Due to the attack of the Dark Dragon Warriors, the headmaster thought it would be best if all the academic activities were temporarily suspended, giving the students, teachers, and staff some time to themselves to recover and heal, especially after the grave losses that had befallen them due to that attack. Now the suspension period was over, and the academy would soon resume its normal academic activities, but still there remained a chill in the air, an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty hovering over the entire academy, so the headmaster believed it would be best if he addressed all the students before they resumed their academic activities, hoping that he would be able to, at the very least, put their minds at ease.
Richard, now standing before his students, with Flani by his side, let out a deep sigh before clearing his throat and opening his mouth to speak.
“A few days ago our precious academy was attacked by the Dark Dragon Warriors; thankfully none of you were thanks to the intervention of the Golden Dragon Guard and Sigh Generals. And as I’m sure you are aware, we lost the Generals too during that attack,” Richard spoke before pausing for a moment to see the look of sadness, fear, and uncertainty in his students’ eyes upon hearing the news of the demise of the Golden Dragon General. Richard was quite familiar with the look the children wore on their faces, as it was a look he had both worn and seen on the faces of many who were unfortunate enough to live through the era when the Dark Dragon Lord reigned over everything, recalling the first time he had ever seen and worn that look on his face, that being the day he witnessed the Dark Dragon Lord himself holding the lifeless corpse of Binaru, Ibierana’s father and the Golden Dragon Warrior before her. He recalled the overwhelming feeling of dread and hopelessness that washed over him and spotted Binaru’s cold dead body and could see only a bleak and hopeless world on the horizon, but that overwhelming feeling of dread, fear, and hopelessness all faded away once he spotted Ibierana bathed in the pure and golden aura of the golden dragon warrior. Ibierana was able to inspire hope in the hearts of all during the darkness of days, hope so strong that even when all seemed lost and it seemed as though the world had already fallen too deep into the abyss, she was able to break back the light, although it cost her own life.
Richard then spotted David amidst the crowd and was then reminded of the hope his mother inspired in both his and the hearts of all those who stood by her in opposition to the Dark Dragon Lord and his army of Dark Dragon Warriors. Feeling the same sense of hope rising in his heart but at the very same time an equal sense of fear and dread as he looked at David, having seen a glimpse of David’s power and knowing that just as easily as he could be the world’s salvation during its darkest time, he could also be the one to plunge it into ruin.
Richard then cleared his throat once more before continuing his speech, “There have always been dark times, battles, and wars that shook the earth right down to its core that claimed the lives of many, and as much as I wish otherwise, that still remains the case to this day. I know you all are still young and don’t deserve to suffer any form of pain and anguish, and how I wish the world was a fair place, but sadly the world we live in isn’t a fair one. For every ray of light there exists a shadow of dark; that’s how the world is, and it’s most likely bound to stay that way forever.”
The students’ faces, already sunk down with sadness, fear, and hopelessness, sunk down deep upon hearing the depressing speech, seemed to only bring down their spirits even lower than they already were, but the headmaster wasn’t done speaking.
“It’s a bitter truth, one that I wish wasn’t so,” the headmaster’s voice echoed through the silence as the students all listened with grim faces. David, hearing each and every word the headmaster said, couldn’t help but bow his head, feeling a mix of both sadness, shame, and fear well up from within him, knowing that every single word he spoke was true; that was something he couldn’t deny, not anymore at least.
“But despite everything we’ve been through, all the bloody wars and battles that have ravaged our world and have forever tainted our history books with dark, grim tales, hope still remained. The same hope that existed in each and every generation that had come before us, a hope that gave us all the strength of better days to come, that made us believe that in spite of the way evil may threaten us, our world, along with everything held close and dear to us, we would still find a way to make it out of the darkness and find the light at the very end of the tunnel,” the headmaster continued.
David, upon hearing everything the headmaster said, couldn’t help but wonder just what kind of hope he could be talking about, wondering how on earth any form of hope could be strong enough to see the light when everything that surrounded you was darkness.
“We once believed that was lost, dead, and gone—fighting to protect us along with our world like it always has—but we were all wrong. This hope still exists; it lives and breathes among us, taking a new form like it always had throughout the ages. Its heart still beats the same way, for each and every one of us. And this hope that was once thought lost exists in none other than him,” said Richard as he extended his hand towards him.
