped up to her looking just as happy as Vivian was. "You okay?"

"Yes, I'm more than okay." Vivian laughed. She reached out and grasped Sofia's hand. "Thank you, Sofia. I can't even begin to show how grateful I am."

"You being yourself is more than enough, Vivian." Sofia said. "Just keep singing your songs and doing music for yourself and everyone."

Vivian smiled and let Sofia lead her to the rest of the class, who were now very eager to meet the quiet girl who suddenly blossomed into a wonderful musician and singer. Sofia hung back and let Vivian enjoy herself, satisfied that she made another friend and allowed the world to see her the same way she saw Vivian.

This chapter took some doing, but it was worth it. Managed to get this out in the midst of my Corona depression, and I had tons of fun showing Pyra's obsession with stabbing people with her stinger. I'm going to take a break from this story to work on Transformers Titan for a few chapters before returning here. I'm not sure how the next chapter will turn out, but for the moment I'm planning on making the next chapter focus on Rhea and a certain pet competition. And after that, there is the chapter that will introduce everyone's favorite witch-Lucinda! Thanks for reading, stay safe, and please leave a review! Until next time!