David, now the center of the entire academy’s attention, stood there motionless in shock, not expecting the headmaster to do what he just did. Now everyone had their eye on him, staring at him with a mix of astonishment and awe. David couldn’t help but feel nervous and immensely uncomfortable at all the attention directed at him; with sweat drawing down his brow and his heart pumping, he couldn’t do anything but just stand there motionless. David then felt a hand gently grab hold of his; he then looked to his side and saw Susan standing by him, holding his hand with a warm smile on her face. David then turned to his other side, and Flora and Akiri were standing by him as well. David couldn’t help but calm down and feel at ease upon feeling Susan’s soft hand on his and seeing his friends by his. Steven, who was the only one who didn’t have his eyes fixed firmly on David, shifted his gaze to him for a moment only for him to spot David’s hand being held by his sister’s, making him grunt in anger and annoyance before looking away.
“His name is David, and I’m sure most, if not all, of you have heard who he is by now, but if you haven’t, let me take this opportunity to tell you all. He is none other than the lost son of Ibierana, the former Golden Dragon Warrior who lost her life fighting to save our world from the Dark Dragon Lord, the current Golden Dragon Warrior, and the hope of our world,” said the Head Master.
David, upon hearing the words that escaped Richard’s lips, couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease wash over him, not being comfortable being referred to as the current Golden Dragon Warrior and even more so as the hope of the world. He didn’t feel like any of those words were truly him; he didn’t, despite being her son and having her blood along with all her power within, feel like he was a Golden Dragon Warrior, and he felt the same way, if not more so, when it came to being the hope of the world. How could such a thing be when, along with the power of the Golden Dragon Warrior he inherited from his mother, he also had a dark power whose origin he knew nothing about that manifested itself through his anger, sadness, pain, and frustration, a power that once unleashed could wreak only chaos, carnage, and destruction? That didn’t sound like the Golden Dragon Warrior, and it definitely didn’t sound like hope to David.
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“Due to the tragic and unforeseen events that happened a few days ago, we had to postpone our academic activities to give us time to mourn the great loss of losing the Golden Dragon Generals and also reflect on the dangers lurking in the outside world. The world is placed with dangers of all kinds, monsters who wear the same skin as you and I but are heartless and cruel. In grim times like this we are all reminded of truly how heartless and cruel this world can be at times. But even after everything that happened, everything we’ve been through, we must all remember that even in the darkest of days and in our bleakest of hours, we must always look out and dare to see light hidden away by the darkness. So please, young ones, cling on to every ounce of hope that comes your way, for someone with hope can never fall, while someone without it is doomed to fall to a fate…” Richard stopped himself from completing his statement, realizing that the very next words to leave his mouth might be a little too dark and grim for the students to understand or comprehend. But David, having listened to each and every word uttered by the headmaster, even without him completing his last sentence, fully understood and comprehended what he wanted to say, hearing a faint voice whispering in his head, completing the headmaster’s statement by saying, “...that would make him envy the dead.”
David, upon hearing those words in his head, let out a deep sigh. Fully understanding everything the headmaster meant and the intention behind it, as he could sense in the air around him and the earth underneath his feet. There was a silent tension in the air that felt like an uneasy stillness, signs that David understood to be the calm before the fury of a brewing storm. Looking around him, spotting the students that surround him along with his friends by his side, he realized that something was coming, not just for the students or even the academy, but for the entire world, and when it arrived, not the students that currently stood by his side or the teachers but the entire world would look to him to be their light in the darkness, their salvation, their hope. Once this realization hit David, he felt as though his entire world was crumbling down, his heart pounding against his chest as a feeling of doom and gloom consumed his heart as he thought to himself, "Just how could someone like him, who harbored within him a power that could only bring chaos, destruction, and death if ever unleashed, possibly be their hope?"
David’s entire body tensed up as he wondered to himself if their faith and trust were misplaced, as even though he had the blood of the golden dragon warrior, it was also tainted with darkness he did not understand. He was not like his mother or any golden dragon warrior that ever lived; he was something else, and whatever that was, it wasn’t hope. David then bowed his head, feeling the overwhelming weight of the world resting on his shoulders, understanding what he was meant to be, what the world saw him as, and what he should have been, but knowing deep down that that wasn’t who he was.
“David, are you alright?” a soft, gentle voice whispered to him.
David then turned around and found a beautiful pair of eyes staring back at him with a look of worry and concern as she felt the tension in his hand as he held on to it, trembling and shaking from underneath her grip. Even without her feeling his trembling hand underneath hers, just from a simple glance she could tell that something was bothering him. David, upon seeing her eyes worried and concerned for him, felt his heart soften and ease up, allowing the troubles, fears, and doubts that were slowly eating him up from within to disappear even if it was only for that moment, giving him a temporary sense of peace.
“It’s nothing, Susan, I’m fine and promise,” David lied with a warm smile on his face, not enjoying the act of having to tell a lie, especially to Susan, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell her the truth either. Then again, it wouldn’t be the first time he had looked directly at someone he cared about and told a lie. He had to tell many lies since his arrival at the academy. Granted, at the time he was still trying to understand and come to terms with everything that was happening to him, from his nightmares to the call of the golden temple, the awakening of his power as a Golden Dragon Warrior, discovering he was Ibierana’s son, and finding out about the darkness that lay within him. He was going through a lot back then, and he was still going through a lot now, and he didn’t want to burden her with worry and concern over him. Whatever was happening to him, he wished to face it alone; after all, he wouldn’t be able to bear it if someone he cared about got hurt because of him, especially if that person was Susan. That was why he lied back then and why he has to lie now.
Susan, upon hearing David, flashed a warm smile at him, knowing fully well that David would tell her she didn't expect him to either. She knew him well enough to know he had a nasty habit of hiding his pain to bear alone, which was alright because she had a nasty habit of being there for him and forcing him to share his pain. It didn’t matter to her that he lied to her; she would get him to spill the truth out eventually, but for the time being…
Susan pulled herself closer and rested her head on his shoulders.
She was going to do all she could to ease his troubled heart.
David was a bit taken aback by how close Susan was to him and her head on his shoulder, although it wasn’t something David could complain about, as he found her presence comforting. Steven, seeing his sister being so close with David, felt his blood begin to boil underneath his skin, but upon seeing the warm smile on Susan’s face with her head rested comfortably on David’s shoulders, he calmed down and decided to tolerate and resist the urge to reduce David to a pile of ash for the time being.
Richard then let out a deep sigh before ending his speech with these final words, “When I look at you all, I see our future, and it is a beautiful one. But it is a future we must all fight for. Dangers, tests, trials, and challenges lie ahead, and you must tread the path led before you carefully. And above all else, never forget who you are. I wish you all the best as you all resume your academic activities and hope you all grow strong enough to face the dangers lurking in the shadows.”
David couldn’t help but feel like the headmaster’s final words were directed more at him than any of the other students, almost as though it was some kind of warning, and something within David told him that that was a warning he had better heed. With those words said, the students were dismissed and allowed to leave the assembly hall.
David, along with his friends and a grumpy Steven, was about to leave with the other students, but before they could, a voice called out for David.
“David.” David then turned around to see who it was that was calling for him, and as he did so, he found none other than the headmaster standing before him along with the Flani.
“Headmaster,” David spoke nervously, with tiny beads of sweat beginning to form on his face as he wondered if he was in some kind of trouble.
“David, I would like to have a word with you in private if you don’t mind,” said Richard.
David, upon hearing what Richard said, turned around to look at his friends, seeing them all wearing troubled and worried expressions on their faces as they all wondered, much like David, why and what the headmaster wanted to talk to David about, hoping and praying internally that he was not in any kind of trouble. David then let out a deep sigh before shifting his gaze back to the headmaster and nodding his head. Richard and Flani then made their way to the door with David following them from behind, leaving his friends and even Steven pondering what on earth was going on between David and the headmaster. Steven, however, didn’t dwell on the matter for too long and after a brief moment of contemplation decided that whatever the matter may be, it was no concern to him, and simply made his way to the door, causing everyone to snap out of their train of thought and follow him, figuring that there was no use pondering about it and that they could just ask David himself when they see him. But yet, as they walked out the door, Susan couldn’t help but keep the same look of worry and concern plastered on her face for David, much to Steven’s annoyance, as she hoped with all her heart that David was not in any kind of trouble.
